Covid-19 News

Thailand Covid-19 news, vaccine updates, travel restrictions, and government policies—stay informed on case numbers, safety measures, and global developments. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Covid-19 updates in Thailand.

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    How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?

    Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....

  • Thais in Malaysia may return home, but only by air

    Thais in Malaysia may return home, but only by air

    Today a statement was issued by the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and has officially announced that Thais’ who wish to return home can do so by air. And only by air, if they get a flight. Thai citizens in Malaysia can request a certificate from the Embassy via e-mail, if they want to return to Thailand. Provided that…

  • Phuket confirms 4 new coronavirus cases, some businesses closed

    Phuket confirms 4 new coronavirus cases, some businesses closed

    4 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Phuket, southern Thailand, today. This brings the total on the resort island to 17. 26 more are in hospital awaiting test results. Provincial officials are inspecting a variety of sites for a potential “field hospital” to be set up, in case the number infections in Phuket continues to rise. The director of…

  • Thai manufacturers of ‘substandard’ sanitisers warned

    Thai manufacturers of ‘substandard’ sanitisers warned

    The ruling ‘Phalang Pracharat’ Party has given a warning that using counterfeit alcohol-based sanitisers can lead to lethal health conditions and vendors will face imprisonment. Tipanan Sirichana, a deputy spokesperson of the ruling party, posted on her Facebook account that there were several cases of patients suffering from respiratory illness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after using substandard sanitisers. “The chemical…

  • Olympics postponement may be ‘inevitable’ due to Covid-19

    Olympics postponement may be ‘inevitable’ due to Covid-19

    Today Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe, says “postponing the Olympics over the coronavirus pandemic may become inevitable”, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said a delay was being considered as pressure grows from athletes and sports bodies. Meanwhile Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic committees announced they will not send teams to the Games if they are held this summer, prioritising the health…

  • Covid-19 coronavirus questions and answers

    Covid-19 coronavirus questions and answers

    Everything you wanted to know which we answer to the best of our current knowledge…. 1. How does the virus/infection spread? Mostly spread through contact with an infected person through coughing, sneezing, nasal secretion and saliva. It is understood that the virus can be airborne for at least a short time. So just being in the same vicinity as an…

  • Four Chinese nationals arrested at Burmese border

    Four Chinese nationals arrested at Burmese border

    Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in the Mae Sot district of the lower northern province of Tak, in north west Thailand, and charged with illegal entry and violation of Covid-19 coronavirus controls. The four were arrested this morning. They were crossing from Myanmar into Thailand. They were arrested by a government patrol after crossing the Moei river from Myanmar…

  • Thailand confirms 122 new coronavirus cases (Monday)

    Thailand confirms 122 new coronavirus cases (Monday)

    Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health and the Department of Disease control confirmed 122 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in their daily press briefing today (Monday). This brings Thailand’s total to 721 since the virus was first detected in January. 7 remain in critical condition. Of the new cases, 16 have been traced to previously confirmed cases, while 4 were…

  • Thailand seals borders in North, Northeast

    Thailand seals borders in North, Northeast

    “All travellers should closely monitor announcements concerning the border closure to prevent misunderstandings.” Thailand’s borders are now sealed to all but freight traffic in the North and Northeastern regions. The third Thai-Lao Friendship, linking Nakhon Phanom province with Khammouane province in Laos, closed at 10pm yesterday as a precaution against the Covid-19 coronavirus. Goods vehicles are still permitted but drivers…

  • Covid-19 UPDATE: Thailand’s latest cases, ‘Olympics’ decision in four weeks

    Covid-19 UPDATE: Thailand’s latest cases, ‘Olympics’ decision in four weeks

    As the world’s new cases soar past 338,000 this morning (including 9,339 new cases announced in the US over the past 24 hours), Thailand is bracing itself for a wave of cases outside of Bangkok. Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health and the Department of Disease control confirmed 122 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in their daily press briefing today (Monday). This…

  • Bye bye Bangkok, 1000s of workers head home

    Bye bye Bangkok, 1000s of workers head home

    The Thai PM was asked over the weekend if there would be additional measures to tackle the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. He replied “We’re working on it.” Bangkok’s lockdown-you-have-when-you’re-not-having-a-lockdown, is pushing 1,000s of casual and migrant workers out of the city ‘up country’ as Bangkok shutters many of its businesses. Many are heading home to Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos…

