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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    Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained

    Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...

  • Online registration site up for interprovincial travel permission

    Online registration site up for interprovincial travel permission

    Those travelling between provinces, especially from “dark red” zones under maximum control, are advised to fill out a registration form online for permission to travel. A QR code will then be scanned by relevant authorities at checkpoints. Click HERE for a registration form in English. Many interprovincial transportation services in “dark red” zones, including Bangkok and surrounding provinces, are suspended until…

  • 18 infections today in Phuket creeps closer to 90/week threshold

    18 infections today in Phuket creeps closer to 90/week threshold

    Today saw an infection spike in new local Covid-19 cases in Phuket, crossing the daily average number that threatens the future of the Sandbox scheme. Officials had laid out several factors that could cause the Sandbox to be reconsidered or even cancelled, chief among them was if weekly infections crossed over 90 people a week. Today saw 18 new local…

  • BMA plans to open 53 “community isolation centres”

    BMA plans to open 53 “community isolation centres”

    The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has announced their intentions to open 53 “community isolation centres”…early next month. The centres will be for people who Covid and are waiting to be admitted to a hospital, says governor Aswin Kwanmuang, today. It is reported that City Hall is hoping to open 23 centres “right away”. There will be 3,390 beds for people who…

  • Baan Kru Ja in Pattaya gets a week’s worth of food

    Baan Kru Ja in Pattaya gets a week’s worth of food

    Recently, a pair of companies in Pattaya spent a whole week cooking and distributing food for Pattaya children. The Fair Tech Company/Colour Ocean Company cooked food for children at the Baan Kru Ja Anti Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Center. Fairtech Company and Colour Ocean Company cooked food for children at the Baan Kruja Anti Human Trafficking and Child Abuse…

  • Anonymous Thai artist creating works of satire from current events

    Anonymous Thai artist creating works of satire from current events

    An anonymous Thai artist is using the current crisis as inspiration for work that highlights what he sees as the government’s mismanagement of the pandemic. According to a Coconuts report, the artist, known only as Uninspired by Current Events, has produced images of lab rats being given random vaccines and armed police wearing panda masks and opening fire. A more…

  • Survey shows travellers accept Covid safety measures but don’t want them forever

    Survey shows travellers accept Covid safety measures but don’t want them forever

    A survey by the International Air Transport Association shows that most passengers understand the need for Covid-19 prevention measures but don’t want them to become permanent. The IATA survey was conducted on 4,700 global travellers across 11 markets and the findings show that, while people are confident in the safety of air travel and are in favour of wearing face…

  • Stop buying Sinovac, medical expert tells government

    Stop buying Sinovac, medical expert tells government

    The head of the intensive care unit at Bangkok’s Vichaiyut Hospital says the government must stop purchasing the Sinovac vaccine until it’s been re-formulated to handle variants. According to a Bangkok Post report, respiratory disease expert Manoon Leechawengwongs says Sinovac may be effective at reducing the chance of serious illness and death, but that effectiveness wears off over time. The…

  • Bangkok vaccine timetable adjusted due to crowds, lack of social distancing

    Bangkok vaccine timetable adjusted due to crowds, lack of social distancing

    The vaccination schedule at Bangkok’s Bang Sue station has been adjusted to separate a number of high-risk groups and prevent overcrowding. The Bangkok Post reports that the Department of Medical Services made the change after large numbers arrived to be vaccinated yesterday, making social distancing impossible. The report says a number of people were concerned by the large crowds and,…

  • Friday Covid Update: 14,575 new cases and 114 deaths

    Friday Covid Update: 14,575 new cases and 114 deaths

    The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded another 14,575 new Covid-19 cases and 114 coronavirus-related deaths. In the latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported 438,844 confirmed infections. Over the past week, daily infections have exceeded 10,000. The uptick was expected by the CCSA due to the emergence…

  • Yet another update to rules for entering Phuket, new exceptions

    Yet another update to rules for entering Phuket, new exceptions

    Perhaps feeling restless as it had been a day or two since any changes or additions to the constantly evolving rules to enter the Phuket Sandbox had been made, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew issued a new provincial order granting special entry exceptions for certain people. The order would allow qualifying people passing through Phuket briefly to only present one of…

