Water guns are in full blast to mark Thai New Year festivities despite worries about heat wave
It’s water festival time in Thailand where many are marking the country’s traditional New Year, splashing each other with colorful water guns and buckets in an often raucous celebration that draws thousands of people, even as this year the Southeast Asian nation marks record-high temperatures causing concern.
Lawmakers in Thailand overwhelmingly approve a bill to legalize same-sex marriage
Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of Parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.
Thailand sends aid to war-torn Myanmar, but critics say it will only help junta
Thailand delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to war-torn Myanmar on Monday, sending ten trucks over the border from the northern province of Tak in what officials hope will be a continuing effort to ease the plight of millions of people displaced by fighting.
Former Thai leader Thaksin makes first public appearances after release from detention
Thailand’s paroled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has launched a series of public appearances with an early morning visit to a holy shrine in the capital Bangkok before flying to his home province of Chiang Mai in the country’s north.
Jailed former Thai PM Thaksin gets parole, capping a reconciliation with military that ousted him
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who last year returned from more than a decade of self-imposed exile to serve a prison sentence for misdeeds committed while in office, has been granted parole and could be released this weekend, the country’s justice minister announced Tuesday.
Thai activist gets two-year suspended prison sentence for 2021 remarks about monarchy
A Thai court has convicted a prominent political activist of defaming the country’s monarchy and sentenced her to a two-year suspended jail term under a controversial law that criminalizes any perceived criticism of the royal institution.
Rock band critical of Putin is detained in Thailand, fearful of deportation to Russia
Members of a rock band that has been critical of Moscow’s war in Ukraine remain locked up in a Thai immigration jail, fearful that they could be deported to Russia as a reported plan to let them fly to safety in Israel was apparently suspended.
New York's Metropolitan Museum will return stolen ancient sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will return 16 pieces of ancient artwork to Cambodia and Thailand that federal prosecutors say were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia.
Stay in Israel, or flee? Thai workers caught up in Hamas attack and war are faced with a dilemma
Thai agricultural workers in Israel have shared the fate those killed, kidnapped or forced to run for their lives when Hamas militants stormed into Israel last month in the assault that started the latest Gaza war.
A year after Thai day care center massacre, a family copes with their grief
In a simply built concrete house a few yards off a dirt road in the rural town of Uthai Sawan in northeastern Thailand, Tawee Lasopha wakes up before sunrise to catch fish from his pond, then moves onto household chores with his wife, cooking breakfast and preparing his grandchildren for school.
Suspect in Bangkok mall shooting that killed 2 used a modified blank-firing handgun, police say
Police say a teenage boy who allegedly shot two people dead and wounded five others inside a major shopping mall in Thailand's capital used a blank-firing handgun that had been modified to fire real bullets.
Monday qualifier Chanettee Wannasaen goes low with a 9-under 63 to win the Portland Classic
Teenager Chanettee Wannasaen played a five-hole stretch in 6 under early in Sunday's final round and closed with a near-flawless 9-under 63 for a four-stroke victory at the Portland Classic to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the LPGA Tour since 2015.
Daughter of ex-Thai leader Thaksin says he is fatigued, as criticism grows of his hospitalization
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's daughter says he is suffering from stress and fatigue but is in good spirits, as criticism grows of his transfer to a hospital just hours after he began serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Thailand threatening to shut down Facebook, alleging it doesn't screen ads well enough
A Thai Cabinet minister is threatening to try to shut down Facebook in the country, saying the social media platform does not do enough to screen the advertisements it runs, leaving people vulnerable to costly scams.
Populist party and member of outgoing administration will try to form Thailand's next government
Thailand's populist Pheu Thai party has announced it will form a coalition with a party from the outgoing military-backed administration to try to end nearly three months of political deadlock after the progressive party that won national elections was excluded from the formation of a new government.
Accused of bomb threats they say they didn't make, family of Chinese dissident detained in Thailand
The wife and daughter of exiled Chinese dissident Gao Zhi are in detention on immigration charges in Thailand, after a series of bomb threats made in their names against airports, luxury hotels and the Chinese embassy in Bangkok derailed the family’s plan to join Gao in the Netherlands.
Thailand’s Move Forward Party leader Pita falls short in parliamentary vote for prime minister
The head of the progressive Thai political party that outpaced its rivals to a surprise first-place finish in May’s general election has failed in his initial bid to have Parliament name him the country’s new prime minister.
Thai diplomat meets with Suu Kyi in detention in Myanmar and says she wants to join talks on crisis
Thailand’s top diplomat says he met with ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention over the weekend and she conveyed her openness to engage in talks to resolve the crisis in her strife-torn nation.
Thailand's Election Commission says a reformist candidate for prime minister may have broken the law
Thailand’s Election Commission says there is evidence that the top candidate to become the country’s next prime minister, a reformist with strong backing among progressive young voters, violated election law.
Thai opposition party struggles to take power after stunning election victory
Thailand’s new Parliament has convened nearly two months after a progressive opposition party won a stunning election victory, but there is still no clear sign that its leader will be able to become prime minister and end nine years of military-dominated rule.
An ailing Thai elephant returns home for medical care after years of neglect in Sri Lanka
An ailing elephant that Thailand presented to Sri Lanka more than two decades ago has returned to his native land for medical treatment Sunday following allegations the animal was badly abused while living at a Buddhist temple.
Thai court acquits 5 who were accused of blocking the queen's motorcade during 2020 protests
A court in Thailand has acquitted a student activist and four other people of impeding the motorcade of the country’s queen during pro-democracy demonstrations in 2020, an offense that could have seen them sentenced to 16 years in prison or even the death penalty.
What lies ahead for Thailand after dramatic opposition election win?
Thailand’s opposition has racked up a stunning majority of the 500 seats at stake in the race for the House of Representatives,, dealing a major blow to the establishment parties and a former general who led the Southeast Asian country since seizing power in a 2014 coup.
Thailand hopes for major splash in tourism during Songkran
Hordes of revelers tote colorful water guns as Thailand kicks off its exuberant three-day Songkran festival at full blast for the first time since 2019, hoping for a significant boost in tourism after the industry was devastated by coronavirus travel restrictions.
Members of exiled Chinese church detained in Thailand
More than 60 self-exiled members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained in Thailand have paid fines for overstaying their visas but remain in police custody uncertain about their legal status amid fears they would be deported against their will to their home country, where they face possible persecution.