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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Koh Samui tourists rounded up on year long overstay
PHOTO: Naewna.com Immigration and tourist police in Koh Samui have arrested a Turkmenistan couple on overstay. They had overstayed their visas by 366 days They were acting on the orders of the Koh Samui immigration chief Pol Col Supharik Phankoson. Naewna.com has named the couple as 30 year old Mekan Nazarov and 28 year old Alina Loginova. Police headed to a house…
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12 year old ringleader admits to throwing huge rocks at cars
PHOTOS: Facebook/ฅนข่าว ต้นปราการ (Ton Kaow Ton Prakarn) A 12 year old ‘gang leader’ and his band of four other rock-throwers have been rounded up in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok. Facebook Page “Ton Kaow Ton Prakarn” reported the story. The Bang Phli Noi Police visited a home located in Bang Bo District at 2pm yesterday. They brought 5 youngsters aged…
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Convicted US pedophile caught teaching children at his home in northern Thailand
Immigration police have nabbed a convicted American pedophile in Phayao in the north of Thailand. 66 year old “Mr Eric” had a language school set up at his own home in the main city district of Phayao and was allegedly teaching children English without a work permit. The man’s full name was not provided in the Siam Rath story. Siam Rath…
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Father, mother and child found dead in back of car in Pathum Thani
PHOTO: Siam Rath The bodies of a husband, wife and young daughter were found in a car that had been parked in Pathum Thani’s Lam Lukka district overnight on Monday in what is believed to be a mass suicide. Pathum Thani is just to the north of Bangkok. Lam Lukka police station were alerted yesterday at 4pm that a car had…
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Nine minor parties convinced to stick with government
PHOTO: Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao, somehow negotiated the dissident MPs back into the coalition Nine disaffected smaller parties in the governing coalition, who earlier threatened to break away to form an independent opposition bloc, have been convinced to stay in the Palang Pracharat coalition and have vowed to support the government. Ten single-MP parties showed signs of a rift…
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August 2 bombing suspects moved back to Bangkok as investigation continues
Two men suspected of involvement in the August 2 multiple Bangkok bombings have now been moved back to the capital after they were detained by police in the South. Police flew the pair back to Bangkok yesterday, where they remain in custody at Pathum Wan police station in central Bangkok. The two are suspects in the series of small blasts…
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Thai land prices appreciate average of 8.3%
Land prices around Thailand have risen by an average of 8.3%, whilst land in the Eastern Economic Corridor have appreciated by more than 10% – the new land appraisals will be implemented for tax collection purposes next year, according to Wilawan Veerakun, deputy director general of the Treasury Department. The price of parcels of land in Khampaeng Phet province has gone…
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Chinese tourist almost drowns after ignoring warnings from lifeguards at Patong
PHOTOS & STORY: เสียงประชาชน คนภูเก็ต Phuket People’s Voice Yesterday (August 12), a Chinese tourist almost drowned at Patong Beach. Fortunately, a lifeguard was on duty, noticed the man was in difficulty, rescued him and saved his life. The young Chinese man had already been warned once by the lifeguards about the red flags with lifeguards telling him the red flags…
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BTS are breaking up…
…temporarily. The announcement about BTS was made on Twitter by their South Korean management company and label Big Hit Entertainment. Don’t stress AMRY, they’ll be back together in a couple of months! Big Hit says the kings of pop need time to regroup and recharge their batteries. The announcement followed another dazzling display of their finely-tuned pop skills at the Lotte…
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Air Asia celebrates ASEAN Day with a special Airbus A320
AirAsia introduced a ‘Sustainable ASEAN’ colour-scheme on a new Airbus A320 to mark ASEAN Day celebrations last week. Thailand is the Chair for ASEAN, the ten country south east asian trading bloc, for 2019. Alongside the ASEAN Chairmanship logo, the livery features the best of ASEAN tourism icons, helping to advance and support AirAsia’s sustainability partnership with ASEAN nations and…
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Thailand tightens the screws on TM30 reporting, petition ongoing
