40-year-old Kevin Douglas was arrested over eight hours after the assault last November when he barged his way into a woman’s home in the Queens area of New York and punched her in the face in what police say was a random attack. The attack on the Thai woman comes amid a crime wave in New York and a sharp rise in attacks targeting Asian Americans in the United States and the Big Apple where such incidents were up five fold in 2021.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/16/thai-woman-attacker-appears-before-new-york-court/

Carla Boonkong reports from Bangkok.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has also announced the postponement of the foreign tourist levy from April to June although the plans to attach the fee to airline fares may be in contravention of a 1944 convention pointed to by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/15/opposition-targets-test-and-go-entry-scheme/

James Morris reports from Bangkok.

In the course of last week’s intensive investigation which saw up to 20 police teams in Phuket led by the National Police Commissioner General Suwat Jang­yod­suk, probe every aspect of the gangland hit, a Russian man was also taken into custody who is believed to have planted a GPS tracking device on the Indian victim’s car prior to the murder.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/14/death-penalty-issue-as-2-jimmy-sandhu-hitmen-named/

Carla Boonkong reports from Bangkok and Phuket.

The popular payment platform is in crisis mode in Thailand as it scrambles to meet demanding regulatory requirements and pursue a relaunch of its service as a fully compliant Thai based entity. However, the firm faces even more significant and fundamental challenges both in Thailand and around the world not only with an evolving, more sophisticated and demanding payment service market but also real questions about its practices which have seen it faced with and making out of court settlements in class action lawsuits in the United States. The latest case was filed in January over its security tactics and the freezing of user accounts without notice or adequate explanation.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/12/bank-of-thailand-intervenes-in-paypal-crisis/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

TV star left Thailand within hours of the attack for Dubai to be reunited with her 4-year-old son after the shock of her ordeal. The attack on Natai Beach in Phang-nga province where Ms Hummels had gone to spend a few days after 3 weeks filming of a popular German TV show in Phuket had wrapped up. The incident and worldwide press coverage of it, because of the celebrity status of the victim, has raised pressure on Thai authorities over tourist safety in the kingdom.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/11/german-tv-star-asked-police-to-avoid-press-cathy-hummels/

James Morris reports from Phang-nga.

Thailand may not only be facing a General Election in 2022 but also another political crisis if the government does not successfully see the passage of two organic laws on the voting process successfully guided through parliament. The likelihood of this happening is also receding in line with the fortunes of the administration with disturbing failures in parliament during this session to reach a quorum.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/09/government-in-its-political-death-throes-election-likely/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

The 63-year-old man had sold his business in Germany before moving to Thailand. Interviewed by police on Monday, his Thai wife revealed his current occupation appeared to be online. She suggested he may have been distressed by the sudden death of his younger brother in Korat recently.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/08/police-probe-death-of-german-man-in-inferno-uwe-albrecht/

Carla Boonkong reports from Kanchanaburi.

Initial news reports suggested that the Indian gangland figure was a Canadian national. This came about after police in Phuket, early on Saturday morning, discovered 2 pieces of identification including a Canadian passport and driver’s licence in the names of third parties, both of Indian descent.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/06/phuket-murder-international-gangland-hit-jimi-sandhu-canada-india/

James Morris reports from Phuket

A need to raise interest rates in the United States, coming at a time when Thailand’s economy is short on liquidity with a record level of household debt, will be a key challenge in 2022 amid hopes that the kingdom may return to more significant economic growth this year. The economy received some good news on Friday when the Secretary-general of the Board of Investment revealed a 59% rise in inward foreign direct investment pledges for 2021.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/05/inflation-fears-expected-to-recede-in-2022/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

Car owned by Phuket based US teacher Michael Dylan Gregory who lived in Thailand until February 2012 was de-registered in 2010 and was the subject of a court order issued to Kasikorn Leasing in 2011 for its seizure. An intensive police probe continues in Nakhon Si Thammarat after catching the attention of Deputy National Police Chief General Suchart Teerasawat or ‘Big Mai’.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/02/03/murder-ruled-out-us-man-bmw-found-buried/

James Morris reports from Nakhon Si Thammarat in Thailand.