Month: May 2020
- Bangkok News
Beware overcrowding and virus transmission – PM
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says packed crowds in public spaces are a concern when it comes to the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. The Bangkok Posts reports that Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says the PM wants to see more measures put in place to reduce overcrowding. Just a few days ago, a…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Pattaya’s beaches are still a ‘no go’ area this month
Don’t go to Pattaya’s beaches unless you’re willing go to jail or pay a hefty fine. Starting tomorrow, the city’s beaches will be closed until the end of May in an effort to prevent socialising and to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Pattaya’s police posted photos on Facebook of the taped-off beaches and warning signs. “Those who try to access the…
Read More » - Crime News
Gamblers arrested, police investigated for ‘negligence’ in Bang Chan
Not a lockdown, not a global pandemic, not a series of recent arrests will slow down the urge for some gamblers to gamble. Now officials from the Department of Provincial Administration in Bang Chan, north-east of Bangkok’s city centre, have raided more illegal casinos with some senior police in the area being side-lined to inactive posts. There were recent raids…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
May 17 target for shopping centres to re-open
The rumours have been flying since this week’s cabinet meeting about the next raft of re-openings as Thailand’s economy starts to plod back into gear. Now, after a meeting yesterday of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, there’s general consensus that shopping centres and retail stores will be able to re-open on Sunday, May 17. Of course the caveat is…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Bangkok’s International Pioneers School distributes free meals in local community
Joining similar campaigns across the nation, Bangkok’s International Pioneers School has been giving away lunch boxes with fresh, healthy food and a bottle of water to the local community every day since April 27. On the first day all the food prepared by the school was finished within 20 minutes. IPS increased the quantity for the next day, but that…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Unqualified Kalasin rescue volunteer criticised for his handling of crash victim – VIDEO
A rescue volunteer in Issan’s Kalasin province has come under heavy criticism for attempting to treat an injured victim of a traffic incident, despite being altogether unqualified. The victim later died in hospital. Witnesses of the incident recorded footage last night showing a man lying on the ground with broken limbs when a rescue volunteer arrives at the scene and bends…
Read More » - Hua Hin News
Drunk fishing crew crash the boss’s car into a river in Prachuap Khiri Khan
If you take your boss’s car out for the night, the last thing you want to do is crash it. Even worse, into a river. Last night, three fisherman got a little too ‘intoxicated’ at a party and accidentally drove their boss’s car into the Pran Buri River. Around 10:30 p.m., after drinking at a nearby pineapple factory in Prachuap Khiri…
Read More » - Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, May 7
Issan restaurant owner allegedly shoots wife, stepson, nephew A restaurant owner in Issan’s northeastern Maha Sarakham province has surrendered to police after allegedly shooting dead his wife and stepson. Police arrived at the scene to find the alleged shooter, a 31 year old, had locked himself inside. He reportedly fired a warning shot to discourage officials against getting too close.…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Deputy PM says some restrictions could be eased before mid-May
Speaking at the Covid-19 Coronavirus Situation Administration today, Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam addressed rumours that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering easing some Covid19 restrictions before the middle of May. Meetings are taking place this afternoon between the CCSA and other government departments as the PM gathers medical advice from the CCSA and other experts on the feasibility of loosening some…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 3 new cases, no deaths (Thursday)
Health officials today reported 3 new Covid-19 cases, all Thai nationals, bringing the total in Thailand to 2,992 since the beginning of the outbreak. No new deaths were reported, leaving the toll at 55. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says 1new case is a Thai housewife, aged 59, in the southern province of Yala at…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Dozens of staff at Narathiwat hospital quarantined
62 staff of a hospital in the southern Narathiwat province, bordering Malaysia, are now in quarantine after making contact with a man who arrived with flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for Covid-19. The hospital’s director says that a 45 year old man from Waeng district walked into the hospital on May 30 to be treated for flu. “He stayed…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Unemployed elephants in Thailand’s north trek home
The Covid-19 crisis has affected the livelihoods of countless millions of Thais… not all of them human. Elephant camps in Chiang Mai, and elsewhere in Thailand’s north, have been devastated by the drop in tourism, forcing some to close and having to leave their elephants without food to survive. More than 100 are now marching up to 150 kilometres back…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Repatriation flight from Germany arrives in Bangkok
Last night 110 Thai people, living abroad and having been affected by the Covid-19 travel restrictions and flight bans, arrived from Frankfurt, Germany on a specially-chartered Lufthansa flight. The flight number LH772 arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport where all the passengers passed initial screening with no high fevers detected and medical paperwork intact. Thai citizens, who weren’t in Frankfurt, had to make…
Read More » - Business News
Will Pattaya bar customers want ID tracing and bar girls with masks and gloves?
