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Heavy rains in Pattaya bring some fun but also casualties
The rains that have been battering Pattaya over the weekend have come with a light side and a dark side. Many locals were seen finding the silver lining in the heavy rains, having fun going with the flow, sometimes literally. But for others, the rains turned deadly. The rain caused floods on streets and neighbourhoods, dumping water into people homes…
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Slovenian Press Agency: Enough money for one more paycheck
Slovenian Press Agency journalist Gregor Mlakar reported from an event attended by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban on October 14, 2020. The resulting text on the start of work on the power line that will connect Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia heralded the beginning of the difficulties for the Slovenian Press Agency STA, which has…
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Bomb rocks train en route to Bangkok from the Deep South
This afternoon a bomb exploded on a train bound for Bangkok as it was departing the Deep South province of Narathiwat. The explosion rocked a freight car, obliterating the wooden floor of the train and spilling its cargo onto the runway. The train had departed the Su-ngai Kolok district of Narathiwat heading for Bangkok, and had only travelled about 40…
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African presidents wish Angela Merkel farewell
It was a moment of goodbye: At the conclusion of the Compact for Africa (CwA) conference on Friday, a good dozen African heads of state used the opportunity to wish German Chancellor Angela Merkel farewell before she leaves office after the Bundestag elections at the end of September. During her tenure, Merkel had been personally involved in economic and social…
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Motorbike accident victim presumed dead, actually asleep drunk
Rescue workers arrived to an all-too-familiar scene: an accident with a motorbike strewn across the pavement and, a bit beyond, its unfortunate rider lying motionless on the road. They assessed the accident and approached the body to conduct an examination and physical health check. But as they began, they were shocked when the man suddenly woke up. The incident took…
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Afghan refugees in Greece still stuck in limbo
Forty-three-year-old Nemat Tajik had just been transferred to the Alexandria Refugee camp near the port city of Thessaloniki in Greece, when he heard that the Taliban had regained power in Afghanistan. “I felt powerless. It was like watching my mother being killed in front of my eyes,” he said. Tajik who comes from Herat, a city in west Afghanistan, left…
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Saudi Arabia and Taliban unlikely to revive old alliances
In the past, they worked together. But today, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban are separated by political and cultural differences, as well as some problematic history. The last time the Taliban ran Afghanistan, between 1996 and 2001, Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries in the world to officially recognize the Islamist group’s government. Neighboring Pakistan and the United…
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Fears police chief Thitisan won’t be held accountable for murder
Many, especially on social media, have expressed worries that Pol Col Thitisan “Jo Ferrari” Utthanaphon will escape harsh punishment or perhaps any punishment at all. With the hashtag #StopLyingJoe trending on Thai Twitter yesterday and the bizarre press conference allowing the now-fired police officer to speak to the public and defend his actions, many believe that after his surrender Thursday,…
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Genders separate at field hospital after alleged orgies, drugs
After allegations were revealed yesterday of rampant sex, fights, and drug use in a field hospital in Samut Prakan province just south of Bangkok, the facility will separate men from women. The Samut Pra Ruamjai 5 houses around 1,000 patients currently being treated for Covid-19 infections. Stories emerged of patients there engaging in group sex, doing illicit drugs, and event…
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1 new death as daily Covid-19 infections in Phuket top 200
Just 16 days after Phuket saw domestic Covid-19 infections surpass 100 cases in a day, the island has now passed the 200 mark with 209 new Covid-19 infections reported yesterday. The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office also released data confirming 1 more Phuket Sandbox international traveller infection and 1 death from Covid-19. The surge in cases has now pushed the…
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Covid UPDATE Saturday: 292 new deaths, news briefs
The public health department have announced 292 Covid-related deaths in Thailand over the past 24 hours. There’s also been an additional 17,984 new infections announced, 324 of them from the Thai prison system. 5,109 patients are still in a serious condition with 1,069 people on artificial respiration. 20,535 patients have been released from state care across the country. 669,189 Covid…
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Court approves Thitisan custody extension, investigate further
As police in the Crime Suppression Division continue their investigation into Pol Col Thitisan “Jo Ferrari” Utthanaphon, the Nakhon Sawan court approved an extension to keep him in custody for 12 days. The Muang district police say they need time as they still have 10 witnesses to question. In Thai law, an indictment must be made as quickly as possible,…
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Trying to flee Kabul: ‘We had no information at all’
Ahmad R., software developer from southern Germany I got married in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. We wanted to fly out earlier, but all flights were canceled. I registered with ELEFAND, which is the German Foreign Ministry’s online portal for German citizens in crisis areas, and I got an answer early last week telling us to head to Kabul airport. We…
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New York TAT says US travellers look for trips without quarantine
The New York Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says that Americans who are fully vaccinated are looking to travel to destinations without complex restrictions. American travellers are looking away from previously popular destinations like Europe and Canada, and when they look for tropical beach destinations, quarantine-free destinations like the Maldives and the Caribbean are drawing the customers that…
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Thammasat University approved to import Covid-19 vaccines
The Royal Thai Gazette published the announcement yesterday that Thammasat University has now joined a handful of government entities that can import Covid-19 vaccines. The publication of their regulations on medical services and public health management during the pandemic allows them to import medicine and vaccines as an authorized government entity. Thammasat University has already set its sights on importing…
