Thailand

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Taylor Swift, Singapore Cut Deal and Neighbors Aren't Happy

Enter the growing industry of event tourism

(Newser) - We know Taylor Swift concerts generate billions in consumer spending . And now we know countries are willing to pay big for the advantage, at the cost of their neighbors missing out. Earlier this week, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed the country's tourism board paid an undisclosed sum—...

Thaksin Is Free but Could Face New Charge

Former Thai PM is being investigated for allegedly defaming the monarchy years ago

(Newser) - Thai prosecutors said Monday that further investigation is needed to decide whether to bring former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to trial on charges of defaming the monarchy, just a day after he was freed from a prison sentence on other counts he was serving in a hospital. Thaksin was released...

Arrests Follow Joyride With Lion
Arrests Follow Joyride With Lion
VIDEO

Arrests Follow Joyride With Lion

Thai woman among those facing charges over illegal possession of cub

(Newser) - A woman claiming ownership of a lion cub is facing prison time in Thailand, where the animal was paraded around in an open-top Bentley. Police became aware of the scene through videos shared online , per Business Insider . Though the lion appeared calm for the joyride through the streets of Pattaya,...

At Least 23 Dead in Fireworks Factory Blast

Blast almost completely leveled site in central Thailand

(Newser) - An explosion at a fireworks factory in central Thailand killed more than 20 people on Wednesday, according to provincial officials, though the devastation at the scene has made the death toll uncertain. The country's public health ministry put the death toll at 23 Thursday morning, including 16 men and...

16 Major Pieces at Met Will Return to Rightful Owners

They're going back to Cambodia and Thailand

(Newser) - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Friday that it will return 16 major artworks connected to a trafficker to Cambodia and Thailand. The Cambodian government maintains that the Met has dozens of items that have been taken since the 1970s and has pressured the museum to return them,...

Most of Hamas' Foreign Hostages Are Thai Migrants

Most go to Israel to work in agriculture, sometimes in poor conditions

(Newser) - More than half of the 220 or so hostages Hamas took to Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel hold foreign passports. The largest subset of that group is from Thailand, Quartz reports, a product of Israel's reliance on migrant labor, consisting of 54 people. "We are...

Shooting Hits Posh Thai Mall
Teen Boy Arrested
in Mall Shooting

Teen Boy Arrested in Mall Shooting

At least one person is dead in posh Thai mall, though initial reports had said 3 were slain

(Newser) - A shooter opened fire inside a major shopping mall in the center of Thailand's capital Tuesday afternoon, killing at least one person before being apprehended, CNN reports, though initial reports had between two and three dead. Police said a suspect was taken into custody less than an hour after...

Chinese Defector: I'll Wait 'Months' in Airport If I Have to

Tiananmen Square critic Chen Siming says he feels safe in Taiwan, though he wants to go to US

(Newser) - A Chinese dissident known for his commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is currently holed up in a Taiwan airport, pleading for asylum from the United States, or Canada if the US won't take him. Chen Siming has been hunkered down since Friday at Taoyuan International Airport near...

Thaksin Returns to Thailand, Goes to Jail
Thai King Cuts Thaksin's
Prison Term Short
UPDATED

Thai King Cuts Thaksin's Prison Term Short

Former PM's sentence has been reduced from 8 years to 1 year by royal decree

(Newser) - Thailand's king on Friday reduced the prison term of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from eight years to a single year following the divisive politician's return from 15 years of self-imposed exile. The decree from King Maha Vajiralongkorn granting Thaksin, 74, royal clemency said the action was taken...

Cops: Cyberscam Led Man to Kill His Family

Thai police say Sanit Dokmai, now charged with premeditated murder, also tried to take his own life

(Newser) - At least 11 people are suspected to be involved with a loan scam that allegedly drove a man to kill his wife and two young boys before trying to take his own life in their family home, Thai police said Wednesday. Sanit Dokmai has been charged with premeditated murder after...

