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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Thai health ministry says downgrading Covid-19 will take some time
Thailand’s health ministry says the government needs more time before downgrading Covid-19 to a communicable disease requiring close surveillance. In February 2020, the virus was classified as a dangerous communicable disease, in order to enable the Thai authorities to react swiftly to contain the spread. Now, with the situation beginning to ease nationally and globally, officials are working towards downgrading…
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Phuket authorities close Covid-19 field hospital
In a grand ceremony yesterday, Phuket authorities closed up a field hospital set up for people who tested positive for Covid-19. The field hospital was at Phuket Rajabhat University in the island province’s main city district. The deputy director of the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, Padungkiat Utokasenee, led the closing ceremony. Between August 2021 and March 2022, the field…
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Pubs, clubs, entertainment venues re-open in Bangkok, 30 other provinces today
From today (or tonight), nightlife resumes in 31 “green zone” and “blue zone” provinces, including Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. Pubs, clubs, and other entertainment venues can once more welcome customers, although they must close by midnight. Other stipulations include a ban on crowds and alcohol promotions. In the capital, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has provided entertainment venues with the…
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PM Prayut insists no plans to drop face-mask requirement in Thailand
Thailand’s PM and Defense Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, insists that Thailand has no plans to drop the requirement to wear face-masks. The PM asked the spokesperson to emphasise this point to the residents saying wearing masks was still “a necessary behaviour”. Last week, the Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, Kiattiphum Wongrajit, said that the ministry proposed to adjust the…
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Monkeypox is not a shingles mingle or side effect of Covid-19 vax
The current monkeypox outbreak has not yet caused mass hysteria throughout the globe but there is enough false information doing the rounds on social media to cause concern. The latest stories circulating on social media suggest the outbreak of monkeypox is in fact shingles, while some others believe the flare-up is due to an adverse effect of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccination,…
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Bangkok nightlife venues frustrated with June 1 re-opening rules
The owners of bars, clubs, and other nightlife venues in Bangkok have expressed frustration with conditions governing the June 1 re-opening. From Wednesday, such businesses can re-open, provided they are located in the 31 blue or green zones, adhere to disease prevention measures, and close by midnight. It’s the midnight closure that most are finding frustrating, with several business owners…
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Thailand’s DDC stops reporting positive ATK results
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has stopped reporting Covid-19 infections with ATK tests. A spokesperson for the CCSA said that tomorrow, another proposal for changes in Covid-19 reporting will be submitted to the meeting of the Public Health Ministry’s Emergency Operations Centre. The proposal states that, starting June 1, the DDC will only report cases that require hospitalisation. The spokesperson, Dr.…
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Health officials call for more elderly Thais to get their Covid-19 boosters
According to the Department of Disease Control, around 6 million elderly Thais have yet to receive a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Dr. Taweesap Siraprapasiri says the reason for this is that people are either worried about potential side-effects or they feel they don’t need a booster. However, he adds that 43% of elderly people have received 3 doses,…
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Government says the WHO will use Thailand as a role model for Covid-19 management
The Thai government is patting itself on the back again, with a spokesperson saying officials have been praised by the World Health Organisation. Traisuree Taisaranakul says the administration has been cited as a “role model” for its management of the Covid-19 pandemic. She was speaking after a meeting between the health minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghrebreyesus, and…
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Health ministry clarifies lifting of mask mandate in “designated areas only”
Not so fast, says the Public Health Ministry, responding to news that Thailand’s mask mandate could be lifted next month. Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit has issued a clarification that this could apply in certain areas only. According to Kiattiphum, Thailand’s Covid-19 situation has improved quicker than expected and officials believe the virus can be downgraded to endemic as planned. At that…
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Thailand could drop its mask mandate by mid-June, says Ministry of Public Health
After two years of compulsory mask-wearing in indoor and outdoor spaces, Thailand aims to drop its mask mandate by mid-June, according to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health Dr. Kiattipoom Wongrachit. At a conference held today at Diamond Plaza hotel in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Kiattipoom said the ministry is considering dropping the compulsory mandate as soon…
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Over 100,000 Thai students didn’t show up to class
There were over 100,000 students who didn’t turn up for class when schools in Thailand returned last week after a long break because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong vowed to get kids back and says the department is joining forces with other organisations, including the police, to make sure it happens. Students living in rural areas will…
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Changes to Thailand’s Covid-19 restrictions to take effect June 1
From next month, a number of Covid-19 restrictions will be eased in Thailand, although in the case of some rules, it will vary by province. Nation Thailand reports that at the latest meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, it was agreed to categorise all provinces as either yellow (highest surveillance), blue (tourist zones) and green (low surveillance). There…
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Japan government says masks not needed outside if you don’t talk too much
Japan’s government is saying it’s not necessary for people to wear masks outside, as long as they aren’t talking to others a lot. On Friday, Health Labor and Welfare Minister Shigeyuki Goto, said that even indoors, masks aren’t necessary if people are not talking a lot, and they can properly socially distance. The recent change to the Japanese government’s position…
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BREAKING: Bars reopening in Thailand’s “Green” and “Blue” Zones, changes to Thailand Pass
