Thailand News

  • Phuket NewsPhuket man wins 18 million baht from lottery, plans to pay off debts

    Phuket man wins 18 million baht from lottery, plans to pay off debts

    After praying at several temples with high hopes, one Phuket man’s dream of winning the lottery has come true! The man, who lives in Ratsada on Phuket’s east coast, won 18 million baht yesterday, which just happened to be April Fool’s day. The national Thai lottery is drawn twice a month. But the winning was no joke. The man, Panuwat,…

  • Thailand NewsThailand’s finance ministry closes 2 insurance firms due to Covid-19 claims

    Thailand’s finance ministry closes 2 insurance firms due to Covid-19 claims

    After an overwhelming number of Covid-19 claims caused 2 of Thailand’s insurance providers to owe billions of baht in compensation, Thailand’s finance minister has revoked the providers’ business licenses. The decision was made effective yesterday. One provider, Southeast Insurance, owes 13 billion baht in compensation, while the other, Thai Insurance, owes 4.6 billion baht. The Secretary-General of the Office of…

  • Thailand NewsThailand International Motor Expo 2022

    Thailand International Motor Expo 2022

    A lot of shiny cars, a lot of shiny lights and a whole lot more pretties. Check out all the new car, bike, boat and beauty models out this new year! Tim Newton reports live from the Impact Challenger Arena as he takes a look around Thailand’s International Motor Expo 2022.

  • Bangkok NewsAmerican arrested in Bangkok for alleged 3 million baht fraud

    American arrested in Bangkok for alleged 3 million baht fraud

    Bangkok police arrested an American national in Klong Toey district of Bangkok yesterday (reported as Nana in some media). The man arrested allegedly lured investors into fraudulent contracts. Thailand’s Economic Crime Suppression Division says the victims lost over 3 million baht altogether. The man allegedly offered victims options in energy and precious metals as well as futures contracts through 60…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Today | Questions over accuracy of daily covid numbers

    Thailand News Today | Questions over accuracy of daily covid numbers

    Last month, the Bangkok Post reported that about 100 billion baht left the market after the US Federal Reserve increased its interest rate. The fallout from the war has resulted in higher fuel prices and production costs, causing an economic slowdown. As a result, investors predict international credit rating agencies will downgrade Thailand this year. The 10-year Thai government bond…

  • Bangkok News9 of Thailand’s restaurants ranked on “Asia’s 50 Best” list, all in Bangkok

    9 of Thailand’s restaurants ranked on “Asia’s 50 Best” list, all in Bangkok

    “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” has included nine restaurants in Thailand on its 2022 list. The Thai restaurants featured on the list are located in Bangkok. While some of the restaurants serve traditional Thai cuisine, others serve international flavors, as well as fusion dishes. One restaurant, Le Du, serves Thai food with a French twist. Le Du ranks number 4 of…

  • Pattaya NewsFire destroys Chon Buri Restaurant

    Fire destroys Chon Buri Restaurant

    A fire destroyed a restaurant in Mueang district of Chon Buri province yesterday. The restaurant owner claimed he had closed his restaurant like usual and already unplugged everything except for his freezer. But when he was on his way home, the owner of a rice shop attached to the restaurant called him and told him there was a fire at…

  • World NewsThailand’s navy captures 3 Vietnamese fishing boats off Songkhla

    Thailand’s navy captures 3 Vietnamese fishing boats off Songkhla

    Thailand’s navy captured three Vietnamese fishing boats off Songkhla this morning. A commander admiral from the navy said a total of 15 people were arrested and charged for illegally fishing in Thai territorial waters without fishing licenses, using unregistered boats, and being immigrants working in Thailand without a work permit. The boat skippers were charged with directing fishing without skippers’…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket anti-corruption director says corruption due to “lack of knowledge”

    Phuket anti-corruption director says corruption due to “lack of knowledge”

    The director of the Phuket office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission reported yesterday that corruption in procurement from some local government organisations was caused by a lack of knowledge in supplies and procedures. He said this was based on 2020 survey results about corruption. The director said the most common complaints to the NACC were about corruption involving land. He…

  • Thailand NewsExpected computer shortage in Thailand, world

    Expected computer shortage in Thailand, world

    IT workers expect a shortage of computers for sale in Thailand to start between May and June due to Covid-19 impacting producers in China. The chief of sales and marketing at Advice, an IT distributor, told the Bangkok Post that if China’s lockdown continues, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, computer prices will likely rise. The chief of Advice said…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Update | PCR tests upon entering Thailand scrapped, starting April 1

