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This Christmas, give the gift of health: essential options for expats in Thailand
The holiday season is here, bringing warmth, joy, and a chance to reflect on the year gone by. As an expat in Thailand, this Christmas is a great time to invest in something that truly matters: health. Whether for you...
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No confirmed date for resumption of Test & Go as Omicron infections spread
The government currently has no plans to resume the Test & Go scheme, which allows vaccinated travellers from approved countries to enter Thailand with minimal quarantine. Travellers who have already been approved for the Thailand Pass through Test & Go must enter the country by January 10. After that, the only way in will be through the sandbox scheme, currently…
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UPDATE: Talk of Test & Go cutoff date, approved travellers can’t reschedule flights
UPDATE: At the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting this morning, a spokesperson for the Thai PM noted that Prayut Chan-o-cha supports extending the current suspension of the Test & Go program. The PM also indicated support for a January 10 sunset date for currently approved Thailand Pass applications – those approved before December 21 and for those applications made before…
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Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of 4 counts of fraud in landmark ‘tech start up’ case
“Fake it until you make it” may not be a popular slogan anymore for start ups and Silicon Valley’s T-Shirt brigade after the landmark case against Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes. Today she was found guilty of 4 counts of fraud – 1 of conspiracy to defraud investors, and 3 counts of wire fraud against investors. The jury was unable to…
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Former Thai boxer stabbed to death outside Pattaya night market
A 54 year old former Thai boxer was killed and two others were injured after a fight broke out between rival groups outside Pattaya’s popular Tree Town Nightmarket on Saturday night. One of the three suspects has been arrested, but he says he wasn’t involved and attempted to break up the fight. Narawit Pongsoungnoen, known as Ae Marine who competed…
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Students suffer minor injuries after apparent wild elephant attack on Doi Mon Jong trail
A popular trail in the Doi Mon Jong ranges has been closed indefinitely after a female student was attacked by at least 2 wild elephants. The trail is about 4 hours out of Chiang Mai and reaches one of the ten highest peaks in Thailand. The chief of the Omkoi wildlife sanctuary, Navee Silsuphakul, says that the trail, opened for…
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PM says government will make tackling household debt a priority in 2022
The Thai PM has used his New Year address on Facebook to reassure citizens that 2022 will be the year the government tackles household debt. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the government will focus on accelerating economic recovery and dealing with household debt in 2022. According to a Bangkok Post report, he acknowledges the economic hardships caused by the pandemic and…
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PM Prayut approves panel to evaluate Section 112 cases
While many protest and fight for repeal or reform of Thailand’s harsh lèse majesté laws – also known as Section 112 – PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has agreed to a plan proposed by the pro-monarchy KLA Party to convene a panel to review all complaints filed before proceeding with charges. The panel will be made up of experts who would evaluate…
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POLL: Chadchart still the lead candidate for Bangkok Governor
In the most recent NIDA Poll, Chadchart Sittipunt still holds a commanding lead in the candidate field for the Bangkok Governor election coming up later this year. Chadchart has been favoured in the election for months and is running as an independent having served previously in the government of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the role of Minister of…
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7 Dangerous Days: 226 road deaths, 1915 accidents in 4 days
On the fourth day of what the Road Safety Directing Centre of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has labelled the Seven Dangerous Days, 73 people lost their lives in 574 road accidents, up slightly from yesterday. A total of 226 people have died on the roads of Thailand since December 30 with deaths being reported now in 42…
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Maya Bay reopens | VIDEOS
Thailand’s Maya Bay is now open to tourists and visitors after being officially relaunched on new year’s day. Visitors to Koh Phi Phi Leh will have to apply in advance and numbers will be capped at 4,125 visits per day and tourist numbers cannot exceed 375 people at one time. But visits will be limited to 1 hour and no…
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555 traffic accidents and 65 road deaths on New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve was the third day of the yearly Seven Dangerous Days, where the Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation tracks traffic accidents and deaths, as holiday travel create a sharp increase in traffic incidents. And yesterday saw 555 traffic accidents that resulted in 535 injuries and 65 road deaths. The Road Accidents Prevention and Reduction Centre reported…
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“Thailand Trusted Destination” certification aimed at luring tourists
“Thailand Trusted Destination” is the latest campaign in a long line of schemes government authorities have launched as they attempt to lure international travellers back to Thailand, even amid Omicron uncertainty. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports launched the campaign in a bid to increase the standards of tourism in the country. The project aims to build confidence in travellers…
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Day 2 of 7 Dangerous Days sees 44 deaths, 426 road injuries
On Day 2 of the Seven Dangerous Days road safety campaign, there have been a total of 85 deaths in 784 accidents. The first day saw 41 deaths and 360 injuries, and Thursday recorded 44 deaths and 426 injuries. While the numbers are higher than other periods throughout the year, accidents and injuries are down 21.5% over the same dates…
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Tourists flock to Koh Phangan for New Year’s beach party
Expats and tourists are flocking to Koh Phangan for the legendary Full Moon Countdown New Year’s party on Haad Rin Beach, packing ferries and overwhelming some in the tourism industry after a quiet two years due to the pandemic. While many hostels and hotels remain shuttered, those that are open are reporting to be sold out and in some cases…
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1 killed in shootout between students driving by a petrol station
