Month: February 2020
- Covid-19 News
Thai Health Minister apologises for his comments that ‘farang’ should be kicked out
UPDATE: The Thai Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, has had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease since this morning, after being panned in social media for his comments at a government PR gathering to promote the wearing of face-masks following the coronavirus outbreak in China. The minister has apologised for his earlier comments about ‘farang’ , when he said that they…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Health minister says no travel ban
Thailand’s public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul now says imposing a travel ban on Chinese citizens won’t help the government’s fight against coronavirus 2019nCov epidemic. Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Anutin said the infection is being found even in countries and territories that have restricted or closed their borders to Chinese travelers. Instead of a travel ban, he says, the…
Read More » - Environment News
Drought disasters plague the nation
Between October 17 and yesterday, drought disasters were declared in 116 districts across Thailand, legally obliging the government to provide assistance, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reports. The disasters were in 20 provinces – Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Nakhon…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Kick foreigners, not wearing face-masks, out of Thailand – Minister
Thailand’s mercurial Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has slammed foreign tourists who aren’t wearing face masks, or refuse to wear them when offered a free one offered by the government, says they “should be kicked out.” He was handing out government freebies this morning at the Siam BTS station as part of the Thai government’s education about coronavirus. “They don’t…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Japan cruise ship virus cases triple to 61
41 more cases of the Novel Coronavirus, or 2019nCoV, have been found on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, currently quarantined in Japan’s Yokohama Harbour, bringing the total to 61. The virus has killed hundreds of people, nearly all in China, and infected more than 30,000 on the Chinese mainland. The ship was quarantined after a former passenger, who disembarked in…
Read More » - Phuket News
Austrian man dies in Patong condo fall
A 68 year old Austrian man is dead after falling from his 12th floor condominium in Patong. His body was found at about 10 last night, on the ground outside the Patong Night Plaza condominium, where police say he lived alone. According to his passport he entered Thailand on December 19 on a 90 day visa. Blood pressure diabetes medications…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE – 31,481 infections world-wide, the search for a cure
“…the coronavirus has proven itself to have higher infection rates and lower fatality rates when compared with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)” As the coronavirus outbreak in China surges past the 30,000 mark, having infected 31,481 people, the global scientific community are racing to find a reliable treatment and vaccine. Most of the people…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Tourist police make video to encourage “Chinese family”
Facing a massive slump in tourism from China, the Tourist Police Bureau has produced a video for Chinese to boost the morale of people dealing with the Novel Coronavirus. The video has drawn plenty of praise and shares since being posted on social media yesterday. Tourist Police Commissioner Chadtha Komonwattana says the bureau is deeply concerned about the virus situation,…
Read More » - Central Thailand News
Deputy village chief in trouble over racy Facebook photos
What was she thinking?! A deputy village chief in the central province of Ang Thong has found herself in hot water after her sexy Facebook photos were shared online yesterday, Khao Sod reports. “I think what she did was a disgrace for our religious and community leaders, who must take action against her,” wrote one Facebook busybody member, who posted…
Read More » - Crime News
Disabled Canadian man robbed in Pattaya
A paraplegic Canadian man was robbed in Pattaya yesterday evening, reportedly by a Thai woman. 46 year old Ryab Boumer filed a report with Pattaya City Police alleging the theft of his wallet containing 50,000 baht. A Thai witness, 21 year old Wanchai Chinpeng, told police that he recently met Boumer, who hired him as a caretaker to help him…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE: Thursday afternoon, 1,200+ patients now fully recovered
As of Thursday afternoon, World Health Organisation officials have raised the death toll to 565, with a total of 28,299 cases identified around the world. The number of full recoveries now exceeds 1,200 and rising fast as many of the earlier cases progress to full recovery. Below we’ve catalogued a lot of the latest news from around the world from…
Read More » - Environment News
New bikes must meet Euro 4 emissions standards
A new government policy, which will take effect on March 29, requires all new motorbikes sold in Thailand to meet Euro 4 emissions standards. Officials of the Thai Industrial Standards Institute met yesterday with representatives of more than 40 motorbike manufacturers, including Honda and Yamaha, informing them of the requirements. The measure is intended to help tackle Thailand’s PM2.5 dust…
Read More » - World News
3 dead, 179 injured in Istanbul aircrash
Three people are dead and 179 injured, some seriously after a Pegasus Airlines plane heading into Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport skidded off the end of a wet runway and broke into three pieces upon landing yesterday. Turkey’s health minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters that three died in hospital, with 179 of the 183 aboard wounded. Ali Yerlikaya, Istanbul’s governor, says…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Cruise ships save the day in Koh Samui
It’s Europeans to the rescue in Koh Samui, as the last group of Chinese tourists for the foreseeable future left on Tuesday. Two cruise ships brought thousands of European visitors yesterday to save this southern resort island’s struggling economy. About 3,500 passengers, mostly from Britain and Germany, arrived aboard the German-flagged AIDAbella and the British-registered Marella Discovery. Groups of tourists…
Read More » - Road deaths
2 crushed as truck overturns in Suphan Buri
Two men were crushed to death when tractor-trailer truck overturned in Suphanburi province in central Thailand yesterday. Horrific CCTV footage showed the moment the truck, carrying animal feed, overturned, crushing the two, who were travelling on a motorcycle with a sidecar. The deceased were identified as 64 year old Montha and 56 year old Phra Manop, a monk at the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Bibi does Bangla – What is the Thai girl experience with foreign boyfriends?
