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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Fed-up waiting, some Thais have travelled overseas to be vaccinated
While the Thai government continues to big up its vaccination rollout and PM Prayut Chan-o-cha insists there will be enough vaccines for everyone, many Thais have lost faith. And the few who can afford it are flying overseas – at significant cost – to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Coconuts reports that the reasons for doing so are varied… some have…
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Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses concern over violence in Myanmar
With more than 850 people killed by security forces since the February military coup in Myanmar, and the junta’s ongoing clashes with ethnic troops and rebel fighters, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a statement expressing concern over the violence in the neighbouring country. Along with reiterating the call to end violence and the release of detainees, the ministry’s spokesperson…
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235 people in 10 Thai provinces infected with Covid variant first found in India
235 people in 10 of Thailand’s 77 provinces have tested positive for the Covid-19 variant first found in India. Most of the cases are linked to an outbreak at a construction camp in Bangkok’s Laksi district. Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences tested samples from 3,964 Covid-19 patients to detect mutated variants of the virus. 235 of the samples were positive…
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20 year old British man dies after falling off Pattaya balcony
A 20 year old British man has died after falling off a balcony in Pattaya this afternoon. Pattaya police were alerted to the man’s death at 1 pm today. He was found clad only in his boxers. His name is currently being withheld until his relatives have been contacted regarding his death. Pattaya police say the man was staying on…
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Mass vaccination campaign starts today, first phase includes foreigners in “at risk” groups
“All foreign nationals on Thai soil are included in the national vaccination programme.” Thailand’s nationwide mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign officially started today. For foreigners living in Thailand, those who are 60 years old and above as well as those with certain underlying health conditions, will be given priority during this phase of vaccinations. In Phuket and Koh Samui, tourist destinations…
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Man arrested for allegedly trying to rob convenience store
An Australian man was arrested this morning after he allegedly tried to rob a Pattaya convenience store. 55 year old Vladisavljevic Alexander was arrested after police were alerted at 3 am to his activities. The alleged break in happened at a Tops Daily convenience store on Naklua Road. A nearby security guard heard noises coming from the store and called…
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Phuket officals quiet on foreigners being able to register for Covid vaccine
Phuket officials are keeping quiet on foreigners being able to register for the Covid-19 vaccine. 2 weeks prior the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that foreigners could register for a Covid-19 vaccine. Earlier, Thaiger wrote that many (nationality not specified) who registered for a vaccine had their registration mysteriously canceled. The “Phuket Must Win” portal has a “Vaccinations for…
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Monday Covid Update: 2,419 cases and 33 deaths, provincial totals
2,419 new Covid-19 cases and 33 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising Thailand’s cumulative case count since the start of the pandemic last year to 179,516 and the death toll to 1,269. Since April 1, the latest wave of infections, the CCSA has reported a total of 151,023 Covid-19 infections. Thailand now has 49,101 active…
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Many who pre-registered for vaccine had their appointments cancelled today
Many people who pre-registered for vaccines got phone calls this morning telling them their appointment was cancelled. New appointments were not provided. The people that had registered had done so days ahead of time. Lists of recipients were directed to vaccinations sites around Bangkok, before the first day of mass vaccination of Bangkok inhabitants. Of the planned 800 to 1,000…
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Train accident leaves 30 dead in Pakistan
2 trains collided in Pakistan’s southeast province of Sindh today. 30 people have been reported dead and dozens more are injured. The Millat Express had derailed and was soon hit by Sir Syed Express. Rescue workers and villagers worked together to remove bodies from the wreckage. Between 15 to 20 people are still trapped inside the trains. Heavy machines are…
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Woman has to be rescued after falling through hole in Samut Prakan
Yesterday, a woman fell down a 2 metre hole. She was reportedly on her phone and did not notice the gaping hole that led to her plunging into a concrete water tank. The hole was located in a construction site in the Bang Bo district of Samut Prakan, the province that sits on the Gulf of Thailand. A local rescue…
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Bodies of couple who died at a Koh Tao pool sent to police hospital for autopsies
Medical examiners at the Police General Hospital will do an autopsy on the bodies of the billionaire couple who were both found dead in a resort pool on Koh Tao, an island in the Gulf of Thailand off the Surat Thani coast. The results on the cause of death will be released in around 2 weeks, Koh Tao police chief…
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Taxi driver arrested for allegedly stealing from Australian man in Bangkok
Police arrested a taxi driver who allegedly stole thousands of baht and Australian dollars from an Australian man back in May 2018. The Australian had hired a taxi to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. When he got out, he realised that not only his passport was missing, but 40,000 baht and AUD$4,000 were also gone. Surveillance camera footage shows the man getting…
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Private hospitals in Thailand to confirm price of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine today
The Private Hospital Association is expected to confirm the price of the Covid-19 Moderna vaccine, which will be provided as a paid alternative outside of the government rollout. The Moderna vaccine has been approved by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration and will be made available for purchase at private hospitals. According to a Pattaya News report, Paiboon Eksaengsri from the…
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Foreign driver detained following alleged road rage incident in Pattaya
A foreign national has been detained in Pattaya, accused of reckless driving and road rage that caused significant damage to other vehicles. According to the Pattaya News, the incident occurred on Saturday night, when a black vehicle was seen bumping into and dragging 2 other vehicles along a road in the Banglamung district. Witnesses alerted the police, who arrived on…
