- Covid-19 News
Antiviral Remdesevir has “significant effect” – VIDEO
The controversial antiviral drug Remdesevir got a boost today after Dr Anthony Fauci, the most trusted voice in the US when speaking of Covid-19, announced the drug has has a “clear-cut” effect in helping Covid-19 patients recover. “The data show that Remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery, proving that a drug can block…
- Thailand News
2 Aussies win $7,500 each in racial discrimination suit
After being turned away from a Thai restaurant in Sydney’s central business district, 2 caucasian Australian men have been awarded A$7,500 each for racial discrimination. 32 year old Luke Masters, and Wayne Clothier aged 33, were awarded the payout today after they were prevented from entering Mr B’s Hotel on Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD in September 2017. A security…
- Environment News
Government details symptoms in bid to stop the spread of African Horse Sickness
An outbreak of African Horse Sickness, also known as African Plague, has now killed hundreds of horses in Thailand. The Government Gazette has now detailed the symptoms of AHS, after the contagion was first detected on March 25. First found in Nakhon Ratchasima, the disease has now spread via mosquitoes, gnats and gadflies to other parts of the country, killing…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket Covid-19 update: 3 new cases, 3 more recovered (Thursday)
PHOTO: Phuket 101 The southern province of Phuket has reported 3 new Covid-19 infections, up from none yesterday, bringing the total on the island to 217 since the outbreak began. All 3 new cases are inthe Bang Tao subdistrict, which has become the latest hot zone since the closure of Patong and its famous Bangla Road red light district. Phuket…
- Covid-19 News
Don Mueang Airport prepares to reopen
Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport is preparing to open for more flights beginning this Friday, as 2 airlines have announced plans to resume limited domestic routes. The airport’s director Samphan Khutranont says Thai AirAsia and Thai Lion Air will resume some domestic service at Don Mueang on Friday, in addition to Nok Air, which has continued operating about 20 domestic…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update (Wednesday) 9 new cases, 0 new deaths
Health officials at this morning’s national daily briefing announced 9 new Covid-19 cases today, bringing the total to 2,957. No new deaths were reported and the tally remains at 54 since the beginning of the outbreak in January. Of the national total, 2,665 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital, making the recovery rate just above 90%. Bangkok currently…
- Covid-19 News
Oxford says Covid-19 vaccine could be ready by September
There’s a worldwide race to develop a vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus, and Oxford University in the UK already claim to have a massive head start. Research teams generally have to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred volunteers to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the Oxford’s Jenner Institute have a jump start on a vaccine, having proved…
- Crime News
Suspect in fatal Bangkok shooting absconds with family
A man was shot dead in a fight between two neighbours yesterday in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district, apparently over excessive noise, and the alleged killer has reportedly fled with his family. Police were alerted to a shooting incident at a house on Ruammit Pattana Road at 7pm. At the scene they found the body of 37 year old Phatcharaphol Phomaneesak…
- Covid-19 News
Dodgy Chinese medical supplies rejected by many countries
Countries across Europe and around the world are rejecting substandard medical supplies from China as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to sweep parts of the globe and the death toll continues to climb. Germany, Belgium and Holland have joined the ranks of other nations, including Canada, Spain and Slovakia, complaining of unreliable test kits, inaccurate thermometers and shoddy Personal Protection Equipment.…
- Crime News
2 Chinese nabbed for peddling hemp oil, facemasks
A pair of Chinese nationals have been arrested in Bangkok for selling toys, hand gel, thermometers and hemp oil worth millions of baht. Cyberpolice yesterday said the suspects, named only as “Lee” and “Jan”, were arrested at a commercial building in Bangkok’s Bang Khunthian district. Police seized vast numbers of masks, body temperature scanners and sex toys as well as…
- Northern Thailand News
2 drunk monks arrested in north east
A case of Bud Enlightenment? 2 Buddhist monks were arrested in their pickup truck in the early hours yesterday morning in the lower northeastern province of Sisaket. They have been charged with breaking the national curfew and drunk driving. The two were detained in their pickup truck shortly after midnight in the province’s Muang, or city district. Police say both…
- Covid-19 News
Cabinet officially extends Emergency Decree until the end of May
In a widely anticipated decision, the Thai Cabinet has approved a 30 day extension of the national state of emergency declared in March to fight the spread of Covid-19. The national curfew from 10pm to 4am will also continue. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha spoke briefly to the public after today’s weekly Cabinet meeting to discuss the extension and the possibility of…
- Covid-19 News
Alcohol industry asks PM to lift booze ban nationwide
Thailand’s alcohol industry is banding together to ask PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to lift the ban on alcohol sales, imposed as part of the national state of emergency to halt the spread of Covid-19. Alcohol-industry organisations, led by the Thai Fruit Wine and the Local Spirit Producer Association, the Thailand Bartender Association and Thai Wine Association, have made their case to…
- Covid-19 News
What does the extension of the Emergency Decree mean?
