- Covid-19 News
Former deputy PM says government should focus on solutions, not threats
Thailand’s former Deputy PM Chaturon Chaisang yesterday posted on his Facebook page and other social media that, in his opinion, the government is focusing on threats versus solutions during the current Covid-19 crisis. His post has been widely shared and gained a lot of traction in Thai-language media. Chaisang, a former Minister of Education in addition to being a Deputy…
- Covid-19 News
Most Thais want restrictions lifted – NIDA poll
The National Institute of Development Association recently conducted a poll that asked 1,259 Thais from various walks of life about their thoughts on lifting the current Emergency Decree restrictions, such as the closure of businesses and the national curfew. The poll was taken from Thursday to May 9 and comprised Thai nationals over the age of 18 from various backgrounds,…
- Phuket News
Phuket reports 4 new Covid-19 cases, breaking 7 day streak
Phuket Health authorities reported 4 new cases the Covid-19 coronavirus, breaking a week-long streak with no new reported cases on the island. The number of officially confirmed infections since the outbreak began in Phuket has now risen to 224. Here are the details of today’s new cases… Case 221: A 23 year old Thai woman, a secretarial assistant who lives…
- Crime News
Spaniard arrested for brutal Koh Phangan murder
Police in the southern Surat Thani province have arrested a Spanish man on the island of Koh Phangan for the stabbing death of a Chilean man. Authorities say the brutal murder took place at 1am yesterday. Officers say when they arrived at the scene of the murder, a rented house on Koh Phangan, they found 31 year old Chang San…
- Crime News
Multiple murder suspect nabbed after 6 years on the run
A suspect wanted for the murder of 4 people in Ayutthaya, just north of Bangkok, was arrested in neighbouring Suphan Buri today, 6 years after fleeing arrest. Officers of the Crime Suppression Division arrested 57 year old Charn Saisang in front of a house in tambon Phlabphlachai in the central province. Charn was wanted on a warrant issued by the…
- Covid-19 News
US State Department claims China and Russia conspiring to rewrite coronavirus narrative
The US yesterday accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false claims the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Beijing is increasingly adopting techniques perfected by Moscow. Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which tracks foreign propaganda, told reporters: “Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic…
- World News
Bike-riding monkey attacks, drags Indonesian toddler – VIDEO
A video showing a monkey grabbing and dragging a toddler along a street in Indonesia has gone viral, leaving netizens around the world arguing over what actually happened. Was it a simian kidnap, a monkey mucking around, or a hungry monkey with evil intentions? Asiaone reports that the incident occurred in Surabaya, Indonesia last week. The clip shows the monkey…
- Covid-19 News
Foreigners arrested for swimming at closed Pattaya beaches – VIDEO
Police in Pattaya arrested 3 foreigners who were violating public orders to stay off of public beaches at around noon today, at the back of a hotel in the province’s Pratumnak area. Pattaya City police officers told reporters they issued several soft warnings to the foreigners while they were in the water, but they refused to stop swimming and simply…
- Thai Life
Actor and singer Matthew “Deane” Chanthavanij, recovered from Covid-19, donates plasma
Actor, singer and Muay Thai aficionado Matthew “Deane” Chanthavanij, who fell ill with Covid-19 in March and has now fully recovered, has donated blood plasma to help other patients. Deane appeared in a Facebook post by Dr Yong Poovorawan, a virologist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University yesterday. “Today we have a hero come in to donate plasma for Covid-19 patients.” Australian-born…
- Covid-19 News
Government panel predicts 12-18 more months of pandemic-related pain
Thailand faces up to a year and a half of serious impacts from Covid-19 pandemic, according to a government advisory panel investigating the pandemic’s consequences on the Kingdom. The panel was set up on the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s orders on April 30. After analysing data from the Ministry of Public Health, the advisory committee on the social and economic…
- Chiang Mai News
South Korean man found dead in Chiang Mai, cause of death unknown
Chiang Mai police report that a South Korean man was found dead in his condominium yesterday. The man was identified as 37 year old Jeon Hee-seok, and was found by his wife at around 5am. Chiang Mai police report that there were no signs of of struggle or physical altercation and Jeon had no known medical conditions. His wife told…
- Crime News
6 police in Samut Prakarn accused of multiple kidnappings and extortion
6 police officers and 4 civilians stand accused of kidnapping more than a dozen people for ransom in the central province of Samut Prakarn. 15 victims gave their statements to police at Klongdan Police Station yesterday. Lawyer and president of the Crime Victim Assistance Association, Atchariya Reungrattanaphong, says he has informed the national chief of police. “The victims reached out…
- Covid-19 News
Chon Buri discharges last Covid-19 patient, now a “white zone”
Authorities in Chon Buri announced yesterday that the last Covid-19 patient in the province has recovered and been discharged from hospital, making the entire province a designated “white zone – no recorded cases of Covid-19 in 14 days and not a single patient in hospital for treatment. Pattaya City has had no cases for 24 days and will reach the…
- Covid-19 News
Provinces ordered to establish Covid-19 operations centres
The governors of all 76 of Thailand’s provinces have been ordered to establish and manage Covid-19 operations centres. Interior Ministry permanent secretary Chatchai Promlert announced the order yesterday. As Thais start inter-provincial travel there is an increased risk of undetected cases moving around the country and setting off another localised outbreak. According to the order, each centre will be responsible…
- 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…
- 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.…
- Crime News
Bangkok immigration police nab Chinese loan sharks
Bangkok immigration police have arrested 5 organisers and 73 employees at a building in Chom Thong district today, where alleged Chinese loan sharks were running an illegal finance firm. The company, “Thai Luck Trade” extended loans at interest rates far higher than the limit under Thai law. The company was registered as a merchant dealing in glasses, watches and cameras…
- 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…
- 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
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
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.…
- 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…
- 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…
