- Covid-19 News
Former Thai PM Thaksin says lock-down was not the way to deal with Covid-19
Former, and currently fugitive, PM Thaksin Shinawatra says he believes the lock-down introduced in Thailand to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus was not the way to go. He maintains current restrictions are hurting the economy and their introduction was a mistake. Nation Thailand reports that Thaksin was speaking to BBC Thai when he criticised the measures put in…
- World News
Singapore nurse leads Covid-19 patients in dance routine – VIDEO
A video posted online shows a Singaporean nurse at a Covid-19 isolation facility leading a group of patients in a morning dance routine. The patients are all migrant labourers now recovering after being treated for the virus. Singapore experienced an unexpected second wave of infections when over 20,000 migrant workers, all living in close proximity, caught the virus, with hundreds of…
- Covid-19 News
New app latest weapon in Thailand’s fight against Covid-19
In line with developments around the world, Thailand’s Covid-19 task force has developed a contact-tracing app as the fight to eradicate the virus continues. Coconuts reports that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society says the app, known as Thai Chana (Thailand Wins) will be used to track people’s movements in order to easily contact anyone who may have visited…
- Chiang Mai News
Workers claim Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi resort owes 10 million baht in unpaid wages
A group of 70 workers, representing over 200 employees at a luxury resort in northern Thailand, have filed an official complaint with Chiang Mai’s Department of Labour and Welfare, claiming they have not been paid for 4 months. Thai Residents reports that the workers are all from the 5 star Dhara Dhevi resort in Chiang Mai, which closed its doors…
- Covid-19 News
Thai billionaire urges government to allow tourists to return
The senior chairman of Thailand’s largest food and agriculture business, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP All), is appealing to the Thai government to open up the country to overseas visitors once more. The Bangkok Post reports that billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont says Thailand needs to start easing travel restrictions in a bid to restart the tourism industry. “Thailand’s economic losses from the lockdown…
- Covid-19 News
South Korea asks Thailand to remove it from list of “high risk” countries
South Korea is asking to be removed from Thailand’s list of “high-risk” countries. The list was drawn up in early March, when South Korea was second only to China for Covid-19 case numbers. It now ranks 40th, and is considered one of the countries most successful at managing the outbreak. To date, none of the 7,000 Thai citizens, who have…
- Politics News
Defence Ministry to take legal action over anti-government slogan campaign
The Defence Ministry is vowing to take action after an anti-government slogan was projected onto various Bangkok monuments and buildings, including the Defence Ministry building itself, at the weekend. The Seek the Truth slogan also appeared on the Democracy Monument, at the Victory Monument BTS station and on Wat Pathum Wanaram temple. Former members of the now defunct Future Forward…
- Health
Thailand to manufacture anti-viral drug to treat Covid-19 patients
The state-owned enterprise responsible for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals in Thailand says it plans to produce a licenced version of Favipiravir, the anti-viral drug that has proved successful in treating some Covid-19 patients. Nation Thailand reports that The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation developed the drug in March, but there is a waiting period of about a year before the product can…
- Politics News
Former Future Forward members claim they’re behind political slogan campaign around Bangkok
Former members of the now defunct Future Forward party say they are responsible for projecting a political slogan on to some of Bangkok’s most iconic landmarks Sunday night, and say more’s to come. Coconuts reports that the political figures, now members of a group called “Progressive Movement,” shared a video of activists using projection equipment from within a van. The…
- Covid-19 News
44 arrests at Pattaya pool party, drugs and firearm seized – VIDEO
44 people have been arrested at a birthday party after police raided a pool villa in central Pattaya at 1:30 this morning. It’s understood 3 of those arrested were Chinese tourists; the remainder were Thai. All face charges of breaking curfew and violating the Emergency Decree. 1 man, 41 year old Thanasak Kaewsri, had an outstanding warrant for drugs and…
- Pattaya News
6 arrests after attack on Pattaya shop owner and family for refusing to sell alcohol – VIDEO
Six curfew-breakers have been arrested for allegedly attacking a Pattaya shop owner and his family, as well as damage to their business and car, on Saturday night. The shop owner had refused to sell the perpetrators alcohol as it was after the curfew, with a further ban on alcohol sales after 6pm in Chon Buri province. The Pattaya News reports…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket bus driver shares government quarantine facility with coffin
A bus driver who left Phuket to return to his home city of Trang was left feeling a little, well, uneasy when he realised he would be sharing his government quarantine facilities with a coffin. Were the authorities just ‘planning ahead’? Or just a ‘whoops’ moment? The man had left Phuket as part of the exodus of some 50,000 people…
- Covid-19 News
Survey shows a third of people believe Thailand will be Covid-free in 3-6 months
A survey conducted by the Super Poll Research Office shows that a third of people believe Thailand will be free from the Covid-19 virus within 3 to 6 months. Thai Residents reports that Super Poll conducted a survey of 1,255 citizens on May 6, which also revealed that over 32% believe the virus will be gone in as little as…
- Politics News
Bangkok police hunt activists who projected slogans onto landmarks of 2010 protests
The slogan Seek the Truth (in Thai) has been projected onto several Bangkok landmarks in what appears to be a commemoration of the violent end to political demonstrations in 2010. That year, protests rocked Bangkok for 3 months between March and May, when over 100,000 supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra (known as the “Redshirts”) descended on the city, demanding elections.…
- Covid-19 News
China on alert as 17 new Covid-19 cases reported, highest in two weeks
China has recorded its highest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases since April 28, with 17 new cases. Five of those are in Wuhan, where the outbreak began in late 2019, and is the highest number recorded there since March 11. A Reuters report says that 7 of the cases recorded yesterday involve arrivals from overseas, a big jump from…
