Thai Examiner - Thailand's news for foreigners

by Thai Examiner

Season 1

Advertising income from foreign internet firms boosts Thailand’s coffers as oil prices recede

Electricity prices to rise to ฿4 a unit from May as government plans a new series of supports for families in its effort to raise spending power. The fall-off in oil prices has calmed fears about stagflation with the rise of the tax take auguring well for economic prospects once crisis headwinds are lifted. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/20/foreign-internet-firm-tax-boosts-thailand-coffers/ James Morris reports from Bangkok.

S1 · E39

Mar 20, 2022

5:44

Thai and Cambodian police reveal that young woman’s ‘organ harvesting’ claims were a lie

Despite the debunking of the grotesque and sensational claims made by the young Thai woman by senior Thai and Cambodian police officers, there remains the global problem of human organ trafficking which exists alongside human trafficking worldwide and has been confirmed by in-depth studies by both the United Nations and the European Union. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/19/cambodian-organ-harvesting-claims-a-lie/ Carla Boonkong reports from Sa Kaeo Province, Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

S1 · E38

Mar 19, 2022

12:02

General Election could be called by the PM before the end of May according to political insiders

MP and New Democratic Party leader, Suritan Pichan, predicts that General Prayut will dissolve the House of Representatives before it reconvenes on May 22nd next sparking a General Election in June or July this year. It comes as the PM’s arch-foe, Captain Thamanat Prompow, on Friday, took up a key position within the leadership of the lately revived New Economics Party which on paper remains a supporter of the coalition. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/19/general-election-may-be-called-by-may-22nd/ Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

S1 · E37

Mar 19, 2022

16:29

Family of Swiss woman murdered in Phuket thank officials after 28-year-old killer gets life in prison

The court found that 28-year-old Teerawat Thothip intended to murder 57-year-old Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf after first attempting to rape the foreign tourist on August 3rd last and on that basis, sentenced him to death for premeditated murder. However, taking into consideration his full confession to the police, this was commuted to life in prison. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/17/murdered-swiss-woman-family-thank-phuket-court/ James Morris reports from Phuket.

S1 · E36

Mar 19, 2022

5:57

A second war raging in Myanmar unlike anything seen since World War Two with over 12,000 dead

On Tuesday, the Information and Investment ministries in Nay Pyi Taw put forward a cross border trading scheme for use by Thai firms using the Thai baht as a settlement currency. The economic initiative is seen as another move, supported by China on a regional basis, to weaken the strength of the US dollar. It comes as the forces of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s feared military, are also believed to have launched a Summer offensive against rebel forces in the war-torn country armed with guns, missiles and aircraft supplied by Russia and China with Beijing using Pakistan as a conduit to supply weaponry to the heavily sanctioned junta. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/16/second-war-rages-in-myanmar-over-12000-dead/ Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok, Mae Hong Son and Yangon.

S1 · E35

Mar 16, 2022

21:04

Ex boyfriend kills Thai woman’s son in rampage accusing her of seeking a new or foreign lover in his place

Spurned man had left an hour before after imploring his estranged girlfriend, who was previously married to a foreigner outside Thailand, to resume their relationship. He returned in a stolen Royal Forestry Service pickup and a firearm also taken without permission from the force, to wreak havoc on her home during which her 20-year-old son was fatally gunned down. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/14/former-boyfriend-kills-thai-woman-son/ Carla Boonkong reports from Buriram province.

S1 · E34

Mar 16, 2022

6:51

Police charges against top cop’s Porsche driving son at the centre of fatal Bangkok car accident

29-year-old Mr Pornmet Songmetta reportedly works with the family firm Absolute Clean Energy, a Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) listed electricity distribution firm which operates 19 power plants in Thailand. His expensive Porsche Taycan Turbo suffered minor damage early on Saturday morning, near Taksin Bridge in Thonburi when it hit the Yamaha Fino motorbike of 40-year-old Waseem Ahmad leading to his death shortly afterwards at nearby Taksin Hospital in Bangkok. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/13/charges-for-top-cop-porsche-driving-son/ James Morris reports from Bangkok.

S1 · E33

Mar 14, 2022

6:59

Thai woman’s claims that she was targeted for organ harvesting being probed in Cambodia by police

Top cop ‘Big Joke’ appeared to support the woman’s story on Wednesday when he revealed that police in Thailand had intercepted a message from what he said was a ruthless Chinese gang. The story is also quite similar to claims made in February by a 31-year-old Chinese man who claimed he was held by a Chinese human trafficking gang in the rapidly expanding resort city of Sihanoukville as a ‘blood slave’ and threatened with organ harvesting before making his escape last month. The repugnant trade in human organ harvesting is one of the darker and evil sides of international human trafficking, one that many people find naturally repugnant but which is growing rapidly with continuous demand exceeding supply and vast sums being paid for human organs through increasingly sophisticated fronts such as medical clinics and international medical tourism. The World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2018, estimated that a human kidney was bartered somewhere in the world more than once an hour or over 10,000 times a year while one Washington DC-based intelligence organisation conservatively estimates that at least one in ten human transplants involve organs harvested illegally. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/12/thai-woman-organ-harvest-terror-in-cambodia/ Carla Boonkong reports from Sa Kaeo Province and Pnomh Penh.

S1 · E32

Mar 13, 2022

17:56

Thai tourism emphasises its neutrality in the Ukraine war, calls for a review of payment systems

The rising emergency and disruption to prospects for tourism come amid plummeting consumer and business confidence as the overall Thai economy has been hit with a record high consumer price index for February and faltering business activity. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/11/thai-tourism-emphasises-ukraine-war-neutrality/ James Morris reports from Phuket, Pattaya and Ko Samui.

S1 · E31

Mar 11, 2022

15:15

Oil still boss as Thailand’s economy faces a return to 1970s stagflation over the ongoing Ukraine war

On Tuesday, following a tense cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister pleaded with the public to cut back on the use of cars and air conditioning. He asked people to make sure to switch off the lights at home or at the office. This was followed by a meeting of a key committee to decide whether Thailand’s strategic oil reserves should be extended and how the kingdom can keep its Oil Fund running to keep the price of oil and energy stable while preventing a shortage of supplies. The government is being warned that anything short of swift and decisive action could see uncontrolled inflation take hold after it was confirmed that February’s headline rate came in significantly higher than expected at 5.28%. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/09/thai-economy-faces-a-return-to-the-1970s/ Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok

S1 · E30

Mar 11, 2022

18:06

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