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    Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know

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  • Over 1,000 homes damaged as remnants of tropical storm Sinlaku wreaks havoc in Ranong | Thaiger

    Over 1,000 homes damaged as remnants of tropical storm Sinlaku wreaks havoc in Ranong

    Tropical storm Sinlaku has made its presence felt in the southern province of Ranong, damaging over 1,000 properties in the Pak Nam district. Pak Nam’s location on the Andaman Sea means it bore the brunt of the storm, but the district of Suksamran was also badly affected, with several homes dragged into the sea by a fierce current co-inciding with…

  • Chiang Mai protesters perform in pouring rain | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai protesters perform in pouring rain

    by guest writer Will Langston Pro-democracy activism continues its public display in Chiang Mai City. For the third time in a week, activists and protestors gathered under outside old walls of the city to demonstrate. The name of the performance yesterday was entitled “EAT (I’M) ARE”. The title is wordplay based on the famous steak eatery in Thailand called ‘EAT…

  • Phuket may be chosen as test case in phased re-opening to foreign tourists | Thaiger

    Phuket may be chosen as test case in phased re-opening to foreign tourists

    As the Tourism Authority of Thailand considers how the country might safely re-open its borders, the Bangkok Post reports that there are tentative plans afoot to kick off the project with Phuket, possibly in October. The director-general of the Department of Health, Panpimon Wipulakorn, says Phuket’s position as a self-contained island means it would be easier to control any potential…

  • Chon Buri and Pattaya residents told to prepare for a week of rain and potential floods | Thaiger

    Chon Buri and Pattaya residents told to prepare for a week of rain and potential floods

    Rain, and more rain. That’s the forecast for many parts of Thailand today. Already, over the past 24 hours, there has been torrential rain storms hitting parts of Phuket and Chiang Mai. Today the Thai Meteorological Department is forecasting a week of poor weather ahead in the Chon Buri province, east of Bangkok. There is an 80% chance of rain…

  • Swiss clothing firm denies layoffs | Thaiger

    Swiss clothing firm denies layoffs

    Contradicting earlier reports, Triumph International (Thailand) has denied any link with a garment company that laid off 800 employees on Friday. A statement from the Swiss Triumph Holding AG on yesterday said the company sold its production facilities in Thailand to Body Fashion (Thailand) 4 years ago. Accoding to the company’s head of corporate communications: “In fact, Triumph has handed…

  • Ratchaburi man arrested for murder, faking his own death | Thaiger

    Ratchaburi man arrested for murder, faking his own death

    Police in the western Ratchaburi province say a man, facing a possible jail sentence, faked his own death by killing another man, staging a car crash and burning the body. The announcement comes nearly a week after police discovered the body of a man who had apparently burned to death in a vehicle at a car upholstery shop. It was…

  • Second autopsy requested in Red Bull witness’s death | Thaiger

    Second autopsy requested in Red Bull witness’s death

    Police in Chiang Mai have asked the family of a key defence witness in the ongoing case of Vorayuth Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull drinks empire, to delay the cremation of his body. 40 year old Jaruchart Martthong was killed in a motorbike accident on Thursday involving another driver. Chiang Mai police say CCTV footage shows that Jaruchart tried…

  • Hundreds left jobless as Air Force cancels golf club contract | Thaiger

    Hundreds left jobless as Air Force cancels golf club contract

    Hundreds of people were left jobless in Chiang Mai yesterday after Wing 41, a property owned by the Royal Thai Air Force and the location of the Star Dome Golf Club, put up a sign cancelling its contracts with all renters. According to Wing 41, all contracts expired yesterday and as of today Star Dome will no longer be open…

  • Red Bull witness drank with other biker before his death: police | Thaiger

    Red Bull witness drank with other biker before his death: police

    In the latest development in the case of Red Bull scion Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, police in Chiang Mai now say the key defence witness who died Thursday in a motorcycle accident was seen drinking with the other motorcyclist involved before the incident. Officers say they used CCTV video to trace the route of the 2 motorcyclists to a karaoke bar.…

  • Thai Airways to operate repatriation flights to Denmark, Taiwan | Thaiger

    Thai Airways to operate repatriation flights to Denmark, Taiwan

    Thai Airways has arranged 2 repatriation flights to Taipei and 2 to Copenhagen this month, to bring back foreign nationals who were stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline’s acting president says the Taiwan flights will fly on August 5 and 14, leaving Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8:25am and arriving in Taipei at 1:05pm local time; Chansin Treenuchagron said the flights…

