News
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Phuket International Airport predicts 30,000 passengers daily
High season is starting this month in Phuket, and the airport is predicting up to 30,000 travellers per day. The increase in air traffic to the popular tourist destination coincides with the airport’s 34th anniversary. And to celebrate, passengers and flights – both domestic and international – are ramping up. International carriers such as Aeroflot from Russia, Pegasus Airlines from…
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Andaman Sea coast set for UNESCO recognition
Three conservation areas on the Andaman Sea are to be nominated for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognition by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa. As the islands prepare to welcome tourists on October 15, Varawut was inspecting a maintenance and waste collection project on Koh Miang of the Similan Islands in Phangnga province. Reports in…
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In the soup – wildlife trafficker extradited to US
A Malaysian man arrested for alleged wildlife trafficking has been extradited to the United States. Teo Boon Ching, 57, was put on a flight to the US at Suvarnabhumi airport on Friday night. The suspect, wanted on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court for colluding in wildlife trafficking and money laundering, was arrested at a Bangkok hotel on June…
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CNN to be prosecuted for invasive daycare massacre coverage
[UPDATE: Thai news source CatDumb Has reported on Facebook that police have now taken two reporters and a photographer from CNN immigration to have their visas revoked. It was suggested that they did not have the correct type of paperwork and were using a tourist visa instead of a work visa. At any rate, police informed the Immigration Department about…
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Rare pink diamond sells for US$57m in Hong Kong auction
A rare diamond, described in the auction catalogue as “fancy vivid pink” has been sold for 453 million Hong Kong dollars (US$57 million) – more than double its estimate – a world record for a diamond sold at auction. The UK’s Guardian newspaper reports that the 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star is named after another pink diamond, simply “the Williamson” given…
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Myanmar border monastery destroyed in air raid
A monastery in the Karen State village of Mekatha was turned to rubble in an attack by fighter jets on October 6. Airstrikes by the Myanmar air forces on Thursday destroyed the monastery and several houses in a village near the border with Thailand. The attack on the village began at around 2.30am and lasted about half an hour. At…
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Armed, drunk father tried to snatch his child from school
One day after a former police officer killed his wife and child and slaughtered 24 children and 13 others at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu, another man was stopped and arrested before he could commit a similar act. In the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, an inebriated armed man was arrested near a school trying to grab…
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Man accidentally crushes 2 year old daughter with tractor
An unspeakable tragedy stuck in Chon Buri, as a father driving a tractor accidentally ran over and killed his 2 year old daughter. The horrific accident happened on a farm in the Bowin district of the Eastern province on Thursday. Police responded to the accident to find the distraught 27 year old father mourning his dead little daughter. He told…
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Timeline of the mass shooting in Thailand
Timeline of the mass shooting in Thailand Timeline of the shooting at a childcare center in Nong Bua Lam Phu yesterday, which left 38 dead (including the gunman, his wife, and child) and 10 injured. 12.50 PM A gunman opens fire on the center in Na Klang district of the Northeastern province of Nong Bua Lam Phu. He escapes in…
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Finnish CEO detained for alleged mistreatment of 1,100 Thai berry pickers
Finnish police have arrested and detained the CEO of berry company “Polarica” under suspicion of human trafficking. CEO Jukka Kristo allegedly “deceived” 1100 Thai berry pickers and housed them in “poor conditions.” This year, Kristo’s company flew around 1100 Thais to Finland to work as berry pickers – an industry that heavily relies on a foreign workforce. The CEO has…
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Burmese junta sentences Japanese journalist for sedition and other charges
The Burmese junta sentenced a Japanese journalist for sedition violating a law on electronic communications. The media reported that Toru Kubota, a 26 year old photographer and documentary filmmaker, was arrested at a protest in the South Dagon Township in the southeastern area of Yangon on July 30. The report said he was arrested while gathering information for his documentary. The…
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Thai woman & foreign men charged for child sex trafficking in Pattaya
Police arrested a Thai woman and three foreign men for rape and sex trafficking teenagers aged under 15 years old in Pattaya. Officers from Mueng Pattaya Police Station reported yesterday that the teenagers, aged between 12 and 15, were trafficked from Beer Bar in Soi Bua Khao on September 11. According to a Police TV report, Beer Bar secretly offers…
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Pattaya dwellers want public restrooms built faster at pier
Pattaya dwellers want public restrooms at one pier to be built faster. Construction on the restrooms at the Bali Hai Pier has reportedly stalled. The restrooms were supposed to be built on June 14, 2021, after the construction began in December 2020. The budget for the project had been 3.88 million baht, according to local media. But the 32 restrooms…
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No Buddhist temples willing to cremate body of daycare centre killer
No Buddhist temples are willing to cremate the body of the man who massacred 37 people, mostly young children, at a daycare centre yesterday in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand, according to independent Thai journalist Sorayuth Suthassanachinda. At present, the mass murderer’s body is sitting inside an ambulance as “no temples are willing to conduct religious ceremonies because…
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AI upgrade planned for pier in Phuket
A new renovation is being planned for a pier in Phuket, complete with an AI system. The Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Administration (OrBorJor) said they aim to improve service and safety for tourists. The chief, Thiwat Sridokbua, said… “One of the plans is to include an AI System and add more CCTV cameras with security control rooms. Long…
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Massacre in Thailand: No drugs detected in system of daycare centre killer
