Thai Examiner - Thailand's news for foreigners

PM and Ung Ing to do battle in 2023 for the top job with public debt and the economy as key issues

Public debt and the management of the economy will be the key battleground for this General Election as it is clear the alternative to the Pheu Thai Party and Paetongtarn Shinawatra or Ung Ing is the incumbent General Prayut Chan ocha. Just as the opposition party has surged in the polls with its promise of a ฿600 a day minimum wage and extended public sector borrowing, even beyond the current raised limit, the prime minister will aim to counter this by emphasising financial discipline and rectitude as provided for under the 2017 Constitution. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/27/prayut-paetongtarn-shinawatra-ung-ing-to-battle-in-2023-over-debt/ [https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/27/prayut-paetongtarn-shinawatra-ung-ing-to-battle-in-2023-over-debt/] Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

Heat turned up over the Sukhothai naval tragedy with 19 thought to have perished and 10 missing

Opposition threatening to bring Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha, who is also the Minister of Defence, before a House of Representatives committee to be grilled on the HTMS Sukhothai disaster at sea. It now looks increasingly likely that 29 lives have been lost in the incident with 10 still thought to be missing. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/26/heat-is-on-over-the-sukhothai-naval-tragedy/ [https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/26/heat-is-on-over-the-sukhothai-naval-tragedy/] Joseph O' Connor reports from Prachuap Khiri Khan and Bangkok.

Police officer, wife of Du Hao kingpin and niece of former police chief arrested and questioned

The scale and depth of this corruption scandal keeps growing with Saturday’s arrest of the niece of a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and last Monday’s resignation of the Secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) after damning revelations from whistleblower Chuwit Kamolvisit. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/25/police-officer-wife-of-drug-kingpin-du-hao-arrested/ [https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/25/police-officer-wife-of-drug-kingpin-du-hao-arrested/] James Morris reports from Bangkok.

Pheu Thai, Palang Pracharat coalition now a distinct possibility after the next General Election

Palang Pracharat has risen in the polls since September with the party setting forth no-nonsense policies despite an exodus of MPs. A political expert at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) has predicted that we are likely to see a Pheu Thai-led government which could see the Palang Pracharat Party as a coalition partner. A return of the present coalition government and General Prayut to power is thought unlikely. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/24/pheu-thai-palang-pracharat-coalition-mooted-as-pm-moves/ [https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/24/pheu-thai-palang-pracharat-coalition-mooted-as-pm-moves/] Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

Australian travelling with family arrested for illegal gun possession boarding a Ko Samui flight

41-year-old man’s brother Mick Bassal was killed in a shooting in Sydney at a signage firm in a suburb of the city in 2016. Police in Ko Samui said on Wednesday that they did not think the gun was purchased to commit a crime in Thailand nor had the arrested man a criminal background. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/23/australian-held-on-gun-charges-in-ko-samui-mark-bassal/ [https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/23/australian-held-on-gun-charges-in-ko-samui-mark-bassal/] Carla Boonkong reports from Ko Samui.