- Education
Online learning system to support re-opening of schools
Thailand’s Ministry of Education is launching an online learning system designed as a back-up in the event that the re-opening of schools is deemed unsafe. With Thaialnd’s schools set to reopen their doors from July 1, a televised and online system is being tested to supplement children’s learning. The new system, set to be tested next Monday, May 18, will…
- Covid-19 News
Businesses banned from shutting down during emergency decree
Employers have been left perplexed by an order from the Thai Labour Ministry forbidding them from shutting down their businesses during the emergency decree. The same order bans employees from taking part in any industrial action. A report in Nation Thailand says companies that have already closed are being instructed to re-open, and employees advised to return to work, with…
- Covid-19 News
Pattaya shopkeeper and family attacked after refusing to sell alcohol to curfew breakers
A Pattaya shop-owner and his family have been left shaken after an attack by a group of curfew breakers, apparently angry that they weren’t able to buy alcohol. The Pattaya News reports that the 19 year old daughter of the shopkeeper, Thipthida Chaisat, says around 10 young Thai males, who appeared very drunk, arrived at her father’s shop in the…
- Covid-19 News
Thai Health Minister says China, South Korea no longer virus hotspots
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has provisionally approved a suggestion from Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that China and South Korea be removed from the list of Covid-19 “hotspots”. Nation Thailand reports that the number of confirmed cases in each country has now dropped into single digits and attempts are being made to re-establish economic and social ties between Thailand and the two…
- Business News
Business recovery in the Covid-19 era
As some countries begin to tentatively look to reboot their economies in a Covid-19 world, what does the future hold for business? Nation Thailand reports today on an extensive Bank of Thailand survey that examined the impact of the pandemic on four business sectors and what might happen next. Things are looking a bit brighter for the manufacturing and retail…
- World News
Leading Philippines broadcaster shut down after clashes with Duterte
The Philippines’ leading television and radio broadcaster, ABS-CBN, has been ordered to shut down by the country’s parliament, where the majority of members are loyal to President Rodrigo Duterte. Critical coverage of President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs angered the Philippine leader, but his gripe with ABS-CBN goes back to the 2016 presidential election when he accused the network of refusing to…
- Crime News
German national stabbed to death in central Thailand
A 60 year old German man, who worked as an English teacher, has been found stabbed to death at his home in the central province of Prachan Buri. The Bangkok Post reports that the man’s body was discovered by his ex-wife, 45 year old Sriwan Khunmak. He has been named in Thai media as Wilhelm Klaus. It’s understood that he…
- Northern Thailand News
Former employee of Thai Embassy in Singapore arrested for forging visa documents
Police in Chiang Rai have arrested a Singaporean national accused of forging visa documents. 26 year old David Han, a former employee at the Thai Embassy in Singapore, was arrested by Immigration Police at a hotel in Chiang Rai in possession of counterfeit documents required for visa extension. The Chiang Rai Times reports that Han told police he still worked…
- Bangkok News
Speeding ambulance ejects patient on stretcher into Bangkok traffic – VIDEO
A video that captured the moment a female patient was catapulted from an ambulance into busy city traffic has now been viewed over a million times. The Thai Examiner reports that the incident occurred as the ambulance, lights flashing, was speeding through Bangkok traffic, transporting the woman to hospital. As the driver accelerated along Pracha Uthit Road in the capital’s…
- Covid-19 News
Yala lab under investigation following Covid-19 testing errors
A medical lab in the southern province of Yala, which returned 40 “false positive” Covid-19 test results, is being investigated to determine where the errors came from. Thai PBS World reports that experts from Prince of Songkhla University in Hat Yai and the Medical Science Department in Nonthaburi province have been sent to the lab to investigate the situation. The…
- Thailand News
Issuing of driving licences suspended during emergency decree
The Department of Land Transport has declared a moratorium on the issuing of new driving licences until the emergency decree ends (currently scheduled to end on May 31). Thai Residents reports that DLT Director General Jirut Wisarnjit says the recent extension to the emergency decree means services will not re-open from May 7 as planned. “The decision has been taken…
- Covid-19 News
Concerns in Pattaya over packed trucks transporting construction workers
Whilst Thailand’s residents are being told to ensure appropriate social distancing in all circumstances as the country slowly re-opens businesses, Pattaya residents have shared their concern about the conditions local construction workers are being transported, saying there is no social distancing being observed at all. The Pattaya News reports that it has received photos of workers crammed onto packed trucks…
- Covid-19 News
Government health official warns of near-certainty of “second wave” of Covid-19
With the easing of some restrictions put in place to slow and eventually halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus, a government health official is now warning of the rise of a “second wave” from next week is “inevitable”. Nation Thailand reports that the Director of the Division of Communicable Diseases issued his warning yesterday, saying an increase in the…
- Health
Obesity on the rise in the Land of Smiles
Thailand has a health problem and it appears to be an even bigger concern than the current Covid-19 pandemic. The World Health Organisation says nearly one third of the Thai population is now overweight and 9% of the country is obese. Malaysia currently holds the dubious honour of having the highest obesity rate in Southeast Asia – but Thailand is…
- World News
Broke Russian family deported from Indonesia for busking – VIDEO
A Russian couple and their young child have been deported from Indonesia, after a video of them busking illegally at a market on Lombok island went viral. Coconuts reports that officials did not charge them with violating the conditions of their visa, with the Head of the Mataram Immigration Office saying he understood the family had been caught up in…
