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By Adam Judd National — Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was pleased after Thailand’s travel safety was ranked 8th globally and 1st in ASEAN by a recent American survey, saying this would help the wider re-opening of the country on May 1st. Mrs. Traisulee Traisornkul, Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed great satisfaction and gratitude after Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection announced the State of Travel Insurance Report. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe The report showed that Thailand’s travel safety was ranked eighth internationally by American tourists and third in Asia after Japan and South Korea, while Millennial tourists ranked Thailand as the second safest destination. Thailand, on the other hand, was ranked first in ASEAN by American tourists. https://thepattayanews.com/2022/05/01/thailands-travel-safety-ranked-eighth-globally-and-first-in-asean-by-american-tourists-votes/ -- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Pattaya police raid two “restaurants” in Pattaya area allegedly open after hours By Goong Nang(GN) Pattaya – Police raided two ‘restaurants’ on Pattaya Walking Street and on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya, April 29th, 2022 for allegedly violating the current legal closing time for alcohol serving converted “restaurants” of 11:00 P.M. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258381-pattaya-police-raid-two-“restaurants”-in-pattaya-area-allegedly-open-after-hours/

By Goong Nang(GN) Pattaya – Police raided two ‘restaurants’ on Pattaya Walking Street and on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya, April 29th, 2022 for allegedly violating the current legal closing time for alcohol serving converted “restaurants” of 11:00 P.M. A team from the Pattaya City Police first raided an open-air makeshift ‘restaurant’, which is essentially a series of cocktail carts, on Pattaya Walking Street in South Pattaya around 11:30 P.M. after a passing police officer noticed what appeared to be a violation of the current rules. Customers were allegedly found drinking alcohol well past the legal closing time, which is a national measure currently due to Covid-19 precautions, according to the Thai government. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe After that, Pattaya police raided a ‘restaurant’ on Sukhumvit Road (Roong Beer Jomtien) near the Pattaya Floating Market. However, the staff claimed they could not unlock the VIP room and did not have a key, despite officers claiming they could hear the sounds of music and partying inside which appeared to be a violation of the current rules. Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/04/30/pattaya-police-raid-two-restaurants-in-pattaya-area-allegedly-open-after-hours/ -- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Aswin now second in another popularity poll May 1, 2022: Opinion surveys are coming thick and fast on the Bangkok gubernatorial race, and while Chadchart Sittipunt remains the hot favourite in all, the rise of Aswin Kwanmuang is noticeable. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258380-aswin-now-second-in-another-popularity-poll/

May 1, 2022: Opinion surveys are coming thick and fast on the Bangkok gubernatorial race, and while Chadchart Sittipunt remains the hot favourite in all, the rise of Aswin Kwanmuang is noticeable. A recent, large-scale popularity poll by Thammasat researchers had Aswin come third after Chadchart and Democrat Suchatvee Suwansawat, but Dusit Poll has just released findings that the former Prayut-installed Bangkok governor is now second, albeit trailing Chadchart significantly. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe The Dusit Poll interviewed 2,522 eligible voters. Almost 40% of them would vote for independent Chadchart, as opposed to 14.16% who would pick Aswin. This is a very high lead and key difference between the Dusit survey and the Thammasat poll, which suggested that the gap between Chadchart and Suchatvee, who Thammasat pollsters stated came second, was not that big. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/aswin-now-second-in-another-popularity-poll/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Combined total of 70 billion baht spent under 3 stimulus projects by April 30th More than 70 billion baht, of a combination of funding from the government and consumer’s own money, has been spent under three economic stimulus projects, rolled out by the government to increase the purchasing power of consumers,which came to an end at the end of April, according to Pornchai Thiraveja, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman for the Finance Ministry. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258379-combined-total-of-70-billion-baht-spent-under-3-stimulus-projects-by-april-30th/

