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Maverick political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana has decided to leave Thailand’s ruling Palang Pracharat party, effective Monday, claiming that doing so will give him more freedom to check the performance of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, other ministers, MPs and government officials. He said he has been with the ruling party for about eight months and has been working as a member of the House committee to scrutinise the budget bill for the 2023 fiscal year, under the Palang Pracharat party’s quota. As well as the job on the House committee, he said he has been focusing on independently checking the performance of government officials, political parties and others. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-activist-ruangkrai-leekitwattana-to-quit-palang-pracharat-party/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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

6.6 tonnes of undeclared frozen pork impounded in Nakhon Pathom Officials from Thailand’s Livestock Development Department have impounded about 6.6 tonnes of undeclared frozen pork, which was found in two cold storage facilities in Nakhon Pathom province yesterday (Saturday), as part of escalated efforts to crack down on hoarding of pork for profiteering. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247764-66-tonnes-of-undeclared-frozen-pork-impounded-in-nakhon-pathom/

Officials from Thailand’s Livestock Development Department have impounded about 6.6 tonnes of undeclared frozen pork, which was found in two cold storage facilities in Nakhon Pathom province Saturday, as part of escalated efforts to crack down on hoarding of pork for profiteering. The department’s director-general Sorravis Thaneto, said that livestock officials raided the two storage facilities to check their frozen pork stocks. At one facility, inventory documentation showed 288,828.6kgs of frozen pork were being stored by the facility’s owner, but 56,898kgs were being kept at another facility and their movement had not been reported to the Internal Trade Department, as legally required. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/6-6-tonnes-of-undeclared-frozen-pork-impounded-in-nakhon-pathom/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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

Over 100 elephant traps found near Thailand’s Phu Luang wildlife sanctuary A complaint was lodged with police in Phu Luang district of the north-eastern province of Loei Saturday, by officials of Phu Luang wildlife sanctuary, against some villagers who allegedly set elephant traps around their farms and a pond. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247763-over-100-elephant-traps-found-near-thailand’s-phu-luang-wildlife-sanctuary/

A complaint was lodged with police in Phu Luang district of the north-eastern province of Loei Saturday, by officials of Phu Luang wildlife sanctuary, against some villagers who allegedly set elephant traps around their farms and a pond. The officials also presented some of the traps to the police as an evidence. They said that the setting of animal traps is an offence against the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act and perpetrators are liable to a maximum prison term of 10 years and/or a one million baht fine, if found guilty by a court. An official said villagers had previously used firecrackers to chase the elephants away and this was the first time that traps were found near the sanctuary. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/over-100-elephant-traps-found-near-thailands-phu-luang-wildlife-sanctuary/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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

Growers get ready: confusion over cannabis legalisation is about to clear While cannabis is no longer listed as an illicit drug under the Narcotics Code, secondary laws and regulations have yet to be amended to reflect its new status. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) Despite cannabis being removed from the Narcotics Code last year, there is still confusion over its legal status given that growers and users continue being arrested for cannabis offenses. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247762-growers-get-ready-confusion-over-cannabis-legalisation-is-about-to-clear/

While cannabis is no longer listed as an illicit drug under the Narcotics Code, secondary laws and regulations have yet to be amended to reflect its new status. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP) Despite cannabis being removed from the Narcotics Code last year, there is still confusion over its legal status given that growers and users continue being arrested for cannabis offenses. Here’s what the public should know when it comes to Thailand’s journey towards the complete legalization of cannabis. Just how legal is cannabis? Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the government’s legal guru, has advised people to wait for the air to clear as authorities sort out the issue. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/growers-get-ready-confusion-over-cannabis-legalisation-is-about-to-clear/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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 PM Prayut to visit Saudi Arabia next week Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha begins a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, to strengthen bilateral relations with one of the Middle East’s most important players, according to a high level source at Government House. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247761-thai-pm-prayut-to-visit-saudi-arabia-next-week/

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha begins a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, to strengthen bilateral relations with one of the Middle East’s most important players, according to a high level source at Government House. The two-day visit will mark a new milestone in Thai-Saudi relations, which were established in 1957, as both countries have agreed to move forward in their bilateral relationship. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai visited Saudi Arabia in January 2020, marking the first visit by a Thai foreign minister in 30 years. The aim was to normalise the long stalled relationship. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-pm-prayut-to-visit-saudi-arabia-next-week/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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

