This week: Queen Elizabeth II dies, long-term visas, anti-Prawit German, student murders and a rude tuk-tuk driver
HM Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history, died on Thursday. She was 96.
Buckingham Palace announced her death in a short statement, triggering 10 days of national mourning and an outpouring of tributes to her long life and record-breaking reign.
The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, 73, becomes king immediately.
Long-term visa applications open
The Board of Investment has begun accepting applications for long-term resident visas offering numerous perks to wealthy and high-potential foreigners.
The new visa will allow selected non-Thais to stay in the kingdom for up to 10 years.
Eligible applicants are those who have at least US$1 million in assets and investments in Thailand, and retirees aged 50 or older who have an annual pension or a stable income.
The third group is remote foreign workers employed by an overseas company that has sales of at least $150 million over the previous three years.
The last group is highly skilled professionals.
German protests against Prawit
A member of a royalist group is asking police to take action against a German man on a solo, public crusade against Acting Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Prayut Chan-o-cha.
A complaint was filed accusing the 35-year-old German Moritz Pfoh of conducting actions that could incite civil disobedience and interfering in Thai affairs.
Media showed Mr Pfoh holding a photo of Prawit with a large cross over the image at an intersection in Rayong.
He told reporters that he was acting to support what he called the "90%" of Thais who did not like Prawit and Prayut, but dared not speak out in public against them.
Three students murdered after accident
Three students were shot dead and their motorcycle set on fire after a crash involving a BMW in Krabi province.
A 42-year-old man was later arrested.
He allegedly admitted to having taken methamphetamine before the accident with the motorcycle.
He got out of the car and used a shotgun to fire shots at the three 18-year-olds on the bike.
He denied setting fire to the motorcycle.
Following his arrest he was moved to solitary confinement after attacking another prisoner in his police cell.
Rude tuk-tuk driver penalised
A tuk-tuk driver was fined and ordered to undergo three hours of good behaviour training for being rude and aggressive to a Singapore couple.
The couple said the driver demanded more money, even though they had agreed on 160 baht for a ride from Siam Paragon to Surasak BTS station.
The tourists refused to give him more money and that angered the driver.
The Singaporeans filmed the driver's F-bomb peppered rant, which then went viral on social media.
