
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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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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Private hospital in Bangkok told to take down vaccine pre-order ads
Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support is demanding a private hospital in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district to remove advertising for people to pre-order their Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccines they were advertising were from the US biotech firm Moderna. While the Moderna vaccine is now approved by food and drug authorities in Canada and the US, the vaccine still needs approval from…
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UPDATE: More cases in Thailand, the Rayong cluster and 3 new field hospitals
Cases continue to pop up around the country as the cluster, identified 10 days ago in Samut Sakhon, south west of Bangkok, have spread. Yesterday the CCSA provided updates on the new field hospitals in Samut Sakhon, the Rayong cluster and new cases emerging in the capital. The Samut Sakhon provincial stadium in the main city district is being converted…
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Thai returnee commits suicide from quarantine facility balcony
A Thai returnee from South Korea has reportedly committed suicide off the balcony of her quarantine facility in Bang Kapi today. The woman, whose name has been withheld, allegedly leaped to her death off of the 8th storey of the facility, with her body landing on the 2nd storey. The 51 year old woman tested negative for the virus initially…
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Japan suspends entry for non-resident foreigners amidst new Covid variant
Japan is suspending nonresident foreign nationals from entering the country starting tomorrow through late January as a precaution to stop the spread of a new and possibly more transmissible strain of the Covid-19 virus. Japanese citizens and foreign residents alike will also have to submit negative virus test results within 72 hours of departing to Japan from countries and territories…
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Phuket Governor warns face mask price gougers
Phuket’s Governor is warning profiteers against face mask price-gouging after news of a second wave of Covid-19 has rattled Thais. There has been 1 new case of Covid-19 reported this week. Governor Narong Woonciew says violators could face a fine of up to 100,000 baht or up to 5 years imprisonment. Narong issued the order just a week after news…
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Covid-19 cases in Thailand on Sunday, December 27
“…provincial governors can now decide if a Covid-19 lockdown must be imposed.” A total of 6,141 people have now been infected in Thailand. Today (Sunday, December 27) the CCSA has announced there was 121 new cases of Covid-19, (+9 imported cases & +112 local cases). 18 of the new local cases are migrant workers. 4,161 people have now been discharged from…
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Arriving in Chiang Mai? Prepare to be checked.
Anyone who has recently visited the new Covid-19 epicentre of Samut Sakhon and who arrives in Chiang Mai should prepare to be checked, according to health authorities. The efforts are underway to stop the virus from spreading and anyone who is suspected of being infected with Covid-19 or who has visited the central shrimp market in Samut Sakhon, must use the…
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12 months ago a number of “mysterious” respiratory cases came to the notice of a Chinese doctor
A year ago nothing much was known about the coronavirus that has now decimated the world’s economy and killed 1,764,697 people (as of Saturday morning, December 27, 2020 Thai Time). Exactly 12 months later there are now 80,720,204 positive infections registered around the world. On December 27, 2019, there was little known about the mysterious new coronavirus. How infectious was…
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Covid-19 cluster confirmed following Koh Lanta “big bike” event
A “big bike” party on Koh Lanta, in the southern province of Krabi, has resulted in a cluster of Covid-19 infections, according to officials from the Department of Disease Control. The DDC says there are currently around 10 confirmed cases and 129 people considered “at risk”. The outbreak is linked to a patient who travelled to Koh Lanta from the…
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South Korea confirms Covid-19 outbreak in 32 Thai workers, 28 others awaiting results
South Korean officials have announced a Covid-19 outbreak in 32 Thai workers, with a further 28 waiting for test results. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the development, with spokesman Tanee Sangrat saying the Royal Thai Embassy in Seoul has been in touch with the affected workers and is ready to help if needed. The Bangkok Post reports that…
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CCSA threatens lockdowns by March “if situation spirals out of control”
The spokesperson for Thailand’s CCSA, Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, yesterday stated that, if the “situation spiralled out of control”, there would be a “nationwide lockdown by March”. The Christmas Day warning followed a week of tracking and tracing from an outbreak that centred on the Mahachai seafood market in Samut Sakhon, specifically, and Burmese migrant workers in the fishing and seafood…
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CCSA Update: 67 new Covid-19 cases
67 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in a daily briefing by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Health officials say 58 of those cases are local transmissions with all but 3 of the local cases linked to the “Samut Sakhon cluster” around a seafood market in Mahachai, a major fishing hub in Thailand. In the past week, more than…
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No national lockdown, more than 25 provinces “at risk” of Covid-19
Despite a record high in Covid-19 cases, the Thai government has declared no national lockdown. Provinces are now classified on a colour-scale depending on the level of risk for Covid-19. The vast majority of cases are concentrated in Samut Sakhon around a seafood market in Mahachai, a major fishing hub in Thailand. In earlier reports, health officials said 90% of…
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PM to host Covid task force meeting as officials say no plans for national lockdown
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will host a special meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today, to debate potential additional disease prevention measures. Having seemingly gone months without a case of community transmission, Thailand finds itself in the grip of a sudden Covid-19 outbreak, linked to illegal migrants. Officials are currently insisting there is no talk of a nationwide lockdown,…
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Officials say no evidence of hoarding, price hikes, among face mask retailers