Safety tips from the Thai government for Chinese New Year celebrations The government has offered some advice to Thais of Chinese descent on how to celebrate the Chinese New Year safely amid the increasing spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247758-safety-tips-from-the-thai-government-for-chinese-new-year-celebrations/

The government has offered some advice to Thais of Chinese descent on how to celebrate the Chinese New Year safely amid the increasing spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. They advise that people should plan ahead for the purchase of items to be used in seasonal rituals, spend as little time as possible shopping and shop only at markets which are reliable or, for increased safety, buy online and exercise extra caution during family gatherings. On the day of worship, one day ahead of the Chinese New Year on February 1st, people should reduce the use of incense sticks, use short sticks or electric incense sticks and reduce the burning of ceremonial paper. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/safety-tips-from-the-thai-government-for-chinese-new-year-celebrations/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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 24 Jan 2022 https://aseannow.com/topic/1247757-thailand-live-monday-24-jan-2022/

Bangkok announces continued closure of entertainment venues FILE / Employees wait for customers outside a bar along the Soi Cowboy touristic street / AFP) The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) announced Saturday an extension to the closure of entertainment venues, such as pubs, bars, karaoke bars, until further notice. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247756-bangkok-announces-continued-closure-of-entertainment-venues/

FILE / Employees wait for customers outside a bar along the Soi Cowboy touristic street / AFP) The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) announced Saturday an extension to the closure of entertainment venues, such as pubs, bars, karaoke bars, until further notice. The announcement is in line with the decision of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to keep night entertainment venues closed due to concern that their reopening could result in a surge of COVID-19 infections, by the Omicron variant in particular. Eateries which meet the SHA PLUS standards, as set by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, or the Public Health Ministry’s “Thai Stop COVID 2 Plus” standards can, however, serve alcohol until 11pm. Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/bangkok-announces-continued-closure-of-entertainment-venues/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-01-24 - Aetna 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

Brit 'tourist' murdered by scythe in Kanchanaburi - friend in hospital - loud music blamed Picture: Naew Na Muang Kanchanaburi police and rescue services were called after two British tourists were attacked by a local resident wielding a scythe. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247675-brit-tourist-murdered-by-scythe-in-kanchanaburi-friend-in-hospital-loud-music-blamed/

Picture: Naew Na Muang Kanchanaburi police and rescue services were called after two British tourists were attacked by a local resident wielding a scythe. Face down and dead at the scene with multiple wounds and dressed only in shorts was 49 year old Marcus John (as reported by Naew Na). He was lying in a pool of blood and had almost been decapitated. Picture: Naew Na Grievously wounded next to him was a man named as Shrun Kevin, 55, also British. He was rushed to hospital. A bloody scythe was recovered. The incident happened outside some rented rooms on Soi Sri Lanka in the Muang district police jurisdiction. Many beer bottles were in place on a marble table. The Thai media reported that a group of tourists had been drinking since 9 pm annoying the residents with loud noise from music. Picture: Naew Na Some time after 3 am this morning (police responded at 3.50 am) one man could take the disturbance no longer and attacked the two tourists then fled the scene. He was believed to be a local resident. Some while later Muang Kanchanaburi police chief Pol Col Somkiat Chomchai announced that a local resident called Tom, 22, was helping police with their inquiries. Picture: Naew Na Naew Na said the suspect had mental health issues. More on this breaking story as we hear of it. Long Stay Visa Health Insurance Plans -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-01-22 - Aetna 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

Rooster’s Saturday sermon: On learning Thai and finally growing up in a bilingual household! For those caught by surprise at last week’s column appearing early, join the club! It’s a permanent feature now meaning that Christians will not be tempted by the snake that is Rooster, possibly missing Sunday church, while the rest of us Pagans can enjoy a decent laugh a day earlier. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247672-rooster’s-saturday-sermon-on-learning-thai-and-finally-growing-up-in-a-bilingual-household/

