News
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Confusion, delayed appointments, and finger pointing: Thailand’s vaccine rollout in disarray
It seems it’s all turned into a bit of a shambles. Only a week after the government’s national vaccine rollout kicked off to great pomp and ceremony at Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station, it has already run into problems. The Bangkok Post reports that both public and private hospitals are postponing appointments, saying they haven’t been given enough vaccines. The…
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DW honors Nigerian reporter Tobore Ovuorie for defending the voiceless
Screams filled the dark corners of the high-security camp. The young women around Tobore Ovuorie scrambled to escape into the night. She was frozen from horror. Her clothes splattered with blood, and her eyes transfixed on the two bodiless heads that just tumbled to the ground. Everything turned black, her consciousness drifting from her body. When Ovuorie recounts her experience…
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Vietnam strikes deal to manufacture vaccines, but which brand?
Covid-19 vaccines will now be manufactured in Vietnam, according to their Health Ministry, though they have not revealed which brand of vaccine will be produced. The announcement was made on Vietnam’s Health Ministry website yesterday with very little concrete information. The website originally mentioned Vingroup JSC as the company that will be manufacturing the vaccine in Vietnam, but all reference…
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Motorbike thieves arrested after a million baht of bikes stolen
This week Pattaya Police arrested a group of motorbike thieves that they say are responsible for about a million baht worth of stolen bikes. The gang were arrested at a condo in Jomtien on Thursday afternoon by the Pattaya City Police Department. The raid captured 3 suspects, all between the ages of 22 and 23. The trio were nabbed after…
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Police warn child pornography is a serious matter after teacher caught downloading clips
Siriwat Deepor, deputy commander in chief of the Royal Thai Police, says police have arrested a teacher at a renowned school in Chiang Rai after the teacher downloaded hundreds of pornographic videos of children. They did not give the teacher’s name or the name of the school. The police allege the individual kept the videos for their own enjoyment and…
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Tropical storm Koguma brings heavy rain to North, Northeast
Tropical storm Koguma is heading towards the Northern and Northeastern region of Thailand and is expected to dump rain on the area over the next few days as it weakens. The storm was centred over the Tonkin Bay off the northern coast of Vietnam yesterday morning and has been heading moving west at about a 15 kilometre per hour. The…
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(Another) poll (also) shows Thais’ lack of confidence in vaccine campaign
Earlier today, the Thaiger reported on a survey that showed a sizeable chunk of respondents did not have confidence in the government’s vaccine rollout. It wasn’t the only survey that showed that recently. A survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (AKA the Nida Poll) shows that many people think the distribution and allocation of vaccines for Thailand has…
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Despite rumours, PM and goverment not planning early election
Amid a scattered Covid-19 response and vaccine rollout, and plenty of political fingerpointing and whispers, government officials dismiss rumours that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will call an early special election. The rumours gained traction after the prime minister urged cabinet members to hasten their work as the administration had only 1 year left, when in fact the 4-year term ends in…
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Thai PM not happy with soccer gambling
Prayut Chan-o-cha, has voiced his concern that there has been an uptick in illegal gambling by Thai people throughout the UEFA European Soccer Championship (AKA Euro 2020). The PM told the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and “relevant agencies” to tighten the scrutiny of illegal gambling, with an emphasis on online gambling. He also asked…
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Doctors demand the government be more honest about Covid-19
The Rural Doctors Society wants the Thai government and the CCSA to be more upfront about vaccine availability and if there are enough doses to fulfill current vaccine appointments. The doctors released a statement yesterday that says there will be “chaos” this week due to more vaccination appointments being made than expected. They say this will lead to appointments being…
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Songkhla officials investigate pricey street lamps
Officials in Hat Yai, a city in the southern province of Songkhla, are investigating whether they paid too much money for street lamps. Reportedly, this the third such allegation made toward a local administration in Thailand… This month. The new Hat Yai mayor, Sakhon Thongmunee, has ordered a panel to be established after he got the news that an administrative…
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Illegal casino operator accused of 4 charges including murder
A man who is alleged to have been running illegal casino operations is now facing indictment on 4 charges, including murder. The Crime Suppression Division has called for the charges to be filed against Somchai Jutikitdecha, the 56 year old suspect that goes by Longjoo Somchai. The CSD first arrested Longjoo back in February of 2020, accusing him of being…
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Goverment kind of discloses what the secret budget is spent on
The Thai government has shed some light on its “secret budget allocations” to parry criticisms that it should increase transparency about money being used on defence. The Prime Minister Operations Centre shared details on its Facebook page. They say the secret allocations taken out of the 3.1 trillion baht budget deal amounted to only .03% of the total (930 million…
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Penis statue works as village sees rain after erection
Laugh and make jokes if you must (we certainly did!) but yesterday’s report on the village that erected a giant penis to bring rain has a, erm, happy ending. We’ll give you one guess on what the weather is like in the Yothaka sub-district of Chachoengsao province this weekend. If you guessed that the penis statue and rain blessing ceremony…
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Man busted for allegedly possessing over 100 marijuana plants, selling marijuana online
Yesterday, police in the eastern Thai province of Sa Kaeo arrested an unnamed man for allegedly selling marijuana online along with possession of marijuana. At the 42 year old man’s residence, police allegedly found 111 marijuana plants in the backyard. The plants, strains unknown, were seized as evidence. Reportedly, police also seized 16.6 kilograms of marijuana, also known as dope,…
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Bangkok parks, salons, tattoo, massage reopen Monday
Does your dream day in Bangkok start with a manicure before viewing some great art or history, followed by a stroll through the park, maybe a quick neck tattoo before ending the day with a nice massage for your tired feet? If so, the restrictions in place for Covid-19 has had you sitting at home bored, waiting for everything to…
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Covid UPDATE Sunday: 2,804 new infections and 18 Covid-related deaths
The Thai public health department has announced another 18 Covid-related deaths and 2,804 new infections. 409 of today’s cases come from the prison system. The numbers coming out of the public health department, and announced each morning at around 11.30am by a CCSA spokesperson, have been statistically similar for the past 2 months, with the exception of the cases coming…
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With nearly 60% of their population vaccinated, why is Chile’s Covid rate surging?
