Thailand
- Thailand News
Thai ‘hijacking’ elephants get GPS collar trackers
PHOTO: WWF A new project has been launched in the restricted forest areas of eastern Thailand where wildlife officials are putting tracking collars on elephants to help mitigate potential conflict with farmers and local villagers. The first three collars were placed on three elephants in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary. The collars were imported from South Africa with aid…
- Thailand News
Thailand advance to knockout stage of Asian Cup *Thaiger Bites
Last night saw Thailand finish with a 1-1 draw with the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to ensure their place in the knockout stages of the Asian Cup, managing to finish second in the group after a rocky start. Thailand’s equaliser goal came late in the first half, scored by midfielder Thitiphan Puangjan. Following a their first Asian Cup game where…
- Bangkok News
Thailand police trial mobile app to keep track of patrolling police
A new pilot project is being trialed in Bangkok by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to potential prevent some policemen who have found ways to skip their patrol work. Real-time tracking GPS (global positioning system) technology is being implemented via a smartphone application that must be downloaded by the officers who are assigned to conduct surveillance operations or regular patrols.…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok’s air-pollution alarming, rain-making being considered
PHOTO: An eerie start to Sunday in Bangkok – The Nation Bangkok’s air pollution has reached dangerous levels for multiple days in the past few weeks. Today, air pollution in the greater Bangkok area was again threatening residents’ health. The amount of PM2.5 – airborne dust particles 2.5 microns in diameter or less – exceeded the safe level of 50…
- Thai Life
Event Round-Up – January 2019
Into a new year and a month packed with activities around the country. The highly anticipated Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous 2019 kicks off at Phuket Royal Marina on January 10-13. A collaboration between some of the most respected and experienced figures in the Southeast Asian yachting industry, Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous is the country’s new and improved yacht…
- Thailand News
Thai cabinet extends visa-fee-waiver until after Songkran
Tourists from over 21 countries will continue to benefit from an extension to the visa fee waiver introduced in November last year. In a move to boost tourism, the cabinet has extended the 2,000 baht visa-on-arrival fee waiver, according to Tourism and Sport Minister, Veerasak Kowsurat this morning (Tuesday). The waiver was set to end on Sunday, January 6, 2019,…
- Health
Top 10 conditions where medical cannabis was prescribed in 2018
Thailand has legalised Medical Cannabis for prescribed medical use only. The penalty for recreational use of cannabis in Thailand remains a serious matter, where those found in possession of 10 kilograms of herb or less could expect to do up to five years in prison. Anything more and you’re facing life in prison. No information is currently available on the process of…
- Thailand News
No sign of elections, but election officials want 22 million baht of new cars
Voters were disappointed to see yesterday’s deadline for publication of the royal decree slip away, which means the intended February 24 election date is unlikely. To add salt to the wound, the election commission has now announced that its directors will be needing new cars, and the lucky tax payers will be providing them. The budget for the new fleet…
- South Thailand News
Southern insurgents gun down four Pattani defence volunteers
In a worrying upsurge in southern violence, insurgents disguised as army troops have gunned down and killed four tambon defence volunteers in Pattani’s Yarang district. The incident happened around noon and insurgents stole their rifles following the attack. Police say the four defence volunteers from Tambon Prachan were guarding Ban Bukoh School in the tambon when the insurgents arrived in…
- Bangkok News
Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne is in Bangkok today after the Australian Government says it would consider giving asylum to the 18 year old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand from Kuwait, saying she feared her family, which she accused of abuse. Reuters reports that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun refused to meet her father and brother, who arrived in Bangkok yesterday…
- Koh Samui News
French woman found floating off Koh Samui beach
Samui police report that the body the body of 42 year old Maud Isabeile Bailley was found floating at sea off Ao Thongket beach around 2.30 pm yesterday (Tuesday). The body was first seen floating by hotel staff who called police and rescue workers. Responders then brought the body back to shore. A friend of the deceased has identified the…
- Bangkok News
UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story
“Al-Qunun says she doesn’t want to meet with her father or brother.” The Thai immigration police chief yesterday met with Saudi Embassy officials in Bangkok as Saudi Arabia tried to distance itself from accusations that it tried to block a young woman trying to flee her family and seek asylum in Australia. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from…
- Opinion
Opinion: Sovereignty, rights ignored in airport debacle – The Nation
Thailand could have blood on its hands if it fails to protect a Saudi traveller on her journey to freedom. The fate of a Saudi woman on her way to Australia, where she has a visa and seeks to obtain asylum, teetered in the balance in Bangkok at press time yesterday. Amid Thailand’s apparent willingness to deport her back to…
- South Thailand News
Bottlenose dolphin found dead on Nakhon Si Thammarat beach
PHOTO: DMCR Following Sunday’s discovery of a dead porpoise on Sunday, a bottlenose dolphin has been found dead on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat as well following last Friday’s storm. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) reports that they were informed yesterday by Vachirapong Sakunrat who found the dead dolphin at Nadan Beach in Khanom, Nakhon Si…
- South Thailand News
Pabuk: PM visits Nakhon Si Thammarat to survey damage
Between January 3-6, Pabuk was responsible for the death of four people and has affected the lives of more than 720,000 in 23 southern provinces. The death toll from the storm has now risen to four while three southern provinces are still reeling from its impact yesterday. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chayapol Thitisak said that his department…
