Tim Newton

Tim Newton

Tim joined The Thaiger as one of its first employees in 2018 as an English news writer/editor and then began to present The Thaiger's Daily news show in 2020, Thailand News Today (or TNT for short). He has lived in Thailand since 2011, having relocated from Australia.
  • Thailand News

    Thai health officials ‘concerned’ about the international rise of Omicron BA4 and BA5 variants

    Thailand health officials are expected to gather more data in the coming weeks as the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron spread in Thailand. There is a new wave of BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variant infections hitting a number of countries that had, until recently, seen a large drop in their Covid case loads. Germany, Italy, Australia, Taiwan,…

  • Tourism News

    Back to the future – the resistance to taking off masks in Thailand | OPINION

    Walking along the streets of Bangkok this morning I may as well be in a time loop. There was only one person not wearing a mask as I walked to breakfast. Me. Everyone else, everyone, was wearing a face mask, just like over the past 2 years and 2 months. It was 7.30am, it’s not as if it was busy.…

  • Crime News

    From Pattaya with Love, or How To Win Friends and Taser People!

    A training session held last week on Wednesday, June 22, on Jomtien Beach has convinced anyone that public relations are not a strong characteristic in the ranks of the Pattaya Police. Thanks to Adam and The Pattaya News for the video and pics. The display was an apparent demonstration of the skills of Pattaya police to be able to handle…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand is open NOW – masks off, bars open until 2am

    Thailand is open for business. The whole country is now a ‘green’ zone, allowing a full-scale resumption of business and activities with even the Thailand Pass being dropped next Friday. It’s about as back to normal as it can be at this time. Decisions made by the CCSA on June 17 were put into effect yesterday after being published in…

  • Thailand News

    It’s official – face masks now voluntary in most places in Thailand

    Any face mask confusion is now clarified by the publishing of the latest edict in the Royal Gazette. “The wearing of a mask is a voluntary practice from now onwards so that people can now live closer to normal conditions. The Ministry of Public Health only recommends that the general public wear a mask when living with other people in…

  • World News

    ‘Elvis’ the movie – all shook up in a blancmange of jump suits and pop tribute

    It’s pretentious, over-decorated, and probably overlong. But it’s also a spectacular 2 and half hours which will reconnect you with the 20th century’s most consequential pop icon – Elvis. “Elvis” was released today in Thailand and is now showing at cinemas around the country. If you want to revel in Elvis nostalgia and the music, there’s plenty of that. But…

  • Politics News

    Thai PM faces fourth censure motion next month

    The next political challenge for Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is next month when a censure motion is put to the lower house by opposition MPs. The debate is scheduled for July 18 – 22 and there is no certainty how the votes will eventually fall at this time. Renegade MPs, new political factions, the PMs falling popularity and a looming…

  • Transport News

    Grab bike ‘taxis’ forced to get commercial licenses in Thailand

    A win for ‘Win’ motorcycle taxi riders today after new rules force Grab riders into the same transportation regulations. Of course, the new rules will probably force up the prices for Grab bikes from next month when the app-based ride-hailing service will have to comply with the same rules governing ‘Win Motocy’ motorcycle taxi riders. The orange-safety-vest-clad Win drivers are…

  • Tourism News

    Getting rid of masks and revised closing times in Thailand – waiting for official rubber stamp

    Whilst we might be rid of the Thailand Pass on July 1, there appears to be an administrative delay to the changes in mask requirements and changes to the closing times. In clarifying new face mask guidelines, Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesperson for CCSA says that all 77 provinces in Thailand would be redesignated as green zones. Previously there were…

  • Technology News

    Why your flights are getting more expensive, not cheaper

    There’s a short-term situation and a longer-term evolution that will make your flights more expensive than they were in the past. If we briefly look back at the past 65 years of world aviation, there has been a slow, incremental decrease in passenger seat prices on flights. That was until the start of 2020. For the modern era (despite the…

  • Travel

    Tips for riding a motorbike in Thailand (2022)

    PLEASE NOTE: We’re not recommending that you should ride a motorbike or motorcycle in Thailand but, if you do, these tips will help… Getting around on a motorbike or motorcycle in Thailand is easy enough and, especially in busy traffic, will get you to your destination faster whilst the cars and trucks are plodding along in the traffic. There will be plenty…

  • Environment News

    That sinking feeling – the Maldives is building a new ‘floating’ country

    Run out of space? No problem. Just build another room. In the case of an entire country that is sinking into the Indian Ocean, the situation becomes a bit more acute. Technically, the Maldives isn’t sinking, the sea levels are rising and slowly swamping the low-lying Indian Ocean nation, scattered south west of India. The Maldives, a country of some…

  • Tourism News

    July 1 – Thailand more open than ever

    OPINION On July 1, Thailand will be more open that it’s been since April 2020 when the boom gates first came down on the borders, locking out international travel. Since then it’s been a tedious and drawn out lessening of restrictions, with a few stumbles on the way. That finishes in just 11 days time as the country rids itself…

  • World News

    “It’s a hiatus, not a breakup.” Superband BTS announce extended break.

