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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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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Phuket’s tourist-driven economy faces crisis – Phuket Chamber of Commerce
Phuket’s tourism-driven economy is facing what one city official calls a crisis, comparing the economic impact to what it was after the 2004 tsunami. Phuket’s economy has become increasingly focused on tourism and hospitality over the past 2 decades. The Phuket Chamber of Commerce President Thunusak Phungdet said at a meeting last Thursday that Phuket has no income right now.…
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Businesses banned from shutting down during emergency decree
Employers have been left perplexed by an order from the Thai Labour Ministry forbidding them from shutting down their businesses during the emergency decree. The same order bans employees from taking part in any industrial action. A report in Nation Thailand says companies that have already closed are being instructed to re-open, and employees advised to return to work, with…
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Pattaya shopkeeper and family attacked after refusing to sell alcohol to curfew breakers
A Pattaya shop-owner and his family have been left shaken after an attack by a group of curfew breakers, apparently angry that they weren’t able to buy alcohol. The Pattaya News reports that the 19 year old daughter of the shopkeeper, Thipthida Chaisat, says around 10 young Thai males, who appeared very drunk, arrived at her father’s shop in the…
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Thai provinces put on alert to screen anyone travelling from Phuket
Phuket’s on a blacklist of sorts, at least as far as the Interior Ministry is concerned. Thailand’s provincial governors have been put on alert to screen everyone arriving from the island province of Phuket. They also been instructed to quarantine anyone suspected of being infected with Covid-19. Chalerm Promlet, the Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary, issued the instructions to provincial governors…
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Covid-19 update: 5 new cases, no deaths (Sunday)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 5 new national cases of Covid-19 today, bringing the total in Thailand to 3,009. No additional deaths were reported, leaving the accumulated toll at 56. Today’s number, while higher than yesterday’s 4, continues the encouraging trend of single-digit daily increases There were 4 more infections on the resort island of Phuket this morning,…
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Former deputy PM says government should focus on solutions, not threats
Thailand’s former Deputy PM Chaturon Chaisang yesterday posted on his Facebook page and other social media that, in his opinion, the government is focusing on threats versus solutions during the current Covid-19 crisis. His post has been widely shared and gained a lot of traction in Thai-language media. Chaisang, a former Minister of Education in addition to being a Deputy…
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Most Thais want restrictions lifted – NIDA poll
The National Institute of Development Association recently conducted a poll that asked 1,259 Thais from various walks of life about their thoughts on lifting the current Emergency Decree restrictions, such as the closure of businesses and the national curfew. The poll was taken from Thursday to May 9 and comprised Thai nationals over the age of 18 from various backgrounds,…
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Thailand’s GDP to contract up to 5% for 2020 – business thinktank
Thailand’s GDP is expected to contract between 3-5% for 2020, and exports by up to 10%. The predictions from Suphan Mongkolsuthee, president of the Federation of Thai Industries and chairman of the private sector joint committee. He also believes that the Thai economy has probably reached its ‘low point’ and will start recovering from now. He said that, as the…
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US State Department claims China and Russia conspiring to rewrite coronavirus narrative
The US yesterday accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false claims the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Beijing is increasingly adopting techniques perfected by Moscow. Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which tracks foreign propaganda, told reporters: “Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic…
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Foreigners arrested for swimming at closed Pattaya beaches – VIDEO
Police in Pattaya arrested 3 foreigners who were violating public orders to stay off of public beaches at around noon today, at the back of a hotel in the province’s Pratumnak area. Pattaya City police officers told reporters they issued several soft warnings to the foreigners while they were in the water, but they refused to stop swimming and simply…
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Samui singled out for community donation efforts
Koh Samui was highlighted by the Centre for the national Covid-19 Situation Administration for its “community effort” to feed those on the island in need of food. Samui is the second largest island in Thailand, after Phuket. Natapanu Nopakun, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, applauded the concerted fight made by many including the German and Swiss food donors on the…
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710 people caught violating curfew in one night, most in Phuket
The Royal Thai Police Operations Centre has revealed that there were 710 arrests made on Thursday night for violators of the national curfew. Officials searched 27,011 individuals and 20,568 vehicles with a final arrest number of 710, on last Thursday night alone. The arrests consisted of… 612 suspects left their homes during the curfew with no valid reasoning, out of…
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Chon Buri discharges last Covid-19 patient, now a “white zone”
Authorities in Chon Buri announced yesterday that the last Covid-19 patient in the province has recovered and been discharged from hospital, making the entire province a designated “white zone – no recorded cases of Covid-19 in 14 days and not a single patient in hospital for treatment. Pattaya City has had no cases for 24 days and will reach the…
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Provinces ordered to establish Covid-19 operations centres
The governors of all 76 of Thailand’s provinces have been ordered to establish and manage Covid-19 operations centres. Interior Ministry permanent secretary Chatchai Promlert announced the order yesterday. As Thais start inter-provincial travel there is an increased risk of undetected cases moving around the country and setting off another localised outbreak. According to the order, each centre will be responsible…
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PM confident economy will rebound when businesses reopen
Or… “what goes down, must go up”. “If workplaces reopen, there will be employment and salaries… If factories reopen and employ people, rehabilitation will start.” Responding to reporters yesterday, the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed confidence the economy will improve once businesses reopen and people are employed again, and when tourism resumes, with measures in place to give visitors confidence…
