World News
World news, global politics, business, technology, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, international trends, and major events. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for global news.
-
Sponsored 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
-
Langkawi ferry bursts into flames – passengers safe – VIDEO
by Bernama/The Star – Asia News Network A passenger ferry travelling from the Kuah Ferry Terminal to Kuala Perlis in Langkawi island in Malaysia had to be evacuated after the passenger cabin filled with choking smoke. All the passengers were rescued by a nearby tour boat and local fishing boats. “The ferry stopped in the middle of the sea and we saw smoke…
-
Thai AirAsia looking to purchase stake in local rival Nok Air
Having a cashed-up and aggressive competitor looking to buy a stake in Nok Air will send more shudders down the corridors of the lumbering local behometh, Thai Airways. Asia Aviation, the majority shareholders of Thailand’s low-cost Air Asia franchise Thai AirAsia, says it was considering buying a stake in local rival Nok Airlines. The announcement has sent Nok’s share prices…
-
Golden Triangle drug labs increase shipments 1000% – Speed and Ice pouring over the border
The number of seizures of high-purity crystal methamphetamine are surging into northern Thailand. The demand rises and the methods of detection and enforcement also improve. It’s a vicious circle. Authorities say the number of drug seizures have risen 1000% in just the past 2 years, a stark indication of the growth in industrial-scale production in neighboring Myanmar. Some 18.4 tonnes…
-
Die! Die! Korean Air ‘nut rage’ heiress assaults husband in video
by The Korea Herald – Asia News Network A video clip showing a woman who appears to be Cho Hyun-ah, formerly Korean Air vice-president, shouting at her husband, and photos showing his injuries has been revealed. In the video, the woman shouts “Die! Die!” at her husband, surnamed Park, who filed for divorce last year citing physical and verbal abuse against…
-
Better analysis needed to track down the source of new chemicals in illicit drugs
The Office of Narcotics Control Board has been training personnel in drug analysis to handle new illicit substances coming onto the streets. A Chinese analysis lab has recently discovered 230 new psychotropic substances which are making their way into recreational drugs and other foods. China has subsequently banned several beverages and sweets that contain these new illegal substances. Thailand’s Justice…
-
Lion Air flight slips off Borneo runway, landing in poor conditions – VIDEO
Another PR disaster for Lion Air, luckily no fatalities in this latest incident. A Lion Air Boeing 737 with 189 people on board has skidded off a Borneo runway as the pilot tried to land during heavy rain. The Lion Air flight was coming in to land at the Supadio International Airport. The aircraft was carrying 182 passengers and seven crew…
-
Now you can study the success of K-pop band BTS – University of California, Berkeley
PHOTO: BTS members posing with South Korean President Moon Jae In 400 million views, 500 million, 600 million. Just scroll through the group’s songbook on YouTube from the past five years and you will be watching music history in the making – a success built on a new pop genre, new ‘music business’ model and seven young South Koreans hell-bent…
-
Airbus signals end to A380 production, end of an era
Emirates Airlines says it’s reducing its Airbus A380 orders from 162 to 123 aircraft. They say this follows a review of its operations and developments in aircraft and engine technologies. The A380 is the double-decker mega aircraft that was developed as a new-age rival to the successful Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo’ jet. Whilst popular for passengers with its spacious size and…
-
Thailand loses its ‘cheap living’ reputation – Numbeo
Many of Thailand’s most popular tourist and retiree destinations are becoming the most expensive places in Southeast Asia to settle down, being beaten by Malaysian and Indonesia counterparts. The cost of living survey was conducted by comparison site Numbeo. Comparing the region’s top 18 destinations, Numbeo lists Bangkok as the second most expensive city after Singapore. But Pattaya, Phuket and…
-
Yangon International Airport gears up for new flights, new destinations
PHOTO: MYANMORE Yangon International Airport is poised to welcome more airlines and passenger this year as travel demand grows following Myanmar’s relaxation of entry visa requirements at the end of 2018. The Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited, the company that manages Yangon’s international airport, says it’s increasing airport facilities and stepping up marketing to open new direct routes into the Burmese…
