Bangkok News

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    Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?

    Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...

  • Don’t complain about the oranges. Market customer shot after complaint.

    Don’t complain about the oranges. Market customer shot after complaint.

    A Pathum Thani fruit vendor has been arrested today shortly after she allegedly shot and killed a customer who complained of “rotten oranges” at her market store, just north of Bangkok. Klong Luang police were alerted to the shooting at 8am inside the Iyara Market in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. Police say 30 year old Saranya Saksaeng was shot…

  • 542 foreigners bailed up for deportation in latest crackdown

    542 foreigners bailed up for deportation in latest crackdown

    PHOTO: The Nation Another 542 foreigners have been rounded-up for deportation after raids, mostly in and around Bangkok. Police searched 262 locations around the country. Most of the illegal foreigners had been living in Thailand illegally and or committed alleged crimes. Pol Col Nithithorn Jintakanon, the acting traffic police chief, held a press conference at 2.30am this morning to announce…

  • 27 year old African arrested over romance scams

    27 year old African arrested over romance scams

    FILE PHOTO by Suriya Patathayo “The scam would usually involve using bogus white male identities to persuade women to wire money to pay an import tariff and fee for the delivery of overseas “gifts”. Romance scams are continually in the news and the government has been putting resources into rounding up the perpetrators and departing them, many from west African…

  • Kitten rescued from wall space after being stuck for three days

    Kitten rescued from wall space after being stuck for three days

    A kitten was rescued last night after it got stuck in a narrow five-inch wall space behind a 7-11 convenience store in Samut Prakan’s city district. Staff of a 7-Eleven shop in Bang Pu Industrial Estate called the Bang Pu 811 Rescue Unit for help. The staff say they had heard a kitten’s faint meows behind the wall for three…

  • BMA says it’s time to sort out Bangkok’s soi dogs

    BMA says it’s time to sort out Bangkok’s soi dogs

    Bangkok’s governor says the time is up for the capital’s stray dogs. He says ‘enough is enough’ and that too many people are being bitten and harassed. Measures adopted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have so far proved insufficient and new plans are now being made to address the ongoing problem of stray dogs. The sight of soi dogs has…

  • Cold season arrives late in Bangkok this year, if at all

    Cold season arrives late in Bangkok this year, if at all

    The worldwide influence of El Nino is affecting Thai weather as we enter the annual ‘cold season’. The Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute of the Ministry of Science and Technology says Bangkokians will be disappointed if they expect to be running around in think jackets and jumpers because the mercury won’t drop any further in the next one month or…

  • Acid-splashed wife’s death – husband is detained, taxi driver speaks out

    Acid-splashed wife’s death – husband is detained, taxi driver speaks out

    Police have brought 50 year old Kamtan Singhanart to the Thon Buri Court’s order for an initial 12 day detention period after being accused of splashing acid on his wife Chorladda Tharawan’s face before fleeing on November 9. The Nation reports that Chorladda died as a result of her injuries after seeking treatment at Praram 2 Hospital. That hospital reportedly…

  • 13 year old Muay Thai fighter dies from head injuries

    13 year old Muay Thai fighter dies from head injuries

    Whilst legislation is pending, and under heated discussion about banning Muay Thai for certain age-groups, another tragedy has unfolded. A 13 year old muay thai fighter has died after a taking blow that sent him head first into the ground during a charity match in Samut Prakan on November 10. The Nation reports that a Mathayom 1 schoolboy named Anucha…

  • Bangkok maths tutor killer admits to crime

    Bangkok maths tutor killer admits to crime

    by Kornkamon Aksorndech The prime suspect in the murder of a young mathematics tutor has told Bangkok police that he killed his victim out of jealousy and anger. Metropolitan Police say he reportedly met with the victim, 27 year old Natthawat Piansakul, who was dating his former girlfriend, to tell him to “stay away from the woman” but claimed he was…

  • Answers demanded over nuclear waste found in Laem Chabang Port

    Answers demanded over nuclear waste found in Laem Chabang Port

    by Pratch Rujivanrom After Friday’s alert about radio active material being discovered at Thailand’s main sea port at Laem Chabang, authorities have passed on very little news Now academics are urging authorities to come clean with information about the radioactive waste found at the port and investigate the shipment’s entire route. The Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and the…

