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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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.

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    9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand

    Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...

  • Sunday Covid-19: Deaths below 100 for the 2nd day, 10,814 infections

    Sunday Covid-19: Deaths below 100 for the 2nd day, 10,814 infections

    Today, the CCSA reported 10,814 new Covid-19 infections and Coronavirus-related deaths remained below 100 for the second day in a row with 77 deaths. Since April 1, in the latest wave of the virus in Thailand, a total of 1,608,569 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been reported. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the CCSA has reported 11,894…

  • Students sleep in parks to protest rising rents in Turkey

    Students sleep in parks to protest rising rents in Turkey

    For 18 months, in-person classes were suspended in Turkey because of the pandemic. When universities opened their doors again, many students were in for a nasty surprise: Rents have become almost unaffordable. This is partly because of inflation and the corresponding price fluctuations, which have also affected the housing market. On top of this, Turkey’s government has not ensured that…

  • Mario Kleff sets a new standard for construction sites in Pattaya

    Mario Kleff sets a new standard for construction sites in Pattaya

    Majestic Residence on Phra Tamnak Hill in Pattaya hit the headlines over the summer of 2021 when architect Mario Kleff demolished two villas and started building a new one, utilising the finest in German engineering. The construction company Wandeegroup Asia, under the direction of CEO Mario Kleff, began work in June of this year. The Substructure work, consisting of 100+…

  • 3.68 million students registered to receive Pfizer vaccines

    3.68 million students registered to receive Pfizer vaccines

    Pfizer vaccines are ready to be administered beginning Monday to young people at schools and universities with 3.68 million students registered so far. The Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Education are working together the vaccinate 70% of high school and vocational school students by the end of October ahead of classroom learning recommencing in November. The ministries are…

  • Activists call on Facebook and Twitter to follow YouTube’s lead in blocking anti-vax content

    Activists call on Facebook and Twitter to follow YouTube’s lead in blocking anti-vax content

    Following YouTube’s blocking of all anti-vaccine content, and anti-vax-themed conspiracy channels, social media activists are now turning their attention to some of the other big platforms to follow YouTube’s lead. Twitter and Facebook are now targets to do more in stopping misinformation from spreading online. YouTube already had “misinformation” policies in place to prevent some of the more outrageous anti-vax…

  • Saturday Afternoon Covid-19 Update: Provincial Totals

    Saturday Afternoon Covid-19 Update: Provincial Totals

    Today, the CCSA reported 11,375 new Covid-19 infections across Thailand. Coronavirus-related deaths fell below 100 for the first time in months with 87 deaths. Since April 1, in the latest wave of the virus in Thailand, a total of 1,597,3741 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been reported. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the CCSA has reported 13,127…

  • UPDATE: American man arrested for allegedly raping a Thai masseuse in Khon Kaen

    UPDATE: American man arrested for allegedly raping a Thai masseuse in Khon Kaen

    UPDATE: Thai media reports that police have arrested a 37 year old American man who allegedly raped a Thai masseuse in Khon Kaen. Police arrested the man at a Bangkok condominium off Sukhumvit Road in the Nana area. In earlier reports in Thai media, police initially thought the suspect was from Australia. Original story… Police in the Isaan province Khon…

  • Thai baht to continue dropping against the USD

    Thai baht to continue dropping against the USD

    The Thai baht is forecast to droop to a 4-year low over the next trading week, and its largest monthly currency drop for over 20 years. The Baht’s challenges shadow US dollar gains over concerns about the US Fed’s (US Federal Reserve) ‘tapering’ plans as it reins in enthusiastic stimulus of the US economy. Thailand’s baht has been the region’s…

  • Phuket Sandbox revised to 7 days, more excursion freedom

    Phuket Sandbox revised to 7 days, more excursion freedom

    As restrictions are widely eased for entry into Thailand and the various Sandbox programs, the Phuket Sandbox has simplified, shortened, and streamlined as well. Beginning yesterday, Phuket Sandbox travellers arriving internationally will only be required to stay 7 days before being allowed to travel on to the rest of Thailand. An RT-PCR test will be given upon arrival and a…