For those caught by surprise at last week’s column appearing early, join the club! It’s a permanent feature now meaning that Christians will not be tempted by the snake that is Rooster, possibly missing Sunday church, while the rest of us Pagans can enjoy a decent laugh a day earlier. So welcome to my Saturday Sermon now in its 304th Edition. Before I give a rundown of the main points of interest in this week’s Thai news on ASEAN NOW, events in my household this week had me musing on learning Thai and growing up in a bilingual household. Not just my chicks aged five and nearly nine; Rooster and the wife are growing up too, little by little. I’m penning this in the hope that some of my experiences might help the reader, particularly those with children in Thai/Non-Thai relationships who may be a little more enlightened and hopefully more relaxed about parenthood and language acquisition. For the rest of you without kids….get a life by making some. Or hopefully just have some laughs along the way. Firstly a little about my background in work, marriage and rearing nippers. (Please feel free to skip a few paragraphs if you think you've heard it all before, you probably have, but I think this is pertinent for new readers. If you do persevere I can guarantee a few new titters). I married a schizophrenic (I was later to find out) Thai woman in 1990 so I didn’t have to go to Penang every few months to get a visa stamp. The only slight impediment to my new life of freedom, 24/7 in Thailand, was that two screaming kids followed in 1992 and 1994. When the first of these arrived Rooster and Mrs R version one decided to live together. I was blessed. My wife drove me to distraction but I fell in love with the children who taught me responsibility and took the edge off my big-headedness. Just the edge you understand. Soon after their birth I became a Thai teacher at Bangkok Patana international school. This after I’d been a complete failure at languages at school (I bungled A-level French miserably despite having a bilingual dad and learning Francais since I was 8.I put my middle finger up to languages in my first lesson German after Mr McCloy said: ”Das ist ein Finger”, suggesting Deutsch was a breeze. Result was grade “D” at O-Level. Nicht sehr gut, mon vieux.) I’d thrown myself 16 hours a day into learning spoken Thai in the mid 1980s but got lucky realizing the potential down the line of being able to read and write. I taught myself via Linguaphone and quickly became half decent by reading crime magazines about the gore on the roads and the latest rapist or murderer. There were plenty to keep me occupied. At Patana I learned the trade of school mastership, though my Thai didn’t improve as much as my ability to tolerate shortsighted headmasters. I wrote a Thai for foreigners curriculum that grew dust. The hierarchy didn’t see the value in Thai for non-Thais and I was eventually relieved of my employment. Relief being the operative word for in 1998 I was offered a chance to triple my salary and front the Thai Studies department at Harrow (now in Don Muang). My own kids who had enjoyed free education at Patana followed me to Harrow. I had to pay 15% of their fees for a few years - quite a tidy sum - but later this was stopped. The headmaster who changed that bugbear became a friend despite him being a Doctor of Theology. At Harrow I taught both foreigners and Thais to speak, read and write, as appropriate through language lessons and via a cultural curriculum I devised. My motto was to teach kids something their Thai parents didn’t know about their culture, usually based on something obscure in the North East. It worked. I was instrumental in setting up the Cambridge First Language Thai exams in Thailand that have now been sat by thousands of Thais (mostly) in the kingdom. My daughter got a B (to go with her seven A* at IGCSE) while my son got a G! Questions raised about the head of department in light of his own children’s performance? Not a bit of it. I was always quite practical about the problems similarly faced by Thais and “luuk khreaung” (the term for mixed nationality children) at international schools. The Thais were overwhelmingly encouraged to speak and think in English. At one point some misguided expat teachers tried to instigate a “no Thai” policy in the corridors as well as classrooms. I responded to this violation of their human rights by putting a Thai sticker with a “tick” on it outside my classrooms. I walked a political and cultural tightrope at Harrow. When I slipped the safety net was always the support of the pretty ladies in my department as much as personal guile and political acumen. It was true to say that the Hi-So parents were understandably more keen about English and ensuring their children went to swanky foreign universities; many did just that thanks to the considerable talents of teachers far more able than I. But the humble Rooster (don’t laugh) was determined that the Thai students should A) never forget their Thai heritage (quite easy) and B) should not forget the value of learning to read and write Thai (much harder). However, I was quite successful even in the latter. One day the wife of the owner of Poseidon massage parlor (recently it has gone down the pandemic pan) came to my office to demand that her precious son be allowed to forgo the Cambridge exam and, in her words, do something more useful. Keep calm, Rooster, you’re under attack. Fight back. I smiled my best Thai smile (that in reality reeks of “not on your life you disgraceful hussy”), got up from behind my desk and did something I only did a few times over a 15 year career at Harrow. Shut my office door lest my Thai