Southeast Asia Globe: The hard side of Thailand's supposed soft power success The Kingdom's strength in culture, arts and hospitality is hindered by the hard power of the country's military-backed government

DW: What happened to mass anti-government protests? In 2020, Thai youth sparked the largest wave of anti-government protests since the 2014 military coup. But human rights activists say persecutions and systematic harassment have weakened the pro-democracy movement

Thai Enquirer: Thai civil society defends open letter to President Biden to pressure Prayut to withdraw problematic law

Thai Enquirer: Eight disastrous years with a dictator and a tyrant

Thai Enquirer: Thai civil society defends open letter to President Biden to pressure Prayut to withdraw problematic law

Thai Enquirer: Chadchart ruling a reminder of Thailand's distrust in the Election Commission

Thai Enquirer: Political minefield awaits Prayut government

Thai Enquirer: Human rights groups, lawyers, call for release of Thai political prisoners

Coconuts Bangkok: Thai public school defends 'little soldiers' dress code

Prachatai english: The King's Soldiers: when monarchism undermines democratisation

Bangkok Post: Senators hiring kin deemed 'legal'

112watch: A View from Australia on Article 112

Bangkok Post: 'Influencers' arrested for lese majeste over Lazada promotion

Bangkok Post: Progressive firebrand set to hear lese majeste charge

Prachatai english: Law scholar charged with royal defamation

Prachatai english: Man sentenced to prison over Facebook posts about King's trip to Germany

fidh [International Federation for Human Rights]: Number of individuals charged with lèse-majesté passes 200

TAT News: 'Thailand Pass' registration eased for international arrivals from 1 June 2022

The Nation Thailand: New Thailand entry regulations issued for airlines and passengers

The requirements remain the same as before, but the QR code is generated automatically and no confirmation is required.

The Nation Thailand: Booze can be served until midnight from June 1 in blue, green zones

Bangkok Post: Pubs, massage parlours to reopen, masks mandatory

Thai Examiner: Face masks back on as cabinet votes down end of mandate in June. Nightlife trade slams reopening

Bangkok Post: Public urged to take up free flu shot

Bangkok Post: Govt to promote medical tourism in post-Covid era

Bangkok Post: Prayut touts Thailand as major global EV hub with Japanese support

Bangkok Post: PM touts digital hub at summit

The Phnom Penh Post: Thailand eyed as best regional EV manufacturing hub

The Nation Thailand: Food fair kicks off with aim to make Thailand world food hub

Thai PBS World: Thailand aspires to be hub for herbal products and cannabis-based medicines

Lexology: Could Thailand Become a Manufacturing Hub for Medical Equipment?

Aware Corporation Limited: Chiang Mai is fast becoming a creative and innovation hub for Thailand

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau: Connecting Hub

Bloomberg: Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok is touted to be Southeast Asia's largest railway hub

BBC: Thailand legalises cannabis trade but still bans recreational use

Bangkok Post: Hong Kong proposes banning CBD products within year

Khaosod English: Opinion: Thailand's Marijuana Challenge: Let's Not Get Too High Prematurely

Bangkok Post: Experts raise cannabis concerns

New Straits Times: Growing concerns over easy access to cannabis in Thailand

New Straits Times: Cannabis replaces antibiotics as chicken farmers in Thailand's Lampang go organic

The Star: Thai govt starts giving away one million free marijuana plants

The Nation Thailand: Health dept issues guidelines on use of cannabis as food additive

Bangkok Post: Four admitted to Bangkok hospitals after using cannabis, one dies

Bangkok Post: Govt restricts cannabis use to adults after complaints

Bangkok Herald: Chadchart Vows to Keep Pot Out of Bangkok Schools

Thai Enquirer: Opinion: Stop spreading misinformation about marijuana, educate the public

iNEWS: Thailand gets high on new cannabis rules but tourists told to beware trap that could still land them in jail

Reuters: Thailand rushes to rein in cannabis use a week after decriminalisation

BBC: Thailand cannabis: From a war on drugs to weed curries

Prachatai english: Paranoia Sativa

Bangkok Post: Ministry recommends Covid-19 boosters every 4 months

Bangkok Post: Two cops sidelined after teens assaulted

Bangkok Post: Isoc probes Khao Yai case [Politician's family tied to illegal land]

