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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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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PM hits back at criticism of vaccine rollout, threatens to hold critics responsible for delays
The Thai PM has hit back at opposition politicians who have criticised the national vaccine rollout, warning them that any delays with delivery will be their fault. Responding to Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, an MP from the Move Forward Party who questioned delivery timescales, Prayut Chan-o-cha warned critics not to politicise the matter. “I am concerned that comments on the vaccines will…
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Thai Airways to deliver first doses of Covid-19 vaccine on February 24
Thailand’s national carrier, Thai Airways International, is being tasked with transporting 200,000 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from China to Bangkok, arriving next week. The CoronaVac jab from Chinese manufacturer, Sinovac, will be the first Covid-19 vaccine to be administered in the Kingdom. Nation Thailand reports that Thai Airways flight TG675 will take off from Beijing at 6.50am local time…
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2 more cases of South African variant detected in Thais in state quarantine
There are now 3 Thai people in state quarantine who are being treated for the highly transmissible South African variant of Covid-19. Unlike foreign nationals, Thai nationals do not have to be tested prior to returning to the Kingdom. Opass Putcharoen from the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Clinical Centre has confirmed there are 3 patients in quarantine, infected…
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Airlines, hotels say 2021 likely to be even worse than last year
Thai airlines and hotels fear that the tourism crisis in 2021 is set to dwarf last year’s in terms of its impact, as they appeal for government aid. The Bangkok Post reports that Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder in Thai AirAsia, has warned that when international tourism eventually does resume, there may not be enough suppliers to meet demand as…
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Covid lockdown in Pathum Thani district, just north of Bangkok | VIDEO
Whilst migrant dormitories and parts of the seafood markets in Samut Sakhon remain either in complete lockdown or as restricted areas, and the affected gambling dens in Rayong have magically disappeared, the focus of the current Covid outbreak has now turned to Pathum Thani… just north of Bangkok and probably better known as the province that hosts the Buddhist Dhammakaya…
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Health Minister says first vaccine doses will be here on February 24
Thailand’s Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, says the first doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in the Kingdom on February 24. Nation Thailand reports that the first batch of 200,000 doses will leave China on February 20. Anutin’s statement comes after weeks of uncertainty, with the government coming in for criticism over the slow pace of the vaccine…
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Thai government says tourism-dependent locations will get high priority in vaccination drive
The government’s Covid-19 task force says places like Phuket and Pattaya, which are heavily reliant on international tourism, will be considered “high priority” for vaccination. The Pattaya News reports that Apisamai Srirangsan, assistant spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, made the announcement at a press conference yesterday. The southern island of Phuket – along with a number of…
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Leading real estate consultancy says 2021 not looking good for Phuket hotels
An independent real estate consultancy is predicting a bleak year for those involved in the hotel industry on the southern island of Phuket. According to a Nation Thailand report, Carlos Martinez from Knight Frank Thailand says foreign arrivals in Phuket have plummeted by 80%, from over 5.3 million in 2019 to just 1 million in 2020. Hotel occupancy rates on…
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CCSA Update: 143 new Covid-19 cases and 2 deaths
143 new Covid-19 cases and 2 deaths were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand’s coronavirus death toll is now at 82. Since the start of the pandemic last year, Thailand has reported a total of 24,714 Covid-19 infections. There are 1,749 active Covid-19 cases. A 62 year old Thai man from Ubon Ratchathani died…
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Thai returnee tests positive for South Africa Covid-19 variant
A Thai national, who is in quarantine after returning from Tanzania, is infected with the South Africa strain of Covid-19, a variant of the virus known to be more contagious and believed to be resistant to some vaccines. The Department of Disease Control director general Opas Karnkawinpong says health officials are closely monitoring the situation and a rapid screening process…
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Scientists say Thailand bats could spread similar coronaviruses
Scientists say bats in Thailand could spread other coronaviruses related to Sars-CoV-2, or Covid-19, joining what is thought to be many other bats doing the same thing across Asia. The revelation comes after scientists found bats at a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand to feature a virus that closely matches that of the virus that causes Covid-19. The team that…
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126 new cases, 116 local transmissions-Covid-19 Update
Thailand is reporting 126 new cases of Covid-19 today over the last 24 hours with 116 of those cases being locally-transmitted. The death toll remains unchanged at 80 deaths since the pandemic began. Of the 116 locally-transmitted cases, 37 were found by testing at medical facilities and 79 were found by proactive testing. Most of the cases found through proactive…
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Chulalongkorn University in lockdown following discovery of Covid cluster
Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University has closed until the end of February in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19, following the discovery of 16 cases on campus. The university is urging all staff and students to remain in their accommodation and not to go out or meet others between now and February 28. 16 university employees have tested positive for…
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Samut Sakhon to re-open 22 fresh markets from Monday
The central province of Samut Sakhon, where the Covid-19 virus first re-surfaced in December, is to re-open 22 wet markets from Monday. However, the seafood market where the outbreak began is not one of them, and it is not yet known when that might re-open. The 22 markets have been closed since December 19 as a result of the virus…
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Samui tourism operators push for faster vaccination programme
Tourism operators on the island of Samui are calling for the national vaccine rollout to be accelerated, in a bid to re-start international tourism by the third quarter of 2021. Ratchaporn Poolsawadee from the Tourism Association of Koh Samui says domestic tourism alone cannot support the sector and it won’t recover without a vaccination programme. He adds that despite the…
