Tourism Thailand Acts to Boost International Tourist Safety Amid Decline
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THAILAND LIVE Thailand Live Monday 26 May 2025
Motorcycle Crash Claims Life of Department Store Worker Picture courtesy of Khaosod. A 44-year-old department store employee died in a horrific motorcycle crash after his big bike struck a power pole and split in two, on a main road in Ayutthaya province on the evening of 24 May. Full story: https://aseannow.com/topic/1361754-motorcycle-crash-claims-life-of-department-store-worker/ -
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Retirement Extention renewal - Using an Agent - Requirements ?
Where do you see "re-entry" permit mentioned in these requirements? Sure, I usually get a re-entry permit at the same visit as I do my permission of extension to stay but for the less informed it is not clear. Many agents will take advantage of your ignorance and quite a lot of punters are over paying for services they could do themselves for much less. -
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Accident Motorcycle Crash Claims Life of Department Store Worker
Picture courtesy of Khaosod. A 44-year-old department store employee died in a horrific motorcycle crash after his big bike struck a power pole and split in two, on a main road in Ayutthaya province on the evening of 24 May. The crash occurred at around 17:30 on Highway 2053, near the base of the railway overpass in Moo 7, Ko Rian subdistrict. Police Lieutenant Panya Amatsena of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station responded to the emergency call and rushed to the scene with emergency responders from Ayutthaya Hospital, the local rescue service and volunteers from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation. At the crash site, officers found clear evidence of a high-impact collision with a large power pole. Scattered fragments of the motorcycle were spread across the roadside. A helmet had been thrown off in the crash. Nearby, a white and red Honda CBR 650 with registration from Bangkok was discovered at the bottom of a 3-metre roadside drop, severely damaged with its front wheel detached. Rescue personnel found the unconscious rider a short distance away. Despite immediate efforts to perform CPR and transport him to Ayutthaya Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. The deceased was identified as Mr Jeerawat Kumchan, a 44-year-old employee at the HomePro store inside Big C Ayutthaya. Identification was made through a staff badge and a signature orange HomePro apron found in his backpack. He resided in the Grand Market area of Uthai District, Ayutthaya. Shortly after the crash, his 23-year-old son, Mr Patipan Kumchan, arrived at the scene and was devastated upon recognising his father’s body. He confirmed his father regularly took that route home from work and speculated that he may have been heading to visit a friend after finishing his shift. Mr Krisada Srichanngam, a rescue worker from Ko Rian Subdistrict Administration, stated that he was en route to another emergency when he noticed a crowd gathered at the crash site. Upon stopping to assist, he found the rider still had a faint pulse, and CPR was performed in coordination with the police. Sadly, the man could not be saved. Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash. Officers plan to interview witnesses and review CCTV footage from nearby locations. The body has been sent to Ayutthaya Hospital for autopsy. Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-05-26. -
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Trump sent US officials to meet UK pro-life activists over concerns their freedom of speech
The Trump administration has dispatched a team of diplomats to the UK to investigate what it views as a troubling erosion of free speech rights, particularly regarding pro-life activists. The five-person delegation from the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor spent several days in the UK, conducting interviews and meetings to assess what officials described as the shrinking space for dissent. The visit was led by Samuel Samson, a senior adviser at the State Department, and included formal talks with Foreign Office officials and UK regulators like Ofcom, particularly around contentious elements of the Online Safety Act. But perhaps most controversially, the team held private meetings with several British pro-life campaigners who had been arrested for silently protesting near abortion clinics. These included Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, Rose Docherty, Adam Smith-Connor, Livia Tossici-Bolt, and Catholic priest Father Sean Gough. Mrs Docherty, a 74-year-old grandmother, told The Telegraph she was the first person arrested under a new Scottish law creating buffer zones outside abortion clinics. She said, “All I did was stand peacefully offering consensual conversation to anyone who wanted to take up my offer to talk. I didn’t break the law, I didn’t influence, I didn’t harass, I didn’t intimidate. And yet, I was arrested just for standing there, peacefully, within 200m of a hospital. This can’t be just. It’s heartening that others around the world, including the US government, have realised this injustice and voiced their support.” Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested in 2023 for praying silently outside a clinic in Birmingham, said, “Since I was arrested simply for the prayers I held in my head, the support from both here in the UK and around the world has been overwhelming. I’m glad that the US administration has highlighted this injustice and hope that UK politicians can be bold enough to make the changes necessary to restore freedom.” The Trump administration’s interest is not limited to these individual cases. Elon Musk, an adviser to Donald Trump and a vocal critic of online censorship, is reportedly among those inside the administration concerned about UK regulatory overreach. Officials also raised the issue of buffer zone laws with UK authorities during trade discussions, with a US source stating, “No free trade without free speech.” Adam Smith-Connor, an Army veteran who received a two-year conditional discharge for breaching a protest ban in Bournemouth, was cited by US Vice President JD Vance during a speech in Munich as an example of why “free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat.” The case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, who also received a conditional discharge and a £20,026 fine for praying within a buffer zone, reportedly alarmed US negotiators to the extent that it nearly derailed trade discussions. Her case, like the others, is being defended by the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal group. ADF legal counsel Lorcan Price said, “Because these peaceful individuals held thoughts and beliefs of which the state disapproved, they find themselves fighting to defend their very right to free thought. Now, fellow Western nations are noticing this erosion of freedom – and we should take heed. We hope our own legislators, witnessing this injustice impacting citizens, will step up to clarify that silent prayer, and consensual conversation, are lawful activities in this country.” Concerns from across the Atlantic extend beyond pro-life activism. Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk raised the case of Lucy Connolly with the White House. Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for 31 months after posting a racist outburst on X following a knife attack by Axel Rudakubana that killed three girls in Southport. Her appeal was rejected, and critics claim her sentence exemplifies the imbalance in how speech is policed in the UK. Nigel Farage, a long-time Trump ally, commented, “The Lucy Connolly case alone shows that two-tier Britain is really here. My American friends cannot believe what is happening in the UK.” A spokesperson for the US State Department stated, “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice-President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the UK. It is important that the UK respects and protects freedom of expression.” The UK Cabinet Office has declined to comment on the matter. Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Telegraph 2025-05-26 -
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The Dangerous Cost of Modern Misinformation: From Trump’s Claims to Anti-Israel Narratives
The Dangerous Cost of Modern Misinformation: From Trump’s Claims to Anti-Israel Narratives In an era where information is more accessible and verifiable than ever before, it’s ironic—and troubling—that blatant misinformation continues to flourish, often perpetuated by influential public figures. The disinformation age isn't confined to authoritarian regimes; it's very much alive in democratic societies, where leaders face little consequence for spreading untruths. Donald Trump, with his well-documented disregard for facts, is a familiar example. But he is far from alone. This week, Trump orchestrated one of his typical Oval Office performances, confronting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with what he claimed was evidence of a genocide against white South African farmers. The visuals included dramatic imagery and supposed burial sites, intended to portray widespread killings. BBC Verify swiftly debunked the spectacle. What Trump presented as a mass grave was actually a temporary memorial for a single murdered farming couple, and a photo he brandished was, in fact, taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although white farmers in South Africa do face violence, the BBC found no evidence to support Trump’s exaggerated claim of genocide—a conclusion they perhaps reached with added relish due to their institutional disdain for the former president. Yet while Trump’s fabrications may be familiar, misinformation is being spread with even more damaging consequences elsewhere. On Tuesday, the BBC’s flagship Today programme hosted Tom Fletcher, a former British diplomat now serving as the UN’s humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. Fletcher, who has been critical of Israel for years, accused the country of using "starvation as a weapon of war." On air, he warned dramatically that “14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them,” should Israel not allow humanitarian food aid to pass. This apocalyptic assertion was not just wrong—it was absurd. Even if one were to wrongly assume that Israel alone was obstructing aid, it would be impossible to make such a precise prediction about mass infant deaths within a two-day window. The BBC later revisited Fletcher’s statement, explaining that he had based his claim on a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). However, the IPC had projected that 14,100 cases of acute malnutrition might occur over the course of a year if the current level of aid remained unchanged—not in 48 hours. Fletcher had wildly misrepresented the data. Still, no apology was issued, and no formal reprimand seems forthcoming. The impact of this exaggeration was immediate and widespread. In Parliament, 13 MPs parroted Fletcher’s false narrative while backing Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s criticisms of Israel. News outlets including the New York Times, NBC News, Time, The Guardian, and ABC cited Fletcher’s statement, with the BBC itself serving as the original source. As of Friday, Fletcher’s dramatic “14,000 babies” claim was still on the BBC’s website. Tom Gross, a veteran analyst of Israel-related media coverage, acknowledged the suffering in Gaza but noted, “I follow it incredibly closely, and so far as I can tell, no one has yet died of hunger in this conflict.” Despite this, starvation scares are a constant feature in BBC coverage of the war. Rarely is it mentioned that Israel is not blocking aid entirely, but rather working to ensure safer distribution. One initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, aims to channel aid under foreign security oversight, with backing from the United States. Fletcher likely sees himself as morally righteous and may even feel emboldened by the attention his comments received. The BBC, seemingly sympathetic to his motives, has not held him accountable. But in Gaza, where the conflict is also waged through propaganda, such distortions have real consequences. Repeated accusations of “genocide” against Israel go beyond rhetorical excess—they dehumanize Israelis and by extension, Jews, evoking comparisons to Nazi atrocities. Tragically, these narratives can inspire real-world violence. In Washington DC on Thursday, a young Israeli couple, recently engaged, were murdered by an alleged member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation—an individual reportedly driven by radical anti-Israel ideology. The same sentiments echo across pro-Gaza marches in Britain, where slogans often blur into incitement. Labour, which counts many Muslims among its supporters, risks long-term consequences from indulging such delusions. Civil unrest and even terrorism could follow if this misinformation-fueled radicalization continues unchecked. At Policy Exchange this week, Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, argued for a renewed focus on “subversion”—a concept the intelligence community once treated seriously. In France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has just made public a report on the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence, including its connections to Hamas. Britain, meanwhile, continues to tolerate the likes of Tom Fletcher, whose misleading pronouncements face no scrutiny and no consequence. Related Topics: BBC Faces Backlash Over Alleged Bias in Coverage of White Farmer Killings in South Africa French Report Warns of Islamist Infiltration Threatening National Unity BBC Accused of Bias in Israel-Hamas Coverage: Over 1,500 Breaches of Guidelines Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Telegraph 2025-05-26
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