As demand for face masks spikes amid a new Covid-19 outbreak in the Kingdom, the Commerce Ministry has conducted checks on pharmacies and other retailers to ensure pricing is fair and there is no hoarding of supplies. Permanent secretary Boonyarit Kalayanamit says officials carried out spot-checks on 573 retailers yesterday and found no evidence of any wrongdoing. Masks are being…
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New Covid-19 cases in 17 provinces, CCSA spokesperson says to view migrants as “family”
With Covid-19 cases spreading in Thailand and many concerned with the migrant population after the outbreak at a Samut Sakhon seafood market, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesperson Taweesin Visanuyothin says to view the migrant workers as family. “When family members are sick, we have to take care of them.” 46 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed today in the…
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7 month old baby in Suphan Buri tests positive for Covid-19, health officials mull lockdown
A 7 month old baby girl tested positive for Covid-19 in Suphan Buri, northwest of Bangkok. With 7 confirmed coronavirus cases now in the province, local disease control officials are discussing whether to impose coronavirus prevention measures, according to the provincial governor Natthaphat Suwanprateep. Reports do not mention if the girl’s mother was tested for the coronavirus. On December 17,…
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Samut Sakhon vendor tests positive for Covid-19 in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A new Covid-19 case confirmed in the Southern province Nakhon Si Thammarat, the provincial governor announced today. The 42 year old woman sold curry in Samut Sakhon, a province just southwest of Bangkok where more than 1,000 people have tested positive for the virus. Most cases are concentrated around a seafood market in tambon Mahachai in the Muang district. The…
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Epidemiologist transferred to Samut Sakhon to tackle Covid-19 outbreak
With a record high count of active Covid-19 cases, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has appointed an epidemiologist to tackle the recent outbreak concentrated around a seafood market in Samut Sakhon. More than 1,000 coronavirus cases are linked to the “Samut Sakhon cluster.” Many migrant workers who lived in cramped rooms together and worked seafood markets tested positive. The epidemiologist Naretrit…
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Phuket panics after fake Covid news posted on social media
Whilst the touristy west coast of Phuket has been very, very quiet since April when the airport closed (especially the tourist towns like Surin, Kamala, Patong, Kata and Karon), now the east coast has gone quiet this morning. The east coast, where many of the locals and families live, has been buzzing along since Phuket’s lockdowns were lifted at the…
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Thai PM calls for unity in latest Covid fight, hints at further restrictions
The Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, has called on all citizens to unite in the fight against Covid-19, while implying further restrictions may be introduced. In a televised address to the nation, he said the virus outbreak in the central province of Samut Sakhon has now resulted in over 1,000 infections but is being dealt with through strict measures. He added…
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Thai government may replace emergency decree with strict amendment to Communicable Disease Act
The Thai Public Health Minister says the government is considering repealing the emergency decree come the new year and replacing it with a tougher amendment to the Communicable Disease Control Act. Anutin Charnvirakul says the proposal was raised at a Cabinet meeting yesterday. Addressing the Thai media, he said the amendment would allow the Disease Control Committee more authority to…
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Thailand News Today | 427 new C19 infections, Pattaya countdown cancelled, Elite Visa update | Dec 22
Plenty of talk around today about future lockdowns, but NOTHING IS CONFIRMED at this stage. The Thaiger will keep you up to date with the latest. Possibility of an “end of year travel boost” has been shattered As if things weren’t already bad enough for Thailand’s tourism sector, the events in Samut Sakhon in the past week have just made…
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Phuket primary school reports parent tests positive for Covid-19
A primary school in Phuket made a brief announcement that a student’s parent tested positive for Covid-19. The Kajonkiet School Group made a post on its Facebook page, which was taken down within an hour, saying they were “unofficially” notified by the province’s public health office about the recent case and they are awaiting results from the second test to…
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5 people in Bangkok among 427 new Covid-19 cases
5 people in Bangkok are among 427 new Covid-19 cases reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. 397 of the new cases are migrant workers while 14 of the new cases were detected in quarantine from people arriving to Thailand from overseas. Many of the local cases link to seafood market in Samut Sakhon, just southwest of Bangkok,…
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Health officials release list of “high risk” areas in 10 provinces
Health officials have released a list of areas at “high risk” of Covid-19 infections. Those who have recently visited any of the places listed are advised to monitor for coronavirus symptoms and check their body temperature. Bangkok Nuanchan Market in Bueng Kum district The residential area near Prachachuen Road in Bang Sue district Samut Sakhon The Central Shrimp Market Mahachai…
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UPDATE: Thai PM says lockdown could become unavoidable
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning that another lockdown could prove unavoidable, should Covid-19 figures escalate out of control. Today, 427 new Covid-19 cases were reported by the Centre Covid-19 Situation Administration, 397 of which are migrant workers. Yesterday, the CCSA reported 382 new cases, 360 of which are in migrant workers. Spokesperson Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin says 14 local cases…
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Official says Thailand can handle rise in demand for face masks
The director-general of the Internal Trade Department says there will be sufficient face masks to meet a spike in demand as a result of the outbreak in Samut Sakhon. Wattanasak Sur-iam says he’s asked manufacturers to step up production from a current combined capacity of 5 million masks a day. He adds that the retail price of surgical masks will…
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Covid-19 fears after hundreds of migrants infected, Thai Army says they can’t stop border breaches
With fingers pointing at Burmese workers after the recent Covid-19 infection cluster at a Samut Sakhon shrimp market, the Royal Thai Army says there’s no way to completely seal Thailand’s borders and keep migrants from crossing illegally. Out of the 821 positive cases linked to the market, 788 are migrant workers and 33 are Thais, raising fears with Thai officials…
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