Nearly 5,000 Thai expats have now signed a petition pleading for modification or abolition of the TM30 immigration form. The well-organised petition calling for changes to the form is an unusual step for expats who, most of the time, keep their head down and out of the daily operations of the Land of Smiles. For its part, Thai Immigration says…
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American admits to smashing windshields after being shown CCTV in Chiang Mai
An American tourist has been arrested after damaging three cars while drunk in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. 34 year old Jesse Edward Lee was arrested after a local resident posted about a foreign vandal on Facebook. The post warned about the man damaging three cars in the Tha Pae area of Chiang Mai. Lee allegedly told police that he did…
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Pattaya bar owner arrested on human trafficking and prostitution charges
ORIGINAL PHOTO: INN News A bar owner in Pattaya has been arrested on Saturday whilst on the run from police trying to arrest her over a string of human-trafficking and prostitution charges. The Anti-Human Trafficking Division eventually arrested the 31 year old Pattaya bar owner, also known as ‘Sudarat’, ‘Om Leelabut’, and ‘Nanthachai’. Sudarat had an arrest warrant out in…
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Parts of Erawan Waterfall closed as tourists injured
The Erawan National Waterfall officials have closed off the tier 6 and 7 levels of the popular waterfall due to continuous rain up to the weekend which made the hiking trail extremely slippery. Some tourists slipped and were injured. On Sunday there were many tourists slipping while on their way to tier 6 and 7 of the waterfall. A rescue team…
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Myanmar’s death toll from landslides and floods reaches 59
Vast regions of south and sout-eastern Myanmar are inundated with floodwaters that have already forced more than 80,000 to flee their homes. The death toll from a massive landslide has now hit 59. Rescue and recovery teams have worked right through the weekend, with additional downpours and deep mud hindering progress as the stench of decaying bodies worsened. There are…
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Treasury department plans new lease of life for disused buildings
The Treasury Department is considering leasing out older and disused buildings for commercial development if the lessee pledges to preserve their historical, architectural or cultural value. The department’s director general, Amnuay Preemonwong, says it would be a better option than seeing them abandoned and becoming increasingly dilapidated causing health and safety risks to neighbours. But the proposal will not apply to…
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Airport shutdown tarnishes Hong Kong’s business image
PHOTO & VIDEO: Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com Thousands of supporters of the largely leaderless pro-democracy protest movement descended on the Hong Kong Airport terminal yesterday in an effort to get the message out to the world about their struggle and the harsh tactics used by police. They achieved that result whilst testing the resolve of Beijing, accusing the protest organisers of…
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Thailand’s longest wooden bridge under threat of collapse after rains soak west
The famous Mon (Uttamanusorn) Bridge in Kanchanaburi in Thailand’s west, the country’s longest wooden bridge, is being watched around the clock by the Thai army for fear that it may collapse under the force of strong currents in the Songkalia River and a huge amount of debris which is piling up against the bridge’s superstructure. Uttamanusorn Bridge (Thai: สะพานอุตตมานุสรณ์; lit:…
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Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother, makes merit on her 87th birthday
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, enjoyed a private merit making ceremony in the Chitralada Palace in Bangkok to celebrate her 87th birthday anniversary yesterday (August 12th) She was accompanied by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua, Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, Somdech Phra Kanishthadhiraj Chao Krom Somdech Phra Debaratnarajsuda Chao Fa Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Somdet Phrachao Nong Nang Thoe…
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Flights resume at Hong Kong airport as Beijing condemns ‘terrorism’
The Hong Kong Airport Authority started resuming flights from 6am this morning after more than 180 departures had to be cancelled from Sunday morning. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded after all departing flights and more than 70 arriving flights were cancelled in the early evening. There were chaotic scenes inside the airport as thousands of demonstrators descended on the…
