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BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s monarchy is protected by one of the world’s toughest defamation laws, making any criticism of the powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn very risky inside the country. After police arrested a number of prominent political activists Thursday, a government spokesman said charges will be pressed against those who obstructed a royal motorcade a day earlier and anyone who had acted “in a way that defames the monarchy”. – What is the section […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai police arrested more than 20 people under sweeping new emergency measures Thursday, with pro-democracy activists reporting a handful of high-profile leaders were among those detained. The arrests came after thousands gathered in Bangkok, including on the route of a royal motorcade, with many raising a defiant three-fingers. The salute, borrowed from the “Hunger Games” books and films, has been harnessed by the youth-led movement as a symbol calling for […]
by Pitcha DANGPRASITH and Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI in Bangkok CHACHOENGSAO, Thailand (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed and more than 40 injured in Thailand Sunday when a freight train crashed into a bus taking passengers to a religious ceremony, officials said. The morning collision, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital, Bangkok, toppled the bus and sheared off part of its roof. More than 40 passengers were rushed to nearby medical facilities […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — At least 17 passengers were killed and more than dozen injured on Sunday when a bus collided with a train in Thailand, officials said. The collision happened around 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the capital Bangkok as the bus passengers were on their way to a temple in Chachoengsao province for a ceremony to mark the end of Buddhist Lent, said a district police chief. “The death toll we […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Thai disc jockey sentenced last week to two years in prison has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Thursday, ending the kingdom’s 100-day run without a local transmission. The man, sentenced on August 26 for what local media said was a drugs offense, had been in contact with at least 30 other people before testing positive on Wednesday. Those tested so far have all been negative, officials said. “It […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand is pushing for the removal of 1,000 online posts, videos, and other content that “breaks the law”, a minister said Wednesday, after Facebook vowed legal action over the censorship of a group discussing the monarchy. Youth-led pro-democracy protests have swept Thailand in recent weeks, calling for political reform and frank discussion about the powerful king’s role in the country — long a taboo subject. A private Facebook group called “Royalist […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s economy suffered its worst contraction since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, data showed Monday, as the coronavirus shattered the country’s crucial tourism industry. The kingdom has largely escaped the worst of the disease — registering 3,300 cases and 58 deaths despite being the first country outside China to register an infection in January. But pandemic-spurred lockdowns brought the economy to a staggering halt, shrinking 12.2 percent […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Mask-wearing pupils catching up with friends at one Bangkok high school were quickly told to spread out as they headed back to lessons on Wednesday after months of distance learning due to coronavirus restrictions. The teenagers, resuming classes along with all other public school students in the kingdom, chatted animatedly before being called to sit in widely spaced rows for the opening session. The school principal, Arwuth Meekhanphet, warned them all […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — China was pressed Tuesday to show more transparency over its dam operations on the Mekong River, months after downstream water levels hit record lows and threatened millions of livelihoods. Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam all battled severe drought last year as the tide of the river fell to record lows — exposing rocks, killing fish and threatening millions of livelihoods. But the dams along the waterway in China — where the […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A scurrying robot dog named K9 dispenses hand sanitizer to curious children and wary shoppers — one of the more unexpected measures Thai malls are taking as the kingdom relaxes virus restrictions. The hi-tech hound is controlled using 5G, a technology promising super-fast internet speeds with immediate reaction times that is still in the initial stages of roll out in Thailand. Mimicking an excited puppy, K9 roams around the popular Central […]
By Jonathan KLEIN and Pitcha DANGPRASITH in Bangkok PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) — People returned to some of Thailand’s famed sandy beaches Monday, keeping well apart but enjoying the outdoors, as authorities eased some coronavirus restrictions for the first time in more than two months. In Pattaya, visitors marveled at the clarity of the turquoise-blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand, and pensioners eager for exercise promenaded along the beach. Social distancing rules still applied, with […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s economy shrank for the first time in six years because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered borders and devastated the tourism-reliant country. Some 40 million tourists were expected to arrive in Thailand this year, drawn to its sandy beaches, infamous nightlife and street food culture. But the outbreak has sharply bruised the country’s cash cow, with tourist vendors reporting as early as mid-January a drop in visitors after China […]