    Thailand News Update | PCR tests upon entering Thailand scrapped, starting April 1

    Starting today, travellers entering Thailand will no longer need to take a PCR Covid-19 test before their flight, but visitors will still need to take a PCR test once they land in Thailand. All travellers – vaccinated and unvaccinated – no longer need to take the pre-travel test, but requirements after entry vary depending on the program you come on……

  • Pattaya NewsCandidates for Pattaya mayor draw election numbers

    Candidates for Pattaya mayor draw election numbers

    Candidates for Pattaya mayor drew their election numbers today. A candidate with We Love Pattaya group is number 1, an independent candidate is number 2, a Move Forward Party candidate is number 3, and a Pattaya Ruam Jai group candidate is number 4. The election is scheduled for May 22, as are elections in Bangkok. The candidates drew their numbers…

  • Northern Thailand NewsPolice seize nearly 1.4 billion baht assets from alleged drug network in Chiang Rai

    Police seize nearly 1.4 billion baht assets from alleged drug network in Chiang Rai

    The Department of Special Investigations seized nearly 1.4 billion baht in assets after searching three houses in Chiang Rai province yesterday. The houses belong to suspected members of a drug network. The assets included 246 bank accounts, 155 cars and motorcycles worth about 130 million baht, and land title deeds for 232 blocks of land worth about 1.3 billion baht.…

  • Bangkok NewsCandidates for governor register in Bangkok

    Candidates for governor register in Bangkok

    Candidates for Bangkok started registering at City Hall 2 yesterday. Registration will last until April 4, and polling will be on May 22. The candidate to arrive earliest was an independent candidate who showed up at City Hall at 6am. Other candidates represented several different parties including Thai Sang Thai, the Democrat Party, and Move Forward Party. The independent candidate…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket officer allegedly threatens woman with prostitution charges for money

    Phuket officer allegedly threatens woman with prostitution charges for money

    A woman in Phuket told the press yesterday that a police officer at Thalang Police Station threatened to charge her with prostitution if she didn’t pay 50,000 baht in monthly payments of 5,000 baht. The payment is allegedly for her car, which police threatened to seize as evidence of her committing prostitution. The woman claims the officer first contacted her…

  • World NewsThailand and Cambodia will sign MOU to crack down on call centre scams

    Thailand and Cambodia will sign MOU to crack down on call centre scams

    A Thai government spokesman has announced that Thailand and Cambodia plan to sign an MOU together soon to crack down on call centre scams. The spokesman said the Police Cyber Taskforce recently raided the operational base of a network of four gambling websites in Nonthaburi. He said the network had more than 200,000 clients with 200 million baht a month…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Today | Songkran this year: what you can and can’t do

    Thailand News Today | Songkran this year: what you can and can’t do

    no foam parties or powder smearing will be allowed in Bangkok during Songkran next month, but when it comes to water splashing on the Thai New Year the rules are a bit vague. Quote unquote “Traditional water sprinkling” is allowed, but officials did not go into detail about what exactly that means. The Bangkok Communicable Disease Committee decided to allow…

  • Pattaya NewsPattaya fireworks festival named 1 of 3 top Asian marine festivals

    Pattaya fireworks festival named 1 of 3 top Asian marine festivals

    The International Festival and Event Association of Asia has named the Pattaya International Fireworks Festival one of three “major marine tourism festivals in Asia”. Pattaya’s city manager said yesterday that almost 20 countries participated in the international firework competition. The Pattaya festival was then selected for the final round. The festival is held every year in Pattaya, usually later in…

  • Central Thailand NewsHuge fire in Prachinburi Market, Central Thailand, 100 million baht worth of damage

    Huge fire in Prachinburi Market, Central Thailand, 100 million baht worth of damage

    A huge fire destroyed more than 30 shops at the Prachinburi Town Municipality Market yesterday. The fire reportedly destroyed properties worth more than 100 million baht. No injuries and deaths were reported, and volunteers rescued seven bedridden local residents who lived in the area where the fire broke out. Officials were first alerted about the incident at 5pm, and arrived…

  • Environment NewsPhuket deputy governor appoints committee to fight dust pollution

    Phuket deputy governor appoints committee to fight dust pollution

    Phuket deputy governor Anupap appointed a committee on Monday to fight the severe dust pollution gripping the island province. In a meeting at city hall that he lead that day, Anupap stressed that forest fires are common during Thailand’s dry season, and they create fine particulate dust matter, PM2.5, in dust, soot, smoke, and liquid. He said with bad ventilation…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Update | Updates on Koh Phangan’s Songkran Full Moon Party

