News
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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Russian man and his dog found dead on Koh Samui
A 51 year old Russian man, identified as Vyacheslav Kolbunov, has been found dead at his home on Koh Samui. A dead pit bull was also found in the room, with two other pit bulls discovered in an enclosure outside the home. Koh Samui police and forensic officers discovered drug paraphernalia, along with a coffee cup and a glass containing…
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Thailand’s Department for Disease Control issues Chikungunya warning
PHOTO: www.wikipedia.com Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai from the Department of Disease Control says over 10 people in central Thailand have contracted chikungunya since July, and urges people to take precautions, saying those with high fever and joint pain should seek medical advice without delay. In total, since the beginning of the year, 7,481 people have been treated for chikungunya, with all…
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Significant developments in cannabis farming in Thailand
PHOTO: www.growbarato.net In what’s thought to be the first-ever industrial scale manufacturing facility for medical cannabis within the Asean Region, Maejo University in Chiang Mai has planted 12,000 cannabis sprouts – the largest lot in the country. It’s hoped the result will eventually be 1 million bottles, each containing 5ml of cannabis oil, by February. Senior officials from the Ministry…
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Leclerc takes Singapore GP pole, Hamilton shares front row
PHOTO: Charles Leclerc on top after grabbing in pole position – Reuters “Lewis Hamilton admits he is surprised to be next to a Ferrari on the grid after qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix alongside pole-winner Charles Leclerc.” Championship leader Hamilton was able to do little to prevent Ferrari’s Leclerc from claiming consecutive victories in Spa and Monza in the last…
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Travel giant Thomas Cook teetering on financial collapse
Unable to adapt to the move online as smaller, nimbler travel companies thrive, Thomas Cook, the household name in international travel, is close to financial collapse. And the collapse could leave up to 150,000 British tourists stranded overseas. The iconic British travel giant Thomas Cook say they’ve failed to find any further private investment to stave off collapse and now…
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Vietnam Airlines opening direct Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City flights
by Bill Barnett c9hotelworks.com Vietnam Airlines will commence direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Phuket on October 27. Flights will operate three days a week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The airline is also launching direct Ho Chi Minh City to Denpasar (Bali) service. Vietjet Air, the popular new low-coast airline out of Vietnam, is currently servicing the increasingly…
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The youth are revolting. ‘Millions’ protest in kid-power global climate strike
PHOTO: Greta Thunberg leads kids and adults from 150 countries in massive climate strike today – Sarah Silbiger by Peter Hutchison “We are the future and we deserve better,” 12 year old Lilly Satidtanasarn, known as “Thailand’s Greta” for her campaign against plastic bags in malls. Masses of children skipped school to join a global strike against climate change that teen…
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Philippines calls for halt in aid talks with backers of UN probe into Duterte’s drug war
“The 18 members that backed the resolution are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, and Uruguay.” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has ordered the suspension of all loan and grant talks with foreign governments that backed a UN resolution to review human rights abuses during his signature anti-drug…
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Sampling Saigon street food with XO Tours
PHOTOS: XO Tours Find yourself in Saigon and looking to learn more about the local street food scene? Well, if your sense of adventure is in intact and you prefer to receive your knowledge first hand, then XO Tours can provide you with a fascinating and insightful trip through the streets of Saigon. Sitting on the back of a moped…
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Phuket social enterprise shop takes the first steps
PHOTOS: stepswiththeera.com A Bangkok-based social enterprise has made its debut in Phuket as it opened a new zero-waste shop, cafe and vocational training centre in Cherng Talay. The shop is run by Steps With Theera and provides a range of plastic substitutes including bamboo straw sets, bamboo toothbrushes and SuperBee wax wraps, alongside a refill station with beauty products from…
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Finance Ministry launches 100 billion stimulus package to kickstart sagging economy
PHOTO: thailandshoppingdining.com The Government is kicking off a new stimulus package valued at 100 billion baht to “stimulate the grassroots economy”. Prasong Poontaneat, permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry reported that the government is preparing a brand-new stimulus package. “The Finance Ministry and related agencies will spend more than 100 billion baht on approximately 30 million low-income households nationwide.” The…
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Thai MP rich list
PHOTO: The Nation The National Anti-Corruption Commission has published a who’s who list of Thailand’s richest politicians. The NACC has reported the personal finances of 80 MPs. The personal finances report is an addition to the NACC’s previous report of 415 MPs who had earlier submitted their asset lists in July. Notable MPs whose assets and debts have been revealed…
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Delta airlines jet plunges 30,000 feet in controlled descent
PHOTO: Twitter:Harris Dewoskin “Other passengers relayed that they were hastily tapping out texts on their phones thinking that they might crash.” Passengers on a Delta flight, from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, were terrified when their plane plunged mid-air, dropping nearly 30,000 feet in around 9 minutes. Delta report that the flight experienced a “cabin pressurisation irregularity” during the journey. The flight…
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More arrest warrants issued over Bangkok’s August bomb attacks
PHOTO: Voice of America The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for five more suspects yesterday over their alleged involvement in the simultaneous bomb and arson attacks in Bangkok back on August 2. Police presented evidence against them to the court yesterday to obtain warrants for their arrest. They are accused of being members of an unlawful syndicate and collaborating to carry…
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Could you be a digital nomad in Thailand?