Chile, with nearly 60% of its population fully vaccinated, has gone into another lockdown to curb a new surge of the coronavirus. The Chilean Health Ministry says the 7 day average of new Covid infections remain above 7,000 people per day, and there were only 30 intensive care beds left in the capital as of last night. Santiago has a…
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Are we losing the fight against child labor?
When global coronavirus lockdowns and economic disruptions closed schools and curtailed millions of families’ income, an alarming increase in child labor across developing nations made headlines. But even before the pandemic, the number of children forced to work was on the rise. A report by the International Labor Organization found that 160 million children around the world are engaged in…
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Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says ‘harsh’ sanctions needed
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — currently living in exile in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius — has called for harsher sanctionsagainst strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, adding this is the only effective way to put pressure on him and his administration. “Lukashenko only understands the language of force and economic sanctions. This is the mechanism that should be used … the…
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Pattaya October reopening hampered by obstacles
Pattaya has been working on its reopening plan, aiming to bring back international tourism in the fourth quarter of 2021. Officials have launched the “Pattaya, Move on” scheme which aims to open back up the popular tourist city in October, but the Public Health Ministry disagrees with their plan so far. The goal is to reopen Pattaya without the need…
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Thong Lor again: 31 arrested in club violating Covid-19 rules
Some people never learn. After frequently being named as the source of the Covid-19 third wave outbreak, which brought the more contagious Alpha variant to Thailand and spread it to every province in the country, the clubs and Hi-So people of the Thong Lor area of Bangkok are still flouting Covid-19 safety restrictions. Today 31 people were arrested after partying…
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Pfizer vaccine application received, review process begun
The Food and Drug Administration in Thailand is now processing the application for the Pfizer vaccine for domestic use against Covid-19. The secretary-general of the FDA says they have received the application from Pfizer Thailand and have begun the review process, taking the vaccine one step closer to use in Thailand. The government had just submitted an order of 20…
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Covid-19 prevention leads to 14 arrests of longterm overstays
While attempting to curb the spread of Covid-19 through migrant workers and illegal immigrants, Immigration Police have arrested 14 foreigners with “egregious overstays”. Today’s announcement of the bust of 14 foreign nationals took place mostly in northeastern provinces. The Immigration Chief explained that officials at immigration have been proactive in seeking out people who entered Thailand illegally to prevent an…
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Red tape and restrictions suggest a slow Phuket reopening
With the rollercoaster ride of the Phuket Sandbox reopening scheme, some government officials remain mostly optimistic, while many others are scaling back predictions and expectations. A slow return of tourist to Phuket is forecast as the plan, which won’t be officially approved until just days before the scheduled reopening on July 1, is meeting with a fair amount of blowback…
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UPDATE: Tourism Minister reportedly says July 1 ‘sandbox’ won’t happen
UPDATE By the conclusion of a meeting in Phuket this afternoon the only confirmation was that the July 1 date for a re-opening of Thailand, via the Phuket sandbox was “still on”, according to Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com who attended the meeting. More details when they emerge. Bottomline, nothing is confirmed until the Thai Cabinet discusses the issue, probably Tuesday,…
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Koh Samui eyes August 1 reopening, “Samui Sealed Route”
While Phuket’s July 1 reopening is hotly debated, Koh Samui has been quietly vaccinating its population and putting together plans to welcome tourists back, proposing an August 1 reopening. The proposal aims to ease Koh Samui and neighbouring islands Koh Phangan and Koh Tao back into tourism, potentially as a second stop for travellers arriving into Phuket with their Sandbox…
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Village need rain? Have you considered a giant penis?
Yothaka Subdistrict of Chachoengsao province is a fertile low river plain along the Nakhon Nayok River with rich agriculture. Since the residents there are heavily dependant on farming and therefore rain for their crops, locals in one village have a tradition to call in the rainy season by really using their (other) heads. Bringing new meaning to the phrase “member…
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COVID vaccines in the workplace: Can I ask who got their shots?
Jon works for the local government in the US state of Virginia. The 40-year-old received both his COVID shots in April. Most of his coworkers are vaccinated, too. But how does he know that’s the case? “I find most people will volunteer the information,” Jon told DW. “Even though we’re not supposed to ask.” In many other workplaces around the…
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8.3% of Thailand’s 50 million vaccine target reached so far
Thailand has set a goal of 50 million people vaccinated against Covid-19, and as of today, they have given at least one vaccine to 8.3% of that target. The spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced that since beginning vaccinations in Thailand on February 28, 5.66 million injections have been administered. On Thursday, 223,315 vaccines were given around…
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