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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?
The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
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Global Media Forum highlights innovations after COVID disruption
The COVID-19 pandemic is shaping the start of this year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum (GMF), which opened on Monday with a hybrid launch event held partly on site at DW’s broadcasting center in Bonn, and partly online with guests appearing via video link. German Chancellor Angela Merkel began proceedings by addressing participants in the two-day event, which included delegates…
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Myanmar: Time running out for NGOs to avoid humanitarian catastrophe
Myanmar has been in a downward spiral since the military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in a coup on February 1. The economy has been battered and millions of people are falling into poverty. In Myanmar’s ethnic minority states, conflict between the military, known as the Tatmadaw, and armed rebel groups is quickly creating a refugee crisis. In Myanmar’s…
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Kashmir: Why are militants targeting Modi’s BJP leaders?
On June 2, anxiety and trepidation engulfed south Kashmir’s restive Tral town when militants shot dead a local leader of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Rakesh Pandita, 55, was murdered hours after Indian security forces had killed the brother of a slain militant, Muhammad Amin Malik, 38, inside a police station in Tral. Markets were shut…
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Burmese military media outlets say ethnic army killed 25 workers
Amid clashes with rebel fighters and ethnic troops backing the anti-coup movement in Myanmar, media outlets run by the Burmese junta says an ethnic army killed 25 construction workers after abducting 47 people last month. Photos of what appeared to be 25 dead bodies in a forest where published and broadcasted by the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which is…
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After Netanyahu era, Israel ready for change
A special session of Israel’s parliament approved the country’s new coalition government with a razor-thin majority on Sunday evening, with 60 Knesset members voting in favor of the new government, 59 lawmakers opposing and one abstention. After four elections and years of uncertainty, Israel now has a new government made up of a potentially fragile coalition of eight parties. Naftali…
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Missing fisherman’s body found in sea off Nakhon Si Thammarat
2 days ago a local fisherman went missing. Today, his body has been located floating in the ocean in the Khanom district, an area in the southern province Nakhon Si Thammarat. His family has positively identified the body as belonging to 57 year old Sang Tenphusa. They say he was an experienced angler. Reportedly, Sang had gone out fishing off…
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CCSA: We’re out of vaccines
Earlier today, the Thaiger reported that 25 vaccination sites have postponed scheduled vaccinations. And last week, the Thaiger reported that a Rural Doctor’s group alleged there weren’t enough vaccine doses to meet demand. The CCSA has now fessed up that there is a vaccine shortage. No vaccine deliveries are anticipated this week, either. Nattapon Nakpanich, who is in charge of…
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Ayutthaya hospital to test all staff for Covid after 18 test positive
18 staff members at a hospital in Ayutthaya have tested positive for Covid-19. Over the next couple of days, all 1,700 hospital staff members will undergo testing while those who were in close contact with the infected staff will be screened. The infected staff members, which include ambulance drivers and nurses, have been sent to another facility for treatment, according…
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Crime Suppression Division seizes dozens of illegal firearms in a series of raids
Thai law enforcement officers are cracking down on the illegal firearms trade, primarily on the online sales of guns. The Crime Suppression Division, or CSD, executed a series of raids this month, seizing dozens of illegal weapons and arresting several people on illegal weapons charges. The raids were initiated following the investigation into the online sales of firearms on the…
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Marijuana valued at 10 million baht seized in Nakhon Phanom, 2 arrested
Last night in Nakhon Phanom, a northeastern province close to the Laos border, a navy patrol arrested 2 men and seized 520 kilogrammes of compressed and dried marijuana. The men were travelling by pickup truck. The deputy commander of Nakhon Phanom Mekon Riverine Unit, Nathapat Suemongkol, says the truck was stopped by a patrol on the Phanom-Mukdahan road. He did…
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Monday Covid Update: 3,355 new cases, provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded 3,355 new Covid-19 cases today and 17 coronavirus-related fatalities, raising the total case count since the start of the pandemic last year to 199,264 confirmed infections and the virus-related death toll to 1,466. Thailand now has 39,854 active cases, a downward trend over the past week. The recent and most severe wave of Covid-19…
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Almost 100% of teachers and staff vaccinated in Bangkok
The Director of the Bureau of Education says that almost 100% of teachers and school staff have been vaccinated, in Bangkok. The Bureau says the remaining staff will be inoculated today. However, the 100% figure is only a reflection of public schools. Bangkok schools, however, will remain closed for a further 2 weeks. Students are set to continue learning online until then.…
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25 vaccination sites put on hold in Bangkok
This morning, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, announced that people who registered through the Thai Ruam Jai website and scheduled vaccination for tomorrow or later will have to wait to get vaccinated. All 25 vaccination sites that were not part of a hospital will be delayed. However, the BMA wants the public to know that they can be vaccinated. Once the…
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Ambulance crashes into a lightpole in Phuket
Early this morning, an ambulance crashed into a light pole and then a tree. The ambulance driver and two nurses sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was not carrying a patient at the time. The Phuket city police were called and they arrived at the scene around 1:30 am. Police and rescue workers (that weren’t in the ambulance) got to the…
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Southeast Asia sees highest tally of Covid-19 infections in a single day
Southeast Asia has recorded its highest number of Covid-19 infections in a single day, with 26,435 new cases reported yesterday. However, the death rate has lowered overall. Yesterday’s infections were an increase on Saturday’s 25,656 and the highest in 2 weeks. According to a Nation Thailand report, 387 additional deaths were reported yesterday, down from 426 the day before. ASEAN…
