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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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Phuket relaxes checkpoint requirements to help tourists and health officials
Phuket is looking to bring in more domestic tourists and reduce the workload for healthcare officials who have to screen visitors, by reworking their health surveillance measures, says the provincial office. The measures are focused on the Chatchai checkpoint. Yesterday, Provincial governor Narong Woonciew announced that over 30,000 people have visited Phuket via the Sandbox programme that was launched 2…
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Phuket Covid-19: 2 deaths, 4 Sandbox infections, 10k total cases
In the last 24 hours, the Phuket Sandbox uncovered 4 new infections, the same as yesterday, and 2 people have died of Covid-19 in Phuket, bringing the total this week to 22 deaths. Today brought 219 new infections, the lowest since September 9, pushing the total infections in the third wave of Covid-19 starting the beginning of April over 10000…
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Facebook page that claims to sell dog meat met with scorn on social media
A business claiming to sell dog meat on Facebook was met with disapproval on social media this week. Dog lovers, in particular, were not keen on the idea. The Facebook page “Nuea Ma Tae Sakon Nakhon by Wittaya”, or: The real dog meats of Sakon Nakhon by Wittaya was created this week. The page says they have an expansive menu…
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Thailand welcomes its first AI influencer, “AI Ailynn”
Thailand is jumping into the influencer marketing game SkyNet style, with the introduction of AI Ailynn, a metaverse human designed by SIA Bangkok, which styles itself a “virtual influencer agency”. AI Ailynn, their first artificial intelligence influencer will chat with users, pose for pictures, and influence people to buy things. The company’s website describes AI Ailynn as a 21 year…
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Sunday Covid update: 125 deaths and 12,353 new cases
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,353 new Covid-19 cases and 125 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,532,775 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 14,305 recoveries. There are now 122,463 patients in…
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India: Why medical students are taking their own lives
At what is meant to be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressured to take up medicine as a career. I…
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Switzerland’s same-sex marriage referendum explained
Switzerland is one of the last nations in Western Europe to ban same-sex marriage. That could change on Sundaywhen voters decide if they should extend gay and lesbian couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The Swiss parliament alreadylegalized marriage for all last December, but a group of conservative Christian parties pushed for the decision to be revised in…
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Record-breaking 1 million Covid-19 vaccines given yesterday
Thailand set a domestic record yesterday with more than one million Covid-19 vaccines administered in one day. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha thanked the public and everyone involved in making yesterday Thailand’s most successful vaccination day and expressed confidence that Thailand will reach its inoculation goals by the end of 2021. The massive campaign of 1 million vaccines was launched as a…
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Abusive Kanchanaburi temple rehab centre ordered to close.
Following explosive reports of abuse, extortion, and squalor in a drug rehab centre in a temple in Kanchanaburi, the Department of Medical Services ordered the temple be shut down immediately. The Moo 10 village headman in Dan Makhamtia district received an urgent notice Thursday night instructing an immediate closure of the Wat Tha Phu Rat Bamrung facility. The Narcotic Drugs…
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Phuket begins new subdermal injection method for vaccines
Phuket has become the first province in Thailand to implement a new injection method of administering a third Covid-19 booster vaccine under the skin instead of into the muscle. Staff at the Indoor Sports Stadium at Saphan Hin began using the new vaccination method for the first time yesterday. The Ministry of Public Health recently approved the new method following…
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Phuket Covid-19: 5 new deaths and 4 new Sandbox infections
In the last 24 hours, the Phuket Sandbox uncovered 4 new infections and 5 people have died of Covid-19 in Phuket, bringing the total this week to 21 deaths. Today brought 225 new infections, and with 2,053 of the 2,418 hospital beds in Phuket full, hospital occupation rates have climbed once again to just under 85% after falling for the…
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Saturday Covid-19 Afternoon Update: full provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration update today reported 11,975 new Covid-19 infections in Thailand along with 127 deaths, both lower than yesterday. Covid-19 data was relatively good over the last 24 hours as total patients in medical care (124,540), patients in ICUs (3,323), patients on ventilators (729), suspected infections by ATK test (2370), and infections in prisons (93) have…
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Transgender who fled to Thailand faces extradition to Malaysia
The future of a transgender Malaysian businesswoman hangs in the balance after she was arrested for illegally entering Thailand while fleeing prosecution under Islamic law in Malaysia. Nur Sajet fled from Malaysia where she faces charges of up to three years in prison and a fine for dressing as a woman in 2018 at a religious event. The transgender cosmetics…
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Saturday Covid-19 Update: 11,975 infections, 127 deaths
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 11,975 new Covid-19 infections in Thailand along with 127 deaths, both lower than yesterday. Covid-19 data was relatively good over the last 24 hours as total patients in medical care (124,540), patients in ICUs (3,323), patients on ventilators (729), suspected infections by ATK test (2370), and infections in prisons (93) have all fallen…
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Libya: Will elections finally bring healing?
