- Hin Lek Fai road closed April 19-21/
- Endangered bright orange langur monkey rescued in PKK/
- Hua Hin through the eyes of an English poet/
- Air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 air pollution map/
- Chiang Mai, Bangkok choking near top of world air pollution rankings/
- Why is the air quality so bad in Thailand?/
- Prachuap closes Songkran with 47 accidents, 49 injuries and 3 deaths/
- Songkran road tally: 264 deaths, 2,208 injuries/
- PM grilled on power bills/
- 10 things to know about Thailand’s latest Covid-19 wave/
- Castaway farang rescued from Thailand’s waters/
- 241st Bangkok Anniversary Celebration To Be Held in 21 Locations/
- Thai Northeast braces for boom as China-Laos passenger railway opens/
- Elephant herd invades golf course in Nakhon Nayok but returns to jungle/
- True X targets 1M adopters of new mobile app/
- Myanmar-Thailand clandestine business links under scrutiny/
- True X targets 1M adopters of new mobile app/
- Tourism: Sounding the alarm on zero-dollar tours/Operators seek clarity on Bt300 tourism fee/Tourism, agriculture beef up real estate demand in Northeast/US visa fees to rise from May 30/
- Thailand Experience: Thailand beyond the beaches: Uncovering hidden gems in the land of smiles/Video: Why we love Chiang Mai/
- International: Sprawling heat wave envelops large swath of Asia/Profit versus Sustainability: Are they mutually exclusive?/The Wealthiest Cities in the World in 2023/Fox News to pay $787.5M settlement in defamation trial/G7 ministers issue urgent warning of ‘severe costs’ for supporting Russia/China’s economy reaches new highs after zero-Covid restrictions/
- Links: Calendar of events/Airport schedule/Bangkok airport bus schedule/Hua Hin-Pattaya bus schedule/90-day online report/driver’s license/Market Village and Bluport cinemas/Emergency numbers
Hin Lek Fai road closed April 19-21
Between today and Friday, the road leading up to Hin Lek Fai will be closed from 8:30am to 5.30pm due to by the Provincial Electricity Authority.
Endangered bright orange langur monkey rescued in PKK
A baby bright orange langur monkey is now safe at a Thai wildlife rescue center after being found abandoned by his family in the wild in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Video ...
Hua Hin through the eyes of an English poet
Linda Lines ran a financial management company, ‘The Lines Partnership’, in the city of London for 22 years. She then sold her business and started to follow her passion for writing. Hua Hin is the place to which she has escaped the English winter and to write for almost 20 years.
“Men in My Kitchen” is the title of her first book. She revealed that this title came about from a friend flicking through her iPad saying, “Linda, there are a lot of men in your kitchen!” Continued …
Air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 air pollution map
Now you can check the air pollution readings for the Hua Hin area every day with this link, which will appear daily near the bottom of this newsletter. Click here for map …
Chiang Mai, Bangkok choking near top of world air pollution rankings
Chiang Mai and Bangkok ranked as the second and fourth most-polluted cities in the world, respectively, on Tuesday, according to air-quality monitoring website IQAir.
Chiang Mai has regularly topped the rankings over the past few weeks, though Chiang Rai, which is not included in the list, has registered even higher scores on the IQAir scale. Continued …
Why is the air quality so bad in Thailand?
If you have ever visited Thailand, especially during the dry season from January to April, you may have noticed a thick haze of smog covering the cities and countryside.
This is not only an unpleasant sight, but also a serious health hazard for millions of people who live and breathe in this polluted air. Continued …
Prachuap closes Songkran with 47 accidents, 49 injuries and 3 deaths
Officials in Prachuap Khiri Khan have announced the number of accidents and fatalities on the province’s roads during the Songkran holidays.
Officials said they recorded 47 accidents, 49 injuries and 3 deaths during the seven-day road-safety campaign during Songkran, between April 11-17. Continued …
Songkran road tally: 264 deaths, 2,208 injuries
A total of 2,203 road accidents, with 2,208 injuries and 264 deaths, were reported by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) for the Seven Days of Danger road safety campaign during Songkran (April 11-17).
