- Covid-19 News
Phase 6 of re-opening to see thousands of foreigners granted entry to Thailand
A number of additional categories of foreigners will be able to apply to re-enter the Kingdom. These include migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Elite Visa holders, medical tourists, film crew, convention exhibitors and select business visitors. Anyone that doesn’t fall into one of those groups will remain excluded from the country as the borders remain shut to almost…
- Covid-19 News
Extension to visa amnesty to be published in Royal Gazette
Foreigners in Thailand can breathe a sigh of relief as government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul confirms the Cabinet has agreed to extend the visa amnesty until September 26. The good news was first announced yesterday , taking the pressure off of thousands of people who faced the prospect of having to leave the country- at a time when only limited international…
- Covid-19 News
5 star hotels in Phuket to offer alternative state quarantine facilities
14 luxury hotels in Phuket have applied to be considered as alternative state quarantine options, with officials approving 2 so far. Both Trisara and Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas have met the eligibility criteria laid down by the Public Health Ministry, while 12 other hotels are still being considered. Those wishing to avail of the luxury quarantine option will need…
- Economy News
Government to generate thousands of jobs through 3 projects
The Thai government has signed off on 3 new projects with the hopes of creating nearly 40,000 jobs. A budget of 4 billion baht has been set aside for the new projects. The latest development comes following Cabinet approval of 7 economic restoration projects, with a combined budget of 400 billion baht. The first of the 3 new projects will…
- World News
Last Qantas 747 flight draws kangaroo logo in the sky to mark final voyage – VIDEO
The Qantas Boeing 747 has taken to the skies for the last time, marking its final journey by drawing the airline’s famous kangaroo logo in the sky. The design could be seen on flight radar maps as the aircraft, affectionately known as the Queen of the Skies, ascended out of Sydney for the last time. It flew over the Harbour…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s Covid task force to make preparations in event of “second wave”
The spokesman for Thailand’s Covid-19 task force. Dr. Taweesin, says the government is making sure it’s ready to handle any potential second wave of the virus. Dr Taweesin Visanuyoth says the recent mishaps with an infected Egyptian soldier in Rayong and a Covid-positive Sudanese child in Bangkok, have taught the government a valuable lesson. Taweesin stresses the importance of being ready…
- Thailand News
Woman says emergency operator joked and hung up on her as father lay dying
A young woman in Ratchaburi province, western Thailand, says an emergency operator joked that he couldn’t hear her, then said, “beep, beep” before hanging up on her. The woman, 18 year old Pronrawin Ongpisut, was trying to reach emergency services to help her dying father. The man has since passed away. A report in Coconuts says Pronrawin first called the…
- Covid-19 News
China orders mandatory Covid-19 testing for all international arrivals
China’s Civil Aviation Administration has announced that all passengers entering the country from overseas will need to be tested for the Covid-19 virus 5 days before travelling. The statement has been made in conjunction with China’s General Administration of Customs and other government departments. International passengers, whether Chinese citizens or foreign nationals, will be required to take a nucleic acid…
- Covid-19 News
PM insists proposed emergency decree extension not due to anti-government protests
As PM Prayut Chan-o-cha looks set to approve an extension to Thailand’s emergency decree, he insists his reasons for doing so have nothing to do with the political protests taking place in cities around the country. Accusations that the extension is politically motivated have dogged the PM since the decree was extended for a second time at the end of…
- Covid-19 News
Welfare officials visit homeless people living in Pattaya’s abandoned bars
Social welfare officials have paid a visit to a group of homeless people in Pattaya, who have taken refuge in some of the city’s abandoned beer bar complexes. Following a report in The Pattaya News, officials pledged to allow those living there to continue to do so and to provide them with further help. Most of them have lost their…
- Pattaya News
Navy officer jumps in to save driver after car plunges into Chon Buri canal
An officer from the Royal Thai Navy has been thanked by the driver he rescued after the man’s car plunged into a canal in Sattahip, in the eastern province of Chon Buri. Lieutenant Commander Boonlert Kunmkrong says he checked his rear-view mirror while driving and saw the car behind him enter the canal. He stopped his vehicle and jumped into…
- Covid-19 News
Government announces 3,000 baht payment for elderly, infant, disabled population
The Thai government has pledged to provide a 3,000 baht Covid-19 handout to the country’s elderly, infant, and disabled citizens. The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security says the payment will be made to vulnerable sectors of society and covers around 6 million eligible people. Each person is entitled to a one-off payment of 3,000 baht, which will be…
- World News
Hong Kong facing prospect of curfew amid rise in Covid-19 cases
Medical experts are warning that a curfew may have to be imposed after Hong Kong has seen nearly 500 new cases of Covid-19 in the last week. Yesterday alone saw 73 new cases with 66 being community transmitted. However, officials say they have only identified the sources of transmission for around 30 of those reported cases. A restaurant at the…
- Central Thailand News
“Ghost-riding” bikers charged after leaving scene of fatal accident
A woman, who allegedly caused a fatal road accident, has told police that she didn’t stop to help the victims because “others were helping”. 50 year old Jampa Boonmajuab was riding her bike in the wrong direction, or “ghost-riding” as it is commonly referred to, which caused the death of one woman and injured another. The accident occurred in Samut…
- Central Thailand News
Staff injured, property damaged as gang rampages through 2 Bangkok hospitals
Gang members have gone on a rampage through 2 Bangkok hospitals, injuring medical personnel and causing significant damage to property. Violence first erupted at Vibharam-Chaiprakan Hospital in Samut Prakan, just south of the city, when doctors were unable to save the life of one gang member who’d been injured in a fight a few hours before. His death led to…