Throughout the year, national and international hopes have been pinned to the date of the Libyan national elections on December 24. However, exactly three months prior to this election date, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly fractured. This week, the Tobruk-based lower chamber of the Libyan parliament, also called the House of Representatives, withdrew its support for the…
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UN General Assembly: Africa’s leaders push for unity
World leaders are delivering their speeches at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York. In the past, Africans have mainly ignored this event but this year appears to be different. DW has the highlights of what several African nations brought to the global arena. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan makes debut Making her maiden appearance at the UN General…
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Are the US and China tiptoeing towards an Indo-Pacific Cold War?
The new security partnership between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, dubbed “AUKUS,” has made waves from Asia to Europe. Beijing called the partnership “highly irresponsible” and indicative of a Cold War-style “arms race.” Washington’s European allies received AUKUS as a surprise and a snub. France was especially furious, as the agreement meant scrapping a multibillion-dollar, diesel-electric submarine deal…
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India: Why many medical students are taking their own lives
In what should be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressurized to take up medicine as a career. I don’t think…
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German election: Pakistani-origin female politician eyes Bundestag seat
Misbah Khan, a Green party candidate for the German federal parliament, talks to DW about her journey in German politics as a young female politician with a migration background. SOURCE: DW News
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Covid-19 UPDATE: Provincial totals, vaccinations and more
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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UN General Assembly: Germany struggles to define its place in the world
It’s morning at the German mission to the United Nations and diplomats are buzzing around the lobby, getting set for one of the many “side events” that flank the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Germany is hosting a meeting on the Libyan peace process, an attempt to keep the country on track to holding democratic elections for the first time ever…
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Contrary to Anutin, US says delivery of vaccines awaits Thailand
In a meeting with Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, founder of the new Thai Sang Thai Party, US Senator Tammy Duckworth stated that she is pushing for more vaccine donations from the US to Thailand, but that Thailand has yet to collect 1 million Pfizer vaccines waiting for them now. The conversation took place in Washington DC on Wednesday. Duckworth was born in Thailand and…
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Tackling malnutrition in Ghana
Nurses in Pelungu, eastern Ghana teach pregnant mothers how to cook food to retain maximum nutrition. Malnutrition and anemia are prevalent among rural Ghanaians despite an abundance of fresh food. SOURCE: DW News
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CCSA approves reopening delay, state of emergency extension
The state of emergency in Thailand has been extended and the reopening of the country postpone following approval by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The CCSA subcommittee met yesterday to approve the extension proposal and discuss reopening. Chairman of the subcommittee National Security Council Secretary-General Natthapon Nakpanich approved the proposal that keeps Thailand in a state of emergency and…
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Phuket Covid-19: 3 new deaths, 322 released from medical care
Phuket had 228 new infections and 3 new Covid-19 deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 64 since the start of the third wave of the pandemic in Thailand, with 16 of those deaths occurring over the last week and 44 of them happening in the month of September. The death toll stood at 20 as this month began, and has…
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Malaysia considers further re-opening to domestic tourism
Malaysia’s tourism minister says the re-opening of inter-state travel is now a high priority as the country seeks to reboot domestic tourism. Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri says other islands are hopeful they will soon be able to follow Langkawi, which re-opened for vaccinated domestic tourists on September 16. According to a TTR Weekly report, the tourism ministry is considering re-opening…
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Weather warning issued as tropical storm Dianmu approaches
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning for the North, Northeast, East and Central regions, as it monitors tropical storm Dianmu, which is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression. The TMD says the storm made landfall over the central Vietnamese province of Quang this morning and is about 260 kilometres southeast of Amnat Charoen province, in north-east…
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Education ministry to accelerate vaccination of over 200,000 teachers
All vocational and secondary school students should be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the vaccination of 210,000 teachers is being accelerated ahead of schools re-opening. So says Suphat Champatong from the Education Ministry, adding that the government has taken delivery of 3 vaccine types – viral vector, live attenuated, and inactivated. In a Bangkok Post report, Suphat says the…
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Tourism operators slam government as re-opening postponed to November
Tourism operators have expressed frustration as Thailand’s re-opening is pushed back a month, primarily due to inadequate vaccination levels. The re-opening of Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, and Phetchaburi has been postponed from October 1 to November 1. According to a Bangkok Post report, this is the third time the re-opening of Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Hua Hin…
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Friday Covid Update: 12,697 new cases and 132 deaths
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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