Having travelled across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the two tourists are in Thailand for the first time.

“We are interested in Thai massage and herbs. So before we visited Thailand, we did some research on the Internet and found that Khon Kaen has a short course to teach foreigners how to do Thai traditional massage,” said Claire Sandrine, a graphic designer.

“We didn’t think that Khon Kaen would be a big city,” she added.

Sandrine said Khon Kaen was relatively quiet and its hospitality very impressive.

“Thai people smile easily. So everywhere we go we see people smiling at us,” she said, adding that her and her partner, identified only as Athens, were impressed by the northeast’s lifestyle and the region’s big family structure.

The couple took the short course on Thai traditional massage at the International Healthy Massage Club at KK Centrum Hotel in Muang district.

The hotel’s owner, Thanawan Panthes, a Khon Kaen Industrial Council member, said the course required students to learn the human anatomy and muscle systems to provide therapeutic benefits.

Thanawan said the lifestyle in Khon Kaen was based on a healthy balance between urbanised modernity and rural way of life, with people still weaving cloths and traditonal handicrafts.

Most tourists to the Northeast are from Europe and some parts of Asia. Many visitors also don’t just come to visit attractions but also learn interesting skills such as how to make Thai traditional handicrafts or how to cook authentic Northeasten-style dishes,” she added.

Police were told that a man riding on a motorcycle stopped his vehicle near the toll gate at about 4.30am on Monday, ducking under the fence to enter the tollgatr area. Under the cover of  heavy rain, he walked to booth number 1, pulled out a long knife  and snatched all the money, said to be about Bt20,000. He then ran away. The staff alerted police but he was not caught.

According to the security camera footage at the toll gate, the man was small and alim. He was riding a Honda Sonic but the license plate could not be seen.

This is not the first time that this toll gate booth has been robbed. On April 2, 2013, Wiwat Wilaichon, 33, attacked the booth and stole Bt9,000. He was later arrested and sent to prison.

Thaksin can appeal to the Revenue Department’s tax committee within 30 days.

If the tax committee rules against him, he can appeal to the Central Tax Court.

The Revenue Department action came after the government instructed it to do so before the March 31 deadline of the summons issuance.

The controversial tax liability is considered to have been incurred from the sale of Shin Corp shares in 2006.

The operation followed the discovery of 76 kilograms of marijuana hidden in a nearby wooded area on Monday night.

The search started at 6am and failed to find any drugs or other illegal items.

A man identified only as “Bang Mhad”, who is suspected to have hidden the marijuana in the wooded area, was last seen on March 22.

Patrol and Special Operation Division chief Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpan led the team that searched the wooded area on Monday.

The search stemmed from a recent crackdown on a Bangkok-based gang that brazenly sold marijuana online.

The crackdown resulted the arrest of Kanchai Reuksaensuk, 31, and Sakao Yanprai, 30, as well as the seizure of eight guns, more than 60 rounds of ammunition, 35 kilograms of marijuana, 1,000 “yaba” pills and 60 grams of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice”.

Kanchai confessed to having sold marijuana via a Facebook page, after using a profile picture of an innocent Thai model without her permission to attract customers.

He also confessed to using an online cosmetics retailer’s postal tracking numbers to boost his customers’ confidence in his delivery method.

In the self-described last opinion piece of “The Momentum”, managing editor Nakarin Wanakitpaiboon explained that the resignations, effective April 1, were a response to differing opinions with Day Poets’ executive board.

“[But] there was no drama. Everything was settled well,” the editor of the popular six-month-old website wrote. “‘Momentum’s’ fate from then will depend on the board.”

Nakarin added that he would start a new “bigger” project that should be ready by early June.

Debuting last October, ‘The Momentum’ is known for its reader-friendly yet knowledgeable content and podcasts covering global issues, business beats, personalities and lifestyle.

Its Facebook page has 127,000 likes, with popular articles attracting some one million views.

The mass resignation followed “a day BULLETIN” magazine editor-in-chief Wilairat Aimaiem resigning from Day Poets last Friday.

According to an informed source, the outgoing staff of ‘The Momentum’ and ‘a day BULLETIN’ will join Wongthanong Chainarongsingha, co-founder of “a day” magazine, to set up by June a new company to produce digital content and free magazines.

In February, Wongthanong resigned from Days Poets after disagreeing with the company’s decision to sell 70 per cent of its stock to Polaris Capital.

They denounced the move as a curb on the media and claimed that its reports were the truth – and vowed to follow the station online.

Facebook live coverage of the station’s press conference received mostly “angry face” emoticon as station executive Mekin Petchplai clarified Voice TV’s next moves after it was suspended by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Monday.

The fans also provided moral support, encouraging Voice TV staff to keep up their work so that audiences can still watch their shows via Facebook and its website.

Many claimed the move was “what happens” when the country is ruled by a “dictatorial” regime, when freedom of expression is limited.

It may also be because Voice TV’s editorial style is widely perceived as leaning towards the pro-democracy side, opposite to the current atmosphere, they said.

“It is a shame that freedom of such a straightforward station had to be limited,” said a comment by Jagrapat Jungtrakul on the Facebook live page, which addressed the close-down order.

“Voice is a station that provides factual information,” another comment by Achawee Sarabun said.

Voice TV is run also by Panthongtae and Pintongta Shinwatra, the son and daughter of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin.

It has been under a close watch and warned several times by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) since the coup in 2014 for its “unbalanced” criticism of the regime.

The artificial flowers will be made into 36 patterns – such as roses, orchids, water lilies, cape jasmines, daffodils, zinnias and champaks – from focal natural materials like dried banana leaves and trunks and dried water hyacinths, Aswin said on Monday.

They will be made and provided at 101 booths across Bangkok.

Flower makers will include people from BMA schools, vocational schools and companies.

Their models will also be given to those wishing to craft the flowers themselves.

According to Thai tradition, wood flowers are placed in front of a deceased person’s coffin or urn as a last tribute before cremation.

The BMA’s Social Development Department is receiving raw material donations for the flower-making process.