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175 new cases of Covid-19, 167 local- Covid Update
Thailand is reporting 175 new cases of Covid-19 today with 167 of those cases being locally-transmitted. Of those local infections, 120 were found via pro-active testing and 47 were found through tests at medical facilities. The pro-active testing cases were mostly found in Samut Sakhon (95 cases) where the 2nd wave of the virus initially broke out. Such cases were…
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Despite lack of vaccine clarity, TAT still aiming for Q3 revival of foreign tourism
Despite there being no definitive date for when everyone in Thailand might be vaccinated against Covid-19, officials say they’re still planning for the return of foreign tourists later this year. Yuthasak Supasorn from the Tourism Authority of Thailand says the plan to welcome international travellers in the third quarter of 2021 is still on track. The optimistic Yuthasak says foreign…
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Health Ministry says 2 million vaccine doses to be administered by April
Thailand’s Health Ministry says it hopes to have vaccinated over 960,000 people across 10 provinces come April. The Bangkok Post reports that Sopon Mekthon from the government’s Covid-19 vaccine task force says the initial rollout will target high-risk groups, such as those over the age of 60, those with underlying conditions, as well as frontline healthcare workers and disease control…
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201 new cases, 185 locally transmitted- Covid-19 Update
Today, Thailand has reported 201 new Covid-19 cases, with 185 being locally-transmitted. 16 of those cases were imported, raising the total number of cases in the country to 24,104 since the outbreak began. An assistant spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says 96 new cases were confirmed at hospitals and 89 others through active case finding. Samut Sakhon,…
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The leaders in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine
With the coronavirus claiming more than 2.3 million lives, the biggest challenge across the world is developing and distributing a Covid-19 vaccine. Major pharmaceutical companies are now in a race to develop and distribute safe and effective vaccines. The leaders of the Covid-19 vaccine race… JOHNSON & JOHNSON US Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has now applied with the US…
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Phuket’s tourism representatives petition PM over ban on local vaccine purchase
Representatives from various tourism associations on the southern island of Phuket have reacted with dismay to a government ban on local administrations and the private sector purchasing Covid-19 vaccines. In January, the Public Health Minister stated that the government was not opposed to local authorities purchasing their own vaccine supplies, provided the jabs had been approved by the Food and…
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CCSA Update: 157 new Covid-19 cases and 1 death
157 new Covid-19 cases and 1 new death were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 4,909 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 23,903 Covid-19 infections and 80 coronavirus-related deaths. Out of the 157 new cases, 106 cases were detected in active…
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Sick pet cats and dogs to be tested for Covid-19 in Seoul, South Korea
Cat and dog owners in Seoul, South Korea are now asked to keep their pets 2 metres away from both people and other pets while sick cats and dogs with flu-like symptoms will be tested for Covid-19. The new health measures for pets comes after the country reported its first feline coronavirus case in January when a kitten in the…
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Bars, nightlife, re-open in Rayong after 9 days with no new cases of Covid-19
The governor of the eastern Thai province of Rayong has given the go-ahead for bars and other entertainment venues to re-open after they were closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The province has now gone 9 days without a new case of the virus. On February 1, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration changed Rayong’s status from red to…
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CCSA Update: 189 new Covid-19 cases
189 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 5,301 active Covid-19 cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 23,746 coronavirus infections and 79 coronavirus-related deaths. 123 of the new infections were linked to high risk areas including 109 in Samut…
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World Tourism hotspots re-opening – success or failure? | VIDEO
The world of tourism has been turned upside down, not just in Thailand but around the world. Globally, it’s certainly the hardest hit industry from the coronavirus pandemic, shutting down hotels, tour companies, grounding aeroplanes and putting millions out of work. Before we look at the latest situation, and predictions for Thailand, let’s take a quick tour of some of…
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Court denies request to remove online footage of Thanathorn’s criticism of vaccine rollout
The Criminal Court has rejected a bid by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to remove a piece of online footage that criticises the government’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout. The former leader of the Future Forward Party, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, took to Facebook to live stream his thoughts on the government’s handling of the national vaccination programme, criticising officials for procurement…
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Bangkok and Phuket in top 15 list of places people most want to visit when travel re-opens
The Thai capital, Bangkok, and the southern island of Phuket have come in at number 8 and number 14 respectively, in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards 2021. The awards list the most popular worldwide destinations prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the places people most want to return to once travel opens up again. According to a press release from the…
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Health officials say 50% of Thais will receive Covid-19 vaccine this year
The chief of the Department of Disease Control, part of the Ministry of Public Health, says plans are underway to vaccinate 30 million Thais by the end of 2021. Opas Karnkawinpong says thousands of public and community hospitals across the country will be involved in the national vaccine rollout, with vaccines distributed from central storage sites at the Department of…
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China ready to export vaccine to Thailand, delivery will be “as soon as possible”
The Acting Chinese Ambassador to Thailand has confirmed that vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech is ready to export its Covid-19 jab to Thailand. Yang Xin was on a courtesy call with Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, when he confirmed the vaccine has been approved for export to the Kingdom. The exact date when Thailand can expect to receive the vaccine has not…
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