ladies who did most of the donkey work in the department heard my tirade and led to a loss of face for Mrs Poseidon). She left with her flipper between her legs ten minutes later after I reminded her of her and her son’s nationality and we ‘agreed’ that he would sit the exam after all. My underlings had heard my Thai tirade through the door and smiled when she’d left. Rooster 1 Poseidon 0, after extra time with no own goals. My kids grew up in an international school bubble. Their friends were all English speakers (they shied AWAY from Thai speakers and though they learned spoken Thai from their doting mother, their English was dominant and in reading overwhelmingly so). With the added impetus of annual holidays in England and Scotland (where English is also semi-spoken) they became Thais who were very Anglofied, if I may coin a term. My son lives in Liverpool where he checks up on people with Covid (a job with prospects) and my daughter is some kind of financial whizz (I once saw a paper she wrote at Oxford using language I didn’t recognize...it was English). I quit the chalk-face in 2013 and have never returned. But, in a new relationship with the current Mrs Rooster, we have had two more children. One has a Scrabble name and the other’s initials are THFC. Yes, at age 52, despite the raised eyebrows of some former colleagues, I embarked on Family #2. But differently... ‘Triple Word Score’ and ‘Spurs' are having a very different bilingual and school upbringing. I’m no longer rich and can’t afford international school. In fact I don’t really want it for them. They go across the road from my condo (or did pre-pandemic) to a Thai school (fees about 150K a year for two compared to Harrow at closer to two million) with a strong English language program. Like with my first two kids despite my quite reasonable Thai I only speak English, model my mother tongue with them. (It is regretful that my own father, as a native French speaker, did not pass on his language to me. He spoke English with my Cockney mum and I appreciate why. Me and my siblings would have ignored him. But I was determined to not make the same 'mistake'. In fact at Harrow and Patana I cautioned many Thai parents - anxious to impress - NOT to speak English with their offspring but pass on THEIR native tongue and leave English to us natives at school). My first brood only spoke English together. And how they loved to diss their unaware mother! My second set, overwhelmingly immersed in Thai through their school and a mother who, admittedly, spends more time with them than me, speak Thai when alone together. When they speak Thai together when in a three with me I usually admonish them mildly. I did this a little too forcefully this week, prompting some strife and hence this article. As a family of four we all switch happily from one language to another (if I want to make a specific rude point with the missus I use Japanese which usually sends her off into a tirade about how I love the Japanese more than Thais; I once had a girlfriend from the Land of the Rising Sun who got a rise outa me…) I do feel, despite some things in this piece that might sound like edicts, that one shouldn’t be too ‘anal’ about your own language learning or that of your children. Stick to the basics and immerse your kids in language - whatever it is. Concentrate on their language environment. Educate them to THINK and REASON in both by setting a good example. My second brood may well work and settle down in Thailand, something my older ones are unlikely to ever do. At least that will give their mother something not to complain about! Yes, immerse your children in ideas, words and correct syntax. And avoid my mistakes. One was banning cartoons in Thai for my elder ones. My mates and I were so worried about their English at the time; this was unwarranted. And try your best with your Thai spouse - whether male or female - to instill a love of reading in two languages. This is not easy but worth persevering with. After all being truly bilingual is really a Holy Grail. It’s something I will NEVER achieve though I usually think in Thai when speaking it, producing my 80-90% correct syntax! My own Thai language development is quite interesting. Spoken Thai has remained relatively static having plateaued in the early 1990s. But reading and writing is a very different 'kettle of fish' (เรื่องยุ่งเหยิง reuang yung yerng and not really หม้อปลา,mor plaa, as Google translate suggested!) Google translate, though improving, is still absurd and keeps us translators in Thailand in a job. To wit, I started translating at Thaivisa, now ASEAN NOW, in 2016 which leads me onto my final point. The value of that immersion. Since 2016 I must have read tens of millions of words of Thai and opened my online dictionary thousands of times. This has enormously improved my Thai reading and my writing somewhat. At Patana I got an A in a translating exam but I would only have got a C in the native speaker Cambridge exam that I never sat for fear the Head of Department might be rumbled! However, now I’d sail an A* with luuk cherry on top…. For those struggling with spoken Thai I urge you to persevere and if possible immerse; the benefits are enormous and never think you’re too old to learn. That’s a tame excuse and one I’m debunking now. And never underestimate the value of learning to read and write Thai alongside speaking. It can help enormously with figuring out the correct tonal sound of Thai without trusting western ears. And who knows, like me it could one day become the most valuable “thing” you possess. Except those wonderful bilingual children of course! With a new selector of stories to translate