  • The Thaiger, punching on in tough times

    The Thaiger, punching on in tough times

    The Thaiger is a small, dedicated team who have been working overtime to keep up the flow of accurate (as best we can) information over the past two and a half months as the coronavirus story has evolved. But we’re a small business, like many others, and have a lot of pressures on us to keep punching on whilst so…

  • Officials concerned about people heading ‘up country’ after being put off work

    Officials concerned about people heading ‘up country’ after being put off work

    Bangkok’s next door provinces are imposing increased preventative measures to deal with Thailand’s current surge of Covid-19 cases by closing a range of retail business, starting today. The closures are set to add a wave of newly-unemployed who may decide to head home for the annual Songkran early, and that’s a problem. The provinces that have followed the lead from…

  • Sa Kaeo closes 19 Cambodian border checkpoints – Covid-19

    Sa Kaeo closes 19 Cambodian border checkpoints – Covid-19

    Despite denials only days ago, all 19 checkpoints in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo, two permanent and 17 temporary, along the border with Cambodia will be temporarily closed in a bid to stem the spread of the Covid-19 coronivirus. Thai health officials announced a new total of 599 cases. Read that story HERE. The order, dated yesterday, signed by…

  • Thailand announces 188 new covid-19 coronavirus cases (Sunday)

    Thailand announces 188 new covid-19 coronavirus cases (Sunday)

    Thailand’s daily press briefing with the Ministry of Public Health and the Department of Disease Control confirmed 188 new cases of the Covid-19 Coronavirus this morning. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 599 since the first cases were detected in the Kingdom in January. Of those cases, 42 have fully recovered, while 557 remain…

  • 13 cases in Phuket, official

    13 cases in Phuket, official

    13 cases of Covid-19 coronavirus have now been confirmed in the southern Thai island of Phuket. 6 new cases have been announced in the past 24 hours. On Friday the Phuket Governor admitted to five cases on the island – 2 Chinese visitors in early February and 3 current cases involving a Danish family. 188 new cases have been announced…

  • Covid-19 UPDATE: World cases exceed 300,000, Italian hospitals overwhelmed

    Covid-19 UPDATE: World cases exceed 300,000, Italian hospitals overwhelmed

    In the past week, the number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases has nearly doubled. Same with the number of deaths. This morning (10am Thai time) more than 308,000 people are now infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide, and that’s only the people who have been tested and identified. The most worrying rises have been in the US, Spain, Italy, Germany and…

  • Bangkok’s five surrounding provinces also enforce closures, supermarkets stay open

    Bangkok’s five surrounding provinces also enforce closures, supermarkets stay open

    Five provinces neighbouring the Thai capital are now following suit and ordering the temporary closure of some shops and stores from today up to April 12. The five provinces are Samut Prakarn, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi and Pathumthani. The efforts are designed to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in and around Greater Bangkok. Yesterday 89 new cases…

  • Your democracy is killing you and how China suppressed Covid-19

    Your democracy is killing you and how China suppressed Covid-19

    OPINION On January 25, 2020 the Chinese government started locking down around 930 million citizens over the following few weeks, starting with the city centres of Hubei province, the probable ground zero of the outbreak, and spreading outwards. Most of these Chinese citizens are still quarantined in their homes. About two weeks later, in the second week of February, the…

  • Bangkok closures – the details and the panic buying

    Bangkok closures – the details and the panic buying

    After today’s announcement from the BMA that the closures around the city would be ramped up, supermarkets started filling up as the shelves started becoming increasingly empty. The additions to the closure list is the latest efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 around the Thai capital. Bangkokians have started to stock up on essential goods after the Bangkok Metropolitan…

  • Bangkok closes shopping centres and markets from tomorrow

    Bangkok closes shopping centres and markets from tomorrow

    It’s the lockdown you have when you haven’t really declared a full lockdown. Today’s announcement from the Bangkok government is a step close to a virtual close-down of most Bangkok retail. Today’s order closes all department stores and markets in the capital for three weeks. The measures are the latest attempts to stem the rise in cases of Covid-19 around…