Bangkok Post: Bail granted to deputy minister on Khao Yai encroachment case

Bangkok Herald: Prachin Buri's Top Man on Run, National Arrest Warrant Out

Bangkok Post: Raids target gun runners [apparently led by a former deputy village chief in Chon Buri's Sattahip district]

Bangkok Post: Cop jailed for 50 years over massage parlour bribes
[If they took a closer look at Pattaya, we would no longer have policemen in our city]

Political Prisoners in Thailand: Former convict aiming high

Bangkok Post: Woman arrested for luring young women into forced prostitution in UAE

Bangkok Post: 'Influencers' arrested for lese majeste over Lazada promotion

Bangkok Post: Thais arrested as scam gangs busted in Cambodia

Bangkok Post: Private buses to slash services as diesel cost bites

In addition to Thailand as a holiday destination, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, has recently started efforts to popularise Thai fruits and foods abroad. Beautiful photos whet your appetite for the products and you learn that Thai food is healthy. Objectively speaking, the whole thing is a total fraud. The published photos mostly show deliciously prepared dishes with lots of vegetables. In reality, the average Thai eats salad and vegetables only in vanishingly small quantities. Thai food, as served in restaurants or prepared at home, consists mainly of chicken, pork or fish and lots and lots of white rice. In addition to a large amount of complex carbohydrates, white rice contains hardly any vitamins and trace elements. Scientists therefore often refer to it as a carbohydrate bomb. It is therefore the main cause of obesity and the far too high blood sugar levels of the Thai population. Thai fruits are very tasty and, with few exceptions, very sweet. They have a high fructose content. Fructose is a type of sugar that can only be stored in the liver. When the store is full - which is relatively quickly - the excess fructose is immediately converted into fat. The following therefore applies to fruit from Thailand: Please only eat in small doses, but the advertising keeps quiet about that!

Typical Thai cuisine usually lacks a healthy proportion of vegetables. Besides chicken, pork or fish, a lot of white rice is eaten, often with fatty and also sweet sauces.

Thai food is usually prepared in a wok at a high temperature and a short cooking time. The vitamins that are still present are thus preserved.

If a Burger Meal Set from McDonald's is unhealthy, then so is Thai Food!

Click here to read our recommendations If you have walked around Pattaya with your eyes open in the last few weeks, you will have noticed that many restaurants have taken every opportunity to raise their prices. Many of the so-called better places have sometimes even raised the prices of their offerings extremely. Of the companies on our small list, hardly any have raised their prices! Reward them with a visit!

The International Pride Festival 2022 Pattaya

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) offers an air-conditioned "express" train from Bangkok to Pattaya and back to Bangkok on Saturdays and Sundays. The journey takes about two and a half hours in both directions. The train leaves Bangkok at 06:45 and returns from Pattaya at 16:26. To travel by train, do not forget your passport, which you will need for some (unknown) reason. The price for a one-way trip is 170 baht. This is much more than a bus ride, but it is more comfortable, especially for your legs. One (big) drawback: there are no taxis at Pattaya station .... Our recommendation: Buy your girlfriend a car so she can pick you up from the station.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

A Little Walking Street is planned on Jomtien Beach Road, just a few metres past the Grand Jomtien Palace Hotel. We will keep you up-to-date.

Although Jomtien Night Market now has significantly more seating, it is often very difficult to get a free table, at least on weekends.

Jae Tum Thepprasit's Kitchen on Thepprasit 17, located opposite the Rompho Bar and Market area, is considered an insider's tip for good Thai food. That's probably why it's not uncommon to wait outside the restaurant for a free seat.

Ban Chak Ngaew (or Ban Chak Ngaeo), known as Chinese Walking Street, has reopened in Huay Yai. The market is only open on Saturdays from 15:00 to 21:00. Huay Yai is about 20 minutes' drive outside Pattaya City.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

Space, Naklua's new hotel of superlatives, will welcome its first guests on August 1st, 2022. Will you be there? We will keep you up-to-date.

Loma Night Bazaar on Naklua Road is history. The night market opened on September 27th, 2019. It was supposed to become a colourful meeting place for the residents of Naklua and their tourists. The pandemic destroyed the dream.

As a replacement for the Loma Night Bazaar, we recommend the resurrected North Pattaya Naklua Night Market. The revived night market is also located on Naklua Road, about 1 kilometer from the now closed Loma Market.

