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 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....
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US government to donate 2.5 million vaccine doses to Thailand
According to a Thai PBS World report, the US has confirmed it will donate 2.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Thailand. Thai-American senator Tammy Duckworth made the announcement during a webinar on Thai-US relations. It’s understood the donation is part of a pledge by the administration of US President, Joe Biden, to provide vaccines for developing countries. The US…
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Surge in new Covid infections on Koh Samui
Koh Samui has recorded its highest 1-day jump in Covid-19 infections since the southern island re-opened to international tourism. According to a Bangkok Post report, officials have confirmed 20 new cases but insist the development will not affect the island’s Samui Plus re-opening programme. 16 of the new infections are a cluster linked to a cashier at a local gym.…
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Private clinics in Bangkok enlisted to help with home isolation Covid patients
Privately-run clinics in Bangkok are being enlisted to help treat and monitor patients in the Covid-19 “green” group – those who are home isolating with mild or no symptoms. According to a Bangkok Post report, the National Health Security Office is inviting the clinics to sign up to the programme to increase the number of facilities helping home isolation patients.…
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PM hosts online meeting with governors of dark red provinces over Covid crisis
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has held an online meeting with the governors of the 12 “dark red” provinces – Pathum Thani, Chon Buri, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Ayutthaya, Chanchoengsao, Samut Prakan, Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, and Songkha. The Bangkok Post reports that the PM used the meeting to question them on the Covid situation in their province and to say he…
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Phetchabun sugar factory closes with Covid-19 cluster
After a cluster of 90 workers was discovered to be infected with Covid-19, a factory in Phetchabun producing sugar has been instructed by government officials to close down for a week. The Thai Roong Ruang Industry Co in the Si Thep district received the orders yesterday to close from now until August 2. The provincial communicable disease committee made the…
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Police investigate hackers selling stolen vaccine appointments
Amid vaccine scarcity in Thailand’s slow rollout, and a tumultuous registration process with changing systems and tiny sign-up windows, people have taken to desperate means to get vaccinated. People posing as doctors online sold fake vaccine appointments, and authorities accused members of the Hi-So elite of renting motorbike taxi vests to pose as taxi drivers who are given priority for…
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Despite low riders, Covid-19 train to continue
Despite a rocky start, the special train service the Transport Ministry arranged with the State Railway of Thailand to help bring Covid-19 infected patients in Bangkok to their hometowns for treatment will continue. The train, dubbed the “Covid Express”, will schedule more trips from Bangkok to the North and Northeast provinces even though the first train ended up with less…
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Koh Samui bar and club finds 16 Covid-19 infections
The Thaiger recently reported that some bars and clubs in Koh Samui continue to operate seemingly indifferent to Covid-19 restrictions in place without any masks or social distancing and during periods that nightlife was shut down nationally. Now the freedom from regulation on the island has come back to bite as 16 Covid-19 infections were found traced to one of…
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Girls infected with Covid after mother dies at home; public criticises healthcare system
The story of the two Thai girls who woke up to find their 44 year old mother dead in their bedroom, possibly due to Covid-19, grabbed public attention and shed light on the death toll of the current wave of cases where more than 4,000 people infected with the virus have died. Medical examiners have not declared the Apaporn Suntarachon’s…
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Crowds rush to Bang Sue for vaccination ahead of walk-in registration ending
There were scenes of overcrowding reported at Bangkok’s Bang Sue station yesterday as people rushed to try to get a vaccine before walk-in registration ends. According to a Nation Thailand report, the rush was sparked by the announcement that walk-in registration for the elderly ends on Saturday. The following day, registration opens for everyone over the age of 18 but…
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Thai PM predicts current Covid crisis will be over in 2 or 3 weeks – 4 at the most
The Thai PM says the country’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic should be over in 2 or 3 weeks, maybe 4. The Bangkok Post reports that Prayut Chan-o-cha was addressing a Cabinet meeting yesterday and has instructed all relevant agencies to keep the public updated on the ongoing crisis. Thailand has continued to report new cases…
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Health Ministry says all frontline medical workers will get donated Pfizer doses
With 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive in Thailand tomorrow, the Public Health Ministry insists they will be given to all frontline medical workers in the country. The doses have been donated by the US government and will be offered as third, “booster” shots, according to Sura Wisedsak from the Health Ministry. “I can confirm that…
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Officials reluctant to cancel Phuket sandbox, lifeline for desperate locals
Officials have confirmed that the Phuket sandbox scheme will not be cancelled, despite rising infections on the island. At least not for now. The Bangkok Post reports that despite the island reporting 40 new infections yesterday, the highest number since it re-opened to foreign tourists, the governor is reluctant to put an end to the financial lifeline for desperate locals.…
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Wednesday Covid Update: Record high of 16,533 new cases
A record high of 16,533 new Covid-19 cases were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. In the latest and most severe wave of infections in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported 514,498 Covid-19 cases. Today, the CCSA also recorded another 133 coronavirus-related deaths. Out of the new cases, 202 were found in correctional…
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“Phuket Sandbox” still on, provincial restrictions set after uptick in Covid-19
The “Phuket Sandbox” is still on, but the uptick in coronavirus infections pose a threat to the tourism experiment. Before the July 1 reopening, the government said it would reconsider the travel scheme if cases exceeded 90 Covid-19 infections. Over the past week, the island reported 125 new infections. With the weekly case count exceeding the government’s threshold, new restrictions…
