News
- World News
Asia News Today | Record Covid cases in South Korea, Japan and Australia add extra Russia sanctions
The Asia-Pacific region has been lagging behind other parts of the world, in regards to Covid recover, but now appears primed for a tourist and business travel comeback. Unlike most of North America and Europe, the omicron variant surge in most locations in the Asia-Pacific region still hasn’t peaked. Countries including South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam…
- World News
Asia News Today | North Korea missile fail, Japan seeks to stop crypto payments to Russians
https://youtu.be/9KWCYD7RofY Japanese authorities are ordering crypto exchanges not to process transactions involving any crypto assets as it maintains a stringent asset-freeze against Russia over their invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine. The G7 announced on Friday that Western nations “will impose costs on illicit Russian actors using digital assets to enhance and transfer their wealth.”There are growing concerns that cryptocurrencies…
- Thailand video news
Asia News Today | Malaysia refuses to add sanctions on Russia & Stranded Russians in Thailand
South Korea, heading to the polls tomorrow for the election of the next president, has reported a new record daily high of 342,446 COVID-19 infections… no that’s not a typo. The country also reported an additional 158 Covid-related deaths. As the country goes through the final day of electioneering for, what’s been a toxic and nasty campaign, more than a…
- Thailand video news
Asia News Today | Japan looks for oil alternatives, floods in Malaysia
Japan’s imports of Russian crude would not be able to be replaced immediately, as discussions continue globally about the possibility of cutting Moscow’s oil from overseas markets. Russia is Japan’s fifth-biggest supplier of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, but Japan is now actively looking for alternatives as the sanctions bite and the pressure is on countries to cut economic…
- World News
Asia News Today | Shares in Asia-Pacific decline & oil prices to surge
Shares in Asia-Pacific have declined in today’s trade as oil prices continue to surge, with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continuing to weigh heavily on investor sentiment. The Hang Seng led losses across the region, dropping more than 4% at one point before a small bounce back. Shares of HSBC plummeted 6%. China’s Shanghai composite shed 1.42% and the Shenzhen composite…
- Thailand News
Thai Army’s Channel 5 spreads fake news on Russian attack in Ukraine
Earlier this week, two anchors of the Thai army-owned TV station Channel 5 falsely stated that Ukrainians “faked casualties” in a broadcast of their Lao Khao Khon (เล่าข่าวข้น). The footage was actually from a climate change protest in Austria last month where activists lay on the ground with body bags as a demonstration. From the original clip that went viral…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Update | Thai evacuees from Ukraine test positive
Thai police raided a home suspected of being the headquarters for an illegal gambling website that swindled more than 100 million baht from South Korean victims. Officers arrested four South Korean men and a Thai woman who was renting the home in Samut Prakan, just southeast of Bangkok. The suspects face charges of organising, advertising, and inviting people to gamble…
- World News
Asia News Today | Indonesia’s hotel quarantine scams
Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry say authorities are cracking down on hotel quarantine scams, who he claims are allegedly perpetrated by organised groups, against foreign travellers. He’s already coined the groups the “quarantine mafia”. Police have been following up allegations of numerous reported scams in hotel quarantine across Jakarta. The scam involves travellers being told at the end of their hotel quarantine…
- World News
15 passengers denied entry at Philippines airport over vaccine certificates
Following its reopening of borders to fully-vaccinated visitors last week, the Philippines immigration reportedly denied entry to 15 Malaysians due to their vaccination in Malaysia yesterday. Their passports are reportedly being held and they will be deported from the Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport tomorrow. A passenger told The Star reporters that the Philippines immigration officials did not accept the…
- Bangkok News
Thailand-based natural gas company stalls move on Myanmar following coup
Following the withdrawal of its French and US partners from a gas production project in Myanmar, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Plc is stalling its next move by saying that it will make an official announcement early next month on whether to keep ties with the military in Myanmar or not. US-based Chevron Corp and France-based Total Energies both announced…
- Northern Thailand News
Nok Air announces domestic flights from Korat to Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Hat Yai
The low-cost carrier Nok Air has been given the “okay” to run round-trip domestic flights from the Isaan province Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat, to the popular tourist destinations Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Hat Yai. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is allowing the airline to offer seven flights per week to each destination starting in the second quarter…
- Northern Thailand News
Isaan students support free contraceptive initiative, say schools should offer sex ed
Students in Thailand are welcoming moves from the government to promote safe sex and the use of contraceptives. Earlier this month, the National Health Security Office handed out birth control plans and, in April, they plan to give away free condoms to students 15 years old and above. The effort is aimed at prevent teen pregnancies as well as the…
- World News
Burma or Myanmar? Myanmarese or Burmese?
