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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Formerly exiled billionaire freed six months into eight-year sentence due to age and health
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been freed on parole and returned home, six months after he was arrested on his dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile.
The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse-of-power charges after he arrived in Thailand in August.
Continue reading...Billionaire politician was jailed on corruption charges in August last year after returning from self-imposed exile
Jailed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is to be freed, the kingdom’s justice minister has said, possibly as soon as the weekend – just six months after returning from 15 years of self-imposed exile.
The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse of power charges in August, but within days had his sentence cut to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Continue reading...Opposition leader rejects claims party is seeking to cause deterioration of monarchy
Thailand’s constitutional court has ruled that the opposition party’s pledge to reform the country’s lese-majesty law is unlawful and that it must cease such efforts.
The court ordered the Move Forward party and its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, to stop all forms of communication aimed at bringing reforms to the law, under which criticism of the powerful royal family can lead to up to 15 years in prison on a single charge.
Continue reading...Nathy Odinson, 33, had parachute problem after climbing up building in Pattaya and jumping off
A British Base jumper has died after his parachute failed to open during a stunt in Thailand.
Nathy Odinson, 33, from Cambridgeshire, who had performed skydives and Base jumps around the world, is said to have illegally climbed up a 29-storey building in the coastal resort of Pattaya and jumped off on Saturday night.
Continue reading...Sawangjit Kosoognern charged with illegal possession after video showing animal being driven around Pattaya gains 2.6m views
A Thai woman has been charged with illegal possession of a lion cub, police said on Friday, after a video of the animal cruising in a Bentley went viral online.
The police ordered an investigation after a video showing a lion cub riding around the raucous Thai resort town of Pattaya in a Bentley gained more than 2.6m views online.
Continue reading...Pita Limjaroenrat’s party was blocked from taking power last year after complaints led to his suspension
Thailand’s constitutional court has ruled that an anti-establishment opposition figure whose party was blocked from taking power last year did not violate election law and can be reinstated as an MP.
The court rejected a complaint brought against Pita Limjaroenrat by conservative politicians that he had violated election law by owning shares in a media company.
Continue reading...Rescue teams find charter ambulance flight from Thailand to Moscow after it disappeared from radar screens
Four people are reported to have survived after a private jet carrying out a medical evacuation from Thailand to Russia disappeared from radar screens and crashed in a remote and mountainous area of north-eastern Afghanistan on Saturday.
Russian aviation authorities said two passengers and four crew members were onboard the charter ambulance flight, which was travelling from Utapao airport, near Pattaya, to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan.
Continue reading...Mongkol Thirakot receives record sentence under kingdom’s strict lese-majesty laws for posts on personal Facebook account
A Thai man has been given a 50-year prison sentence for criticising the monarchy – the longest jail term handed down under the kingdom’s strict lese-majesty laws – a legal rights group said.
The record-breaking sentence comes after several years in which Thailand has ramped up use of the legislation against pro-democracy protesters in what critics say is a tactic to silence dissent.
Continue reading...British artist, who has undergone multiple surgeries for cancer, says ‘horrible complications’ in her intestine were ‘made a million times worse by flying’
Renowned British artist Tracey Emin is recovering in Thailand after her small intestine “nearly exploded” due to complications after an operation.
Emin, one of Britain’s best-known living artists, has battled cancer and undergone major surgery in recent years. On Sunday she shared on Instagram that she has been “very unwell” and felt she had used “another one of my nine lives”.
Continue reading...Rukchanok Srinork’s posts on X found to have breached lese-majesty and computer crime laws
A progressive Thai MP has been sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the country’s powerful monarchy on social media.
Rukchanok Srinork, 29, a former activist, also known as “Ice”, was found guilty of breaching Thailand’s strict lese-majesty law and its computer crimes act, according to the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). The case related to comments posted or reposted on X, including criticism of a decision to hand a contract for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines to a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Continue reading...UN warns of possible tragedy unless people are rescued from two boats on Andaman Sea
About 400 Rohingya refugees have been adrift in two boats on the Andaman Sea for about two weeks, according to the United Nations, which called on regional governments to help rescue them.
The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats in a seasonal exodus – usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh – has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and an increase in gang violence.
Continue reading...Tears and joy as 17 Thai nationals who were seized in Hamas attacks on Israel land in Bangkok
Pornsawan Pinakalo’s three great aunts would not have missed his return for the world. Kularb Pinakalo’s knees couldn’t quite get her up to the room in Bangkok airport where her nephew was meeting other family members for the first time since being taken hostage in Gaza. But after travelling for four hours by van to the Thai capital, the 63-year-old was ready and waiting for him to emerge in the arrivals hall, alongside 84-year-old Nangnoi Pattataysan and Noi Prakobkan, 82.
“I just want to give him a hug,” Kularb said. She was so overwhelmed that she could hardly think of what to say to him, she added.
Continue reading...Four Thais were released late on Wednesday after two on Tuesday, having spent seven weeks in captivity
Thailand’s foreign minister has met Thai hostages in an emotional welcome after their release by Hamas from seven weeks of captivity, saying he hoped for freedom soon for the remaining hostages from his country.
Four Thai workers were released late on Wednesday, bringing the total released to 23.
Continue reading...Hamas released 24 hostages on Friday, including 13 Israelis, one Filipino man and 10 Thai citizens
The group of hostages brought out of Gaza on the first day of the ceasefire with Israel included 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino man.
The Israeli hostages included four children with female relatives, who were all visiting family at Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas attacked on 7 October, and five elderly women, four of them residents of Nir Oz and one from a nearby kibbutz.
Continue reading...Group of nine men and one woman being treated in hospital before returning to Thailand to reunite with families
The 10 Thai hostages released on Friday are now being supervised in an Israeli hospital, the Thai government has said, adding that a further 20 of its nationals are still being held hostage.
In a statement, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs said the 10, who were among 24 hostages freed on Friday hours after a ceasefire was implemented, were now being accompanied by embassy officials and were staying at Shamir medical centre, south-east of Tel Aviv.
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