Category Archives: Thailand

Court bans largest Thai political party over pledge to change lese-majesty law

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Leaders of progressive group Move Forward, which won most votes in last year’s election, also barred from politics for 10 years

Thailand’s constitutional court has ordered the dissolution of the country’s most popular party, and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years, over its election promise to reform the country’s strict lese-majesty law.

Move Forward, a youthful pro-reform party, won the most votes in the 2023 election after pledging major changes to the country’s political system, including a promise to amend a law that punishes criticism of the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison for a single charge. However, the party and its leader were blocked from taking power by military royalist opponents, and have since faced legal cases.

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Cyanide found in teacups shared by six found dead in Bangkok hotel

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Victims at Grand Hyatt Erawan drank poison-laced beverage in murder-suicide plot, Thai police believe

Police investigating the deaths by poisoning of six people found in the room of a luxury hotel in central Bangkok believe one member of the group took their own life and murdered the rest by lacing cups of tea with cyanide.

Tests detected the deadly chemical that interferes with the body’s ability to use oxygen in a tea flask and six cups, with the signs of its poisoning revealed in autopsies of the six bodies . Based on interviews with a relative, police believe the deaths could be related to a business dispute.

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Six people found dead in Bangkok luxury hotel in suspected poisoning

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Bodies of three men and three women, two of whom were US citizens, discovered in locked suite at Grand Hyatt Erawan

Six people have been found dead at a luxury hotel in central Bangkok, in what authorities say could be a case of poisoning.

The bodies of three women and three men were found inside a hotel suite on the fifth floor of the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel by a hotel worker late on Tuesday afternoon.

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Thailand passes historic bill recognising marriage equality

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Country on track to become third in Asia – after Taiwan and Nepal – to legalise same-sex marriage

Thailand’s senate has passed the final reading of a historic marriage equality bill, paving the way for the country to become the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex marriage.

The bill gained the support of nearly all upper-house lawmakers and will be sent to the palace for the pro-forma endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The law will come into force 120 days after it is published in the royal gazette.

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Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra indicted for insulting monarchy

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Thaksin appears in court accused of lese-majeste relating to 2015 interview with South Korean media

The former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a powerful backer of the ruling government, has been formally indicted for allegedly insulting the monarchy almost two decades ago.

One of Thailand’s most influential political figures, Thaksin, 74, appeared at Bangkok’s Ratchada criminal court accused of lese-majeste. The case relates to an interview he gave to South Korean media in 2015. He was granted bail on Tuesday.

Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and spent 15 years in self-imposed exile to avoid charges he said were politically motivated. He returned to Thailand last year, arriving back in the country on the same day his party Pheu Thai formed an unlikely coalition with his former enemies from the conservative military establishment – a deal that was in both sides’ interest because it kept a popular, youthful pro-reform party out of power.

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Thailand market fire kills more than 1,000 animals prompting calls for crackdown

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Animal welfare groups have called for better regulation of the sale of wildlife after a fire swept through the pet zone of one of Bangkok’s biggest markets

Animal welfare experts have called for a crackdown on the sale of wildlife in Thailand, after a fire swept through the pet zone of Bangkok’s most famous outdoor market, killing more than 1,000 animals.

Puppies, cats, fish, snakes, swans, cockatoos and rabbits kept inside cages were all reportedly killed in the blaze, which began early on Tuesday morning and burned through about 1,300 square metres of the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

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Australian in intensive care with severe spinal injury after ‘horrifying’ Singapore flight, husband says

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Kerry Davis was flung to ceiling when flight SQ321 hit turbulence before falling motionless to floor of plane

An Australian woman suffered a spinal injury and has no sensation from her waist down after her flight to Singapore hit extreme turbulence earlier this week, as others onboard are treated for skull and brain injuries.

The Boeing 777-300ER hit what an airline official described as “sudden extreme turbulence” over Myanmar, sending passengers and crew flying and slamming some into the ceiling. The flight, SQ321 from London to Singapore on Tuesday, made an emergency diversion to Bangkok.

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Hospital details brain and spinal injuries after turbulence on Singapore flight

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Twenty people remain in intensive care in Bangkok, where plane landed on Tuesday following mid-air emergency

Passengers and crew onboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit extreme turbulence over Asia suffered skull, brain and spinal injuries, the head of a Bangkok hospital has said.

Twenty people remain in intensive care in the Thai capital, where flight SQ321 made an emergency landing on Tuesday after the terrifying high-altitude ordeal.

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British passenger dies after severe turbulence on London-Singapore flight

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Thai authorities say Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, probably had heart attack, and seven are critically injured as passengers describe ‘dramatic drop’

A British passenger has died and seven people have been critically injured after a flight from London to Singapore was hit by turbulence.

Passengers onboard the Singapore Airlines plane told of a “dramatic drop” that launched those not wearing a seatbelt into the cabin ceiling.