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Humanitarian situation worsens in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
The United States had already warned that food aid would run out this week for millions of hungry people under a blockade imposed by Ethiopia’s government on the embattled Tigray region. Ethiopia has been embroiled in a conflictthat flared nearly ten months ago in Tigray and which has spilled to other regions. The government has also struggled to contain other…
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South Korean journalists fear new laws will muzzle media
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is pushing ahead with controversial amendments to a law that critics charge are designed to muzzle the media and will give the government wide ranging powers to restrict freedom of the press. Domestic media outlets have been joined by international press organizations and legal experts to condemn the revisions. Opposition parties have vowed to do…
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‘Sindhustan’: Discover the journey of Sindhi Hindus to India
In her documentary film “Sindhustan,” Sapna Bhavnani tells everyday stories of Sindhi Hindus who were forced to leave Sindh — now Pakistan — for India. Despite decades of separation, their deep connection to Sindh remains. SOURCE: DW News
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Field hospital raided after reports of Covid patients doing drugs, having group sex
Police raided a field hospital in central Thailand after reports that the Covid-19 patients were doing drugs and having orgies. A staff member at the field hospital in Samut Prakan, just southwest of Bangkok, told police the patients engaging in group sex and getting into fights where some patients were injured. Officers from the Internal Security Operations Command dressed in…
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Restrictions eased in “dark red” provinces; new “Covid Free” initiative
“Thai officials are shifting their focus to work on ways the public can safely live with the presence of the coronavirus rather than trying to completely eradicate it.” Disease control measures are easing in Thailand’s “dark red” provinces, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced today. Starting September 1, the ban on interprovincial public transportation will be lifted, restaurants will…
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Phuket Covid-19 numbers drop slightly to 169, no new deaths
Though today’s Covid-19 numbers in Phuket are lower than yesterday, they do push the rolling weekly total above 900, 10 times the original threshold for reevaluating the Phuket Sandbox. One new Sandbox infection was identified, along with 169 domestic infections yesterday. Now, new deaths have been reported. The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office report confirmed the new infections and no…
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Friday Covid Update: 18,702 new cases; provincial totals
18,702 new Covid-19 cases and 273 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,139,571 and the Covid death toll in Thailand to 10,587. The latest and most severe wave of infections, first recorded on April 1, has accounted for 1,110,708 of the cases…
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4-day no-confidence debate for PM Prayut set for August 31
Dates have now been set for in-depth debate over the move to censure PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as opposition moves for a vote of no-confidence. The debates are now set to begin on August 31 and continue over the course of 4 days, ending September 3 and will then be followed by a vote on September 4. The decision came from…
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Officials inspect Phuket and consider Covid-19 lockdown extension
As Covid cases surge and weekly infections rates are now over 10 times the original threshold of 90 infections that would prompt a reconsidering of the Phuket Sandbox, officials in Phuket are now discussing an extension of lockdown measures on the island. Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn (yes, Big Joke is back!) and his team inspected the Phuket Sandbox and the…
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US records over 100,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19
Bad news: 100,000+ people are currently hospitalised with Covid-19 in the US. Good news (if you’re vaccinated): The the vast majority of this wave’s hospitalised patients are yet to be vaccinated. The latest surge of Covid cases sweeping the US is largely driven by the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. The more than 100,000, currently in US hospitals, in…
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470 kilograms of marijuana seized in Isaan; reportedly smuggled from Laos
Police in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom seized 470 kilograms of compressed marijuana valued at around 10 million baht and arrested a 26 year old man on drug charges. Officers in the province’s Sri Songkhram district stopped a Mitsubishi Pajero which was travelling from Ban Phaeng, a district along the Mekong River bordering Laos. Police searched the vehicle and found…
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60 Afghans, 13 US troops killed in Kabul attack; Biden vows to fight back
At least 60 Afghans and 13 US troops were killed in an attack yesterday at the Kabul airport involving two suicide bombers and gunmen. Following the swift Taliban takeover after the US started to withdraw troops, crowds of people have flocked to the airport to evacuate Afghanistan. Western officials had warned about a major attack hours earlier, and had urged…
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Thailand to be added to UK “red list” from Monday
Bad news for British sandboxers on Phuket or elsewhere, as well as anyone else planning to travel from Thailand to the UK: the country is being added to the UK’s red list. The British Department of Transport says that from Monday, Thailand joins Montenegro as the 2 new additions to the UK government’s red list. This means UK residents arriving…
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Friday Covid Update: 18,702 new cases and 273 deaths
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 18,702 new Covid-19 cases and 273 coronavirus-related cases today. Since April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,110,708 Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, 20,163 recoveries were reported. Thailand now has 185,200 active Covid-19 cases. With the latest and most severe wave on a downward trend, there…
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Runaway cop wanted for alleged murder turns himself in in Chon Buri
A police chief who allegedly killed a suspect while in custody has surrendered to police in Chon Buri, saying he was just trying to protect society from the dangers of drugs. A video of Thitisan Utthanaphon allegedly suffocating a suspect by placing plastic bags over his head has gone viral, leading to the dismissal of 7 officers, including Thitisan. He…
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