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Sponsored New in July: Save 10% for life on family health plans in Thailand
Cigna has a special offer this July for families in Thailand. When you sign up three or more people on a family health plan, you will save 10% on your premiums for life. This deal helps you get affordable, high-quality...
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Turkey: Anti-foreigner sentiment boils over in Ankara riots
It all began on Tuesday evening when a street fight erupted between two groups of youths in Altindag, a district of the Turkish capital, Ankara. In the violent confrontation between some Syrian migrants and a group of Turkish locals, two Turks were stabbed. A few hours later, one of them, 18-year-old Emirhan Yalcin, died in hospital. The event sparked a…
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Cancelling delay, GPO will buy 8.5 million Chinese antigen test kits
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has made 2 u-turns in as many days with plans to now go ahead and purchase 8.5 million antigen test kits from a Chinese manufacturer with questionable accuracy. The GPO had originally announced the plan to import Sars-CoV-2 Antigen and Leccurate Antibody Test products by Lepu Medical Technology before changing course and pausing the purchase after…
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Covid UPDATE: 22,086 new infections, provincial totals
The Thai public health department announced another 22,086 new infections to Thailand’s total. 270 of today’s cases stem from the Thai prison system. 217 Covid-related deaths were also announced. 23,672 people were released from hospital care. 60% of people who died in the past 24 hours were 60 years old plus. 18 of the total died at home. The median age…
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Widow of former Prime Minister dies of Covid-19
The widow of former Prime Minister Chatichai, Thanpuying Boonruen Choonhavan, has died early this morning of illness connected to Covid-19. Details around the death of the 101 year old widow are vague, but the announcement was made on Facebook today by her granddaughter. Thanpuying had one daughter who survived her, Vanee, and a son Kraisak who died last year in…
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Canada mandates domestic travellers must be vaccinated
A sweeping new announcement from Canada’s Transport Minister at a virtual press conference yesterday declared that most passengers travelling commercially in Canada will be required to be vaccinated by this fall. The new requirement will apply to anyone travelling by plane, interprovincial train, and cruise ships or other ” large marine vessels with overnight accommodations”. Canada has 71% of people…
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Covid UPDATE Saturday: 217 Covid-related deaths, news briefs
This morning the Thai public health department announced another 22,086 new infections to Thailand’s total. 270 of today’s cases stem from the Thai prison system. 217 Covid-related deaths were also announced. 23,672 people were released from hospital care. Provincial totals will be announced early this afternoon. • According to the Ministry of Public Health, Covid-19 patients in Thailand are taking…
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Almost 1 million Favipiravir pills are taken daily in Thailand
According to the Ministry of Public Health, Covid-19 patients in Thailand are taking almost a million Favipiravir pills each day as infection numbers surge around the country. The daily Covid-19 infection rates have now crossed over the 20,000 mark and with so many new cases, the demand for the antiviral tablets is skyrocketing. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has been called…
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India: Chhattisgarh conducts survey to map Maoist presence
Indian security forces this year have stepped up operations against ultra left-wing guerrillas deep in the forests of the mineral-rich central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, which has regularly seen clashes between the rebels and security forces in recent years. The Maoists, also known as Naxals, have waged an armed struggle against government forces for decades. They are considered India’s biggest…
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Meet India’s last maker of hand-made national flags
Mohammad Arif, a 70-year-old flag maker, told DW about how plastic flags are harmful for the environment and it’s better to use cotton flags in their stead. SOURCE: DW News
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Thai-made subunit Covid-19 vaccine gets ok for human trials
Approval was received to begin testing on human subjects in September for a Covid-19 subunit vaccine created in Thailand by the Vaccine Research Centre of Chulalongkorn University and Baiya Phytopharm Company. The vaccine is the second to be racing to clear testing phases and be used to fight Covid-19 in Thailand. The other, an mRNA vaccine, is being developed by…
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Man allegedly steal employer’s Mercedes in retaliation for mistreatment; family returns car later, Ayutthaya arrest still follows
Yesterday morning in central Thailand, Ayutthaya Railway Police arrested a young man for allegedly stealing his employer’s Mercedes-Benz and driving off to Hat Yai to have it pawned for 40,000 Baht. However, the man’s family had second thoughts about the alleged theft and returned the car a few months later. Around 10:15 am yesterday, Channarong Zainid, the Commander in Chief…
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Confusing tweet implies New York Times launching porn service
A bit of corner-cutting shorthand in a tweet caused an uproar on Twitter and beyond yesterday with the announcement that the New York Times, the 3rd largest newspaper in the United States, was branching out into pornography. A former New York Times employee wrote a poorly phrased tweet about a new newsletter program the historic newspaper is launching. Mat Yurow,…
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Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya announces vaccines for foreigners
Bangkok Hospital just announced a new scheme to offer Covid-19 vaccines to foreigners in Pattaya meeting certain qualifications. The hospital chain posted on their social media announcements a plan to offer free Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. After months of outcry, Thailand has finally begun to make vaccines more available to foreigners. The plan is a bit strange…
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Lebanon: Dollars shield some from hyperinflation crisis
Long queues outside gas stations, empty shelves in pharmacies and often more than 20 hours of power outages a day — the situation in Lebanon was grim even before the Central Bank decided to lift the subsidies for fuel imports this week. Signs of the crisis are easy to spot everywhere in Lebanon: The elderly woman who asks for money…
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Former Burmese junta leader Than Shwe infected with Covid-19
As the current Burmese military junta, mired with mass civil unrest stemming from their coup February 1, struggles with the increasingly rampant Covid-19 pandemic, Than Shwe, leader of the previous military junta has been hospitalised with Covid-19. The former strongman leader, now 88 years old, is said to be in stable condition after being diagnosed with the virus. Than Shwe…
