Thai tourist hotspot popular with backpackers has become an unlikely second home for thousands of Chinese people seeking alternative lifestyles

Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on.

Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square metre farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai province. Xiong has chronicled her journey from Beijing cryptocurrency marketing executive to farm girl in Thailand on social media; she’s particularly popular on Xiaohongshu, a female-focused app similar to Instagram, where she has more than 38,000 followers. Her account shows people that switching to a slower pace of life “is not just some illusion or idealistic thing, but is very actionable,” she says.

Continue reading...

The resort island is facing days without running water, even as the country celebrates new year with water fights

Across Thailand, people are getting ready to take to the streets for a giant water fight to mark the new year. Roads will be lined with vendors selling water pistols, businesses will put out buckets of icy water for refills and no passersby is safe.

What began as a tradition of the Songkran festival to sprinkle water on the hands of elders, in a symbol of cleansing and reverence to mark the new year, has evolved into huge water fights that draw tourists from across the world.

But on the tourist resort island of Samui, the water fights and celebrations bely a long running problem: the island is parched.

Residents say taps can stop running for days,causing disruption to businesses and daily life.

Continue reading...

Thailand PM says army is weakening after junta requests permission to land evacuation flight from Myawaddy across the border

Myanmar’s embattled junta has evacuated personnel from a key border position after hundreds of soldiers surrendered to opposition groups, in another humiliating defeat for the army.

The military is now on the brink of losing control of Myawaddy, in Karen state, one of the most important border crossings in Myanmar and crucial to the flow of goods between the country and Thailand. It has been controlled by the military for decades.

Continue reading...

Mischievous primates are symbol of Lopburi but residents have had enough as some monkeys resort to violence to get food

Mischievous long tailed macaques are, for many, a symbol of the Thai city of Lopburi. Tourists flock to the city’s ancient temple to feed the macaques fresh fruit and photograph them as they maraud the streets. But, increasingly, residents say they have had enough.

This week, after growing complaints from residents, wildlife officials announced a plan to round up 2,500 of the urban monkeys and place them in huge enclosures. It follows an incident in March where a woman was left with a dislocated knee after being kicked in the back by a monkey that wanted her food. Separately, a man lost control of his motorcycle after a monkey tried to grab a bag of food from him.

Continue reading...

No casualties after fire engulfs ferry carrying 108 people from Surat Thani to Koh Tao

Panicked passengers jumped into the sea to escape a raging ferry fire in the Gulf of Thailand early on Thursday, and all 108 people onboard survived.

The overnight ferry from Surat Thani province was about to arrive at Koh Tao, a popular tourist destination off the Thai coast, when one of the passengers heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke.

Continue reading...

Governments across region grappling with how to respond as temperatures soar to unseasonable highs

Thousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so high that scientists fear coral could be destroyed.

A “historic heatwave” is being experienced across south-east Asia, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian. In updates posted on X, he said heat that is unprecedented for early April had been recorded at monitoring stations across the region this week, including in Minbu, in central Myanmar, where 44C was recorded – the first time in south-east Asia’s climatic history that such high temperatures had been reached so early in the month. In Hat Yai, in Thailand’s far south, 40.2 C was reached, an all-time record, while Yên Châu in north-west Vietnam hit 40.6C, unprecedented for this time of year.

Continue reading...

Lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to make country the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex unions

Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in south-east Asia to legalise equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.

Four hundred of 415 lawmakers present voted for the bill on Wednesday and footage from inside parliament showed people standing and applauding afterwards.

Continue reading...

Move comes after court found that efforts to amend lese majeste laws by Move Forward party were unconstitutional

Thailand’s election commission has said it will seek the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward party – which won last year’s general election – after a court ruled that the party’s proposal to amend a royal anti-defamation law was unconstitutional.

The commission said that after studying a constitutional court’s ruling from January , its members unanimously agreed to file a case with the court seeking the party’s dissolution because they believe the proposal was an attempt to overthrow Thailand’s constitutional monarchy.

It was unclear whether the court will accept the petition.

Continue reading...

Customs officers in Bangkok arrest six after finding 87 animals, including monitor lizards, birds, a monkey and snakes inside their checked luggage

Thai customs officials have arrested six Indian nationals for attempting to smuggle dozens of wild animals, including a red panda and cotton-top tamarin monkey, out of the country.

Officers found 87 animals, including monitor lizards, birds and snakes, packaged inside the suspects’ checked luggage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. They were trying to fly to Mumbai.

Continue reading...