Join COCO+
Flood hardship in Thai northeast ‘is my suffering,’ PM says before visit
Criticized for ignoring the humanitarian crisis in Thailand’s northeast, where thousands of families have been displaced by flooding, the prime minister today will visit the hard-hit province of Ubon Ratchathani. A government spokeswoman this morning announced that former junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Thursday afternoon will visit the province’s Warin Chamrap district, where storms drove ...
Internet erupts with #PrayuthGetOut as Thai PM rants in parliament
A moment they’d all been waiting for – seeing former junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha in the hot seat before parliament – went over about as well as could be expected online,...
PM walks out on Oathgate debate in Thai parliament
A much-anticipated parliamentary debate over Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s incomplete oath of office was underway Wednesday, but the man in question was making it clear he...
Ex-con Thai cabinet minister briefly hospitalized for ‘working too hard’
Update: Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow has been released from the hospital, where he says he was being treated for a Chikungunya infection. Who’s not feeling so...
Thai cabinet’s convicted heroin smuggler’s doctorate exposed as fake
Some time after Thamanat Prompow was released from an Australian prison two decades ago for smuggling heroin, he earned a doctorate on his way to joining Thailand’s cabinet this...
Court records of Thai minister’s drug trafficking conviction emerge
Thai Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow would have gotten a much longer sentence had he not cooperated with the authorities and pleaded guilty to importing a...
261M baht earmarked for Thai flood relief
The cabinet has approved THB261 million in disaster relief funds to help northern Thailand recover from a tropical storm double-whammy last week. Following powerful storms that...
Sweet Talk: Thailand to pay more for sugary drinks
Having a sweet tooth will become more expensive starting next month when the sugar tax goes up. Beverage companies can expect to pay another THB2 for each liter of sucrose-infused...
Laos activist feared missing in Thailand: rights groups
A Laos activist is feared missing in Thailand, rights groups said Friday, calling for an urgent investigation into his whereabouts after a rash of similar disappearances of...
Major Thai department and convenience stores to drop plastic bags: gov’t
Forty-three of Thailand’s biggest department and convenience stores will stop using plastic bags starting Jan. 1, according to the Thai government. It may have taken...
Enjoy art, pop culture, and traditions in these five emerging destinations in Southeast Asia
Coconuts Bangkok Politics
This is your spot for learning which government official was spotted on Soi Cowboy, who’s been misappropriating funds to pimp out his office and what’s going on behind the closed doors at Government House (Hint: It’s not Pokemon Go). Sometimes, with politicians like we’ve got, you have to laugh or else you’ll cry.