this week after my previous editor sought pastures new, readers might be forgiven for thinking there was an explosion of crime. No, Thailand has always been like that. Wild and very dangerous for the unwary! Many stories featured this week involved rape - one of a father’s own son’s 15 year old girlfriend - and Ya Ba rampages, one by a loony who threatened to burn down his mother’s house after she refused to give him enough for another pill and who got enraged when she put in CCTV for her own protection! A lady boy with a machete smashed up a bank crying “Let me into my home”. This was a faithful Rooster translation from Sanook so don’t blame the messenger please. Acquaintances of a seller of “luuk chup” (marzipan imitation fruits) said she’d disappeared with 20 million baht of their money. One called her an e-dork online. That’s not an e-flower by the way, more like a wilted rose of Nana fame. Big Joke - Lt-Gen Surachate Hakpan, once head of Immigration - appeared everywhere; it was like days of yore, popping up to solve illegal fishing then going to a temple to sort out crime against children. Methinks history may repeat itself and lead to a second downfall unless the Jokester has learned from his previous booboos stepping on toes. In the Bangkok suburbs a Ya Ba and booze fueled man hijacked an 18 wheel truck/trailer at gunpoint then led Highway Plod on a 54 km chase. When he eventually crashed he blurted out that he’d shot and killed someone. Fortunately other motorists in Samut Sakhon and Thonburi survived this nutter. Meanwhile road accidents too numerous to mention made sure that Thai population expansion was kept in check. Like me you’ve probably become somewhat inured to the carnage. Maybe that’s the aim of the political elite - just let it carry on until we ignore it…. Anutin was rarely off the news pages again this week, less because of Covid and more because of his favorite hobby-horse, marijuana. But despite the rhetoric - and his Bhumjai Thai party’s manifesto boasts - the only thing that is getting high in Thailand is the prices at the supermarkets. The weed you’ll be allowed to grow - after getting permission - is hemp. Maybe with some help you could extract some legal oil to alleviate some medical complaints. I find that just makes me hungry so I’ll probably die of obesity rather than a bad back. On Wednesday we were told about a Hungarian who was really in the goulash. Immigration threw him into the Suan Phlu gulag after he was caught on 4,254 days overstay having scampered from Hungary on a tourist visa in 2010 because he’d committed a huge insurance fraud. Incidentally the new chief at Suan Phlu is Lt-Gen Phakphumphiphat Sajjaphan. Quite a mouthful and deterrent enough to anyone thinking of overstaying their visa! Though I expect given time he’ll be Big This or Big That so that his name rolls off the Thai tongue with increased aplomb. We were introduced to a new term for the inability to sleep during the ongoing pandemic - CORONASOMNIA. Personally, me and Mrs R have no problem entering the land of Seesip Winks. We’re too knackered after teaching our kids online all day. Still light is at the end of the tunnel; apparently the Thais are soon to unilaterally declare that the pandemic is now endemic. Thank goodness for that. All hail Prayut, our leader who art in khaki, hollow be thy name. (Apropos, some readers last week seemed a little foxed by irony and satire - I was not off my rocker just teetering on the brink!). In international news this week I’d like to refer to sport and by that I don’t mean the Hunting of Boris by the UK press and baying public. England’s cricketers collapsed again this time in Hobart and failed to score even one innings of 300 in the series against Australia. The Aussies deported Novax apparently pleasing the majority and thoroughly upsetting Serbia. Everton sacked Spaniard Rafa Benitez after a chaotic seven months. Australian Neil Robertson was kindly let in by the Brits and promptly won a quarter of a million sobs at the snooker Masters at Alexandra Palace. I once played a Scrabble championship there - I won an out of date dictionary. Back in Thailand it was good to see that the locals had got their priorities right. A coconut plantation owner had shored up a leaning banana tree after fruits had mysteriously appeared out of the trunk. What with a frond resembling a Naga it was clear that this would herald a lottery win. I didn’t remember to check if the number of bananas and “wiis” (combs) had come up in the draw - I didn't need to. Mrs R gleefully bounced in and announced that she’d won 2,000 baht and we would enjoy a slap-up dinner. She then asked for 500 baht to buy it. Why do I always lose even though I never buy a lottery ticket? Finally, loathe him or hate him, My Mate Nate reared his head above the YouTube parapet again this week. Yes, Nathan Bartling, erstwhile son of Utah, was splitting up with his Thai wife Wannabe Mee (no thanks). It was complicated but they’d agreed, amid the tears, to go their separate ways. Sniff, sniff. JonnyF said it best on the forum: “This is terrible news. Ruined my day”. Garygooner asked: “Is this really even news?” Well ASEAN NOW got three pages of comments and more clicks than a wonky Thai made gun. Jingthing said more pertinently that (11 million) subscribers was really amazing especially for a channel aimed at Thais. Very true. As for Rooster….. I miss the weekly exploits a few years ago of aging and bald US businessman Harold and his ex-porn star wife Nat. Now that was really news! Rooster -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-01-22 - Aetna 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