-
Vietnamese blogger has vanishes in Thailand – Radio Free Asia
PHOTO: Một Góc Nhìn Khác A Vietnamese blogger,Truong Duy Nhat, working for Radio Free Asia, has vanished after fleeing to Thailand. The news organisation has voiced its concerns today as rights activists share their fear that he had been abducted. AFP reports that Truong Duy Nhat, a weekly blogger for the Vietnamese service of Radio Free Asia, which aims to…
-
24 year old dies after e-cigarette explodes in his face
PHOTO: William Brown died in a Fort Worth hospital on January 29 – CNN CNN reports that a Texas man died of a massive stroke after the e-cigarette he was using exploded and tore his carotid artery. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office says that William Brown died in a Fort Worth hospital on January 29. The death certificate says…
-
Thailand’s Central Group planning to invest $200 million in Grab
Central Group, Thailand’s biggest shopping Centre and department store operator, is planning to invest US$200 million (6.3 billion Thai baht) in ride-hailing giant ‘Grab’, according to sources ‘familiar with the matter’ today. The deal seals a strategic partnership where the Thai retail giant will help Grab expand its business in Thailand. Central Group would invest in Grab’s Thai business unit.…
-
Burmese migrants, heading for Malaysia, stopped in Chumphon
Police and soldiers in Chumphon have arrested 37 Burmese people who were heading to Malaysia. Security forces, including troops from the 44th Army Circle, checked a wooded location where residents had seen a group of strangers in a makeshift camp. The 33 men and four women had no travel documents and appeared exhausted in their rough camp behind a deserted…
-
Singapore people with HIV shocked by data leak
from The Straits Times 14,200 people living with HIV in Singapore, who had their personal details leaked, are stunned. The Singapore Ministry of Health has revealed that some 1,900 names in the leaked data were of people who had already died. An HIV-positive US citizen, who had been deported from Singapore after serving a jail term, has leaked online the personal…
-
Vietnam and Thailand head toward $20 billion in two-way trade
FILE PHOTO Việtnam and Thailand are poised to reap the benefits of a US$20 billion two-way trade deal by 2020. A meeting of the Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation wrapped up in Thailand yesterday. The two-day meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh together with the Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai. The two sides agreed…
-
Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala said he was ‘concerned about plane’
PHOTO: Facebook/Emiliano Sala “I’m on a plane that looks like it’s going to fall apart, and I’m leaving for Cardiff,” Emiliano Sala said in a WhatsApp message. Cardiff City’s new signing Sala said he was concerned about his plane shortly before the light aircraft disappeared over the English Channel. The message was sent to friends and relatives. The Argentine striker,…
-
Scoot passengers jump in to help restrain man, pilot diverts flight
A Scoot Airlines flight from Australia’s Gold Coast to Singapore had to be diverted to Sydney Airport after an incident with an unruly passenger. Flight TR7 was scheduled to reach Singapore at 3.15pm yesterday but was diverted just 1h 20 min into the eight-hour flight. Scoot has issued a statement saying that an Australian man on board punched another passenger.…
-
Top 10 countries in Asia – DataLeads report
PHOTO: Travelience “Japan is ranked the best country in Asia and fifth globally. Thailand ranks 27th globally” DataLeads reports that a survey conducted in 80 countries shows that Japan and Australia are the only Asia-Pacific countries that features in the top 10 best countries of the world. The ranking of countries is measured through factors like entrepreneurship, openness to business,…
-
Malaysia mulls curfew for Under 18 year olds
PHOTO: Malaysian Deputy PM Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – Proplegacy The Malaysian Government, in another backwards step as it caves in to conservative religious factions, is considering a new curfew on Under 18 year olds. Authorities are mulling the possibility of setting a curfew for young Malaysians to be out of the house without adult supervision. They claim it…
-
Thai-owned Dusit D2 Hotel under fire in Nairobi
