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?...

  • Bangkok beauty pageant suffers Covid scandal

    Bangkok beauty pageant suffers Covid scandal

    A formal complaint from the Huai Khwang district office in Bangkok been lodged against the organiser of the “Miss Grand Samut Sakhon 2021” beauty pageant, alleging the show violated the Communicable Disease Act. The complaint, lodged with the Makkasan police, alleges the pageant held on June 26 and June 27 at the Mirin Theatre RCA in the Huai Khwang district…

  • Covid UPDATE Sunday: 9,539 new cases, news briefs

    Covid UPDATE Sunday: 9,539 new cases, news briefs

    Today the public health department reported 9,539 new Covid infections & 86 coronavirus-related deaths. 103 of today’s cases were reported from the Thai prison system. Today’s numbers indicate a flattening of new infections but still much higher than the week before. Provincial totals published just after lunch time. • The ministries of Public Health and Transport have prepared a 5,000-bed…

  • Phuket Sandbox woes: 2 more foreign Covid-19 cases, Delta variant

    Phuket Sandbox woes: 2 more foreign Covid-19 cases, Delta variant

    The Phuket Sandbox has hit a few hurdles with the revelation of 2 more international arrivals testing positive with Covid-19, as well as the first cases of the Delta and Beta variants on the island. The news comes in the wake of the Governor ordering most of the islands’ schools to close for 14 days due to the rising risk…

  • 80 Bangkok roadblocks to curb Covid-19 spread before lockdown

    80 Bangkok roadblocks to curb Covid-19 spread before lockdown

    “The law of unintended consequences has come to be used as an adage or idiomatic warning that an intervention in a complex system tends to create unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes. It is commonly used as a wry or humorous warning against the hubristic belief that humans can fully control the world around them.” – Wikipedia The last time the…

  • Preparing for Bangkok lockdown measures from today on

    Preparing for Bangkok lockdown measures from today on

    The CCSA announced yesterday sweeping new Covid-19 lockdown measures for Bangkok and surrounding provinces, as well as 4 southern provinces, and now people and businesses are scrambling to prepare before provisions go into effect from now until Monday. Airlines have quickly implemented emergency measures for domestic travellers to handle the wave of cancellations and rescheduling due to Bangkok and other…

  • Covid UPDATE: 9,326 new infections, provincial totals

    Covid UPDATE: 9,326 new infections, provincial totals

    The provincial breakdown for Saturday which includes all the cases reported over the past 24 hours. Infographics from the NBT… Today the public health department has announced 9,326 new infections and 91 Covid-related deaths. 192 of the cases are from Thai prisons. The number, whilst only slightly higher than yesterday, is a continuation of the upward trend in cases, almost…

  • Phuket daily Covid-19 hits 10, 3 short of Sandbox threshold

    Phuket daily Covid-19 hits 10, 3 short of Sandbox threshold

    As Covid-19 surges throughout Thailand and the provinces in the south and around Bangkok enact curfews and other lockdown measures, Phuket has been relatively safe with just a trickle of infections. Yesterday for the first time in weeks though, Phuket recorded double-digit new Covid-19 infections, edging closer to the threshold for reconsidering the Sandbox scheme. Phuket Provincial Public Health Office…

  • Sandbox tourist forced to stay in ASQ hotel after fellow passenger on her flight tests positive

    Sandbox tourist forced to stay in ASQ hotel after fellow passenger on her flight tests positive

    Stefanie came to Phuket as a kick start to a new adventure and a long term stay in Thailand. The Phuket Sandbox option would allow her to visit around the island for 14 days before heading off to other destinations in Thailand. But it didn’t work out as planned. Now, she’s stuck in a small room for up to 14…

  • 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan for elderly in Bangkok

    1 million AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan for elderly in Bangkok

    Japan recently donated just over 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines to Thailand in hopes of battling the surging Covid-19 outbreaks hammering the country, and today the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announce plans to give those vaccines to the elderly in Bangkok. The 1.05 million vaccines that arrived today from Japan will be earmarked for senior citizens, both Thai nationals and…

  • Sinovac not effective against Delta variant, AstraZeneca is

    Sinovac not effective against Delta variant, AstraZeneca is

    A new study released today seems to have confirmed what many have feared: the Sinovac vaccine has little effectiveness in stopping the Covid-19 Delta variant. The Delta strain, first identified in India, is particularly dangerous as it has found to be much more contagious and is spreading rapidly throughout Thailand. It has been predicted that the variant will be the…

