- Johnston leaves Surf 102.5 radio/Wildlife Friends Foundation leading the fight against animal exploitation/Headline CPI up 5.89%, in line with forecast/Business trends on the horizon for entrepreneurs in 2023/Adaptability is key to national survival/High-speed train still on track/Soaring global demand for rice pushes Thailand closer to 2nd place/Thailand-France Relations Moving Into Higher Gear/Thailand, Cambodia to tap Gulf of Thailand gas resources/Cannabis bill in limbo as House meeting lacks a quorum again/
- Tourism: Airlines up in arms over increase in Covid measures/Thailand expects 5 million Chinese tourists this year/Call for more tourists in the provinces/British woman ‘may never walk again’ after fall from resort balcony/Park officials condemned for allowing sailboat to destroy Krabi reef/
- Thailand Experience: Hua Hin and 8 Beautiful Lesser-Known Spots In Asia/Thailand’s Unusual Street Food Delicacy — Chicken Testicles/Tips for planning the perfect Thailand vacation/
- Covid: China stats ‘under-represent’ true impact of Covid outbreak: WHO/Shanghai hospitals filled to the brim in COVID outbreak/Malaysia responds to China’s lifted Covid restrictions with plans to tighten borders/
- International: Oil prices dive, Europe gas price hits lowest level since 2021/Macron promises ‘first Western tanks’ for Ukraine/New York approves composting of human bodies/Graphics show atmospheric river soaking California’s Bay Area/Tuna fetches $273,000 at New Year auction in Tokyo/
- Links: Calendar of events/airport schedule/Bangkok airport bus schedule/90-day online report/driver’s license/Market Village and Bluport cinemas
Johnston leaves Surf 102.5 radio
Steve Johnston, a member of the Surf 102.5 FM team for the past six years, has taken the position of director of entertainment for Yas Plaza Hotels in Abu Dhabi.
During his time in Hua Hin,Johnston has been in a number of different DJ roles at the radio station. According to Surf’s Richard Buckle, “Steve has been very supportive over the years and a major contributor to the growth of the station. I wish him well in his new position.”
Johnston has previous experience working in Abu Dhabi, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands and Iraq.
Wildlife Friends Foundation leading the fight against animal exploitation
“It was a hobby that got out of hand,” says Edwin Wiek, founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT).
For more than 20 years, Wiek has fought to save abused and exploited animals in Thailand.
He first moved to Thailand in 1989, and in the following years ran a successful business making fashion accessories. However, following a serious and near fatal road traffic accident, Edwin’s outlook on life changed. Continued …
Headline CPI up 5.89%, in line with forecast
Thailand’s headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.89% in December from a year earlier, in line with analyst forecasts, but above the previous month, driven by higher energy and food prices, government data showed on Thursday.
The index compared with a forecast for a 5.9% rise in December in a Reuters poll and followed November’s 5.55% increase.
The pace remains well above the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) target range of 1% to 3%, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will raise its key interest rate at its next meeting on Jan. 25, to bring prices back within target. Continued …
Business trends on the horizon for entrepreneurs in 2023
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of Thailand’s economic growth and development.
Increased digital transformation, changes in customer behavior, restrictions on travel, limited operations of retail outlets and restaurants, and inflation, to name but a few, caused a number of businesses to shut down.
Now, many of them have reopened, started afresh or even expanded thank to vaccinations and the government’s relaxation measures. Continued …
Adaptability is key to national survival
Covid-19. Technological disruption. Climate crisis. These have happened at a rapid pace that challenges the adaptability of people around the world. Is Thailand prepared to withstand these challenges?
Ask the children – the future of the country – and their answers, according to the 2018 PISA Survey of 15-year-old children around the world, are not so encouraging.
Some 63% of Thai teenagers said they could not adapt well enough when change arises, and they cannot sufficiently adjust to new cultures, which is crucial in an interconnected world. That is not all. Continued …
High-speed train still on track
Lessons learned from the first phase of the Thai-Chinese high-speed train project are believed to help ensure a smooth and faster operation of the next phase of the project, according to the Department of Rail Transport.
Despite some delays in construction during the first phase, the 179.41-billion-baht 253km standard-gauge railway from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima will still open in 2026 as initially planned, said Pichet Kunadhamraks, department director-general in a recent interview.
“The delays happened for a reason and the reason is everything needs to be decided sensibly and in the best interests of the country,” he said. Continued …
Soaring global demand for rice pushes Thailand closer to 2nd place
Thailand is on track to becoming the world’s second-largest rice exporter after its shipments in the first 11 months of last year rose to 6.91 million tons.
This surpassed the 6.67 million tons exported by Vietnam, which held second place in 2021, the Thai Rice Exporters Assn. (TREA) said yesterday.
Meanwhile, India is still the top rice exporter after having shipped 18.25 million tons from January to November last year. Continued …
Thailand-France Relations Moving Into Higher Gear
The Year 2022 will remain a turning point for the relations between Thailand and France, marked by the signing of an important road map for future cooperation, a string of agreements and visits that culminated with French President Emmanuel Macron’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bangkok as a special guest of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, host and chair of the forum.