On April 17, there were 183 accidents with 202 injuries and 16 deaths. Most were caused by excessive speeding (45%). Continued …
PM grilled on power bills
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday said the government is stepping up efforts to find new sources of alternative energy following complaints about electricity bills going up during the summer months.
He was responding to criticism on social media and calls for the government to do more to cut people’s energy costs. Continued …
10 things to know about Thailand’s latest Covid-19 wave
Leading virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan warned on Tuesday that a new wave of Covid-19 has emerged after the Songkran festival. Yong, who heads the Center of Excellence at Chulalongkorn University, stressed the need to curb a resurgence of Covid, adding that it may come in the form of a new and more elusive variant.
He said the new wave is expected to accelerate from mid-May before peaking in June and then declining in September, in line with seasonal patterns of respiratory diseases. Continued …
Castaway farang rescued from Thailand’s waters
In a TikTok clip that looks like a sequel to the movie Castaway, a group of Thai tourists on a fishing trip found a foreigner floating on a makeshift wooden raft in the middle of the sea off the coast of Koh Kood in Trat province, eastern Thailand, yesterday.
The woman who filmed the clip chartered a boat to go out fishing for squid when she and her friends spotted a wooden raft floating in the middle of the sea. As she got closer, she noticed luggage on the raft, and then she spotted a man. The TikToker wrote a message, “Where are you going to float?” Continued …
241st Bangkok Anniversary Celebration To Be Held in 21 Locations
As this year marks the 241st anniversary of Rattanakosin, or Bangkok, the government is preparing a celebratory event that will take place at the end of this month. Meanwhile, the prime minister is encouraging Thais to take pride in their national heritage and contribute to preserving and promoting cultural values.
Minister of Culture Itthiphol Kunplome and culture ministry officials engaged with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha before yesterday’s Cabinet meeting to publicize the upcoming event celebrating the 241st anniversary of Rattanakosin. Continued …
Thai Northeast braces for boom as China-Laos passenger railway opens
Nong Khai and neighbouring northeastern provinces are set to benefit after the Laos-China high-speed railway launched cross-border passenger services just in time for Songkran.
Passengers boarded the first train from China’s Kunming in Yunnan province to the Lao capital of Vientiane, just over the border from Nong Khai, on April 13 – the first day of Songkran. Continued …
Elephant herd invades golf course in Nakhon Nayok but returns to jungle
A herd of 45 wild elephants led by one called Sarika invaded the grounds of a golf course. It happened yesterday at the Royal Hills Golf Resort and Spa in the Nakhon Nayok area of central Thailand.
Sarika and his harem didn’t create any trouble, however. After a wander around in which they didn’t even eat anything, elephant pushers managed to persuade the pachyderms to return to the jungle. Continued …
Myanmar-Thailand clandestine business links under scrutiny
The outrage caused by Myanmar’s bloody dictator Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s inclusion this week in Time magazine’s list of 100 influential people just days after the massacre of 170 civilians, including 38 children, by Burmese jet bombers and military helicopters has spurred calls from human rights and democracy activists for greater scrutiny of how the junta regime is managing to evade sanctions, as well as funding and equipping its faltering military campaign to subdue its own people.
One focus of such inquiries is known to be its links with Thailand, where the government continues to offer muted but tacit support for the discredited junta. It comes amid louder and louder calls from within the ASEAN community for governments to get tough and ‘take the gloves off’ against the renegade Burmese military regime. Continued …
True X targets 1M adopters of new mobile app
True Corp. has rolled out True X, a new all-in-one mobile application meant to serve consumers’ daily lifestyle habits.
The app contains six core solutions: smart home, smart health, smart learning, smart energy, smart shopping and smart entertainment. Continued …
Sounding the alarm on zero-dollar tours
As a popular tourism destination, Thailand expects to welcome at least 25 million foreigners this year, with roughly 5 million from China, representing 50% of the Chinese visitor total in 2019.
