Thailand News Today | British man who loves Thailand banned for 5 years for overstaying
Thailand expects to hit the 10 million tourist target on December 10 and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging the nation’s airlines to add more flights to meet the growing demand.
The Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Yuthasak Supasorn, reported the good news yesterday. From January to December 5 of this year Thailand welcomed more than nine million tourists, and the number will hit TAT’s yearly target of 10 million on Saturday, December 10.
The PM Office spokesperson, Anucha Burapachaisri, said yesterday that many more travelers wanted to come to Thailand but there were no available flights. Two months ago, the Director of the Thai Travel Service Association (TTSA), Jarivat Wongsomsri, revealed that tourists from Japan wished to come to Thailand but couldn’t find plane tickets.
PM Prayut wants the Ministry of Transport and airlines to solve this and increase flights to Thailand, adding that more ground operation staff needed to be hired and trained to support the increasing number of tourists.
TAT Governor, Yuthasak, revealed that they will host an event named “Amazing Thailand 10 Million Celebrations” to celebrate the kingdom’s achievement and will provide gifts and souvenirs to tourists who enter Thailand on Saturday.
A survey of more than 17,000 people conducted by U.S. News & World Report showed that Thailand was ranked the 28th best country, according to “total scores” derived from elements such as cultural influence, cultural legacy, thrilling experiences, etc.
The country was also ranked number one in ASEAN and number 19 globally in terms of the best nations for a comfortable retirement when variables such as quality of life, tax rates, friendliness, public health system, and low cost of living, etc. were taken into account.
A British man was arrested for overstaying his welcome in the Isaan province of Sisaket yesterday. He admitted to immigration officers that overstaying in the country was wrong but he loved Thailand so much that he did not want to leave.
The Sisaket Provincial Immigration Police were doing their rounds and checking on foreigners in the area when their database threw up the name of Michael McLaughlin. The 30-year-old Brit had been in the province two months longer than he should have been. McLaughlin should have left the Land of Smiles on September 21, but loved it so much that he remained.
Immigration officers discovered Mclaughlin walking on the Ramkhamhaeng University-Sisaket Technical College Road in the Nong Phai sub-district.
He was taken to the Sisaket Immigration Office for questioning. The man acknowledged his crime to officers but said he loved the country, and Sisaket, and did not want to leave.
Officers were amused by his confession but the law is the law and they still had to charge him.
McLaughlin was charged with violating the Immigration Act by overstaying by 75 days which will result in a five-year ban from entering Thailand and a fine from 500 to 20,000 baht.
A lucky Thai man won a whopping 144 million baht (US$4,101,396.48) in Thailand‘s government lottery on December 1.
Today, Pachara Nathakitpaisan travelled to the Government Lottery Office in Nonthaburi province, central Thailand, to claim 96 million baht of his winnings.
On December 1, the number 375805 was drawn for the lottery’s first prize of 6 million baht. Pachara bought 16 tickets with the winning number directly through the government’s digital lottery website – winning a total of 96 million baht.
After the tax deduction of 480,000 baht, Pachara received 95,530,000 baht at the lottery office today. He said he was “happy.”
Lucky Pachara had also bought eight more tickets with the same number from Kong Salak Plus Lottery Office, raising his total winnings to a staggering 144 million baht.
Pachara said he will continue to work and live a normal life and will split the prize money into three parts. First, Pachara will take care of himself, and perhaps buy a house in preparation to start a family, as he said he plans on getting married soon.
A Thai man was arrested yesterday for creating and distributing more than 500 spycam upskirt pictures and videos. Police reported that 39 of the videos featured well-known Thai stars.
The cyber police were alerted to violations of the pornography laws when they spotted a porn advertisement on a website named VK Doo Dee Dee Community that invited netizens to watch upskirt voyeur video cams.
The website’s admin created a number of group chats and each member was required to pay 250 to 1,000 baht to join the groups. Cyber Police reported that about 530 porn videos and pictures were shared in each group. The admin also collected a yearly membership fee of about 1,000 baht per person. Anyone who did not want to be a member could buy 30 porn videos for 1,000 baht.
The Cyber Police raided a suspect’s house in the Napa sub-district of Chon Buri province. The house owner was named 31-year-old Worrasak.
Officers found porn-creating equipment at the house and Worrasak allegedly admitted to his actions.