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Bangkok hospitals use baby face shields, US health officials say it could be dangerous
While Bangkok hospitals say they are protecting newborn babies from the coronavirus with baby-sized face shields, health authorities in the US disagree with the move, and even claim it could be dangerous. The US Centre of Disease Control says an infant face shield could increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome as well as suffocation or strangulation. Since infants…
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Thai Health Minister says China, South Korea no longer virus hotspots
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has provisionally approved a suggestion from Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that China and South Korea be removed from the list of Covid-19 “hotspots”. Nation Thailand reports that the number of confirmed cases in each country has now dropped into single digits and attempts are being made to re-establish economic and social ties between Thailand and the two…
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BTS and MRT roll out better preventative and social distancing measures
Since there has been a lot of backlash and social media scuttlebutt about the lack of social distancing on MRT and BTS train systems, the MD of the Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company, Sombat Kitjalaksak, has moved to apply improved social distancing measures by prioritising access to services in the station, platform, train, both at normal times and rush…
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Pattaya’s beaches are still a ‘no go’ area this month
Don’t go to Pattaya’s beaches unless you’re willing go to jail or pay a hefty fine. Starting tomorrow, the city’s beaches will be closed until the end of May in an effort to prevent socialising and to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Pattaya’s police posted photos on Facebook of the taped-off beaches and warning signs. “Those who try to access the…
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May 17 target for shopping centres to re-open
The rumours have been flying since this week’s cabinet meeting about the next raft of re-openings as Thailand’s economy starts to plod back into gear. Now, after a meeting yesterday of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, there’s general consensus that shopping centres and retail stores will be able to re-open on Sunday, May 17. Of course the caveat is…
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Deputy PM says some restrictions could be eased before mid-May
Speaking at the Covid-19 Coronavirus Situation Administration today, Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam addressed rumours that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering easing some Covid19 restrictions before the middle of May. Meetings are taking place this afternoon between the CCSA and other government departments as the PM gathers medical advice from the CCSA and other experts on the feasibility of loosening some…
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Covid-19 update: 3 new cases, no deaths (Thursday)
Health officials today reported 3 new Covid-19 cases, all Thai nationals, bringing the total in Thailand to 2,992 since the beginning of the outbreak. No new deaths were reported, leaving the toll at 55. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says 1new case is a Thai housewife, aged 59, in the southern province of Yala at…
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Dozens of staff at Narathiwat hospital quarantined
62 staff of a hospital in the southern Narathiwat province, bordering Malaysia, are now in quarantine after making contact with a man who arrived with flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for Covid-19. The hospital’s director says that a 45 year old man from Waeng district walked into the hospital on May 30 to be treated for flu. “He stayed…
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Unemployed elephants in Thailand’s north trek home
The Covid-19 crisis has affected the livelihoods of countless millions of Thais… not all of them human. Elephant camps in Chiang Mai, and elsewhere in Thailand’s north, have been devastated by the drop in tourism, forcing some to close and having to leave their elephants without food to survive. More than 100 are now marching up to 150 kilometres back…
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20,000 military-grade masks are on the way to help battle Covid-19
The Thai Royal Army has approved the production of military and medical protective masks, a total of 20,000 pieces valued at 600 million baht, to help the nation save over 500 million baht on imported N95 masks. Funding has come from government agencies and the private sector, hoping to help 500 medical personnel in need in the southern border provinces…
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Thousands of Thais to return by the end of May
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has announced that all Thai nationals, stranded abroad during the peak of the outbreak, will be repatriated. The government is preparing to welcome around 7,000 returnees who will arrive by the end of the month. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the CCSA says that the centre is working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…
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10 arrested in Chon Buri for house party in violation of Emergency Decree
Police in Chon Buri province’s Sattahip subdistrict, south of Pattaya, raided a party last night at a house with 10 people, most of them from out of town and described as domestic tourists. The gathering was a direct violation of the Emergency Decree enacted to stop the spread of Covid-19 Na Jomtien police were notified by a “concerned citizen” that…
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New scheduled departure times for people leaving Phuket
While Phuket officials have allowed tens of thousands of people to leave the island to head back to their home provinces, the Phuket provincial government only allowed Phuket residents to leave the island in their own vehicles on April 30 and May 1, being the ‘first round’ and ‘second round’ of the mass exodus. But on the first day there…
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CCSA reports 1 new Covid-19 case, 1 new death (Wednesday)
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported about just 1 new coronavirus patient today, a masseuse, and 1 death, an Australian hotel manager in Khao Lak, Phang Nga province. CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin reported this morning that the total of Covid-19 cases rose to 2,986 as the 27 year old masseuse tested positive after returning from Russia. She has…
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Follow the rules or face the consequences – PM
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning that unless people and businesses continue to adhere to social distancing rules, previously lifted restrictions could be reinstated. Nation Thailand reports that the PM has already issued new guidelines on the sale of alcohol after chaotic scenes in supermarkets across the country following the lifting of the alcohol ban in all but a handful…
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