More than 70 billion baht, of a combination of funding from the government and consumer’s own money, has been spent under three economic stimulus projects, rolled out by the government to increase the purchasing power of consumers,which came to an end at the end of April, according to Pornchai Thiraveja, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman for the Finance Ministry. The projects were the 4th phase of the 50:50 co-payment scheme, the 4th phase of the scheme to increase the purchasing power of 13.37 million state welfare card holders and the 2nd phase of the scheme to increase the purchasing power of 1.31 million people classified as needing special help. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Spending from the 4th phase of the co-payment scheme among 26.27 million people who joined the scheme, including 25.46 million who have joined the 3rd phase, amounts to about 60 billion baht, about half of them are state contributions. About 1.36 million business entrepreneurs have joined the scheme, including about 29,800 who only joined the 4th phase of the scheme. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/combined-total-of-70-billion-baht-spent-under-3-stimulus-projects-by-april-30th/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Thai Police deny interference in the handling of Rohingya human trafficking case The Royal Thai Police explained that it has handled the Rohingya human trafficking case with fairness to all the suspects who have been arrested, with none of them being granted bail or given privileges during the police investigation. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258378-thai-police-deny-interference-in-the-handling-of-rohingya-human-trafficking-case/

The Royal Thai Police explained that it has handled the Rohingya human trafficking case with fairness to all the suspects who have been arrested, with none of them being granted bail or given privileges during the police investigation. Pol Gen Roy Inkhapairote, the deputy national police chief, issued the explanatory statement in response to allegations, in recent interview given to Al Jazeera TV by exiled Pol Maj-Gen Paween Pongsirin, former deputy commissioner of Region 8 Provincial Police, that Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, then the defence minister, had interfered in the police probe by demanding that an important suspect, Lt-Gen Manat Kongpanm, an army advisor, be granted bail. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Lt-Gen Manat was sentenced to 82 years in prison. He died in while incarcerated in June 2021. Fearing for his life for his role in handling the probe, Pol Maj-Gen Paween fled to Australia and subsequently sought political asylum there. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-police-deny-interference-in-the-handling-of-rohingya-human-trafficking-case/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Speed limit increased to 120kph on four more highways in Thailand Effective May 1st, the speed limit for all vehicles will increase to 120 kilometres per hour on four more highways, according to the announcement from the director-general of the Highways Department already published in the Royal Gazette. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258377-speed-limit-increased-to-120kph-on-four-more-highways-in-thailand/

Effective May 1st, the speed limit for all vehicles will increase to 120 kilometres per hour on four more highways, according to the announcement from the director-general of the Highways Department already published in the Royal Gazette. The affected roads are: Highway No 9 (Kanchanapisek), from Bang Khae to Mahasawat between 23+500km-31+600km in-bound and out-bound. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Highway No 35 (Rama II), from Na Kok to Phraek Nam Dang between 56+000km and 57+300km in-bound and out-bound; between 58+800km and 68+200km in-bound and out-bound; between 69+950km and 73+800km in-bound and out-bound; between 75+000km and 76+800km in-bound and out-bound; between 78+250km and 78+690km in-bound and out-bound and between 79+110km and 80+600km in-bound and out-bound. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/speed-limit-increased-to-120kph-on-four-more-highways-in-thailand/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Reframing US-China rivalry – A Thai perspective OPINION | by Chalanlak Chanwanpen US President Joe Biden meets with China’s President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 15, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) It’s tortuous trying to navigate the current hostility between the two great superpowers, the US and China, as the Russian-Ukraine war continues to rage. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258376-reframing-us-china-rivalry-–-a-thai-perspective/

US President Joe Biden meets with China’s President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 15, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) OPINION | by Chalanlak Chanwanpen It’s tortuous trying to navigate the current hostility between the two great superpowers, the US and China, as the Russian-Ukraine war continues to rage. Worse still, it is highly likely that the war will drag on, as neither Washington nor Moscow are in the mood for conciliatory gestures. Under the circumstances, Thailand and the rest of the world have to adapt and adjust their domestic and foreign policies to align with the overarching shifts. This time it is extremely difficult. Stakes are high for all concerned, near and far. Both superpowers have longstanding close ties with Thailand. Indeed, in the divided world, it is rare to find such countries that can maintain wholesome relationships with both. Throughout the Cold War, this nation of 70-million was successfully engaged with all major powers without jeopardising its economic and social development. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, however, the global environment has changed significantly, with greater unpredictability due to new emerging powers asserting themselves. These trends have been further intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic slowdown and the rise of nationalism, to name but a few. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Unlike the rest of Southeast Asia, Thailand is an independent country, which has never come under colonial rule. Throughout its history, Thailand has had its own survivalist approach to staying out of trouble. So far, so good. Today, though, all sorts of troubles are coming into the region and they are more complicated and difficult to handle, as there are additional actors with different interests and strategies. Therefore, to survive the current terrain, Thailand requires additional skills and manoeuvring power. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/reframing-us-china-rivalry-a-thai-perspective/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Thai troops kill eight suspected drug traffickers, seize 6.7 million meth pills Thai border security forces shot dead eight suspected members of a drug caravan and seized about 6.7 million methamphetamine or “ya baa” tablets in the jungle in Mae Fah Luang district of the northern province of Chiang Rai early morning Saturday. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258375-thai-troops-kill-eight-suspected-drug-traffickers-seize-67-million-meth-pills/

