southern Thailand
- Crime News
Loan shark bombs debtor’s house in southern Thailand
A loan shark allegedly threw a deadly military-grade hand grenade at a woman’s house in Phattalung province, southern Thailand, after she failed to meet repayments. At 2pm yesterday, police were called to a house in Mueang district after a gardener discovered an explosive device in the grass. Police evacuated neighbours and called Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers to the scene.…
- Thailand Travel
Phuket welcomes 4 million tourists in 8 months
Phuket welcomed four million domestic and international visitors so far in 2022, pumping 66 billion baht into the economy, according to Deputy Governor Pichet Panapong. In recent months, top holidaymakers in Phuket include Indians (120,000 visitors from May – September) and Australians (around 60,000 visitors between May – September). Even with 3000 – 5000 tourists arriving on the island every…
- Thailand News
Thai army saves man walking 1350 kilometres from Songkhla to Buriram
A man who lost his job in the southern province of Songkhla decided to walk back home to Buriram in northeast Thailand. After 12 days of walking on Sunday, the 42 year old man stumbled across an army barracks in Phatthalung province, the next province along. The soldiers took care of him and paid for his train ticket back to…
- Thailand News
Cat goes missing in Hat Yai, turns up 1000km away in Bangkok, Thailand
‘Moota’ the stripy cat turned up in Bangkok after going missing more than one month ago, almost 1000 kilometres away near the border of Malaysia in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, southern Thailand. On Wednesday, the Facebook page ‘Traffic on the Si Rat – Outer Ring Road Expressway of Bangkok‘ posted pictures of a beautiful striped cat with a red collar…
- Phuket News
UPDATE: Prayut calls in army to help with Phuket floods
UPDATE After floods wreaked havoc in Phuket yesterday, General Prayut Chan-o-cha has today called in the Royal Thai Army for some backup to help the island province’s victims, and pump out flood water. Prayut has ordered army officers to pump out water in the area around the Phuket International Airport. He has also ordered to officers to help victims in…
- Phuket News
VIDEO: Phuket Airport and surrounding areas engulfed by floods
Floodwater is being pumped out of Phuket Airport and surrounding areas following heavy rainfall. No flights have been cancelled yet but the airport has requested passengers to arrive three to four hours before their scheduled departure time. “Heavy rain in Phuket province has resulted in flooding at Phuket Airport. Urgent remedial action is being taken in all flooded areas,” said…
- Road deaths
VIDEO: Foreign driver causes horror crash in southern Thailand, 2 killed, 1 injured
Thai media reports that a “foreign man” – whose nationality is unknown – has been arrested after he pulled out into oncoming traffic and collided with a motorbike in Songkhla province, southern Thailand, yesterday afternoon. Two teenage girls died from their injuries and another teenage girl is seriously injured. Yesterday at 2.34pm, a “foreign man” driving a Mitsubishi Pajero pulled…
- Thailand News
Thai couple’s 1,000km, 20 hours Songkran motorcycle odyssey
A Thai couple travelled 20 hours on a motorbike and over 1,000 kilometres from Bangkok to their hometown in Pattani province in the south of Thailand before Songkran because all train tickets were fully booked and flights were too pricey for them. The woman, Nurfatihah, posted a video of the epic motorcycle journey she took to Pattani with her boyfriend…
- Crime News
Police find 40,000 meth pills in abandoned car in S Thailand
Police in the Ron Phibun district of southern Thailand discovered 40,000 methamphetamine pills in an abandoned, wrecked car with a street value of about 5 million baht late last night. Ron Phibun police chief Pol Col Suthas Songsayom announced officers were alerted to the abandoned vehicle that had crashed in a ditch, near Suan Phak intersection in tambon Ron Phibun,…
- South Thailand News
Explosive device found hidden inside 7-Eleven in southern Thailand
An explosive device planted by suspected insurgents was discovered hidden on a shelf at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Narathiwat province in southern Thailand on Friday. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers rushed to the scene and successfully disposed of the bomb. On Friday, a member of staff at a 7-Eleven store in the Yee Ngor district was restocking shelves when…