- Bangkok News
Saudi teenager allowed to stay in Thailand, for now
A Saudi teenager who flew to Thailand to escape her family in Kuwait will be allowed to stay in the country for now. Thai officials ended up in diplomatic hot water yesterday after government officials initially said they planned to deport a Saudi teenager who was stopped in Bangkok, en route to Australia to seek asylum, drawing objections from the…
- Thailand News
Serbian coach sacked after Thai thrashing in Asian Cup
The Football Association of Thailand has unceremoniously dumped the national coach Milovan Rajevac, just seven hours after Thailand was thrashed by India 1-4 in the Asian Cup group A game in Abu Dhabi. Thailand were far from impressive against the more powerful Indian team who beat the Kingdom’s side for the first time in 32 years. Thai Football Association reacted…
- Thailand News
NLA President urges critics not to blame Coronation for election delays
The country’s NLA President Pornpetch Wichitworachai is warning critics to refrain from blaming the forthcoming King’s coronation ceremony for causing potential delays in the national election. He says that authorities concerned with planning the election must choose appropriate timing for the election and ensure that it doesn’t affect the auspicious ceremony. “The ceremony would bring joy and happiness to the…
- Thai Life
Leo returns to ‘The Beach’
… well, a beach in Phuket anyway. PHOTO: BACKGRID It’s 19 years since Leo DiCaprio starred in ‘The Beach’. The film made both Leornado and Maya Bay famous. Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi is now closed but Leo has made a return to Phuket island where he shot many of the scenes for the film (including at the On…
- South Thailand News
Paralyzed American teacher heads home to US after GoFundMe raises $76,000
Guillain-Barre Syndrome affects an estimated one in 100,000 people and can cause widespread paralysis Bradner’s family started a GoFundMe account to raise funds to cover her medical care in Thailand, transportation home and rehabilitation in the US Caroline Bradner woke up on the morning of December 22 in Thailand. She couldn’t move and found herself paralyzed from the neck down.…
- Phuket News
Pabuk: ‘War room’ set up to help tourists
The Sports and Tourism Ministry has set up a war room to assist the many tourists whose plans were thrown into confusion in the wake of tropical storm Pabuk. The Government and authorities took extra precautions, closing airports and marine tourism, in preparedness to minimise potential danger to tourists as Pabuk approached. Santi Pawai, deputy permanent-secretary of the Tourism and…
- Koh Samui News
Pabuk: The worst is over as southern Thailand mops up
The potential for any further problems associated with Tropical Storm Pabuk are diminished as the remnants of the storm continue to move westward and out to sea away from the Andaman Coast. The general consensus is that, whilst unseasonal and packing high wind speeds (for Thailand), the storm’s impact was less than predicted causing minimal damage to infrastructure in the…
- Krabi News
Pabuk: Now sits over Andaman Sea, moving west
The south of Thailand awakes this morning to a wet and windy aftermath of tropical storm Pabuk. The storm centre has crossed the Peninsula and now sits west of Phang Nga province as it weakens and continues to move westerly away from the coast. Gale-force winds, storm surges and flash flooding are still predicted as the remnants of the weakening…
- South Thailand News
Pabuk makes landfall as it swirls across the Malay Peninsula
PHOTO: The National The Meteorological Department is reporting that the outer arms of tropical storm Pabuk made landfall at 12.45 pm along the coast of Pak Phanang, district of Nakhon Si Thammarat today. The storm is weakening as it moves towards neighboring province Surat Thani to the north, moving at around 18 kilometers per hour, with maximum wind speeds of…
- Koh Samui News
Pabuk: Friday awakes with the storm surging up the Gulf coastline
30,000 people are estimated to have been evacuated from coastal districts in Nakhon Si Thammarat whilst some tourists are taking precautions of leaving the Gulf holiday islands, airports close, boats remain at mooring and schools are shut. Thailand’s southern Gulf coast prepares for winds up to 95kph, heavy downpours and floods. From Nakhon Si Thammarat up to Chumpon provinces, emergency…
- Koh Samui News
Pabuk: Heading for Koh Samui, Surat Thani
The projections of ventusky.com show ‘Pabuk’ making its way up the Gulf of Thailand in a north-westerly direction. According to the map model, the storm is likely heading for Koh Samui and likely to make mainland landfall further up the coast around Chumpon. But the fallout from the storm will certainly affect the entire southern coastline from Nakhon Si Thammarat,…
- Koh Samui News
Pabuk: Tourists flee Gulf islands of Koh Phangan, Samui and Koh Tao
“Waves could reach seven meters high in the Gulf of Thailand.” Thousands are departing some of the tourist hot spots including Koh Phangan and Koh Tao as the region’s first tropical storm for January in 30 years heads northwest across the Gulf of Thailand. Tens of thousands of tourists are reported to be fleeing the Thai resort islands of Koh…
- World News
Pabuk: Moving past the southern coast of Vietnam
Vietnam has experienced heavy rainfall and strong winds as Pabuk hovers off the southern coast heading into the Gulf of Thailand. vnexpress.net reports that, as of Wednesday, tropical storm ‘Pabuk’ was stationed around 360 kilometers (223 miles) to the southeast of Con Dao Island off the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, with wind speeds of up to 75 kilometers…
- Chiang Mai News
National road toll – Day Five “Seven Days of Danger”
“Chiang Mai has reported the highest cumulative crashes with 91 cases yesterday.” 314 lives have been lost in 2,761 road incidents over the first five days of the New Year seven day safety campaign. 2,848 people have been injured during the same period around Thailand’s roads. The most cited causes for Monday’s road incidents were drunk driving (44.9 per cent)…
- World News
Six reasons Thailand’s English skills are the lowest in SE Asia
by tastythailand.com An article, compiled by tastythailand.com, chronicles some of the key reasons Thailand’s education system battles with the teaching of English. An unnamed author poses the premise…. “In the last few years, as countries like Vietnam and Laos now have English skills surpassing Thailand’s, it’s become obvious Thailand’s education system is to blame. But why?” Thailand’s education is a…