Thai border security forces shot dead eight suspected members of a drug caravan and seized about 6.7 million methamphetamine or “ya baa” tablets in the jungle in Mae Fah Luang district of the northern province of Chiang Rai early morning Saturday. The Thai troops, from the Pha Muang task force, were on a patrol about five kilometres from the Thai-Myanmar border when they came across about ten men, several of them armed, carrying heavy backpacks. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe They ordered the men, who they believed to be couriers and armed guards for a drug caravan, to stop for a search, only to find themselves being shot at. A ten minute firefight ensued. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-troops-kill-eight-suspected-drug-traffickers-seize-6-7-million-meth-pills/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Thai naval officer who made recruits drink his diluted semen detained for 30 days, faces dismissal The non-commissioned naval officer who forced new conscripts on his training program to drink his diluted semen has been detained for 30 days and his two immediate superiors are being disciplined. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258374-thai-naval-officer-who-made-recruits-drink-his-diluted-semen-detained-for-30-days-faces-dismissal/

The non-commissioned naval officer who forced new conscripts on his training program to drink his diluted semen has been detained for 30 days and his two immediate superiors are being disciplined. The incident took place last October, during a training session for a group of new conscripts at the Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri province. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin, spokesman for the Royal Thai Navy, said Saturday that the panel investigating the incident had found Petty Officer (second class) Thaksin Ngokpilai, a drill instructor attached to the security regiment of the Marine Corp, guilty of the alleged misconduct and agreed to detain him for 30 days, as his actions have seriously tarnished the image of naval officers as a whole. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-naval-officer-who-made-recruits-drink-his-diluted-semen-detained-for-30-days-faces-dismissal/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

to continue: Thailand Live Monday 2 May 2022 https://aseannow.com/topic/1258373-thailand-live-monday-2-may-2022/

British press support UK pensioners losing out in Thailand by Michael Bridge Almost 500,000 UK state pensioners living overseas are excluded from this month’s annual increase. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258372-british-press-support-uk-pensioners-losing-out-in-thailand/

