The hunt is on in Uttaradit in northern Thailand for a Thai husband who shot his wife and four of her family in a shooting rampage at the weekend. 

There were two crime scenes. The shooter is believed to be a man called Theeraphon, aged 37.

At one house in Phayamaen sub-district of Phichai district police found three people shot. They were Theeraphon’s mother in law and father in law Wirat and Nampheung. His wife Kanyarat was also shot dead there.

At a nearby house were both the elder sister and younger sister of Theeraphon’s mother in law – Nampha and Kanokwan. They too had been shot dead.

Acting police chief Pol Maj-Gen Payoo Thanasriseubwong ordered checkpoints to be set up in the area after Theeraphon fled in a white Toyota Camry. He is still believed to be in Phichai district.

Pratchaya told Sanook that the shooter had been living with Kanyarat for some considerable time. But recently there had been many arguments and divorce was in the air.

The husband was convinced of his wife’s infidelity but despite his jealousy there was no truth in it.

On this occasion he clearly “lost it” shooting the sisters first then moving onto the wife and her parents.

Source: Sanook

Seven foreigners have been charged over illegally working as pre-wedding photographers and assistants in Phuket yesterday.

The Phuket Immigration Office Chief Col Kathatorn Kumthieg ordered officers to inspect Kathu Temple and Kata Noi Beach, popular locations for foreigner pre-wedding photo shoots.

The Phuket Immigration Office reports that all staff in the pre-wedding photo shooting team were foreigners who only held tourist visas. They have been conducting work contracted in China.

Those working contracts provide information about places for pre-wedding photos including Soi Rommanee and Thalang Road in Old Phuket Town, Kamala Beach, Kathu Temple, Chalong Temple, Lattiwanaram Temple (Wat Tai), Phrmthep Cape, Surin Beach and  Naiyang Beach.

The contracts also identify the names of photographers, makeup artists and coordinators.

Seven foreigners were arrested yesterday. They have been taken to Karon and Kathu Police Stations for questioning. They have all been charged with not having a work permit and working illegally in the Kingdom.

Source :thethaiger

Three elephants in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary of Chachoengsao province are the first to get collars as part of a measure to reduce the risk of human-elephant conflicts in the restricted forested areas in the East.

This project is part of a collaboration between WWF-Thailand and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).

The collars, imported from South Africa in December, will be used to study the movement of the pachyderms and help resolve the issue of them destroying crops, Pinsak Suraswadi, DNP deputy director general, said. He presided over the announcement of the project on Tuesday.

“This is not an issue about whether elephants kill people or vice versa – it’s about finding a viable solution where elephants can live in harmony with people in the future,” he said.

The area where the elephants were collared is designated as a “red” area, indicating that it is a high human/elephant conflict zone.

The data collected from the collars will help conservationists and local communities anticipate the elephants’ movements and plan intervention to address the conflicts.

“Wild elephants are a challenge for conservation in Thailand, and WWF and DNP have commenced their research to reduce human-elephant conflicts,” Yowalak Thiarachow, country director of WWF-Thailand, said.

Source: The Nation

Sophon quoted a leading business and tourism official as saying that Pattaya was booming and only good times are ahead for the resort. 

New Year was a fantastic success with all the shows and giveaways and the upcoming events meant that family friendly Pattaya was all systems go and just boom boom into the future.

By this he meant economic boom.

Ekkasit Ngamphichet – the chief of the Business and Tourism Association of Pattaya – said that New Year was simply wonderful in Pattaya.

Occupancy reports suggest that hotels were crammed to virtually 100% of available rooms.

Chinese and Japanese people in particular arrived in droves – especially the F.I.T. tourists. These are the “free independent travelers” not on group tours that are increasing selecting Pattaya as their destination of choice.

Ekkasit said that Pattaya had organised two full days of breathtaking events at New Year to attract tourists. Highlight was the giving away of a million baht pick-up on New Year’s Eve by Mono 29.

This all points the way to a great future, he said.

He pointed out that the fun never stops in Pattaya and events such as the official opening of the new beach, the Pattaya Music Festival and the International Fireworks (to name but three) would keep both Thai and western tourists flooding in.

In addition preparations and events would be held this year ahead of 2020’s “60th Anniversary of Pattaya” that promises to be a further reason to come to the resort.

Sophon’s upbeat report followed a negative one a few days ago when they said that the Bali Hai area of town was a filthy mess with litter floating in the harbor and the authorities doing nothing to collect it.

Source: Sophon Cable

Daily news reported on the aftermath of the tour bus that crashed in Pahonyothin Road, Pathum Thani at the weekend. 

As relatives of the six dead came to collect their loved ones at Thammasat Chalermprakiat Hospital came news that the Department of Land Transport could fine the negligent driver only up to 5,000 baht.

And the family of each of the dead victims would get just 30,000 baht from the tour bus company that ran the service – Prayat Tour Co Ltd.

The company have been fined 50,000 baht.

However, police have charged driver Pratchaya Wangliangklang, 24, with negligence causing death and detained him.

He said that it was raining and a pick-up in front of his swerved to avoid a crashed motorcycle. In attempting to avoid a collision he said he lost control and ended up overturned in the ditch.

No alcohol was found in his system.

Some 56 people were reported injured in the crash that occurred opposite the Thai Watsadu store on Pahonyothin Road inbound at Klong One. The bus was inbound to Bangkok on the Phanom Phrai (Roi-Et) to Bangkok route.

A video after the crash on Channel 8 showed Ruam Katanyu foundation rescue using cutting equipment to extricate the victims inside the double-decker after it overturned.

The local district chief and head of the DLT were at the hospital discussing compensation and help for the many injured being treated at various Bangkok hospitals yesterday.

Source: Daily News