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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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Philippines confirms delay in imports of AstraZeneca doses from Thailand
The Philippines has announced that the arrival of a first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines being imported from Thailand has been delayed. The delivery of the vaccines, manufactured in Thailand and ordered by the Philippines, has now been pushed back by several weeks. According to a Bangkok Post report, the development gives rise to questions about Thailand’s distribution plans for Southeast…
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Health Minister confident AstraZeneca doses will arrive on time
Thailand’s Public Health Minister says the delivery of 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is on schedule. Anutin Charnvirakul says the doses are expected to arrive in batches, throughout the month of June, and he’s confident the first lot will be here by June 7, when the national rollout begins. “I’m confident the first lot will be put…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 3,440 new cases and 38 deaths
3,440 new Covid-19 cases and 38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, the latest wave of infections in Thailand, the CCSA has recorded a total of 136,599. Out of the new cases, 1,087 were detected in correctional facilities. Thousands of inmates at more than a dozen Thai prisons have contracted the…
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Thai Navy stands by decision to purchase 3 Chinese tanks
A spokesman yesterday defended the Royal Thai Navy’s decision to buy 3 Chinese tanks, while the country struggles to purchase an adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines. According to a Bangkok Post report, Navy spokesman Chettha Chaipiam says the purchase was agreed prior to the arrival of the pandemic. He points out that, the 398-million-baht agreement was signed during the 2020…
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Phuket foreigners can register for vaccine leftovers
Starting tomorrow, foreigners residing in Phuket can register for a Covid-19 vaccine. On Thursday and Friday, they can receive a vaccination from the “surplus” of doses still available. To register for the vaccine, foreigners are instructed to use the “Phuket Must Win” web portal. Mr Pracha Asawathira, who is with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and “involved” with…
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324 schools open in Lampang
Today, 324 schools across 13 districts in Lampang, a northern Thai province, opened their doors for the first semester in the “New Normal” system. At one Lampang school, Boonwart Wittayalai, students are set to alternate the days they go to school with, presumably, days they don’t go to school and learn online. Before entering a classroom, students must wash their…
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Body found in water off Patong
Yesterday, a man’s body was found in the sea near Tri Trang Beach, a lesser-known beach between Patong and Paradise Beach, south of Patong. Patong Police are investigating the matter. Rescue workers were called in around 3:40 pm to the Coral Beach Bridge at the southern tip of Patong beach. A local fisherman had reportedly hauled the unidentified corpse ashore.…
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Malaysia imposes lockdown
Starting today, Malaysia imposed a strict lockdown on its country. The region avoided the first Covid-19 wave, thanks largely to decisive action: closing borders, issuing curbs. However, Southeast Asia has become the new Covid-19 epicentre, as their efforts to curb outbreaks have been impeded by recent Covid outbreaks, glacial slow vaccine rollouts, and citizens who have restriction fatigue. Malaysia has…
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Countries push back against being associated with variants, new system may be coming soon
It is one thing to hear a foreign country be connected to the name of a virus, it’s another thing when it’s your country. It feels personal. Last week, many Thais were incensed to have their country associated with a Covid variant. Likewise, the Indian government has called for having all references to the “Indian Variant” scrubbed from social media. They…
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State of emergency extended in Japan
A month before the Olympic Games begin, a state of emergency has been extended in 9 Japanese prefectures, including Tokyo. The extended decree is in force until June 20 and covers Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. In the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gifu, and Mie, strict non-emergency restrictions are in force and have…
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Thai Brewers Association asks for reprieve from alcohol ban
Yesterday, the Thai Brewers Association delivered a petition to the CCSA and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration asking them to reverse the ban of alcohol sales in restaurants, bars as the ban has been harmful to their businesses and they have not been given any other options. The statement reads: The Thai Brewers Association truly understands the goodwill and purpose of…
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Thai government allegedly ticked-off with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
The government is becoming increasingly irritated by the Bangkok Governor and his administration, according to a Thai Enquirer report. The media outlet says senior officials at the Public Health Ministry and at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration are critical of the governor’s random handling of the pandemic and its associated restrictions. The report is based on feedback from an…
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Government unsure if local administration budgets can be used to buy vaccines
In what could put yet another spanner in the works, the Thai government is questioning if local authorities can purchase vaccines and whether state-allocated budgets can be used for this purpose. The Bangkok Post reports that officials at the Interior Ministry fear a chaotic rollout, with several local administrative organisations racing to order supplies of Sinopharm, the latest vaccine to…
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CCSA shuts down order to reopen 5 types of venues in Bangkok
Just as Bangkok was about to reopen some venues and businesses, the order was shut down by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. After businesses went weeks under a strict closure order, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration agreed to loosen restrictions and decided to reopen 5 types of venues and businesses, with conditions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but the…
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Don’t worry, says PM, we’ll have enough vaccines
The Thai PM says he’s confident there will be no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines and that expected deliveries will arrive as scheduled. Prayut Chan-o-cha was speaking yesterday during a House of Representatives address, ahead of a debate on the budget for the 2022 financial year. According to a Bangkok Post report, the PM says the distribution of vaccines to areas…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 2,230 new cases and 38 deaths