PHOTO: Google Maps Two explosions and gunfire have been heard amid an apparent attack at an upscale hotel and office complex in Kenyan capital Nairobi. News just in from independent.co.uk “We are under attack,” another person in an office inside a complex in the DusitD2 hotel told Reuters, then hung up. Local television showed smoke rising from the area. “I…
-
FOUND: Cockpit Voice Recorder from crashed Lion Air flight
PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX, identical to the crashed jet “It’s broken into two pieces so hopefully it’s still useful.” Just as hopes of finding the second black box of the crashed Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX began to fade, investigators say they finally found the voice cockpit recorder (CVR) of the doomed flight. Data retrieved from the device could…
-
Cambodian diplomatic passports issued to foreigners to be annulled
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Cambodia is moving to annul diplomatic passports issued to people not born in Cambodia. This from the The Phnom Penh Post today. The report says that analysts believe the move may be in response to Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra using a Cambodian passport to register as a company director in Hong Kong.…
-
Business class bird stowaway in Singapore Airlines flight
by The Straits Times – Asia News Network A Singapore Airlines flight headed to London’s Heathrow Airport found it had an unintended passenger – a mynah bird. Business-class passengers found themselves greeted by the stowaway about 12 hours into the flight. A typical Singapore-London flight takes about 14 hours. In a statement yesterday, a Singapore Airlines spokesman confirmed that a bird…
-
Paralyzed from rare disease, Caroline returns home from Thailand
Original report by Karina Bolster and David Hylton. PHOTOS: Facebook/Jim Brader A 22 year old woman from Virginia, US, who was paralyzed after her diagnosis of a rare auto-immune disease while teaching in Thailand, has arrived back home in the US. Caroline Bradner was hospitalised in Thailand ever since. A travel insurance company had agreed earlier this month to help…
-
Chinese foreign policy – On track
by Nikkei Asia Review “When Japanese trading house Itochu and train maker Hitachi withdrew from a soon-to-be-decided $7 billion tender for a high-speed rail project near Bangkok, it appeared to be another victory for China and its grand plans to connect Southeast Asia with railways. Thailand has for decades been the centerpiece of Tokyo’s strategy for Southeast Asia, and long-discussed plans…
-
Rahaf al-Qunun arrives in Canada – no mention in Saudi media
The 18 year old Saudi runaway who says she feared her family and possible death if she was deported back to Saudi Arabia, has arrived in Canada. Canadian officials offered her asylum in a case that became global news after the plucky woman mounted a Twitter storm, barricaded in her airport hotel room last weekend. The Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia…
-
Malaysia choses new sultan, will be elected king January 24
Malaysian officials announced that the country has a new sultan who is now expected to be elected king after the former monarch abdicated following his reported marriage to a Russian former beauty queen. Tengku Abdullah Shah replaces his father, Sultan Ahmad Shah as the ruler of Pahang state, the official Bernama news agency said, citing a senior palace official. Local…
-
Myanmar Court rejects appeal of imprisoned Reuters journalists
A court in Myanmar yesterday decided to uphold the convictions of two Reuters journalists who were sentenced to seven-year prison sentences. The case that has drawn international criticism. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were found guilty last year of violating the Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. They were investigating the massacre of Rohingya men amid a military crackdown on the country’s…
-
Man takes a naked stroll in Sabah, Malaysia
by The Star – Asia News Network A naked man, wearing only a wide-brimmed hat (sun smart!) has been caught on camera walking along a road near Pavilion Bundusan in Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. This comes after a couple were photographed skinny-dipping in a water fountain at the start of this week in the famous Gaya Street in Kota Kinabalu. The photo…
Broke? Find employment in Southeast Asia with JobCute Thailand and SmartJob Indonesia. Rich? Invest in real estate across Asia with FazWaz Property Group or get out on a yacht anywhere with Boatcrowd. Even book medical procedures worldwide with MyMediTravel, all powered by DB Ventures.