  • Nonthaburi security guard commits suicide waiting for bed

    Nonthaburi security guard commits suicide waiting for bed

    A septuagenarian security guard hanged himself in his room in Nonthaburi, a province to the north of Bangkok. The Covid infected man was waiting for a hospital bed when he killed himself. The man’s body was found this morning. A public health volunteer, 51 year old Parisa Phuwanartsupakit, found 73 year old Chao Singtordead on his 4th floor balcony in…

  • 3 months of lockdown needed to ease situation, says KKP research

    3 months of lockdown needed to ease situation, says KKP research

    New research by the Kiatnakin Phatra Bank estimates it will take 3 months of having quasi-lockdown measures in place to mitigate the situation. The KKP research says it will take longer to get the situation under control because of the Dela variant, the slow ordering of lockdowns, and the inertia of the mass vaccinations. The think tank says if a…

  • Vaccine Jai program aims to fight Covid-19 related suicide

    Vaccine Jai program aims to fight Covid-19 related suicide

    A new campaign has been launched that puts a spotlight on the problem of people driven to suicide as a result of the devastating effects of Covid-19 on life in Thailand now. Vaccine Jai translates literally to a “vaccine for your heart” and is the name of a program created by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation to address Covid-19 related…

  • Parks, hair salons and other additional closures in Bangkok until August 2

    Parks, hair salons and other additional closures in Bangkok until August 2

    More venues and businesses in Bangkok are ordered to close for the next couple of weeks to curb the spread of Covid-19. Parks, sports fields and courts, museums, hair salons, barbershops, and tattoo studios must close until August 2. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ordered the closures following a recommendation from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The order, in addition…

  • 6 people arrested after police raid sex party at Bangkok hotel

    6 people arrested after police raid sex party at Bangkok hotel

    Police raided an apparent sex party at a Bangkok hotel and arrested 6 people. The group was holding a birthday party at a luxury private pool suite at the hotel in the Ram Inthra district. They had apparently stocked up on liquor… and condoms. Officers seized 5 bottles of liquor, 9 bottles of beer, 6 bottles of soda, 2 opened…

  • Woman with high blood pressure died after mixing vaccines

    Woman with high blood pressure died after mixing vaccines

    A woman with high blood pressure was found dead by her family in her home after the controversial practice of mixing vaccines, receiving one Sinovac vaccine and one AstraZeneca vaccine Monday. The woman from Prachuap Khiri Khan was a 39 year old private tutor before her untimely death. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.…

  • Suphan Buri car accident kills 2, injures 4; all had Covid, 3 knew

    Suphan Buri car accident kills 2, injures 4; all had Covid, 3 knew

    Yesterday, 2 people died and 4 more were injured in a car accident in the central Thai province of Suphan Buri. Thai media says the people were on their way home to receive Covid treatment. A pickup truck carried the 6 relatives on their journey from Bangkok. However, for reasons unknown, it veered off the road and hit a tree…

  • 315 inmates at Khon Kaen prison test positive for Covid-19

    315 inmates at Khon Kaen prison test positive for Covid-19

    In a recent Covid-19 outbreak among prison inmates, 315 people detained at Khon Kaen Provincial Prison in the Isaan region tested positive for the virus. The latest and most severe wave spread to many of Thailand’s overcrowded prisons, infecting more than 40,000 inmates over the past several months. Local disease control officials tested inmates at the Khon Kaen prison after…

  • 2 people infected with Covid-19 rally in Bangkok to demand medical care

    2 people infected with Covid-19 rally in Bangkok to demand medical care

    A small group of people, including 2 who claimed they were infected with Covid-19, held a rally outside the Government House in Bangkok yesterday evening, calling for the Thai government to provide proper medical treatment for coronavirus patients. 25 police officers dressed in personal protective equipment, or PPE suits, were called to monitor the rally. Just 7 people attended the…

  • Health Ministry asks vaccine importers to prepare procurement plans for next year

    Health Ministry asks vaccine importers to prepare procurement plans for next year

    6 Covid-19 vaccine importers have been asked to prepare purchase plans for next year, which should factor in virus mutations. The Public Health Ministry made the request at a meeting with AstraZeneca Thailand, Pfizer Thailand, Zuellig Pharma, Janssen-Cilag, Biogenetech, and the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation. According to a Nation Thailand report, Opas Karnkawinpong from the Department of Disease Control says an…

  • Study finds 2 doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca effective against Delta strain

    Study finds 2 doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca effective against Delta strain