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Chiang Rai: man robs a bank that’s inside a Tesco Lotus
A masked man has reportedly robbed a Bangkok Bank that is inside Tesco Lotus. The bank teller says the robber took home 80,000 baht. The robbery happened in the northern province of Chiang Rai. The bank employees and customers have told police that a thin man, approximately 165 centimeters tall, clad in a black jacket, grey pants, a black hat,…
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Lockdown extended for another 2 weeks in Malaysia
The Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia, which was due to be lifted today, is being extended for another 2 weeks, until June 28. The decision follows a spike in infections, including 60 clusters linked to religious festivals. According to a TTR Weekly report, the extension has been confirmed by Senior Defence Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob. During the lockdown, economic activities may…
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Low immunity levels in some, despite 2 doses of AstraZeneca, Sinovac
A leading medical expert in Thailand has expressed concern that some people who’ve received both doses of either the AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccine are showing low levels of immunity to Covid-19. According to a Nation Thailand report, Thiravat Hemachudha from the Health Science Centre of Emerging Diseases at Chulalongkorn University says that, 3 or 4 weeks after inoculation, some people…
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Confusion, delayed appointments, and finger pointing: Thailand’s vaccine rollout in disarray
It seems it’s all turned into a bit of a shambles. Only a week after the government’s national vaccine rollout kicked off to great pomp and ceremony at Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station, it has already run into problems. The Bangkok Post reports that both public and private hospitals are postponing appointments, saying they haven’t been given enough vaccines. The…
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DW honors Nigerian reporter Tobore Ovuorie for defending the voiceless
Screams filled the dark corners of the high-security camp. The young women around Tobore Ovuorie scrambled to escape into the night. She was frozen from horror. Her clothes splattered with blood, and her eyes transfixed on the two bodiless heads that just tumbled to the ground. Everything turned black, her consciousness drifting from her body. When Ovuorie recounts her experience…
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Motorbike thieves arrested after a million baht of bikes stolen
This week Pattaya Police arrested a group of motorbike thieves that they say are responsible for about a million baht worth of stolen bikes. The gang were arrested at a condo in Jomtien on Thursday afternoon by the Pattaya City Police Department. The raid captured 3 suspects, all between the ages of 22 and 23. The trio were nabbed after…
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300 tourism businesses given SHA Plus certification in Phuket
Part of the much-debated Phuket Sandbox reopening is guests must stay in SHA Plus-certified hotels, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand just gave certification for more than 300 tourism-related businesses on the island. The Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration Plus Certificate was presented to the businesses yesterday, and those establishments will now display the SHA Plus logo, assuring international…
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Police warn child pornography is a serious matter after teacher caught downloading clips
Siriwat Deepor, deputy commander in chief of the Royal Thai Police, says police have arrested a teacher at a renowned school in Chiang Rai after the teacher downloaded hundreds of pornographic videos of children. They did not give the teacher’s name or the name of the school. The police allege the individual kept the videos for their own enjoyment and…
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Tropical storm Koguma brings heavy rain to North, Northeast
Tropical storm Koguma is heading towards the Northern and Northeastern region of Thailand and is expected to dump rain on the area over the next few days as it weakens. The storm was centred over the Tonkin Bay off the northern coast of Vietnam yesterday morning and has been heading moving west at about a 15 kilometre per hour. The…
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Despite rumours, PM and goverment not planning early election
Amid a scattered Covid-19 response and vaccine rollout, and plenty of political fingerpointing and whispers, government officials dismiss rumours that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will call an early special election. The rumours gained traction after the prime minister urged cabinet members to hasten their work as the administration had only 1 year left, when in fact the 4-year term ends in…
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Dmitry Gudkov: ‘We have a choice between exile and jaiI’
The Russian authorities are intensifying their pressure on opposition politicians and activists and the upcoming elections are going to be an “election without a choice,” according to former member of the State Duma Dmitry Gudkov, who was forced to leave Russia last week. On June 1, his dacha in the outskirts of Moscow was searched and he was detained for…
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Thai PM not happy with soccer gambling
Prayut Chan-o-cha, has voiced his concern that there has been an uptick in illegal gambling by Thai people throughout the UEFA European Soccer Championship (AKA Euro 2020). The PM told the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and “relevant agencies” to tighten the scrutiny of illegal gambling, with an emphasis on online gambling. He also asked…
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Doctors demand the government be more honest about Covid-19
The Rural Doctors Society wants the Thai government and the CCSA to be more upfront about vaccine availability and if there are enough doses to fulfill current vaccine appointments. The doctors released a statement yesterday that says there will be “chaos” this week due to more vaccination appointments being made than expected. They say this will lead to appointments being…
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Illegal casino operator accused of 4 charges including murder
A man who is alleged to have been running illegal casino operations is now facing indictment on 4 charges, including murder. The Crime Suppression Division has called for the charges to be filed against Somchai Jutikitdecha, the 56 year old suspect that goes by Longjoo Somchai. The CSD first arrested Longjoo back in February of 2020, accusing him of being…
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Survey shows lack of confidence in Government’s handling of vaccinations
Despite the mass vaccination campaign that has seen around 900,000 more vaccinations given, a lack of confidence in the government’s approach to Covid vaccinations still reigns. According to a new survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University (AKA the Suan Dusit Poll), over half of respondents had doubts that government could reach its stated goal of inoculating 50 million people…
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