Fatal Blasts Hit 2 Separate Sites Housing Explosives

9 are dead after explosion at Thai fireworks warehouse; 8 die in firecracker plant blast in India

(Newser) - A large explosion at a fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand on Saturday killed at least nine people and wounded scores, officials said. The governor of the province of Narathiwat, Sanan Pongaksorn, told public broadcaster Thai PBS that at least 115 people were hurt, and that many were in serious condition....

Thai Parliament Says Election Winner Can't Be PM

Military-appointed senators blocked Pita Limjaroenrat's nomination

(Newser) - The bitter battle to name Thailand's next prime minister took a major turn Wednesday as Parliament voted to deny Pita Limjaroenrat, whose progressive Move Forward Party won a surprise victory in May's election, a second chance to be confirmed for the post. Pita had assembled a coalition of...

Who Needs Burger in Its Cheeseburgers? Not Burger King
Burger King, Why
Are You Doing This?
in case you missed it

Burger King, Why Are You Doing This?

Thailand division is hawking a cheeseburger with no burger meat, up to 20 slices of American cheese

(Newser) - If your favorite part of a cheeseburger is the cheese, Burger King has just the meal for you. You'll have to travel to Thailand to sample it, but "this is for real!" the fast-food giant says of its burgerless cheeseburger, which features the usual sesame-seed bun but...

He Texted After Missing Lunch With His Wife. He Never Texted

Body of German Hans-Peter Mack is found in Thailand

(Newser) - The body of a missing German has been found in a chest freezer in Thailand, and three Germans have been arrested in connection with the grisly crime. The BBC reports Hans-Peter Mack, 62, had been due to meet his wife for lunch on July 4. When he failed to arrive,...

Woman Loses Leg on Airport's Moving Walkway

Horrific accident happened in Thailand

(Newser) - A woman's leg had to be amputated in a Thai airport after it was trapped by a moving walkway Thursday, officials said. The 57-year-old Thai passenger was due to board a morning flight from Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport to the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province when she was...

Woman Suspected of Killing 13 With Cyanide

Thai woman's alleged victims include friends, police officers, boyfriend

(Newser) - The former wife of a senior police officer in Thailand is suspected of being a serial killer with more than a dozen victims. Authorities believe Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn started killing people she knew, including two female police officers, with cyanide in 2020, the BBC reports. Police say the 36-year-old had a...

Chinese Panda Loaned to Thailand Dies Suddenly

Panda Lin Hui fell ill on Tuesday

(Newser) - A giant panda on long-term loan from China died in a zoo in northern Thailand on Wednesday, six months before she was due to return home, officials from the Chiang Mai Zoo said. The cause of Lin Hui’s death was not immediately clear but she appeared to have become...

Thailand Finds MIA Radioactive Capsule, but Uh-Oh

Cylinder with cesium-137 turns up at Thailand steel foundry, but it appears to have been crushed

(Newser) - It would be really great if people could keep tabs on the radioactive capsules they have hanging around. First, a tiny one filled with cesium-137 went missing earlier this year in Western Australia, though it's since been found . Now, a larger cylinder containing the same radioactive isotope has turned...

Calendars Featuring Ducks Get Thai Man Jailed for 2 Years

Court found that he was mocking the king

(Newser) - A Thai man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for selling calendars featuring satirical cartoons of yellow ducks that a court said mocked the country’s monarch, a legal aid group said. Bangkok’s Criminal Court ruled that the calendar for 2021 containing pictures of yellow ducks in...

Cops Arrest Suspect in Thai 'Face/Off' Case

Alleged drug dealer had plastic surgery to look like 'handsome Korean man'

(Newser) - A suspected drug dealer in Thailand not only changed his name to a Korean name, he changed his face to a Korean face in an effort to evade authorities, police say. In what the Thai media has dubbed the Face/Off case, Saharat Sawangjaeng was arrested in Bangkok last week, the...

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