  • Saturday Covid-19 Update: New infections, deaths

    Saturday Covid-19 Update: New infections, deaths

    Today, the CCSA reported 11,375 new Covid-19 infections. Coronavirus-related deaths fell below 100 for the first time in months with 87 deaths. Since April 1, in the latest wave of the virus in Thailand, a total of 1,597,3741 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been reported. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the CCSA has reported 13,127 recoveries, 654…

  • Crackdown on illegal firearms nets 300 guns, 51 arrests

    Crackdown on illegal firearms nets 300 guns, 51 arrests

    In a countrywide push to get illegal firearms off the streets of Thailand, police have announced that they made 51 arrests and seized over 300 guns. The campaign to crackdown on illegal guns was initiated in response to the recent surge in crimes across Thailand that have been committed using firearms. Police reported that, along with the 300 guns they…

  • Koh Samui Plus simplified: 7 days on Samui, Phangan or Tao

    Koh Samui Plus simplified: 7 days on Samui, Phangan or Tao

    As part of the widely expanded Sandbox programmes launched or revised yesterday, the Samui Plus Sandbox has simplified and diversified its rules as well. While previously the entry to Koh Samui and the nearby islands was a 14-day programme with the first few days in full quarantine and the first week staying only on Koh Samui, the new rules allow…

  • New eased rules for travellers entering Thailand enacted

    New eased rules for travellers entering Thailand enacted

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand released a slew of press releases yesterday declaring a broad revision to Sandbox and entry programs and making it easier for international travellers to enter Thailand. The two biggest revisions that just went into effect are the abolishment of an approved country list for travellers to arrive from, and shortening arrival quarantine times from 14…

  • The Gambia: The story of a Jammeh-era survivor

    The Gambia: The story of a Jammeh-era survivor

    When Awa Njie married her late husband, Don Faal, in February 1994, she could hardly imagine the cruel fate that would befall her young family at the hands of her country’s regime. The couple met in her hometown of Farafefeeni, about 120 kilometers (70 miles) north of the Gambia’s capital, Banjul. At the time, Faal was stationed at an army…

  • EU to launch ALMA work placement scheme for jobless youth

    EU to launch ALMA work placement scheme for jobless youth

    Carmen Quintana Gomez follows the same routine each day: wake up, breakfast, job search. “Everybody knows that they’re not going to have a job,” she said. “That’s how people think here.” For months now, the 25-year-old graduate from Spain’s capital, Madrid, has been out of formal education, training or employment — like around a quarter of Spaniards her age. She…

  • Thai woman rescued from near-drowning on Pattaya Beach

    Thai woman rescued from near-drowning on Pattaya Beach

    A 22-year old Thai woman was rescued by lifeguards yesterday early evening after nearly drowning in the waters of Pattaya Beach. The incident took place just before 5 pm yesterday with emergency responders receiving word of the near-drowning at 5 pm. The young woman said that she had been travelling alone and had gone to the beach. She waded into…

  • 11 million baht online scams see Thai woman, Nigerian man arrested

    11 million baht online scams see Thai woman, Nigerian man arrested

    Police in Phuket have arrested a Thai woman and a Nigerian man accused of bilking victims out of at least 11 million baht in online romance scams. The pair were taken into custody by officers from the Immigration Bureau and the Cherng Talay Police at a rented room located in Srisoonthorn, Thalang. Police only made public the arrest yesterday though…

  • Drought devastates northern Kenya | Thaiger

    Drought devastates northern Kenya

    Kenya’s arid northern counties of Garissa and Wajir face severe drought, with nomadic pastoralists already losing many domestic stock. Climate change and poor rainfall has been blamed. SOURCE: DW News

  • South Korea looks to Germany for pointers on overcoming reunification hurdles

    South Korea looks to Germany for pointers on overcoming reunification hurdles

    With just seven months left before he steps down as president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in and his government remain committed to their long-held dream of the two halves of the Korean Peninsula being reunited into a single nation. And with Germany one of the very few countries with experience in recent history of a similar amalgamation of two states,…

  • Burkinabe chef overcomes disability | Thaiger

    Burkinabe chef overcomes disability

    Edith broke her arm after a fall, aged 7. Doctors chose to amputate her arm to avoid infection. Now she runs her own restaurant in a bustling subrub of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. SOURCE: DW News

