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 Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Samut Sakhon field hospitals plan to shut down as Covid cases drop to double-digits
The central province and epicentre of Thailand’s second wave of Covid-19, Samut Sakhon is set to shut down as many as 7 field hospitals after daily reported cases of the virus have dropped to double-digits. Kiattiphum Wongrajit, the permanent secretary for Public Health says the country is now only seeing between 30-50 new cases of Covid per day, thanks to successful…
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CCSA Update: 58 new Covid-19 cases
58 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 513 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 26,598 coronavirus infections and 85 deaths. Out of the 58 in cases, 17 were exposed to the virus while visiting high risk areas…
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Phuket aims for mass Covid-19 immunisation by October
The Phuket government is pushing for more Covid-19 vaccines with the hopes to hit mass immunisation by October. So far, just under 2,000 people on the island province have been injected with China’s Sinovac vaccine. The local officials say they will file a request to get enough doses to vaccinate roughly 78% of the population by October. With the Phuket…
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Reduced quarantine approved for some foreign arrivals
The Thai government has agreed to reduce mandatory quarantine for certain categories of arrivals from overseas. The national committee on communicable diseases, which falls under the umbrella of the Public Health Ministry, has approved the measure based on the fact that a global vaccination drive is leading to a gradual reduction in case numbers. According to a Nation Thailand report,…
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CCSA Update: 39 new Covid-19 cases, Samut Sakhon lifts “factory quarantine”
After months of strict disease control measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, the epicentre of the recent wave of infections, Samut Sakhon, is lifting its so-called “bubble and seal” measures which quarantined migrant workers at factories where they worked. Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration deputy spokesperson Apisamai Srirangsan says the measures are being lifted today. 39 new Covid-19 cases were…
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Officials meet in Phuket to discuss implementing “area quarantine” from April
A number of officials, including Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn will meet in Phuket today to discuss the implementation of area quarantine on the southern island, possibly as soon as next month. Thai PBS World reports that various hotel representatives and other tourism businesses are expected to attend the meeting. The idea of area quarantine has been proposed for a number…
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Thailand to reduce quarantine to 7 days, meeting to confirm next Monday | VIDEO
ASQ, changes for people arriving in Thailand. After 12 months of forcing foreign travellers into a 14 day mandatory stay in a hotel, at their expense, as part of the Alternative State Quarantine program… better know as the ASQ… the Thai government have slightly relented in a revised ASQ. The updated quarantine is a response to immense pressure from the…
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Second batch of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to arrive in Thailand on March 25
A second order of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines are expected to arrive on March 25, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced today. 800,000 doses are set to be sent to Thailand later this month. Along with informing the Thai government on the expected arrival date for the vaccines, Chinese officials also asked that the Thai government consider vaccinating Chinese nationals…
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Thailand to issue vaccine certificate to everyone who gets 2 doses of Covid jab
Thailand’s Public Health Minister says everyone who receives both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will be issued with a vaccine certificate. The vaccine certificate will be similar to the vaccination books already in circulation for some time and used to prove inoculation against yellow fever. According to a Coconuts report, both the paper and online version of the certificate will…
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AstraZeneca rollout confirmed for Thursday, with PM first in line
First, there was the unexpected arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine on the same day Thailand took delivery of the Chinese one. Then there was the announcement that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was too old for China’s Sinovac jab and would get the AstraZeneca one instead. And then there was the delay to the PM’s inoculation, blamed on paperwork that was missing…
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Economic think-tank says the future of tourism in Thailand hangs on vaccination
The research division of Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank says everything hangs on vaccination strategies, both here and abroad. Kevalin Wangpichayasuk from the Kasikorn Research Centre says the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines globally will have a significant impact on the recovery of tourism in the Kingdom, with 2 million foreign tourists expected to arrive in the last quarter of the year. However,…
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Slow return of foreign tourism makes more redundancies inevitable – Airlines Association of Thailand
The president of the Airlines Association of Thailand says further layoffs in the sector are inevitable, due to the slow return of international tourism. In a Bangkok Post report, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth says the sluggish revival of foreign tourism, now not expected until the last quarter of the year, means all carriers continue to face financial hardship. And while there was…
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CCSA Update: 71 new Covid-19 cases
71 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. There are currently 579 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 26,441 coronavirus cases in Thailand and 85 deaths. “The numbers are getting better,” according to deputy spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Natapanu Nopakun, who…
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Chiang Mai hotels slash prices amid ongoing slump in tourism
Hotels in the northern province of Chiang Mai have been forced to cut their rates by up to 90%, in a desperate bid to attract more domestic tourists. According to a Bangkok Post report, La-Iad Bungsrithong, from the northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, says with tourists mainly favouring the southern beach destinations this month, hotel operators in the…
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OPINION – Vaccinating against Covid-19, why wouldn’t you?
