- Covid-19 News
Experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir fails first clinical trial
Reports are emerging that the experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir, developed by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has failed in its first randomised clinical trial to treat Covid-19, according to draft documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization and seen by the Financial Times. Gilead disputed how the now deleted post characterised the findings, saying the data showed a…
- Covid-19 News
15 new Covid-19 cases in Thailand (Friday), no new deaths
At this morning’s daily press briefing from the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, announced somewhat of a stabilising of cases. 15 new confirmed Covid-19 cases were announced. This brings the total since the start of the outbreak to 2,854. 60 more people recovered and were released in the same 24 hour period. The total number of patients…
- Covid-19 News
4 new Covid-19 cases in Phuket, all in Bang Tao
Phuket has reported 4 new Covid-19 cases today, up from just 1 yesterday, all in the Cherngtalay sub-district of Bang Tao on the island’s west coast. A 2 year old boy was among 4 new cases. Phuket has the highest rate of Covid-19 cases per capita in Thailand, and the highest number outside of Bangkok (201 as of today), but numbers…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s Security Council eyes extending state of emergency, easing some restrictions
Next Monday, the day before the weekly Cabinet meeting, Thailand’s National Security Council will present a proposal to extend the national state of emergency to PM Prayut Chan-o- cha, recommending the relaxation of some current restrictions to allow some businesses and daily activities to resume amid the Covid-19 crisis. The NSC met with other security agencies to evaluate the current state…
- World News
China opens 2 more border points to allow transport of Thai fruits
The director-general of the Department of Agriculture announced today that China has opened two more points at its Vietnam border to allow the transportation of Thai fruits during the Covid-19 crisis. The move comes after the existing Youyi Guan checkpoint was overwhelmed with 15 kilometre queues of Thai and Vietnamese goods vehicles. The Department of Agriculture together with National Bureau of…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, April 23
Thousands of tourists stranded on a trio of Gulf islands An estimated 10,000 foreign tourists are stranded on three islands in the Gulf of Thailand – Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. More than half of them, around 5,700 are on Koh Samui, another 3,300 foreign tourists on Koh Phangan and about 1,000 on Koh Tao, after passenger flights…
- World News
Thailand names 5 more ASEAN countries as ‘high risk’, 4 are border nations
A Ministry of Public Health announcement yesterday, signed by Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and published in the Royal Gazette, claims the Covid-19 situation in 5 nearby countries is escalating. Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar have now been added to the list of countries and territories considered as high risk areas for infection. On March 6,…
- South Thailand News
Police officer clings to hit-and-run car for 2 kilometres – VIDEO
A policeman in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat was taken on an unplanned car ride yesterday when a Mitsubishi Mirage tried to run him down, forcing him to jump onto the front of the car and hold on for about 2 kilometres. The incident was caught on security cameras. Officer Montri Nitichai of Tha Sala police station says…
- Covid-19 News
New Covid-19 cases drop to 13, lowest in weeks, with 1 new death
Health officials reported just 13 new Covid-19 patients nationwide today, down from yesterday’s 15 and marking the fifth consecutive day of declining new cases. The total is now 2,839 since the outbreak began in Thailand. There was 1 more death, bringing the cumulative toll to 50. 13 more cases have recovered and were sent home from hospital in the past…
- Covid-19 News
March tourist arrival numbers worse than predicted
It’s no secret that the Covid-19 outbreak has been disastrous for Thailand’s tourism sector, long considered a vital lifeline of the nation’s already battered economy. Data released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports today showed foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand slumped 76.4% in March compared to a year earlier. This follows a 42.8% drop the previous month, as the…
- Covid-19 News
Baby becomes youngest Covid-19 patient to recover in Thailand
As of 10.45am today, Thailand has a reported 2,826 Covid-19 cases. 2,352, or 83% of those have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Today we can add one more to that list – a 1 month old boy has become Thailand’s youngest coronavirus patient to successfully make a full recovery from Covid-19, after a team of medics used of a…
- Covid-19 News
Thousands of tourists stranded on a trio of Gulf islands
An estimated 10,000 foreign tourists are stranded on three islands in the Gulf of Thailand, more than half of them, around 5,700 on Koh Samui, after passenger flights were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Surat Thani province’s tourism and sports chief Tikamporn Sutti-udomrat, said yesterday that apart from the 5,700 visitors on Koh Samui, there are another 3,300 foreign…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok to cut checkpoints from 89 to 52
Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Bureau announced yesterday it will reduce the number of checkpoints from 89 to 52 during the night curfew, effective until further notice. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered a nationwide curfew from 10pm to 4am starting April 3, in a bid to curb new Covid-19 infections. Police checkpoints have been set up since then throughout Bangkok to enforce the…
- Covid-19 News
Second visa amnesty approved, will be automatic, free
The government has announced a second automatic visa extension for foreigners who are stranded in the country by the Covid-19 pandemic. A spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Cabinet approved the automatic visa extension today. Natapanu Nopakun, deputy spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said. Foreigners whose visa expired after March 26 will be permitted to…
- Covid-19 News
Study finds no benefit from hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment
“The experiments and report has limitations, but adds to growing doubt over the efficacy of the drug.” There was plenty of hype, even shared by the US President. But a study published yesterday, the biggest of its kind to date, found no benefit from a malaria drug earlier touted as a potential treatment for Covid-19. It ended up being associated with…
