News
Thai Government moving quickly on rubber crisis
The Thai government will step up efforts to reduce rubber plantations, particularly on encroached lands as part of measures to tackle the low rubber price. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his administration will consider whether rubber plantations can be scaled down. Keep reading ...
Severest drought in 20 years hits Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen province is facing its severest water shortage in two decades, with Ubonrat Dam at only 27% of its holding capacity, according to the provincial fisheries office. Keep reading ...
Rice growers drilling wells in dry riverbed
Some rice farmers in Phitsanulok province are drilling wells in their dry riverbed to get around the Irrigation Department’s warning not to grow off-season crops due to the water shortage, insisting it’s the only livelihood they know. Keep reading ...
Thai princess to visit Cambodia
Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will visit Cambodia next month to boost bilateral education ties between the kingdoms, a topic she has worked on since her first visit in 1992. Keep reading ...
Water shortage 'will hit after Songkran'
Conserving water must be made an urgent national priority to cope with a water shortage crisis expected to hit Thailand after Songkran if precautions are not taken, a consultancy firm says. Water stocks in four major reservoirs which are the main sources of water in the Chao ...
Migrant fishermen to be cremated in Thailand
A group of Cambodian migrant fishermen is preparing to cremate five colleagues in Thailand’s southern Ranong province after they were struck by a mystery illness while working on a commercial fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, an official said on 18 January. Cheam Lamatin, the labor ...
Ma Ba Tha continues to lead charge against Thai verdict
Hard-line Buddhist monks and their supporters again took to the streets on 17 January to protest the conviction of the two Myanmar migrant workers condemned to death for murder and rape on Koh Tao island in Thailand. The Committee to Protect Race and Religion, better known by ...
Five Cambodian fishermen die at sea
Five Cambodian fishermen died at sea from an undetermined illness, while 20 more are currently hospitalised in Thailand’s Ranong Provincial Hospital, officials at the Cambodian Embassy in Thailand said on 17 January. Lamatin Cheam, the counsellor in charge of Cambodian labour at the embassy in Bangkok, ...
B2bn tram in the works for Phuket
A light rail system worth more than 2 billion baht will be constructed between Phuket International Airport and Chalong intersection to boost the country’s tourism in the South. Speaking after a meeting on the Phuket mass transit system, transport permanent secretary Chartchai Thipsunawee on 17 January unveiled details of ...
Cheap oil fuels woe over consumption
Thailand’s energy policymakers have expressed concern that the low oil price is encouraging motorists to be careless with energy consumption. The government is looking at raising the tax on fuel to increase its fund for campaigning for alternative fuels, said Areepong Bhoocha-oom, the Energy Ministry’s permanent-secretary. Keep ...