- Crime News
Man shot dead at a funeral ceremony in southern Thailand
The wife of a man shot dead by a gunman at a funeral yesterday says she is unaware her husband had any enemies. A middle aged man walked up to 67 year old Boonlert Sri-ngern, while he was playing dice with mourners, and shot him in the back at a house in Chamuang subdistrict, Khuan Khanun district, Phatthalung province. Witnesses…
- Crime News
South African’s life sentence reduced to 33 years for drug trafficking in Thailand
Koh Samui Court decided to reduce 23 year old Ashley Oosthuizen’s life sentence to 33.4 years at a hearing on Wednesday. Ashley, from South Africa, is behind bars in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand for signing for a package containing MDMA at a restaurant in Koh Samui in late 2020. She was found guilty of international drug trafficking.…
- Phuket News
Elephant rips mahout’s body in half in southern Thailand
An elephant ripped its mahout in half with its tusks yesterday morning at a rubber plantation in southern Thailand’s Phang Nga province. Police think the elephant was annoyed at its owner for making it haul rubberwood in the hot weather. At 11.30am, officers from Takua Thung Police Station were informed that a mahout had been killed by a 20 year…
- South Thailand News
Landmines kill 1, injure 10 in Deep South of Thailand
A soldier was killed and ten people were injured after two landmines were detonated at a rubber plantation in the Deep South of Thailand yesterday. Of the ten people injured in the explosion at the rubber plantation in Kok Ko, a village in Narathiwat province, southern Thailand, six were police officers and four were civilians. The injuries to the police…
- Road deaths
Frenchman dies after being hit by sailor’s car in Phang Nga
A Frenchman was killed on a zebra crossing in the southern province of Phang Nga after being hit by a sedan car driven by a Thai sailor. The suspect driving the vehicle denies he hit and killed the Frenchman despite a security camera clearly showing otherwise. Officers from Khao Lak Police Station were notified on Saturday night about the accident…
- South Thailand News
4,000 Muslims protest against construction of Kuan Yin statue in southern Thailand
More than 4,000 Muslims gathered yesterday to protest against the construction of the largest Kuan Yin statue in the world on Khao Lon mountain in Songkhla province, southern Thailand. President of the Islamic Committee of Songkhla Province Sakkriya Bilsal alongside an imam from every mosque in the province were among those opposing the construction of the 200-metre-tall statue of a…
- South Thailand News
Southern Thailand rebel group considers 3 month ceasefire for Buddhist Lent
Another round of “peace talks” between the Thai government and rebel groups in Thailand’s Deep South was wrapped up yesterday at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – one of the most active and well-established insurgent groups in the south – is considering Thailand’s request for a three month ceasefire for the duration of Buddhist…
- Road deaths
Patient dies after the route of emergency rescue van blocked
A heartless nurse who blocked the path of an ambulance, and therefore delayed its journey to help a critical patient, is threatening to sue the emergency services and netizens who criticised her after she complained about the ambulance. The patient later died because the emergency service van did not get there in time. Tal Sulawan, a practical nurse in the…
- Thailand News
Elephant stabs mahout to death with its tusks in southern Thailand
An elephant stabbed its mahout – or elephant trainer – to death with its tusks yesterday morning in Nahkhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. The elephant stood watch over the man’s corpse for hours, said police. Yesterday at 10.30am, officers from Chawang Police Station received a report that a man had died after he was pierced by his own…
- Phuket News
Electric vehicles are now available to rent in Phuket, Thailand
Phuket has entered a new era of sustainability by welcoming the island’s first ever rentable 100% electric vehicle (EV). Tourists can rent the Nissan Leaf from SIXT Thailand and cruise around Phuket without producing any harmful emissions at all. SIXT Thailand partnered with InterContinental Phuket Resort on the project, who have installed a series of EV charging stations compatible with…