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3 Burmese workers dead following collapse at VIP Condo construction site in Rawai
Two workers have been found dead following yesterday’s collapse at the construction site of the VIP Mercury and VIP Galaxy condo and villa site in Rawai. The two migrant workers were trapped under scaffolding that collapsed bringing the death toll to 3. Eight others were hurt. The site was going to be the showroom for the VIP Galaxy villas being constructed…
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US-China trade war accelerates formation of RCEP trade bloc
The escalation of the trade war between China and the US might help push forward negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement. RCEP, once formed, will be the largest trading bloc in the world. Trade ministers from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN member states met in Beijing last weekend for…
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Radisson brand add another Phuket hotel to its portfolio
The Radisson Hotel Group has signed a deal for a 222 key mixed-use hotel on Phuket’s north west coast at Mai Khao. Set to open in early 2023, the hotel has sales and leaseback units under a hotel residences program. Radisson Phuket Mai Khao Beach is being developed by Thai-Chinese Property Holdings. Phuket’s ongoing development surge continues to attract Chinese…
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Thailand aims to reduce road accidents by 50% in 2020
A laudable aim but probably unachievable. Thai transport authorities and police are aiming to reduce the rate of road accidents by half in 2020. They are aiming to meet the goal set by an international benchmark, participants of a national road safety convention held at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre. The aim has been set in previous years as…
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Scaffolding collapse at VIP Mercury Condominium in Rawai, Phuket kills 1
PHOTOS: Antonio Patong A three storey building and scaffolding collapsed in Rawai at 2.15pm Sunday afternoon, killing one person and injuring many other workers. The construction site is for the VIP Mercury Condominium project on Wiset Road in Rawai – near the Rawai Municipality Office heading towards Nai Harn Beach Park (map below). Eight people were rushed to Chalong Hospital, Vachira…
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Three herbicides will be banned in Thailand this year
“When we eat fish from a river or stream contaminated with chemicals, we will ingest the chemicals. It is a food chain.” Three hazardous herbicides, widely used in Thailand, will be banned before the end of this year. Deputy Agriculture Minister Manunya Thaiseth says the three herbicides are strongly opposed by consumer, civic groups and environmentalists. Yesterday she ordered a suspension of…
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Floods and landslides in southern Myanmar – at least 41 dead
PHOTOS: SBS News The latest in the flood situation in southern Myanmar… • Continuous monsoon rain since the start of the month has resulted to flooding in several areas in Southern Myanmar – Ayeyarwady, Bago, Kayin, Mon, and Tanintharyi. • According to the Department of Disaster Management, a rain-induced landslide occurred in a village in Paung Township (Mon State) on…
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Three storey construction site collapses in Rawai, Phuket – 8 injured, 2 missing
PHOTOS: เสียงประชาชน คนภูเก็ต Phuket People’s Voice A three storey building has collapsed in Rawai around 3pm this afternoon. The construction site is on Wiset Road in Rawai – near Rawai Municipality Office heading towards Nai Harn Beach Park. At least eight people have already been taken to Chalong Hospital whilst others are believed to be trapped under the wreckage as rescue…
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Survey says: Thai taxi users disagree with fare hike
“35% agree with the fare hike, reasoning that it could reduce the problem of taxi drivers refusing customers.” A Nida Poll reports that 81% of respondents are unhappy with the new taxi fares that will raise the immobile rate (sitting in the traffic) from 2 baht per minute to 3 baht per minute. The poll reveals the results of a…
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Phuket police tracking down snatch & grab thief
PHOTOS: Phuket Hotnews A couple from Malaysia, 44 year old N Shiyamala Navaratnam and 45 year old Sivakumar Patchymuthu, reported to Saku police that they had been robbed near Nai Yang Beach, near the Phuket Airport. The incident happened on August 8. They told police they were riding a motorcycle heading back to their hotel between the beach road and…
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