A shared focus on innovation and advanced technologies to boost trade and investment is giving centuries-old bilateral cooperation a new impulse.
“Relations between Thailand and France date back more than 300 years since the reign of King Narai the Great and King Louis XIV, when the two sides first exchanged ambassadors, and over that period they have developed into the comprehensive cooperation we see now,” said H.E. Tana Weskosith, ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the French Republic. “Today’s complex geopolitical and economic challenges have led Thailand and France to deepen their cooperation.” Continued …
Thailand, Cambodia to tap Gulf of Thailand gas resources
The Thai government is set to go ahead with a long-awaited joint development of petroleum resources in an energy-rich area in the Gulf of Thailand claimed by Thailand and Cambodia, according to government sources.
The sources said Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon had pushed for new talks on the matter with Cambodia for years.
He raised the matter again with Suy Sem, Cambodian minister of Mines and Energy, in Bangkok on Dec. 16, 2022.
Both sides discussed possible cooperation to make use of energy resources in the overlapping claim area (OCA) as a solution to energy shortages. Continued …
Cannabis bill in limbo as House meeting lacks a quorum again
The fate of the Bhumjaithai Party’s cannabis bill has been thrown into limbo once again, after numerous MPs refused to declare their presence in the chamber, bringing the House meeting to a premature end due to the lack of a quorum.
The House was scheduled to vote on Section 11 of the bill, which the scrutiny committee had proposed for deletion, but several MPs disagreed and wanted the bill to be withdrawn.
Pheu Thai MP for Lop Buri, Ubolsak Bualuang-ngam, told Deputy House Speaker Supachai Phosu, who was chairing the meeting, not to waste the time waiting for more MPs to show up to make the quorum. Continued …
Airlines up in arms over increase in Covid measures
The worldwide airline lobby group International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) is up in arms over global plans to re-introduce Covid-19 restrictions for passengers arriving from China. The IATA says such measures represent a “knee-jerk” reaction to China’s recent lifting of Covid restrictions.
Such a reintroduction of measures for travelers is being criticized by the IATA as it says science should supersede politics. It furthered the notion that the previous steps taken to prevent the virus from spreading have been ineffective.
The group’s director-general, Willie Walsh, says travel restrictions have been shown to only delay the peak of new Covid waves by only a few days, rather than stopping them. He also says that such measures will damage economies even more by destroying jobs and strangling international connectivity. Continued …
Thailand expects 5 million Chinese tourists this year
Thailand is expecting at least five million Chinese tourist arrivals this year, about half the number recorded before the coronavirus pandemic, as China reopens its borders, the government tourism body said.
The return of Chinese tourists would be a further boost to the Southeast Asian country’s economy and its vital tourism sector. More than 11 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019, nearly a third of the total.
“We expect some 300,000 Chinese tourists to come in the first quarter of this year,” Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said. That compared with 220,000 in the first 11 months of 2022. Continued …
Call for more tourists in the provinces
The Federation of Thai SMEs is asking the government to draw more foreign tourists to second-tier provinces in a move to help drive local economies and support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The suggestion comes as Thailand prepares for the return of Chinese tourists after Beijing announced plans to reopen its borders on Jan. 8.
Authorities should consider launching new tourism packages to promote trips to provinces that are less popular than Chiang Mai in the north and Phuket in the south, instead featuring areas rich in natural attractions and unique culture, said federation President Sangchai Theerakulwanich. Continued …
British woman ‘may never walk again’ after fall from resort balcony
A beautician has been told that she may never walk again, as she remains in a Thai hospital following a fall from a resort balcony on what was supposed to be a dream holiday.
Maddi Neale-Shankster, 21, has been left with fractures in her spine and needing drains to remove blood and fluid from her chest after the accident on the party island of Ko Pha-Ngan.
Her mother, Karen Moseley-Neale, flew to Thailand on Sunday to be by her daughter’s side as they wait to see if surgeons will operate on her back once her chest is clear. Continued …
Park officials condemned for allowing sailboat to destroy Krabi reef
Thai netizens condemned national park officials for failing to do their job after seeing images of a tourist sailboat destroying a coral reef in the southern province of Krabi.
On Wednesday, the environmental activist Monsoon Garbage Thailand posted photos of a white sailboat docking over the coral reef near Yawasam Island. The page explained that the island was under the care of Hat Nappharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park and docking was prohibited. Continued …
H O T HIGH SEASON D I S C O U N T: 500 BAHT
- Treat yourself. Get away for the day. Get a beach bed at our Anantasila beach !
- You get a Big Beach Towel for the day
- You get to use our facilities
- You are welcome to splash around in our infinity pool
- You can enjoy the beautiful Anantasila environment
- You can use the 500 Baht as a credit in our restaurant or beach bar, for food and drinks, up to that 300 Baht
That sounds like a deal, doesn’t it ? Welcome !
