THAI.NEWS - Thailand Breaking News

The French Embassy in Thailand has started a new cultural exchange program called “Sawasdee France” to strengthen the countries’ long-standing relationship. A party was held at the French Embassy over the weekend to kick off the program. There, businesses, educational institutions, and members of the Franco-Thai community set up booths and displays for the public to look at. People could also look at the art around the ambassador’s house. Eve Lubin, the French Embassy’s Counsellor for Culture and Cooperation, said that the embassy has been working to encourage the exchange of arts and culture between the two countries since 2004. At first, this was done through an event called La Fete (“The Party”). It has now decided to add more to what it has to offer. “It was a big success, but over time we saw that the activities went beyond parties and art swaps,” she said. “Through [Sawasdee France],…

The Highways Department has completed a 699.54 million baht upgrade of a critical section of Highway No. 1 in Phayao province to improve transportation and tourism in the North. The department announced that it had completed the repaving of 27.88 kilometers of the four-lane highway known as the Phaholyothin highway. The highway is a vital link between Thailand and Laos. According to officials, the highway has been repaved from kilometer marker 814+000 to 881+325, passing through Ngao district in Lampang, Muang and Mae Jai districts in Phayao, and Phan district in Chiang Rai. Each side of the road has two 3.50 metre wide lanes. The asphalt became 15 centimetres thicker as a result of the upgrade. The Highways Department stated that the highway had been upgraded to improve safety because it connects Thailand and Laos. The upgrade is also part of the government’s strategy to hasten Thailand’s entry into the…

Heartbreaking news emerged today of the death of five year-old tiger Vichit, who was found in a creek in Mae Wong National Park in Kamphaeng Phet. The tiger, originally born in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, had strayed from its habitat before tragically passing away. Rungroj Asavakultarin, chief of Nakhon Sawan’s Protected Areas Regional Office 12, informed officials that rangers had discovered the carcass near a creek on January 9th. A veterinary team then examined the body at the Mae Wong National Park Office and found several wounds on the tiger’s body and neck, broken front ankles and traces of other animal fangs. Pimchanok Songmongkol, the vet who conducted the examination, said the tiger was male and weighed approximately 100 kilos. She further confirmed that the tiger had been dead for about three days and had begun to decay, with flies and worms visible in the wounds. The cause of…

Amidst the political uncertainty in China, the real estate markets in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are becoming increasingly attractive to Chinese nationals wanting to flee the motherland. Over the past three years, the Chinese have sought to buy new homes and stay in SE Asia, however, their plans have been halted due to the pandemic. However, the recent “will of the people” movement in China to liberalize the country has many excited and running towards new opportunities in the region. This “run culture” has been driven by the Chinese millennial cohort, who are mostly high-net-worth individuals looking for better-quality of life and to escape the “merciless parenting environment” found in China

In a stunning clash of law enforcement and drug traffickers in Chiang Rai province, five suspected drug smugglers were killed and almost 500,000 methamphetamine pills were seized after an intense firefight. A military patrol of the Pha Muang Task Force came across the suspected smugglers carrying backpacks in the morning hours of Thursday in the area where the forested borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. When the task force attempted to search the individuals, the group of five opened fire, resulting in an intense five-minute firefight. The Pha Muang Task Force reported that the suspects were killed and no Thai soldiers were injured. Premchai Premkamol, an officer with the task force, told AFP news agency “Narcotics have been very prevalent at the border but recently there has been an order from the commander to step up law enforcement efforts.” The skirmish in Chiang Rai follows two similar incidents in…

The House of Representatives has voted in favour of a special committee’s report in exploring the opportunity of setting up a casino-entertainment zone in Thailand. After a three-hour meeting, the report was passed with 310 votes for, and nine votes against. The report, which was prepared by the special committee set up in December 2021, states that Bangkok, with the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and areas within a 100-kilometre radius of Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports, would be ideal hosts for a casino complex. Amenities such as five-star hotels, shopping malls, beauty and spa parlours, amusement parks, zoos, indoor and outdoor sports stadiums, as well as the casinos themselves, have been included in the proposal. Sanhapot Suksrimuang, a committee member from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), said the study took 240 days and its report was comprehensive. Pakornwut Udompipatsakul, another committee member from the Move Forward Party (MFP), added that it…

On June 9, 2022 Thailand made history when it became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis nationally, joining Canada and Uruguay as the only other countries in the world to do so. However, many people do not realize that cannabis was not always illegal in Thailand. In fact, the country had a long history of cannabis use since pre-written history. Cannabis was used for religious ceremonies and believed to possess medical and magical properties. The use of cannabis began to wane in the 19th century when British merchants arrived in Thailand and began to take control of the trade. The merchants had a vested interest in opium, and replaced it with hemp, which they viewed as a more profitable crop. Throughout the 20th century, laws were increasingly passed restricting the use of cannabis. After several decades of strict regulation, Thailand enacted a law in 1934 that made cannabis…

Visitors to northern Thailand’s backpacker haven of Pai were shocked yesterday, as a motorbike accident left one tourist, a Belgian-Moroccan national, with a broken back. Issam Messaoudi and a friend had set out to visit Mor Paeng Waterfall, a popular swimming spot 6 kilometers from Pai. However, they encountered treacherous road conditions, likely worsened by rainfall, which caused the motorbike to skid and lose control on the steep and slippery road. Thankfully the friend was unscathed, but the same cannot be said for Messaoudi, who was taken to the hospital in Pai and X-rays revealed a broken back. Not having enough resources to treat the young tourist, the hospital decided to send him on a long, perilous journey to Bangkok Hospital in Chiang Mai City for treatment. This is not the only such incident to have recently occurred in Thailand. With the return of many international travelers, motorbike incidents involving…

This week, in an unexpected turn of events, 54-year-old Peter Coker Jr, a citizen of the Caribbean island state of St Kitts and Nevis, was arrested in a hotel room near Surin beach in Thalang district of Phuketon Wednesday. This arrest was the culmination of a long-running investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into stock manipulation and colluding in fraud. The CIB, led by Pol Maj Gen Montri Khetkhan, were working with the FBI in this investigation. The suspect was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court in the US on December 27, 2022, as he was on red and black notices issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). This case related to the share manipulation of two companies, Hometown International and E-Waste Corp, which were traded on the OTC Link Alternative Trading System. The investigation has revealed that the accused were business partners…