Tag: Thailand

Thai police fire rubber bullets at protesters outside PM’s residence

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai police shot rubber bullets and used water cannon and tear gas against pro-democracy protesters in Bangkok Sunday at a rally outside a military barracks housing the prime minister’s residence. A youth-led protest movement calling for the resignation of Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s government had lost steam in recent months following a second wave of coronavirus infections in Thailand. But the recent detention of four prominent protest leaders on royal defamation charges has […]

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Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand protest against coup

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Scores of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand protested in front of their embassy on Monday, waving posters of leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she was detained during a military coup. Myanmar’s army took over early Monday, taking Suu Kyi into custody and announcing a state of emergency and power transfer to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing. Dressed in red — the signature colour of Suu Kyi’s National League […]

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Bangkok imposes partial lockdown to combat virus

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Bangkok’s nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales goes into effect Saturday, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom’s rising coronavirus toll. Thailand initially appeared to have escaped the worst of the virus, registering just under 4,000 total cases in November, despite being the second country to detect an infection in January. But an outbreak last month at a massive seafood […]

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Thai seafood market coronavirus infections top 1,000

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A coronavirus outbreak linked to a seafood market in Thailand passed 1,000 cases on Tuesday, as authorities weighed whether to introduce a wider lockdown. Thailand has been on tenterhooks since Thursday following the positive virus test of a 67-year-old prawn seller from Mahachai market, Samut Sakhon province, about 40 minutes southwest of Bangkok. As of early Tuesday morning, there were 1,063 confirmed positive cases out of 6,156 tested — a major […]

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Two smuggled Indonesian orangutans fly home from Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Eating fruit and drinking from plastic bottles, two Sumatran orangutans stared from their cages at Bangkok airport on Thursday before flying home to Indonesia, years after being smuggled into Thailand. Poachers in Southeast Asia frequently capture the critically endangered orangutans to sell as pets, and police said four-year-olds Ung Aing and Natalee were supposed to be sold to a tourism business. Wildlife traffickers tried to smuggle the two in via Malaysia […]

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Palace dismayed as PHL lags behind other ASEAN countries in internet speed

  (Eagle News) – Malacanang is very much dismayed that the country’s internet speed remains slow despite the deadline given by President Rodrigo Duterte that it has lagged behind many of its ASEAN neighbors. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that despite some improvements, in terms of increased contruction permits for telephone companies, the Philippines is still behind many of the ASEAN countries, including Myanmar and Laos, as the government pushed telcos to do better. “Narinig […]

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Thai PM wins crucial legal battle to stay in office

by Lisa MARTIN BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, under pressure from months of street protests, Wednesday survived a legal challenge over his living arrangements that could have seen him thrown out of office. The kingdom’s nine-member constitutional court ruled that Prayut was not guilty of conflict of interest by living in an army residence after leaving the military. “The status of General Prayut Chan-O-Cha as prime minister and defence minister remains […]

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Rebel alliance: Bangkok’s motortaxi drivers aid Thai protesters

  by Pitcha DANGPRASITH Agence France Presse BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Orange-vested drivers of motorbike taxis have become allies to Thailand’s pro-democracy protesters gathering across traffic-snarled Bangkok, offering lifts and keeping an eye out for trouble. When authorities shut down train lines this month in an effort to curb daily rallies, drivers of the capital’s motortaxis came to the rescue, ferrying stranded protesters to demonstration sites. But they have long waited on the sidelines of […]

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Thailand welcomes first tourists since March

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand has welcomed its first group of tourists in seven months, as part of an experiment aimed at testing if a wider opening is possible as the coronavirus cripples the kingdom’s economy. A planeload of 39 Chinese tourists flew into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport Tuesday evening from Shanghai to a welcome from staff in full protective equipment. The visitors underwent health checks and had their luggage disinfected, before donning protective clothing themselves […]

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Young and restless: Protest parallels in Thailand and Hong Kong

by Dene-Hern Chen, with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Hong Kong and Thailand have both seen their streets filled with protesters daring to take on an entrenched political elite, and to discuss once-taboo subjects in their push for greater freedoms. Voranai Vanijaka, a political analyst at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, said tech-savvy youths in both territories have “shared cultural values”. “(It’s) the love for freedom and the courage to fight for change,” […]

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Thousands of Thai protesters return to streets after police clashes

  by Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI and Lisa MARTIN Agence France Presse Thousands of Thai pro-democracy protesters massed in multiple locations across Bangkok Saturday, defying an emergency decree banning gatherings for the third consecutive day after confrontations saw riot police use water cannon on peaceful demonstrators. But the escalation in police tactics has not cowed the burgeoning youth-led movement, which is demanding the resignation of a premier first brought to power in a military coup and reform […]

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10,000 protesters defy Thai crackdown after emergency decree, arrests

by Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI and Lisa MARTIN BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Some 10,000 Thai protesters gathered Thursday in defiance of a sweeping crackdown after authorities moved to crush months of pro-democracy demonstrations by imposing emergency powers and rounding up leading activists. Protesters chanted “Prayut get out!” and “Free our friends!” as they confronted police at Ratchaprasong, a busy junction in central Bangkok, despite a new decree that bans gatherings of more than four people — aimed […]

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