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Korean man ran over by truck in Phuket accident
A Korean man has died after colliding with a six wheeler truck in Kathu yesterday The Kathu Police were notified of the incident on Wichit Songkram Road, Kathu around 4.30pm. The motorbike driver was identified by Kathu Police as 39 year old South Korean male Keewoong Lee. He was taken to Siriroj Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A…
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66 yo Austrian arrested in Chiang Mai for possessing child porn
The Thai immigration says they’ve arrested a 66 year old Austrian for downloading and possessing child porn. The Thailand Internet Crime Against Children (TICAC) division learned about someone using the Dark Web to access child porn in September. Thai police identified the person living in the Pa Daet district in the Chiang Mai city and obtained an arrest warrant. The…
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Two Khmer Rouge leaders sentenced to life in prison
PHOTO: Pnomh Penh Post A UN-backed court has found two leaders of Cambodia’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime guilty of genocide. The judgement comes four decades after the regime which oversaw what became known as the Killing Fields, was overthrown. Most of the victims of the 1975-79 regime died of starvation, torture, exhaustion or disease in labour camps. Others were simply…
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Laguna Phuket Triathlon. Kicks off today, main event tomorrow.
PHOTO: Laguna Phuket Triathlon In 2018, Laguna Phuket Triathlon celebrates the events’s 25th anniversary – Asia’s longest running triathlon. The event will be held this weekend. The event features the best international pro triathletes including world champions vying for the US$ 20,000 prize money purse. Amateur age group also have a chance to measure themselves with the world’s best or strive…
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Rohingya refugee repatriation – FAIL
PHOTO: The Straits Times “The refugees are not willing to return now.” This, from the Refugee Commissioner at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh as the first wave of Rohingya refugees refused to repatriate in a program that was meant to start on Thursday. People, due to head back to their original homes in Rhakine State this week,…
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Chiang Rai shaken but not stirred
Three minor earthquakes hit the Chiang Rai area this morning according to the Meteorological Department’s Seismological Bureau. The first quake was just before 9am with a magnitude of 3.3 with an epicentre 3.3 kilometres underground at latitude 19.70 and longitude 99.72. People say they felt the tremor but there were no injuries or damage to be reported. A 2.0-magnitude tremor followed…
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Morning collision leaves 18 injured, mostly students
Fifteen students and three adults have been injured after a cold-storage truck collided with a song-taew bus on a Phatthalung road this morning, south of Krabi province. The injured were taken to Phatthalung Hospital following the 7am incident at a curve on the Asia Highway in Moo 3, Tambon Tha Kae, in Muang district. There was high drama at the…
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Canadian and British graffiti vandals spared jail
Canadian media is reporting that a Canadian citizen and a British man have been able to avoid jail time over the spray painting of the Tha Pae historical wall in Chiang Mai. Read the original story HERE. There was 10 years jail staring them in the face after police nabbed them over the matter. But instead of ten years in…
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Boeing sued by Lion Air victim’s family
PHOTO: Boeing 737 Max 8 – Boeing Dr. Rio Nanda Putrama, one of the passengers on the ill-fated Lion Air flight from Jakarta to a nearby island on October 29, had a family that, to date, know only that he was on the plane. No identified remains have been recovered. 188 others died on the same flight. Rio’s family is…
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Chinese tourists still number one visitors to Phuket
The Deputy Director of the Phuket Tourism Authority of Thailand, Montri Manator, says, “Numbers of Chinese tourists visiting Phuket in tour groups have been continuing to decrease after the Phoenix sinking on July 5 this year.” “On the other hand, Chinese tourists who are visiting Phuket by themselves, called FIT groups (Free and Independent Travellers), has not decreased. They are…
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542 foreigners bailed up for deportation in latest crackdown
PHOTO: The Nation Another 542 foreigners have been rounded-up for deportation after raids, mostly in and around Bangkok. Police searched 262 locations around the country. Most of the illegal foreigners had been living in Thailand illegally and or committed alleged crimes. Pol Col Nithithorn Jintakanon, the acting traffic police chief, held a press conference at 2.30am this morning to announce…
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Thailand takes over the ASEAN chair for 2019
Thailand has taken over the ‘chair’ of ASEAN from Singapore, who has hosted the regional bloc for the past 12 months. The short ceremony took place yesterday following the two day ASEAN summit. The chairmanship is shared equally around the 10 member states of the south east asian trade and geo-political bloc. Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha received the symbolic gavel…
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Phuket Tourist Police asks night clubs to take care of foreign female customers
Tourist Police are asking Phuket night club operators to be responsible and look after female tourist customers. This follows Phuket police arresting a man who sexually assaulted a British female tourist at Nai Harn last week. Read more about the assault and arrest HERE. The suspect, 40 year old Amnart ‘Mai’ Attajan, is now in custody for sexually assaulting the woman…
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Plain packaging for cigarettes being introduced to discourage smoking
PHOTO: Example of the changes to cigarette packaging now being implemented in Thailand In the moves to modify polices relating to smokers in Thailand, some of the new legislation is directed towards manufacturer packaging Cigarette packets will soon be plain and much less attractive under the new regulations approved by the National Tobacco Products Control Committee. Public Health Minister Piyasakol…
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Marine activity banned around the charred remnants of yacht off Patong
The Phuket Marine office has banned marine vessels from going near the area where the ‘Soraya’ was destroyed on Wednesday evening. The announcement states… “The ‘Soraya’ caught fire on Wednesday night 400 metres off Patong Beach. Some parts of the yacht are still on the water surface and some parts under water. “For the best chances of navigation and to…
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Boats still banned around the Phoenix salvage zone
