Sean Kelly
- Central Thailand News
Village elder stomped and gored to death by wild elephant
A village elder in the central Thailand Tha Takiab district was stomped and gored to death by a wild elephant while collecting mangoes last night. Relatives told police that 53 year old Chalermphol Sukthawee, the elder of Moo 10 in Tha Takiab, was last seen leaving his home around 3pm yesterday. When he didn’t return home his family formed a search…
- Covid-19 News
Kanchanaburi poacher arrested, three others escape after ranger attacked
A poacher was arrested in the western Thailand’s Salak Phra Wildlife Sanctuary in Sri Sawat district of Kanchanaburi in possession of dead animals and wild honey. Three other accomplices eluded capture after allegedly stabbing a forest ranger during the escape. Niphon Chamnonsirisak, director of Forest Conservation Zone 4, said wildlife rangers discovered the four armed men inside Salak Phra Wildlife…
- Covid-19 News
Facebook sues Bangkok man for ‘cloaking’ software
Facebook is suing a Bangkok resident for developing and marketing software that ‘cheats’ the social network’s advertising review process to enable users to post dangerous ads to other users. Facebook explained that Mr Basant Gajjar, an Indian-American software architect living in the Thai capital, developed a “cloaking” technique in software that hides the real content of advertisements, while showing the user…
- Covid-19 News
Newborns get extra protection with mini-face shields
Bangkok health care professionals have come up with protective face shields for newborns to prevent infection to the most precious among us. Parents understand the challenge of asking a toddler to wear a mask. (Just take a trip to Tesco while you still can and notice “the couple,” protected head to toe in what looks like a sponsorship deal from…
- Covid-19 News
More time with your kids :) Government Schools to reopen July 1
Remember that New Year’s resolution you made to spend more quality time with your kids? Well, the government heard your prayers and raised you another month and a half of close and personal self quarantine time by postponing the return of the school semester to July 1. A recent notification from the Ministry of Education stated: “All public and private…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 re-infection rates increase
A 38 year old woman from Chaiyaphum contracted the Covid-19 coronavirus for a second time after fully recovering from the virus last month. The woman returned from overseas in March and was found to be infected with the virus. She was admitted to Phyathai 2 Hospital in Bangkok and eventually had a complete recovery after which she returned to her…
- World News
Stranded Burmese permitted to return home
Stranded Burmese people at Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai Tachileik border crossing in Northern Thailand have been allowed to return home to Myanmar. The Burmese people, stuck in Thailand since borders were closed as a prevention in the spread of Covid-19, have been held in quarantine at Phra That Doi Wao temple in Mae Sai. Myanmar officials allowed them to cross…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket rolls out mobile immigration stations
In an effort to minimise mass gatherings, the Phuket Immigration Department has deployed mobile units to provide “special services.” The units are strategically placed around the island open from from 10am to 5pm. As a reminder, an automatic amnesty on visas now applies, until April 30, with a few conditions and exceptions. Not everyone will need to seek these special…
- Covid-19 News
Pattaya issues three month prison sentence to curfew violators
Three Thai men were caught in Pattaya yesterday evening violating the Emergency Decree curfew and sentenced to three months in prison. Pattaya City Police posted on their Thai social media channels and reminded its Thai and English audience not to go out between 10 pm and 4 am without a valid reason or face the consequences. After a rise in curfew…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok deploys mobile testing units
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is providing testing at home for people who may have caught the coronavirus disease. City governor Aswin Kwanmuang said yesterday that the BMA, along with the Mor Lab Panda Facebook page, are sending mobile teams to conduct Covid-19 testing to the homes of people who complete an online questionnaire and are at risk. People who test…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket migrant workers permitted to return home
Some migrant workers were allowed to leave Phuket to return to their homes yesterday, as the provincial administration agreed to temporarily lift the travel ban so they could rejoin their families. One worker who hails from the nearby province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, told Thai PBS that he has been out of work for 2 months, and his family could…
- Covid-19 News
Over half returning from Indonesia tested positive with Covid-19
42 of the 76 Thais who returned from Indonesia on Monday have now ended up as Covid-19 patients. Members of the Thai Islamic community travelling to Indonesia to preform “Dawah ” an Islamic missionary tradition, amidst a rise of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, have returned with over half testing positive. After health care workers examined the returnees, 22 have been sent…
- Crime News
Not recommended: Smoking marijuana at a police checkpoint
Most of us approach a police checkpoint with a bit of anxiety and apprehension but sometimes the “sabai sabai” approach makes for a more interesting interaction when you roll down your window. Last night in Chaiyaphum province, central Thailand, a tattoo-adorned man was stopped at a checkpoint in Kaeng Khro district around 9pm. His behaviour led police to believe he…
- Covid-19 News
A Bangkok hospital offers free drive-through Covid-19 tests for taxi drivers
Few industries see more contact with potentially infected people than transportation services. That is why a new drive through testing system has been developed in the nation’s capital. Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi on Bangna-Trat Road has launched free drive-through Covid-19 tests for taxi drivers who live or work in Bang Na, Bang Kaew, Bang Phli, Suvarnabhumi Airport or Samut Prakan province,…
- Covid-19 News
Curfew violations on the rise
Despite the Emergency Decree of a nationwide curfew enforced by police checkpoints, armed soldiers, hefty fines and threats of jail time, people are still found to be violating the orders by going out. This from Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. “Not only are people ignoring the curfew, but the numbers of those caught violating…
- Covid-19 News
Thai government schools push reopening to July 1