  • Nonthaburi protesters threw fermented fish at PM Prayut’s van

    Nonthaburi protesters threw fermented fish at PM Prayut’s van

    Yesterday’s visit to Nonthaburi may not have gone exactly as planned for PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as he was met by a horde of disapproving local residents including some protesters that threw smelly fermented fish at his van. The Prime Minister was greeted by both supporters and opponents as he came to inspect the flood wall along the Chao Phraya River.…

  • From peaceful protests to war: The evolution of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict

    From peaceful protests to war: The evolution of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict

    Over the past five years, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have rapidly morphed into a war zone. Lives have been lost, properties have been destroyed, and the humanitarian crisis continues to intensify. In its latest report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the impact on education: “Since the beginning of the crisis in 2016,…

  • AirAsia relaunching 9 routes including Phuket-Chiang Mai Oct 15

    AirAsia relaunching 9 routes including Phuket-Chiang Mai Oct 15

    AirAsia announced in a press release today that they will resume many domestic flight routes including from Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok around the country and a Phuket to Chiang Mai direct flight. The flights from Don Mueang will resume on October 15, while the Phuket — Chiang Mai route will recommence the next day. Last month AirAsia reinstated 11…

  • Tourism said to fuel Southeast Asia’s illegal wildlife trade

    Tourism said to fuel Southeast Asia’s illegal wildlife trade

    This article is written by Soraya Kishtwari and was originally published on China Dialogue under a Creative Commons licence. Tourist guides and information centres in Southeast Asia have been fuelling the illegal wildlife trade by facilitating consumption by tourists, several investigations show. Prior to Covid-19, shops trading wildlife items, from ivory bangles to tortoise shells, relied heavily on tourists, forming partnerships with travel…

  • Australian travel abroad coming soon with 7-day home quarantine

    Australian travel abroad coming soon with 7-day home quarantine

    A news release issued today says Australian citizens will soon be able to travel and return home with just a 7-day quarantine period. The Australian Consul-General for Phuket says this is great news for Australia and for Thailand. He notes that Australians can now travel abroad knowing that they will be able to return home again and vows to Phuket…

  • Thailand sees slump during peak travel period, Chinese stay home for Golden Week

    Thailand sees slump during peak travel period, Chinese stay home for Golden Week

    One of Thailand’s peak travel periods, with an influx of Chinese visitors, looks like it will be quiet for another year. The 7-day holiday in China, known as Golden Week, which starts today, used to draw in hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists, many flocking to Pattaya’s Sohotown and crowding shopping centres, floating markets, and restaurants catering to the holiday,…

  • Blood supplies low during pandemic, LGBTQ activists call to be allowed to donate

    Blood supplies low during pandemic, LGBTQ activists call to be allowed to donate

    Blood supplies in Thailand have reportedly run critically low over the recent months as many donation centres have suspended operations due to the Covid-19 situation. With calls from the Thai Red Cross society for blood donations, LGBTQ activists are urging the Red Cross to change their criteria to allow those in the gay and transgender communities to donate, especially now…

  • Assistant village chief busted with 3.8 million meth pills

    Assistant village chief busted with 3.8 million meth pills

    An assistant village chief has been arrested in Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai for alleged drug trafficking after Chiang Rai police seized 3.8 million meth pills and 1 kilogramme of ketamine. The commander of the Chiang Rai Provincial Police announced the drug bust yesterday. The 45 year old assistant Ban Pha Bue village chief in Mae Fa Luang district…

  • Thailand allows antigen test kits to be sold online, in regular shops

    Thailand allows antigen test kits to be sold online, in regular shops

    Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration says the sale of Covid-19 antigen test kits in shops and online has now been approved. Dr Paisal Dankhum from the FDA says the Public Health Ministry took the decision to allow more widespread sales, in order to improve public access to ATKs. Previously, the kits could only be purchased through hospitals, health clinics, and…

  • Thailand’s largest field hospital closes as last Covid-19 patient discharged

    Thailand’s largest field hospital closes as last Covid-19 patient discharged

    Thailand’s largest Covid-19 field hospital has closed its doors as the number of seriously ill patients and new infections continues to fall. The Public Health Ministry closed Busarakham field hospital yesterday. The facility was located at the Impact exhibition and convention centre in the central province of Nonthaburi. According to a Bangkok Post report, the hospital opened on May 14…