  • Lawyers Association accuse DDC failure over Sinovac

    Lawyers Association accuse DDC failure over Sinovac

    The chairman of the Lawyers Association of Thailand has said the government has failed its duty to protect the health of the Thai people by ordering more Sinovac vaccines instead of pursuing brands more effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19 fast becoming the dominant strain in Thailand. The accusation comes as the Department of Disease Control defends Thailand’s Cabinet’s…

  • BREAKING: Stay at home orders, travel restrictions in Bangkok and 9 other provinces

    BREAKING: Stay at home orders, travel restrictions in Bangkok and 9 other provinces

    Tight restrictions limiting travel and ordering residents to stay at home are being set in Bangkok and 9 other “dark red” provinces to control the spread of Covid-19 as the Delta variant of the virus becomes more prevalent. Many have been calling it a “lockdown,” but the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has been avoiding the word to describe the…

  • Breaking: Travel restrictions and curfew to be set in Bangkok, “dark red” provinces

    Breaking: Travel restrictions and curfew to be set in Bangkok, “dark red” provinces

    UPDATE: The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily press briefing has been rescheduled to 4pm today. More details will be reported following the briefing. Travel restrictions and a nightly curfew will be set in Bangkok and provinces classified as “dark red” zones for the high rates of Covid-19 infections, the government’s news bureau confirmed today. In this morning’s Centre for…

  • Isolation centres being set up in Bangkok to provide basic care to Covid-19 patients

    Isolation centres being set up in Bangkok to provide basic care to Covid-19 patients

    To help reduce overcrowding in Bangkok hospitals, Thai authorities have decided to allow Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, or who are asymptomatic, to stay at home or at a community isolation centre rather than a hospital or field hospital. Public hospitals in the capital have been at capacity and Covid-19 cases are expected to continue to rise due to the…

  • Sangkhla Buri district in Kanchanaburi enters 14 day lockdown

    Sangkhla Buri district in Kanchanaburi enters 14 day lockdown

    The Sankhla Buri district in Kanchanaburi, a western Thai province is locking down for 14 days and people are ordered to remain at home from 10 pm to 4 am to help prevent Covid outbreaks. The order was signed by Governor Jirakiat Phumsawat, who also acts as chairman of the provincial communicable disease control committee. Other restrictions include barring the…

  • 12 Sandbox travellers in quarantine request to leave Thailand

    12 Sandbox travellers in quarantine request to leave Thailand

    The strict rules and closed entertainment venues have discouraged many potential tourists from coming to the Phuket Sandbox just yet, but many who have arrived have expressed happiness to be enjoying the beauty of Thailand, even with the complex process and limitations on the ground. But predictably, one group of Sandboxers who have are in quarantine after one traveller tested…

  • 67,000 Phuket residents try to register for Moderna, web portal crashes

    67,000 Phuket residents try to register for Moderna, web portal crashes

    Yesterday, nearly 70,000 people tried to apply for the Phuket Moderna vaccine reservations. The web portal crashed instead. The 67,000 hopeful vaccination registrants would have had their vaccines provided by Bangkok Hospital Phuket and Bangkok Hospital Siriroj. The crash did not sit well with many who had already found the registration process slow and rife with system failures and an…

  • Friday Covid Update: 9,276 new infections and 72 deaths

    Friday Covid Update: 9,276 new infections and 72 deaths

    9,276 new Covid-19 cases and 72 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. With the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the CCSA expects daily cases to soon hit 10,000. While today’s case count is an uptick over the past several weeks. Thailand hit a record high in new cases in mid-May with 9,635…

  • Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital opens registration for Moderna vaccine

    Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital opens registration for Moderna vaccine

    Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok has opened an online booking system for the Moderna vaccine, with priority going to healthcare workers and people who remain unvaccinated. The Bangkok Post reports that the vaccine will cost 1,650 baht per dose. Chief Executive Artirat Charukitpipat says the hospital has not been able to receive the number of vaccines it would have liked and…

  • JP Morgan includes Thailand in 5 economies most at risk from Delta variant

    JP Morgan includes Thailand in 5 economies most at risk from Delta variant

    The investment banking firm JP Morgan says there are 5 emerging economies that are most vulnerable to the Delta variant – and Thailand is one of them. According to a Reuters report, the others are South Africa, Colombia, the Philippines, and Peru. The primary reason given for these findings is the low rate of vaccination, with analysts comparing the pace…