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Confidence low in Phuket as sandbox hopes marred by rules and restrictions
As Phuket prepares for its July 1 re-opening to vaccinated holidaymakers, tourism operators on the southern island aren’t quite jumping up and down with excitement. The much-discussed sandbox scheme comes with some tough rules and restrictions that some fear will put people off visiting. Top of the list is the requirement to stay on the island for a minimum of…
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Tourism operators pinning hopes on vaccine rollout
Thailand’s tourism operators are pinning all their hopes on the national vaccine rollout, which kicks off today. However, the government’s reputation for vaccine procurement and management has come in for sharp criticism and confidence is not high. Already, a number of provinces have had to postpone their vaccine rollouts after receiving an insufficient number of doses from the Public Health…
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Thai Airways to fly 5 Phuket routes to Europe
With several airlines in the Middle East announcing July 1 reopenings of flights to Phuket, Thai Airways has finally announced plans to fly in and out of the island from Europe. As the Phuket Sandbox plan climbs closer and closer to being officially approved, airlines are scheduling flights. Now Thai Airways has announced direct flights from 5 European cities beginning…
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Labour party urges UK to close borders to Thailand, Vietnam
The Labour party in the United Kingdom has suggested that the UK border be closed to travellers from Vietnam and Thailand, citing the appearance and spread of a variety of Covid-19 variants. Home Secretary Priti Patel was warned Friday night by Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds that the two Southeast Asian nations should be moved to the red list and…
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Thailand Foreign Ministry concerned about Myanmar situation
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Thailand expressed the country’s concern for their troubled neighbour Myanmar and the violence that rages on there. They called for the country, mired in protests and violent skirmishes against the military junta that seized power on February 1, to follow the actions agreed upon by leaders of the surrounding Southeast Asian nations. In…
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Covid UPDATE Sunday: 2,671 new infections and 23 deaths, provincial totals
There has been another 2,671 new infections of Covid-19 detected across Thailand in the past 24 hours. There’s also been 23 deaths. 604 cases were detected in Thai prisons. Most of the current outbreaks continue to be around Bangkok and its immediate provinces. Bangkok registered 675 cases yesterday. Provincial totals below… GRAPH: worldometers.info • A recent survey, conducted by the Centre…
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#FreePALESTINE billboard taken down in Bangkok
A billboard in Yan Nawa, a district in Bangkok, has been taken down. It was reportedly put up by a group of Thai Muslims who support the Palestinian cause. The billboard consisted of the Palestinian flag with “#FreePALESTINE” superimposed on the bottom of the flag, as well as the dome of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Reportedly, Thai officials had asked the…
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Bangkok shopping centres: stay calm, we’re mostly safe
Earlier this week, there was a minor kerfuffle when 3 shopping centres in Bangkok publicly denied they were the source of a Covid outbreak. Now, 3 different malls in a different district are also trying to calm fears amidst the CCSA stating they are the source of Covid clusters. The news comes from the CCSA showing a graphic of the…
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Last WWII Thai airman died at 102 years old
World War II ended 76 years ago before many of us were born, but this week, the last Thai airman who actively fought in World War II died at the age of 102. Thai airman Choy Lodethanong died on Wednesday morning. At the age of 102, the death was considered to be of natural causes. Choy was part of the…
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Tourism program adds a plus
This weekend, the Phuket government announced a program whereby businesses can now flout their relative vaccinated status to customers with a certificate with a literal plus. The Amazing Thailand SHA Plus certification is reached via an online registration from the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration aka SHA. The government has urged all businesses and venues that are 70% inoculated…
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Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQ community in Thailand
In the United States, June is Pride Month – a month to celebrate the LGBTQ community, in memory of the Stonewall riots in June of 1969. It is a month to recognize the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer population in the US. While Pride Month isn’t officially international, some acknowledgement and celebration have been seen in Thailand. In Bangkok,…
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500,000 Sinovac doses reach Thailand
Yesterday, China’s embassy in Thailand announced that the second shipment of 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines given by the Chinese government got to Thailand. This second shipment brings the total donations of Sinovac from China to 6.5 million doses. Globally, China and Thailand have the most doses of Sinovac. Earlier this week, The Thaiger reported that 11 million doses…
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TAT proposes eased restrictions and 10 year visa to key groups
Key word – PROPOSAL. Perhaps tired of piecemeal baby steps to attract tourists while missing the bigger picture, The Tourism Authority of Thailand proposed a sweeping plan to give 4 target groups easy access to live, work and prosper in Thailand for a decade at a time. The radical proposal was presented to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha in a video conference…
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Man almost drowns looking for shells, suffers serious injuries
Yesterday afternoon, a man required medical attention after nearly drowning and suffering serious injuries after his search for shells went awry. He had been looking for shells near the Bali Hai Pier in Pattaya, a city on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The (name withheld) 60 year old man, was found lying unconscious on the beach when…
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Phuket Sandbox to be approved by Cabinet on Monday
It’s official, sort of. After months of kicking sand around, debating if it will really happen, the Centre for Economic Situation Administration officially approved the Phuket Sandbox plan, an important step forward. The announcement, made on Friday afternoon, appears to answer the often-posed question if the sandbox plan would ever happen as the much more intense and deadly third wave…
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