OPINION Why do people travel to Pattaya? If it’s for the legendary bar scene, they’re going to be in for a surprise if proposed Covid-era measures are adopted. Likely it’s not going to be the ‘Pattaya’ they were expecting, or had been accustomed to in the past. Social distancing (surely a phrase to be added to dictionaries from this year),…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
20,000 military-grade masks are on the way to help battle Covid-19
The Thai Royal Army has approved the production of military and medical protective masks, a total of 20,000 pieces valued at 600 million baht, to help the nation save over 500 million baht on imported N95 masks. Funding has come from government agencies and the private sector, hoping to help 500 medical personnel in need in the southern border provinces…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Thousands of Thais to return by the end of May
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has announced that all Thai nationals, stranded abroad during the peak of the outbreak, will be repatriated. The government is preparing to welcome around 7,000 returnees who will arrive by the end of the month. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the CCSA says that the centre is working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Issan restaurant owner allegedly shoots wife, stepson, nephew – VIDEO
A restaurant owner in Issan’s northeastern Maha Sarakham province has surrendered to police after allegedly shooting dead his wife and stepson. Police were alerted to the shooting incident at a restaurant in the province’s main city district last night. They arrived at the scene to find the alleged shooter, identified as 31 year old Udomsak Thepharat, had locked himself inside.…
Read More » - World News
Leading Philippines broadcaster shut down after clashes with Duterte
The Philippines’ leading television and radio broadcaster, ABS-CBN, has been ordered to shut down by the country’s parliament, where the majority of members are loyal to President Rodrigo Duterte. Critical coverage of President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs angered the Philippine leader, but his gripe with ABS-CBN goes back to the 2016 presidential election when he accused the network of refusing to…
Read More » - Crime News
German national stabbed to death in central Thailand
A 60 year old German man, who worked as an English teacher, has been found stabbed to death at his home in the central province of Prachan Buri. The Bangkok Post reports that the man’s body was discovered by his ex-wife, 45 year old Sriwan Khunmak. He has been named in Thai media as Wilhelm Klaus. It’s understood that he…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Former employee of Thai Embassy in Singapore arrested for forging visa documents
Police in Chiang Rai have arrested a Singaporean national accused of forging visa documents. 26 year old David Han, a former employee at the Thai Embassy in Singapore, was arrested by Immigration Police at a hotel in Chiang Rai in possession of counterfeit documents required for visa extension. The Chiang Rai Times reports that Han told police he still worked…
Read More » - Crime News
4 arrested over park ranger’s shooting death
Further to a story published yesterday by The Thaiger, police have now arrested 4 men for the shooting death of a forest protection officer at Sap Langka Wildlife Sanctuary in the central province of Lop Buri. Police overseeing the Central Plains provinces say the arrested men are residents in tambon Kut Ta Phet of Lam Sonthi district. The men, allegedly poachers,…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Speeding ambulance ejects patient on stretcher into Bangkok traffic – VIDEO
A video that captured the moment a female patient was catapulted from an ambulance into busy city traffic has now been viewed over a million times. The Thai Examiner reports that the incident occurred as the ambulance, lights flashing, was speeding through Bangkok traffic, transporting the woman to hospital. As the driver accelerated along Pracha Uthit Road in the capital’s…
Read More » - World News
Covid-19 hotline for forgotten migrant workers
45 year old Maw la Myine is from Myanmar and works for NGO Thai Raks, educating his community about public health issues such as HIV and TB. And now, Covid-19. Maw has a gift for languages, having been a volunteer Mon language teacher to children at home. His ability to speak Thai led to him becoming a translator, liaising between…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
10 arrested in Chon Buri for house party in violation of Emergency Decree
Police in Chon Buri province’s Sattahip subdistrict, south of Pattaya, raided a party last night at a house with 10 people, most of them from out of town and described as domestic tourists. The gathering was a direct violation of the Emergency Decree enacted to stop the spread of Covid-19 Na Jomtien police were notified by a “concerned citizen” that…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
New scheduled departure times for people leaving Phuket
While Phuket officials have allowed tens of thousands of people to leave the island to head back to their home provinces, the Phuket provincial government only allowed Phuket residents to leave the island in their own vehicles on April 30 and May 1, being the ‘first round’ and ‘second round’ of the mass exodus. But on the first day there…
Read More » - Crime News
Park ranger shot dead in Lop Buri clash with poachers
