Thailand
- Bangkok News
Bangkok’s famous airplane graveyard catches fire
Bangkok’s famous “Airplane Graveyard” caught fire yesterday evening. Firefighters believe blaze first started in dry grass nearby before spreading to one of the decommissioned planes. People living nearby reported thick black smoke and strong chemical smells coming from the junkyard, which is home to an abandoned Boeing 747 plane and 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft. Fire crews were called at 9pm and…
- Thailand News
Thailand’s richest man buys Pattaya hotel, expects tourism will rebound
Thailand’s richest man is expects tourism will rebound quickly. He’s so confident, that he’s now investing in hotels, including a hotel in Pattaya. Asset World Corp., the property arm of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Group, purchased a Pattaya hotel this month. The company is now searching for more properties. With the drastic slowdown of international travel over the past…
- World News
Hundreds of Burmese refugees flee to Thailand, risking arrest and deportation
Hundreds of Burmese refugees are fleeing to Thailand in a risky bid to escape the Myanmar army, which seized government in a coup de etat on February 1. The Royal Thai Army has set up temporary camps to deal with the massive influx of immigrants, but since Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the immigrants are…
- Songkran News
TAT New York office to host a virtual Songkran from Chiang Mai
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is set to host a virtual Songkran celebration from Chiang Mai next month in its New York office to celebrate the Thai New Year. “Spring into Songkran Splendours” will be broadcast live from Chiang Mai and is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8 from 8pm-9pm Eastern Standard Time. Free registration is available online by following this…
- World News
Japan kicks off Olympic torch relay, Thailand launches “Flag of Nation” relay
Japan has officially kicked off its countdown to the postponed 2020 Olympic Games with a torch-lighting ceremony in the prefecture of Fukushima yesterday. The lighting of the torch comes 10 years after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors in the prefecture. The Japanese women’s football team, winners of the 2011 World Cup, started the…
- Thailand News
Oldest living cat in the world said to be 34 year old cat in Thailand
A 34 year old Siamese cat in Chanthaburi is the oldest living cat in the world, many claim. The cat, known as “Great Grandmother Wad,” is still very strong, but has trouble walking and her memory isn’t the best, her owner says. She’s a bit senile. Thai media spoke to 57 year old Wanna Kodkarika, the cat’s owner, also known…
- Crime News
Thai rocker granted temporary bail after court upholds sentence
A Thai rock musician is being released on a temporary bail, after losing his appeal to the Supreme Court. Seksan Sookpimay, known as “Sek Loso,” used his alleged diagnosis of suffering from bipolar disorder as part of his appeal to be let off from serving a 42 month prison sentence for several offences dating back to New Years Eve 2017.…
- Thailand Protest News
Bangkok police vow to press charges against activists from Wednesday rally
Bangkok’s deputy police chief, Piya Tavichai, says 11 activists who addressed participants at a rally at Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday will be charged. He says his officers have already identified 10 of the protest leaders and also plan to charge other participants who used loudspeakers or held up banners with insulting messages about the monarchy. Piya adds that any media…
- Economy News
Thai lingerie manufacturer ordered to pay workers
A Thai lingerie manufacturer must pay workers that were laid off without compensation, according to the Labour Protection and Welfare Office. More than 1200 employees of Brilliant Alliance Thai Global received no warning when the factory suddenly closed in Samut Prakan province on March 10th. The company blamed Covid-19 for financial failings leading to the closure, but workers were given…
- Tourism News
Accelerated vaccination plan for Phuket, Koh Samui recommended by tourism sector
Those in Thailand’s tourism and airline industries are pushing for an accelerated vaccination plan for Phuket and Koh Samui as well as for those in those in the tourism sector. With Phuket set to reopen under the “sandbox” model in July, tourism and airline representatives also ask for a clear timeline for reopening the country to foreign travellers. In a…
- Environment News
Earth Hour on Saturday, Bangkok to join global “lights off” hour
The city of Bangkok will go dark for an hour on Saturday, joining thousands of cities across the globe for Earth Hour, an annual initiative where lights are turned off to raise awareness about protecting the planet. The deputy governor of Bangkok, Sopon Pisuttiwong, says lights be off from 8:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturday, joining 7,000 other cities in darkness.…
- Thailand News
Thai rocker to finish prison sentence after losing appeal
A Thai rock musician is to remain in prison after losing his Supreme Court appeal in which he claimed he was suffering from bipolar disorder. Seksan “Sek Loso” Sookpimay was sentenced to a 42 month prison term, along with community service, for drug abuse, resisting arrest, and threatening police with a firearm following an incident at his home on New…
- Phuket News
Foreigners seeking 60 day tourist visa extensions crowd Phuket Immigration
Many foreigners seeking to extend what some are calling the “Covid visa” crowded Phuket Immigration this morning. The queue stretched from the second floor, out the door and down the stairs at the front of the building. One man told the Phuket News that many were waiting to file a 60 day tourist visa extension. The visa extensions are intended…
- Covid-19 News
AstraZeneca vaccine drops 3 percentage points in effectiveness rate
The makers of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine have dropped its effectiveness rate by 3 percent. The revised rate comes after an independent panel of experts appointed to supervise the trial expressed concern that AstraZeneca had failed to include updated data in its initially released figure. The US National Institutes of Health then issued a rare statement asking AstraZeneca to work…
- Crime News
Mekong drug bust: methamphetamine seizure valued at 20 million baht
A sack of methamphetamine tablets, valued around 20 million baht, smuggled in tea packets, was seized along the bank of the Mekong River in north-east Thailand, a notorious drug trafficking route. A longtail boat pulled up to the shore of the Isaan province Mukdahan around 3am yesterday and the driver threw the sack onto the riverbank. Rangers and police, who…
- Phuket News
Tour bus operators in Phuket call for government help after a year of no work