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Digital Sharing Economy Changing Face of Thai Real Estate
Sponsored The pandemic saw a rapid increase in the digitalisation of Thai real estate. As a result, developers have been urged to dig deeper into dynamic data; not only to pivot sales tactics, but to adapt to the tough market conditions in Bangkok’s property sector. Brennan Campbell, CEO of online retail group FazWaz, states; “big data is becoming essential tools for developers or…
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Thai Hotels Association urges attention for domestic tourism
Doubting PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s pledge to reopen Thailand fully to international tourists by mid-October, the Thai Hotels Association is calling on the government to focus on plans to boost domestic tourism. The association says that the Thai government is laser-focused on international tourism and on achieving the reopening goal, but a backup plan is needed to encourage domestic tourism if…
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Victims of Belarus police violence: ‘they said we should just die’
At a press conference earlier this week, broadcast by state television, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko rejected allegations that those who were arrested for protesting the outcome of the presidential election in August 2020 had been tortured. Only 47 people work in Minsk’s Okrestina prison, Lukashenko said during his exchange with journalists and handpicked citizens. “And they are supposed to have…
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How peanut shredders changed this Mozambican’s life
Almeida Jorge has been dealing with machines since he was a child. In 2017, he had an idea that changed his life. The 25-year-old Mozambican invented a machine. The equipment grinds groundnuts and coconuts.The machine is based on a similar one from China. The workshop is in his house on the outskirts of Maputo. His team sets up three to…
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Angolan bets on rabbits in economic crisis
Octávio Simão has been farming rabbits for six years after tough economic conditions forced him to try something new. Many said his enterprise was foolish, but rabbit farming sustains his family today. At 25, he has a degree in Business Management. Simão raises over 100 rabbits consisting of four breeds. The rabbit breeder sells 10 to 20 rabbits a day.…
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Orphaned girls recover from Covid, enter Samut Prakan orphanage
Last month, the tragic story of the 2 young girls who lost their mother to Covid, and how before dying the mother said it was her hope the girls would go to an orphanage, rattled Thailand. Then came the news that the girls had contracted Covid. Now, it is being reported that both girls have made a full recovery and…
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Philippines extends travel ban from Thailand, 9 other countries
The Philippines is planning to extend its ban on travellers from Thailand and 9 more countries. The extension will go the end of this month out of Delta/Covid concerns, the presidential spokesperson said today. Philippine officials are rushing to control a spike in Covid cases that have stayed constant at around 12,000 infections for the second day in a row…
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Infestation of Mealybugs leads to China banning Thai longan
China has banned the Thai longan, a fruit that comes in small yellow orbs and when peeled resembles an eyeball, minus the iris or pupil thus its Cantonese name which translates to “dragon eye”, although it could also be argued the fruit looks like a skinless testicle. The anatomically questionable fruit has been banned because of an infestation of mealybugs.…
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Venezuela: Uncertainty around government-opposition talks
A new round of talks to defuse Venezuela’s prolonged national political crisis will kick off in Mexico City on Friday. Norway will mediate the negotiations between Nicolas Maduro’s government and the opposition coalition led by Juan Guaido. The focus will be on regional elections as well as international sanctions facing the country. Besides the lifting of these sanctions, Maduro’s government…
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Is Morocco’s ‘Arab Spring’ moment finally here?
Earlier this week, hundreds of Moroccans protested the death of Yassine Lekhmidi, a 25-year-old man in the city of Sidi Bennour. In July, local police confiscated a food cart Lekhmidi was driving because he wasn’t wearing a face mask to protect against COVID-19. Despite paying a fine for the infraction, police refused to return his cart. Distraught over the loss…
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Covid-19 plan recruits 2,000 pharmacies in Bangkok to assist
A new plan has recruited 2,000 pharmacies to aid in Bangkok’s home isolation programme in order to assist in Covid-19 diagnosis and treatment. The Pharmacy Council of Thailand brought in pharmacies across the city to provide service for people isolating at home due to Covid-19 infections. The plan was put in place hinging on the purchase of 8.5 million antigen…
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Algeria and Tunisia wildfires reinforce the tone of IPCC findings on Africa
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report outlines the severity of the global climate crisis. According to the UN body, the crisis poses not only a policy problem but a global political challenge. Some analysts have been quick to question the difference between the latest IPCC assessment and those over three decades, But experts in Africa see a…
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How Mekong River is turning into a new flashpoint in Indo-Pacific
For several years, US politicians have adopted the Japanese slogan of a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” calling for international law to apply over disputes in the South China Sea, in which China is accused of acting aggressively. Earlier this month, during the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for “a free and open…
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GPO pauses antigen test kits deal after skimping accusations
After a scathing letter from the Rural Doctors Society accusing the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation of basing their decision solely on price with no concern for quality or accuracy, the GPO walked back their plan to buy 8.5 million antigen test kits from Lepu Medical Technology of China. The purchase will be delayed in order to test the quality of the…
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Tanzania’s famous female firefighter
She needs special equipment to work. Pili Kaku loves what she does. She’s a member of the Tanzania Fire and Rescue Service. Kaku is trained to save lives. She pays attention to the grievances of people. This gives her more motivation. Fighting fires is a challenging job. Many women are not interested in it. Kaku is drawing the attention. She…
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