NIGHTLIFE VENUES Today, Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration – or CCSA – announced the official reopening of nightlife venues in both “green” and “blue” zones across the kingdom. Pubs, bars, nightclubs, massage parlours and karaoke bars are permitted to serve alcohol and open until midnight, beginning June 1. Nightlife venues in “yellow” zones are not permitted to reopen. Green…
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Thailand target reopening of bars on June 1
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today sits down with a virus task force that includes the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, and Ministry of Public Health to consider the reopening of pubs, bars and restaurants in Thailand’s green zones. A Ministry of Public Health source revealed that as the pandemic situation is getting better, health officials were contemplating introducing green…
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PM defends government’s performance, wants to move Thailand forward
The Thai PM has defended his government’s performance since seizing power in a military coup 8 years ago. According to a Bangkok Post report, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s led Thailand through “crisis after crisis” and is doing his best to move the country forward. The PM says at the time he seized power, the nation was deeply divided and…
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Proposal for new “green zone” provinces goes before CCSA today
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has submitted a proposal to classify some provinces as “green zones”. The proposal will be considered by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration when it meets today. Kiattiphum Wongrajit from the health ministry says the proposal involves adjusting the Covid-19 colour-coded zoning, which currently has provinces listed as yellow (high surveillance) or blue “tourism” zones. The…
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Thailand plans to declare Covid-19 endemic earlier than expected
Thailand’s Covid-19 situation is continually improving and is expected to be declared an endemic disease more than half a month earlier than expected, according to the Ministry of Public Health. The ministry originally planned to declare Covid-19 an an endemic disease on July 1 this year. Yesterday, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Kiatiphum Wongrajit announced that Thailand now plans to declare…
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Prominent Thai lung specialist dismisses claim that mRNA boosters cause lymphoma
A leading lung specialist at Bangkok’s Vichaiyut Hospital has completely dismissed claims that mRNA boosters against Covid-19 can cause ‘lymphoma’. According to a Nation Thailand report, Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs has rubbished the claims as “fake news”, urging Thais not to believe them, citing a long list of evidence of the vaccines’ efficacy and no credible reports linking the mRNA vaccines…
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Health and safety a priority as kids return to Bangkok schools after two turbulent years
The Thailand Ministry of Education yesterday allowed schools to reopen their doors for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the nation in 2020 in line with the government’s transition to living with Covid as an endemic disease. Some children celebrated their return to school in style in Tak province, northern Thailand, taxied in by elephants, as reported in…
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Thailand to welcome one millionth tourist this year by end of May
Thailand expects its one millionth foreign tourist this year to arrive by the end of May, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The kingdom has seen a sharp increase in tourists since the Test & Go programme and other entry requirements were scrapped at the start this month. However, the current influx of tourists still has nothing on pre-pandemic…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 3,893 new cases; provincial totals
38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 29,550 with 7,852 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 3,893 new Covid-19 cases and 7,323 recoveries. There are now 63,337 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of the new cases recorded today,…
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Thai schools will no longer have to close if Covid-19 infection detected
Thai schools will no longer have to close if a student, teacher, or staff member tests positive for Covid-19, according to the Department of Health. The department’s deputy director-general, Sarawut Boonsook, has confirmed the new policy as the new school term gets underway today. According to a Thai PBS World report, if a student, teacher, or school staff member is…
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Survey shows fear of side-effects preventing Thai parents from vaccinating children
The chief of Thailand’s Health Services Department has expressed concern that parents are refusing to vaccinate their children against Covid-19, due to a fear of side-effects. Dr Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchai was responding to a survey that shows many parents won’t vaccinate their kids as they’re more concerned about the effects of the vaccine than the effects of the virus. According to…
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Studies show Omicron infection in vaccinated people “turbo-charges” immunity
Contracting the Omicron variant (of Covid-19) while fully vaccinated could boost your immunity to the extent that it can fight off a variety of coronavirus variants, according to new research. The findings were revealed in 2 US studies from the University of Washington and from vaccine producer BioNTech. If backed up by real-world data, this could be a sign that…
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Thailand’s officials announce fewest daily Covid-19 cases in months
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has announced a major drop in the country’s daily Covid-19 case load today (Sunday). The registered 6,094 cases within the past 24 hours are the fewest the country has seen since January 6. Yesterday, a total of 70,775 people were receiving Covid-19 treatment, including 25,527 in hospitals. Out of the 25,527 people being hospitalised, 1,304 were…
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South Korea to add 230 international flights to meet demand
As South Korea’s Covid-19 situation improves and several restrictions have been eased, the country also plans to add 230 international flights next month, to meet a jump in travel demands. South Korea has been known as a Covid hotspot earlier this year after being one of the World Health Organisation’s ‘postcard’ countries for controlling the virus in mid 2020. But…
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Thailand’s public health officials proposing ‘Endemic Sandboxes’ to legally reopen nightlife
Thailand is getting closer and closer to the endemic phase of its Covid response. Achingly slow but now with at least a proposal to be tabled at the next CCSA meeting. The Ministry of Public Health will propose ‘Endemic Sandboxes’ as a plan to allow entertainment venues to legally reopen in 3 tourist islands including Phuket, Koh Chang, and Koh…
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Thursday Covid Update: 8,019 new cases; provincial totals
59 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 29,311 with 7,613 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 8,019 new Covid-19 cases and 8,807 recoveries. There are now 77,427 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of the new cases recorded today,…
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