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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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5 senior Phuket police officers face discipline following video posted by lawyer
In the aftermath of a 3 minute video showing people partying and drinking at the Patong Bay Hill Resort Hotel, that was allegedly open past the current legal closing time of 11pm, 5 senior police from Patong police station have been ‘transferred’ to the provincial head office… sidelined to desk duties whilst the incident is being investigated. And when we…
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Australia welcomes the return of cruise ships as 2-year Covid ban lifted
Cruise ships are returning to Australia, following the lifting of a 2-year Covid ban, according to an AFP report. The ban was implemented in March 2020 in a bid to prevent the importation of Covid-19. It ended this morning with the arrival of the Pacific Explorer into Sydney Harbour. At the base of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, crowds gathered to…
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Myanmar grants amnesty to 1,600 prisoners, no political detainees released
Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to over 1,600 prisoners, including 42 foreigners, during the country’s New Year’s holiday from April 13-16. The figure is small compared to the 23,000 prisoners released during the holiday last year. Despite Myanmar’s ruling general’s promise to restore peace in the country this year, no political detainees were released. “As part of the celebration of…
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Search for the missing continues as South Africa floods claim 443 lives
The search continues for dozens of people still missing following floods in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The death toll has now risen to 443 after heavy rains caused devastating floods and mudslides. According to a Reuters report, thousands have been left homeless, while homes have lost power and water. One of the country’s busiest ports, Durban, has had…
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Thailand goes crazy for mango sticky rice, after Thai rapper Milli’s Coachella stunt
Mango sticky rice is in the international spotlight after a young Thai rapper promoted the popular dessert during her raunchy performance at the Coachella music festival. Now the Cultural Promotion Department is planning to propose that mango stick rice is “an intrinsic part of Thai culture”, to be included on the list of Thailand’s ‘UNESCO intangible cultural heritage’. The 19…
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Thai tourists postponing overseas travel
The Thai Travel Agents Association says rising costs and a weak economy are affecting the number of Thai travellers taking overseas trips. TTAA boss Suthiphong Pheunphiphop says that currently, only high earners are travelling abroad, while those on lower incomes are being more conservative, due to their income and jobs being affected by the pandemic. The Bangkok Post reports that…
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Health ministry advises work from home policy for 7 days after Songkran holiday
Thailand’s health ministry is advising businesses to have employees work from home for 7 days, according to Chakrarat Pittawawonganon from the Department of Disease Control. The advice is designed to prevent a surge in infections following the recent Songkran holiday. “Once the Songkran festival is over, the number of cases may increase by 20 – 30%.” According to a Bangkok…
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UPDATE: Former Democrat deputy leader now temporarily released, Bangkok
THE LATEST After agreeing this morning to temporarily detain the former deputy leader of the Democrat political party, the Bangkok South Criminal Court has temporarily released Prinn Panitchpakdi on bail on the condition that he wouldn’t leave the country without the court’s permission. The former deputy leader posted bail surety of 700,000 baht. Thailand’s Immigration Bureau was to be informed…
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Patong Bay Hotel under investigation for late night parties, senior Phuket police sidelined
Five senior police officers at the Patong police station have been sidelined to ‘office duties’ at the provincial HQ after a video surfaced showing a popular hotel open way past the current curfew time in Phuket. The 11pm curfew in Phuket has been broadly ignored by the town’s nightlife which is battling to restart after nearly 2 year Covid hiatus.…
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Ukraine’s Zelensky defies Russia’s ultimatum to lay down weapons
As Russian forces plunder through the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says the situation there is “inhuman”. Russian troops first encircled Mariupol last month. Yesterday (Saturday), Russia gave Ukrainian forces an ultimatum to lay down their weapons by 6am Moscow time (10am Bangkok time) today. In response, Zelensky hit back by warning Russia… “the elimination of our…
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Thailand’s Defence Ministry says Yakuza member is not former PM’s son
Thailand’s Defence Ministry is calling ‘fake news’ on rumours that a former PM’s son is part of a yakuza gang after he was arrested in the US this month on suspicion of trafficking in drugs and weapons. The gang members were arrested for trafficking heroin and methamphetamine while trying to acquire surface-to-air missiles for rebel groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka,…
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UPDATE: Bangkok court approves detention of former Democrat deputy leader
UPDATE After over 20 women came forward this week accusing former politician Prinn Panitchpakdi of sexually harassing and assaulting them, the Bangkok South Criminal Court has now approved detention for Prinn this morning (Sunday). Three of the alleged victims lodged complaints with Lumpini police, and the police requested that Prinn be detained for further questioning about the allegations. Prinn attended…
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Pattaya mayoral hopeful vows to revive tourism and nightlife
The mayoral candidate for Pattaya’s We Love Pattaya party, Poramese Ngampiches, told the Associated Press yesterday that he wants the Chon Buri province to continue attracting tourists throughout the whole year. Bali Hai Pier officials say there are currently over 20,000 tourists a day visiting Koh Larn, and Poramese said he wants to keep up this momentum. Chon Buri, specifically Pattaya and…
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Two decade-long battle for same-sex marriage in Thailand
“So when you see all colours of the Thai rainbow in extravagant display in social media, remember that the rainbow in Thailand currently has no pot of gold at the other end.” The Thai government continues to disenfranchise one group of Thai society as conservative elements of the Thai government resist changes to Thaland’s marriage laws. Up to 10% of…
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Thailand’s PM Prayut orders health services to prepare for post-Songkran Covid spike