Thailand Why Not, a popular beer bar near the roundabout on Naklua Road, has closed for good. The pub made way for a sales office for the luxury residential building Mesong Riverside in Phnom Penh and the new project Mesong Grevilla in Pattaya Huay Yai.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

On a huge site along Soi 1, off Pattaya Second Road, and adjacent to the already successful China Town, the new Soho Town is being built. The operator of the project is very serious. He rents at real prices and without key money! We will keep you up-to-date.

Ozawa Ramen, the new Japanese noodle outlet on Pattaya Central Road (a few meters only from Beach Road) has now opened the second part of its restaurant. Thanks to the good quality and reasonable prices of its noodle creations, the venue is always busy. Ozawa Ramen has also opened a take-away counter.

Cafe la Plage on the corner of Central Road and Beach Road is increasingly becoming a replacement for the well-known but still closed Bamboo Bar - at least at weekends.

Alcazar, Pattaya's showcase for colourful ladyboy shows, reopened its doors on June 3th. Bangkok Post: Cabaret shows in Pattaya back to life

Honey 2, Pattaya's #1 body massage parlour on Pattaya's Second Road, is also now open and already enjoying a big crowd.

In the abandoned 7-ELEVEN branch on the corner of 2nd Road / Soi 7, the long announced HookUp Corner Bar has finally opened. We wish it every success.

A few metres from the entrance to Walking Street and to the left of the Pattaya Beer Garden and the resurrected Siren Bars, Indian Summer, a restaurant specialising in Indian fusion cuisine, is opening soon.

Australian Bar & Inn, opened in April 2022 by a blogger and her boyfriend in Soi Post Office (Soi Praisanie or Soi 13/2), is now in full swing.

This small fashion shop is located directly in front of the Australian Bar & Inn and is apparently run by a Tinglish-speaking Thai woman.

AOM ONE STOP PUB will soon open in Soi Post Office (Soi 13/2), just a few metres from the entrance to the soi from Pattaya Second Road. We will keep you up-to-date.

You don't want to pay the inflated prices of the established suppliers anymore? Try the burgers from Alan Burger on Pattaya 3rd Road!

A few metres from the entrance to Soi 4, Buddy's Hotdog has opened a small stall on Pattaya Beach Road.

Across from Hollywood Karaoke in Soi Phetrakul, a new BBQ joint is set to open on June 29th.

In Soi Pattayaland 1, also known as Soi 13/3, the all new Poshtel Steakhouse Coffee & Bar opend.

Vicky & Joanna's, a bar and restaurant, opened in Soi 13/3 with the motto "Give Love, Take Love".

Three bars in Soi 7 that are worth a visit: Patsy, SP Swiss and Black Angels.

At the intersection of Pattaya 3rd Road / Soi Regional Land, Sophon Market has been built right in front of the 7/11 Mini Mart, with a variety of food stalls and a large sitting area to eat.

One of the many new bars in Soi Yamato is the New Bar. It replaces the no longer existing Hunny Bunny Bar.

Sin City is a gentleman's lounge serving wine and food, among other things. It replaces the defunct Geisha Club.

The Rabbit Hole is now hosting a killer pool tournament every Thursday at 20:00.

Drunken Monkey is one of the still popular girlies bars in Pattaya, but also offers food.

The Wet Spot is also a girlies bar. It replaces a place formerly known as Bangkok Bar.

And last but not least: Big Moose Pattaya. This venue replaces The Pump Station 4.

Luxor Bar is an old acquaintance, but now in a new dress. The Luxor is now located in the abandoned premises of the former Pandora Bar. Across the street from Luxor is now the Nook Nick Bar. You may remember this bar from its former location on Second Road (near the entrance to Soi 6).

Bazkoy, a small restaurant, has been in Soi 8 for a few months but has now reopened and serves Thai and Singaporean food.

Brand new to Soi 8, on the other hand, are Destiny, a restaurant and bar, and New Star Bar. Both venues are located directly in front of the still active Rolling Live 3 Bar

In front of the Baron Hotel, the Number Nine Bar and the Twilight Bar were opened. Number Nine replaces the Best Bar, Twilight the Next Best Bar. Work is underway to open at least two more venues We will keep you up-to-date.

Opposite the Baron Hotel the Happy Smile Bar was opened, it replaces the Surplus Bar.

MC Bar on Soi 8, near the entrance from Beach Road, looks for a new owner. If you are interested in buying the business, please call 082 356 6446. We will keep you up-to-date.

