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In Lebanon, one crisis follows the next
Many classrooms in Lebanon remain closed these days, and it has nothing to do with the coronavirus. “It is becoming more difficult for us as teachers to commute to our workplace because of the lack of gasoline,” says Taghreed Taki, who teaches at a public school in Rashaya, two hours from the capital Beirut. “If you want to get gas…
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Dole pineapple factory has 34 new Covid-19 cases, 413 total
A Dole pineapple factory in Hua Hin confirmed another 34 Covid-19 infections, accounting for most of the 45 new infections in Prachuap Khiri Khan today. The canned pineapple plant previously had nearly 400 infections. In a quarantine facility within the Dole Thailand pineapple factory, mass testing people consider to be at-risk turned up the 34 new infections. The factory in…
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Chinese Sinovac vaccine debuts in Singapore to high demand
While Sinovac is much maligned in Thailand, when it became available in Singapore yesterday, there was an overwhelming demand for the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine. Singapore has been using Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to inoculate nearly half of the 5.7 million residents on the small country so far. Despite those 2 vaccines having shown to be over 90% effective against symptomatic…
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Drug smuggler caught in Kalasin with 300 kg of marijuana
A police chase in Kalasin early this morning ended in the arrest of a suspected drug smuggler and the impounding of 300 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana. The chase took place around 2 am through the streets of the Na Khu district when police received a tip-off prompting them to attempt to pull over the car. The Chevrolet Captiva with Chon…
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Gender Health Clinic opens in Bangkok for transgender needs
One of the first clinics focused primarily on the needs of the transgender community has opened as part of Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok. The new Gender Health Clinic opened with the goal of being leaders in the ways clinics communicate and give treatment to transgender people. A co-founder of GHC pointed out that trans people often have special needs…
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30 million baht added to vaccine side effects compensation fund
The National Health Security Office had set up a 100 million baht fund to be used as compensation for vaccinated people experiencing side effects. Now the government has approved an additional 30 million baht to be made available as needed in the Loan Executive Decree in paying out those affected negatively by the vaccine. A previous poll showed 80% of…
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Plan for 16-week gap between AstraZeneca vaccines dropped
Thailand’s plan to milk 2 extra vaccines from each vial of AstraZeneca may have seemed shady, though the technique to do so was safe and did not reduce efficacy, but yesterday the government dropped an actual dangerous plan to cut corners and pump up their vaccination figures. A senior health official confirmed that they were giving up on a plan…
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CCSA: 120 day reopening will proceed with conditions
If you believed that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s declaration that Thailand will reopen in 120 days no matter what was set in stone, you don’t know much about Thailand. While the plan is still on, The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration held a meeting yesterday where they watered down the exuberant international tourism restart announcement with conditions and exceptions for the…
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Covid UPDATE Saturday: 3,667 new infections and 32 deaths
The trend of new Covid infection continues to steadily rise. Saturday’s totals are 32 new Covid-related deaths and 3,667 cases. 435 of today’s announced cases are from Thai prisons. Provincial totals will be available early afternoon on The Thaiger as usual. In other Covid-related news today… • The Department of Land Transport is resuming driving tests, issuing and renewing licences…
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Thamanat elected to role of head ‘fixer’ in Palang Pracharat party
Thamanat Prompow, still the Thai deputy agricultural minister, now has a firm grasp of the reigns of the ruling Palang Pracharat Party, the leading coalition party of the Thai government. Thamanat’s stay in an Australian prison for 4 years of a 6 year sentence on heroin trafficking charges back in the 90s, has not swayed his fellow MPs in electing…
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Juneteenth: An important holiday, that changes little
The US has made June 19, or Juneteenth, a public holiday. This second independence day, as it were, commemorates the liberation of enslaved Afro-Americans. It dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Galveston, Texas. It brought to an end the second genocide on US soil — after the forced…
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List: China has over 50% of all foreign-owned condos in Thailand
A list was recently released to the media regarding condo ownership in Thailand and from what countries condo owners originated. Foreigners have purchased approximately 1.4 million condominiums throughout the country. Of those, the top 10 list showed that over half of all foreign-owned condos in Thailand hail from China. Nearly 730,000 condominiums throughout Thailand are owned by Chinese nationals, just…
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Why are sanctions against Belarus not more effective?
Dictators like to win elections. In the past 27 years, Alexander Lukashenko has stood for election six times, and each time he was victorious. Or supposedly victorious, that is, in what has been widely seen as rigged elections. Sanctions against him have been in place for the majority of his rule, and stricter punitive measures are set to come into…
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Made in Germany: Ukraine pendants without Crimea
S.W.W. Schmuckwaren is a company based in southern Germany that produces and sells jewelry, including gold and silver pendants shaped like the outlines of countries. They cost €22.95-€295.95 ($27-$350) and most of the countries are shaped in such a way that corresponds to their internationally recognized borders. There is one pendant, however, that is missing a region: Ukraine does not…
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Government plans 10 million vaccines for July
As vaccinations are finally picking up around much of Thailand, some areas are reporting shortages of vaccines, but the government announced plans to administer 10 million vaccines in July and every month thereafter. A senior spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said that the vaccines will be distributed with a priority focus on Bangkok and making sure 70%…
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Namibia’s Herero Chief Rukoro dies
Vekuii Reinhard Rukoro was born in Otjiwarongo, a farming town in central Namibia — then known as South West Africa — in 1954, a decade before the beginning of the armed struggle to rid Namibia of South Africa’s apartheid regime. He attended secondary school in Döbra, then a tiny settlement north of Windhoek before training to be a lawyer, first…
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Sierra Leone: Black Johnson Beach to become fishing harbor under China deal
Sierra Leone’s government cut a $55 million deal with China to finance the construction of a new harbor. The people living along the pristine beach fear losing their jobs and land. SOURCE: DW News
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How is Beijing reshaping Hong Kong through the national security law?
