Isaan
- Covid-19 News
More than 100 soldiers test positive for Covid-19 at Isaan camp
More than 100 soldiers at a camp in the Isaan province Khon Kaen have tested positive for Covid-19 after trips during the New Year holiday. A doctor from the provincial public health office says there are now isolation areas set up at the camp to house the infected soldiers. Reports in Thai media say 124 soldiers at the camp tested…
- Covid-19 News
Covid cluster linked to bar puts pressure on Isaan healthcare system
CORRECTION: An earlier report incorrectly gave the location of the bar, Ekkamai487. The bar is in Ubon Ratchathani. A recent Covid-19 cluster from a local bar is putting pressure on the healthcare system in the Isaan province Ubon Ratchathani. Out of the 315 new cases reported today in the northeastern province, 48 are linked to the local gastropub Ekkamai487. Under…
- Thailand News
700 inmates fight at Isaan prison, 3 seriously injured
A fight involving around 700 inmates broke out at a prison in the Isaan province Sisaket over the weekend, seriously injuring three of the prisoners. Ten other inmates were also injured. At around 9am on Sunday, as they were finishing breakfast, more than 700 prisoners divided into two sides and started fighting, some using toothbrushes they had sharpened as a…
- Thailand News
Drinking water plant forced to suspend operations after fish found in sealed jug
A drinking water plant in Thailand’s Isaan region has been forced to temporarily close after a Siamese fighting fish was found swimming in a sealed 10-litre container. The Ubon Ratchathani plant must suspend its operations until it obtains a license from the Thai Food and Drug Administration. A customer in a nearby village discovered the small fish swimming in a…
- Hot News
Uproar among Thais on Twitter after social media attacks on Isaan people
The Thai “Twittersphere” is in an uproar after a group of users on the social media platform Clubhouse began a derogatory conversation about people from Isaan. This discussion gained attention after so many disparaging comments were made that the hashtag #ClubhouseToxic began trending on Twitter. The Clubhouse users allegedly listed the negative stereotypes of those native to Isaan, such as…
- Thailand News
Village chief in Isaan calls police after mistaking mannequin for naked man
Police in the Isaan province Ubon Ratchathani received a call from the village chief Friday afternoon reporting that a naked man was standing by a resident’s home, but when officers went to approach the man, they discovered it was just a mannequin. According to The Pattaya News, the Bang Yang village headman Mongkolchai Phongsri called the Don Mod Daeng Police…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Thailand’s oldest reclining Buddha partially submerged in flood waters
Thailand’s oldest reclining Buddha at Wat Dhammachakra Sema Ram is the latest casualty from the country’s central flooding. Authorities say the statue was partially submerged as a result of flooding by mountain runoff yesterday. The 1,300 year old Buddha is located inside the Muang Sema Historical Park in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sung Noen district. The Dvaravati-style, sandstone image, which measures 13.3…
- Covid-19 News
Covid spike in Khon Kaen, more field hospitals to open
Covid-19 is on the rise in the Isaan province Khon Kaen and local authorities have agreed to open two more field hospitals after new cases hit around 300 over a few day period with many of the infections linked to social gatherings like funerals and ceremonies at temples to make merit. Governor Somsak Jangtrakul said that the provincial communicable disease…
- Crime News
Khon Kaen police seek court approval to extend detention of American rape suspect
Police in the Isaan province Khon Kaen are seeking court approval to extend the detention of the sexual assault suspect, who allegedly beat and raped a Thai masseuse. The chief of the Muang Khon Kaen police station says officers want to detain the American for another 12 days due to concerns that the man might try to flee. 37 year…
- Northern Thailand News
470 kilograms of marijuana seized in Isaan; reportedly smuggled from Laos
Police in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom seized 470 kilograms of compressed marijuana valued at around 10 million baht and arrested a 26 year old man on drug charges. Officers in the province’s Sri Songkhram district stopped a Mitsubishi Pajero which was travelling from Ban Phaeng, a district along the Mekong River bordering Laos. Police searched the vehicle and found…
