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Sponsored 5 best wine bars in Bangkok offering rich and quality wine
It’s wine o’clock! Whether you’re all about fruity reds, sweet whites, or funky naturals, Bangkok has many great spots to sip your favourite varieties. But with an array of options to choose from, and the constant rise and fall of...
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Mercedes Benz driver lucky to escape burning car
A Mercedes Benz driver has escaped serious injury after the vehicle he was travelling in caught fire in Mai Khao last night (July 12). Tha Chatchai Police were notified of the boring car on Thepkrasattri Road, northbound, at 11.40pm. Firefighters, along with two fire trucks and the Tha Chatchai Police, arrived at the scene to find a Mercedes Benz ablaze.…
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Chiang Rai: 14 year old Adul played a crucial role in the rescue
The 13 members of Mu Pa Football Academy are now recovering in Chiang Rai hospital. According to attending medical officials, all are doing well. One of them was a crucial link in the recovery process, especially in the first encounter with the English divers when the team were discovered. Adul Sam-on is the only one of the boys who can…
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40 tourists, 3 boat crew safely back from Koh Racha
Phuket Marine Officers were called yesterday to bring 40 tourists back to the Phuket Deep Sea Port following another day of strong winds and high seas. At 10am yesterday (July 11) officers from the Phuket Marine Office headed to Ao Tue at Koh Racha Yai to bring 40 tourist and five boat crew back to the Phuket Deep Sea Port…
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‘Phoenix’ to be salvaged as important evidence
The ‘Phoenix’ is to be salvaged in order to help find the one remaining missing passenger as well as another body which has been stuck in the boat, unable to be recovered by divers. The boat is to be salvaged from its current location 45 metres underwater, south-west of Phuket island. The marine Department Region 3 Chief Puripat Teerakulapisut says,…
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Buddhist ceremony commemorates deceased passengers
A Buddhist ceremony has been held to commemorate the passengers who died in last Thursday’s tour-boat tragedy to the south-west of Phuket, while the search resumed for one person who remained missing. The ceremony took place at the Ao Chalong pier early yesterday morning (Wednesday) to boost the morale of grieving relatives who were present, along with locals and Chinese…
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From inside the cave – bringing out the team. Thai Navy SEAL video.
The Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page has released a video clip that shows for the first time how the 13 Mu Pa Academy football team members were evacuated from the Tham Luang cave. The 12 young footballers and their 25 year old assistant coach were trapped in the cave since June 23 after flash floods blocked their exit. They were…
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Pattaya: South Korean reports taxi driver stealing valuables worth 100,000 baht
File photo A South Korean businessman has filed an official complaint with police following a Tuesday night theft by a Pattaya taxi driver. The mans claimed that a taxi driver fled with his bag which contained his passport, cash and credit cards. Chon Buri police were alerted to the theft at 11.45pm and headed to meet the 25 year old…
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Chiang Mai: Stray dog problem around dams overwhelming volunteers
PHOTO: Suphatrawee Yoophaet Sanook are reporting from Chiang Mai that more than 100 dogs have been abandoned by heartless owners. The dogs have been living around two reservoirs in Chiang Mai. The dogs have been starving and locals are now appealing for help to feed them. Sank reports that the pack has quickly grown in size after more owners keep…
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Australian cave medic emerges to his own tragic news
In the wake of yesterday’s euphoria following the final five team members being successfully evacuated from the Tham Luang caves, a sad epilogue. An Australian doctor, Richard Harris, partly responsible for looking after the Thai football team during their cave ordeal, emerged last night, exhausted but relieved they job was over. Some sad news awaited him. He was told that…
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Prawit apologises after insensitive comments about Chinese boat disaster
“They build their own ships, don’t follow our rules.” Thailand’s #2, deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is again in hot water, this time for making comments about the Chinese that died in last Thursday’s boat disaster in Phuket, the second worst maritime disaster in Thailand (after the 2004 tsunami). He suggested that Chinese people are to be blamed for the tourist ferry…
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Phuket boat disaster toll: 42 survivors, 46 found dead, 1 remains missing
The Phuket PR Office has revealed the latest death toll for passengers who drowned following the sinking of ‘Phoenix’ south-west of Phuket last Thursday evening. Three bodies were recovered in the Monday and Tuesday recovery missions. The current total for people travelling on the boat is 89 tourists plus 14 boat crew and tour guides for the fateful trip. The…
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Team NOT tranquillised – PM
Let’s put this story to sleep. The PM Prayut Chan-o-cha denied that the young footballers trapped in Tham Luang cave were tranquilised before setting out on the journey through the convoluted cave system to freedom. He did, however, admitted that they took an anxiolytic, a drug to relieve anxiety. Anxiolytic drugs are commonly used before general anaesthetics or in treatments…
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Uttaradit: Waitress found murdered in boarding house
Police in Uttaradit, north of Bangkok near the Laos border, are still searching for a man after his estranged wife was found dead in a boarding house yesterday morning (Tuesday) with her throat slit. Police say 29 year old Kamolrat Ruangrit had been killed inside the bathroom of her unit in the province’s Mueang district. Investigators say that, besides having…
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American film crew already in Chiang Rai plotting movie
As the rescue mission around the cave swings into a huge clean up operation, a US film crew has already arrived in Chiang Rai. Two American producers have been sniffing around plotting a movie project about the 12 young Mu Pa Academy footballers and their assistant coach who were trapped in the cave for more than two weeks. The final…
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Boat tragedy suspected to be involved with zero-dollar tour company
An initial Tourist Police Bureau investigation is pointing to incriminating evidence that suggests that the ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Serenata’ were involved with the zero-dollar tour ‘Tranlee’ network. Tourist Police Deputy Commander Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn told a Phuket media briefing yesterday that the crackdown on 11 suspected zero-dollar tour companies in Phuket last year, is believed to have links to the…
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Thirteen is a lucky number
All 12 young footballers and their assistant coach, who were trapped inside Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai for over two weeks, have been successfully and safely evacuated from the cave on day 3 of the mammoth rescue operation. According to the Thai Navy Seal’s Facebook page, the four divers, who accompanied the last members to be rescued from deep…
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Army sergeant shot dead in Narathiwat
More trouble in Thailand’s deep south today after an Army sergeant was shot dead while riding to work on his motorbike in Narathiwat this morning (Tuesday). Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, reports that 26 year old Sergeant Patanachai Suree was shot twice in the back while riding his motorcycle on a road in Moo…
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Phuket boat disaster: Investigation underway. One boat captain now in custody.