The Covid-19 Centre for Situation Administration announced today that the Emergency Decree for Thailand will be extended, although it technically will not be official until announced in official channels. The announcement has caused many to believe the extension means that nearly all businesses must remain closed and all current restrictions, such as closures of public spaces and beaches, will not…
- Covid-19 News
World’s wealthiest dig deep to fight Covid-19
With the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the globe and fatalities rising, some of the world’s richest are digging into their deep pockets to ease the pain for the poorest people and fight back against the deadly disease. Contributions range from supporting their employees financially and donations to the vulnerable, to procuring medical equipment for hospitals and funding vaccine research. In Thailand,…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s emergency decree extended until May 31
Thailand’s Emergency Decree will be extended for another month after it expires this Thursday. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Monday recommended to extend the decree which would be extended to the end of May. The emergency decree gives the Thai PM sweeping powers and is provided for in the Thai Constitution for situations like the current Covid-19 outbreak.…
- Covid-19 News
25 more arrested entering Thailand by wading across river from Malaysia
Another 25 Thai workers were arrested this morning for illegal border crossing after wading across the Kolok River from Malaysia to Thailand. They were placed in mandatory 14 day quarantine and charged with illegal entry. They are part of a group of Thai workers left stranded in Malaysia, which has extended its lockdown order to May 12. Their desperation is…
- Economy News
Thailand loses US free trade benefits worth billions of baht
Thailand loses duty free access for 42.2 billion baht in exports to the US market from today, 6 months after Washington warned it would pull back on trade privileges unless the kingdom committed to labour rights reforms. Once trade preferences for Thai products are removed they are subject to tax of between 4% and 5%, making them more expensive in…
- Covid-19 News
Curfew subjects Thailand’s many homeless to arrest
“The homeless can’t stay at home.” Earlier this month, Police in Chiang Mai arrrested “Tui,” a homeless man, for violating the national curfew imposed as part of the Emergency Decree to contain the spread of Covid-19. Police say they “found him wandering on the streets without permission from authorities or valid reasons,” and the court then sentenced Tui to 15…
- Covid-19 News
Park chief, officers arrested for house party
A group of 8 officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation are in trouble after being spotted drinking and socialising at a house party in Ngao Waterfall National Park in the southern Ranong province. They’ve all been arrested for defying the Emergency Decree. Police told reporters yesterday the 8 were rounded up last Friday night after…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket reports 4 new Covid-19 cases, all in Bang Tao (Sunday)
The southern province of Phuket reports 4 new confirmed Covid-19 cases today, all in the Bang Tao area of the island’s Cherngtalay subdistrict, bringing the total in Phuket to 206 since the outbreak began in January. One more patient has recovered, bringing that total of recovered patients to 161. 45 cases are still in hospital of which 4 are ‘severe’.…
- Politics News
North Korean leader reportedly in “vegetative state”
For days the government of North Korea has been tight-lipped as speculation about the health of the nation’s leader Kim Jong-un’s health spreads. Now the Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Gendai is reporting that a failed surgery has left the 36 year old in a vegetative state. American celebrity tabloid website TMZ has gone a step further and claimed he’s actually…
- Environment News
With humans indoors, nature makes a comeback
With millions around the world housebound for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, Netflix and YouTube are making a killing and lots of people are finding new hobbies. But there’s another consequence to fewer humans on the streets and trampling around nature. Animals on land and in the sea are taking back areas claimed by humans over the past weeks…
- Covid-19 News
Tourism minister, TAT hope for a return of limited domestic travel
For weeks, interprovincial travel has been heavily restricted if not outright banned due to the Emergency Decree announced on March 24 to combat the spread of Covid-19. And although the National Security Council is expected to present a proposal on Monday to extend the Decree, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakan expects the government to ease some measures and allow…
- Economy News
“Thai Airways will survive”. Emergency meeting next Wednesday.
“Thai Airways will not collapse. The fact that Deputy PM Somkid stepped in to handle the issue means the government will rescue it.” It’s no secret that Thailand’s national carrier has been a financial basket case for over a decade, bleeding money and marketshare as the years pass. The top-heavy Thai company is bailed out by the Thai government each…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket adds 4 Covid-19 cases, 3 in Bang Tao (Saturday)
4 new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the southern island province of Phuket today. The island has the highest rate of infection and the second highest number of cases, after Bangkok. A single new case was reported this morning, bringing the total there to 202: a 60 year old Thai woman who lives in Witchit, Phuket Town. She fell…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand reports 53 new cases today, 1 more death (Saturday)
A spokesman for the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today announced 53 new Covid-19 cases confirmed over a 24 hour period, and 1 additional death. Most of today’s new cases are imported from outside the country. 42 of the new cases are illegal migrant workers currently at the detention centre at the Sadao checkpoint bordering Malaysia, another 7 in Yala,…
- Crime News
Knicker-sniffing panty thief arrested in Chiang Mai – VIDEO
After receiving complaints, police in Chiang Mai have arrested a food delivery driver for stealing women’s knickers (panties) while making deliveries throughout the city. 27 year old Nontawat Intanachan was arrested after at least one woman reported to police that her knickers had frequently been stolen while hanging out to dry. When police examined the surveillance footage, they saw a…
- Covid-19 News
Public health must take priority – Thai PM
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has stressed that public health will take priority when the government makes a decision on Tuesday whether to ease restriction imposed by the Emergency Decree to fight the spread of Covid-19. At a press briefing at Government House yesterday, Prayut said that although Thailand has, up to now, managed to flatten the infection curve, the nation “cannot…
- Crime News
Attempted murder charge for hit-and-run Mitsubishi driver
In a follow-up to a story previously reported in The Thaiger, police in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat are charging the driver of a Mitsubishi Mirage with attempted murder after he ran into a policeman, then sped off with the officer still clinging to the hood of his car. The officer held on for dear life as the…