- Covid-19 News
Man allegedly steals 6 bottles of alcohol gel from restaurant, cleans table before leaving
A man allegedly stole 6 bottles of alcohol gel from a famous restaurant in Udon Thani, a province in northeast Thailand. But before leaving, the man used the gel to clean a table and chair. The 38 year old restaurant owner, identified as Alias, says she woke up in the morning and was shocked to find that tables at her…
- Northern Thailand News
Man shot and killed at Isaan rice field
A man was shot and killed at a rice field in the Isaan province Maha Sarakham. Yesterday, a villager walking in the rice field found the man’s body and she called the police. Reports say the man was shot five times. One wound was in the neck, one in the back and three shots in the torso. Officers identified the…
- Thailand News
315 inmates at Khon Kaen prison test positive for Covid-19
In a recent Covid-19 outbreak among prison inmates, 315 people detained at Khon Kaen Provincial Prison in the Isaan region tested positive for the virus. The latest and most severe wave spread to many of Thailand’s overcrowded prisons, infecting more than 40,000 inmates over the past several months. Local disease control officials tested inmates at the Khon Kaen prison after…
- Thailand News
More than 30 children at Isaan care centre test postive for Covid-19
More than 30 young children at a care centre tested positive for Covid-19. Health officials say a 2 year old boy, who was first infected by this mother, spread the virus to the childcare centre in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Altogether, 8 teachers and 34 students at the centre tested positive for the virus. The 2 year old boy’s…
- Thailand News
Students in Thailand’s Isaan region go back to school on an elephant
Schools across the country reopened this week after closures due to Covid-19. Some students in the Isaan province Surin decided to go to school in a much different and unconventional way… on an elephant. Three boys, dressed in their school uniforms and carrying their backpacks, rode on top of an elephant together to the Banyawuek School in the province’s Chumphon…
- Northern Thailand News
Isaan farmer and son electrocuted and killed by wire fence in rice field
A 58 year old farmer and his 26 year old son were both electrocuted to death last night in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. The farmer had been placing an electric fence at his rice field to protect wandering cattle from damaging his seedlings. Local residents walking by heard dogs barking and looked over to see the farmer, Prasert Nonpoo,…
- Northern Thailand News
Monk suspected of running off with 70,000 baht in donations
A 64 year old monk in the Isaan province Buri Ram is suspected of running off with 70,000 baht in donations made to the temple. The monk, as well as the thousands of baht in cash, have been missing for the past week. The abbot of a temple in the Nangrong district had made a request with the temple committee…
- Crime News
Nuns arrested for allegedly scamming hundreds out of a total of 10 million baht
Police arrested 3 Buddhist nuns at a meditation centre in Thailand’s Isaan region for allegedly scamming more than 400 people, promising returns to those who invested in a fund for the poor. Victims say the nuns took off with a total of around 10 million baht. A nun at the centre claims those who made merit would receive returns, but…
- Crime News
Court sentences Thailand’s “Jack the Ripper” to death
The convicted serial killer known as “Jack the Ripper in Thailand” has been sentenced to death. The Khon Kaen court in the Isaan province announced its decision today, sentencing convicted murderer Somkid Poompuang to death. In 2005, Somkid was convicted of murdering 5 women, including a singer and 4 masseuses. He had sex with the women before killing them, either by…
- Crime News
Young men shot and killed in Khon Kaen, gunman still at large
A gunman shot and killed 2 young men last night in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Both 18 year old Korkiat Chanasri and 23 year old Theerayuth Faithee were shot in the head. Witnesses say they saw a man talking with the 2 victims. They heard a gunshot and Korkiat collapsed. Theerayuth tried to flee, but he was also shot.…
- Thailand News
18 metre tapeworm comes out of Thai man, doctors suspect he ate raw beef containing parasite eggs
A 67 year old Thai man complaining of stomach pain and extreme flatulence found out his symptoms were from a 18 metre long tapeworm, possibly the longest tapeworm in Thailand in 50 years. The patient gave a stool sample during a visit to a doctor in the Isaan province Nong Khai, which borders Laos. Lab tests found 28 eggs in…
- Northern Thailand News
Investigation launched into boy scout drowning in north-east Thailand
Officials in the north-east province of Kalasin have launched an investigation into the drowning of a school student while partaking in boy scout camp activity. 15 year old Thongnoppakao Sitha died on Tuesday, after a teacher allegedly instructed him to dive into a pond. The activity was part of a mock war, in which the teachers threw rocks at the…
- Thailand News
Mother of drowned boy scout accuses school director of negligence
A woman is accusing a school director in the Isaan province Kalasin of negligence after her teenage son drowned during a boy scout challenge at a nearby swamp. Teachers did not notice 15 year old Noppakao Sita was missing. His body was found later that night at around 8pm after a long search by local divers. Teachers running the scout…
- Thailand News
Teen drowns in swamp during Thai boy scout challenge
A teenage scout drowned yesterday after jumping in a swamp during a mock war with teachers who were throwing rocks at the students, acting as if the stones were bombs. The teen was later reported missing when he did not return home. It took divers 4 hours to search the 3-metre deep swamp and find 15 year old Noppakao Sita’s…
- Northern Thailand News
Head of army band shot dead at military base in north-east Thailand – VIDEO
An army band leader has been shot dead at a military camp in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Phanom, with police launching a murder investigation. 34 year old Rungchalerm Pansawasdi was shot 3 times in the head and neck, at the Phra Yod Muang Kwang army base on Wednesday evening. He had just returned from having dinner with his wife,…
- Northern Thailand News
Thai Public Health Ministry starts cannabis cultivation project in Buri Ram
A cannabis cultivation project is being launched by Thailand’s Public Health Ministry in the Isaan province Buri Ram. 6 cannabis plants will be given to each member of the local Non Malai Community Enterprise as a pilot project on commercial cultivation of cannabis, according to the director of the ministry’s cannabis research group, Kitti Losuwannarak. Cannabis flowers and buds will…
- Thailand News
Police chief transferred after protesters rally at police station, hang banner calling for monarchy reform
A district police chief was abruptly transferred from his post after pro-democracy protesters staged a rally and hung banners at a police station in the Isaan province Chaiyaphum. Protesters called for monarchy reform in Thailand and democracy in Myanmar following the military coup. Protesters from the People’s Group, also known as Ratsadon, marched from a local school to the police…
- Northern Thailand News
Monk arrested on drug charges, allegedly told police methamphetamine was a merit gift
Police arrested a 45 year old Buddhist monk for allegedly getting high on methamphetamine at a temple in the Isaan province Buriram. The monk allegedly told police that a follower gave him the drugs as a merit gift and convinced him to take it. Satuek district police say they received a complaint from the Baan Kok Mueng temple’s abbot claiming…
- Thailand News
Gambling crackdown continues, 400 slot machines seized in warehouse raid
In a nationwide crackdown on gambling, police in the Isaan province Khon Kaen raided a warehouse and seized more than 400 slot machines. Acting on a court warrant, police searched the warehouse in the Mueang district. The locks on the door had been changed and police had to break the locks to enter the warehouse. Inside, canvases covered 418 slot…
- Crime News
Police search for man who allegedly stole 1.9 million baht worth of gold at gunpoint
Police are searching for a man who allegedly pulled out a gun and stole 119 gold necklaces worth more than 1.9 million baht from a Tesco Lotus gold shop in the Isaan province Nakhon Ratchasima’s Non Thai district. The man allegedly pulled out a gun and yelled at the Yaowarat Krungthep gold shop staff to get down on the floor.…