The Beach at Anantasila, Khao Takiab, Hua Hin
A spacious safe environment with all measures taken.
For information or reservations: e-mail fb@anantasila.com or dial 032 527638
Your deserve It!
Hua Hin and 8 Beautiful Lesser-Known Spots In Asia
Now that Eastern countries such as Japan are open to tourists again, many travelers are looking for Asian destination inspiration.
Below, TravelAwaits writers recommend beautiful, lesser-known, quaint towns to visit this year. Not all are unheard of — one is a tiny nation and another is the capital of Laos — but all are worth considering for 2023.
8. Hua Hin, Thailand
Just a few hours south of Bangkok, Hua Hin is a beautiful Gulf of Thailand beach-side community. “For the last century, the Thai Royal family has been suitably smitten by its charms,” says Michael Cullen, who tells us their summer palaces are here.
Hua Hin’s laid-back feel, authentic Thai character, choice of long, wide, safe beaches, and excellent year-round weather tick all the boxes. Outdoor lovers have an abundance of choices, such as eight golf courses (including two of Asia’s best), plus three nature-filled national parks within a 30-minute drive. Continued …
Thailand’s Unusual Street Food Delicacy — Chicken Testicles
Thailand is world-renowned for its flavorful, exotic, and diverse street food, and for good reason. Thailand’s street food has something for everyone, from the most basic to the most adventurous dishes. One of the more daring street food delicacies, though, is chicken testicles. Yes, you heard that right.
Chicken testicles are sausage-like in structure and shape, resembling a chicken’s kidney. They’re covered in a tough skin that protects a soft interior.
Despite the fact that they are not commonly served in restaurants or commercially available, rooster testicles are considered delicacies, particularly in Chinese cuisine. People have compared the texture of testicles to that of tofu. Continued …
Tips for planning the perfect Thailand vacation
Planning the perfect Thailand vacation can be overwhelming, with so many incredible things to see and do. But with a little bit of planning and research, you can make your trip to Thailand unforgettable. Here are some tips for planning the perfect Thailand vacation in 2023.
1. Pick the right destination
With so many beautiful places to explore in Thailand, it can be hard to decide which destination is right for you. Consider your budget, the type of activities you want to do, and the length of stay. Do you want to relax on the beach, explore the jungle, or explore the city?
Decide which destination fits your vacation needs and interests. Research different destinations online to get a better idea of what each destination has to offer. Continued …
China stats ‘under-represent’ true impact of Covid outbreak: WHO
The World Health Organization criticized yesterday China’s “very narrow” definition of Covid deaths, warning that official statistics were not showing the true impact of the outbreak.
“We still do not have complete data,” the WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters.
“We believe that the current numbers being published from China under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths.” Continued …
Shanghai hospitals filled to the brim in COVID outbreak
Hospitals in Shanghai were overwhelmed by visitors yesterday as international health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year, but Beijing has reported five or fewer deaths a day since the policy u-turn.
At least seven hearses were seen in the parking lot of Shanghai’s Tongji hospital, as workers carried at least 18 yellow bags used to move bodies.
China’s axing of its stringent virus curbs last month has unleashed COVID on a 1.4 billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged in the central city of Wuhan three years ago. – Reuters
Malaysia responds to China’s lifted Covid restrictions with plans to tighten borders
Malaysia is responding to China’s recently lifted Covid-19 restrictions with plans to tighten its borders. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the country’s plans as fears mount over another Covid wave due to China.
“We will control and tighten (our borders) even more, including (travelers) from the U.S. and China,” Anwar said.
Anwar says the current plans are not biased against any particular nation, despite his statement mentioning the U.S. and China. He says that tightening the country’s borders was for all travelers, not just China. Continued …
Oil prices dive, Europe gas price hits lowest level since 2021
Global oil prices plunged Wednesday over China demand concerns and European gas prices sank to their lowest levels since November 2021 as mild winter weather reduced needs. Continued …
Macron promises ‘first Western tanks’ for Ukraine
France is set to become the first Western country to deliver tanks to Ukraine, the French presidency announced Wednesday after talks between Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. Continued …
New York approves composting of human bodies
New York is the latest U.S. state to approve human composting as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional ways of dealing with human remains such as burial and cremation. Continued …
Graphics show atmospheric river soaking California’s Bay Area
Another major storm began pummeling the California coast on Wednesday as forecasters warned of massive amounts of rain and snow, as well as the possibility of even more storms. The powerful storm whipped up huge waves and high winds and included an atmospheric river anticipated to cause flooding and landslides in central and northern California. Continued …
Tuna fetches $273,000 at New Year auction in Tokyo
Hua Hin-Suvarnabhumi bus schedule
The VIP bus service schedule from Hua Hin to Suvarnabhumi Airport has been updated. In addition, a new Cha Am boarding location has been added in front of Government Savings Bank. The one-way fare in 325 baht.
- 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 bus from Hua Hin to Pattaya departure time remains unchanged at 11am, at 473 baht. Tickets
