Month: March 2021
- Thailand News
Thailand to hold cannabis forums on 420th day since legalisation
In light of the 420th day since cannabis was legalised in Thailand, the government is holding 2 forums next month to promote the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The events’ turn out is expected to be large as there is no charge to participate. Bangkok’s Carlton Hotel will host the first event on April 19-20 to mark World Cannabis…
Read More » - Phuket News
Watch your step, hundreds of red sea urchins wash up on Patong Beach
Hundreds of red sea urchins washed up on Phuket’s Patong Beach yesterday, prompting marine life experts to investigate and lifeguards to warn beachgoers to watch out their steps to avoid the sharp spines. Marine experts say the sea urchins are the same species that washed up on Patong beach earlier this month. On March 2, hundreds of the red sea…
Read More » - Business News
Consumer groups sue Trade Competition Commission for approving CP-Tesco merger
Thailand’s Trade Competition Commission has been served with a lawsuit courtesy of the Foundation for Consumers and 37 other consumer groups, as a result of a merger between the conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group and Lotus (formerly Tesco Lotus). “The Charoen Pokphand Group is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand’s largest private company and one of the world’s…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
6 markets shut in Bangkok’s Bang Khae district as infections rise to 224
6 markets in the Bang Khae district of Bangkok, scene of a new cluster of Covid-19 infections, have been closed for 3 days. They are Siriseththanon (previously known as Saeng Fah), Soon Karnkha Bang Khae, Kitti, Pasom, and Talad Mai Bang Khae markets. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has ordered them all to close for deep cleaning and disinfection, adding that…
Read More » - Transport News
Transport Ministry to decide location of new southern land bridge by June
Thailand’s Transport Minister says the location of the much-discussed southern land bridge will be confirmed by June. Saksayam Chidchob says the bridge will provide a more convenient option for shipping goods between the Middle East and the Pacific region. According to a Bangkok Post report, the government is reviewing various locations in the province of Chumphon on the Gulf of…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
State quarantine hotels urge government to expand market beyond repatriating Thais
Thailand’s state quarantine hotels are calling on the government to allow them to accept bookings from Thais arriving on semi-commercial flights and not just those returning on dedicated repatriation flights. State quarantine hotels are only permitted to receive repatriating Thais, whose bookings take longer to process as a result of long waiting lists, limited flight availability, and more expensive fares…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha gets the first AstraZeneca jab in Thailand
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha got the first AstraZeneca jab in Thailand this morning after a short delay due to safety concerns. A government spokesperson called the prime minister’s inoculation “historic.” The jab kicks off Thailand’s AstraZeneca vaccination programme. Prayut’s vaccination plans were suddenly postponed last Friday and the country’s rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine was put on pause due to concerns…
Read More » - Thailand Protest News
Parit threatens hunger strike if activists charged with lèse majesté are not released
Protest leader and co-founder of the Ratsadon pro-democracy group, Parit Chiwarak, has threatened to go on hunger strike if fellow activists charged with lèse majesté offences are not released. Thailand’s lèse majesté law, officially known as section 112 of the Criminal Code, prohibits criticising, insulting, or otherwise defaming the monarchy. A number of activists have been hit with the charge…
Read More » - Thailand News
Thai Visa Centre says former employee has been arrested for stealing
Thai Visa Centre says a former employee has been arrested for stealing money from staff and clients, including a family who were planning to travel to Thailand. They say the former employee, Asim Muhummad Mehran, was caught while “attempting to flee the country in Hat Yai with our clients’ money, staffs’ money, and a lot of records of transactions.” The…
Read More » - Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Cluster breaks out west of Bangkok, Phuket resort owner in bad crash | March 15
On The Thaiger today, another cluster breaks out in the west of Bangkok, more deaths in Myanmar as the Burmese Army turns against its citizens, and the PM apologises for spraying journalists with hand-sanitiser last week. Thailand recorded 170 new infections of Covid yesterday, most of them in Bangkok. It pushes the country’s accumulated total infections to nearly 27,000. The…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to be injected with AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is set to be injected with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine tomorrow. He initially planned to get the vaccine last Friday, but suddenly cancelled due to worries that the vaccine could be linked to an increased risk of blood clots. The press is barred from attending the formal vaccination event at the Government House, but the process…
Read More » - Thailand News
Cats seized in suspected drug network raid in Rayong to be auctioned off
Assets seized by police from criminal networks, which are then auctioned off to the public, usually include furniture, cars and sometimes land and property. Today, police seized 6 cats along with 35 million baht worth of assets suspected to be related to a major drug network in Rayong. The cats are set to be auctioned off by Thai police. One…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: New Covid-19 death, rise of cases in Bangkok