Tour bus operators on the southern island of Phuket are calling for government assistance as they face ongoing legal action over missed lease payments on their equipment. Some operators say the threat of bankruptcy looms over them after a year of unemployment. The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with tourism on Phuket, but tour bus operators say they have never…
- Thailand Protest News
Protesters call for PM’s resignation, release of activists, abolition of lèse majesté law
Protesters gathered at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok last night, calling for the release of fellow activists and the resignation of the Thai PM. The anti-government activists assembled yesterday from around 5pm and listened to speakers blasting the PM and Thailand’s strict lèse majesté law. The protesters are calling for the law to be abolished, for those charged under the…
- Thailand News
Lazada, Shopee go head to head in attracting more online shoppers
The Internet shopping websites of Lazada and Shopee are going head to head as they are competing for more online shoppers. The economic downturn has prompted more efforts to attract new shoppers just as the festive sales season is right around the bend. Thanida Suiwatana, chief business officer of Lazada Thailand, says the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred a new trend…
- Thailand News
18 metre tapeworm comes out of Thai man, doctors suspect he ate raw beef containing parasite eggs
A 67 year old Thai man complaining of stomach pain and extreme flatulence found out his symptoms were from a 18 metre long tapeworm, possibly the longest tapeworm in Thailand in 50 years. The patient gave a stool sample during a visit to a doctor in the Isaan province Nong Khai, which borders Laos. Lab tests found 28 eggs in…
- Crime News
Monk kicks Thai teenager in face after he refuses to buy him food
A monk in northern Thailand’s Lampang Province has allegedly taken matters into his own hands by kicking a Thai teenager in the face after he refused to travel 5 kilometres to buy food for the monk. According to the 16 year old boy’s mother, her son was visiting a young monk at the local temple and was playing games with…
- Bangkok News
North expansion project at Suvarnabhumi will go ahead – Transport Minister
The Transport Minister says expansion plans at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport will go ahead and will include the contentious North expansion project. Saksayam Chidchob’s announcement appears to disregard a recommendation from the National Anti-Corruption Commission, who have previously stated that any expansion should be in line with a proposal from the National Economic and Social Development Council. That proposal suggested the…
- South Thailand News
Bombs found in stolen truck behind police station in Yala
Police in Yala, one of Thailand’s 3 southern border provinces, are investigating after diffusing a bomb they found in a stolen delivery truck behind a police station. They say the truck was stolen by holding the driver, Baihakee Longluwa, of Kerry Express, at gunpoint. The armed men allegedly pushed Baihakee inside of a house, tied up his hands, and left…
- Thailand News
Thailand drafting new regulations for cannabis and hemp seeds
A new regulations for cannabis and hemp seeds imports is in the works by Thailand’s Agriculture Department. With certain parts of the cannabis plant now off the narcotics list, many are tapping into the market for CBD, or cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive component in hemp and cannabis. With the rising demand for hemp and cannabis, the department is revising regulations to…
- Tourism News
Phuket approves quarantine-free stays for foreign travellers from July 1
Foreign travellers to Phuket can enjoy their stays free from quarantine restrictions starting July 1. Today, the infectious disease committee approved the plan to allow foreign tourists to skip quarantines on the premises that local Phuket residents will be inoculated before then, as part of plans to achieve a herd immunity. The plan was supposed to be originally submitted this…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 69 new Covid-19 cases, most in Bangkok
69 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 1,381 active Covid-19 cases. Since the start of the pandemic, the CCSA has reported a total of 28,346 coronavirus infections and 92 deaths. Most of the cases were found in Bangkok, according to the deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foriegn…
- Songkran News
Bangkok sets rules for a dry Songkran, large events must submit a plan
It’s going to be another dry Songkran in Bangkok. No water gun flights. No buckets of water poured on passersby. City officials say strict measures will be in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 during the holiday, which was extended and now stretches from April 10 to 15. While water splashing is banned, Songkran’s traditional activities, like religious ceremonies and…
- Thailand News
“We Travel Together” plan to boost domestic tourism expanded
Thai lawmakers are giving the third phase of the government’s “We Travel Together” scheme a green light to continue boosting domestic tourism. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha along with other lawmakers approved the scheme, titled “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” in Thai, which is a programme that subsidises hotel bookings. The scheme’s third phase is set to cover an additional 2 million people…
- Thailand News
Tom yum goong to be nominated for UNESCO cultural heritage list
Thailand’s famous hot and spicy shrimp soup, or tom yum goong, as it’s better known locally, is being nominated for inclusion on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. Thai PBS World reports that the government has approved a proposal from the Culture Ministry that the renowned dish be put forward for inclusion. UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with…
- Thailand Protest News
Another pro-democracy protest confirmed for Bangkok today
The pro-democracy Ratsadon group has announced another anti-government protest to be held in Bangkok today. News of the rally was posted on the Facebook page of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration group, with organisers pledging to ensure the safety of participants. “March 24, 2021 bring your bags and tie your shoelaces. There will be a rally stage this…
- Thailand News
Airlines in Thailand push for July reopening and quicker roll out of vaccinations for employees
Airline operators in Thailand are seeking a July reopening date and are pushing to get workers vaccinated against Covid-19 within the next 2 months, along the same timeline as many in the travel sector prepare for July’s anticipated launch of the “sandbox” scheme in Phuket. Under the sandbox model, vaccinated travellers will be able to travel to the island province…