A day after 500 police officers raided its newsroom and arrested five executives, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily printed 500,000 copies featuring the raid and the arrest on its front page. “We must press on,” read the headline, citing a passage from the paper’s CEO Cheung Kim-hung. On Friday, police formally charged Cheung and Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law with “collusion…
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Ethiopa announces ‘period of silence’ ahead of elections
Ethiopia’s national electoral board ordered a “period of silence” before Monday’s parliamentary elections, which includes a ban on campaign rallies and new rules for local media houses. “Mass media outlets are not allowed to broadcast any kind of election-related activities during this period of silence. In addition, these institutions are not allowed to interview political party candidates,” the commission said…
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1 million AstraZeneca doses arrive, Anutin says “more” on the way
1 million more AstraZeneca doses arrived in Thailand today. They were delivered to Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and are set to be distributed throughout the country today. Or tomorrow. Says the Anutin, the Public Health Minister. Anutin says the vaccines will be sent every week. This comes from an agreement the ministry has with the company. Anutin did not provide…
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Colour-coded zoning revised, restrictions to ease nationwide
Disease control restrictions are easing nationwide and the colour-coded zoning was recently revised by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The new regulations will go into effect on Monday. Nationwide, all entertainment and nightlife venues including bars, pubs and nightclubs must remain closed. Face masks are still required to be worn in public. All zones have limits on the number…
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Department of Land Transport will reopen, issue licenses
After suspending services on April 16th due to the third wave outbreak of Covid-19, the Department of Land Transport has announced they will reopen next week. The agency will restart renewing driving licenses in issuing new licenses, as well as giving driving tests. Services are set to resume all across the country at all DLT offices on June 21, according…
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Krabi schedules 82 flights per week from late October
Despite no official legal plans to reopen Thailand to international tourism, and perhaps on the heels of PM Prayut’s surprise announcement in a speech Wednesday that he intends to fully reopen Thailand by mid-October, 8 airlines received slots for international flights into Krabi from the end of October. The allotment was determined as part of the IATA Slot Conference, this…
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Friday Covid Update: 3,058 new cases; provincial totals
Thailand’s latest and most severe wave of Covid-19, infecting 176,410 people since April 1, continues to be on a downward trend. Today, 3,058 new Covid-19 cases and 22 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the tally since the start of the pandemic to 210,782 total confirmed cases and 1,577 fatalities. There are now 32,795…
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Talad Kaset market in Phuket reopens
The Talad Kaset market in Phuket reopened today. The staff of Phuket City Municipality/vendors gave the market a rigorous cleaning to bolster local’s confidence. The market had shut down 2 weeks prior after an 86 year old woman’s death was connected to the market. 2 day ago, Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, reassured the…
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PM Prayut tests negative after parliament maid has Covid-19
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was tested for Covid-19 this morning after being exposed to someone with an infection, but was confirmed negative for the virus. The prime minister and close aides were all tested for Covid-19 after it was discovered that a maid working in a reception room at parliament had tested positive for the virus. All those tested came back…
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Myanmar: American journalist’s detention extended 2 more weeks
Yesterday, a Myanmar court extended the detention of American journalist Danny Fenster. The extension is for 2 more weeks. The U.S. State Department has strongly requested they have consular access to Danny. Frontier Myanmar says their managing editor (Danny) faces charges that could land him a 3 year prison term. The charge is reportedly often used against dissidents and journalists.…
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Unsatisifed with haircut, grandfather goes to police station for help
A grandfather got a haircut he deemed bad enough to go to the police station. The man’s identity was not given. What is known is the man got a haircut that he believed did not make him look “handsome”. He said his hair was cut to different lengths. Logically, the next step was to file a police report. Which is…
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Thammanat Prompaew said to be PPRP’s next secretary-general
MP Thammanat Prompaew, the controversial convicted drug smuggler turned politician, is favoured to become the next secretary-general of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, sources say. A meeting of the party’s general assembly will take place in Khon Kaen province today where an announcement may be made. The embattled Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister is considered to be the likely successor…
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Pattaya security guard dies after crashing into garbage truck
Last night in Pattaya, a security guard drove his motorbike into the back of a garbage truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The 43 year old security guard was driving on Road Number 36 on the Pattaya Rayong Bypass. His name has been withheld from media until his relatives have been notified of his passing. Police say the…
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