A park ranger has been killed in a clash with poachers in the central Lop Buri province. 37 year old fish and wildlife ranger Karn Chaiprasert was found dead on Monday with a gunshot wound. The head of the wildlife sanctuary, Wasant Klomchinda, said Karn led a 3 member team on patrol on Sunday in a forest on the Khao…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Lifting of alcohol ban sees resurgence in road carnage
With the alcohol ban lifted the carnage has resumed on Thailand’s roads. The national alcohol ban was lifted in all 76 of Thailand’s provinces, plus Bangkok, last Sunday. The sale and transport of alcohol was banned as part of the national state of emergency in order to stop people drinking and socialising during the Covid-19 crisis. A predictable, and welcome,…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
CCSA reports 1 new Covid-19 case, 1 new death (Wednesday)
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported about just 1 new coronavirus patient today, a masseuse, and 1 death, an Australian hotel manager in Khao Lak, Phang Nga province. CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin reported this morning that the total of Covid-19 cases rose to 2,986 as the 27 year old masseuse tested positive after returning from Russia. She has…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Follow the rules or face the consequences – PM
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning that unless people and businesses continue to adhere to social distancing rules, previously lifted restrictions could be reinstated. Nation Thailand reports that the PM has already issued new guidelines on the sale of alcohol after chaotic scenes in supermarkets across the country following the lifting of the alcohol ban in all but a handful…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
UK now second only to the US in reported Covid-19 deaths
The death tolls have been shocking, week after week… First, China’s Hubei province, then Italy, Spain and France. Now, the United Kingdom has surpassed them all as it reports more deaths from the Covid-19 coronavirus than any country in Europe, reaching a grim milestone that piles further scrutiny on the response to the pandemic by PM Boris Johnson’s government. The…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Hundreds seek Emergency loans from the Government Saving Bank
Parn Phet Market Government Savings Bank branch in Mukdahan (north eastern Thailand) reports that hundreds of people have lined up to seek emergency loans from the government to help those affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The queue was stated to have been so long that it stretched out onto the street. After making their online applications, those applicants were asked…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Phuket reports no new Covid-19 cases for fourth day, one new death
The southern island province of Phuket reported no new Covid-19 cases today, a fourth consecutive day, though there was one additional death. The man was a 63 year old hotelier from Khao Lak in neighbouring Phang Nga province on the mainland, who visited Phuket before falling ill. He travelled to Phuket between March 19-21 and first began exhibiting symptoms on…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Yala lab under investigation following Covid-19 testing errors
A medical lab in the southern province of Yala, which returned 40 “false positive” Covid-19 test results, is being investigated to determine where the errors came from. Thai PBS World reports that experts from Prince of Songkhla University in Hat Yai and the Medical Science Department in Nonthaburi province have been sent to the lab to investigate the situation. The…
Read More » - Crime News
7 Russians arrested on Koh Phangan
Police on Surat Thani province’s Koh Phangan, the island best known for its “full moon parties,” have arrested 7 Russian tourists for violating the Emergency Decree. Acting on a complaint filed by concerned Koh Phangan citizens, police raided a two-storey house at Nai Wok village in the wee hours of Monday morning. The next full moon party would have been…
Read More » - Thailand News
Issuing of driving licences suspended during emergency decree
The Department of Land Transport has declared a moratorium on the issuing of new driving licences until the emergency decree ends (currently scheduled to end on May 31). Thai Residents reports that DLT Director General Jirut Wisarnjit says the recent extension to the emergency decree means services will not re-open from May 7 as planned. “The decision has been taken…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Concerns in Pattaya over packed trucks transporting construction workers
Whilst Thailand’s residents are being told to ensure appropriate social distancing in all circumstances as the country slowly re-opens businesses, Pattaya residents have shared their concern about the conditions local construction workers are being transported, saying there is no social distancing being observed at all. The Pattaya News reports that it has received photos of workers crammed onto packed trucks…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
1 million methamphetamine pills seized in Chiang Rai
Last night at around 8.30 pm Police officers from the Narcotics Suppression Division 3, under the supervision of Police General Watcharathip Mongkol, arrested 27 year old Atthachai Sai Kaew. The location of the arrest was at Rob Wiang Sub-district, Chiang Rai Province. Reports reveal that Atthachai was smuggling about 1,000,000 methamphetamine pills (yaba). During the arrest, officials found that Atthachai…
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