    A study published yesterday shows that 2 doses of the Pfizer vaccine or 2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are almost as effective against the rapid-spreading Delta variant as they are against the Alpha variant. In Thailand, the AstraZeneca vaccine is being produced locally and is the primary vaccine being used in the nationwide Covid-19 immunisation campaign. Thailand recently approved…

  • Singapore forced to re-introduce stricter measures as Covid-19 cases rise

    Singapore forced to re-introduce stricter measures as Covid-19 cases rise

    Singapore has had to re-introduce a number of disease prevention measures in response to a rise in community infections in the city state. TTR Weekly reports that a number of restrictions will be re-applied from today until August 18. Social gatherings are once again being reduced in number, from 5 to 2 people, with officials urging people to limit their…

  • 3 bodies found in Bangkok streets, 2 positive for Covid-19, result pending for third

    3 bodies found in Bangkok streets, 2 positive for Covid-19, result pending for third

    Netizens have slammed Bangkok police, claiming that the bodies of 3 men who died separately on the streets of the capital were left uncollected for hours. The Metropolitan Police Bureau has called for understanding, insisting that the claims on social media are untrue. According to a Bangkok Post report, spokesman Piya Tawichai says 2 of the 3 bodies have tested…

  • Government does an about-face, will hold talks to join Covax

    Government does an about-face, will hold talks to join Covax

    In a significant U-turn, the Thai government says it’s prepared to hold talks to join Covax, the global initiative that aims to ensure equal access to vaccines. Thailand famously became the only Southeast Asian nation not to join when it had the opportunity to do so last year. At the time, government spokesman Anucha Buraphachaisri said Thailand preferred to sign…

  • New Phuket checkpoint rules see 392 people denied yesterday

    New Phuket checkpoint rules see 392 people denied yesterday

    New restrictions for entering Phuket announced Sunday went into effect yesterday, causing a rash of nearly 400 people to be turned away at the entrance checkpoint. While previous rules allowed unvaccinated people meeting certain criteria to enter, now everyone who enters Phuket needs to be fully vaccinated in addition to testing negative for Covid-19. This new strict requirement applies to…

  • Bangkok’s Bang Sue vaccination centre open to expats 60 and above

    Bangkok’s Bang Sue vaccination centre open to expats 60 and above

    Expats ages 60 and above in Bangkok and surrounding provinces can now register from an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine appointment at the Bang Sue Grand Station Central Vaccination Centre. Walk-in services are offered to foreign residents who are 75 years old and older from 9am to 4pm. Foreign residents who are at least 60 years old must fill out a registration…

  • Pattaya restaurants suffering, closing over dark red restrictions

    Pattaya restaurants suffering, closing over dark red restrictions

    New severe Covid-19 restrictions go into effect as Chon Buri province and Pattaya inside it were classified as dark red zones, causing already hard-hit restaurants to suffer and some to close completely. Being pushed to take-away only after their customer base is already severely reduced by international borders being all but closed to tourism for over a year has left…

  • CCSA recommends closure of 10 more places and venues in “dark red” zones

    CCSA recommends closure of 10 more places and venues in “dark red” zones

    The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is recommending the closure of 10 more places and venues in “dark red” zones as additional measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. Provincial authorities in each of the 13 “dark red” zones, including Bangkok, can decide whether to follow the CCSA’s recommendation. The measures in “dark red” zones currently in place include a…

  • Locked in a construction worker camp in Bangkok – Thailand’s hidden Covid tragedy | VIDEO

    Locked in a construction worker camp in Bangkok – Thailand’s hidden Covid tragedy | VIDEO

    Friso Poldervaart and Greg Lange, founders of the Bangkok Community Help Foundation, spoke to The Thaiger this week about the critical problems emerging in some of the worker and construction camps. Some 80,000 people – mostly Burmese, Cambodian and Thai workers – have been isolated in these shanty towns, basically imprisoned. They are guarded by Thai police and army. Some…

  • Covid-19 “survival boxes” funded by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s donated salary

    Covid-19 “survival boxes” funded by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s donated salary

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha waived his salary for the next 3 months to support the public amid the most severe wave of Covid-19 infections. Some of the funds will be used for so-called “survival boxes” to distribute to those in “dark red” zones, according to government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri. Several cabinet members and other public officials announced they would temporarily forgo…