A 29 year old Italian tourist, and his travel companion, are in a Phang Nga hospital this morning following an elephant attack. The man was seriously injured yesterday when a 12 year old male elephant, that he and a friend were riding as part of a tourist activity in Phang Nga’s Mueang district, suddenly shook them to the ground and gored him in the stomach. The incident took place at 10.30am yesterday morning at an old oil-palm plantation in Tambon Song Praek that is now a private park for elephant riding.
A motorbike driver has died after colliding with the rear of a parked bus on the side of the road in Thalang this morning.
Buddhist days make up a number of the public holidays on the Thai calendar, among them is Makha Bucha Day. The Buddhist calendar traditionally uses dates based on the movement of the moon, and the third lunar month is known in Thai as ‘makha’. The term ‘makha’ comes from the word ‘Magha’ in Pali, the sacred language of the religious texts of the Theravada strand of Buddhism most widely practised in Thailand.
PHOTOS: Tourist Police Bureau Pattaya Tourtist Police have arrested a Thai man selling fake luxury watches and allegedly intimidating tourists as he was doing so. The Tourist Police Bureau report that 26 year old Natthapong “Top’’ Phetsanan, a watch vendor in Pattaya, was arrested on Friday near a beach in Chon Buri.
PHOTOS: The Nation Twenty couples, Thais and foreign, have taken their vows and married aloft hot-air balloons over Chiang Rai today. Among the lovebirds were actor Danai Jarujinda and his fiance Phraewwanich Kijthawornsawat, who decided to tie the knot after 11 years together. “Balloon Love” is held at Singha Park Chiang Rai Balloon Fiesta, which runs from February 13-17.
The Australian Government is pouring on the pressure with Bangkok to immediately release Hakeem al-Araibi, with the Australian PM writing a second letter to his Thai counterpart saying he was disturbed to see Hakeem al-Araibi in shackles at the Criminal Court on Monday.
The Phuket Waterworks Authority (PWA) has announced a date for water restrictions to start in some Phuket areas. They say the reason is water levels at reservoirs in Phuket are getting low in the dry seasons and they predict it will continue for the next three months.
Pattaya’s new mayor Sonthaya Khunpluem is ordering the transfer of a group of municipal officers who appear to be at the centre of an alleged ‘kick-back’ scandal with local massage vendors on Jomtien Beach. The story emerged after a group of masseuses in the Pink Zone of the beach say they had refused to pay a request for 20,000 baht for a “New Year party”. Another group of masseuses have reportedly already paid the 20,000 baht ‘donation’.
“The actions of the Bahraini Government have put Thailand in a very difficult position.” Australia officials are repeating their call that ex-Bahraini national footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who is now facing a lengthy extradition process after an appearance in a Bangkok court yesterday, be returned to Australia immediately. They say that he is a legal refugee and a permanent resident of Australia. “The Bahraini government knew very well that al-Araibi had lived in Australia since 2014,” Canberra officials say in a statement issued on behalf of the Australian ambassador to Thailand
SCREENSHOT from The Guardian video Australian refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi now has 60 days to prepare a defence against the Bahraini government’s attempt to extradite him from Thailand. Bahrain’s extradition request was formally accepted for consideration last Friday. The 25 year old will have to remain in Thai prison for the two months, on top of the two months he’s already been in detention, after he faced the Thai criminal court today to formally lodge his refusal to be extradited to Bahrain. Hakeem al-Araibi arrived at the Ratchadaphisek criminal court shackled and barefoot with more than a dozen other prisoners