We refer to Myanmar a lot in our news because it’s a bordering foreign country to Thailand and many people from Myanmar work in and around Thailand. It’s also subject of an ongoing coup after the Burmese military staged a coup on February 1, 2021. But is it Myanmar or Burma? And are the people that live there Myanmarese or…
- Northern Thailand News
Vin Diesel doppelganger in Thailand drives car inspired by Fast and Furious
Thought you’d seen Vin Diesel driving around Thailand in a lookalike of the iconic black 1970 Dodge Charger from Fast and Furious? Your eyes may not have been that far off. There’s a Thai Vin Diesel ‘sort of’ lookalike living in Chiang Rai who drives a black (makeshift) Ford Mustang. In one photo he captioned “Win Diesel Thailand.” The man…
- South Thailand News
Pumice from volcanic eruption found on southern beaches off Gulf of Thailand
Locals who live near the beaches of Songkhla and other southern districts along the Gulf of Thailand have found numerous small pumice stones that are believed to be from a volcanic eruption. No one knows where these spongy greyish-green stones came from. They were discovered along the shoreline in various locations, including Chalathat and Samila beaches, and other major tourist…
- Bangkok News
Thailand’s retail giant Central plans 100 billion baht investment by 2026
Over the next 5 years, Southeast Asia’s largest retailer plans to invest 100 billion baht to grow its business even more. The Thailand-based Central Retail Corporation Pcl, which has more than 20 department stores and shopping centres across Thailand as well as two outlets in Indonesia, says the investment, which is around US$3.03 billion, is aimed at increasing revenue and…
- Covid-19 News
Scientists in India say they’ve come up with a vaccine against all Covid variants
Indian scientists say they have come up with a vaccine that is effective against all variants of Covid-19… Yes, ALL variants. With new SARS-COV-2 virus versions causing new outbreaks of the highly contagious disease, scientists at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, and Kazi Nazrul University designed a vaccine, which they say, can defend against any potential coronavirus…
- World News
Villager in Indonesia rescues crocodile trapped in motorbike tyre for five years
A villager in Indonesia was about to free a crocodile of a motorbike tyre that had been stuck around its neck for more five years. Since 2016, conservationists have been trying to capture the crocodile to free him from the tyre, but had not been successful. But this week, a villager from Sulawesi island in the east of Borneo, along…
- World News
Singapore’s LGBT content ban slammed after gay kiss caught in news broadcast
In a Singaporean news broadcast on the Winter Olympics, it wasn’t the coverage that got the attention of viewers, it was what was happening in the background at the Beijing bar. Behind the Channel News Asia correspondent were two men passionately kissing, a taboo for Singaporeans where broadcasting laws prohibit LGBT content and homosexual relationships between men are illegal. Although…
- World News
Election campaigns kick off in the Philippines, Marcos Jr. a favourite
The campaign season in the Philippines leading up to the May presidential election kicked off this week. Channel News Asia says this season is candidates are running a “chaotic” and “colourful charm offensive” which is aimed at attracting the millions of voters who are “typically more interested in personality than policy.” Analysts have already foreseen the victory of Ferdinand “Bongbong”…
- World News
Malaysia considers full reopening in March to vaccinated travellers
Following moves from other Southeast Asian countries, like Thailand, to gradually reopen borders, Malaysia is considering a full reopening of borders starting March 1, allowing vaccinated travellers to enter without mandatory quarantine requirements. The plan is to speed up the country’s economic recovery, according to its coronavirus recovery council today. The Southeast Asian country that shut down its borders in March…
- World News
13 killed, dozens injured in Indonesia’s Java island bus crash