- Thailand News
UPDATE: Crashed army helicopter gets into another accident in southern Thailand
UPDATE: Crashed army helicopter gets into another accident in southern Thailand The Royal Thai army’s Blackhawk which crashed into a rubber plantation in Songkhla on Friday got into a second accident on the roads in Phatthalung province yesterday. The helicopter wreckage was loaded onto an army trailer which collided with another trailer on the Hat Yai – Phattalung road at…
- Thailand News
Army helicopter crashes in southern Thailand
At around 9am this morning, a Blackhawk army helicopter crashed in a rubber plantation in Songkhla province with seven military personnel inside. The commander of the 4th Army Region sustained serious injuries and six others suffered minor injuries in the crash. No casualties were reported. The Blackhawk took off from Sena Narong Military Camp in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province,…
- Tourism News
Honeymooning British man drowns in Phuket, Thailand
A British man on his honeymoon refused to acknowledge a red-flagged no swim zone on the island of Phuket in southern Thailand and it cost him his life. Ali Mohammed Mian drowned only two days into his honeymoon after being swept out to sea when he tried to take a dip in choppy waters at Kata Noi Beach. The 34…
- South Thailand News
Police search for 3 rogue cops & soldier involved in illegal gun trade
Arrest warrants have been issued for three rogue cops and a soldier for selling illegal firearms to the criminal underworld in the southern province of Phattalung. The Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, reported a huge police investigation is still ongoing to determine the sources of firearms used by the different offenders. In the first…
- Road deaths
Norwegian man drives into ravine in southern Thailand, 1 killed & 5 injured
A Norwegian man drove his car off a cliff and into a ravine at a viewpoint in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand yesterday. His Thai mother-in-law died from her injuries and 5 more were injured in the crash. Jorn Silva of Norwegian nationality was driving the car and inside were his wife Suwandee Silva, his daughters Natalie and…
- Thailand News
Battle of the Beetles: Man gets rich selling rhinoceros beetles in southern Thailand
Beetle fighting season is almost upon us, and one man from southern Thailand says his rhinoceros beetles are heading straight to the top of the beetle battle championships. Every rainy season in Thailand, male rhinoceros beetles go head to head on a wooden pole. A female beetle is placed underneath, whose scent stimulates the males to fight until one backs…
- Tourism News
Thailand tourism: 9.3 million arrivals predicted, south busy
In its latest estimates, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports predicts that the second half of 2022 will bring more than 7 million travellers to Thailand. The first 6 months nearly hit the 2 million tourist mark, with 1.987 million visitors arriving from abroad from the beginning of January until June 28. Tourism generated around 114 billion baht so far…
- Thailand News
Frenchman found dead in luxury villa in Koh Samui, Thailand
The body of a Frenchman was discovered at a luxury pool villa in Koh Samui, off the coast of the southern province of Surat Thani, at 9:30am this morning. Officers from Koh Samui Police Station were called to a detached house in Na Muang subdistrict after a cleaner discovered the body of 45 year old Christophe Cedric Moulinaires lying dead…
- Thailand News
Giant honey bees swarm home in southern Thailand
A man from Krabi, southern Thailand, was left terrified and thankfully unharmed after tens of thousands of giant honey bees – or Apis dorsata – swarmed his home on Sunday. Thailand’s giant honey bees have been called “the most dangerous stinging insects on earth” by Cornell University apiculturist Roger Morse. Somchai Kaewkasorn, a Department of Highways official, was watching television…
- World News
Malaysian cockfighter sneaks across border and gets shot in southern Thailand
A Malaysian man who illegally crossed over the border into Thailand for a cockfighting match got shot in Sungai Golok, Narathiwat province, last Saturday night. His chicken won the fight, but his luck soon changed when a group of Thai nationals shot him in the hand on his way home. Scared of getting into trouble with the authorities, the injured man…