file photo by Michael Bridge Almost 500,000 UK state pensioners living overseas are excluded from this month’s annual increase. Half a million UK pensioners living overseas including Thailand will be left out of pocket by up to £5,600 this year after being excluded from this month’s annual state pension increase. At last this issue is making the front pages of the British press. As we at AseanNow.com highlighted back on March 1st many UK pensioners who chose to retire in Thailand are losing up to THB241,418 a year. Retire in Spain and you still get these increases, and if you decide to move to the Philippines, but not if you live in the Land of the Smiles. WWII Veteran They include the 103-year-old second world war veteran Albert Johnson, one of the last remaining survivors of the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, and his 95-year-old wife, Mary, who are originally from Lincolnshire and now live in Beechboro, Western Australia. They are receiving UK state pensions that are a fraction of what they would get if they had stayed in the UK or moved to one of a list of other countries. The couple is among 492,000 older Britons living abroad who are losing out as a result of the UK’s “frozen pensions” policy. When we posted this topic on AseanNow over eight weeks ago it was one of our most popular posts with over 8,500 views and 254 posts. As a result, many signed the UK Governments’ petition, “Give U.K. pensioners living abroad increases with parity as those in the U.K.” Government must now respond Today thanks to many of you, that petition has had over 10,296 signatures which means that Government must respond to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures. These people’s basic state pensions do not increase every year, as happens in the UK, but stay at the level they were on the date the individual moved away if they had already retired or became entitled to the payment if they were already living overseas. We are Frozen Pensioners Some of the oldest ‘frozen pensioners’ are receiving payments of only £30 to £40 a week, which never go up. On 11 April, all UK state pensions and most state benefits went up by 3.1%. As a result, the basic state pension rose by £4.25 to £141.85 a week, while the full new state pension went up by £5.55 to £185.15 a week. Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe This will give UK pensioners a little more protection from the rising cost of living but the 492,000 Britons who emigrated or retired to countries such as Australia, Canada, and South Africa will not get a penny extra. Some of the oldest “frozen pensioners” are receiving payments of only £30 to £40 a week, which never go up. For example, a single pensioner who retired in late 1982 after having made the full contributions would be getting £32.85 a week, or £1,708 a year, if their pension were frozen then. If they had stayed in Britain, they would now be getting £141.85 a week, or £7,376 a year. The End Frozen Pensions campaign, run by the International Consortium of British Pensioners, says: “Although we welcome the rise in UK pensions, we are hugely disappointed that the UK government is continuing to treat British citizens living in an arbitrary list of countries unfairly.” The UK state pension is payable overseas, but it is not “uprated” annually unless there is a legal requirement to do so – for example, where there is a relevant reciprocal social security agreement in place. Apparently, there are more than one hundred countries worldwide where the UK basic state pension is not uprated each year. In addition to the three mentioned previously, they include New Zealand, Thailand, and India, plus British Overseas Territories such as the Falkland Islands. If you retired in the UK For those who reached the state pension age after April 2016, this means a rise in the full state pension of £5.55 a week, to £185.15. Pensioners receiving the basic state pension receive an increase of £4.25 a week, with the new rate £141.85. This year’s state pension rise was not based on the triple lock, as in previous years, because of changes introduced by the Government in response to Covid-19. Why was the triple lock scrapped this year? Due to the way in which the Covid-19 pandemic and end of the furlough scheme artificially increased wages, the Government decided to temporarily scrap the triple lock to avoid a costly increase for pensioners. Under the triple lock policy, the state pension increases every year by whichever is the highest of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent. Rather than give pensioners an eight per cent uplift in line with wages, ministers created a double lock, severing the link between wage growth and pensions. This system dictated April 2022’s increase of 3.1 per cent, based on September 2021’s inflation figure. The Government has confirmed that the triple lock will return for April 2023, which means pensions are set to rise far more sharply than this year. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told the House of Commons: “I am again happy to put on record that the triple lock will be honoured in the future.” There is still time to sign the petition. Here is the latest petition to the British government. Please add your name. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/601821 -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-05-02 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

Death of a Thai mum-in-law; a time for reflection and grief Like many Brits I was brought up on a steady diet of jokes by stand-up comedians like Les Dawson who always seemed to have trouble with their mother-in-laws. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258308-death-of-a-thai-mum-in-law-a-time-for-reflection-and-grief/

