Death again highlights the danger of Thailand’s roads for foreigners including pedestrians, car drivers, motorcyclists and bicyclists due to reckless driving and a lack of the same sense of care and caution that is seen in other countries making Thailand’s roads the ninth most deadly in the world. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/18/canadian-cries-for-his-dead-wife-joseph-michael-scott/

Carla Boonkong reports from Kanchanaburi.

Face mask requirement in public is abandoned except for crowded areas and places with poor ventilation such as public transport as Thailand drops all restrictions and bugbears which impede foreign visitor numbers. Consequently, a boom is expected in the coming six to seven months with some optimistic industry insiders saying Thailand can achieve up to 15 million visitors in 2022 as the good times, long thought of as lost to the past, come roaring back to life.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/17/thailand-pass-app-gone-at-last-by-july-1st/

Carla Boonkong reports from Bangkok.

Lloyd Austin, a career soldier who began work as a US Army lieutenant in the 1970s, cut an impressive figure in Bangkok this week after going head to head with Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe in Singapore where the Chinese military leader warned that China’s rise in Asia was assured and unstoppable while the communists country would ‘crush’ any attempt by the island of Taiwan to declare independence.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/17/thailand-is-a-key-military-ally-says-us/

James Morris reports from Bangkok.

Cannabis revolution places Thailand in danger: Police and drug control agencies agree that under the current legal provisions in force, unrestricted recreational use of cannabis is legal and the order of the day. It is only subject to official advice and health regulations governing smoke from the drug in restricted spaces. The current situation is being described as potentially dangerous with police trying to find a framework to prohibit the abuse of marijuana by members of the public in control of mechanically propelled vehicles on Thai roads. Despite this being illegal in theory under the Road Traffic Act Section 43(1), it is currently difficult to enforce.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/15/pot-cannabis-marijuana-revolution-call-to-ban-recreational-use/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

Police chief in Phuket warns of the danger to foreigners who become intoxicated and the duty of care that exists to foreign visitors who are arriving on the island in increasing numbers as police continue the investigation into the tragic death of a 37-year-old Russian woman in the morning of June 7th in the Patong nightlife district with three foreign tourists facing charges.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/14/phuket-police-still-probe-russian-woman-death/

Carla Boonkong reports from Phuket.

The Ferrari Joe case involving the torture and murder of a 24-year-old drug suspect in police custody on August 5th last in Nakhon Sawan shocked and horrified Thailand. The case raised unsettling questions about the sense of impunity which drove the city police chief and his subordinates to act in the way they did. Later revelations about the mid-level young policeman’s extraordinary wealth also painted a disturbing picture.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/13/ferrari-joe-could-still-face-death-penalty/

James Morris reports from Bangkok and Nakhon Sawan province.

The proposals from the meeting which ranged from declaring Thailand mask-free outdoors to eliminating temperature checks on arrival, come as the kingdom’s foreign tourism numbers appear to be climbing with some industry insiders suggesting the tourism authority’s target of 8 million visitors this year may be surpassed and a figure of up to 15 million seen by the end of 2022. However, a fly in the ointment may still be the proposed retention of a requirement to show the health status of arrivals and medical cover which will still leave the kingdom at a disadvantage to its competitors and would probably lead to more difficulties than retaining the Thailand Pass application.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/12/visa-free-for-all-plan-to-boost-tourism/

Carla Boonkong reports from Bangkok and Phuket.

Some analysts in the United States suggest that interest rates there could reach 2.7% to 3% by the end of 2022 leading to a wider divergence between interest rates stateside and in Thailand where even if the central bank does raise rates from August, most economists predict that they will only reach 1% by the end of the year, leaving a wider spread, thus encouraging capital flight and further deprecation of the baht.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/10/concern-for-baht-and-financial-liquidity/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

The sort of tourist Thailand does not need or want: Dempster is facing a 10 year and 6-month prison term ahead of him when he is finally extradited to the United Kingdom after legal proceedings are completed here. He was convicted in 2014 of distributing images of underage girls from 2008 to 2013 in Scotland.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/08/fugitive-pattaya-arrest-william-dempster-paedophile-scotland/

James Morris reports from Pattaya.

Thailand’s economy is facing rising inflation and slowing export growth with fears of a GDP contraction in the second quarter. The scrapping of the Thailand Pass regime altogether is one of the last cards the government has to play to boost foreign tourist numbers along with later nightlife opening hours and the abolition of the outdoor face mask mandate.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/07/minister-wants-to-scrap-thailand-pass-app/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Phuket.