Bibi heads to Soi Bangla in Phuket’s seaside party town of Patong. She’s inquiring about Thai girls’ opinions, even the working girls in the clubs. Have they had experience with a foreign boyfriend? What about their foreign boyfriend experiences, good and bad? What are their expectations? Is it all about money or are the Thai women more romantic than the…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
First Thai to catch and recover from Coronavirus tells people not to worry
The first Thai to contract, and recover from, the Novel Coronavirus is giving the thumbs up and telling the public not to panic. 73 year old Jaimuay Sae-ing was interviewed on the Palang Pracharat party’s Facebook page yesterday. Jaimuay fully recovered from the virus after nine days in Nakhon Pathom hospital, around 50 kilometres west of Bangkok, under the care…
Read More » - Politics News
Thailand’s plastics industry wants the government’s help to keep afloat
There may be less plastic bags being handed out around Thailand, and that’s a good thing. But there’s been a down side – the failure of an entire industry and the people it employees. Now the Thai Labour Minister is being asked to step in and help the dozens of Thai plastic bag manufacturers which are at risk of closing…
Read More » - Environment News
Thai government scraps Mekong blasting project
The government has officially abandoned a controversial plan to blast rapids on the Mekong river in Chiang Mai province. The Chinese-led dredging and blasting plan, initiated in 2001, met with fierce opposition from locals and environmental groups, and the Cabinet agreed to scrap it at a weekly meeting on Tuesday. The plan was to enable ships to carry goods from…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Passenger leaps to safety as taxi crashes, driver asleep
A girl leaped from a moving taxi yesterday, possibly saving her life, as the car immediately crashed into the tollway wall, causing a 4-car pileup. The taxi driver had fallen asleep. The incident occurred on the north tollway at the Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok province intersection northeast of Bangkok. The girl posted on Twitter that the taxi driver was in a deep…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE – 28,276 confirmed cases, many people continue to recover
The month-long outbreak of the novel coronavirus shows no sign of letting up with the death toll rising, along with the list of new cases and an increasingly long list of full recoveries. Chinese health officials have raised the death toll to 565, with a total of 28,276 cases identified around the world. The number of full recoveries now exceeds…
Read More » - Crime News
4 foreigners, 2 Thais nabbed in 3 drug busts
Four foreign nationals and two Thais have been arrested in three separate drug seizures involving heroin, ecstasy pills, cocaine, MDA, LSD and marijuana. The first bust saw two Taiwanese men arrested yesterday while trying to smuggle 15 kilograms of heroin out of Thailand in instant noodle packages and powder cans. The two, identified as Li Chun Hui and Li Chai…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
First locally infected virus patient cured, discharged
Thailand’s first locally infected victim of the Novel Coronavirus has been given a clean bill of health and discharged from hospital. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said today that the taxi driver, the first person to be infected in Thailand had been treated, cleared and discharged by Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute. All relatives and those who were in close contact…
Read More » - World News
Train hits car in Chiang Mai, family survives
Police from Chiang Mai’s Saraphi police station yesterday received a report of a train hitting a car and rushed with rescuers to the scene at a crossing in Yang Nueng district. Once there, they found a badly damaged black Toyota Vios. The rescue team helped a family of three from the vehicle and took them to hospital, while the damaged…
Read More » - Politics News
Prawit defends police chief promoting his own son
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that there is nothing illegal about the police commissioner promoting his own son to a senior police rank despite not meeting all of the criteria. The Royal Thai Police Office insists that Chanant Chaijinda was promoted on merit, and not because he’s the son of national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda. The RTPO was responding…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
10 on quarantined cruise test positive for Coronavirus
If you’ve got to be quarantined, it may as well be on a luxury cruise ship. But Japan’s health minister Katsunobu Kato announced today that 10 people on the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama Harbour, have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus. The 3711 guests and crew are still being tested, after a former passenger, who disembarked…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Four evacuees from Wuhan kept in naval hospital for observation