Tourism organisations bullish on return of "Test and Go"; THA predict 300,000 foreign tourists in February Channel 7 reported that various tourist organisations were bullish after it was announced that the Test and Go program for foreign tourists to enter the country would be resurrected on February 1st. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247663-tourism-organisations-bullish-on-return-of-test-and-go-tha-predict-300000-foreign-tourists-in-february/

Channel 7 reported that various tourist organisations were bullish after it was announced that the Test and Go program for foreign tourists to enter the country would be resurrected on February 1st. Chief of the Thai Hoteliers' Association Marisa Sukosol Nunphakdee reckoned that 200,000 to 300,000 foreign tourists would arrive in Thailand in February. March would be even better. This would all herald the country having turned the corner when it comes to both international and domestic tourism, she said. Meanwhile the Thailand Tourism Business Association echoed the optimism but cautioned against the government backtracking again. While a meeting at the Economic Situation Management Center sang the praises of the "Thailand Riviera" - centered around Hua Hin and Cha-Am - as a world class area for health and wellness tourism. Long Stay Visa Health Insurance Plans -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-01-22 - Aetna 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

Police pick-up ends up on its roof - police was taking it to HQ for a check - rain/slippery road blamed Picture Thai Rath Thai Rath reported that police in Loei in the north east were called after a pick-up from the Phon Thong police station (in Roi-Et we believe) overturned on the Tha Lee - Muang Loei road. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247662-police-pick-up-ends-up-on-its-roof-police-was-taking-it-to-hq-for-a-check-rainslippery-road-blamed/

Picture Thai Rath Thai Rath reported that police in Loei in the north east were called after a pick-up from the Phon Thong police station (in Roi-Et we believe) overturned on the Tha Lee - Muang Loei road. Pictures showed the pick-up on its roof after the accident on Thursday morning. Picture Thai Rath Driver Captain Somsak Imphon - who was unhurt - said he was taking the vehicle for a check at the Loei provincial HQ. He blamed the wet and slippery conditions. Long Stay Visa Health Insurance Plans -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-01-22 - Aetna 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

Police presence ignored as feuding haulage companies battle it out in front of Rayong police station Picture: Thai Rath Thai Rath reported on an ongoing feud between two haulage companies that had a spat at a port in the province. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247660-police-presence-ignored-as-feuding-haulage-companies-battle-it-out-in-front-of-rayong-police-station/

Picture: Thai Rath Thai Rath reported on an ongoing feud between two haulage companies that had a spat at a port in the province. The case resulted in a huge fight in the car park of the Rayong police station. One cop shouted: "Hen tamruat pen hua lak hua tor reu ngai" Picture: Thai Rath This roughly equates to saying "what do you think we are, useless?" Chukiat, 66, the owner of a company had moments earlier taken one of his drivers called Rungrot, 38, to file a complaint that he was attacked by a rival firm's drivers at the port. Somchai, 40, from the rival firm arrived to refute this and a verbal argument developed in the station. Picture: Thai Rath Police managed to calm this situation but outside 30 burly men had arrived and Rungrot was attacked in the carpark with Chukiat being hurt in the melee. The police tried to stop it but failed miserably before the combatants dispersed. Long Stay Visa Health Insurance Plans -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 2022-01-22 - Aetna 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

"Entertainment" woman says she was raped by two men at drinks party - police delay of 5 months Picture: Siam Rath A 27 year old Thai woman who was hired to mix drinks at a party in a Klong Toei, Bangkok, hotel went with her lawyer to the Klong Tan police after a five month investigation into an alleged rape went cold. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1247658-entertainment-woman-says-she-was-raped-by-two-men-at-drinks-party-police-delay-of-5-months/