At least 13 people were killed in a bus crash on Indonesia’s Java island yesterday. Dozens of passengers, including young children, were injured. Many were factory workers on their way to a beach for a holiday trip. The bus carried 47 people travelling from Sukoharjo in Central Java to Yogyakarta for a family gathering. The driver lost control while driving…
- South Thailand News
Police seize 16 kilograms of methamphetamine in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A drug suppression squad in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat seized 16 kilograms of methamphetamine in a sting operation. The undercover operation was led by the provincial governor in Phrom Khiri district and included police and officials from the Internal Security Operations Command. An undercover cop arranged an appointment with a suspect who is identified as 32 year…
- World News
Second Thai-Laos friendship bridge will house both railway and motorway- Transport Minister
Thailand is planning to build a bridge to Laos across the Mekong River for both railway and motorway. Last month, the Thai cabinet approved the project to build a second Thailand-Laos friendship bridge, connecting Nong Khai in northeast Thailand and the Laos capital Vientiane, as part of the third phase of the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project. The construction is estimated…
- Crime News
Officers seize monitor lizards, monkeys from farm suspected of exporting to restaurants
A farm owner was arrested for allegedly raising and exporting water monitor lizards and macaque monkeys in the northern province of Phichit. Officers say they suspect the farm was exporting the animals to Cambodia, and then to Vietnam and China to be sold to restaurants, according to the commander of the National Resources and Environmental Crime Division. When officials arrived…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital performs knee joint surgery using robotic-arm technology
Robotic surgeries have been around for a while, but at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, doctors announced that for the first time, they replaced an entire knee joint on an elderly patient using the Stryker’s Mako robotic arm. The robotic-arm assisted surgery was developed for knee replacements. It does a CT scan of the patient, creating a 3D image and helping surgeons…
- Thailand News
German man’s body found hanging, his Kanchanaburi house on fire
The body of a 63 year old German man was found hanging on a wrought iron fence and his house was on fire. Police suspect the incident is a suicide, but are still investigating. The firefighters were summoned to Kanchanaburi Villa Housing Estate in the Tha Makham subdistrict of Muang this morning. Ten fire engines from the municipalities of Muang,…
- World News
Australia calls for the “immediate release” of economist detained in Myanmar
The foreign minister of Australia says officials are using every opportunity to advocate for the release of Australian professor and economist, Sean Turnell, who was detained in Myanmar last year following the February 1, 2021 military coup. Foreign Minister Marise Payne released a statement yesterday calling on the “immediate release” of Turnell, saying his detention “unjust.” Professor Turnell’s detention is unjust,…
- Bangkok News
China proposes to donate two used submarines to Thai Navy after problems in purchase deal
The Royal Thai Navy is reportedly in talks with China about receiving two decommissioned military submarines. But apparently, the offer is on the table because there was a problem with ordering parts for the submarine currently being assembled by China for Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post. The used submarines would be used for training while Thailand waits for its…
- Bangkok News
Mother of eye doctor killed at Bangkok zebra crossing calls for justice
Justice is being called on Thailand’s traffic laws system by the mother of the doctor who was fatally hit by a police officer’s Ducati while walking on a zebra crossing in Bangkok’s Phaya Thai area 2 weeks ago. A petition was sent to a parliamentary law committee yesterday. The appeal was addressed to the House law committee by the mother of…
