phuket crimes -

Hua Hin-Chiang Mai flight schedule through October/
Warmer summer this year after protracted cool season/
Fumes from forest fires blanket Mae Hong Son in dangerous, blinding haze/
Chiang Rai closes national park as fires from Laos ravage forest/
Italian businessman on motorcycle taxi impaled by forklift/
80-year-old woman survives floating 3 kilometers down Nan River/
Japan voted top sustainable country, Thailand ranked fifth/
Thailand now world’s 4th biggest exporter of pet food/
Tourism: Russians top list of crimes by foreigners in Phuket/Fake news and disinformation being stoked in China against visiting Thailand/Robust Phuket tourism numbers in Q4 2022 to lead to recovery by year-end/Tourism to keep Phuket property market hot for years/THAI cancels flights to Frankfurt and Munich from March 26-27/
International: Cat slaughterhouse shut down in Vietnam, 197 cats saved/Humanity must chart new course on water use: UN chief/14 dead in US strikes on Syria after drone kills American contractor/
Links: 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

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Hua Hin-Chiang Mai flight schedule through October

Warmer summer this year after protracted cool season

The temperature will be 1 degree Celsius higher on average this summer than last year, according to the Meteorological Department.

Department Director-general Chomparee Chompurat said the hottest weather this week was detected in the North, in Phetchabun’s Muang district, where it peaked at 41.5°C on Thursday. Closer to Bangkok, the highest temperature was recorded in Pathum Thani’s Khlong Luang district, at 38.5°C. Continued …

Fumes from forest fires blanket Mae Hong Son in dangerous, blinding haze

Following days of hundreds of forest fires, visibility in Mae Hong Son province fell to 1.5 kilometers on Friday while PM2.5 air pollution rose to more than four times the safe level – 211 micrograms per cubic meter of air, officials said.

Satellite photos showed 197 fires in the province on Friday, down from 460 on Thursday, according to the Mae Hong Son center for operations to contain forest fires and PM2.5. Although the number of fires fell, air pollution worsened due to the accumulation of fumes. Continued …

Chiang Rai closes national park as fires from Laos ravage forest

Phu Chi Fa National Park in Chiang Rai has been closed to tourists after being ravaged by a forest fire that spread over the border from Laos.

Park chief Witthaya Buaphol issued the announcement on Thursday, saying the park in the northern province’s Thoeng district bordering Laos is closed to visitors until further notice. Continued …

Italian businessman on motorcycle taxi impaled by forklift

An Italian man died this morning after he was impaled by a forklift in Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok in central Thailand, near the factory where he worked as sales manager. He was riding a motorbike taxi when the incident happened.

At 10am, officers at Samrong Nuea Police Station were informed of a fatal collision between a motorcycle taxi and forklift at Soi Theparak 58 in Mueang district. Police rushed to the scene with Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue workers. Continued …

80-year-old woman survives floating 3 kilometers down Nan River

An 80-year-old Thai woman fell into the Nan River in Pichit province, northern Thailand, and floated for 3 kilometers before she was rescued by a good Samaritan yesterday.

At 4pm, 61-year-old Bancha Simadua, the owner of a paint shop, was fishing in the Nan River near Wat Ratchachang Kwan when he suddenly saw a naked body float past him, which he assumed was a corpse. Continued …

Japan voted top sustainable country, Thailand ranked fifth

Japan has been praised by fellow Asian countries for its sustainability and conservation efforts in a new poll, with Thailand claiming fifth place.

Over 13,000 respondents from more than 10 countries participated in the Sustainable Impact Survey 2023 conducted by the online travel agency Agoda. The respondents were asked to rank countries based on their sustainability efforts, and they ranked their home countries highly for their conservation measures. Seven out of 11 markets gave their own country the highest rating, including Thailand, India, Vietnam, Australia, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan. Continued …

Thailand now world’s 4th biggest exporter of pet food

Thailand is now the No. 1 exporter of pet foods in ASEAN and the fourth-largest in the world after seeing 15% growth last year, said the Commerce Ministry on Friday.

The world’s top pet food exporter is the European Union, followed by the United States and China. Continued …

Russians top list of crimes by foreigners in Phuket

More than 180 foreigners have faced criminal charges in Phuket since the start of the year, with the top three offenders being nationals from Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

Phuket Gov. Narong Woonciew chaired an executive meeting with government agencies and consul-generals from 23 countries on Thursday to update them on cases involving foreigners on the island. Continued …

Fake news and disinformation being stoked in China against visiting Thailand

Thai officials in Bangkok and Beijing were scrambling on Thursday and Friday to contain a highly damaging viral campaign on Chinese social media actively discouraging people from visiting the kingdom. The sensational and outright false claims targeted potential Chinese holidaymakers.

They were warned of scams and being extorted by criminal gangs preying on unsuspecting visitors, with the widely debunked conspiracy theories of tourists being captured and subjected to organ harvesting being raised to scare off potential travelers to the kingdom, which has emerged as China’s favorite holiday destination now that the pandemic has finally ended there. Continued …

Robust Phuket tourism numbers in Q4 2022 to lead to recovery by year-end

Thailand’s leading resort island of Phuket’s post-pandemic tourism recovery has been headlined by a surge in Russian travelers in the high season. But the back story is how a spike in regional visitors from India, Malaysia, and Singapore set the stage in Q4 of last year that pushed hotels and the service sector back into action.

Data on Phuket hotel performance in C9 Hotelworks’ newly released Phuket Hotel Market Update 2023 shows how the industry escalated after Thailand lifted travel restrictions at the beginning of October 2022. The influx of tourists propelled market-wide occupancy for the year to 48%, up year-on-year from a COVID-19-impacted low of 8% in 2021. Continued …

Tourism to keep Phuket property market hot for years

The Phuket property market surge is expected to continue for at least two more years, buoyed by the strong growth of the tourism sector.

Phattanan Phisutvimol, president of the Phuket Real Estate Assn., said the key driver for the property market rebound was foreign buyers, particularly Russians fleeing the war and Germans escaping the energy crisis. Continued …

THAI cancels flights to Frankfurt and Munich from March 26-27

THAI Airways International has canceled flights to Frankfurt and Munich on March 26-27 due to the mass transit labor strikes in Germany.

Passengers booked on these flights should visit thaiairways.com for updates or call (66)23561111 for the THAI Contact Center (open 24 hours). Continued …

Cat slaughterhouse shut down in Vietnam, 197 cats saved

An industrial-scale cat slaughterhouse in the Dong Thap province of Vietnam, capable of slaughtering up to 500 cats a day, has ceased all operations following landmark intervention from the authorities. Continued …

Humanity must chart new course on water use: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday delivered an urgent call for the world to modify and safeguard water resources to avert conflict and ensure future global prosperity. Continued …

14 dead in US strikes on Syria after drone kills American contractor

Fourteen pro-Iran fighters were killed in U.S. air strikes on Syria carried out in retaliation for a drone attack that killed an American and wounded six others, a war monitor said Friday. Continued …

Hua Hin-Suvarnabhumi bus schedule

The VIP bus service from Hua Hin to Suvarnabhumi Airport has a new Cha Am boarding location in front of Government Savings Bank. The one-way fare is 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

Hua Hin-Pattaya bus service twice a day

Hua Hin now has twice-daily bus service to Pattaya, starting Feb. 19. The bus leaves Hua Hin at 9am and 3pm, and departs 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