  • One dead in Burmese migrants’ Bangkok brawl

    One dead in Burmese migrants’ Bangkok brawl

    Police this morning arrested nine Myanmar migrant workers allegedly involved in a brawl in Bangkok last night that led to one compatriot’s death along with injuries to five others. A brief video circulated online showing 20 men fighting with knives and metal pipes near a poultry slaughterhouse on Soi Pridi Phanomyong 44, Khlong Ton Nua sub-district, Wattana district. Khlong Ton…

  • Container with radioactive waste being stored at Laem Chabang port

    Container with radioactive waste being stored at Laem Chabang port

    An unknown amount of radioactive waste has been detected inside an export container at the Laem Chabang Deep Seaport, just north of Pattaya, Chon Buri. The port’s deputy director, Vice Admiral Yutthana Mokkhao, says the waste is being kept in the safety zone at the port which is equipped to handle radioactive situation and it is being handled by officials…

  • Romance scammer arrested for overstaying his visa by four years

    Romance scammer arrested for overstaying his visa by four years

    Thai police have continued their crackdown on foreign criminals, especially romance scammers, call-centre fraudsters and visa over-stayers, with the latest arrest of a 30 year old Nigerian man who was found to have overstayed his welcome in Thailand by nearly four years. Nigerian Cory Samuel Madubuchi, who was arrested in Nonthaburi, was also found to have 57 money transaction slips…

  • Thailand’s creative entrepreneurs funding passions through Airbnb

    Thailand’s creative entrepreneurs funding passions through Airbnb

    2,000 Airbnb Homes and Experiences hosts in Thailand are members of the Creative Community 25% of all creative Thai hosts are based in Bangkok. One in every five Thai Experience hosts are from the arts, music, fashion or entertainment industries. Like tourism, which now accounts for more than 10 percent of the world’s global GDP, the creative economy is thriving worldwide.…

  • More underpasses, overpasses built to solve Bangkok traffic congestion – PM

    More underpasses, overpasses built to solve Bangkok traffic congestion – PM

    PHOTO: Before the new Ratchayothin underpass that was opened this week PM Prayut Chan-o-cha wants more tunnels and flyovers be built to ease traffic congestions in Bangkok. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says Prayut was impressed that the new Ratchayothin underpass had reduced congestion on Ratchadapisek Road at the Ratchayothin Intersection. The tunnel project was completed in 21 months, three months…

  • Taxi operators want new rates to apply to all taxis

    Taxi operators want new rates to apply to all taxis

    Taxi companies are urging Thailand’s Department of Land Transport (DLT) to apply a new taxi fare to all taxis, not just members of the TAXI OK program. According to DLT Deputy Director General, Kamol Buranapong , a meeting was recently held between the DLT and taxi companies which are facing rising operating costs. The DLT proposed that either a 3 baht…

  • BKK Conference tackles rising road toll

    BKK Conference tackles rising road toll

    by Pratch Rujivanrom Country can learn from Vietnam on promoting safety, say who experts Leading international road safety experts are urging Thai authorities to follow Vietnam’s example by setting up a central agency to directly mitigate the country’s severe accidents problem as well as create a digital traffic database to enhance traffic-law enforcement. Some of the world’s top experts and…

  • Pattaya expat dies from injuries suffered during WBC Bangkok fight

    Pattaya expat dies from injuries suffered during WBC Bangkok fight

    SCREENSHOT: Christian Daghio fighting Don Parueang on October 26 – ทีเคโอ มวยโลก An Italian man, and former world champion in Muay Thai and boxing, has tragically died following a fight in Bangkok. Thai Visa reports that 49 year old Christian Daghio died on Friday in a Bangkok hospital after being put in a coma due to injuries suffered during a WBC Asia…

  • Rap raising debate in the lead up to February election

    Rap raising debate in the lead up to February election

    “As artists, we want to reflect the truth of the society we are living in under dictatorship,” a RAD member identified only as Hockhacker told The Nation Weekend. “Thailand seems to be caught in a loop of dictatorship. We want to voice what the majority cannot say directly. The lyrics were based on information we collected on social media, reflecting…

  • Australia joins UK and USA with withdrawal of income verification

    Australia joins UK and USA with withdrawal of income verification

    The Australian Embassy in Thailand has declared that from January 7, 2019 it will NOT witness Statutory Declarations for proof on income for Thai Visa extensions. Here’s the official announcement…      

