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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 Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Can Koh Pha Ngan’s Full Moon Party recover from Covid-19 hiatus?
After a year long hiatus, can Thailand’s world-famous Full Moon Party recover, or will it evolve in the post-Covid-19 era? Before April last year, Haad Rin Beach on Koh Pha Ngan was invaded each full moon by backpackers and partygoers. The beach hummed to the thump, thump of the music and the buckets of exotic cocktails (and plenty of other…
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64 protesters arrested as Government House protest camp cleared
64 protesters were taken into custody as police cleared the sites of a Government House demonstration camp early this morning. The site, located at Phra Ram 5 by the Khlong Phadung Krungkasem canal near the Government House, was raided at 6am by 4 battalions of the police’s Protection and Crowd Control Division. The protesters, many still asleep at the time,…
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More than 100 Burmese citizens killed in the past 24 hours – Myanmar military defies international demands
The reported killing of protesters and Burmese citizens by Myanmar’s Tatmadaw of over 100 people in the past 24 hours, makes Saturday, March 27 the single deadliest day since February 1 coup. The number of Burmese civilians reported killed since the coup has reached 440 people. On the BBC, more than 90 deaths were confirmed by the Assistance Association for…
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Thailand aims for 30 million vaccines by August
Thailand is aiming for 30 million vaccines throughout the country by August in a new plan announced by the Public Health Ministry. The vaccinations will take place across all 77 provinces (76 plus Bangkok) in a progressive rollout. 100,000 people have received injections already in the national vaccination schedule, with 300,000 more set to be vaccinated in the next phase…
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Crude oil imports to Thailand at lowest level since 2015
Crude oil imports to Thailand were down in 2020 to the lowest level since 2015, according to data from Thailand’s energy department. Total imports fell 19,000 barrels per day from 2019 figures, down to 837,000 barrels. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, domestic production also dropped along with the reduction in oil importing. Thai refineries decreased their production to 1 million…
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A guide to being respectful when visiting a Buddhist temple in Thailand
Not all tourists do their research before going to a temple. Some take photos with Buddha statues in a way that is disrespectful to some Thais. Some don’t dress appropriately. A security guard at the popular Wat Arun in Bangkok would blow a whistle at many tourists, telling them to cover their shoulders and knees. Here’s a guide on how…
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All about Muay Thai, Thailand’s national sport
Muay Thai or Thai Boxing is Thailand’s cultural martial art and national sport. The origins of Muay Thai date back hundreds of years ago as modern-day Thai people needed a strong form of close-combat that used the entire body as a weapon to fight off those in neighbouring countries who were constantly trying to invade Siam, the former name of present…
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16 year old Thai may be jailed in alleged lèse-majesté case
A 16 year old Thai teenager may be jailed for alleged defamation against the Thai monarchy at a pro-democracy protest last Wednesday by wearing a crop-top with an anti-monarchy slogan written on his stomach. The teen is being charged under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, informally called “Section 112”, the section that covers defaming, insulting or threatening members of the Thai royal…
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Phuket to open on July 1 – first in Thailand
by Andrew J. Wood In a move largely expected after intense lobbying from the huge Travel and Tourism industry here in Thailand, the government approved the waiving of quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors arriving on Phuket from July 1, the first significant reopening for the popular tourism destination. An economic panel chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday approved the proposal…
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At least 16 shot and killed by Myanmar military on Armed Forces Day
At least 16 people are dead after Myanmar’s military fired shots at protesters today despite it being Armed Forces Day. Despite widespread condemnation, the Burmese junta leader issued a statement that the military will “continue to protect its people and strive for democracy”. The protesters seemed to defy the military’s warnings that they could be shot in the head and…
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Bangkok’s Chatuchak weekend market opening weekdays
Chatuchak weekend market, known locally as JJ, is scheduled to open 6 days a week from next month in an effort to make up for losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions. The iconic market in Bangkok saw a sharp decline in even local Thai customers after the economic slump caused by borders closing during the pandemic. The…
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Thai man dies after motorbike hits tree in Phuket
A Thai man has died after over shooting a curb and hitting a tree in Phuket Town last night. 36 year old Narongchai Samat, from Phang Nga, became the 23rd person to die on Phuket roads this year. Phuket City Police were called around 10:15pm last night, to the scene of the accident, which was near the Phuket office of…
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5 other provinces adopting Phuket’s sandbox reopening model
5 other Thai provinces will be adopting Phuket’s sandbox model between the months of October and December, with a full reopening of Thailand, set to take place in January 2022. The Tourism Authority of Thailand governor says the plan to reopen the tourism provinces will need local residents’ support and a detailed map of where tourists would be allowed to…
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UPDATE: Phuket’s tourism ‘sandbox’ plan gets approved by CESA
Phuket’s tourism sandbox plan has been approved, as of today, by The Centre for Economic Situation Administration. The meeting was chaired by the Thai PM. The scheme, which would allow vaccinated tourists to skip quarantine starting July 1, still needs to be discussed between the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the CCSA, and the Phuket governor before becoming official. Tourists who…
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Man shot after crashing into police cars and firing shots at officers in Chon Buri
A 32 year old man was shot and severely wounded after crashing into police carsand firing shots at officers at a roadblock in Chon Buri. Anuphap ‘Namlai’ Maksap was sent to a local hospital with a police escort. Officers say they received a tip about someone carrying drugs. 40 year old Wanchalerm Boontam, who was driving the car, claims Namlai…
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Thailand News Today | More vaccine options for Thailand, the world’s oldest cat? | March 26