It comes as a great shock that no drugs were detected in the body of the ruthless killer who massacred 37 people – including 24 children under 6 years old – yesterday at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand. The former policeman was dismissed from the force for failing a drug test. He appeared in…
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Massacre in Thailand raises questions on gun control
In the aftermath of the horrific massacre at a daycare centre in northeast Thailand yesterday, questions have been raised about the kingdom’s gun control laws. The murderer, 34 year old former police officer Panya Kamrap, had been fired due to his addiction to drugs. Many Thai people have been unimpressed with Deputy PM Prawit’s response to tackling gun and drug…
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More than 1 million baht payout to massacre victims
The families of the adult victims of the daycare centre massacre in the northeastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu will receive up to 1 million baht in compensation. Kom Chad Luek news agency reported the Rights and Liberties Protection Department under the Ministry of Justice is investigating the loss from the Nong Bua Lamphu massacre and will offer compensation to…
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Four children survive daycare centre massacre in northeast Thailand
Despite widespread coverage in Thai media that only one child survived the brutal massacre at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu in northeast Thailand yesterday, reports identify four child survivors of the gun and knife rampage. Yesterday, a former policeman killed 37 people in total including 24 children under six years old while they were taking an afternoon nap…
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Pakistan’s transgenders dragged back into Dark Ages
Early last month, Pakistani Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan proposed the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights amends the Transgender Protection Act of 2018, leading to a firestorm of online abuse on both sides of the argument. Despite its desire to be known as a conservative society with strong Islamic inclinations, Pakistan is one of only a few countries with legislation…
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Thailand lowers flags to half-mast to mourn daycare centre massacre victims
Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha asks government agencies nationwide to fly their Thai flags at half-mast today to mourn the victims of the tragic daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu province yesterday. The spokesperson for the PM’s office, Anucha Burachaisri, said the prime minister was deeply saddened by the news yesterday. He requested that state agencies raise flags…
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‘Strange and unusual’ punishment for Filipino lottery winners
There are some easy ways NOT to win your national lottery. The easiest way not to win is to play the numbers 1-2-3-4-5-6 – or however many numbers your particular lottery demands. That particular sequence of numbers is no more likely or unlikely to arise than any other, yet it is the most played set of numbers in all lotteries, worldwide.…
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Floods in NE Thailand claimed the lives of 3 people
Floods in northeast Thailand reportedly killed three villagers in the northeast province of Sisaket since Wednesday, October 5. The floods reportedly also injured another two people in Sisaket. Seven districts of Sisaket have been impacted by floods, The Pattaya News reported. These include: the main city district, Huai Thap Than, Yang Chum Noi, Wang Hin, Phu Sing, Nam Klieng, and Uthumphon…
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Colleagues reveal daycare killer prone to mood swings
Former colleagues of the daycare centre killer revealed Panya Khamrap had a long history of drug use, behavioural problems and bad mood swings and was not popular at work. The 34 year old disgraced cop reportedly armed with a shotgun, pistol and meat cleaver murdered 37 people, including 24 children, butchered while they slept at the nursery in Nong Bua…
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King, Queen and PM Prayut to visit mass shooting victims in northeast Thailand
Today, H.M. King Maha Vajiralongkorn, H.M. Queen Suthida and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will travel to Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeast Thailand, to visit injured victims in hospital and to offer support to the families of those who lost their lives in yesterday’s tragic daycare centre massacre. The gunman killed 37 people in total, most of them young children under…
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US forces take down three senior ISIS figures in Syria
United States Special Operations forces have reportedly taken down three senior ISIS figures in Syria. According to The Straits Times, the forces carried out twin strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group in northern Syria, killing the figures that are thought to be responsible for arming and recruiting fighters. The figures are accused of the latter as…
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Japan bomb squad called to empty case full of sex toys
Although certain suspicious objects can indicate that a bomb squad is needed, a suitcase in Japan featured items that can cause a different kind of explosion. The bomb squad was, indeed, called to investigate an abandoned suitcase in the Shimomata neighbourhood of Kakegawa town in Japan. But, the objects found inside the suitcase were not what one would consider as…
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The world mourns mass shooting at northeast Thailand daycare centre
People around the world are mourning with Thailand after a former police officer shot and stabbed to death at least 37 people at a daycare centre yesterday, before killing himself. The sickening crime that happened in the northeastern Nong Bua Lamphu province has now drawn grief and condemnation across the globe. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement…
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Thailand daycare centre massacre: Death toll rises to 37
The death toll of the massacre at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeast Thailand, yesterday has risen to 37 after another victim died from their injuries in hospital. Including the attacker, who fatally shot himself, 38 people were killed in total. He killed 24 young children, including 21 boys and three girls. At 12.50pm, 34 year old former policeman…
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A sickening scene as little ones massacred while sleeping at Thai nursery
A sickening scene around a northeastern Thai nursery school has sent shockwaves around the world. While the little ones slept peacefully, a crazed former policeman took aim at their vulnerable bodies. As mass shootings seem more like something you would see in America, the news of the rampage in Thailand has shaken residents to their core. The gunman, a former…
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