Hang Loose Beer Bar on Soi 8, a two units venue, looks for a new owner. If you are interested in buying the business, please call 092 619 8652 or 085 428 5533. We will keep you up-to-date.

The Flintstones Beer Bar on Soi 8, a newly renovated beer bar, looks for a new owner. If you are interested in buying the business, please call 093 347 8544. We will keep you up-to-date.

A few years ago there was a restaurant here known as Deutsches Haus. We will keep you up-to-date.

Before the pandemic and when the Best Friends bars were still attracting visitors to Beach Road, business was still thriving under this roof. The Best Friends site has now been a building site for years and this building will probably suffer the same fate. We will keep you up-to-date.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

Enjoy a delicious burger at Burger Queen, prepared by a nice lady, at the entrance to the former Soi Made in Thailand.

At the food court on Soi Buakhao Night Market you can enjoy homemade pizzas and freshly prepared Thai dishes at reasonable prices. The delicious meals are prepared in clean kitchens. However, the operator should pay more attention to the dining area.

The Den Bar & Inn in the southern part of Soi Buakhao has new management and a new name: Golden Bar - Golden Tigerinn.

Zero Bar reopens in the abandoned premises of a former 7-ELEVEN branch opposite Soi Buakhao Night Market.

Vixen Club opened on Soi Buakhao between the VIP Health Massage parlour and the Rock Factory.

Bottoms up, a Bar & Restaurant, opens in the premises of the former Kasikorn branch to the left of Soi Buakhao Night Market.

What used to be known as Ruangsettee - or even earlier as Bri & Enjoy Apartment - in Soi Buakhao has been Money One Bar & Room for a few days now.

Matty's Bar & Guesthouse replaces the disused P.R. Guesthouse in Soi Buakhao, just a few metres from the popular daily market.

Bar Code will open soon in Soi LK Metro. Update: The bar already opened with a lot of nice ladies.

The first of Pattaya's major massage parlours, Honey 1 reopened its doors in Soi 11 (off Soi Buakao). The street is also known as Soi Honey.

The former Golden Time Club in Soi Boomerang (off Soi Buakhao) not only has a new owner, but has also changed its name and now operates as Play Girlz.

The Sawasdee Siam Hotel management has erected three more stalls along Soi Buakhao to make it more difficult to park motorbikes.

Endless, a well-known hostess and sports bar in Soi Buakhao before the pandemic, is now for sale. If you are interested in buying the business, please call 082 798 7895. We will keep you up-to-date.

Charlie Place Hotel, a well-known hotel on the corner of Soi Buakhao / Soi Diana Inn, is for sale. We will keep you up-to-date.

The two budget Thai restaurants to the left and right of UK Pattaya Health Massage are no more. They remained closed for good on June 1st. The restaurants are being converted. We will keep you up-to-date.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

The Liquid Group reopened its Poison Bar on June 10th.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, only PattayaSweethearts reports on the A Go-Go and Disco scene in Pattaya!

The never-ending construction work on Walking Street is still worth a photo or even a film.

Part of the world-famous NangNual Sea Food Restaurant will be demolished. The land can be leased for new projects. The seaside area, however, will remain open for gourmets. We will keep you up-to-date.

Alan Burger - known for its cheap burgers on Pattaya 3rd Road - opened the cosy Mong Do Lay restaurant on Walking Street

The Trillion Club in Soi 16 (off Walking Street), which had already been pronounced dead, reopens for another time on June 1st. We will keep you up-to-date.

The management of Sensations A Go-Go is preparing the opening of the new Sens Grill. Let's hope they don't grill their dancers nor their customers at the new place .... We will keep you up-to-date.

Chicken Khurana in Soi 16 (off Walking Street) has been completely renovated in recent weeks and will reopen later this month.

The Indian restaurant at the entrance to Bali Hai has been replaced by a Chinese supermarket.

Here in Soi Lucky Star was a popular fish restaurant before the pandemic. This is all that remains of it .... We will keep you up-to-date.

These are the remains of the Simon Bar Complex near the entrance to Walking Street. Unfurnished, the space looks even larger.

Pin Up, one of Walking Street's most popular A Go-Go clubs, has downsized. The vacated space is now available for rent. If you are interested, please call 089 816 0936 or 062 194 6499. We will keep you up-to-date.