  • Troubled vaccine registration site replaced by hospitals

    Troubled vaccine registration site replaced by hospitals

    Abraham Lincoln famously advised people not to change horses midstream, but with the ever-changing vaccine rollout, the Thai government seems intent on test-driving the entire herd in the middle of the flood. A Tourism Authority of Thailand press release today confirmed the Department of Disease Control announcement of yet another new Covid-19 vaccine registration plan for foreigners. After the Thailand…

  • Thailand ranked 3rd to last worldwide on Covid-19 handling

    Thailand ranked 3rd to last worldwide on Covid-19 handling

    In a display of just how far you can fall, Thailand, once ranked as one of the top countries in the world for Covid-19 handling is now almost at the bottom of the rankings, number 118 out of 120. The Nikkei Asia Covid-19 recovery index calculated data from 120 countries worldwide and ranked Thailand third from last. The study combines…

  • 3 foreigners arrested operating unlicensed Koh Phangan spa

    3 foreigners arrested operating unlicensed Koh Phangan spa

    Police in Koh Phangan arrested 2 Russian men and an American woman in a raid at a health spa following complaints from locals of illegal activities and Covid-19 restriction violations. They are accused of a range of charges relating to the legality of the business, though the information is unclear if they face any charges for breaking any Covid-19 rules.…

  • Thursday Covid Update: Record high of 75 deaths; new infections in all 77 provinces

    Thursday Covid Update: Record high of 75 deaths; new infections in all 77 provinces

    A record high of 75 Covid-related deaths was reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 2,462. An uptick of 7,058 new Covid-19 infections was recorded today with new cases in all of Thailand’s 77 provinces. The latest and most severe wave of the virus continues to rise due to the spread…

  • Pathum Thani governor donates 3 months’ salary to help residents during pandemic

    Pathum Thani governor donates 3 months’ salary to help residents during pandemic

    The governor of Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, is donating 3 months of his salary to support the community as Covid-19 cases rise. An announcement was recently made on a Facebook page run by the provincial government saying governor Chaiwat Chuenkosum donated his salary to help Pathum Thani residents. A Covid-19 hotline has been set up to help those…

  • Foreign Covid-19 case had Sinopharm, domestic infections bigger concern

    Foreign Covid-19 case had Sinopharm, domestic infections bigger concern

    More information is coming out now about the first Phuket Sandbox traveller to be infected with Covid-19 yesterday. The man from the United Arab Emirates was fully vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine more than 7 months ago and had tested negative before boarding his flight to Phuket. But while infections from abroad make headlines, the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office…

  • CCSA to consider travel restrictions, other disease control measures

    CCSA to consider travel restrictions, other disease control measures

    Travel restrictions are likely to be imposed over the next few days. The Public Health Ministry is proposing stricter measures, including limits on interprovincial travel, to control the spread of the Covid-19 following the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is set to meet tomorrow morning and discuss disease control measures. Along with limits…

  • Woman infected with Covid-19 dies at home after waiting 6 days for hospital treatment

    Woman infected with Covid-19 dies at home after waiting 6 days for hospital treatment

    A 50 year old woman infected with Covid-19 died at her home in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district after waiting for nearly a week for a hospital bed to become available. She died at 3am yesterday morning, just hours before an ambulance was scheduled to take her and her infected family members to the hospital, a source told the Bangkok Post.…

  • UPDATE: PM calls for urgent meeting, expected to discuss “lockdown” measures

    UPDATE: PM calls for urgent meeting, expected to discuss “lockdown” measures

    UPDATE: The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting set for 10am tomorrow will address the “worsening situation” in Thailand, according to spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Natapanu Nopakun, who gives the daily CCSA meeting in English. Natapanu says the media has been “predicting the results” of the meeting, but he assures the public that there will not be…

  • Hundreds wait outside Bangkok temple overnight for Covid test

    Hundreds wait outside Bangkok temple overnight for Covid test

    Use the rapid antigen test to speed up testing. Last night, hundreds of people waited outside a Bangkok temple for a free Covid test that began this morning. Like an anxiety-ridden new shoe launch, crowds of people were photographed outside the Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat temple in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district. Testing began at 8 am and the queuestarted…