Government spokespersons announced yesterday that Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the country’s health institutes to prepare for a spike in Covid-19 infections following the Songkran holiday, when people return to work. This includes the Ministry of Public Health, and other state agencies. Today, there are 128 new Covid-related deaths, and 17,775 new cases recorded. The number of new daily…
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Alleged victim of sexual assault by politician withdraws from Bangkok election
A woman who is alleging former Democrat party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi raped her, has announced yesterday she was withdrawing from the Bangkok city councillor election. The woman, Anna Vidhyaphum, said in a Facebook post that she wanted to show that her accusation against Prinn is not politically motivated. Anna’s party, The Ruam Thai United party, issued a statement yesterday…
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Sri Lanka poised to default on its international debt
Skyrocketing inflation, political unrest and looming debt default. Another country’s economy is now failing in what’s likely to be a year or two of falling dominoes for at-risk economies. A month of increasingly desperate headlines has culminated in two leading ratings agencies warning Sri Lanka is about to default on its national debt, a crisis that would take decades to…
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Easter Sunday: Where to go to church in Bangkok for Easter 2022 (English services)
As Songkran celebrations wind down this weekend, Christians across Thailand are celebrating Easter. Here are some churches where you can attend an in-person English service in Bangkok this Easter Sunday… • Evangelical Church of Bangkok “We are an international church in the city center of Bangkok. No matter where you call home, you are welcome to fellowship and worship with…
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Does Thailand need casinos? Study to be submitted next month
In May, a committee of Thailand’s cabinet members and politicians will submit a study on the feasibility of bringing casinos, and casino resorts to Thailand, to the country’s House of Representatives. The first resort would likely be in Bangkok, however the committee is discussing opening more in other tourist destinations after that. Rumours have yet to be confirmed that Las…
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Thailand’s Covid trend is ‘down’ as we wait for the fallout from Songkran travel
The trend for Thailand’s daily new Covid infections is definitely heading down, for now. Despite the warnings of increased cases from some medical authorities in Thailand (up to 100,000 infections per day in one estimate), the trend over the past week has been down. The current surge hit its peak on April 1 with 28,029 new infections but has been…
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Songkran crowds flock to the new, improved, wider, better Jomtien Beach
Pattaya, the seaside playground 2 hours south east of Bangkok, never had really good beaches. But these days the popular resort boasts huge expanses of sand as far as the eye can see. Most of the earlier efforts were concentrated on the popular Pattaya beachfront but recently the efforts moved to Jomtien, about 3 kilometres south of the main party…
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First rape victim speaks out against Democrat deputy leader
Anna Vidhyaphum, who is seeking a seat in the Bangkok City Hall Assembly under the Ruam Thai United Party, became the first person to step forward to claim that she had been allegedly raped by Democrat deputy leader Prinn Panitchapakdi. Around 20 others have made similar allegations, with some reporting Prinn to the police for alleged rape, sexual assault, and sexual…
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Thailand’s daily Covid death toll breaches 100 for sixth straight day
As people in Thailand celebrate Songkran, the nation’s daily death toll from Covid-19 has breached the 100 mark for 6 consecutive days from Sunday to today. This morning, the Public Health Ministry reported 119 new Covid-related fatalities and nearly 20,300 new infections nationwide, besides around 9,300 positive ATK results since Thursday morning, for a total of more than 29,600 cases,…
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Italian man and Thai woman attacked in Pattaya – VIDEO
UPDATED STORY A 32 year old Italian man and a 35 year old Thai female were allegedly attacked just after 2am yesterday morning along Soi LK Metro in Pattaya. The road was quite busy at the time. The pair told police they were travelling on their motorbike, arriving in front of a closed bar called Crystal Club (currently registered as…
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Thai robber who stole gold valued around 4.5 million baht caught
A gold robber, 28 year old Kittipong Phaethaisong, has been caught in Pattaya today, April 15, in a hotel after stealing gold necklaces valued at about 4.5 million baht in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand earlier this week. He told police the motivation for the crime was that he was unemployed and short on cash. The police have already found several…
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Argument between Bangkok ‘Win’ drivers ends in a fatal shooting
A motorcycle taxi driver, aka. ‘win’ driver, has surrendered to Bangkok police after shooting and killing a fellow Win driver. The incident happened in the Prachacheun area, north of the Bangkok metropolis near Chatuchak. A CCTV video shows 53 year old Chatchai Sukjaidee travelling down Soi Sarmsuk in the Bang Sue area. But 44 year old Sompong called him back to the…
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Police arrest 7 suspects in cherry bomb attack on PM Prayut’s home
Police have arrested 7 youths suspected for involvement in the throwing of a cherry bomb on Sunday at the home of Thailand Prime Minster Prayut Chan-o-cha, whose permanent residence is located on the grounds of the First Infantry Regiment of the Royal Guards on Vibhavadi Road in Bangkok. Police say that CCTV footage from around the military barracks helped them…
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Democrat deputy leader quits party to fight accusations of sexual harassment
Thailand’s Democrat deputy leader, Prinn Panitchpakdi, announced his full and immediate resignation from the party on Thursday, in order to fight claims of sexual harassment claims, which he is denying. As of today, about 20 people have reported to police accusing Prinn of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or rape, according to Khaosod. During a press conference yesterday afternoon, he appeared…
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Economic aftershocks of Russia’s invasion on Thailand’s economy
Nearly two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine, countries across Asia are bracing themselves for rising inflation and supply chain disruptions, following increasing sanctions on the Russian state. According to experts, the most affected country in Asia is Thailand, where commodity trading with its European counterpart has become almost impossible. Different types of commodities traded and…
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