    Thailand News Update | Updates on Koh Phangan’s Songkran Full Moon Party

    Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s unfazed by recent polls and shrugged off any suggestions his popularity was waning, insisting the government has “fared well” to run the country over the last few challenging years. He was responding to a NIDA poll released on Sunday that gave him only 12.7% of the respondents saying he would be the next prime…

  • Pattaya NewsDrunk Chon Buri factory workers get in knife fight over who works harder

    Drunk Chon Buri factory workers get in knife fight over who works harder

    On Sunday, two drunk Chon Buri factory workers got into a knife fight over which of them worked harder. Emergency responders rushed one worker to Chon Buri hospital. They found bottles of liquor and a broken point-tip knife near the worker. There was a small pool of his blood. The worker who stabbed him claimed he was defending himself. The…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Today | Thailand’s Tourism sector demands full reopening

    Thailand News Today | Thailand’s Tourism sector demands full reopening

    Tourism businesses in Thailand are struggling to survive and barriers to increasing the number of foreign visitors to the kingdom must be removed immediately. That’s the view of Chamnan Srisawat from the Tourism Council of Thailand, who says the Omicron variant, coupled with Russia’s war on Ukraine, has dealt a double blow to the sector. A TCT poll that surveyed…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Update | Covid Visa Extension pushed back to May 24th

    Thailand News Update | Covid Visa Extension pushed back to May 24th

    Starting April 1, that’s next Friday, the mandatory quarantine period for unvaccinated travellers entering Thailand will be reduced to five days. International travellers will also no longer need to take a pre-travel PCR Covid-19 test. The new requirements are pending publication in the Royal Gazette and the official announcement is expected to be published before the end of the month.…

  • Thailand video newsThailand News Update | ‘Hazing’ students expelled from University over freshman death

    Thailand News Update | ‘Hazing’ students expelled from University over freshman death

    15 senior Thai university students, involved in the violent and fatal hazing of a first year uni student on March 13, have been dismissed from the Rajamangala University of Technology Isaan. The ritual involved a total of thirty 2nd year students and 37 freshmen, and resulted in the death of 19 year old Padyos “Prem” Chonpakdi.10 other students, involved directly…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket police find dead body floating, caught on mangrove trees

    Phuket police find dead body floating, caught on mangrove trees

    Local residents have found a man’s dead body floating in the waters off Phuket’s east coast, and caught in the mangroves off Koh Kaew. Phuket City Police, hospital staff, and a forensic expert rushed to the scene. After taking the body out of the water for examination, they identified the man as Sahat Bunchan. He was 59 years old, and…

  • Pattaya NewsForeigner in Pattaya bleeding after alleged altercation with security

    Foreigner in Pattaya bleeding after alleged altercation with security

    A foreign man in Pattaya was left bleeding from several serious injuries in what witnesses say was an altercation with security. The witnesses found the man lying on the ground in the middle of Pratumnak Soi 5. The altercation allegedly happened at night in front of a ‘restaurant’ there. As the man lay on the ground, a few other foreigners…

  • Pattaya NewsPattaya police arrest ‘restaurant’ manager who allegedly violated Covid-19 rules

    Pattaya police arrest ‘restaurant’ manager who allegedly violated Covid-19 rules

    Pattaya City Police reported yesterday that they arrested a ‘restaurant’ manager in Pattaya for allegedly selling alcohol without a permit, opening a venue without a permit, and breaking the Chonburi Disease Control Orders. Only former bars and clubs that have been converted into ‘restaurants’, and have proper certification, are approved by authorities are allowed to operate. Alcohol can be served…

  • Thailand News2 people per hour were killed in road accidents in Thailand in 2020

    2 people per hour were killed in road accidents in Thailand in 2020

    A Thai health foundation has found that two people were killed in road accidents every hour in Thailand in 2020. The total number of people killed in road accidents throughout that year was 17,831. The foundation, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said motorcycle drivers and riders made up the 74% of fatalities. The International Health Policy Program said in its report…

  • Crime NewsPunishment for ‘Joe Ferrari’ seven police will be decided June 8

    Punishment for ‘Joe Ferrari’ seven police will be decided June 8

    Thailand’s Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases will decide punishment for the seven so-called ‘Joe Ferrari’ police on June 8. The seven former police officers allegedly suffocated a drug suspect to death with a plastic bag. They face four charges: malfeasance, abuse of authority, torture causing death, and coercion. The victim’s parents have demanded 1.55 million baht from…