    Pop kings BTS, the South Korean band that broke through music’s bamboo ceiling, is having a break after 9 years. The septet have had outstanding global success and amassed, not only the most numerous, but also the most engaged fandom in music history – the BTS ’ARMY’. This year BTS won three of the top awards at the American Music…

  • World News

    Surprise! Additional luggage fees on a budget airline ruin family holiday

    Yikes. How much were you charged recently for late checked baggage fees? All but some of the larger legacy or national airlines charge for checked in luggage these days and arriving at the airport check-in, without having paid for your checked luggage, when you booked the cheap seats online, will likely provide an unhappy surprise. So HOW unhappy? Have a…

  • Business News

    Thai nightlife midnight closing time under pressure this week

    The current ‘official’ closing time for nightlife venues, in 31 provinces around Thailand (yellow and blue zones), is midnight. That all kicked in at the start of this month. But, hey, it’s Thailand and there’s also been plenty of venues, particularly in the tourist zones, where the midnight close time has been stretched a bit. But some netizens have noticed…

  • Thailand News

    Nightlife closing times, revised mask requirements and more land border re-openings

    Thailand’s Covid taskforce are meeting this week to consider three proposals made from around various Ministries and industry stakeholders. It’s going to be a pivotal week for the CCSA. Announcements are expected by this Friday. One of them is to remove the requirement to wear face masks in public, although it is widely considered that, even if this concession is…

  • Business News

    Huge Bangkok bar raided as police arrest underage and customers for drug possession

    Despite the ‘official’ closing time for nightlife venues around Bangkok being extended to midnight, from 11pm, on June 1, many venues have continued to push their luck with authorities for the last few months. This venue since February. Yesterday morning Pathumwan district police raided a bar in Bangkok’s Rong Muang area after receiving a tip off that the venue had been…

  • World News

    Thai special envoy to Myanmar warns not to ‘cancel’ Burmese military

    Thailand’s new special envoy has spoken out as an apologist for the Myanmar military by urging the international community not to “get stuck in cancel rhetoric” when dealing with the Burmese Junta that seized power 16 months ago. She spoke in support of ‘moving on’ from the past and towards a different style of engagement with the military leaders. Pornpimol…

  • Business News

    Meta downgrades commitment to Facebook News service, tech giants don’t want to pay for News

    Meta, aka Facebook, are looking to review commitments to pay publishers for their news articles. The payments, said to be 100s of million US$ a year to mostly larger news publishers, have shown little return to the Facebook platform or gained them many extra users. Some of the larger publishers, both in the US and elsewhere, are going to have…

  • Visa Information

    New tourist visa waivers being proposed to CCSA for next week’s meeting

    More proposals are heading to next week’s crucial CCSA meeting where Thailand’s Covid taskforce is poised to make several key changes to the reopening of the country and existing restrictions. Among the latest proposals to be tabled next week are changes to tourist visas. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, with support of a wide variety of tourism associations and players…

  • World News

    50 years today – anniversary of an iconic photo

    It’s June 8, 1972 and bombs come raining from the sky in a village called Trang Bang, just 50 kilometres northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (then it was called Saigon). 50 years ago, today, a photo was snapped featuring a 9 year old called Phan Thi Kim Phuc. The photo became not only an indelible image representing the worst…

  • Thailand News

    New Civil Partnership Bill in Thailand passed by the cabinet

    Now the Bill needs to survive its first reading in the lower house of the Thai parliament. Out of nowhere, but perhaps inspired, or prompted by the Pride Month activities around Bangkok, the Thai cabinet has approved what is considered the next step towards same sex marriage in Thailand, a Civil Partnership Bill. This bill will allow same-sex couples to…

  • World News

    Indonesia jumps ahead of Thailand with new 5 year digital nomad visa

    Yes, remote workers have finally got a break with Indonesia’s announcement of a visa specifically for the digital nomad crowd. In the post-Covid world, with world office and work habits going through such profound changes, the option for a digital nomad visa, where remote workers could work in a south East Asian resort location rather than a dank office, will…

  • Tourism News

    Check-in mayhem for Thai Airways flights last Friday

    The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has ordered airlines and airports to make urgent adjustments after acknowledging long queues for Thai Airways flights at Suvarnabhumi airport. The early morning flight check in delays at the Thai Airways counters in Suvarnabhumi Airport was caused by a lack of check-in staff at the Thai Airways counters, according to the Civil Aviation…

  • Thailand News

    “Cases could reach 10,000 a day again”. Thai Public Health Minister.

    Thailand’s party-pooper-in-chief, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, has made another spurious claim to Thailand’s media. He’s predicted that Thailand’s Covid infections could soar to 10,000, a day, now that Thailand’s nightlife has ‘officially’ reopened. He said that the numbers of new coronavirus cases could “soar” within 3-5 days after the country’s entertainment venues were given the official nod on June…

  • World News

    Taiwan battles Covid infection spike as it continues to re-open borders

    Taiwan is currently Asia’s Covid-19 hotspot, following years of keeping the Covid variants at bay. The island-nation’s relaxation of travel curbs has fuelled a record spike in new infections. Taiwan began the process of prying open its borders in March, initially allowing business and essential travellers to enter the island. They were welcomed with quarantine in a hotel or state quarantine…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand tourism, innovate or die – OPINION

    Red flags are flying in Thai tourism circles as the expected wave of international travellers is failing to materialise in the expected numbers. With the post-April 1 and Songkran ‘surge’ out of the way, the daily arrivals have been ‘flat’. So the TAT say they’re pivoting their marketing to short-haul tourism as the long-haul markets and traditional travellers to Thailand…

  • Events

    Deep Week in Phuket – The world’s largest open freediving festival

    Phuket recently hosted ‘Deep Week’, a huge freedive training event, which sold out in just 5 days. This was certainly Asia’s, and probably the world’s, biggest ever participation of freediving held in open water. The recent reopening of Thailand certainly enabled this first-of-a-kind freediving event to take place from May 14 – 21. Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or…

  • Bangkok News

    Political fallout from the Bangkok governor election – OPINION

    The winner of the Bangkok Governor election wouldn’t normally get so many headlines except that this election did, and there’s a few reasons why, and some take aways for everyone after the results became apparent yesterday. Really, the polls have been so clear on this election, the actual poll ended up a mere formality. Although the Election Commission has not…