The cabinet announced today that government schools will be permitted to reopen from July 1 instead of May 16, which was in the original school calendar. A government spokesman says the cabinet acknowledged that the first semester of the 2020 academic year will have to be adjusted and schools will be permitted to start the semester on July 1, a…
- Covid-19 News
Proper use and disposal of sanitary masks
With new regulations in Phuket for the compulsory use of sanitary face masks, it is important to know how to properly use and dispose of sanitary masks. The World Health Organisation has created some instructional videos and provided recommendations to keep the mask the most effective possible while at the same time ensuring it’s proper maintenance and disposal. While the…
- Covid-19 News
Foreigners in Thailand worried about their security
Ever had the feeling you’re not wanted at the moment? As the highly infectious Covid-19 disease spreads through Bangkok’s streets, Thai PBS World reports the city’s expatriate community has multiple reasons to be nervous. The trouble began in early last month when Thailand’s mercurial Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul blasted “all farang” (a derogatory term for white-westerner), for not wearing…
- Covid-19 News
How to make a CDC-recommended face mask (without a sewing machine) – VIDEO
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US announced they were recommending citizens wear masks in public as a way to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. “We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals who are ‘coronavirus asymptomatic’ (not showing symptoms), and that even those who eventually develop symptoms, can transmit the virus to others.…
- Covid-19 News
Thai Immigration seek visa relief for stranded foreigners
Thailand’s Immigration Chief Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang, is seeking cabinet approval for new measures to help foreigners in Thailand affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The proposal will be submitted to the cabinet for approval this week, he said. Cabinet meets each Tuesday. The proposals follow a difficult week for foreigners and immigration officials coping with long queues of panicking…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Aviation authority extends arrival ban another 12 days
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, having earlier saying they would lift the ban on incoming flights tonight, has now decided to further extend the ban on passenger flights to the Kingdom until the end of Saturday, April 18. CAAT had initially prohibited all aircraft from entering Thailand for three days, which would have ended at midnight tonight but it…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Ban on arriving flights lifts at midnight tonight
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand’s three day flight arrival ban will end at midnight tonight. The ban on all aircraft from entering Thailand for three days came into effect when some 152 returning Thai nationals landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday evening and refused quarantine orders, saying they had not been informed of the requirement and demanding to return…
- Covid-19 News
Chiang Mai vigilantes set up roadblocks and checkpoints
A subdistrict of the northern Chiang Mai province is taking matters into its own hands by locking down residents and setting up checkpoints to screen people entering the area in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus. The village headman in Khilek in Mae Taeng district Anan Siriphakphokhin says residents are worried about the worsening outbreak. “In Khilek subdistrict alone, about…
- Covid-19 News
Quarantined woman escapes back to Ubon Ratchathani
An Ubon Ratchathani woman, who defied quarantine orders in Bangkok and travelled back home, has tested positive for Covid-19. The Ubon Ratchathani Centre for Covid-19 Situation reports that a 30 year old woman from Khemarat district who left her apartment in Bangkok’s Soi Pattanakarn 43, tested positive for Covid-19 after she entered the province to return home to Thailand’s Isaan…
- Covid-19 News
UK suffers largest one day increase in Covid-19
The United Kingdom has recorded 708 new deaths from coronavirus today, the largest one day rise since the outbreak began. Figures released yesterday by the Department of Health and Social Care, suggest a total of 4,313 people have now died in the UK. In a press briefing yesterday, UK cabinet minister Michael Gove opened by saying “Our thoughts today are…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket: Patong on official lockdown from today
Phuket’s Governor Pakkapong Thaweepat has issued a closure order for Patong with all non-essential travel in or out of the popular tourist town banned in an attempt to slow a potential large scale outbreak of Covid-19 in Phuket. In recent weeks the daily reports of new cases in Phuket were mostly focussed on cases in Patong, especially around the Bangla…
- Covid-19 News
China enters suppression phase in battle against Coronavirus
There are now so few coronavirus cases in China that some days authorities don’t have any new cases to report. China has gone from reporting thousands of cases a day back in February to reporting a handful each day now. Recently new cases are slightly higher, but almost all of them are imported cases from travellers recently returning from abroad.…
- Covid-19 News
Krabi and Phang Nga issue lockdown orders
Governors Kitibadee Prawit of Krabi and Siripat Pattakul of Pang Nga have issued orders on Saturday closing travel in and out of their provinces, applicable from yesterday “until further notice”, with essential services being the only exception. Richard Barrow, long time blogger and British expat stated “It would seem that all foreign tourists in Krabi province have to check out…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation: State of Emergency affecting homeless dogs and cats
During these troubled times, Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket has changed a few policies. Community Relations Manager Sakdapol Thongjan issued a special notice saying… in light of the escalation in Covid-19 cases worldwide, and to support the community efforts to stem the spread within Thailand, with immediate effect Soi Dog Foundation has decided to close the sanctuary to visitors and volunteers…
- Covid-19 News
Is a 24 hour national curfew next?
The Thai government may impose a 24-hour curfew if the rate of new Covid-19 infections does not slow to a manageable level after this current national trial curfew of 10pm to 4 am and 8pm to 3am in Phuket now in effect. The national curfew was announced yesterday by Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and came into affect from today. There…
