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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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Phuket reports 4 new Covid-19 cases, breaking 7 day streak
Phuket Health authorities reported 4 new cases the Covid-19 coronavirus, breaking a week-long streak with no new reported cases on the island. The number of officially confirmed infections since the outbreak began in Phuket has now risen to 224. Here are the details of today’s new cases… Case 221: A 23 year old Thai woman, a secretarial assistant who lives…
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Spaniard arrested for brutal Koh Phangan murder
Police in the southern Surat Thani province have arrested a Spanish man on the island of Koh Phangan for the stabbing death of a Chilean man. Authorities say the brutal murder took place at 1am yesterday. Officers say when they arrived at the scene of the murder, a rented house on Koh Phangan, they found 31 year old Chang San…
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Thailand’s GDP to contract up to 5% for 2020 – business thinktank
Thailand’s GDP is expected to contract between 3-5% for 2020, and exports by up to 10%. The predictions from Suphan Mongkolsuthee, president of the Federation of Thai Industries and chairman of the private sector joint committee. He also believes that the Thai economy has probably reached its ‘low point’ and will start recovering from now. He said that, as the…
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Rock legend Little Richard – dead at 87
The music world has lost an icon: Little Richard, a pioneer who, with a few others, transformed Chicago (electric) blues into the frenzied new style called rock ‘n’ roll, has died. He was 87. His outrageous antics showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally.” Rolling Stone magazine said yesterday…
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Coronavirus pandemic reaches 4 million people infected
Across the world some 4,100,000+ people are now infected with Covid-19. The actual number is much higher but, for lack of testing and diagnosis in some countries, we may never know the exact number. Still the statistics, as varied and unreliable as they may be, still provide some general trends and provide scientists with valuable data. There has never been…
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Multiple murder suspect nabbed after 6 years on the run
A suspect wanted for the murder of 4 people in Ayutthaya, just north of Bangkok, was arrested in neighbouring Suphan Buri today, 6 years after fleeing arrest. Officers of the Crime Suppression Division arrested 57 year old Charn Saisang in front of a house in tambon Phlabphlachai in the central province. Charn was wanted on a warrant issued by the…
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US State Department claims China and Russia conspiring to rewrite coronavirus narrative
The US yesterday accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false claims the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Beijing is increasingly adopting techniques perfected by Moscow. Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which tracks foreign propaganda, told reporters: “Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic…
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Bike-riding monkey attacks, drags Indonesian toddler – VIDEO
A video showing a monkey grabbing and dragging a toddler along a street in Indonesia has gone viral, leaving netizens around the world arguing over what actually happened. Was it a simian kidnap, a monkey mucking around, or a hungry monkey with evil intentions? Asiaone reports that the incident occurred in Surabaya, Indonesia last week. The clip shows the monkey…
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Samui singled out for community donation efforts
Koh Samui was highlighted by the Centre for the national Covid-19 Situation Administration for its “community effort” to feed those on the island in need of food. Samui is the second largest island in Thailand, after Phuket. Natapanu Nopakun, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, applauded the concerted fight made by many including the German and Swiss food donors on the…
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Prachinburi police chief updates the case of murdered German man
The stabbing death of a German man who taught English in the Central province of Prachinburi “has damaged the image of Thailand” according to provincial police, as reported in 77kaoded. But the provincial police chief says said he “expects good news soon” after he chaired a meeting of investigators looking into the case. Chief Naradech Klomthuksing was addressing reporters after…
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Former Garuda Indonesia CEO jailed over aircraft engine rort
A former CEO for Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has been jailed for bribery and money laundering. The sentence was related to the procurement of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce for the airline. Emirsyah Satar has been handed down an 8 year sentence and fined US$1.4 million by the country’s corruption court. Mr. Satar served as CEO of…
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710 people caught violating curfew in one night, most in Phuket
The Royal Thai Police Operations Centre has revealed that there were 710 arrests made on Thursday night for violators of the national curfew. Officials searched 27,011 individuals and 20,568 vehicles with a final arrest number of 710, on last Thursday night alone. The arrests consisted of… 612 suspects left their homes during the curfew with no valid reasoning, out of…
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South Korean man found dead in Chiang Mai, cause of death unknown
Chiang Mai police report that a South Korean man was found dead in his condominium yesterday. The man was identified as 37 year old Jeon Hee-seok, and was found by his wife at around 5am. Chiang Mai police report that there were no signs of of struggle or physical altercation and Jeon had no known medical conditions. His wife told…
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5 charged over murder of Burmese man in Chiang Rai
After police officers from Maw Fah Luang in Chiang Rai received a tip-off from local residents to check a suspicious object floating in a swamp, a body was discovered in a 200 litre oil drum in Ban Thoet Thai. When police arrived they found a 200 litre steel drum floating around near the swamp’s shore. In the tank they found…
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6 police in Samut Prakarn accused of multiple kidnappings and extortion
6 police officers and 4 civilians stand accused of kidnapping more than a dozen people for ransom in the central province of Samut Prakarn. 15 victims gave their statements to police at Klongdan Police Station yesterday. Lawyer and president of the Crime Victim Assistance Association, Atchariya Reungrattanaphong, says he has informed the national chief of police. “The victims reached out…
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Singaporean visa forger sentenced, fined, awaiting deportation
