Thailand
- Northern Thailand News
Elderly northeast woman charged with theft after picking plants for curry
An elderly woman in northeast Thailand just wanted some fresh produce for her curry but ended up being charged with theft. The woman, 70 year old Chaweewan, had headed out on June 11 to pick a handful of galangal sprouts from her village in Phang Khon district of Sakhon Nakhon province. Chaweewan says the area is public land, but one…
- Crime News
Justice Minister insists Thailand winning the war against drugs
The Justice Minister, Somsak Thepsutin, insists the government is winning the war against drugs in Thailand because of the kingdom’s strict laws, despite opposition saying it is worse and out of control. Pheu Thai Party MP Manaporn Charoensri yesterday blamed the government at the censure motion for failing to control the drug situation in Thailand. The MP said drugs were…
- Cannabis News
Thai police seize 200kg of smuggled cannabis but don’t know if it’s illegal
On Tuesday, police seized a huge amount of cannabis – 203 kilograms – which was smuggled into Thailand from Laos. Police arrested three Thai men in Bueng Kan province in northeast Thailand who picked up the cannabis on the border. Police don’t know what kind of punishment the men will be given, seeing as this is the first case of…
- Thailand News
Woman leaves fetus in a box at temple in northeast Thailand
A woman brought a box with a fetus inside it to a temple in Udon Thani province, northeast Thailand, on Wednesday. She told the monks she had a miscarriage and she wanted them to pray for the baby’s spirit. The woman said she would come back the next day to collect the fetus, but she didn’t come back. At 6pm…
- Central Thailand News
Ex Thai military man shoots his mother in law after drunken row
A former military man shot his mother in law in a drunken rage last night after a row with a next door neighbour. Chaluay Karnjiakjorn, a former paramilitary officer from a Volunteer Defense Corpse, stole an M16 rifle and fired randomly at houses in the Nong Chang district of the central province of Uthai Thani. His 78 year old mother-in-law…
- Thailand News
UPDATE: Thailand’s first monkeypox case goes missing
UPDATE: The 27 year old man who tested positive for the monkeypox virus in Phuket has been missing since Wednesday, July 20 at 9.05pm, according to Phuket police. Despite Thai media widely reporting that the man escaped from the private hospital in Phuket where he initially presented with symptoms, he was actually staying at Patong Princess hotel when he went…
- Thailand News
Thai tourism ministry to get 2 billion baht ‘booster shot’
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, yesterday revealed his department expects to get a 2 billion baht “booster shot budget” to push Thai tourism this year after complaining to the prime minister. Phiphat revealed he approached PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and asked for the extra cash after being ignored by the man in charge of allocating additional funds, the Director…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok restaurant ranked 39th best in the world
A restaurant in Bangkok has been ranked 39th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. The restaurant, Sorn, has won two Michelin stars. A hotspot for fine dining, Sorn serves traditional southern Thai cuisine. Sorn’s head chef, known as ‘Chef Ice,’ received the award at a ceremony in London earlier this week. Chef Ice expressed his honour over winning the…
- Central Thailand News
Zoo in central Thailand accused of mistreating elephants
A zoo in central Thailand’s province of Samut Prakan has been accused of mistreating its elephants. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation found four elephants in bad condition at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo. Now, the zoo’s management is liable to a fine of up to 40,000 baht. Officials from the department found the elephants to…
- Thailand News
6.4 earthquake strikes Myanmar and northern Thailand, 47 tremors so far
A series of earthquakes struck Myanmar’s Shan State and Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand last night and throughout the early hours of this morning. The earthquakes began at around 11.30pm yesterday and as of 7am, a total of 47 tremors ranging in magnitude from 2.4 to 6.4 on the Richter scale had occurred. More earthquakes are expected today, according…
- Northern Thailand News
UPDATE: Officials raid religious cult, no illegal action found
UPDATE The new religious cult that caught the globe’s imagination for allowing followers to drink alcohol got raided yesterday. But officials from Chiang Yuen district in Mana Sarakham province in northeast Thailand found no illegal activity. Chiang Yuen’s District’s Chief, Somporn Kuankamkong, officers from Internal Security Operations Command, Buddhism Office, and Public Health Department, yesterday visited the cult temple, Phra…
- Thailand News
Bangkok aquarium owner faces backlash after hiring sexy mermaids to swim with his fish
A newly-opened aquarium at Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok has been criticized by netizens after the shop owner hired some sexy models to swim in the tanks with the exotic fish. The aquarium fish shop, Arowana Mall, hired 20 sexy models for its grand opening event on Wednesday. Each model wore a bikini while two of the sexy girls climbed…
- Crime News
Thai mother turns blind eye as daughter raped by stepfather
An alleged pedophile offered the father of a 12 year old girl he raped 100,000 baht in cash to buy his silence. The father refused. The rapist was in fact the teenage girl’s 59 year old stepfather and lived with the child’s birth mother who ignored the abuse. The girl said her mother knew everything but asked her not to…
- 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…
- Central Thailand News
Thailand’s DDC says boy with Covid-19 who died also had MIS-C
The DDC said today that a young child who died in central Thailand this week, who had Covid-19, also had Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. The DDC’s director-general, Dr Opart Karnkawinpong, said doctors at Pathum Thani Hospital tried their best to save the six year old boy. He said they couldn’t save him because he also had MIS-C, and was…
- Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai’s 1-month pledge to clear dead power cables
