Thaiger
- Covid-19 News
PM confident economy will rebound when businesses reopen
Or… “what goes down, must go up”. “If workplaces reopen, there will be employment and salaries… If factories reopen and employ people, rehabilitation will start.” Responding to reporters yesterday, the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed confidence the economy will improve once businesses reopen and people are employed again, and when tourism resumes, with measures in place to give visitors confidence…
- Crime News
Ex-deputy commerce minister and 5 accomplices face 10 charges in murder trial
In a case which has shocked the nation, former deputy commerce minister, MP and police lieutenant Banyin Tangpakorn and 5 accomplices, accused of involvement in the murder of a senior Bangkok judge’s brother, have been slapped with 10 separate charges. The Crime Suppression Division commander Jiraphop Phuridet says the accused are charged with: premeditated murder; detention; detention causing death; acting…
- Thailand News
Grocery giant Makro to add over 700 jobs
At last a snippet of good economic news. Thai big-box grocery giant Makro has announced plans to hire more than 700 employees to boost its delivery service and create jobs after the Covid-19 outbreak passes. Siam Makro’s CEO says a new company priority is to help people who’ve lost their jobs due to the Emergency Decree and subsequent lockdown measures…
- Bangkok News
77 year old woman falls to her death in Bangkok
An elderly woman fell to her death from a tenth floor condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district yesterday morning, after a worried relative took her in to keep her safe from Covid-19. Police say 77 year old Surinee Dokkaew was found dead at about 6am on the ground at the base of the 15 storey building on Chaeng Wattana Road.…
- Covid-19 News
8 new Covid-19 case, total now 3,000, no new deaths (Friday)
The spokesman of the Covid19 Coronavirus Situation Administration, Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, announced 8 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 at this morning’s daily press briefing in Bangkok, maintaining the recent trend of single-digit daily increases. The new cases take Thailand’s total to 3,000 since the beginning of the outbreak. No new deaths were reported, leaving the tally at 55. All of…
- Travel
Thousands of cruise ship crew stranded at sea
Tens of thousands of cruise ship crew members remain stranded at sea, virtual prisoners on their ships with no clear end in sight as the Covid-19 coronavirus drags on around the globe. The cruise industry has been shuttered and shattered by the crisis, with onboard outbreaks, denial of port access and no clear idea of when guest will return and…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok’s Chatuchak weekend market is reopening
Chatuchak, Jatujak, JJ, whatever you choose to call it, Bangkok’s legendary weekend market is reopening tomorrow. The massive indoor/outdoor market, popular with both Thai and foreign tourists, will reopen this weekend after weeks of being shuttered, but visitors will be required to observe physical distancing and wear face masks…. you know the drill. Walaya Wattanarat, deputy permanent secretary of the…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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,…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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,…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- Covid-19 News
Over 500 Thais fly home today and straight into quarantine
A spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced today that 581 Thais have returned from 5 countries. A flight from the Maldives brought 125 Thais at 3:15pm yesterday, then 165 arrived from Hong Kong at 3:55, 175 arrived from Singapore at 5:25 and 45 from Spain at 6:55. 70 returnees from Russia arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 10:30am.…
- Covid-19 News
Media, don’t be fooled by protesters – Finance secretary
Media outlets are being duped by highly visible protesters trying to attract media attention in their efforts to receive the 5,000 baht “No One Left Behind” handouts, according to Finance permanent secretary Prasong Poonthanate. He even accuses the protesters and says many have already received the subsidy cash, but are demanding more. As an example he mentioned the recent case…
- Covid-19 News
Most Thais “satisfied” with Thai government’s handling of Covid-19 outbreak
Most Thais support the mandatory 14 day quarantines imposed on repatriating Thais during the country’s Covid-19 outbreak. There’s also broad approval of the temporary ban on flights into Thailand. The latest Suan Dusit Poll surveyed 1,801 people online across the country in the last two weeks of April asking them about their attitude towards the Thai government’s handling to prevent the…
- Covid-19 News
Thousands queue outside Finance Ministry for relief cheques
People began arriving before sunrise. It was around 5am on Friday that 49 year old Bawonlak Rasameebunsrisuk from Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, started the queue outside the Finance Ministry. She soon gave up her spot to 71 year old Gasorn Bunin, feeling sorry for the grandmother. The Finance Ministry offices wouldn’t open until 9am. All were hoping for…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 3 new cases, no new deaths (Sunday)
The Coronavirus Situation Administration today announced just 3 new cases of Covid-19 nationwide in Thailand in the preceding 24 hours. It’s the lowest number in months, and only half of yesterday and Friday’s 6 new cases. It’s the seventh consecutive day of single digit increases and brings the national total to 2,969. No deaths have been reported in recent days,…
- Covid-19 News
Officials give thumbs up to reopen 2 Bangkok malls today
Officials from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, City Hall and police yesterday inspected two luxury shopping malls in Bangkok, to ensure their readiness to reopen for limited business today. The Supreme Commander of Thailand’s defence forces Pornpipat Benyasri, in his capacity as the CCSA chief, led the inspections of Siam Paragon and Central Chidlom, two of the city’s biggest…
- Covid-19 News
Those heading home to the provinces face 14 day quarantine
Those ignoring the PM’s request to travel only for essential reasons and heading to their home in the provinces for the long weekend may be in for a shock. The Interior Ministry has issued an order for people returning to the provinces to be quarantined for 14 days. The order, signed by Permanent Secretary for the Interior, is to prevent…
- Covid-19 News
Over 500 Thais returning this weekend
More than 230 Thai nationals have returned or will return to Thailand today. Yesterday’s 234 returnees include include 55 from Kazakhstan, 50 from the Netherlands, and 129 from United Arab Emirates. Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says 290 more Thai nationals, 45 from Spain, 175 from Singapore, and about 70 from Russia, will return today.…
- Covid-19 News
Rush for fit-to-travel documents for people leaving Phuket
Authorities announced yesterday that those who want to leave Phuket by road must register online no later than Friday, May 8, to obtain fit-to-travel certificates. While the southern province of Phuket remains closed to entry, authorities have begun allowing people to leave. Tens of thousands, both tourists and Thais from other provinces, have been trapped on the island since it…
- South Thailand News
3 suspected insurgents killed in Pattani
Authorities shot and killed 3 suspected insurgents on Thursday in Pattani province in Thailand’s deep South, long the home of a bloody separatist insurgency. Security forces believe the men were planning to mount an attack during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The shootings are the first act of violence since Malaysia’s Barisan Revolusi Nasional, or National Revolutionary Front rebels…
- Politics News
Hello world! Kim Jong-un resurfaces after 20 day absence
Dispelling recent rumours that he was in a “vegetative state” or even dead after an apparent heart attack and a botched surgery, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has resurfaced and made his first public appearance after a 20 day absence. Well, either him or a very good replica. North Korean state media reported today that he “celebrated the completion of…