The Chinese boat manager of the ‘Serenata’ is now facing charges in addition to the captain of the ‘Phoenix, which also sunk, who is now in custody. A Russian jet-ski driver has also been charged. This is all in the wake of last Thursday’s ‘freak’ storm which hit the Andaman coast. Region 8 Police commander Lt General Sorasak Yenprem says, “the boat…
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Chiang Rai: Solid food but no TV – Doctors report on the first eight out of the cave
The eight members of the Mu Pa Academy football club, already rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in the past two days, are in good health mentally and physically. But attending doctors say all had high white blood cell counts and two initially showed indications of pneumonia. Senior health officials briefed reporters at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital this morning, saying…
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Phuket Hotels Association teams up with US Embassy to help eliminate single-use plastic
The Phuket Hotels Association has joined forces with the U.S. Embassy Science Fellowship (ESF) Program to tackle the critical issue of waste management in Phuket, with the aim of eliminating single-use plastics at the island’s hotels. Founded in 2001, the ESF Program promotes bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and technology. Since it was launched, nearly 300 scientists have…
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Chiang Rai: Rescuers prepare to bring out the final five
PHOTO: VOA Following last evening’s successful rescue of a further four members of the Mu Pa football team, bringing the total number safely out at 8, Thai and international divers are preparing to rescue at least another four today. Mission control spokesperson Narongsak Osotthanakorn described the rescue operation, so far, as a success. Last night the first of the four emerged…
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Media slammed for unethical reporting – Narongsak Osottanakorn
PHOTOS: Karl Vandenhole and The Nation “Unethical reporting by the media has hampered the rescue operation to retrieve the 13 trapped footballers from the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai. Reporters have broken the law and the rights of their news sources to get the latest stories,” this from the Mission Control chief, Narongsak Osottanakorn. He yesterday issued a stern warning…
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Ekkapol Chanthawong – Parents are refusing to blame him
PHOTO: From video of Thai Navy Seals Facebook page Eight out, five to go. But Ekkapol Chanthawong, the assistant football coach of the Mu Pa team, trapped in Tham Luang cave since June 23, is being credited with keeping his young team alive during their ordeal. He’s 25, the rest of the young team are between 11 and 16 years…
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PM visits Chinese families and the injured at hospitals
Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha visited Vachira Phuket Hospital to meet some of the Chinese families who have lost their families members in the Phuket boat disaster. General Prayut arrived at Vachira Phuket Hospital at 2.30pm yesterday (July 9). The PM was talking to crying Chinese tourists who lost their family members and gave hugs readily whilst offering a sympathetic ear to…
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Chiang Rai: Day two’s rescues conclude with another four out of the cave
PHOTO: The Nation Four more of the teenage football team have emerged from the Tham Luang caves tonight, taken to a medivac tent for a quick examination then whisked away to the Chiang Rai hospital by helicopter. It’s been day two of the risky rescue mission that was forced on officials by looming rain and possibilities of rising flood waters…
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Chiang Rai: Team member 5 out of the caves
A young Mu Pa Academy footballer has emerged from Tham Luang cave at about 5pm, becoming the fifth teenager extracted from the cave in Chiang Rai province. The team member, whose name has not been revealed, was taken by ambulance from the cave in Mae Sai district before boarding a chopper to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw in Muang district. …
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PM visits Phuket to insist on better boat safety
Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered that every missing passenger, from the sunken ‘Phoenix’ boat, must be found. He has also directed officials to take care of all Chinese survivors and their families as their guests. “Measures to prevent a similar disaster must be implemented immediately. Every boat must follow official warnings.” The Prime Minister didn’t mince words when he spoke…
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Strong winds bring down trees and power poles, two cars damaged
Two power cables have been brought down in Koh Sirey today (July 9) after heavy rains around the island. The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) is warning that from July 9-15, heavy rain will affect Ranong, Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang and Satun. “Small boats should stay ashore as strong winds and waves are expected, up to four metres high.” Persistent…
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Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa announces their new GM
Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa have today announced the appointment of Markus Kosch as the new GM. Markus most recently served as General Manager of Conrad Guangzhou in China. Commenting on his appointment, Markus said, “I am excited to have the opportunity to be at the helm of one of the largest resorts in Phuket.” A 22 year veteran in the…
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Chiang Rai: This afternoon’s media briefing
Snippets from this afternoon’s media briefing: • Governor says first four boys out of the cave are healthy and remain at hospital • They have been separated from relative. at this stage to prevent any potential infection • The boys have asked for Pat Ka Prao – Basil stir fried with rice • Officer’s radio frequency have now been jammed…
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