The Phuket Marine office is warning boats to be careful when navigating around the area where the Phoenix salvage operations are still underway of Koh Hei, south-west of Phuket. “The Phoenix salvage operations are underway south off Koh Hei at 7º42’14.6″ North, 98º23’06.9″ East. Boats must be careful when travelling from November 16 – 20 near the area.” The announcement…
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27 year old African arrested over romance scams
FILE PHOTO by Suriya Patathayo “The scam would usually involve using bogus white male identities to persuade women to wire money to pay an import tariff and fee for the delivery of overseas “gifts”. Romance scams are continually in the news and the government has been putting resources into rounding up the perpetrators and departing them, many from west African…
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Kitten rescued from wall space after being stuck for three days
A kitten was rescued last night after it got stuck in a narrow five-inch wall space behind a 7-11 convenience store in Samut Prakan’s city district. Staff of a 7-Eleven shop in Bang Pu Industrial Estate called the Bang Pu 811 Rescue Unit for help. The staff say they had heard a kitten’s faint meows behind the wall for three…
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Tourist Police service centres being set up on Phuket beaches
PHOTO: TravelScams.org The Phuket Tourist Police are poised to improve marine and coastal safety by setting up service centres on Phuket beaches, starting initially with Kamala and Karon Beach. The Tourist Police Division 3 Chief Major General Unggoon Klaiklueang says, “We have been planning on the project to set up the tourist service centres at Phuket’s busiest beaches.” “The centres…
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Phuket Police officer transferred after gambling den raid
Five Kathu Police have been transferred to the Phuket Provincial Police Station after a gambling den raid. Soldiers raided a gambling den in Kathu on Tuesday night. More than 56 gamblers were arrested. Read more about the raid HERE. The order issued yesterday was signed by the Phuket Provincial Police commander Maj Gen Wisan Panmunee stating that five Kathu Police have…
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Tourist Police arrest Thais collecting beach entrance fees in Phuket
The acting Immigration Bureau Chief Maj-Gen Surachate Hakparn has arrested two Thais who were collecting Phuket beach entrance fees yesterday. Maj-Gen Surachate says, “We have arrested the pair who were collecting entrance fees for people to visit Freedom Beach. They were collecting the fees from Thais and foreigners. Police have taken over a year to investigate and take legal action against these two…
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Australian yacht owner escapes fire off Patong
A fire has destroyed a luxury yacht moored off Patong Beach last night. The Australian yacht owner called for help before escaping from the fire engulfing the vessel. Patong Police were notified that the yacht, which had been moored off Patong Beach, caught fire around 9.20pm. Firefighters arrived near the Coral Beach Bridge which is 500 metres south of the…
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Thailand pushes for bigger ASEAN role in Rohingya crisis
by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, Singapore South East Asia’s leaders have been meeting in Singapore this week in the lead up to the next ASEAN Summit. The Rohingya crisis has been the main talking point. Thailand says it wants to take on a greater ASEAN role in resolving the Rakhine crisis, as the group grapples with the plight of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims…
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Changes to visas to stimulate tourist sector
The drop-off in Chinese tourists has caused the Thai Government to come up with some creative ideas to re-invigorate the tourist sector, leading into this year’s high season. The Nation reports that the Cabinet yesterday agreed, in principle, to back measures to stimulate tourism numbers. Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said the Cabinet gave the green light for the…
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Chiang Mai banner-protester house raid
Police this morning searched the house of a leading protester against the controversial housing estate for appeal court officials at the foot of Doi Suthep mountain in Chiang Mai, looking for evidence of last week’s banners. Read that story HERE. Muang Chiang Mai precinct superintendent Pol Col Theerasak Sripasert led a warranted search of the Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network…
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‘BTS’ K-pop group denounced by Jewish human rights organisation
by The Japan News – Asia News Network The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish human rights organisation based in the US, issued a statement denouncing South Korean boy band BTS for wearing hats with a logo similar to a Nazi symbol and flying Nazi-like flags at a concert in the past. “The result is that young generations in Korea and around…
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Blacklisted Swede arrested in Phuket
PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau A Swedish man, who had been blacklisted, has now been arrested in Phuket yesterday over a previous drug case and illegal entry into the country. The Immigration Bureau has reported that officers received a tip-off that the illegal foreigner was staying at a condo in Kathu. The Phuket Immigration Officers and the Phuket Tourist Police arrived at…
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Australian sentenced to death in Thailand on drug smuggling charges
news.com.au is reporting that a Perth man and his Thai wife have been sentenced to death in Thailand on drug smuggling charges. The father of two, 35 year old Luke Joshua Cook, and his wife 40 year old Kanyarat Wechapitak, were arrested at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok in December 2017 following a tip-off from local police, according to Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph. The…
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Malaysian Cabinet agrees to abolish death penalty
PHOTO: Screenshot from “Apprentice” (2016) by Junfeng Boo Malaysia’s acting Law Minister Liew Vui Keong told the Malaysian Parliament yesterday that the Cabinet has agreed to scrap the death penalty, including for murder. But Deputy PM Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters that the government would review abolishing it for murder, an opinion that was hers and not representative of…
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BMA says it’s time to sort out Bangkok’s soi dogs
Bangkok’s governor says the time is up for the capital’s stray dogs. He says ‘enough is enough’ and that too many people are being bitten and harassed. Measures adopted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have so far proved insufficient and new plans are now being made to address the ongoing problem of stray dogs. The sight of soi dogs has…
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