Crime, Courts, Calamity

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand on Tuesday moved one step closer toward being the first Asian nation to decriminalize marijuana, after its health minister signed a measure officially dropping cannabis from a list of controlled drugs.

PHUKET — Police said Sunday a man is under arrest for stealing 4,900 euros vacation cash from a Greek tourist’s car.

PHUKET — A Greek tourist on Wednesday said he is offering a reward for the return of his 4,900 euros vacation cash stolen from his car on the resort island of Phuket.

BANGKOK — An international human rights group on Monday expressed concerns about the safety of a Laotian asylum seeker who was arrested in Bangkok over the weekend.

BANGKOK (AP) — An aircraft from a company specializing in recoveries from oil spills arrived Thursday from Malaysia to join an urgent effort to clean up an oil slick before it could hit beaches in eastern Thailand, officials said.

BANGKOK — Thailand has raised its COVID-19 alert level in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, a senior health official said Thursday.

KOH SAMUI — A Russian tourist was physically assaulted after she and her boyfriend refused to pay entrance fees to a popular tourist post on Koh Samui, police said Monday.

BANGKOK — More than 251,000 people travelled into Thailand in the month of December as of Tuesday, with 831 of them testing positive with COVID-19, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Admistration.

BANGKOK — Bangkok City Hall announced on Thursday that its New Year countdown events will be cancelled out of caution amid the spread of the omicron variant, though it remains unclear whether private events or those organized by other government agencies will follow suit.

BANGKOK — Police on Wednesday said they arrested an Israeli tourist who fled a Bangkok Hotel just before his COVID-19 test came out positive.