- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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.…
- 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
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…
- 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.…
- South Thailand News
First month in 16 years with no insurgency attacks in Thailand
Last month was the first in 16 years in which there were no insurgent attacks on Thai forces or civilians, either in Thailand’s restive Deep South or elsewhere. The country’s three Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat, all around Malaysia’s northern border, have been embroiled in a bloody separatist insurgency for the best part of two decades. More…
- 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
Masks, hand gel and PPE valued at 5 million baht seized in Bangkok
Police in Bangkok have confiscated face masks, hand sanitiser and protective clothing valued at 5 million baht and arrested a man in a raid on a townhouse in Thawi Watthana district. Officers of the Department of Special Investigation, together with police and officials from the Internal Trade Department and the Food and Drug Administration, searched the two-storey townhouse, where they…
- 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…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket’s Bang Tao tambon erupts over continued restrictions
Angry villagers gathered in The Bang Tao subdistrict of the southern province of Phuket today to protest continued travel restrictions on their tambon and demand the right to travel more freely, like much of the rest of Phuket. The Muslim-majority beachside community of Bang Tao has become the island’s hotzone for Covid-19 infections since the closure of the Patong municipality…
- 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…
- Northern Thailand News
Wanted: 5 quarantined inmates who escaped from Issan prison
5 prisoners in Issan’s upper northeastern Sakon Nakhon province pulled off a daring escape from Sawang Daen Din Prison yesterday morning after being transferred to a Covid-19 quarantine room. The inmates escaped through the ceiling of the room and found their way through tight passages in the building without once being spotted by the guards. They then made a rope…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 6 new cases nationwide, deaths toll remains at 54 (Saturday)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today has confirmed just 6 new Covid-19 cases over a 24 hour period, for the second consecutive day. That’s the lowest in over a month, and again no deaths, leaving the total death toll at 54 people. It’s the sixth consecutive day of single-digit numbers. Half of today’s new cases are in the southern…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket Covid-19 update: 3 new cases, no deaths (Saturday)
Phuket, in Thailand’s South, reports 3 new Covid-19 infections today, a jump from zero yesterday, but still well within the low single digits. All 3 are in the Bang Tao area in the beachside community on the island’s west coast. The area has become the island’s hotbed of infections since the closure of the Patong sub-district and its infamous Bangla…
- Phuket News
Phuket exodus derailed by outgoing governor, traffic jams force rethink
Thousands of residents and inter-provincial workers, trapped in Phuket for the last month due to Covid-19 and the complete shutdown of the island, began leaving yesterday. With unfortunate results. The lockdown was soon reimposed after the road from Phuket to the Tha Chatchai checkpoint became jammed with with cars from tao early as 5am, stretching back several kilometres. In a…
- Covid-19 News
National alcohol ban to be lifted from Sunday, May 3
In a surprise turn-around, after extending the national alcohol ban from yesterday for another month, the CSSA have announced that they are revoking the national ban on alcohol sales from this Sunday. But the provisions say that the alcohol can only be bought and must be taken away for consumption at home. You may not consume alcohol at restaurants. There…