In the early stages of China’s reopening this year, Beijing listed Thailand as one of the first 20 countries where Chinese tour groups would be able to visit. Continued …
Operators seek clarity on Bt300 tourism fee
Tourism operators are calling for clearer measures regarding the 300-baht tourism fee after the tourism and sports minister said levy collection will be delayed from June to September because of issues with its implementation.
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said fee collection from foreign arrivals by air must be postponed because the airlines could not adopt a selective approach between foreign tourists, Thais and expatriates. Continued …
Tourism, agriculture beef up real estate demand in Northeast
The MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions), tourism and agricultural sectors are expected to continue driving housing demand in major provinces in the Northeast despite the rate of inflation, with the help of China’s reopening earlier this year.
Wuttichai Chatchaiphonrat, president of the Khon Kaen Real Estate Assn., said the residential market in Khon Kaen would maintain a positive trend this year despite several negative factors. Continued …
US visa fees to rise from May 30
From May 30, the application and processing fees for visitor and other non-immigrant visas to the United States will rise to US$185 from $160. This fee applies to tourists and business travelers, as well as students.
The price for petition-based visas (H, L, O, P, Q and R) will rise to $205 from $190, while the fee for treaty traders, and treaty applicants in specialty occupations (E category) will rise to $315 from $205. Continued …
Thailand beyond the beaches: Uncovering hidden gems in the land of smiles
One cannot deny that Thailand remains one of the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia, but there’s actually so much more to the country than being synonymous with the beaches of Phuket, Krabi and Koh Samui.
Rather than jostling with other tourists for a serene stretch of the beach to yourself, consider making a visit to these parts of Thailand on our list instead and contributing to the local economy there. Continued …
Video: Why we love Chiang Mai
The food, the culture, the natural setting – Chiang Mai in northern Thailand has many jewels in its crown. We learn from the people who live there why they love the city. Video …
Sprawling heat wave envelops large swath of Asia
An intense and large-scale heat wave has enveloped large parts of Asia during the past two weeks, breaking longstanding records. From India to southern China to Thailand, stifling heat has set in unusually early this year. Continued …
Profit versus Sustainability: Are they mutually exclusive?
The world’s population is predicted to grow to more than 9 billion by 2050 and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that we will need to produce 60% more food to feed everyone, a huge increase that will undoubtedly take its toll on the planet. Continued …
The Wealthiest Cities in the World in 2023
When it comes to the number of resident millionaires, cities in the USA and China dominate the World’s Top 10 Wealthiest Cities, while only one European city, namely London, makes it onto the 2023 list published today by international investment migration firm Henley & Partners, in partnership with global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth. Continued …
Fox News to pay $787.5M settlement in defamation trial
Fox News has agreed to settle the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against the network over its broadcast of lies aimed at undercutting public confidence in the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Continued …
G7 ministers issue urgent warning of ‘severe costs’ for supporting Russia
In a recent meeting in Karuizawa, Japan, G7 foreign ministers warned of “severe costs” for those aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The discussions primarily focused on China, with a united front addressing its increasing military and economic power. Continued …
China’s economy reaches new highs after zero-Covid restrictions
Official data revealed that China’s economy grew by 4.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, recovering after the conclusion of zero-Covid restrictions in late 2021. Continued …
Air quality index map
Hua Hin-Suvarnabhumi bus schedule
- Leaving Hua Hin: 6am, 8am, 10am, 12:00, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm
- Leaving Suvarnabhumi: 7:30am, 9:30am, 10:30am, 12:00, 2:30pm, 4pm, 6pm
The one-way fare is 325 baht.
The VIP bus service from Hua Hin to Suvarnabhumi Airport has a new Cha Am boarding location in front of Government Savings Bank.
Hua Hin-Pattaya bus service twice a day
Hua Hin now has twice-daily bus service to Pattaya, leaving Hua Hin at 9am and 3pm, and departing from Pattaya at 8am and 4pm. Tickets are 473 THB.
Tickets can be bought in person at the Hua Hin bus station or online. Buses depart from the Hua Hin bus station and in front of Government Savings Bank, Cha Am.. Tickets
Hua Hin-Chaing Mai flight schedule through October
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