Chiang Mai Municipality promises to remove all of the city’s dead wires and cables within a month. When they finish burying the new cables underground is another matter. Following residents’ complaints, the municipality began tidying power and communication lines around the Wang Sing Kham community yesterday while another project to transfer cables underground continued near Chiang Mai University. Since the…
- Phuket News
Alleged gold necklace thief on the loose in Phuket
It turns out Pattaya isn’t the only spot in Thailand where thieves snatch pricey gold necklaces. One woman in Phuket says a thief on a motorbike grabbed her gold necklace worth about 35,000 baht last night. The victim, 25 year old Kawissara, said she was also driving her motorbike when the thief drove by and snatched her necklace off her…
- Thailand News
Floods sweep pickup into dam in eastern Thailand, 1 survives and 2 missing
Floods swept an ice delivery pickup truck into a dam in Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, in the early hours of this morning. The driver managed to escape and swim to safety but two Burmese labourers are still missing. Police from Bo Win Police Station received a call at 5.30am to say that two people were missing after a vehicle…
- Bangkok News
University in Bangkok suspends lectures following floods
Thailand’s heavy rains have hit Bangkok hard, and one university in the capital has even suspended lectures today due to flooding. Ramkhamhaeng University announced on its Facebook page today that lectures on both of its campuses are cancelled due to flooding inside and outside the compound. One of the university’s campuses is located on Ramkhamhaeng road in the city’s east.…
- Pattaya News
A bad egg: Pattaya’s egg thief scrambles
Pattaya and Chon Buri have had a variety of bizarre thieves: underwear burglars, cactus robbers, and now, an egg thief. In the past week, two egg merchants in Pattaya have complained that thieves stole their eggs. One of the merchants, who was robbed on July 19, said the eggs stolen from her were worth over 8,600 baht. The merchant, 40…
- Crime News
‘Whiskey prevents Covid-19’ claims monk caught drink driving in northeast Thailand
Police caught a Buddhist monk as drunk as a skunk driving a pickup truck in Loei province, northeast Thailand, yesterday at 9.30am. The monk claims his concoction of rice whiskey and lemons prevents Covid-19. Yesterday morning, police from Loei Provincial Police Station received a report that a drunk monk was asking people for money and “causing mayhem” around the market…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya village protests after 3 decades without tap water
Locals of one village in East Pattaya are fed up after not having tap water for 30 years. On Tuesday, a crowd of over 50 people in Moo 4 village protested the lack of water and empty promises from officials. The village is located in Chon Buri province’s Bang Lamung district. The villagers have to pay 170 baht for a…
- Pattaya News
Bang Saen Beach near Pattaya to ban drinking and smoking
Officials in Chon Buri province plan to ban the drinking of alcohol and smoking on Bang Saen Beach so they can develop the stretch as a model tourist attraction. The Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Saensuk Municipality of Muenf Chon Buri District, and the National Institute of Development Administration yesterday announced the project to upgrade Bang Saen Beach into a tourist…
- Crime News
Four year old witness helps police catch gamblers in central Thailand
Police could not contain their laughter during an interview with a four year old witness to a crime in central Thailand yesterday. The innocent child gave police important information about a group of gamblers, including his parents, during a raid at a house in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand. Yesterday, police received a complaint that a group…
- World News
A push for Thai travel to Malaysia
Travel agents in Thailand are pushing for more Thais to make their way to Malaysia. According to the president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, Malaysia’s adventure tourism was growing among young people before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. The TTAA travelled to Malaysia this week with almost 100 outbound tour firms. Due to a large number of Malaysian travellers in…
- World News
Singaporean swindlers have fled to Thailand
A Singaporean couple wanted for swindling US$22 million from customers has fled to Thailand. The Singaporean man, Pi Jiapeng, and his Thai wife, Pansuk Siriwipa, hid in a lorry container as they made their escape from the police and Interpol after conning more than 200 customers out of their hard-earned cash for luxury goods that were not delivered. The Singapore…
- Crime News
UPDATE: Poisonous gas another cause of death in Bangkok sewer tragedy
UPDATE Another worker from the Bangkok sewer tragedy died in hospital this afternoon. Officials said the cause of death could be a combination of electrocution, a lack of air, and poisonous gas in the sewer. In total, three electrical workers died, 26 year old Thosapol Faksawat, 23 year old Warawut U-Nath, and 37 year old Direk Intarangsee who lost his…
- Pattaya News
New plans to help Pattaya’s homeless reintegrate in society
Pattaya officials are trying new ways to improve the city’s issues with homelessness. Deputy Mayor Wuttisak Rueimkitkan led a campaign launch yesterday, with help from the Chonburi Homeless Protection Center. The campaign’s goal is to help integrate homeless people back into society. Wuttisak had two groups of city officials look for homeless people around Pattaya Beach Road and Pattaya Second…
- South Thailand News
18 passengers rescued after ferry explodes off South Thailand coast
Eighteen people were rescued after a ferry exploded on its way from Chumpon to Koh Tao today at about 2.30pm. All 18 passengers suffered injuries. The ferry, named Lom Phraya, caught fire about 4-5 kilometres off the coast of the Haad Sai Ree sub-district, Mueng district in Chumpon province in the south of Thailand. The rescue team reported on its…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Thailand’s heavy rain is coming back
After a brief break, Thailand’s heavy rain is coming back with a vengeance for the rest of this week. The Thai Meteorological Department said there should be heavy to very heavy rain throughout most of the kingdom from today, July 20, until Sunday, July 24. This includes the North, Northeast, Central, East, and South regions. Those living near the coast…