78 new Covid-19 cases and 1 death were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 684 active Covid-19 cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 27,005 coronavirus infections and 87 deaths. An 88 year old Thai man died after testing positive for Covid-19. The…
Read More » - Thailand News
UPDATE: Health Minister says AstraZeneca jabs will start next week after slight delay
Covid-19 immunisations using the AstraZeneca vaccine will start next week, Thailand’s public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul wrote on a Facebook post with a photo of him holding a box of vials containing the vaccine. The update, without any explanation, comes just 3 days after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha cancelled his plans to get jabbed with the vaccine and the Thai government…
Read More » - World News
Royal Thai Army to set up refugee camps for those fleeing Myanmar
With 100 people thought to be dead in Myanmar since the military took power last month, the Royal Thai Army plans to set up temporary camps for Burmese nationals fleeing the neighbouring country to escape political violence. Some say the actual death toll is much higher. Refugee camps will be set up in Ranong and Chumphon which border Myanmar’s southern-most…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket officials warn public of crocodile spotted near Chalong pier
Officials in Phuket are warning residents near Chalong Pier of a crocodile sighting in the area over the weekend. Nation Thailand reports that Natchaphong Pranit from the Phuket Port Authority Office says the reptile was spotted in the water around 3pm on Saturday. “We advise operators of boat services and general public to exercise extra caution when entering the pier…
Read More » - Phuket News
Sri Panwa luxury resort owner injured in car accident in Phuket
The owner of the luxury resort Sri Panwa in Phuket, which offers the new “villa quarantine” for travellers from overseas, was injured in a car accident last night. Police say 40 year old Vorasit “Pla Wan” Issara drove into a power pole on Sakdidet Road in the Wichit district. Officers suspect Vorasit lost control of the car while driving around…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Thailand in negotiations to purchase another 5 million doses of Chinese vaccine
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says Thailand is in talks about purchasing an additional 5 million doses of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine. The announcement comes as the government postpones administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clotting concerns. However, without further explanation, Anutin also states on his Facebook page that inoculation using the AstraZeneca jab will begin next week. According…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Suspension of AstraZeneca jab delays Thailand’s planned vaccination drive
With Thailand joining several European countries in suspending use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine amid blood clot concerns, the Kingdom’s vaccine rollout now faces more delays. Thailand only has a limited supply of 1 other vaccine – China’s Sinovac. Thailand had chosen AstraZeneca as the primary vaccine for those over the age of 60 (including the PM), signing a deal…
Read More » - World News
Martial law declared in Yangon in deadliest day since junta power grab
The Burmese military has imposed martial law in the townships of Hlaing Tharyar and Shwepyitha in Yangon, following a bloody crackdown in which at least 18 protesters died. Around 100 people are now thought to have died since the army deposed of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claiming the landslide election victory of her National League for Democracy party was…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Health officials move to quell panic over new Covid cluster in Bangkok
With proactive testing in Bangkok revealing a new cluster of 96 infections in the Bang Khae district, health officials have moved to allay fears of another wave of the virus. Between March 7 and 13, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration tested 4,046 people at various markets in Bang Khae, with 96 testing positive and the remainder still waiting on results. Opas…
Read More » - Travel
8 Thai Airlines must provide a business recovery plan or lose out on additional routes
Commercial Airlines Registered in Thailand must provide a business recovery plan or run the risk of the civil aviation authority of Thailand (CAAT) halting the allocation of additional routes. According to reports, eight airlines have been targeted. The 8 airlines on the list from the Civil Aviation Commission (CAC) are Thai Airways, Thai Smile Airways, Nok Air, AirAsia X, VietJet…
Read More » - Crime News
A woman has been arrested for allegedly selling fake medical certificates online
A woman has been arrested for allegedly selling fake medical certificates online. The raid followed a tip-off that fake medical certificates were available to buy online via a Facebook page. The suspect said she earned between 250,000 to 500,000 baht a month from the sale of fake medical certificates. Niphaporn Ponghiran aged 33 was arrested at a house on Phetkasem…
Read More » - Education
Thai-language teacher suspended for throwing books at her students
A Thai-language teacher was suspended after she was caught on video throwing textbooks at her students and even hitting a teenage student in the head with a book. Khun Sudawan, a teacher at the Manchasuksa State Secondary School in the Isaan province Khon Kaen, had been checking over class assignments and noticed many students had not finished. As Sudawan started…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
One more Covid-19 death in Thailand
