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/ Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok ..read more

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/ Carla Boonkong reports from Ko Samui ..read more

The 78-year-old thief and murderer profited handsomely and lived in luxury off his exploits since he was arrested in India in 1976 even while spending forty-one of the last forty-seven years in jail. In 2008, the then 64-year-old Sobhraj married the twenty-year-old daughter of his Nepalese lawyer while being incarcerated in Kathmandu’s main prison for the 1975 murder of 29-year-old American woman Connie Jo Bronzich for which he has never shown any remorse. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/22/the-serpent-serial-killer-charles-sobhraj-bangkok-pattaya-released-by-nepal/ J ..read more

Bizarre media coverage of Thailand’s political scene this week makes it look as if the chances of a possible alliance between the Bhumjaithai Party and current Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha is a path back to power for the PM. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/18/pm-clinging-on-as-he-seeks-a-path-to-power/ News Desk report from Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima ..read more

Well wishes have come from around the country as temples invite the public to pray and leading political figures come forward to pay their respects and express support for the princess. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/16/king-and-queen-visit-princess-bajrakitiyabha-in-hospital/ News Desk report from Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok ..read more

The business sector, in recent months, is expressing higher confidence with the return of foreign tourism at critical levels but is expecting to be left reeling by a 21% hike in electricity tariffs due to kick in from January 2023 at the same time as interest rates are rising with supplies and other costs all on the up. It comes as energy officials juggle the books with a bill of ฿122 billion still owed to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and which must be paired down. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/15/pheu-thai-to-cut-sky-high-electricity-bill ..read more

Last week, the chief whistleblower, in this case, veteran former politician Mr Chuwit Kamolvisit who Minister of Justice Somsak Thepsutin has highly praised, expressed unease at the narrow range of charges being pursued against Mr Chaiyanat Kornchayanant. As part of this week’s move by the National Police Commissioner General Damrongsak Kittiprapat, it is understood that a submission on the case will be made to the Office of the Attorney-General so that it can be pursued as a transnational crime case, giving police and prosecution agencies more power. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-for ..read more

Barring an unforeseen political shock that dramatically alters the political landscape, it now looks like Thailand will elect a Pheu Thai Party government in next year’s General Election. It is also becoming increasingly probable that that government will be led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra ousted in the 2006 coup and the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra whose government was ousted in 2014 in another coup led by then army chief and current Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/13/3-out-4-think-pheu-thai-will-take ..read more

Minister Somsak Thepsutin praises former massage parlour boss and politician Chuwit Kamolvisit for his work in pursuing corruption concerning this unfolding case. Mr Chuwit has promised not to keep the 5% of the billions seized that the minister says he’s entitled to but has expressed concern about the limited charges brought against Mr Du Hao or Mr Chaiyanat Kornchayanant and his most senior associates including the absence, as of yet, of money laundering charges. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/11/top-immigration-bureau-officers-investigated/ Carla Boonkong reports ..read more

Police investigating a horrific attack on a 30-year-old Cambodian woman by two Polish men are looking at whether it may have been a revenge attack linked to her boyfriend’s ex-wife who threatened to kill her. An Interpol warrant is being sought for the criminal duo who departed Thailand two days later for the Philippines. https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/12/09/cambodian-woman-attacked-by-polish-fiends-mateusz-piotr-krynicki-daniel-majewski/ News Desk report from Pattaya ..read more