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UPDATE: Dying Samut Prakan mother tells daughters to go to orphanage
Earlier today, the Thaiger wrote about 2 girls whose mother passed away. However, before the mother died, she expressed a desire to her daughters that they go to an orphanage so someone could still take care of them Recently, it was found that the 2 girls will be taken to an orphanage and that the mother’s name is Apaporn Soontrarachun.…
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Korat construction camp closed following Covid outbreak
Another construction camp has been ordered to close after workers were discovered to be infected with Covid. This time it is in Nakhon Ratchasima/Korat, the northeastern Thai province. The closure order came yesterday. 90 workers from the BSY construction Co. tested positive for Covid. Thus, the construction camp and future factory has been ordered to be sealed off for 1…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 14,150 new cases; provincial totals
CAPTION: Bang Sue railway station yesterday, the main vaccination centre in Bangkok. The photographer said that it was “chaos”. PHOTO: Facebook/Akbar Senior Motani 14,150 new Covid-19 cases were reported today by the CCSA this morning, raising the total since the start of the pandemic last year to 526,828. The latest and most severe wave of Covid-19 infections, first recorded in…
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Bang Sue walk-in vaccinations for elderly expats to end Saturday
Walk-in vaccination services for elderly expats at Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station is ending on Saturday. The government is preparing to roll out the next phase in its Covid-19 immunisation plan. Starting Sunday, August 1, registration in Bangkok will open up to those 18 and older, but there will be no walk-in services. Until Saturday, foreign residents who are 75…
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Dying Samut Prakan mother tells daughters to go to orphanage
Yesterday, 2 young girls had to be rescued from their home in Samut Prakan, a province south of Bangkok. They had watched their mother die of Covid and would later test positive for Covid themselves. The dying mother told her daughters to go to an orphanage. The 2 young girls were ages 7 and 9. The unnamed 9 year old…
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Over 66 people arrested in police raid at Pattaya beach club
Police in Pattaya have raided a beach club and arrested at least 66 people accused of violating the emergency decree. According to a Pattaya News report, the raid took place at around 8.30pm last night and those arrested were a mixture of foreign and Thai nationals. 37 Thais and 29 foreigners are accused of drinking, partying, and mingling, in violation…
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Government under increasing pressure to share details of vaccine procurement deals
As Thailand battles its worst Covid-19 wave since the start of the pandemic, the government is coming under increasing pressure to divulge details of its vaccine procurement decisions. The Bangkok Post reports that at least 333 academics, media representatives, and individuals have signed a statement calling for full disclosure of everything related to the country’s vaccine procurement deals. The statement…
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Covid patients with positive antigen test no longer need PCR test prior to treatment
The government’s Covid-19 task force says people who’ve taken an antigen test while at community isolation venues do not need to submit to a PCR test before getting medical treatment. The Bangkok Post reports that the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has made the announcement in an effort to accelerate treatment for patients waiting in community isolation. CCSA spokesperson Apisamai…
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Thai tourism likely to hit rock bottom this year
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says both international and domestic tourism are likely to drop to an all-time low this year. The Bangkok Post reports that the TAT predicts international arrivals may only number 1 million, with domestic tourism dropping to just 50 – 60 million trips. Yuthasak Supasorn from the TAT says the target of 3 million foreign arrivals…
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Sinovac/AstraZeneca highly effective, according to Thai research
Today, Thailand’s Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology from the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, says a vaccine cocktail of Sinovac/AstraZeneca is “highly effective”. Controversial doctor Yong Poovorawan says 2 doses of the inactivated virus vaccine can help “immunity rise to an average level of 100 units”. Further, if 2 doses of the vector vaccine are administered…
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Phuket vice governor says “Sandbox” tourists aren’t scared off by Covid situation
Thailand’s latest and most severe wave of Covid-19 isn’t scaring away potential “Phuket Sandbox” tourists… at least that’s what the island province’s vice governor says. The official recently shot back claims that around a third of tourists who entered under the new reopening scheme decided to return home because of the continuous rise of Covid-19 infections and deaths. Under the…
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Ministry of Education seeks 21.6 billion education subsidy
Tomorrow, Thailand’s Ministry of Education will submit a proposal to Cabinet for approval of a 21.6 billion baht to subsidise education costs. The figure comes from 2,000 baht a student in elementary/vocations education systems. The education subsidy is to help reduce the financial strain on parents that have developed as a result of Covid. The proposal came up yesterday in…
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The ‘infodemic’ – interview with Helen Petousis-Harris about Covid misinformation
Helen Petousis-Harris is a NZ vaccinologist and associate professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland. She’s been at the forefront of the dis-information ‘infodemic’ since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year and a voice of reason in Ted Talks, worldwide interviews and lectures. Today she speaks to Tim Newton…
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Monday UPDATE: 15,376 new infections, Provincial report
Thailand’s public health department has confirmed another 15,376 new infections and 87 Covid-related deaths over the past 24 hours. 1,041 of the new cases are from the Thai prison system. Thailand has now reached half a million reported Covid infections since the start of 2020. Just 4 months ago, when the so-called 3rd wave kicked off, there were 1,247 patients in…
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Government submits proposal to allow department store restaurants to sell food online
Department store restaurants may be allowed to sell food online through a proposal that will be submitted to the CCSA today for approval, says deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul, today. The spokeswoman says the CCSA’s operation centre decided on July 22 that the Ministry of Public Health should decide on criteria to allow department store restaurants to sell their food…
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