SOUTH KOREA: The government of South Korea’s immigration ministry has given permission to over 120,000 illegal migrant Thai workers to leave the country voluntarily without being blacklisted.  The alert came in 6 languages including Korean, Russian, Chinese, English, Vietnamese, and Thai.  Thai delegates who negotiated the exit pardon, also requested South Korea expand it’s overall quota of allowed workers.  More here from Bangkok Post.

ANDAMAN SEA: Thailand’s famed Maya Beach will now be closed to tourists indefinitely. It was supposed to open next month but the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) announced the bay will remain closed indefinitely. Made famous by the well-known Leonardo DiCaprio film “The Beach,” Maya Bay has been closed off since June 1 in an effort to recover the ecosystem and install more boat jetties. The fact that commercially-related work has also gone on almost guarantees it will open at some point, perhaps later into the tourist season e.g. November or December.

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BANGKOK: In the effort to streamline tourists getting back their VAT Value Added Tax for all the amazing things they get up to in LOS, will be handled by a new firm called COUNTER SERVICE VAT. In what will hopefully be a revolutionary way to abscond with oops I mean refund tourists their VAT, the company’s director however noted the project is still considered temporary. Oh darn. More here in Bangkok Post.

BANGKOK: Four Chinese nationals were arrested today in a sting before fleeing to Thailand, after they were accused of masterminding a plot to steal over 27 BILLION baht. No small sum of money to be sure, the quartet were said to have each opened fake finance and trading companies in the mainland, luring people to invest, and make off with the cash.  The victims all fit the profile of wanting to reap huge earnings off investments and were targeted as such by the fraudsters.  More here in the Bangkok Post.

BANGKOK: A bus driver scored a direct hit on a power pole in his efforts to navigate the city, right in front of the Century Park Hotel near Din Daeng intersection. Likely high on the same Yaba another bus driver was caught with today, he was slightly injured, which he will likely be rewarded for as a testament to how things truly work in LOS. Police estimated the damage at 500,000 Baht using their well known scoring system for assessing property damage.  The driver said it was raining which caused him to drive wildly.

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THAILAND: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which is an international consortium of monitors from the governments of no less than 183 countries, congratulated Thailand for it’s achievements in tackling the illicit ivory trade.  (Maybe it’s all been traded by now?)  Alas the poachers are said to be on the run, perhaps they’ve reformed and are now tour guides & snake show tours etc.  More below at Bangkok Post.

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