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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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Thailand News Today – Wednesday, April 15
30 new Covid-19 cases (Wednesday), 2 more deaths Thai health officials today confirmed 30 new Covid-19 cases, taking the national total to 2,643. New cases – 30 Total cases – 2,643 Death toll – 43 2 new deaths raise the national tally to 43. Today’s result follows the general trend of fewer new cases each day. But a spokesman for…
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Australian man arrested over child sexual abuse charge
Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division police have arrested 63 year old William James Petrie, an Australian man living in Central Thailand on sexual abuse charges in his home country. He was arrested at his house in Chachoengsao, east of Bangkok, where he was living with his Thai wife and her family. The man’s wife, whose identity has been withheld, said she…
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Songkhla zookeepers close up whilst keeping the tigers cool
Songkhla Zoo has announced its closure today as part of the southern province’s lockdown, but the zookeepers still have to take care of animals with the summer temperatures high and on the rise. The animals can become distressed at this time of the year with the extreme heat and need constant veterinary care. The zookeepers say they’re are trying as…
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New Phuket governor announced, old Governor shunted off to Petchaburi
The southern island province of Phuket is to have a new governor, it was announced today. Phuket’s governor, Pakkapong Tawipat started work on the island on October 1, 2018. He was a former Phang Nga governor and former vice governor of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Saraburi in central Thailand. ‘Former’ Governor Pakkapong will be taking up a new post in the…
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Man drowns in waste treatment pond after fleeing police checkpoint
This morning at 4am a man on a motorbike, trying to evade a police checkpoint in Songkhla province (southern Thailand), drowned in a sludge treatment pool. At 4am on Phonpichai Road, when police officers were packing up the checkpoint and were about to head home, a man riding a motorcycle had turned around just before reaching the checkpoint, and continued…
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Covid-19 crisis delays Thailand’s biofuel future
Thailand’s Energy Ministry has postponed a nationwide plan to switch to biofuels until the Covid 19 crisis subsides. The ministry initially told oil refineries to stop producing gasohol 91 at the end of May and planned to increase consumption and manufacture of biofuels like gasohol E20, which will generate income for local farmers who grow biofuel energy crops like sugarcane…
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Kratom Food Panda-monium in Phuket
Phuket Police have arrested Grab and Foodpanda delivery drivers for transport and possession of kratom. Yesterday morning, two men were riding together on a motorbike with one clad in a Grab delivery uniform while his passenger carried the green insulated Grab delivery bag. Officers stopped and searched the two after suspecting the men were acting suspiciously. Conducting a search, officers…
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Bangkok man arrested for flogging dodgy medical certificates online
A young man in Bangkok has been arrested for peddling fake medical certificates on Facebook Marketplace. Police arrested 24 year old Phitchayaphat Somsri at a house in Lat Phrao district for selling the false certificates, including for Covid-19, for up to 1000 baht each, and say he used quite a number of tools in manufacturing them. A spokesman says the…
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China moves to second phase of successful vaccine trials
An adenovirus vector vaccine clinical trial in China has successfully concluded its first phase, and a more intensive second phase studying hundred of patients in now taking place. It is the first Covid 19 vaccine that has entered phase two of clinical trials, according to the WHO. A 84 year old man in Wuhan was vaccinated Monday, becoming the oldest…
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Singapore hit by a second wave of coronavirus cases
Singapore was a paragon of coronavirus containment. Covid-19 was under control in the island state. Case number were flattening out. But the virus has made a resurgent return with the previous ‘flattening’ of new cases now spiking. As Italy, Spain, the UK and US founder under a seemingly relentless pandemic, despite lockdowns and best intentions, several Asian nations stand out…
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Phuket’s Covid-19 new cases fall to 3
Health officials in Phuket today reported just 3 new Covid-19 cases, substantially fewer than yesterday’s 10 and the continuation of a generally encouraging downward trend. Yesterday was the first time new cases reached double digits since 10 were reported on April 5. 13 cases were reported on April 3. All yesterday’s cases were from the Bang Tao beach community. Travel…
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US President halts funding for WHO – VIDEO
At over 600,000 cases, the US has more Covid-19 infections than any other country. Now, the US President Donald Trump has now announced a cut in US funding for the World Health Organisation, the UN agency tasked with fighting the outbreak worldwide. In a press briefing at the White House Rose Garden yesterday, he said he had instructed his administration to…
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Thailand News Today – Tuesday, April 14
Thailand Covid-19 cases rise to 34 (Tuesday), 1 more death Health officials today confirmed 34 new Covid-19 cases from around the country, bringing the total to 2,613. There was one additional death, a Bangkok bus driver, raising the country’s death toll to 41. Today’s number is higher than the 28 recorded yesterday, and comes after five straight days of declines…
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Thailand facing double whammy – Covid-19 and worsening seasonal drought
The Office of the National Water Resources says up to 6,255 villages in 24 provinces have already been declared as drought-affected areas, while national dams and reservoirs are only at an average of 49% capacity (only 26% of that water is usable.) It has been predicted that the drought could last until at least July. Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon says…
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A golden moment for Thailand’s gold sellers
The streets of Bangkok’s Chinatown today have been paved with gold… sellers. Today, dozens of Bangkok citizens lined up outside Yaowarat Road gold shops, creating chaos as they tried to sell off their gold ornaments and gold bars after the price gold rose by 550 baht per baht of gold (15.244 grams.) It is reported that this is the highest…
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AoT, already struggling, deny investing in faltering Thai Airways