A Singaporean former-embassy staff was yesterday handed a suspended 114 months sentence by a Thai court after being convicted of 38 counts of forging Thai visa documents. When arrested by police in the northern province of Chiang Rai police on Tuesday, 26 year old David Han was found to have forged employment documents, salary slips, and certificates from universities both in…
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Issan bricklayer arrested for allegedly murdering wife, hiding her body in concrete pipe
A bricklayer in Issan’s Nakhon Phanom province, bordering Laos, was arrested for allegedly killing his wife and hiding her body in a concrete pipe. Police yesterday confirmed the arrest of 53 year old Phis Jandaprasit. “The suspect confessed that on Wednesday he had a fight with his wife, Boonlert, aged 49, and hit her on the head with a brick…
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Chon Buri discharges last Covid-19 patient, now a “white zone”
Authorities in Chon Buri announced yesterday that the last Covid-19 patient in the province has recovered and been discharged from hospital, making the entire province a designated “white zone – no recorded cases of Covid-19 in 14 days and not a single patient in hospital for treatment. Pattaya City has had no cases for 24 days and will reach the…
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Provinces ordered to establish Covid-19 operations centres
The governors of all 76 of Thailand’s provinces have been ordered to establish and manage Covid-19 operations centres. Interior Ministry permanent secretary Chatchai Promlert announced the order yesterday. As Thais start inter-provincial travel there is an increased risk of undetected cases moving around the country and setting off another localised outbreak. According to the order, each centre will be responsible…
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PM confident economy will rebound when businesses reopen
Or… “what goes down, must go up”. “If workplaces reopen, there will be employment and salaries… If factories reopen and employ people, rehabilitation will start.” Responding to reporters yesterday, the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed confidence the economy will improve once businesses reopen and people are employed again, and when tourism resumes, with measures in place to give visitors confidence…
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Ex-deputy commerce minister and 5 accomplices face 10 charges in murder trial
In a case which has shocked the nation, former deputy commerce minister, MP and police lieutenant Banyin Tangpakorn and 5 accomplices, accused of involvement in the murder of a senior Bangkok judge’s brother, have been slapped with 10 separate charges. The Crime Suppression Division commander Jiraphop Phuridet says the accused are charged with: premeditated murder; detention; detention causing death; acting…
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7-Eleven, Family Mart cash in on the pandemic
While some people are losing their jobs as a result of the pandemic, Thailand’s billionaires are getting richer. The owners of 7-Eleven and Family Mart are just two of them. The convenience store franchises are classified as essential services and have stayed busy, while some of the smaller mom and pop shops were forced to close due to the coronavirus outbreak.…
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Grocery giant Makro to add over 700 jobs
At last a snippet of good economic news. Thai big-box grocery giant Makro has announced plans to hire more than 700 employees to boost its delivery service and create jobs after the Covid-19 outbreak passes. Siam Makro’s CEO says a new company priority is to help people who’ve lost their jobs due to the Emergency Decree and subsequent lockdown measures…
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77 year old woman falls to her death in Bangkok
An elderly woman fell to her death from a tenth floor condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district yesterday morning, after a worried relative took her in to keep her safe from Covid-19. Police say 77 year old Surinee Dokkaew was found dead at about 6am on the ground at the base of the 15 storey building on Chaeng Wattana Road.…
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Thai family heads out on a 1,000 kilometre trek on clapped-out motorbike
One family had a mission to get home, but with a broken down motorbike, it was some of the communities along the way that helped them to complete their journey. About a week ago, a mother and her two children set off on their trip using a run-down motorbike and sidecar (saleng). They had a nearly 1,000 km journey ahead of…
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8 new Covid-19 case, total now 3,000, no new deaths (Friday)
The spokesman of the Covid19 Coronavirus Situation Administration, Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, announced 8 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 at this morning’s daily press briefing in Bangkok, maintaining the recent trend of single-digit daily increases. The new cases take Thailand’s total to 3,000 since the beginning of the outbreak. No new deaths were reported, leaving the tally at 55. All of…
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Thai Health Minister says China, South Korea no longer virus hotspots
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has provisionally approved a suggestion from Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that China and South Korea be removed from the list of Covid-19 “hotspots”. Nation Thailand reports that the number of confirmed cases in each country has now dropped into single digits and attempts are being made to re-establish economic and social ties between Thailand and the two…
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BTS and MRT roll out better preventative and social distancing measures
Since there has been a lot of backlash and social media scuttlebutt about the lack of social distancing on MRT and BTS train systems, the MD of the Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company, Sombat Kitjalaksak, has moved to apply improved social distancing measures by prioritising access to services in the station, platform, train, both at normal times and rush…
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Bangkok’s Chatuchak weekend market is reopening
Chatuchak, Jatujak, JJ, whatever you choose to call it, Bangkok’s legendary weekend market is reopening tomorrow. The massive indoor/outdoor market, popular with both Thai and foreign tourists, will reopen this weekend after weeks of being shuttered, but visitors will be required to observe physical distancing and wear face masks…. you know the drill. Walaya Wattanarat, deputy permanent secretary of the…
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Some taxis equipped with ‘barriers’ to protect against coronavirus transmission
Some taxis are being converted to be coronavirus-proof, well that’s the intention. A barrier designed by Royal Thai Air Force personnel, to protect people using taxis and keep drivers in business, has been rolled out. With possible close contact to many different people, taxi drivers are at risk of catching the virus. In February, a taxi driver was the first human-to-human virus transmission in…
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