Hot News
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Phuket taxi drivers told to be fair, safe, friendly ahead of reopening
Authorities are urging the taxi drivers of Phuket, along with other transportation providers, to be more professional as Thailand’s full reopening launches in 3 days. Ahead of the November 1 reopening to international tourism, a meeting at Phuket city hall yesterday included plans to hold taxi drivers to certain standards in order to make Thailand more welcoming. The Permanent Secretary of…
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Indian community call for their country to be added to Thailand’s low-risk list
Indians are urging the Thai government to add India to the list of low-risk countries for Thailand’s November 1 re-opening. The Bangkok Post reports that the Indian community in Thailand have pointed out how much they can contribute to the economy. The plea comes as Thailand prepares to re-open with minimal quarantine for vaccinated visitors from 46 approved countries. While…
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Thailand Pass: all systems go for Monday
The new Thailand Pass system launches on Monday when the country re-opens with minimal quarantine for vaccinated tourists from select countries. The Bangkok Post reports a government spokesman as saying the new system will replace the Certificate of Entry with a more streamlined process. Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says the online system will allow tourists, Thais, and foreign residents of Thailand to…
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Bangkok public transport back to normal capacity on Monday
Bangkok’s BTS, BRT and Gold Line public transport systems will resume normal operating hours from Monday alongside the government’s move to reopen Thailand’s international borders and lift the nightly curfew in the capital. According to Nation Thailand, Bangkok Mass Transit System director Surapong Laoha-Unya said the resumption of regular services comes with all employees having been fully vaccinated and required…
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Khao San Road expects very slow recovery, even after reopening
Though it’s technically a long, flat stretch, the recovery for Bangkok’s backpacker tourist hub of Khao San Road will be a steep uphill battle. While the government plans the November 1 reopening, entertainment venues, clubs and bars that are a mainstay on the previously vibrant, cacophony of a strip are unlikely to reopen then, and businesses along the infamous road…
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Chinese travel to Thailand may resume late next year
Chinese authorities may let their citizens travel to Thailand again in about one year, according to predictions from the Association of Thai Travel Agents. While China has made the elite list of 46 countries allowed to enter Thailand without quarantine in the Test & Go scheme starting November 1, harsh travel restrictions in China will prohibit Chinese tourists, an important…
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Bangkok kidnap for ransom case tied into used glove export investigation
An American suspect in the multimillion dollar kidnap for ransom case in Bangkok, which was said to be over a failed business deal on rubber gloves, allegedly tipped off CNN about used medical gloves shipped from Thailand to the US. CNN published an investigative report this week saying tens of millions of used medical gloves, some with blood stains, were…
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Police arrest woman for posting and selling porn on Twitter
A woman in Chaiyaphum known online as Nan was arrested for the second time for posting porn photos and videos on her Twitter account. The 23 year old woman was arrested in tambon Watabaek of Thep Sathit district yesterday after the Chaiyaphum Provincial Court issued a warrant for her home to be searched. Police investigating in her house seized her…
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Thai PM expected to embark on first overseas trip since start of pandemic
The Thai PM is expected to attend the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, his first overseas trip since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a Pattaya News report, there are reports Prayut Chan-o-cha will travel to Glasgow for the conference, which kicks off at the end of this month. Over 120 world leaders are expected to attend the…
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Tourism minister confident new Thailand Pass system will increase visitor numbers
The tourism minister is already praising the yet-to-be-launched Thailand Pass, saying it will lift tourist numbers significantly. Thailand Pass replaces the much-maligned Certificate of Entry from Monday and Pipat Ratchakitprakan is expecting to see visitor numbers rise. “Hotel bookings under the Phuket Sandbox scheme for November went up considerably after October 21, when the list of 46 low-risk countries from…
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Entry requirements for international arrivals starting November 1
The Thailand Pass is set to launch in 5 days, aiming to ease the process to get approval to enter Thailand. The entry requirements for international travellers still require some hoops, but the government hopes this streamlining will help welcome back much-needed tourism to the country. The website for the Thailand Pass has been created at tp.consular.go.th but it is…
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Control measures set to reduce pollution in Bangkok from vehicle emissions
To tackle the seasonal haze in Bangkok, Thai officials are coming up with ways to reduce pollution from car and truck exhaust. Road checkpoints will be set up to look out for vehicles emitting clouds of black smoke and drivers of vehicles emitting exhaust that exceeds legal limits will face a 5,000 baht fine. According to the National News Bureau…
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Private sector expresses fear over Covid surge if alcohol ban lifted in Bangkok
Some members of the private sector have expressed concern about a spike in Bangkok’s infections if the alcohol ban is lifted from December, as planned. According to a Bangkok Post report, the TAT is expecting 300,000 visitors to Bangkok during the last 2 months of the year. This has prompted some to voice concern about the Covid-19 risks, particularly if…
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Tourism operators urge government to agree travel bubbles
Thailand’s tourism sector is urging the government to agree travel bubbles with other countries, to ensure quarantine-free travel in both directions. Suthiphong Pheunphiphop from the Thai Travel Agents Association would like to see reciprocal arrangements in place once Thailand re-opens to 46 countries from November 1. According to a Bangkok Post report, he says such an agreement would mean Thai…
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Alcohol ban predicted to damage Thailand’s reopening, reputation
With Thailand’s November 1 reopening fast approaching, Thai businesses are calling on the government to quickly lift all the restrictions on alcohol sales in the country. They advise that the nightlife that millions flocked to Thailand for before the Covid-19 pandemic, is being destroyed by the long-term closures. Furthermore, they warn that reopening without any nightlife will discourage people from…
