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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Why traders in Thailand are choosing EC Markets for gold and forex trading
Gold and forex trading have long been favourites among investors in Thailand, but why are so many traders now turning to EC Markets? The answer lies in a combination of tight spreads, ultra-fast execution, Thai baht (THB) deposit support, and...
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German tourists injured in Pattaya-Naklua road accident
Two German tourists sustained injuries after being struck by a car while leaving a bar on Pattaya-Naklua Road. The accident took place around 2am on Saturday, May 6 on the Naklua Pattaya Road. Jakob Bauler, 68 years old, and, 58 year old, Klaus Werner were walking back to their hotel after enjoying a night out at one of the bars…
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Thai stock market rebounds with net inflows as investors absorb negative US news
The Thai stock market has begun experiencing net inflows this week after significant capital outflows during the first four months of the year, according to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Investors have seemingly absorbed negative news regarding the US banking crisis and the possibility of a recession. Soraphol Tulayasathien, a senior executive vice president, expressed hope that May would…
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ITV closes its operations since 2007 and files lawsuits against the Prime Minister’s Office
Anupong Chayrith, the Deputy Director of the Public Relations Department of Thailand (PRD/Thai PBS), confirmed on Wednesday that ITV Co., Ltd. has ceased operations since 2007, and likewise, its subsidiary, which provided filming equipment rentals, has also closed down. However, they are maintaining their legal status as they take legal action against the Office of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. This…
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Laotian woman gives birth in pickup truck on Thai road
At around 2am yesterday, volunteer staff from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation received a report of a woman giving birth in a pickup truck on Tiwanon Road, near the Amphornphisarn intersection in Bang Phut Subdistrict, Pak Kret District, Nonthaburi. The emergency team quickly arrived at the location to provide assistance reports Sanook. Upon arriving at the scene, they found a…
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Couple condemned for having sex on a public beach in southern Thailand
A viral video of a couple having sex on Chang Lang Beach in Trang province, southern Thailand, has caused outrage among Thai authorities and netizens. The video, which shows a Thai man and woman having sex inside a camping tent on the beach, was widely circulated on the Facebook groups of Trang residents. The man was said to have repeatedly…
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Move Forward Party aims to make an impact in upcoming Thai elections
The Move Forward Party, which emerged in the wake of the dissolution of Thailand’s Future Forward Party, is set to make a significant impact in the upcoming polls. The latter won 81 seats in the 2019 Thai elections, enjoying overwhelming support from young voters due to its liberal-progressive stance. However, the country’s Constitutional Court disbanded the party over campaign finance…
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Southern Thailand’s struggle to attract foreign investors
The Southern Region Industrial Estate in Songkhla province of Thailand is unusually quiet. Long winding roads, usually bustling with heavy vehicles, are mostly empty. There are only two industrial estates in southern Thailand, the other being the Songkla Industrial Estate. In total, there are 67 industrial estates across the country. Sirianya Pornsuwankun, a tenant of the Southern Region Industrial Estate…
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Fast food slows down amid technology advancements and post-pandemic challenges
Fast food restaurants have long been associated with swift service and short wait times. However, recently in Singapore, a student had to wait for around ninety minutes for her McDonald‘s meal, sparking debate online as to why the fast food industry appears to be slowing down despite the growing use of self-service technologies. The traditional fast food model of operation…
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Anthropic’s AI constitution: creating a safer rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT
Google owner Alphabet-backed artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic has revealed its rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, named Claude, which comes with a set of written moral values designed to make the chatbot safe to use. The moral values guidelines, known as Claude’s constitution, draw from various sources such as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and Apple Inc’s data privacy…
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Will the Thai election help sex workers?
Many are hoping to see a change in their country after Thailand‘s upcoming General Election on May 14, and sex workers are no exception. Sex workers are crossing their fingers for the elections to bring about a change in the country’s antiquated sex industry legislation. With an estimated 300,000 people involved in the sex industry, campaigners are working to pass…
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Illegal brothel discovered in Singapore after Thai woman climbs out window
Police uncovered an illegal brothel in Singapore after someone reported seeing a Thai woman standing on a third-floor ledge of a residential building in Jalan Besar on April 8. On Monday, the woman on the ledge was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to living off the earnings of the prostitution of another person. A passerby saw the woman standing…
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Monk shoots rival monk due to dispute over seniority
A monk yesterday shot a fellow monk over a dispute regarding seniority shocking the community around Rat Samak Khee Temple in Nong Bua Lamphu province in the northeastern part of Thailand. The monk survived the shooting despite being shot five times. Officers from Na Klang Police Station rushed to the scene and discovered the injured monk, 57 year old Weerapong…
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk reveals new features including calls and encrypted messaging
Details regarding new features for Twitter, including calls and encrypted messaging, have been unveiled by Chief Executive Elon Musk, 49 years old, on Tuesday. Last year, Musk teased plans for “Twitter 2.0 The Everything App,” which he claimed would contain options like encrypted direct messages (DMs), long-form tweets, and payments. Musk announced in a tweet on Tuesday that the platform…
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US braces for migrant influx as pandemic-era asylum rules end
As United States pandemic-era rules expire, the country is preparing to face thousands of migrants, resulting in deep divisions over immigration. These individuals are seeking safety and shelter in the US, but with a rising wave of nationalism, the welcome they receive may be uncertain. The Texas cities of El Paso, Brownsville, and Laredo have declared a state of emergency,…
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Thailand and UAE launch first free trade agreement
Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) revealed the launch of their first free trade agreement (FTA) on Tuesday. The FTA aims to create new opportunities for trade, services, and investment between the two nations, expecting to boost bilateral trade by 10% within the first year of implementation. Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit and the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign…