Are you a digital nomad? Working online wherever you can find a seat and wi-fi? According to digital nomad websites, some of the most popular locations to work online around the world include Chiang Mai & Bangkok (Thailand), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Bali (Indonesia), Lisbon (Portugal) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). What do all these cities have in common? The main…
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Prayut heading to New York for six day trip, including attending UN
Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha and his entourage is leaving for New York to attend the 74th United Nations General Assembly tomorrow. But the PM isn’t travelling alone. The six day trip to the US will also be made by Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa (and half a plane of ‘others’). According to…
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New traffic laws come into force for Thailand today
PHOTO: ThaiVisa From today, an amendment to the Land Transport Act means traffic police can no longer confiscate driving licences. Police can still record the details of a driver’s licence but must then return it. The new system will also remove the risk of licences being lost while in the care of the police, as has happened in the past.…
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Our oceans are key to fighting climate change
by Amélie Bottollier-Depois and Marlowe Hood “There are at least three types of actions humans can take to help repair the damage and ensure that oceans don’t turn from friend to foe.” Humanity must heal oceans made sick by climate change and pollution to protect marine life and to save itself, experts warned days before the release of a major…
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US vaping-related illnesses surpasses 500
The links between vaping and critical lung disease appear to becoming more frequent and obvious although health authorities are struggling to find the ‘smoking gun’ that is the actual cause of the current list of cases. More than 500 people have been diagnosed with vaping-related breathing illnesses. An eighth death has also been reported. The US Food and Drug Administration says…
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Future Forward secretary-general floats idea of another debate
PHOTO: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, Party leader of Future Forward Party – AFP Future Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul says the Opposition will consider the option of holding another parliamentary debate over the next 3 months. His statement comes after what was generally considered an unsatisfactory response from the PM and other cabinet members during Wednesday’s debate. Piyabutr is not ready to let the matter…
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Immigration overhaul – TM6 disappearing and TM30 App being launched
“We made the decision last Friday. Within two to three months, life will be much easier for foreign tourists and expats.” In what appears to be a major overhaul of immigration procedures, dare we say ‘modernisation’, foreign visitors will soon no longer have to fill out the “TM6” arrival forms. The white and blue form has been a source of…
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Phuket university’s safe-sex campaign attracts 390 volunteers
Yesterday, saw the return of Prince of Songkhla University’s Safe Sex Campaign. Now in its third year, some 390 PSU students turned up to support the campaign by making safe sex packs, which are then distributed free to bars in Patong. The safe sex packs include a condom and lubricant. It was the biggest turn-out of students since this corporate social…
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14% of condos around Bangkok are empty – good time to buy
Looking for a condo around Bangkok? Now might the right time to take the plunge with the head of the Appraisal and Estate Agents Foundation saying some areas have between 8-14% vacancy rates, some areas of Bangkok up to 17.5%. Dr Sophon Pornchokchai made the remarks at a news conference yesterday. “Adding developer price wars, plus inducements to purchase, this…
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Chinese netizens want to know what caused panda Chuang Chuang’s death
PHOTO: Mourners leave flowers outside the panda enclosure where Chuang Cuang died this week The “suspicious circumstances” of Chuang Chuang’s demise drew more than 260 million views on social media platform Weibo.” Chinese experts have now arrived in Chiang Mai to investigate the death of a beloved giant panda Chuang Chuang, who died at the Chiang Mai Zoo earlier this week at…
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Bangkok shophouse partially collapses in the rain
An abandoned shophouse in Bangkok’s Bang Plat district partially collapsed last night. No one was injured as the three-unit shop house, spread over four floors on Soi Charansanitwong 96/2 in Bang Or subdistrict, had been empty for a while. Officials said the fourth and third floors collapsed onto the lower floors, causing glasses and pieces of wood, and concrete, to fall…
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British Instagrammer locked up in “filthy Bangkok cell’ over missing passport pages
A British model has had a “misunderstanding” with Thai immigration officials after being locked up for 24 hours when it was discovered there were two pages missing from her passport. The model departed Scotland last Sunday for a flight to London before heading to Bangkok. According to mirror.co.uk, Lacey Montgomery-Henderson, from Glasgow, says she was treated ‘like an animal’ during…
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Phu Quoc Cable Car – Build it and they will come
PHOTO: templesandtreehouses.com “It’s the best value tourist attraction you’ll find almost anywhere in the world!” The cable-car ride from Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island to Hon Thom, aka. Pineapple Island, is a breathtaking experience. It’s an astonishing tourist attraction on an island that has ambitions to be one of south east Asia’s most popular tourist attractions. The actual cable car ride, the…
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Voice TV report paints grim picture of Thailand’s tourism problems
Natthapong La-orwong of the Sofitel group claims that Thai tourism is suffering, and the lack of European visitors is part of the problem. The comments were made in a Voice TV report that paints a grim picture of the Thai tourism outlook in 2019, according to ThaiVisa. Voice TV is unpopular withThai authorities with its forthright assessments and has been taken off…
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Public toilets going underground in Pattaya
PHOTO: Bangkok.com Plans are afoot to build new public toilets underground on Pattaya beaches, according to a report in The Pattaya News. Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawad says 4 underground facilities will be built along Pattaya Beach Road initially, with additional amenities being opened on Jomtien and Dongtan beaches. It’s understood the washrooms need to be built below street level to…
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Indonesia’s President Jokowi says he is “embarrassed” by fires
PHOTO: Singapore, days before the 2019 Grand Prix – DL Dozens of people have now been arrested over their alleged involvement in Indonesia’s massive forest fires. Thousands of hectares of rain forest and plantations have been burned, with the smoke and haze drifting in neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand. Dedi Prasetyo, Indonesia’s National Police spokesman has confirmed 185 people…
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