Click HERE to watch Friday’s Thailand News Today program, Thailand has reported its first death of a Covid vaccine patient. An investigation has been launched by the Public Health Ministry, but health officials suspect the death is not related to the vaccine and that the death is from natural causes. 10 days after being injected with the vaccine, a 60…
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Cannabis may ease lung inflammation from Covid-19, study
Cannabis may help ease and reduce lung inflammation for Covid-19 patients, according to a recent study. Researchers in the study claim the non-psychoactive component of cannabis, cannabinol, or CBD, has anti-inflammatory properties. More research should be done on how CBD and treating severe lung inflammation from the coronavirus, according to researchers from University of Nebraska and the Texas Biomedical Research…
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134 new Covid cases, 6 imported- Covid-19 Update
Thailand is reporting 134 new cases of Covid-19 today, raising the total number to 28,577 with 0 new deaths. 128 of the newly reported cases are locally-acquired, while 6 are imported. Bangkok reported the largest number of cases at 98, with 82 being found through pro-active testing and 16 being found amongst those in hospitals. Samut Sakhon, the centre of…
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Thais seek lottery tickets with numbers matching the royal family’s license plate
As His Majesty King and Her Majesty The Queen drove down to the Suphan Buri for a ceremony, many kept note of the license plate number of the royal family’s Rolls Royce, 1992, hoping to find a ticket with the same numbers before the next Thai government lottery on April 1. On The Thaiger’s Thai-language site, a story on the…
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Vaccinated visitors still required to undergo quarantine for 10 days from April 1
Despite shortening the required quarantine time for visitors to Thailand, those who are vaccinated won’t be able to skip quarantine just yet. Recently, the Thai government shortened quarantine times from 14 days to 10 starting April 1, but have not announced when or it vaccinated tourists will be able to forego quarantine altogether. The move to shorten quarantine was to…
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Bangkok’s famous airplane graveyard catches fire
Bangkok’s famous “Airplane Graveyard” caught fire yesterday evening. Firefighters believe blaze first started in dry grass nearby before spreading to one of the decommissioned planes. People living nearby reported thick black smoke and strong chemical smells coming from the junkyard, which is home to an abandoned Boeing 747 plane and 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft. Fire crews were called at 9pm and…
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Thailand’s richest man buys Pattaya hotel, expects tourism will rebound
Thailand’s richest man is expects tourism will rebound quickly. He’s so confident, that he’s now investing in hotels, including a hotel in Pattaya. Asset World Corp., the property arm of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Group, purchased a Pattaya hotel this month. The company is now searching for more properties. With the drastic slowdown of international travel over the past…
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Hundreds of Burmese refugees flee to Thailand, risking arrest and deportation
Hundreds of Burmese refugees are fleeing to Thailand in a risky bid to escape the Myanmar army, which seized government in a coup de etat on February 1. The Royal Thai Army has set up temporary camps to deal with the massive influx of immigrants, but since Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the immigrants are…
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TAT New York office to host a virtual Songkran from Chiang Mai
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is set to host a virtual Songkran celebration from Chiang Mai next month in its New York office to celebrate the Thai New Year. “Spring into Songkran Splendours” will be broadcast live from Chiang Mai and is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8 from 8pm-9pm Eastern Standard Time. Free registration is available online by following this…
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Japan kicks off Olympic torch relay, Thailand launches “Flag of Nation” relay
Japan has officially kicked off its countdown to the postponed 2020 Olympic Games with a torch-lighting ceremony in the prefecture of Fukushima yesterday. The lighting of the torch comes 10 years after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors in the prefecture. The Japanese women’s football team, winners of the 2011 World Cup, started the…
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Thai quarantine confusion – do ASQ hotels know about April 1 changes?
A gentleman from Sacramento, California, 43 years old, wanted to come to Thailand for Songkran, and then some further exploration. But, with all the changes announced by the government, the restrictions imposed recently for Songkran celebrations, and the hotels still advertising for 14 day quarantines, he’s found it a complete minefield. His main complaint – people ‘on the ground’ don’t…
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Senior official arrested in north-east Thailand on 2 million baht bribery charges
A senior Thai official in the north-eastern province of Mukdahan has been arrested, along with his assistant, on bribery charges. The provincial chief of the natural resources and environment office, Suradet Akkarach, and Ms Pan Saengviroon, are accused of receiving 2 million baht for facilitating the return of confiscated Siamese Rosewood timber to a merchant from Laos. The timber, housed…
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Oldest living cat in the world said to be 34 year old cat in Thailand
A 34 year old Siamese cat in Chanthaburi is the oldest living cat in the world, many claim. The cat, known as “Great Grandmother Wad,” is still very strong, but has trouble walking and her memory isn’t the best, her owner says. She’s a bit senile. Thai media spoke to 57 year old Wanna Kodkarika, the cat’s owner, also known…
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Thailand approves Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine
The Food & Drug Administration have approved Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, making the single-dose jab the third vaccine approved for use in the Kingdom. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul took to social media to announce the go-ahead from the FDA. Thailand is currently using China’s Sinovac vaccine and the AstraZeneca jab in its national rollout, but…
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Bangkok police vow to press charges against activists from Wednesday rally
Bangkok’s deputy police chief, Piya Tavichai, says 11 activists who addressed participants at a rally at Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday will be charged. He says his officers have already identified 10 of the protest leaders and also plan to charge other participants who used loudspeakers or held up banners with insulting messages about the monarchy. Piya adds that any media…
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