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Imran Khan to face graft charges in special court following nationwide protests
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to appear in a special court today at Islamabad’s police headquarters to address corruption allegations, following his unexpected arrest that led to violent nationwide protests yesterday. Khan’s detention comes after months of political turmoil, and soon after the influential military criticized the former cricket star for claiming that a high-ranking officer was…
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OCBC reports record net profit in Q1 as strong net interest income growth boosts earnings
Singapore‘s second-largest lender, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), has reported a 39% increase in first-quarter profit compared to a year ago, driven by robust net interest income expansion. OCBC, also the second-largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets, revealed a net profit of US$1.42 billion between January and March, up from US$1.02 billion during the same period last year, significantly surpassing…
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Trudeau slams Meta over plans to block Canadian news in response to proposed legislation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has criticized Meta after the company’s executives announced plans to block news for Canadian Facebook and Instagram users in response to proposed legislation. The new law, known as the Online News Act, would require digital giants to pay for local journalism content. Currently, the bill is being considered by the Senate. Google also revealed in February…
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Lionel Messi’s potential move to Saudi Arabia: A look at football greats who played in unexpected leagues
Lionel Messi, the 35 year old Argentine football superstar, is reportedly preparing to continue his illustrious career by making a surprising move to Saudi Arabia. As a result, Barcelona fans will be left heartbroken, as they had hoped for Messi to return to his former club. However, Messi is not the first prominent player to seek opportunities in less renowned…
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Airbnb forecasts fewer bookings and lower daily rates in Q2 compared to last year
Airbnb Inc announced on Tuesday that it anticipates fewer bookings and reduced average daily rates in the second quarter compared to the previous year, resulting in an 11.5% decrease in share value during after-hours trading. US travel companies, which have profited from increased prices and hybrid work, are adjusting their 2023 forecasts as pre-pandemic travel patterns resume and consumers seek…
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Hungarian diver summoned by police for touching pipefish in Thailand
A Hungarian diver was summoned to the police station in Koh Pha Ngan in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand yesterday for allegedly touching a pipefish. Police say he was formerly charged with touching protected marine life once before in 2020. In a video entitled “Scuba diving in the paradise, Koh Phangan” on the YouTube channel “Paradise Films by Attila…
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Pheu Thai sets conditions for coalition government formation
Pheu Thai Family leader and prime ministerial candidate Paetongtarn “Ung Ing” Shinawatra has revealed three conditions for the party to form a coalition government, with one condition being that Pheu Thai must manage all major ministries. During an hour-long interview published on TikTok and Instagram Live, which was hosted by celebrity Kachapa “Mod Dam” Tancharoen on Monday night, Paetongtarn maintained…
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Eastern economic corridor barely accessible to small businesses
The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project in Thailand is falling short of its intended purpose, as only a few small local businesses are able to access and benefit from it, according to the Thai Sang Thai (TST) Party. Prime ministerial candidate for the TST, Supan Mongkolsutee, stated that the EEC scheme is predominantly aimed at larger companies, leaving small businesses…
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Minivan collides with trailer truck in Pabon: 11 passengers injured
A driver has sustained significant injuries, while 11 passengers have sustained minor injuries after a minivan crashed into a trailer truck in Pabon. Pabon Police were notified of the accident earlier this week on Songkhla Road in Trang. Emergency responders arrived at the scene to discover the damaged minivan on the road, behind the trailer truck. Inside the minivan, rescue…
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China and Germany tensions worsen over Ukraine sanctions and neutrality stance
China-Germany tensions escalated yesterday as the two nations exchanged sharp words over the Ukraine crisis. with Beijing warning the EU not to sanction Chinese firms while Berlin argued that “neutrality” in the conflict meant siding with Russia. During their second meeting in a month, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock clashed repeatedly over the responsibilities of…
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Robert De Niro becomes a father again at 79
Legendary actor Robert De Niro, 79 years old, recently shared in an interview that he has become a father for the seventh time. The well-known “Raging Bull” star corrected an interviewer who believed he had six children, telling her it was “seven, now.” De Niro did not disclose further details about the baby’s gender or the mother’s identity during the…
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Chumphon man shoots girlfriend and kills himself in Phuket
A 56 year old man from Chumphon shot his girlfriend, resulting in her injury, following their breakup in a house in Wichit on a recent night, before taking his own life with a gunshot to the head. The violence occurred at a home in Wichit, where local police were called to respond at around 10pm. Upon their arrival along with…
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ASEAN nations express deep concern over ongoing violence in Myanmar
Southeast Asian nations expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence in Myanmar during this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Indonesia. The regional bloc has been under scrutiny for its perceived inaction and inability to resolve the crisis amid the bloodshed following a military coup in 2021. In a statement, ASEAN leaders urged “the immediate cessation of…
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Phuket court issues arrest warrant for suspect who stabbed grocer to death
The Phuket Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant for a suspect who allegedly stabbed a grocer to death in the main city district on Saturday. The incident is believed to have occurred following a dispute with a former customer. Phuket City Police Captain Wichit Nokkaew said that the Phuket Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant for 34 year old Tarapong…
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Canada won’t be intimidated by China’s expulsion of Canadian consul, says Trudeau
Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, stated yesterday that the country would not be intimidated by China’s tit-for-tat expulsion of a Canadian consul. This came after Ottawa expelled a Chinese diplomat earlier this week, who was accused of targeting a lawmaker critical of Beijing. Trudeau emphasised that his administration’s decision to expel the Chinese official was taken to convey a clear…
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