Four* of the 138 Thai evacuees from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, were taken to the hospital at the Royal Thai Navy’s Sattahip Naval Base for observation yesterday, after they were found to have a fever. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was at Pattaya’s U-Tapao Airport last night to meet the evacuees,…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Pattaya Floating Market cleans up its act to prevent Coronavirus
Pattaya’s Floating Market has been vigourously scrubbed down in an effort to increase hygiene and prevent the potential spread of the Novel Coronavirus. Staffers cleaned the entire venue from top to bottom yesterday. Surface areas were cleaned with disinfectant and alcohol spray. Every vendor in the hundreds of booths and stalls took part, to make sure potential tourists know the…
Read More » - Food
Best eateries in Bangkok’s Chinatown and beyond
Bangkok’s Chinatown and its historic Phran Nakhon district are home to some of the city’s most storied and beloved restaurants. But rather than brave Bangkok’s notorious traffic, The Thaiger suggests taking public transport, the MRT’s Blue “heritage” Line for maximum convenience. There are heaps of historic landmarks and temples nearby like Sao Chingcha (Giant Swing), Wat Traimit, the Golden Mount/Wat…
Read More » - Health
Thailand Medical Tourism, 2020: Reviewed
Following on from our previous review of Thailand’s Medical Tourism Industry, we’ve seen the highs and lows across 2019 and now into 2020. The highs mostly focused on the value of the Thai Baht and the lows centered around the Coronavirus, with Thailand still welcoming Chinese tourists, weeks after most countries closed their borders to them. The impact can easily…
Read More » - Thailand video news
Do Thai women prefer ‘farang’ or Thai men? And why?
Today Bibi from Thaiger’s T-Talk headed out to ask some random females about who they prefer – Farang or Thai guys, and why? And if they have to choose one, who would they go for? Is it the money? Is it the height, the blue eyes? Maybe they want to improve their English. There are plenty of theories, thousands of…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
73 year old Swede found dead in Chiang Mai condotel
Chiang Mai health authorities have reported the death of a 73 year old Swedish man in the northern province. He was found dead in a his condotel in Chang Phueak district on Monday. The body was discovered by staff, who immediately called police and health officials over fears of the Novel Coronavirus. The body was identified as that of Gunnar…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Flight full of Thai evacuees from Wuhan arrives at U-tapao, four with fever
Four of the 138 Thais repatriated in an Air Asia jet from Wuhan last night were found to have a fever. The Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was at U-tapao airport, south of Pattaya, last night to welcome the 138 evacuees. Thai AirAsia flight FD571, carrying the 138 Thai passengers, landed at the navy airport in Ban Chang district in…
Read More » - Road deaths
Head-on collision kills Austrian couple in Krabi
Two Austrian* tourists were killed in a collision with a truck in Thailand’s southern Krabi province on Monday. The pair were riding motorbikes registered in Krabi and veered into the wrong lane while navigating a turn on the road to Krabi Hot Springs when they collided head-on with an oncoming Mitsubishi pickup truck at approximately 4pm. Police and rescue workers…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE – 492 people now dead, spread to 25 countries
The latest toll for the Coronavirus outbreak has now reached 25,552, of which just over 3,000 are reported to be in a critical condition. 492 people have died from the disease and 907 have recovered. Outside of China there are now 25 countries with infected patients – Thailand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and Germany with the most cases. Meanwhile,…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Krabi health officials dismiss reports of 100 suspected virus patients
Days before PM Prayut Cha-ocha issued his ominous warning on spreading fake news about the Coronavirus outbreak, health officials of the Krabi Provincial Public Health Office (KPHO) refuted recent reports that 100 or more people are in isolation there on suspicion of being infected. The reports surfaced Saturday and appeared in several national news outlets, even including a “quote” from…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
Army officer wounded in Chiang Mai firefight with drug runners
A firefight with drug smugglers in Chiang Mai province’s Chiang Dao district has left an army officer wounded and in hospital. A patrol was dispatched to a border village in Chiang Dao on Sunday, after a tip-off. The informant said drugs would be brought across the border through the Nong Kalang pass. Early yesterday a group was spotted coming from…
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