  • Survey: China travel may take a year to recover | Thaiger

    Survey: China travel may take a year to recover

    Data from the latest travel report by ITB China Travel Trends show that it’s possible – even likely – that the Chinese outbound travel market will take up to a year to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey of 200 Chinese outbound travel agents examined the anticipated travel behaviour of outbound Chinese tourists once the beginnings of recovery are…

  • “Thailand’s economy will take 2-3 years to recover” – Krungthai | Thaiger

    “Thailand’s economy will take 2-3 years to recover” – Krungthai

    Across the world the hopes of a quick recovery in countries’ economies evaporate as the effects of either the coronavirus, or the effects of the lockdowns, drag on. Even though Thailand has effectively contained Covid-19 at this stage with zero local transmissions for over 2 months, the economy is now stumbling with many businesses shuttered and no tourists coming into…

  • Trump threatens US TikTok ban | Thaiger

    Trump threatens US TikTok ban

    Donald Trump said yesterday that he plans to sign an executive order – perhaps as soon as today – banning the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok from the US. Such a ban would mark the culmination of national security concerns over the safety of personal data handled by TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became 1 of only a handful of…

  • House agrees to Constitutional amendment | Thaiger

    House agrees to Constitutional amendment

    Apparently acquiescing to the demands of anti-government protesters who have held demonstrations across the nation for 2 weeks, a parliamentary committee formed to study problems with Thailand’s Constitution has resolved to change Section 256 of the charter, to clear the way for broader amendments. The protesters, mainly university students, have demanded a rewritten Constitution, a new general election and an…

  • Sa Kaeo couple in murder/suicide | Thaiger

    Sa Kaeo couple in murder/suicide

    Police in the eastern Sa Kaeo province, along the Cambodian border, say a 61 year old man and his 44 year old wife are dead after what they’re calling a murder/suicide. The incident in the Ban Mai Nong Sai subdistrict was reported at around 6am yesterday. Authorities arrived at the scene to find 44 year old Nuengthai Klomkraok dead in…

  • Road carnage mounts as couple killed in Nonthaburi crash | Thaiger

    Road carnage mounts as couple killed in Nonthaburi crash

    Thailand’s road carnage continues to mount: police and rescue services were called in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok, after an incident in which an Isuzu pickup truck collided with a barrier then crossed over a metal fence at 6:30 yesterday. 2 people, 45 year old Adisak, and his 46 year old wife Suchada, were thrown out of the vehicle and…

  • Protesters attempt to “wash away” government double standards | Thaiger

    Protesters attempt to “wash away” government double standards

    Continuing the wave of anti-government demonstrations which has swept the country for nearly 2 weeks, protesters calling themselves “Democracy June 24” gathered outside Government House in Bangkok yesterday and symbolically washed dishes carrying various political messages. The last dish, carrying a photo of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was dramatically smashed when protesters were “unable” to scrub it clean. (October 24 is…

  • Gold shop heist foiled as owner locks thief inside | Thaiger

    Gold shop heist foiled as owner locks thief inside

    Police in Bangkok’s Klong Sam Wa district yesterday arrested a woman after she showed up at a local gold shop, dressed in pink Muslim garb and armed with a pistol, evidently intending to rob the place. Unfortunately for her, the caper was foiled when the owner of the “Yaowarat Gold Department Store” locked her in, called police and waited outside…

  • Pattaya police say insults led to fatal shooting | Thaiger

    Pattaya police say insults led to fatal shooting

    2 suspects, arrested early yesterday and accused of the fatal shooting in broad daylight of a motorbike taxi driver in Pattaya, have been charged with murder. Police traced and arrested the 2 prime suspects, named as 39 year old Manat Imamu and 45 year old Niphon Panthong, in Chon Buri’s Bangsaen district, as they attempted to withdraw money from an…

  • Nok Air will survive despite bankruptcy: CEO | Thaiger

    Nok Air will survive despite bankruptcy: CEO

    Thai budget carrier Nok Air is insisting that its business will be able to return to solvency despite filing a business rehabilitation request with the Central Bankruptcy Court, shortly after national flag carrier Thai Airways did the same. Nok Air CEO Wutthiphum Jurangkool said yesterday that the impact of Covid-19 is preventing the airline from flying its 18 international routes,…