  • Thailand closes many of its land borders

    Thailand closes many of its land borders

    Interior Ministry, Anupong Paojinda, has given governors full authority to close all border provinces, but must leave one international checkpoint active for special circumstances. The move is the latest in Thailand’s attempts to block any arrivals to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, which has spiked sharply with new cases this past week. “The only exception will be Chiang Rai as it…

  • WHO praises Thailand’s coronavirus measures

    WHO praises Thailand’s coronavirus measures

    Do not adjust your monitor, that’s what actually happened yesterday in Bangkok. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised Thailand’s efforts to stem the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak sweeping the world, and for being the first country outside of China to identify and report the virus. The WHO’s Dr Daniel Kertesz made the comments while meeting with Public…

  • Thailand confirms 89 new Covid-19 cases, 411 total

    Thailand confirms 89 new Covid-19 cases, 411 total

    Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health and its Department of Disease Control has confirmed 89 new cases of the Covid19 coronavirus this morning. The total of cases in Thailand now stands at 411 since the virus first struck Thailand in January. 51 cases of the new cases are linked to previous clusters… Lumphini Boxing Gym cluster – 32 Bangkok night club…

  • Covid-19 UPDATE: 89 new cases in Thailand, Italian attempts fail to control escalation in cases

    Covid-19 UPDATE: 89 new cases in Thailand, Italian attempts fail to control escalation in cases

    Despite four weeks of ‘lockdown’ including closing borders, cancelling flights, closing schools, limiting domestic travel and closing public places, Italy’s level of new cases, and deaths, continues to rise at an alarming level. The best efforts of Italian health officials has failed to contain the spread of the disease, particularly in the north of the country. The death toll from…

  • Chinese tourist packing their bags to come back to Thailand

    Chinese tourist packing their bags to come back to Thailand

    Some groups of Chinese say they’re ready to pack their bags and start travelling again. And, astonishingly, Thai tourism officials say they they’re preparing for a return of Chinese tourists! Chinese tourists groups say they expect to resume their travels in April as the novel coronavirus (Covid19) infections start to subside in China. Thai tourism officials say they are aiming…

  • Thai government “in discussions” over stranded foreigners

    Thai government “in discussions” over stranded foreigners

    Thailand’s government will hold “discussions about what to do” regarding about an estimated 500,000 tourists stranded in the country by the Covid-19 coronavirus situation, and who may be facing overstaying if a reasonable solution cannot be found quickly. With many countries sealing their borders, or preparing to, options for tourists to go home or make a visa run, even retirement…

  • 25 Covid-19 cases awaiting test results in Phuket, 5 cases confirmed yesterday

    25 Covid-19 cases awaiting test results in Phuket, 5 cases confirmed yesterday

    At a tetchy meeting of the Provincial Communicable Diseases Committee in Phuket Town yesterday, Phuket’s Govenor Phakaphong Tavipatana finally admitted to five cases of Covid-19 on the holiday island, three of them still active. After weeks of obfuscation and denying active cases of the coronavirus in Phuket, the Governor finally came clean after repeated questions from a frustrated Phuket press…

  • Grab Food launches ‘contactless delivery’

    Grab Food launches ‘contactless delivery’

    Today, GrabFood has introduced the “contactless delivery” to ensure the hygiene and health of customers during the Covid-19 crisis. Tarin Thaniyavarn of Grab Thailand says, “Grab has been closely monitoring the Covid-19 situation and is prepared to execute any necessary measures to promote safety standards for everyone involved.” GrabFood and its restaurant providers have also reevaluated safety guidelines… Drivers will…

  • Culture clash over foreigners’ refusal to wear face masks

    Culture clash over foreigners’ refusal to wear face masks

    With the rapid rise of Covid-19 coronavirus cases in Thailand, more than tripling in the space of a week, a culture clash previously seen in China, is rearing its head in the Land of Smiles. While Thais, even in areas with no infections, consider face masks obligatory and a sign of concern for the welfare of others, many visitors and…

  • 7 imprisoned for selling over-priced face masks

    7 imprisoned for selling over-priced face masks

    Yesterday, at the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Road, the prosecutor of the Economic and Resource ‘Litigation 2’ filed 7 lawsuits with the court for selling masks at an unreasonably high price. The 7 defendants were caught during a government crackdown on overpriced protective gear following the out break of the Coronavirus. The defendants’ testimony has been examined and all the…