2,230 new Covid-19 cases and 38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, in the latest wave of cases, the CCSA has reported 133,159 infections. Out of the new cases, 77 were detected in correctional facilities, a drastic decrease in infections at Thai prisons. Thousands of inmates at more than a dozen…
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Opening Phuket and Thailand to travellers and tourists on July 1 | VIDEO
If you’re wanting, or able, to come to Thailand at the moment, the best chance is about to happen. It’s called the Phuket Sandbox, but it’s a pilot program for the rest of Thailand’s tourist areas, and eventually the entire country, to reopen safely for travellers and tourism from July 1. There will be changes to the scheme and additional…
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Thousands of restaurants could close due to Covid restrictions, many others struggling
Thailands newest wave of Covid, as well as the most virulent, and the lockdowns and restrictions because of it, is set to ruin hundreds of restaurants. One restaurant owner, 79 year old Kamol Trisitthichet, who owns Arlek Ratchawongse, spoke to Thai media about his ongoing struggles. He says that his business has lost 500,000 baht since the pandemic started. Further, despite…
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Newborn’s body found in shallow grave in Si Racha
During the weekend a newborn baby’s corpse was found by the side of the road in Si Racha, a district north of Pattaya. The makeshift grave was located near the Khao Namsap Temple in Thung Sukhla. A local resident, 59 year old Sangwien Duangyai, found the body and alerted the local police. She told Thai media: I feed street dogs…
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Thailand News Today | ‘Covid’ visa extensions, Bangkok aims for 70% vaccination in 1 month | May 31
The deadline to apply for a 60-day visa “Covid” extension has been pushed to July 29, now allowing stays up until late-September, The Department of Disease Control has set an ambitious goal to vaccinate at least 70% of Bangkok residents by July, Thailand has officially extended its Emergency Decree for a 12th time set to expire on July 31 and…
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Border patrols in Thailand’s Deep South tighten following lockdown in Malaysia
Following the lockdown measures in Malaysia, troops in Thailand’s Deep South province of Narathiwat have tightened patrol along the natural border to make sure people are not entering Thailand illegally, evading checkpoints and the mandatory quarantine, to prevent Covid-19 from being spread through the country’s porous borders. Officers will focus primarily border districts Waeng, Su-ngai Kolok and Tak Bai, areas…
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Tokyo Olympics: Spectators must be vaccinated or test negative for Covid
Fans who wish to go to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will either need to be vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid-19 before they will be allowed into venues. In addition to the requirements for spectators, officials are considering banning cheering, eating, giving high fives, or drinking alcohol, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun Daily. Those who break the rules…
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Bangkok loosens restrictions, allows 5 types of places to reopen tomorrow
Bangkok city officials are loosening restrictions in the capital and are allowing 5 types of venues to reopen tomorrow (May 1) while other venues under the closure order must remain closed at least until June 14. Bangkok remains the epicentre of infections with 1,356 cases reported today and 41,573 infections over the past couple months in the latest wave of…
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All residents in Ho Chi Minh to be tested for Covid following outbreak in the city
A Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam’s largest city of Ho Chi Minh has driven the Vietnamese government to test all residents for the virus. While infections in Vietnam have remained low, a new cluster linked to a religious mission has been reported in the city and what a local officials call a “very dangerous” new variant was recently found in the…
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Water outage in Pa Khlok, Phuket tomorrow
Starting tomorrow, there will be a water outage in Phuket’s Pa Khlok. The outages will be a result of a mains water supply shutoff on Thepkrasattri Road, which is near Phuket’s airport runway in Mai Khao, as announced by the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority. The PWA said that the mains water needs to be shut off in order to connect…
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Thai soldiers keep watch after bomb explosions in Myanmar border town
Over the weekend, local media in Myanmar reported that 2 bombs exploded near the Thai border. The blasts could be heard by those in Thailand at the Phra Chedi Sam Ong border checkpoint, known as the Three Pagodas Pass, in Kanachaburi’s Sangkhla Buri district. Thai soldiers were deployed to the checkpoint as a precaution. The explosions went off at 10:10pm…
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Vietnamese president asks US for help with Covid-19 vaccination efforts
The President of Vietnam has written to US President, Joe Biden, asking for help with Covid-19 vaccines as his country battles a surge in infections. Over 4,000 new cases have been recorded since a fourth wave took hold at the end of April. The country has received 2 shipments of 2.5 million AstraZeneca doses through Covax, the global initiative set…
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Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand dies while on holiday on Koh Lipe
The Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand died yesterday morning while on holiday on Koh Lipe, a small island west of the southern province Satun. Local health officials say the 45 year old ambassador, Andrii Beshta, died from a heart attack. Andrii’s son said that his father had vomited and lost consciousness before he died. They had been staying in the same hotel…
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Thai government accused of concealing AstraZeneca supply issues
Medics are accusing the Thai government of a lack of transparency over supply issues associated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The Rural Doctors Society says the administration is keeping quiet about the real situation and the supply challenges it faces. The government has consistently said that the first batch of locally-produced doses would be delivered this week. The Foreign Ministry…
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After woman’s death, doctor talks about birth control pills and Covid vaccine risks
Following the death of a 32 year woman, who suffered from blood clotting a couple weeks after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Thailand has advised women think about whether to stop taking birth control pills before receiving the Covid-19 vaccines due to a possible increased risk of blood clots. The doctor spoke during a live streaming session following…
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