  • 730 more foreigners rounded up in nationwide crackdowns

    730 more foreigners rounded up in nationwide crackdowns

    Immigration police have carried out their latest nationwide raid, rounding up foreigners living illegally in Thailand. There were 730 more arrests yesterday. Pol Maj Gen Itthipol Itthisarnronnachai, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told the media at 1am this morning (Friday) the results of the 38th “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” operation. Itthitpol said the operation focused on 238 areas around the…

  • Chinese investment sets new records in property purchases

    Chinese investment sets new records in property purchases

    The demand for property, especially in Bangkok, continues unabated. Despite a drop off in absolute tourism numbers, enquiries from Chinese real estate buyers remains strong, setting new records. Not only are the Chinese the most frequent tourists to Thailand, they are the most enthusiastic property buyers, stetting a new record for Q3 this year. Number two in foreign investors into…

  • More than 130 kids rounded up in Saraburi pub raid

    More than 130 kids rounded up in Saraburi pub raid

    More than 130 illicit drug users along with 128 underage drinkers were nabbed in a raid on a pub in Saraburi early this morning (Thursday). Saraburi is about a two hour drive north of Bangkok. Provincial and juvenile protection officers raided the Lang Khao Pub in Tambon Huay Sai of Nong Kae district at 1am and found it packed with…

  • New flat-fee taxi service to start 2019 after fare hike refused

    New flat-fee taxi service to start 2019 after fare hike refused

    A new taxi service offering unlimited rides for a flat monthly fee of 10,200 baht is set to be launched early next year in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. A total of 2,000 professional taxi drivers and association members will make up the new My Taxi Co fleet, which customers could hail via a smartphone App, according to association president Worapol…

  • Woman accused of animal cruelty dodges media in Bangkok

    Woman accused of animal cruelty dodges media in Bangkok

    PHOTO: The Nation Thonburi Court has freed on bail a 30 year old woman who has been accused of animal cruelty. Wararat Krasae, nicknamed Sun, walked free after her lawyer posted 40,000 baht bail. The woman appeared in the public for the first time at the court on Ekkachai Road after some animal lovers’ group filed complaints with police last…

  • Thai Airways apologises for the Zurich-Bangkok stuff up

    Thai Airways apologises for the Zurich-Bangkok stuff up

    Thai Airways is promising disciplinary action after an investigation found both the flight captain and the station manager based in Zurich had acted ‘unethically’ in the delayed Zurich-Bangkok flight earlier this month. The Thai Airways president Sumeth Damrongchaitham has apologised for the incident stating the investigation showed that the problems happened due to lack of coordination between the flight captain…

  • Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured

    Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured

    FILE PHOTO Eight people have suffered minor injuries following a Bangkok city bus on route number 48 (Ramkhamhaeng 2-Wat Pho) crashing into a power pole near Sukhumvit Soi 48 in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district this morning. The incident caused a long traffic jam. The incident reportedly happened when the driver slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a pickup truck that…

  • Huge gains in reduction of single-use plastics – 30 universities

    Huge gains in reduction of single-use plastics – 30 universities

    A network of 30 universities across the country has succeeded in reducing the number of single-use plastic bags, utensils and cups by 41 million pieces so far this year, it was announced during the Sustainable University Network of Thailand Conference 2018 hosted by Thammasat University. And that’s just at 30 universities. The Nation reports that the 30 universities’ plastic-use reduction…

  • Apple’s first Thailand store opens November 10

    Apple’s first Thailand store opens November 10

    We’re ready for the screams of excitement or the howls of derision. But for the fans… Apple’s first store in Thailand is scheduled to open on November 10 at Iconsiam in Bangkok. Apple Thailand has confirmed the date in a statement today. The company said the riverside store could provide inspirations for a lot of people to learn about technology. Apart…

  • Illegal foreigner crackdown busts 1,000 in Pathum Thani

    Illegal foreigner crackdown busts 1,000 in Pathum Thani

    “Since 2015, there have been over 3,500 arranged marriages, allowing the men to stay and work in Thailand, the report said.” Acting Immigration Police chief Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakpal has led some 1,000 officers to 25 locations in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. It’s part of his concerted push to round up 7,000 illegal foreigners before the end of the…