Tag: Thailand

Thais vote overwhelmingly for democracy parties, reject military

By Lisa MARTIN with Thanaporn Promyamyai BANGKOK, May 15, 2023 (AFP) – Thai voters have delivered a clear rejection of nearly a decade of military-aligned rule, election results showed Monday, backing two pro-democracy opposition parties. The Move Forward Party (MFP), the newest force in Thai politics that channelled the energy of youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020, secured the most votes. Led by charismatic 42-year-old Pita Limjaroenrat, the MFP wants to reform Thailand’s strict royal insult […]

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Thai opposition parties lead in partial election results

BANGKOK, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand’s two main opposition parties took a strong lead in the popular vote as early election results trickled in Sunday, with the army-backed party of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha trailing in third. With votes counted from just over a quarter of polling stations, the reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) was on nearly two million votes, followed by Pheu Thai on 1.8 million, according to Election Commission figures. The numbers […]

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Thailand votes, but will the military listen?

BANGKOK, May 14, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand votes Sunday in an election that could see pro-democracy opposition parties oust the conservative military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha after almost a decade in power. Voters are tipped to deliver a resounding defeat to ex-army chief and coup leader Prayut after a campaign that played out as a clash between a young generation yearning for change and the traditionalist, royalist establishment. The main opposition Pheu Thai […]

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Thai PM front-runner hails new baby as ‘secret power’

By Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI Agence France-Presse BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — One of the front-runners in Thailand’s general election hailed her newborn son as her “secret power” Wednesday as she presented the baby to the media after giving birth just two weeks before polling day. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, vowed to get back on the campaign trail for the May 14 vote after giving birth on Monday. The 36-year-old has been first or […]

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HRW accuses Vietnam of abducting blogger from Thailand

Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Vietnam of kidnapping a blogger critical of the communist government who was living as a refugee in Thailand. Thai Van Duong, who fled to Thailand in 2019 to escape Vietnamese authorities and was subsequently given refugee status, disappeared last week. According to Vietnamese state media, the 41-year-old is now in custody in Vietnam after being detained for “illegally entering” the country through an unofficial border crossing close to Laos […]

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Thailand air pollution leads millions to seek medical help

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — About 2.4 million people in Thailand have sought hospital treatment for medical problems linked to air pollution since the start of the year, health officials said, as toxic smog chokes parts of the country. Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai were among the most polluted cities in the world on Thursday morning, according to air quality monitoring firm IQAir. The poor air quality has seen 2.4 million people seek […]

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Work-from-home order issued as Thai city tops world pollution table

Chiang Mai, Thailand | AFP | Thailand’s Chiang Mai was ranked the world’s most polluted city on Friday, with authorities urging people to work from home to avoid the hazardous air. Smoke from forest fires and farmers burning crop stubble has blanketed the popular tourist destination in recent weeks. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha held video talks with the leaders of neighbouring Myanmar and Laos to discuss the problem, which affects large areas of southeast Asia […]

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Thai shooting death toll rises to six: police

Bangkok, Thailand | AFP | Monday 4/10/2023 Two more people have been found dead following a weekend shootout in southern Thailand, police said Monday, taking the death toll to six. Police are hunting two gunmen over the bloodshed in the southern province of Surat Thani, while local media reported that a third was among the dead. Authorities found the body of a man in his 20s in a car on Sunday evening, and a woman’s […]

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Thai firefighters battle forest blaze

NAKHON NAYOK, Thailand (AFP) — Hundreds of Thai firefighters and soldiers battled a forest blaze less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Bangkok on Friday as the kingdom grapples with air pollution that has made more than 1.7 million people ill already this year. The fire has affected at least 800,000 square meters (200 acres) of forest across three hills in Nakhon Nayok province, to the northeast of the Thai capital, with two districts declared […]

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Thai police shoot gunman dead after 15-hour standoff

Thai police shot dead a gunman who killed three people and wounded three others, a senior officer said Thursday, after a 15-hour standoff. The shooter started firing in Phetchaburi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Bangkok, at around 3 pm (0800 GMT) on Wednesday, before police surrounded a house he was in. The standoff ended early Thursday when armed police stormed the building and killed the gunman, who has not been named but was […]

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PH Ambassador visits Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research Technolopolis in Pathum Thani, Thailand

  Bangkok, Thailand Upon the invitation of Dr. Chutima Eamchotchawalit, Governor of the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), a composite team of the Philippine Embassy led by Ambassador Millicent Cruz Paredes visited the agency’s main headquarters called the Technopolis, and several research facilities within the TISTR complex in Pathum Thani, Thailand.   The Embassy’s visit to TISTR was finalized after Dr. Chutima’s participation in the 2023 Propak Philippines on 31 January to […]

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Health warnings as Bangkok chokes on pollution

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Nearly 200,000 people in Thailand have been admitted to hospital because of air pollution this week, officials have said, with Bangkok shrouded in a harmful haze. The Thai capital, home to an estimated 11 million people and one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, has been blanketed for days by an unpleasant yellow-grey mix of vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning. More than 1.3 million people have […]

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