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Political activist held in Thai jail dies after 65 days on hunger strike

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Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, faced seven court cases including two for criticising Thailand’s monarchy

A political activist charged with insulting the king of Thailand has died in pre-trial detention after spending 65 days on hunger strike calling for an end to the imprisonment of political dissidents.

Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, had been detained since 26 January and maintained a hunger strike until the end of April, refusing food and water, according to her lawyers. The corrections department said she had experienced cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning and was unresponsive to treatment.

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Wave of exceptionally hot weather scorches south and south-east Asia

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Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño

Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.

Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.

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Thai conscientious objector risks jail in rare refusal of military service

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Young men are forced to take part in conscript lottery, but the rich often avoid serving in army

Every April in Thailand young men take part in a lottery to determine whether they will be forced to do military service. Pull out a red card and you are drafted for up to two years. A black card means you are exempt.

When it was Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal’s turn to draw a card this month, he refused, making a rare protest as a conscientious objector. If prosecuted, it is believed he could become the first person in Thailand to be imprisoned for avoiding the draft through civil disobedience. The offence carries a maximum sentence of three years.

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Fighting rages at Myanmar’s border with Thailand as rebels target junta troops

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Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing

Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.

Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility.

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Blow for Myanmar’s military as rebels say hundreds have surrendered at key border town

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Thailand PM says army is weakening after junta requests permission to land evacuation flight from Myawaddy across the border

Myanmar’s embattled junta has evacuated personnel from a key border position after hundreds of soldiers surrendered to opposition groups, in another humiliating defeat for the army.

The military is now on the brink of losing control of Myawaddy, in Karen state, one of the most important border crossings in Myanmar and crucial to the flow of goods between the country and Thailand. It has been controlled by the military for decades.

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No more monkey business: Thai city’s macaques to be put in enclosures

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Primates are symbol of Lopburi but residents have had enough as monkeys resort to violence to get food

Mischievous long-tailed macaques are, for many, a symbol of the Thai city of Lopburi. Tourists flock to the city’s ancient temple to feed the macaques fresh fruit and photograph them as they maraud the streets. But, increasingly, residents say they have had enough.

This week, after growing complaints from residents, wildlife officials announced a plan to round up 2,500 of the urban monkeys and place them in large enclosures. It follows an incident in March where a woman’s knee wasdislocated after she was kicked in the back by a monkey that wanted her food. Separately, a man lost control of his motorcycle after a monkey tried to grab a bag of food from him.

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Passengers jump into sea to escape Thai ferry fire

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No casualties after fire engulfs ferry carrying 108 people from Surat Thani to Koh Tao

Panicked passengers jumped into the sea to escape a raging ferry fire in the Gulf of Thailand early on Thursday, and all 108 people onboard survived.

The overnight ferry from Surat Thani province was about to arrive at Koh Tao, a popular tourist destination off the Thai coast, when one of the passengers heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke.

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Schools close and crops wither as ‘historic’ heatwave hits south-east Asia

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Governments across region grappling for response as temperatures soar to unseasonable highs

Thousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so high that scientists fear coral could be destroyed.

A “historic heatwave” is being experienced across south-east Asia, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian. In updates posted on X, he said heat that was unprecedented for early April had been recorded at monitoring stations across the region this week, including in Minbu, in central Myanmar, where 44C was recorded – the first time in south-east Asia’s climatic history that such high temperatures had been reached so early in the month. In Hat Yai, in Thailand’s far south, 40.2 C was reached, an all-time record, while Yên Châu in north-west Vietnam hit 40.6C, unprecedented for this time of year.

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Thailand poised to legalise same-sex marriage after parliament passes bill

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Lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to make country the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex unions

Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in south-east Asia to legalise equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.

Four hundred of 415 lawmakers present voted for the bill on Wednesday and footage from inside parliament showed people standing and applauding afterwards.

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Red panda found in luggage of smuggling suspects at Thailand airport

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Bangkok customs officers arrest six after finding 87 animals, including lizards, birds, a monkey and snakes

Thai customs officials have arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle dozens of wild animals, including a red panda and cotton-top tamarin monkey, out of the country.

Officers found 87 animals, including monitor lizards, birds and snakes, packaged inside the suspects’ checked luggage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. They were trying to fly to Mumbai.

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Singapore sought exclusivity deal over Taylor Swift concerts in south-east Asia, Thai PM alleges

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Srettha Thavisin claims promoter told him Singaporean government offered ‘subsidies’ of $2m-$3m a show

Thailand’s prime minister has claimed that Singapore sought a deal with Taylor Swift to prevent her from playing elsewhere in south-east Asia on her Eras tour.

Srettha Thavisin said the concert promoter AEG had informed him that the Singaporean government offered subsidies of US $2m-$3m (£1.6m-£24m) a show as part of an exclusivity agreement.

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