A brawl involving gunfire between vocational students in Bangkok ended in one Thai person being killed and two more people being injured. The melee took place in the Bang Khun Thian district of the capital city, as 2 groups of students clashed in what appeared to be a shootout on the back of motorbikes that passed in front of a…
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Buckle-up for new year flight turbulence
New Year’s Eve mirrors Christmas Eve this year, and the days between, with world travel being disrupted – from cruises to flights, and everything in between. More than 8,000 flights have been cancelled since Christmas Eve in the US, alone. What was to have been the busiest period for travel for US citizens since the start of the pandemic, airline…
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7 Dangerous Days begins with 39 deaths, 362 accidents on Thai roads
On the first day of the yearly Seven Dangerous Days, where the Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation tracks traffic accidents and deaths, 39 people were killed on the roads plus 362 people were injured and as many accidents on Wednesday. The department tracks the statistics for 7 days from December 29 each year, as holiday travel create a…
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Cryptocurrency ban in China fuels Thailand’s crypto mining boom
China’s recent ban and crackdown on cryptocurrency has fuelled a cryptocurrency mining boom in Thailand as small investors quickly buy up the equipment that are now useless in China. In September, China’s central bank declared all digital currency trading and mining illegal. Some of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in the world relocated while many smaller miners are now selling…
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Russians the top demographic in Phuket, will likely remain so
Over the Christmas holiday, Russian tourists were the number 1 demographic in Phuket, and with the tightening restrictions on entry to Thailand except for the Phuket Sandbox, that trend is expected to continue into the New Year holiday and beyond. Before the whole Covid pandemic kicked off, pre-2019, Russians were already a major tourism force in Phuket. Now, after being…
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Prachuap Khiri Khan, Koh Samui beaches have the cleanest water
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has just completed their 2021 Environmental Quality Audit of Thailand, and Prachuap Khiri Khan and Koh Samui dominated the list of cleanest sea water beaches. All top 5 beaches with the cleanest sea water were in the Gulf of Thailand. The best seawater was one of 4 categories assessed by the study, which…
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Wife of tycoon jailed for killing protected wildlife pleads for him to be hospitalised
The wife of the former head of Italian-Thai Development has pleaded with authorities to transfer him out of prison and into hospital. Earlier this month, Premchai Karnasuta was jailed for 3 years and 3 months for hunting and killing protected wildlife in the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary. The offences took place nearly 4 years ago. The Bangkok Post reports that…
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Truck with 4.2 million meth pills shot at police, killing one
In Chaing Mai, police attempting to pull over a pickup truck suspected of carrying drugs were met with gunfire that killed one officer. The shootout took place last night in the Fang district of Chiang Mai when a police team attempted to stop and search the pickup that was believed to be transporting a large drug shipment. A Fang district…
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DHS offers car travel tips for Covid-19 safety for New Year’s
A list of car travel tips has just been released by the Department of Health Services to encourage people to be conscientious of Covid-19 safety during the New Year’s holiday. The department put out the list as highly-transmissible Omicron variant infections spread across Thailand in an effort to get people to exercise caution against the virus, though some of the…
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100% Wear a Helmet campaign will have police lend a helmet to offenders
The “100% Wear a Helmet” campaign was intensified by Phuket Police with an event at Region 8 Police headquarters in Tha Chatchai aimed at increasing public awareness. The event was held on Monday in an attempt to push everyone in Phuket to wear motorbike helmets when driving, with helmets being handed out to students and motorbike taxi drivers as part…
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Pattaya hotel raided for gambling, 42 people arrested
A Pattaya hotel room was raided by police and 42 people now face charges for gambling, which is illegal in Thailand. Officers also seized tables, cards, and gambling chips with a total market value of roughly 500 million baht (the US$15 million). Firearms were seized from the dealers. Acting on a court warrant, police raided the Le Vernissage Hotel, a…
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Tourist Police launch “New Year New Normal 2022” campaign
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has a never-ending cavalcade of exciting new promotion plans to attract top travellers to the country. Now the Tourist Police Bureau is getting in on the act, launching “New Year New Normal 2022” focused on highlighting travel safety in Thailand. The plan will include more personnel on duty to assist any travellers in need, as…
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Israeli Covid-19 rule escapee facing charges, deportation
The Israeli man who broke Thai Covid law and left his SHA+ hotel in Bangkok before Covid-19 test results came back, is now back in Bangkok, in custody of Thong Lor Police and faces charges and deportation. The Israeli man, Ohad Baruch, was flown on the 9:40pm Bangkok Airways flight from Koh Samui Airport to Bangkok on Monday night after…
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Is the new Boeing 737 Max safe to fly? A new book makes you wonder.
The photo is of the new Singapore Airlines Boeing 737-8. Except it’s not really. It’s a Boeing 737 MAX, the most controversial engineering makeover of the past 20 years. Singapore Airlines just don’t want you to know that it’s a ‘MAX’ with all the safety baggage that monicker now carries. A new book is out “Flying Blind — The 737…
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Phangan’s Full Moon Party Countdown will go on but regulated
With New Year’s fast approaching and fears of Omicron hampering the all-out party festivities, Koh Phangan officials have put out a release through mostly Thai channels announcing the rules and restrictions for the infamous Full Moon Party New Year’s Countdown which typically drew 40,000 to 60,000 people before the Covid-19 pandemic. After an initial attempt at a Full Moon Party…
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TUI Nordic continue their European flights into Phuket
Yesterday it was reported that Europe’s largest travel firm TUI Nordic announced it had cancelled scheduled chartered flights to Phuket from December to April next year. The Thaiger has since been contacted by TUI Nordic to say that the information, originally published by The Nation, was incorrect. European travel giant TUI, with their headquarters in Sweden, have now confirmed that…
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