One more person has died from Covid-19 in Thailand and 78 new cases reported. The total number of deaths now stands at 86 with 26,757 Coronavirus cases The most recent death was a 56 year old Woman from the central province of Samut Sakhon. On February 19 she tested positive for Covid-19 and 4 days later she was put on…
Read More » - World News
3 protesters die overnight in Yangon, Myanmar
The latest tragic loss of life in Myanmar occurred in Yangon overnight. 3 protesters died at vigils in honor of those who have died since the military coup on February 1st, 2021. The military has been using more force against all protests with over 70 lives now lost. The vast majority of demonstrations and arrests happen during the daytime and…
Read More » - Thailand Protest News
Pro-democracy leaders denied bail for 5th time
A group of pro-democracy protest leaders are being denied bail again for the 5th time by Thailand’s Criminal Court. The 4 leaders, known by their nicknames, as Penguin, Rung, Pai Dao Din, and Toto, were joined in court by attorneys and professors from Bangkok’s Mahidol and Thammasat University to request bail on the grounds that the leaders were still students…
Read More » - Crime News
Hospital allegedly offers a meager 5,000 baht initially to dead patient’s family after neglecting him for hours
A northeastern Thai hospital is allegedly offering a meager 5,000 baht to a patient’s family after he died while waiting to be treated. The Bua Yai Hospital director, Charnchai Boonyusays, says he feels “regret” over the 46 year old’s death after hospital staff allegedly neglected to treat him for hours. Sompong Sammor, was admitted to the hospital with a swollen…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Thailand’s private hospitals planning to profit off Covid-19 vaccine
Thailand’s private hospitals are planning to profit off of offering Covid-19 vaccines for paying customers. The hospitals have allegedly been procuring doses of vaccines after negotiating with different manufacturers. The news comes after Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has stopped the rollout of the AstrasZeneca vaccine after some countries in the EU banned its use over blood clot concerns. The hospitals…
Read More » - Technology News
Uh oh: Netflix may stop allowing the sharing of passwords
Netflix is announcing that it may stop allowing users to share passwords with others who live elsewhere, in a worrying move for those who love to freeload off of their friends. Some free loaders took to Twitter to share the news of an apparent ban on sharing passwords as they say they were notified that they needed to be subscribers…
Read More » - Tourism News
Koh Samui aims for quarantine-free travel starting in October
Koh Samui is aiming to offer quarantine-free travels for vaccinated visitors to the southern gulf island. Joining Phuket, the island is expected to be the first area in Surat Thani to test such quarantine-free entries for tourists as it features its own airport. Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, the president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, says he is hopeful that Samui…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
American has false negative Covid-19 test result in Thailand, positive result after returning to the US
An American, who recently travelled to Phuket and Bangkok, tested positive for Covid-19 after returning to the United States. The man was tested prior to leaving Thailand and Thai health officials now say that result was a false negative. Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences reviewed the man’s Covid-19 test that was taken right before leaving Thailand and now say the…
Read More » - Politics News
UK now advising its citizens to leave Myanmar in wake of escalating coup violence
After increasing violence in Myanmar, Britain is now advising its citizens to get out of the country virtually at the same time an UN expert is saying that the military is likely committing “crimes against humanity.” Military authorities are allegedly resorting to murdering protesters, even targetting rescue workers in the process. UN expert, Thomas Andrews, says at least 70 people…
Read More » - Thailand News
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says “sorry” for spraying reporters with hand sanitiser
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he was just “playing” around when he sprayed puffs of hand sanitiser at reporters during a press conference. When asked questions about a possible reshuffle of the Thai Cabinet, Prayut picked up a bottle of alcohol spray at his podium and gave the front row of the press a good spray while walking off, ending the…
Read More » - Eastern Thailand News
Be a private island castaway on Koh Munnork, Thailand | VIDEO
Stranded on your very own private island in Thailand. Well, not quite stranded. Chris takes us on a tour of the relatively tiny Koh Munnork (Munnork Island), off the coast of Rayong in east Thailand. The prices for a stay on the private island vary and usually start around 10,000 baht a night but there’s always promotions on and, depending…
Read More » - Thailand News
Attorney, university professors seek bail for leaders of pro-democracy Ratsadon group
An attorney, along with university professors, are seeking the release of pro-democracy leaders from jail by requesting bail at Thailand’s Criminal Court. The attorney from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, Kritsadang Nutcharas, joined with professors from Bangkok’s Thammasat and Mahidol universities to request the release of 3 of the Ratsadon group’s core members. Kritsadang says the families of Rung, Penguin,…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 81 new Covid-19 cases
81 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 538 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic, the CCSA has reported a total of 26,679 coronavirus infections and 85 deaths. Out of the 81 new cases, 30 were transmitted at high risk areas in Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Bangkok,…
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