- Pattaya News
Indian national drowns while swimming at Pattaya beach
The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation says an Indian man has drowned at Pattaya beach after going for an early morning swim. It’s understood the man, whose identity is being withheld until his family has been notified, was at the beach with a group of Thai and foreign friends when he headed into the water alone. Friends say the man, believed…
- Tourism News
Government stimulus package results in more than 3.6 million hotel bookings
Domestic tourism in Thailand is enjoying a much-needed boost thanks to a government stimulus package that has seen over 3.6 million hotel rooms booked so far. Thai citizens are availing of the Rao Tiew Dauy Kan (We Travel Together) package, which offers discounts on hotel bookings in an effort to inject life back into the country’s decimated tourism sector. An ongoing…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya’s homeless population seeks refuge in abandoned bars
Despite the easing of nearly all restrictions imposed to suppress the Covid-19 virus, Thailand’s people are still very much feeling the lingering effect of the shutdown. An ongoing ban on nearly all international arrivals has crippled the tourism industry, meaning many nightlife venues in places like Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket remain shut. A report in The Pattaya News shows the…
- Covid-19 News
Thai government pleased with ongoing suppression of Covid-19 despite nightlife re-opening
The spokesman for Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, says that despite his initial concerns, there has been no new spike in virus cases following the re-opening of the country’s nightlife. While discussing phase 5 of the easing of Covid restrictions, Dr. Taweesin admits that many medical experts, including himself, had been uneasy about the move. However,…
- Krabi News
8 year old Krabi girl bitten by spider, likely venomous
An 8 year old Krabi girl is being treated in a hospital after being bitten by what is feared to be a venomous spider. According to a Nation Thailand report, the concern is mounting for the girl’s welfare due to the fact that another person from the same area died after being bitten by a spider. The girl had initially…
- Covid-19 News
Egyptian Covid case: Government says 11 “high-risk” people have tested negative
The government’s Covid-19 task force says 11 “high risk” people, who had contact with an Egyptian soldier who was found to be infected with the virus, have tested negative. This includes staff at the hotel where the man stayed, as well as drivers who transported him and his colleagues around Rayong. A total of 1,603 people have now been cleared…
- Covid-19 News
Nearly all Rayong schools close “as a precaution” amid Covid-19 scare
274 schools in Rayong have closed, following revelations that some teachers visited venues that had also been visited by an Egyptian soldier, and members of his air crew. One of the soldiers was found to be infected with the Covid-19 virus after he had left the country and flown back to Egypt. The Thai Education Ministry says classes will now take…
- Covid-19 News
PM and Health Minister give “moral support” visit to Rayong amid Covid scare
As the city of Rayong in eastern Thailand battles with the fallout of a visiting Egyptian soldier testing positive for Covid-19 , the PM and his Public Health Minister descended on the city in a show of moral support. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, accompanied by Anutin Charnvirakul, as well as the deputy chief of the Royal Thai Army and Dr. Suwanchai…
- Business News
Thai Airways unlikely to resume flights in August
Anyone expecting the beleaguered Thai Airways to resume its flight schedule in August should not hold their breath. That’s the word from reliable sources in the industry, who predict the national carrier will not take to the skies again until September at the earliest. A report in TTR Weekly says the airline, currently undergoing a rehabilitation process, has extended its…
- Central Thailand News
Seriously ill Burmese man found nearly unconscious at Nonthaburi bus stop – VIDEO
A 40 year old Myanmar national has been taken to a hospital after being found seriously ill at a bus stop in Nonthaburi, central Thailand. Thai Residents reports that police were notified of a man in a “deep sleep” at a bus stop in Hongprayul village. Officers discovered the man was running a very high fever and was unable to…
- Covid-19 News
Rayong governor transferred, hundreds tested, amid Egyptian soldier Covid mess
Locals in the eastern province of Rayong, are lining up to be tested for the Covid-19 virus, following the news that a visiting Egyptian airman tested positive after being exempted from quarantine. The PM has already apologised for the mess and promised a review into the rules that meant none of the visiting aircrew had to fulfil the mandatory quarantine…
- Covid-19 News
PM apologises, promises review of “VIP” loopholes amid foreign Covid cases
Following an Egyptian soldier and Sudanese child both testing positive for the Covid-19 virus in Thailand, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has apologised and promised a review of the rules that exempted both foreigners from quarantine. An Egyptian aircrewman tested positive after visiting Rayong, in the east of the country, while the 9 year old daughter of a Sudanese diplomat has tested…
- Covid-19 News
Daughter of Sudanese diplomat tests positive for Covid-19 in Bangkok
The Government’s Covid-19 task force says a 9 year old Sudanese girl who has tested positive for the virus is undergoing treatment in a Bangkok hospital. It’s understood the child is the daughter of a diplomat and was self-isolating with her family at a condominium in the capital after arriving in Thailand. Thai media have been camped outside the diplomat’s…
- Pattaya News
Officials confirm billion baht make-over for Pattaya’s Jomtien beach
Thailand’s Marine Department has confirmed a 1.1 billion baht project to widen Jomtien beach in Pattaya after years of sand erosion at the tourist favourite. Officials say they plan to widen 7 kilometres of the beach to a width of between 35 and 50 metres in a project that will consist of 2 stages. The first stage will involve transporting…
- World News
Strict restrictions imposed in Hong Kong as Covid-19 resurgence worsens
Despite appearing to successfully flatten the curve from April onwards, Hong Kong is now fighting its worst outbreak of the Covid-19 virus since January. The new outbreak is escalating, leading authorities to impose strict restrictions once more. Among those is a ban on eating in restaurants in the evening, with eateries only permitted to offer a takeaway service between the…
