khunjeff

This almost certainly means that a foreign police or intelligence agency knew about these two and informed the Thais - there is essentially zero chance that local authorities would have paid any attention to transit passengers otherwise.

Always good to give the criminals a schedule in advance 👍

Referring to this as "transnational crime" is a bit of a stretch, given that the content is perfectly legal in most of the countries where it's eventually viewed.

Thais do not eat those - they push them aside or leave them in the bowl.

Unlike some immigration offices, BoI doesn't try to force applicants to use agents.

Unless this was a self-driving truck, I don't think this excuse holds much water. Yet another overloaded pickup and a speeding driver, what could possibly go wrong? Exactly this, I guess...

I assumed this incident was entirely the pickup's fault, until I read this. Were these the typical faded, dark, nearly invisible warning lights that most trucks have? And did he stop on the shoulder, or just leave his vehicle in the traffic lane?

Or just stop this checkpoint nonsense once and for all. Static checkpoints are probably the least effective method for routine enforcement of traffic laws - other than just staying inside the police box and never coming out onto the road at all, which is the most popular strategy here...

The upgrade is necessary for Thai carriers to start flying nonstop to the US, but not sufficient. (The Category 2 rating never prevented airlines from the US or other countries from operating between the US and Thailand.) If Thailand-registered airlines can't see a way to make a profit from nonstop US flights, they won't operate them - no matter what TAT wants. 1) Thai Airways was never "deemed unsafe". The FAA rates countries, not individual airlines. 2) A Category 2 downgrade doesn't stop existing flights to the US - those are "allowed to continue operations at current levels under heightened FAA surveillance". It only forbids new or expanded services. https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/definitions

"Apichart’s original sentence was reduced through multiple royal pardons to 12 years, 8 months, and 12 days. With these reductions, his sentence is now due to conclude on July 27, 2034."

The numbers in your chart are for monthly arrivals, not yearly. There will indeed be around 35 million foreign tourist arrivals (as counted by TAT...) in 2024.

I hope the contract is written very carefully. Every time they've done this in the past, the operator eventually ends up elevating the toll to such a high level that the government starts whining about how unfair it is, and trying to get it lowered. There is zero chance that the project will be completed and open for traffic just three years after the contract is signed...that just never happens.

That's all well and good, but how will it affect the profits of the tuk tuk and taxi mafia? That's always the most important question in Phuket.

Most of the stateless hill tribe people were born in Thailand, and have parents and grandparents who were also born in Thailand. So rather than just patting itself on the back for this magnanimous gesture, perhaps Thailand should ask itself how it ever allowed this situation to develop in the first place.

A similar setup was recently found along the bridge to Savannakhet, if I recall. How are technicians stringing miles of cable across international borders without anyone from either side noticing? Or does that question answer itself?

"It's not us at all! It's our wholly-owned online platform that has our name and that we've been heavily advertising! Why are you blaming us??"

There is no "whole office for LTR". The photo shows BoI's (clumsily named) "One Start One Stop Investment Center", which is where LTR applicants go to get their processing done. That office does a lot more than just LTRs, and the couple of times I went there it appeared that LTRs make up only a small part of the workload.

Not even close - the Saigon Floating Hotel opened in 1989. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Haegumgang

What is described in the article certainly sounds like nothing more than garden variety prostitution. The real rental wives were a major phenomenon back during the days of the US military bases in Thailand during the 1970s, when soldiers might arrange for a woman to live with them for six months or a year. There are still popular Isaan songs about "mia chow" (rental wives).

I would think an oncoming train would be easier to see in a dimly lit area, not harder, considering that it would have a very bright headlight on the front (and would probably be blowing its horn quite loudly, but that's a separate issue).

...which happens pretty frequently, especially in the wee hours. Or at least it feels like it 😄

Absolutely nothing in this article backs up this statement. Regaining Category 1 status will allow flights between Thailand and the US to resume, but the flights will only happen if some airline sees them as economically viable. Has any carrier announced that they plan to initiate these routes once they're permitted?

But if AoT bragged about it, it must be true! Seriously, though, just because a system has been implemented doesn't mean it will always be functioning properly.

Indeed - the arrest photo with six officers for some dope who overstayed by 4+ months and was discovered only because he presented himself at the airport immigration counter seems like overkill...

Who wants to break the news to him that he has no official position and isn't part of the government?