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Monk survives 50 metre fall inside mountain cave in Kanchanaburi
A monk fell 50 metres down into a cave and was rescued after a 10-hour mission. Reports say 29 year old Phra Thada was descending into the cave when a rope on the ladder snapped, hurling him down to the cave floor. He suffered serious injuries to his hips and legs. The monk, from a temple in the Khlong San…
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Excessive news consumption causes stress – Thailand’s Department of Mental Health
Don’t read too much news, at least that’s what Thailand’s Department of Mental Health is saying. The spokesperson told the media the department concerned with Thais that obsessively monitoring the news and social media updates to the point of stress, particularly while major events are occurring. The warning from the department comes at a time when the investigation into the…
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Commercial flights at Thailand’s newest airport in Yala to take off on March 14
Commercial flights at Thailand’s newest airport in the southern province Yala are set to take off on March 14. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that the first flight to Yala’s Betong Airport will depart from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport this month. The new airport is a part of the government’s strategy to strengthen the economy and stability in the three southern provinces,…
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Monk gives residents 200 baht each after winning 18 million baht lottery
A monk won the top Thai government lottery prize of 18 million baht and is now giving the money away to locals, other temples, and various organisations. The monk in the northern province Nakhon Phanom says he doesn’t usually buy lottery tickets as monks shouldn’t join any kinds of gambling, but says he recently bought a ticket to help a…
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UKRAINE UPDATES: Russia allows civilians to flee — to Russia, as 95% of its amassed forces now in Ukraine; China to provide humanitarian aid
Here’s the latest headlines from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… • Russian sate media has announced a new ceasefire proposal, which would allow civilians to flee key cities via humanitarian corridors. But the Ukrainian government has denounced the plan as “immoral,” as civilians in Kyiv would be offered safe passage north to Belarus, while those in Kharkiv would have a corridor…
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Cannabis is Thailand’s “secret weapon” to bring back tourists, health official says
One public health official says Thailand has a “secret weapon” to bring back tourists… It’s cannabis. Some experts and officials hope that decriminalising marijuana, alongside declaring Covid-19 as endemic, will help tourism in Thailand bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. The public health official made the statement over the weekend at a medical marijuana conference at Surin’s Rajamangala University of Technology.…
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Philippines to raise the minimum age of sexual consent from 12 to 16
The age of sexual consent in the Philippines is being raised from 12 to 16 years old. President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a bill raising the minimum age in an effort to protect adolescents from rape and sexual assault. The bill says statutory rape is when an adult has sexual contact with a person 16 years old or younger, unless the…
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Homeless man allegedly stabs Japanese man in Bangkok’s Nana area
Police officers arrested a Thai man for stabbing a Japanese expat in Bangkok’s Nana area on Sukhumvit Soi 13. Reports say the suspect ran down to Soi 19 with a bloody knife still in his hand. An officer shot him with a stun gun before detaining him. On Saturday, the man allegedly stabbed the 36 year old Japanese businessman in…
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Prices for instant noodles, condensed milk to rise next month
Prices for instant noodles and condensed milk are set to rise next month as the Ukraine-Russia conflict has affected imports and exports in Thailand, according to the Ministry of Thai Commerce. The ministry says that the situation could cause inflation, but says the state would try to control the price of food and necessary products as much as possible. Commerce…
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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…
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Thousands of Thais trafficked to Japan for prostitution each year
Thousands of children and women are trafficked from Thailand to Japan for prostitution every year, a recent study shows. A senior Thai police officer says he found that Japan has been the largest market of Thais trafficked into the sex industry. “In the case of illegal trafficking of women and children for prostitution, Japan has been the largest market for…
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Monday Covid Update: 21,162 new cases; provincial totals
65 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 23,300 with 1,602 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 21,162 new Covid-19 cases and 23,159 recoveries. There are now 230,459 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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National police chief suspects Tangmo’s death was an accident
Thailand’s national police chief says the death of actress Tangmo seems to have been an accident. He says evidence shows the death of the celebrity in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River appears to have been an accident. An autopsy report shows the actress died from drowning. Her body also had a large cut on her leg, possibly from the speedboat’s propellor.…
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Hospital in Bangkok interrupts funeral, says they accidentally gave the wrong corpse
Staff from a hospital in Bangkok interrupted a funeral right before the cremation ceremony to tell the family that they had accidentally given them the wrong corpse. After discovering that the wrong corpse had been given away, staff from the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok quickly went to the ceremony and told the family “the corpses were switched!” The husband of…
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Phuket, Krabi resorts no longer accepting credit cards from Russian guests
Resorts and hotels in tourist destinations such as Krabi and Phuket are no longer accepting credit cards from Russian guests, according to a Thai PBS World report. The decision comes after 7 Russian banks were excluded from the SWIFT financial global messaging system, leaving many Russians overseas unable to use their credit cards. Card providers Mastercard and Visa have also…
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Thai police ask Canadian court not to grant bail to Jimi Sandhu murder suspect