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Woman who cut safety rope of workers offers feeble excuse
People have been shocked with the continuing story of workers doing repairs on the outside of a condo building in Nonthaburi on October 12 when their safety ropes were cut, leaving them dangling 26 floors above the street below until they were luckily rescued. Now the woman who stands accused of cutting the rope of the workers has allegedly confessed…
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Legal proceedings expected this week for “Joe Ferrari” death in custody case
Officers from the Crime Suppression Division have completed their investigation into the former police chief known as “Joe Ferrari” who is accused of suffocating a suspect to death while demanding a 2 million baht bribe. Nation Thailand reports that prosecutors will launch legal proceedings this week against the station chief of rural province Nakhon Sawan and six of his subordinates.…
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Truck stopped in Chiang Mai with methamphetamine and heroin
A driver was arrested at a military checkpoint in Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai with a truck full of heroin and crystal methamphetamine pills. The Isuzu pickup truck was stopped and searched and found to be carrying over 1.2 million meth pills as well as about 8.75 kilogrammes of heroin. At a press conference today, the commander of the…
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Police arrest British man in Koh Samui for marijuana
A British man on Koh Samui was arrested by immigration police for illegal possession and use of marijuana, according to the provincial immigration police chief. Police say that 32 year old Paul Mathew Kennedy was arrested on Monday at his home in Moo 5 in tambon Bophut. Immigration police say an informant tipped them off to Kennedy, accusing him of…
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Used car market set for further growth following Covid-19 pandemic
While local industries have broadly suffered in the wake of the Covid pandemic, apparently the used car market in Thailand has been doing fairly well. According to the Bangkok Post, the Association of Used Cars says the pandemic has contributed to strong market growth. With commuters fearful of catching the virus on public transport, many have decided to buy a…
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Health Ministry says Delta Plus variant won’t stop Thailand re-opening on schedule
The Health Ministry says the discovery of the new Delta Plus variant in Thailand will not affect the country’s November 1 re-opening. Sathit Pitutecha, deputy public health minister, says the mutation has not been categorised as a variant of concern. “Because viruses mutate all the time, only a mutation that causes severe illness and makes the virus spread easier or…
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Tourism Ministry to invite K-pop megastar to perform at Phuket NYE celebration
Thai-born K-pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban, from the band Blackpink, is being invited to perform during New Year celebrations on the southern island of Phuket. The cost won’t be cheap, but the government is defending the move. Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says the superstar’s presence will help promote Thailand’s re-opening to the world. “The main key reason for bringing global…
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Chulalongkorn students drop royal parade on grounds it promotes “authoritarianism”
The Student Union of Chulalongkorn University has controversially ditched its tradition of holding a royal parade ahead of its annual football match with Thammasat University. The decision to scrap the Phra Kiew parade, which students say promotes authoritarianism and inequality, has sparked fierce debate between Thailand’s progressive thinkers and its traditional conservatives. The Chulalongkorn student body has issued a statement…
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Thai PM defends plan to spend 100 million baht on New Year’s Eve celebrities
The Thai PM is standing firm amid fierce criticism of a plan to spend 100 million baht on 2 global singing stars for New Year’s Eve festivities in Phuket. Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended the government’s plan to spend around US$3 million dollars to secure Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, and Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, from the K-pop band, Blackpink. The Bangkok Post…
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Bangkok and surrounding provinces warned to prepare for dust pollution
Now’s a good time to shore up your collection of PM2.5 masks and make sure your air purifier is running smoothly, with dust pollution forecast to hit Bangkok and its surrounding provinces from the end of October. According to a Thai PBS World report, weather conditions – namely the arrival of high atmospheric pressure – will be ripe for the…
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Foreign airlines give up 80% of their slots at Thailand’s airports amid uncertainty of next 5 months
The managing director of Airports of Thailand says international carriers have returned around 80% of their slots at Thailand’s airports. Nitinai Sirisamatthakarn says around 80% of slots between October 31 and March 26 next year have been returned, indicating that airlines are uncertain about any imminent recovery in the aviation sector. Airport slots are the landing and take-off permissions that…
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Big vaccination push in Chiang Mai in bid to combat Covid-19 surge
The president of the Tourism Council of Chiang Mai is hoping a ramp-up of vaccination efforts will help combat a surge in Covid-19. Punlop Saejew says health officials are pulling out all the stops in a bid to get the northern province ready for the November 1 re-opening. “The current clusters have affected local confidence towards re-opening. Everyone is working…
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Government under pressure to lift alcohol ban, allow nightlife to resume
As Thailand prepares to waive quarantine for vaccinated tourists from low-risk countries, the government is coming under pressure to ease some Covid-19 restrictions. In particular, the Bangkok Post reports on calls to allow restaurants to sell alcohol and for nightlife to resume. Countless bars and clubs remain shuttered, with many operators questioning how Thailand’s re-opening can succeed under such conditions.…
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Bank of Thailand plans real-world test of digital currency in 2022
The Bank of Thailand recently announced plans to do some real-world testing of digital currency in the near future as the popularity of cryptocurrency continues to grow. They plan to test their Central Bank Digital Currency in a real-world environment sometime in the second quarter of 2022. The BOT has been studying the CBDC since 2018 and is aware that…
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Hua Hin calls for delay in reopening amid Covid-19 infections
Prachuap Khiri Khan, the Western province that is home to tourist magnet Hua Hin, may not be ready for reopening in just over a week. Amid spiking Covid-19 infections, some officials in Hua Hin are calling for a delay, pushing back reopening for the town until December. The province had 240 infections in today’s report, half as many as the…
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