“We’ve got enough problems of our own.” Airports of Thailand is denying claims that it is interested in acquiring a stake in the financially floundering flag carrier Thai Airways, saying that they too are struggling with the sharp drop in revenue after airlines and airport shutdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thai Airways, once considered one of Asia’s most luxurious…
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Thailand Covid-19 cases rise to 34 (Tuesday), 1 more death
Thai health officials today confirmed 34 new Covid-19 cases from around the country, bringing the total to 2,613 since the beginning of the outbreak. There was one additional death, a Bangkok bus driver, raising the country’s death toll to 41. Today’s number is higher than the 28 recorded yesterday, and comes after five straight days of declines since the 111 recorded…
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Up to 100,000 Thais at risk from alcohol-related ‘withdrawals’ during national ban
Yesterday experts announced that up to 100,000 Thais who have become seriously dependent on alcohol are at risk during the nationwide booze ban. The ban on alcohol sales was imposed in order to minimise large gatherings and also to curb coronavirus related infection risks, especially during the traditional Songkran celebrations. According to the director of Centre for Alcohol Studies at…
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Drunken man incinerates ATM after running out of alcohol
Last night around 10pm a drunk man, apparently desperate to get more alcohol, became angry and aggressive, whereupon he decided to incinerate an ATM machine hoping that it was going to explode and rain cash, or alcohol, in Rayong, south east of Bangkok. General Montree Yimyam along with officials from the Rotong Police Station, arrested the man, later revealed as…
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Fire in Kanchanaburi sends foul smoke over Burmese border
Yesterday, a large area of the province of Kanchanaburi was engulfed in stinking toxic smoke after a garbage fire ripped through a 3-rai (51,667 squared metres) garbage dump in the district of Sangkhlaburi, right on the Burmese border. The garbage tip is located next to a sugarcane farmer’s village. 2 fire trucks were sent by Kanchanaburi officials to extinguish the…
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Bodies of two teen girls found in Kwae Noy river, Kanchanaburi
The bodies of two teen girls who went missing in the Kwae Noy river last Friday in the western province of Kanchanaburi, were discovered yesterday morning. Friday, three teenage students from Ban Kao Withaya School in Kanchanaburi went for a swim in the Kwae Noy river. The girls were quickly overpowered by the strong current and washed downriver. An onlooker…
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Thailand News Today – Monday, April 13
New virus cases nationwide fall to 28 Health officials confirmed 28 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in the country today as the trend continues down. Today’s total brings the reported country total to 2,579 since the outbreak began in January. There were also 2 additional deaths announced today, bringing the national tally to 40. Today’s new infections are fewer…
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Chon Buri police raid late night ‘ladyboy’ cam show, arrest dozens – VIDEO
The show must go on! But not at the moment. Police in Chon Buri province southeast of Bangkok, acting on a tip, arrested dozens of people in a raid on an underground “cam show” at a Pattaya area luxury home at about 12:30 am yesterday. The raid was led by local police units along with a transnational crime unit and…
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4 teenagers violate the order not to celebrate Songkran outside
Under the emergency decree that has been announced by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, it has been confirmed that Songkran (the traditional Thai new year festival) is officially postponed this year to lessen the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, 4 teenagers defying the emergency decree was arrested in Roi Et province, far north-eastern Thailand, after live broadcasting their water wars. The…
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Chiang Mai hiking spots go up in flames
Wildfires in Thailand’s north have made plenty of news in recent months, and now, Chiang Mai’s Doi Mon Jong mountain, one of northern Thailand’s most popular hiking spots has become the latest victim. Doi Mon Jong, in the province’s Om Koi District, is considered a legendary “unseen” destination for its breathtaking views, beauty and nature. Nearly 20 rai (3.2 hectares)…
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Still here, there and everywhere. The Beatles bringing joy 50 years after break-up.
BTS, Bangtan, RM, Jimin, V, Jin, Suga, J-Hope and Jungkook The Beatles may have broken up 50 years ago, on April 10, 1970. But the music is still bringing happiness around the world, to the generation that were around when the Fab Four were at the pinnacle of their career, and to a new generations who are just making the…
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PM urges Thailand to observe Songkran at home on April 13
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling on all citizens and residents to refrain from celebrating Songkran, cancel their trips home and avoid all gatherings during the 3 day festival, which kicks off on Monday. The government announced last month that the Songkran holidays would be postponed to later, unspecified dates, in line with efforts to curb the spread of the Covid-19…
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Gang of 6 steal 5 motorbikes from Ayutthaya police station
A police officer of the Ruea Police station in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, said “while he was reorganising confiscated bikes parked in the police station he had noticed that there were 5 motorbikes missing .” Authorities have now arrested 19 year olds Sipakij Kantaklin and Chachwan Rummana from Saraburi province, northeast of Bangkok. The 2 suspects worked with 4 teenagers and…
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Soi Dog Foundation distributes over 11 tonnes of food to stray animal feeders across Phuket
In preparation for the island-wide ‘lockdown’ and travel restrictions from April 13-26, the Soi Dog Foundation has distributed over 11 tonnes of dog and cat food to stray animal feeders across Phuket. A fleet of animal rescue vehicles delivered 470 large bags of dog food and 140 large bags of cat food to popular feeding hotspots, such as temples, as well…
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Thailand News Today – Friday, April 10
50 new coronavirus cases nationwide (Friday), 1 death 50 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases were confirmed around Thailand, a slight drop from yesterday’s 54. There was also one new death. The total number of infections since the outbreak began now stands at 2,473. 33 patients have died. The cases span 68 of Thailand’s 76 provinces. 1,013 people have completely recovered and…
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