- Covid-19 News
2 Songkhla immigration officers infected with Covid-19, 70 at risk
2 immigration officials from the southern province of Songkhla are reported to be infected with Covid-19, putting about 70 others at risk after close contact with the officials. The provincial communicable disease committee made the announcement today. The new cases, both officers working at the Sadao border checkpoint, brings the tally in the province to 39 after 2 weeks with…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket new Covid-19 cases up to 3 (Wednesday)
In a small jump, the southern island province of Phuket today confirmed 3 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the total to 5 since last Thursday. 1 case was reported yesterday and 1 on Friday. Previous to yesterday there had been 3 consecutive days without any infections. The announcement will likely prevent Phuket from being part of a wide-scale lifting of nationwide…
- Crime News
Car thief rammed as the owners take matters into their own hands
A car thief has been apprehended by the owner of the car he stole. Police in the central Samut Sakhon province, just west of Bangkok, arrested 32 year old Not Jeankow on Monday. The theft took place at around half past midnight at a used car lot. ‘Not’ already had a warrant out for motor vehicle theft and broke the…
- World News
At least 18 dead in Canada’s worst-ever mass shooting
It is the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history. Royal Canadian Mounted Police rushed to more than a dozen crime scenes yesterday after a shooting rampage by a gunman disguised as a police officer left at least 18 dead and homes in smoldering ruins in rural Nova Scotia. Officials say the suspect, 51 year old Gabriel Wortman, died in the…
- Politics News
An English translation of the PM’s letter to Thailand’s 20 richest
Much has been written and said about PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s letter to Thailand’s 20 richest people, requesting their “input and ideas,” with even Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam stepping in to clarify that the letter is “not begging for money.” Here is an English translation of the PM’s letter, which he announced following a nationally televised 10-minute speech on Friday. The…
- Covid-19 News
27 new virus cases, no deaths for third straight day, recovery rate passes 70%
Thailand reported 27 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours but no additional deaths today. The new figure is 5 fewer than the 32 cases reported yesterday, and the lowest number of daily cases recorded since March 14. The highest daily number was the 188 logged on March 22. There have now been 2,792 confirmed cases across the…
- Environment News
Chiang Mai still struggling for some fresh air
Chiang Mai is suffering yet another day of poor air quality index, according to aqicn.org. And whilst the air quality is bad, it’s still a lot better than it was a month or so ago when the readings zoomed up to 300-400, and somedays, even higher. aqicn.org data reports that Chiang Mai’s air quality index had a PM2.5 level of…
- Covid-19 News
It’s official: Phuket reopens after April 30
“Lockdown” is a word that’s being bandied about with abandon these days, but it’s actually a bit misleading. It’s a noun of North American origin defined as “the confining of prisoners to their cells, typically after an escape or to regain control during a riot.” To say that parts of Thailand or any other country are “under lockdown” is to…
- Environment News
Air pollution in Bangkok falls to lowest level in 2020
Bangkok recorded the lowest air quality index in 2020 today, according to aqicn.org. The website data show that Bangkok air quality index (AQI) had a PM2.5 level of only 53 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3) on average. The AQI is a standard that indicates the level of air pollution. 100 AQI is considered ‘moderate’. The suburbs with the lowest PM2.5…
- Covid-19 News
“Thailand’s Covid-19 death rate is a quarter of the world average, recovery rate is high”
A spokesman for Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health claimed that the country’s mortality rate from Covid-19 is about a quarter of the world average at just 1.7%, while the recovery rate has climbed past 69%. The world average mortality rate is estimated at 6.4%, in the US it’s around 5.3%, Germany 3.1%, Italy 13.1% and the UK 13.5%. The published…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s new Covid-19 infections drop to 32 today, 0 deaths reported
A spokesman for the Thailand Covid-19 Coronavirus Situation Centre announced a total of 32 new cases of Covid-19 at this morning’s daily press briefing, down from yesterday’s 33, bringing the national total to 2765 since the start of the outbreak in January. No new deaths were reported, and the toll remains steady at 47. The spokesman told reporters that an…
- Covid-19 News
15 curfew breakers arrested in Chon Buri for drinking, gambling and playing snooker – VIDEO
Police in Chon Buri have reported the arrest of yet another 15 curfew breakers for drinking, gambling and playing snooker during the during the hours of the national curfew. The incident happened on April 15 in Baan Suan. Officers told reporters that they arrested 13 men and 2 women at a car wash on just after midnight. They were discovered…
- Crime News
Monk defrocked and arrested after allegedly shooting man in the testicles
A monk at Wat Mongkhol Nimit in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, has been defrocked and arrested for shooting another man who was living at the same temple. Police arrested 46 year old Phra Apiram Ruengthip at his living quarters on Friday evening. The former monk claims he only shot in self-defense. Police say they seized an unregistered handgun…
- Covid-19 News
Navy delays sub purchases as it slashes budget by a third
All ministries in the Thai government have been instructed to contribute 10% of their 2020 budgets to the fight against Covid-19. Last week the Royal Thai Army announced it would also delay most of its purchases of new military hardware until the situation improves. A spokesman says that The Royal Thai Navy has gone further and will cut 33%, or…
- Covid-19 News
13 foreigners among those arrested at Pattaya pool party
Police in Pattaya yesterday arrested a group, including 13 foreigners, having what they described as a pool party at the Momento Beach Resort in Pattaya. The announcement was made through the police department’s social media channels last night. The seaside resort town has been under near-total lockdown since April 9, a situation expected to continue until at least April 30.…
