https://aseannow.com/rss/44-thailand-news.xml/National and regional news from all around ThailandenAndrew Drummond is a British independent journalist and occasional television documentary maker. He is a former Fleet Street, London journalist, having worked at the Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, News of the World, Observer, and The Times. Specialising in investigations, he has also worked on assignments throughout Europe, and in the United States, South America, Africa, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, the South Pacific, and Central Asia. In television, he has worked on documentaries for a variety of broadcasters, including BBC Panorama, BBC2, Channel 4 Dispatches, and World Monitor (Boston). With Kimis Zabhiyan, he was the joint founder of the Observer Film Company, the film arm of the Observer newspaper. His film Lord of the Golden Triangle, filmed with opium warlord Khun Sa, which he researched as a foreign correspondent for the Observer in the Shan States of Burma, was the launch film of the company. From Thailand, from 1986 until his departure in 2015, he covered most of the major breaking stories in Southeast Asia, from the Asian tsunami and bird flu to the Bali bombings, military coups, and crime. His investigations in Asia have led directly to the prosecution of people including a policeman for murder, and to the release of scapegoats set up on murder charges. He has been successful against “boiler room” fraud operations, which he continues to monitor, and, working with the Foundation to Fight Against Child Exploitation, has tracked and identified a variety of child sexual abusers. The most famous of these was rock star Garry Glitter (real name Paul Gadd), whom he tracked down to a house in Vung Tau, Vietnam, leading to his prosecution by the authorities. Andrew is a holder of the Maurice Ludmer Memorial Award for investigations into racism and fascism, after he went undercover for two years in an extreme right-wing group with links to bombings across Europe. He left Thailand in 2015, and his departure was reported by many newspapers, including the Guardian, Bangkok Post, and the Sydney Morning Herald. He currently lives in UKSat, 23 May 2026 19:15:52 +0000SSat, 23 May 2026 19:14:54 +0000Russia has no greater ally than Trump.Sat, 23 May 2026 19:14:47 +0000https://aseannow.com/thailand-news/thai-masseuse-wins-oil-massage-gold-in-bangkok-r1952/Sat, 23 May 2026 19:10:15 +0000Sat, 23 May 2026 19:10:15 +0000Trump has absolutely decimated the health services in the US and the emergency response disease teams with his consistent budget cuts. He's okay increasing the defense budget to one and a half trillion, but when it comes to looking after people's health and looking after the poor and starving overseas he's completely out to lunch, and he doesn't care one iota. The man is just an absolutely classic example of a gutter trash human. Don the Destroyer at work.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:46:34 +0000They look at your past 12-18 months. The point at which people generally start to have issued is 180 days spent in Thailand as a tourist within that period of time. 30 days spent at home isn't going to fool anyone. It's clear to them that you are trying to live in Thailand without a long-term visa, and that's exactly what they've been trying to crack down on.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:43:19 +0000Good luck. Considering the vast number of Thai people that are ethnic Chinese, it's shocking to me how limited the selection of good Chinese food is in Thailand and it's also surprising that when you do find it, it's grossly overpriced. Very odd.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:43:06 +0000There's a German consulate in Pattaya (North Pattaya Road). Embassies and consulates do offer assistance, but they don't hand out quick cash. Instead, they look for relatives and friends who can donate or provide financial help. The Thai police also offer assistance if contacted. I suspect he's already spent his money and still wanted to stay longer. I can understand that. But without addressing the underlying problem, it's just foolish.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:42:24 +0000I have to say I found this video quite enlightening, fairly balanced, and also quite depressing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xtif2Yp9bQSat, 23 May 2026 18:40:03 +0000Personally, I have no problem with the form system itself. I received my first form soon after the system was introduced last year and I got a new one the other day. Honestly, I do not think many other people would have questioned it either if this had been the system from the very beginning when cannabis was decriminalised back in 2022. The issue is that people have been able to freely buy and consume cannabis for the past four years, so introducing extra requirements now naturally feels a bit cumbersome compared to what everyone was already used to. For me, the bigger concern is the fact that the process has to be repeated every 30 days. In a lot of other countries with medical cannabis programmes, prescriptions are handled in a much more streamlined way as I mentioned, and patients are not constantly needing new paperwork every month. That part feels unnecessarily inconvenient. Another point is that despite the introduction of new consumption related rules, possession itself is no longer treated in the same way as illegal narcotics under the current Thai framework. It is not illegally classified in the same category as it used to be, which makes enforcement and prosecution for simple possession much more complicated in practice. Interestingly, the place I usually buy from still is not requiring a form AFAIK, and I honestly do not know whether they plan to start enforcing it or not. I have not asked. My assumption is that if the government decides to seriously enforce the form requirement and the 30 day and 30 gram possession limits, they will probably make a few public examples out of people in order to push compliance on the public. It is going to be a tough job for them though with an estimated 7 million Thai citizens now using cannabis. Can you imagine expecting 7 million users to get a form every month just to light up a joint at home in a country like Thailand where many people ride a motorcycle without even having a driving license. I am just being realistic here. At the end of the day, though, any law without consistent enforcement will likely be ignored by a large portion of the public. It is also hard to imagine police prioritising cannabis enforcement when there are so many other issues and illegal drugs they need to deal with. Realistically, if enforcement increases, I could see it resulting more in fines and warnings rather than any large scale arrests.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:38:29 +0000these are your Trump hating allies who basically use this platform to call for the murder of jews. Then why do you support it LOL. Dont answer, you are European, hate and racism is in your blood.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:37:58 +0000If I can smell it isn't your personal space.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:24:30 +0000Yep, genocide isSat, 23 May 2026 18:22:26 +0000did you get any response? if you do, post it here. or maybe they wouldn't appreciate the breach of privacy?Sat, 23 May 2026 18:14:52 +0000It's a pattern with Trump. Swoop in and arrest national leaders, or in the case of Iran, blow them all up. He thinks he's emperor of the world. This is not making the world a better place.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:14:40 +0000Here we go again. OBSESSION on ONE tiny nation. Something is rotten.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:12:09 +0000I mean who doesn't like 2 large scoops.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:12:05 +0000He spoons his ice cream. That's as good as it gets.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:09:27 +0000Northerners like me in the UK are known for our sense of humour and usually use sarcasm in a fun way Sadly the Yanks on here cannot seem to understand our comedy and think we are having a go at them there easily offended its not meant seriously its just our sense oh humour.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:08:30 +0000I'm not going to buy a Meiji Greek Yogurt tomorrow because of this.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:02:18 +0000This deadly virus may be difficult to detect since Ebola symptoms can be similar to those caused by malaria.Sat, 23 May 2026 18:01:47 +0000Most chinese Chow mein iv'e Eaten is the original noodles.Sat, 23 May 2026 17:58:59 +0000@Caldera and @007 RED Thank you for satisfying my curiosity.Sat, 23 May 2026 17:57:57 +0000There easily spotted Safetyfirst but we know who he is dont we ?Sat, 23 May 2026 17:55:22 +0000