Police in Thailand are asking a Canadian court to refuse a bail application for a man wanted for murder on the southern island of Phuket. Canadian national Matthew Dupre is 1 of 2 suspects wanted for the murder of Indian gang member Jimi Singh Sandhu, who was gunned down outside his Rawai villa on February 4. Dupre and his alleged…
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Body of Australian cricket legend to be flown home following autopsy
Police on Koh Samui say the body of Australian cricket player, Shane Warne, will be flown home for a state funeral once the autopsy is completed. The 52-year-old was found dead at a villa on the island on Friday, a day after he arrived. The player is thought to have died of a heart attack. According to a Bangkok Post…
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Health ministry says Covid-19 could be considered endemic in Thailand by July
Thailand’s health ministry believes the Covid-19 situation will have improved sufficiently for the illness to be considered endemic by July. According to a Nation Thailand report, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says the situation continues to improve, paving the way for the virus to be moved from pandemic to endemic status by the middle of the year. He adds that PM…
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Walkway connecting Bangkok parks will be renovated in September
A walkway connecting Bangkok’s Lumpini and Benjakitti parks will be renovated in September. The walkway was first built in 1999. The renovation will give it better biking and running lanes, with flowers lining the sides. There will even be a park, as well as a rest area. The walkway is being referred to as the ‘green bridge’, and the Bangkok…
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Amidst boycott of Russia, Putin threatens Ukrainian ‘statehood’
Amidst a boycott of Russia by several international corporations, Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened the existence of Ukrainian statehood yesterday. “The current (Ukrainian) authorities must understand that if they continue to do what they are doing, they are putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood”. The most recent high profile boycott of Russia involves Mastercard and Visa suspending operations…
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Mastercard and Visa suspend services in Russia, Russian banks downplay effects
Mastercard and Visa have announced that they will suspend their services in Russia. Visa cards issued in Russia will also stop working outside the country. The US President Joe Biden said that he welcomes the suspension. Meanwhile, Russian banks are downplaying the effects it will have on their clients. The Russia Central Bank stressed that cards would still operate normally…
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Should Foreigners Still Come To Live and Retire In Thailand?
Thailand has always been popular as a country to come to live and retire. Many foreign retirees could come to Thailand and live a pretty good life. However, since the exchange rate has tightened up and the covid 19 pandemic, how has that effected retirees living in Thailand? Tim sits with Ben Hart from Integrity legal to find out more…
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3 million Covid-19 infections in Thailand since 2020, mental health plummets
Yesterday, Thailand’s number of Covid-19 infections since the pandemic hit the country in 2020 jumped to 3 million. There have been 781,371 infections since January 1. Out of those infections, there have been 1,478 deaths, and 589,997 recoveries. Thailand’s Department of Mental Health has also reported the drastic impact of Covid-19 on mental health. DMH’s director-general told the Bangkok Post…
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Vaccinated Travel Lanes between Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia starting March 15
A network of new Vaccinated Travel Lanes is starting to open up around South East Asia as the government’s find ‘safe’ ways to reopen their borders whilst still maintaining some precautions. The Omicron variant continues to surge in many of the regional Asian countries despite similar surges and declines already over in many countries in the EU, the US, UK…
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Russian embassy warns Thais “don’t fight with Ukrainians”, threatens prosecution
Yesterday, the Embassy of Russia in Bangkok posted on Facebook urging Thais not to join the Ukrainian military. The post was originally in Russian, but viewers can see a translated version in English. The embassy alleges that under international law, such ‘merceneries’ who join Ukrainian forces are not qualified as combatants, and have no status as prisoners of war. It…
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Shane Warne’s death, “he had chest pains and asthma”
Thai Police have made some further comment relating to the death of legendary Australia cricketer, Shane Warne’s, death on Friday afternoon. One of Cricket’s finest bowlers of all time, and ‘Aussie icon’, died aged 52, a day after arriving on Koh Samui for an extended vacation with friends. He died of a suspected heart attack after taking an afternoon nap.…
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Paypal will still work in Thailand until the end of the year
After Paypal warned of suspending its services in Thailand starting March 7, the company announced yesterday that it will in fact keep providing services in the country until the end of the year. Paypal had warned it would close services in Thailand after Thai authorities wanted it to verify all users’ identities, in order to prevent money laundering. But now,…
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Myanmar junta revokes citizenship for National Unity Government members
Myanmar’s junta government announced today that it revoked the citizenships of several members of the country’s opposition government, which it considers a ‘terrorist’ group. This ‘opposition’ is mainly composed of the previously elected government that were overthrown on February 1, 2021. The Bangkok Post did not report the total number of members whose citizenships were revoked. But it included the…
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Malaysian minister announces vaccinated travel lane with Thailand, Cambodia
Malaysia’s Transport Minister announced today that the country’s government is preparing to start a Vaccinated Travel Lane with Thailand and Cambodia as early as the middle of this month. The minister said the VTL will follow the same model as the VTL between Singapore’s Changi International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In the VTL, travellers who enter Malaysia take…
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Russia threatens up to 15 years for ‘fake news’ on military actions in Ukraine
Russia amended its criminal code yesterday and passed a law making the spread of ‘fake’ information a criminal offense. Intentionally spreading so-called fake information about the country’s military actions in the Ukraine can now be punishable with fines, and up to 15 years imprisonment. Russia’s lower house of parliament outlined a ‘sliding scale’ of penalties for people who have discredited…
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