Like many Brits I was brought up on a steady diet of jokes by stand-up comedians like Les Dawson who always seemed to have trouble with their mother-in-laws. The MIL was the enemy and it would be a lifelong battle to put one over on the old battleaxe. In Rooster’s case this could not have been further from the truth. I loved mine and have been profoundly shocked by her death this week. Noophit, just shy of her seventieth year, died in Loei on Sunday after complications from diabetes. My wife and young children were able to say goodbye and attend her cremation on Wednesday. A crumb of comfort. I’d met this lovely lady in 2001 shortly after meeting the future Mrs Rooster in Nana, Bangkok. We played the Thai card game “dummy” and she beat me. I instantly liked her. She couldn’t speak a word of English but chose standard Thai rather than local dialect so we could converse. When my eight year old daughter - her beloved granddaughter - nearly died last year we had an hour long phone conversation. I respected her and we both gave each other advice and support. When we met, the “wai” seemed far less important than the bear hug. We were close. But she was in and out of hospital over the last six months. Just another of millions of Thais with diabetes. A nurse had called my wife to expect the worst in the coming weeks. In 2004 in their shack that passed for a home I had married her daughter. Dressed incongruously in my suit, flanked by my best man, a physics teacher, I took the mike and promised the family and the hundreds of neighbors present that I would take care of the family. We built a four bedroom house for Noophit and her husband who is also a lovely man recovering from a heart attack. It was designed and built by my wife’s elder brother who fell off a roof in the pandemic and died too. They were all very hard working people. I was very proud to be able to fulfil my wedding day promise and at least make life a bit easier for Noophit’s final 15 years. Noophit - or Yai as everyone called her - was the antithesis of Dawson’s miserable mother-in-law. She never had a bad word to say about me, or anyone come to that. In fact she often took my side in minor disagreements with my wife. This was not because I represented a kind of gravy train for the family. Apart from the house it was my wife who supported them all and who continues to this day. Everyone is devastated. I decided not to go to the funeral - I’d only get in the way. I sent money to help out until the insurance comes through. This has now thrust my wife into the role of head of the entire family. It’s daunting and difficult for her and was not something she was expecting in her mid 40s. Now is a time for much reflection and a reassessment of the roles and relationships in our family. It was hard to concentrate on translation work this week but for those who missed the main stories here is a rundown of the best. The junior policeman who killed Dr Kratai on a Bangkok zebra crossing got a year and 15 days in jail As Thailand prepared to scrap Test and Go from tomorrow, the WHO praised health minister and DPM Anutin for Thailand’s Covid response. Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe Thailand Pass is expected to go the same way come June as the country performs its latest “D-Day reopening”. More tourists are expected and the chief of police in Pattaya has even returned Walking Street to pedestrians. DPM Prawit was in the news quite a bit. He reckons Thailand will get 110 medals at the upcoming SEA Games in Hanoi. He could get one himself if there was a prize for pie eating and watch collecting. Apropos, some temple “yaks” (a kind of demon cast in cement) created a stir when they were photographed guarding a chapel. They were wearing watches “borrowed from a friend” and one was holding a submarine. The abbot claimed it was not a political gesture. As Bernard Trink used to say, any comment would be superfluous. Today came news of the attempted murder - for 500,000 baht - of a Danish man by his Thai wife. A relative staged an accident that was badly bungled. In international news the junta in Burma (I prefer to call it that) sentenced Aung Sun Suu Kyi to five more years for alleged corruption. She’ll die in jail. From the UK came news that electricity consumers were wasting 2.2 billion quid a year by keeping devices on stand-by. A TV costs 1,000 baht a year to keep plugged in. A plugged in microwave costs 500 baht annually, according to the BBC. The World Bank said that the globe faces the biggest price rises for commodities like wheat, cotton and natural gas since the 1970s. Yes, we’ve noticed. The pound continued to fall - now down to 42 something - while the dollar rose to its highest level in years, over 34 baht. Musk Melon banged on about free speech when he bought Twitter for $44 billion. The autistic annoyance thought nothing of calling a rescuer in the Chiang Mai cave a paedophile. He thinks that is free speech. I think it’s libel, slander if spoken. In lighter news in Thailand the cops performed CPR on a dog prompting the media to suggest there was nothing they can’t do! Two cats got married and locals dreamed of a lottery win when stunted coconut trees looked like elephants with trunks. I’d have found these stories amusing too if I wasn’t thinking about the events in Loei. Hopefully I’ll be back to my best in the coming weeks as we struggle to get over our family tragedy. Rooster

Sedan driver who claimed to be police speeds away after crashing with motorbike in the Pattaya area By Goong Nang(GN) Pattaya – A sedan driver who reportedly claimed to be a police officer sped away after crashing into a motorbike in the Pattaya area yesterday morning (April 29th). Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1258305-sedan-driver-who-claimed-to-be-police-speeds-away-after-crashing-with-motorbike-in-the-pattaya-area/

By Goong Nang(GN) Pattaya – A sedan driver who reportedly claimed to be a police officer sped away after crashing into a motorbike in the Pattaya area yesterday morning (April 29th). Emergency responders were notified of the accident at 2:30 A.M. on South Pattaya Road near the entrance of a Big C store. They and The Pattaya News arrived at the scene to find an injured woman, Ms. Wilawan Wanset, 31, and her damaged motorbike. She told The Pattaya News. “A brand new BMW sedan crashed into my motorbike.” Keep up to date with all things Thailand - Join our daily ASEAN NOW Thailand Newsletter - Click to subscribe “The sedan driver came to me and asked me to take a photo of a different BMW sedan which was parked on the roadside. He told me that this sedan crashed with my motorbike and not him, despite me and witnesses clearly seeing what happened and the other car being parked and driverless.” Wilawan stated. Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/04/30/sedan-driver-who-claimed-to-be-police-speeds-away-after-crashing-with-motorbike-in-the-pattaya-area/ -- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-04-30 - Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here. - Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates