Japan

  • Thailand NewsDivers believe they have found a 77 year old wrecked US Navy submarine by Phuket

    Divers believe they have found a 77 year old wrecked US Navy submarine by Phuket

    Divers in the Strait of Malacca have reportedly found what they believe to be a 77 year old US Navy wrecked submarine in what is seemingly the concluding piece in a tale from World War II. The divers are currently awaiting confirmation of the finding from the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification after sending photos and…

  • Politics NewsJapan’s PM Shinzo Abe to step down over health

    Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe to step down over health

    Japan’s media today reported that PM Shinzo Abe will resign over health issues, in a shock development that will end a record-setting tenure with no clear successor decided. There was no immediate confirmation, and the reports came just hours before Abe was to hold a press conference about his health. The news sent Tokyo stocks tumbling more than 2%, the…

  • Covid-19 NewsThai Airways launching direct flights to Phuket for “Safe & Sealed” campaign

    Thai Airways launching direct flights to Phuket for “Safe & Sealed” campaign

    Thai Airways is dusting off its fleet and getting ready to relaunch international travel, with direct flights to Phuket from 6 countries planned to take off in the next few months. It’s all designed to co-incide with the announced “safe & sealed” campaign which the Thai government hope will re-boot tourism for the beleaguered island. Thai Airways flights have been…

  • World NewsHong Kong resumes travel bubble discussions with Thailand and Japan

    Hong Kong resumes travel bubble discussions with Thailand and Japan

    Hong Kong’s commerce chief, Edward Yau, says the Special Administrative Region is once again chatting to Thailand authorities, and Japan, regarding the possible formation of “travel bubbles”. The talks were suspended last month as Hong Kong battled a third wave ‘spike’ of the Covid-19 virus. Now, the idea of mutually beneficial travel agreements is back on the table, subject to a…

  • World NewsState quarantine for Thais entering Singapore, while harder hit nations get a pass

    State quarantine for Thais entering Singapore, while harder hit nations get a pass

    Singapore’s government will continue to require that all Thai arrivals to the city-state undergo a 14 day mandatory state quarantine before being allowed to enter the country and mingle with the general population. Singapore, which has 45,298 total cases, says that Thais must serve their “Stay Home Notice” at dedicated government quarantine facilities. Arrivals from China, which has seen a total…

  • World NewsSupercomputer from Japan now tackling Covid-19

    Supercomputer from Japan now tackling Covid-19

    The world’s fastest supercomputer from Japan is now being used to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic. Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer claimed its spot this week as a global super-computer as it has been shown to process 2.8 times more data per second than an IBM computer in the US. Its name Fugaku is Japanese for Mount Fuji. The computer simulates how…

  • World NewsJapan and China island-rights battle heating up

    Japan and China island-rights battle heating up

    A small group of uninhabited islands may be the centre of upcoming military sabre-rattling between China and Japan as both sides appear to be claiming the territory as their own. The islands are called Senkakus (Japan) and Diaoyus (China) with Japan controlling the area since 1972. The potential for the clashes is growing with the US now threatening to intervene.…

  • Covid-19 NewsThai PM expresses condolences after repatriated man dies in state quarantine

    Thai PM expresses condolences after repatriated man dies in state quarantine

    Following the death in state quarantine of a repatriated Thai man, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has offered his condolences to the family and ordered a postmortem to establish the exact cause of death. A report in Thai PBS World says the man, named as Pongsak Kidkha, returned from Japan on June 9, and was placed in state quarantine at a Bangkok…

  • Thailand NewsThailand News Today – Tuesday, June 16

    Thailand News Today – Tuesday, June 16

    To register for the Thaiger Flash Property Sale log in HERE. It all start this Thursday at midday! Outrage over 75,000 baht travel allowance for senior execs at Thai Airways The deputy leader of Thailand’s Democrat Party says Thai’s should be outraged by the disclosure that Thai Airways senior management have been getting a 75,000 baht “travel allowance”. He decries…

  • Covid-19 NewsGovernment reticent to re-open Thai entertainment after new Covid cases hit Japanese nightlife

    Government reticent to re-open Thai entertainment after new Covid cases hit Japanese nightlife

    The Thai government says it still has some concerns about reopening the country’s nightlife after a resurgence of the Covid-19 virus in Japan was linked to entertainment venues in Tokyo. The spokesman for the government’s Covid-19 task force, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin says the Japanese outbreak, and a prior, similar outbreak in South Korea’s clubs, is the reason Thailand’s bars and…

  • Covid-19 NewsCovid-era travel restrictions around Asia

    Covid-era travel restrictions around Asia

    As most Asian countries dust themselves off and emerge from the ashes of the initial ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, a report in the Chiang Rai Times looks at how flight restrictions may affect travel in the region. International flights are still off-limits for many countries, but the situation is expected to gradually improve, particularly with the introduction of “travel…

  • World NewsTwo transnational drug smuggling gangs busted

    Two transnational drug smuggling gangs busted

    Police have cracked down on two transnational drug trafficking gangs who both smuggle and distribute large amounts of methamphetamine as well as other drugs in and out of Thailand. 11 members of the gang “Black Sashimi” were arrested for drugs trafficked from Thailand to Japan using Thai females ‘mules’ to carry the drugs into the country. The alleged gang leader,…

  • Crime NewsBoxer wants officers prosecuted after false imprisonment

    Boxer wants officers prosecuted after false imprisonment

    A former boxer recently released from custody for drug trafficking charges claims he was wrongfully imprisoned and is calling on the national police chief to prosecute the officers that filed the drug charges. He has submitted documents to Thailand’s police chief Chakthip Chaijinda as evidence he had been wrongfully imprisoned for 14 months. Now he’s demanding justice and wants the police…

  • Covid-19 NewsLeading virologist warns against enabling second wave of Covid-19

    Leading virologist warns against enabling second wave of Covid-19

    A second wave of Covid-19 infections could easily strike Thailand unless people stick to the “new normal” of social distancing, according to Chulalongkorn University’s Head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology. Posting on Facebook today, Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote that everyone is looking forward to the second phase of easing Emergency Decree restrictions now that the rate of…

  • Thailand NewsThai Embassy in Japan advises citizens to register for repatriation flights

    Thai Embassy in Japan advises citizens to register for repatriation flights

    The Thai Embassy in Tokyo is advising citizens who wish to return home to register for two repatriation flights in May. Thai PBS World reports that with the ban on international flights extended until the end of May, the embassy is laying on two special flights for citizens who wish to return to Thailand. Posting on its Facebook page, the embassy…

  • World NewsJapan cruise ship: 14 more crew test positive for Covid-19

    Japan cruise ship: 14 more crew test positive for Covid-19

    The Costa Atlantica, the cruise ship docked in Nagasaki, Japan, has had 14 more crew members test positive for the Covid-19 virus. The additional cases come on top of 34 confirmed cases earlier this week. Thai PBS World reports that the ship has been in Nagasaki since January, when it docked to have maintenance work carried out. It’s believed to…

  • Covid-19 NewsThai family of three are focus of local coronavirus outbreak in northern Bangkok

    Thai family of three are focus of local coronavirus outbreak in northern Bangkok

    UPDATE Three worrying new Thailand coronavirus cases are being reported as coming from the same family. A 65 year old man, the grandfather in the family, had returned from Japan with his wife but didn’t disclose his situation or travel history to health workers when he took himself to hospital with a fever. The grandfather tested positive and his workplace,…

  • Covid-19 NewsCoronavirus UPDATE: Spark in cases in Italy and South Korea, Air Asia cancels flights

    Coronavirus UPDATE: Spark in cases in Italy and South Korea, Air Asia cancels flights

    Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases have now reached 79,561 around the world, with 77,345 of the cases confined to China. The rise in cases has been principally in China with 409 new cases and South Korea with 161 new cases. 2,619 people have died from the infection. The major outbreaks, outside China, have been in South Korea, aboard the Diamond Princess (still…

  • Covid-19 NewsKorean virus cases skyrocket; Japanese passenger turns positive

    Korean virus cases skyrocket; Japanese passenger turns positive

    The number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Korea has increased tenfold in just four days to 556, and a passenger on the virus-stricken Diamond Princess tested positive after arriving home in Japan, despite a negative result during the ship’s 14-day quarantine. Yesterday, China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak began, saw 96 deaths, another decrease, in line with the toll reported…

  • Covid-19 NewsPublic Health Ministry urges Thais to delay visits to Japan, Singapore

    Public Health Ministry urges Thais to delay visits to Japan, Singapore

    The Public Health Ministry is urging Thais to postpone any planned visits to Singapore and Japan, citing the rising number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the two countries. Thailand’s total confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 35. The permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima says that the virus outbreak in the two countries has…

  • Covid-19 News10 on quarantined cruise test positive for Coronavirus

    10 on quarantined cruise test positive for Coronavirus

    If you’ve got to be quarantined, it may as well be on a luxury cruise ship. But Japan’s health minister Katsunobu Kato announced today that 10 people on the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama Harbour, have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus. The 3711 guests and crew are still being tested, after a former passenger, who disembarked…

  • Covid-19 NewsCoronavirus UPDATE – 492 people now dead, spread to 25 countries

    Coronavirus UPDATE – 492 people now dead, spread to 25 countries

    The latest toll for the Coronavirus outbreak has now reached 25,552, of which just over 3,000 are reported to be in a critical condition. 492 people have died from the disease and 907 have recovered. Outside of China there are now 25 countries with infected patients – Thailand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and Germany with the most cases. Meanwhile,…

  • Covid-19 NewsCoronavirus UPDATE – Confirmed cases surpass 20,000

    Coronavirus UPDATE – Confirmed cases surpass 20,000

    There are now 20,638 cases of the Novel Coronavirus . So far, there have been 427 deaths, all but one in China. There have also been 688 people recovering from the virus. Importantly, the death rate has been only 2%, a low rate compared to similar outbreaks of flu-like viruses in the past. Even though the outbreak has spread around…

  • Crime News2 more alleged call centre scam suspects arrested in Japan

    2 more alleged call centre scam suspects arrested in Japan

    Two men arrested in Japan yesterday stand accused of operating a large-scale call centre scam based in Thailand, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to 28. Japanese police believe 36 year old Kengo Yasutake and 34 year old Shimpei Hirata operated a luxury home in Pattaya, where a team of Japanese men would call people across Japan…

  • World NewsVietnam extends 15 day visa-free travel for some countries

    Vietnam extends 15 day visa-free travel for some countries

    Vietnam’s tourism operators are welcoming the Vietnam government’s decision to extend the visa-free stays for citizens from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark and Belarus for another three years. The eight countries have already enjoyed visa exemption (for a stay up to 15 days) since 2015, but it was due to expire at the end of this year.…

  • Business NewsForeign investment applications rise 69% in first nine months

    Foreign investment applications rise 69% in first nine months

    PHOTO: Bloomberg Thailand continues attracting foreign direct investment, with applications rising 69% in the first nine months of 2019, according the Board of Investment (BOI). Applications in the electronics and electrical sector, and the digital and automotive sectors, represented 131.78 billion baht, or 65% of the total. The value of applications, up to September this year, was 203.37 billion baht,…

  • Economy NewsSit down, shut up and hang on – The Asian century is here

    Sit down, shut up and hang on – The Asian century is here

    GRAPHIC: paragkhanna.com In the nineteenth century, the world was ‘Europeanised’. In the twentieth century, it was ‘Americanised’. This century it is all about being ‘Asianised’. With more than half of the world’s population, Asia has gone swiftly from low to middle-income status in a single generation. Today, its global share of trade grows quickly, along with capital, people, knowledge, transport,…

  • Crime NewsThai women in Japan drug bust

    Thai women in Japan drug bust

    Japanese Police and Customs Officials at Fukuoka Airport reported the arrest of seven Thai women who smuggled in drugs weighing more than a kilogram into Japan. The women separated the drugs into tiny bags and hid them in random places on their bodies. The women purchased tour tickets and tried to blend in as Thai tourists. When caught with the…

  • World Cupဂ်ပန္လက္ေရြးစင္အသင္းဟာ၂၀၂၂ ေျခစစ္ပြဲစဥ္အျဖစ္ျမန္မာအသင္းနဲ႔ ရင္ဆိုင္ ရန္ နာရီပိုင္းအလို။

    ဂ်ပန္လက္ေရြးစင္အသင္းဟာ၂၀၂၂ ေျခစစ္ပြဲစဥ္အျဖစ္ျမန္မာအသင္းနဲ႔ ရင္ဆိုင္ ရန္ နာရီပိုင္းအလို။

    Myanmar hosts Asian heavyweights Japan in the second match of their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers campaign at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon tonight. Live link below… ျမန္မာ သာမက ကမာၻက ေစာင့္ၾကည့္ေနသည့္ Japanese Messi (Kubo) ျမန္မာအသင္းနဲ႔ ကမၻာ႔ဖလားေျခစစ္ပြဲကစားဖို႔အတြက္ နာမည္ၾကီးဂ်ပန္အသင္းကေတာ့ ေရာက္ရွိလို႔ ေနခ့ဲပါျပီ။ ၂၀၂၂ ကမၻာ႔ဖလားျပိဳင္ပြဲေျခစစ္ပြဲအတြက္ ျမန္မာအသင္းဟာ ဂ်ပန္နဲ႔ တစ္အုပ္စုတည္းက်ေရာက္ေနခဲ့ျပီး ျမန္မာနဲ႔ရင္ဆိုင္ရမယ့္ လူစာရင္းမွာ ဥေရာပအေျခစိုက္ ကစားသမားေတြ ပါ၀င္လာခဲ့တာကို ေတြ႕ရမွာပါ။ ဒီအတြက္ ျမန္မာပရိသတ္ေတြဆီက စိတ္လႈပ္ရွားေနတဲ့ အသံေတြကို ၾကားသိျမင္ေတြ႕ေနရပါတယ္။ အထူးသျဖင့္ေတာ့ ရီးရဲလ္မက္ဒရစ္ကို ေျပာင္းေရႊ႕ခဲ့ျပီး (လက္ရွိ မာေယာ့ကာမွာ…

  • World NewsNew Japanese Emperor to ascend throne at 5pm today

    New Japanese Emperor to ascend throne at 5pm today

    Thailand’s not the only country with special royal occasions this week. For the first time in more than 200 years, Japan’s emperor will abdicate today. His son will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne which ushers in a new era for the world’s oldest monarchy. The historic abdication has resulted in an unprecedented 10 day holiday for Japan marked as special days to celebrate…