  • Europe bans US travellers for 2nd time in a month | Thaiger

    Europe bans US travellers for 2nd time in a month

    The EU extended its travel ban on Americans yesterday for the second time in a month, as Covid-19 continues to ravage the US. The EU began lifting its travel restrictions on July 1, welcoming visitors from 14 countries, including Canada, South Korea and Australia. The US was left off of that list, and the EU extended its ban on travellers…

  • Police say “Boss” tested positive for cocaine due to dentistry | Thaiger

    Police say “Boss” tested positive for cocaine due to dentistry

    Police are claiming that illicit drugs, including cocaine, found in the blood samples of Red Bull scion Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya in the infamous fatal 2012 hit-and-run case were for his dental treatment. A parliamentary committee invited officials yesterday for questioning regarding case. A spokesman for the committee told a press briefing that the panel questioned officers who handled the case…

  • Tycoon’s prison term for attempted bribery upheld | Thaiger

    Tycoon’s prison term for attempted bribery upheld

    The 1 year prison sentence for construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta for attempted bribery has been upheld by Thailand’s appeals court. Premchai’s case captured national attention in February when the high profile CEO and 3 associates were found surrounded by animal carcasses and guns in a protected wildlife sanctuary. Premchai, president of Italian-Thai Development Corp, was later released by the court…

  • Pro-monarchy activists vow to fight on, refuse to rule out violence – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Pro-monarchy activists vow to fight on, refuse to rule out violence – VIDEO

    Following weeks of anti-government protests, in which some participants have been accused of making veiled anti-monarchy references, around 100 activists gathered at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument yesterday to show their support for the monarchy. Participants were former polytechnic students, congregating under the banner, “Polytechnic Students for the Nation.” Aged in their 40s to 60s, theirs was the first counter-demonstration since protests…

  • Key witness in the Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya case dies in motorbike incident | Thaiger

    Key witness in the Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya case dies in motorbike incident

    One of the key witnesses of the 2012 hit and run incident, involving Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, died this morning as a result of a motorbike incident in Chiang Mai. He was one of two main witnesses identified by police in the case. The incident happened this morning just after 2am in the main city area of Chiang…

  • Mayor says half of Pattaya’s security cameras aren’t working | Thaiger

    Mayor says half of Pattaya’s security cameras aren’t working

    Pattaya’s mayor claims about half of the city’s security cameras aren’t working. In an interview with associated Thai press, Mayor Sonthaya Khunpluem told reporters “There are slightly over 2,000 CCTV cameras in Pattaya in total at this time. We also have a dedicated CCTV control centre that’s manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” “However, some of them…

  • Anti-coup activist acquitted of sedition, cybercrime charges | Thaiger

    Anti-coup activist acquitted of sedition, cybercrime charges

    A pro-democracy activist was acquitted today of sedition and cybercrime charges for criticising the ruling junta back in 2014. He was accused of violating Section 116 of the Criminal Code and the Computer Crime Act by posting messages against the 2014 coup that deposed PM Yingluck Shinawatra. The messages were posted between May 30 and June 4, 2015, when martial…

  • Ukrainian man in fatal fall from abandoned Surat Thani hotel | Thaiger

    Ukrainian man in fatal fall from abandoned Surat Thani hotel

    A Ukranian fell to his death from the roof of an empty hotel in the central business district of the southern province of Surat Thani this morning. The 36 year old man, identified by Matichon as Tomak Mykola, was found lying face up on the ground in front of the abandoned Southern Star Hotel on Chon Kasem Road. Police were…

  • Pattaya murder suspects arrested | Thaiger

    Pattaya murder suspects arrested

    2 men have been arrested for the shocking daylight shooting murder of a motorbike taxi driver in Pattaya on Tuesday. The Pattaya News reports the suspects were nabbed in Chon Buri province’s Bang Saen district early this morning. Police found a blue Honda PCX motorbike, which they believe was used in the shooting, in front of an apartment building in…

  • Pro-monarchy students plan Bangkok rally | Thaiger

    Pro-monarchy students plan Bangkok rally

    A group of pro-royalist vocational students and their supporters are planning a rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument today, possibly provoking a confrontation with pro-democracy students. The student group, calling itself “Vocational Students to Protect the Nation” said on their Facebook page that they will be demonstrating at Democracy monument and voice their opinions on the current surge of pro-democratic student…