by Andrew J. Wood The World Health Organisation not only advises that vaccines save millions of lives each year, but they also reduce transmissions. They and their partners are working together on tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions and distributing vital medical supplies to those in need, thereby reducing the number of infected people to transmit the virus. Vaccines…
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79 new cases today-COVID-19 Update
Today, the Thai government is reporting 79 new cases of Covid-19, with 65 locally-transmitted, and 14 imported, raising the total to 26,241 since the pandemic began. 1 new death has been reported, raising the total amount of deaths to 85. The new infections, which are now in the double-digits, shows Thailand’s Covid situation as improving according to the assistant spokeswoman…
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Hospital in northern Thailand closes to visitors after 2 patients test positive for Covid-19
A hospital in the northern province of Tak has had to shut its doors to visitors after 2 patients treated at the facility subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Nation Thailand reports that Mae Sot Hospital is now closed to visitors until Monday. It’s understood that 19 staff members have had contact with 2 patients who tested positive for the virus.…
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Thai Air Asia urges government to re-open the country to foreign tourism
The low-cost carrier, Thai Air Asia, is calling on the government to accelerate the re-opening of the country to international tourism. TAA chief executive Santisuk Klongchaiya says Thailand risks losing its status as a regional hub if the country does not re-open soon in order to re-ignite tourism and airlines. According to a Bangkok Post report, he warns that Thailand…
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CCSA Update: 1 death, record low daily case count since start of the recent Covid-19 wave
54 new Covid-19 cases and 1 death were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 515 active cases, a record low since the start of the new wave of Covid-19 infections. An enormous 1-day spike in cases was reported on December 20 with more than 500 cases among migrant workers at a Samut…
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Riot police officer in Bangkok tests positive for Covid-19
A riot police officer, who was deployed at the recent pro-democracy protests in Bangkok, has tested positive for Covid-19. His supervisor, chief of Wang Thonglang station Ekapop Tanprayoon, says the officer had visited Samut Sakhon, a coronavirus hotspot. Riot police who worked closely with the infected officer, Somyot Nuamcharoen, are ordered to quarantine. The Wang Thonglang police station and any…
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First golf quarantine guests complete stay at central Thailand resort
Thailand has hosted the first group of international tourists to carry out a “golf quarantine” stay. 42 golfers (41 from South Korea and 1 from Japan) flew into Thailand on February 19, entering quarantine at the Artitaya Golf Resort in the central province of Nakhon Nayok. Guests following Thailand’s golf quarantine programme are required to remain in their rooms for…
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Thai industry representatives push government on vaccine passport policy
Industry representatives are urging the Thai government to press ahead with the adoption of a vaccine passport scheme to re-ignite international tourism. The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking is also pushing for Thailand to form travel bubble arrangements with countries where Covid-19 infection rates are low to moderate. Kalin Sarasin from the Thai Chamber of Commerce and…
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When can we travel again? World Covid Travel Update | VIDEO
Today we’ll look at the larger world travel picture in this Covid era, and then we’ll check the latest opportunities if you want to come back to Thailand for travel. So when can we pack the bags and travel again? Well, in theory, right now. But in practice, depending where you’re coming from and where you want to go, that…
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“Sawadee Thailand” travel insurance covers Covid-19 medical expenses
The following is a press release submitted by AXA Thailand on its “Sawasdee Thailand” travel insurance which covers the required Covid-19 medical insurance for those travelling to Thailand. AXA Thailand General Insurance is offering “Sawasdee Thailand”, a comprehensive travel insurance that includes health coverage for foreigners traveling to Thailand, offering up to 3.5-million-baht of medical expenses including COVID-19 which meets…
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Governor of Samut Sakhon recovering from Covid-19 after more than 40 days on ventilator
The governor of the central province of Samut Sakhon is slowly recovering after more than 2 months battling Covid-19. Weerasak Wichitsangsri tested positive for the virus in late December and subsequently ended up on a ventilator for over 40 days. It’s understood Weerasak’s time on the ventilator was a record for the hospital and at times, medics were unsure if…
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Thai PM orders Foreign Ministry to conduct vaccine passport study
The Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, says the government will look into the possibility of a vaccine passport policy, with discussions set to take place on Monday. The PM has asked the Foreign Ministry to carry out a study on the use of vaccine passports, but adds that there is no guarantee such a system would work at international level. “So,…
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Thai army medic accused of injecting troops with fake Covid-19 vaccine during UN mission
UPDATE: Recent reports say the medic’s license has not been revoked, but the Medical Council is considering revoking his doctor’s license. The Bangkok Military Court has also issued a warrant for the medic’s arrest. A medic for the Royal Thai Army was dismissed and his medical license revoked after injecting troops with fake Covid-19 vaccines during a United Nations peacekeeping…
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Japan asks China to stop anal Covid-19 tests after travellers report “psychological distress”
After complaints that China’s anal swab Covid-19 test caused “psychological distress,” Japan has asked China to stop using the new, much more invasive method of testing on Japanese citizens entering the country. For the anal test, reportedly done on some travellers entering China from overseas, a 3 to 5 centimetre long cotton swab is inserted into the anus and gently…
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Vaccine rollout underway in Phuket as province receives 4,000 doses
The southern island of Phuket has kicked off its vaccine rollout, after taking delivery of 4,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac jab. Vaccine administration began yesterday, with priority given to 1,500 healthcare workers and 500 “at-risk” officials exposed to Covid-19 patients. Nation Thailand reports that Vachira Phuket Hospital is administering the vaccines, with capacity to vaccinate 400 people a day.…
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Covid-19 vaccine registration to begin in May
Thailand’s Deputy Health Minister, Sathit Pitutecha, says registration for Covid-19 vaccination will begin in early May, with the national vaccine rollout starting the following month. Members of the public who wish to register for inoculation will be able to do so via a dedicated app, Mor Prom (“Doctors Ready”). Sathit says the government is expecting a large supply of the…
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