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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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Covid UPDATE: 4,161 new infections, 51 deaths, provincial totals
Today the public health department announced 51 deaths and 4,161 new infections of Covid-19. Only 72 were related to detections in Thai prisons, a further drop in prisoners testing positive for the coronavirus. Here is Saturday’s announcement of Provincial cases announced in the past 24 hours. Notably Chon Buri added a whopping 320 new infections to today’s total. Phuket, ready…
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Tech-savvy Egypt targets TikTokers and digital dissidents
In recent years, Egypt has become a thriving place for digital technology — as well as the Middle East’s No. 1 internet censor. “Communications and technology are the fastest-growing sectors of the Egyptian economy, with recent growth averaging about 16%,” David Butter, analyst at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told DW. However, he said, there is an obvious contradiction…
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Covid-19 patient dies after waiting 1 week for ICU bed
As Bangkok faces a health crisis of bed shortages for Covid-19 patients, one woman died after waiting a week to be assigned an ICU bed. The woman was 38 years old from Laos and lived in Ban Krua Nuea in Bangkok. She suspected that she caught Covid-19 at her work selling clothes around Pratunam Market. After developing a cough she…
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Senator tests positive for Covid-19 after Parliament sessions
After a week of important meetings with most of Parliament in attendance, Senator Lieutenant General Lertrit Wechsawan has tested positive for Covid-19. The 74 year old member of parliament was in attendance for the parliamentary proceedings regarding government referendum voting and later confirmed the diagnosis. It is hoped that exposure and close proximity was limited with the senator, and it…
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Covid UPDATE Saturday: 4,161 new infections, 51 deaths
For Saturday, the trend of new infections, and deaths, from Covid-related disease, remains on the rise. Today the public health department announced 51 deaths and 4,161 new infections of Covid-19. Only 72 were related to detections in Thai prisons, a further drop in prisoners testing positive for the coronavirus. As the Thai government is faced with its worst week of…
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Must you be married to share a room in the Phuket Sandbox?
In an attempt to clarify without actually clarifying the issue, the Phuket Tourist Association was compelled to release a follow-up statement in response to an off-the-cuff remark by an official that implied that only legally married couples could share a room in the Phuket Sandbox rollout. Apparently, the grapevine went like this… During a Zoom meeting with the Association of…
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1 month closure of Bangkok, southern work camps ordered
While Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul claimed the situation in Bangkok hospitals was not critical, senior doctors at many hospitals are proposing a 1-week full lockdown of the capital city. Perhaps meeting in the middle, late this afternoon PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the 1-month closure of all construction work camps in Bangkok as well as 4…
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Protest groups vow continued demonstrations this weekend
Protest groups Prachachon Khon Thai and Thai Mai Thon, who led large protests against threats of legal action yesterday, have vowed to continue the protests tomorrow. A third prominent anti-establishment group, Ratsadon, were demonstrating yesterday at the Democracy Monument but have not committed to a protest event tomorrow. Despite police declaring they would prosecute leaders and protesters at yesterday’s events…
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Man wanted for attempted murder arrested on train
A man who slashed a relative for not helping with car payments has been caught on a train in Nakhon Si Thammarat. An arrest warrant had been out for Kitiphong since November of last year for attempted murder. Kitiphon was arrested on a train in Nakhon Si Thammarat. He allegedly confessed to the slashing. According to the police, Kitiphon was…
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Update list of high/medium/low risk countries for travelling to Thailand
Update: Under the “Phuket Sandbox” and “Samui Plus” travel models, travellers not only need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to be eligible to enter Thailand under the schemes, but they also need to be travelling from countries classified by Thailand’s Department of Disease Control as a low to medium risk for Covid-19. The DDC posts a new list on…
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Rare, giant barking deer makes appearance in Cambodia
A rare deer, known as a “giant barking deer” was seen in Cambodia, says Cambodian officials today. The muntjac (AKA barking deer), an endangered species, was seen, and photographed via hidden Camera in Cambodia’s Virachey National Park in the Ratanakiri province, in northeast Cambodia says environmental spokesperson Neth Pheaktra. The barking deer mainly live in the hill ranges of Lao…
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Anutin says health system won’t collapse despite shortages
After senior doctors said the Covid-19 outbreak situation was critical and suggesting a one-week lockdown in Bangkok, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul reassured people that the health system will not collapse. With a rise in new Covid-19 infections, available hospital beds are getting scarce and there are shortages of medical staff, despite the reassurances of Anutin.…
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Fire at Chinese martial arts school kills 18, mainly kids
Earlier today, 18 (and maybe more) people died and 16 were injured after there was a fire in their martial arts school. The fire happened at the Zhenxing Martial Arts Centre in the Henan province, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts. Chinese media says most of the victims were between the ages of 7 and 16. When the fire ran…
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Why is it so difficult to live with HIV in Uganda?
We will call this young man Patrick. The 26-year-old lives on the outskirts of Kampala. His daily life is filled with discrimination. Patrick was born with HIV. The virus created barriers to living in his community. Thousands of HIV-positive people suffer the same stigma. There are about 1.3 million people living with HIV here. UNAIDS reports progress in fighting HIV…
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Man allegedly steals almost 300,000 baht from monk
Police in Si Racha, a district south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand have arrested 21 year old “Constitution” and have charged him with “snatching” and stealing at night from a monk. The monk was relaxing at a “motorcycle resting place”. “Constitution allegedly stole the monk’s cell phone and managed to extract a password for a bank app from…
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Illegal cigarette shipment busted, valued at 30 million baht
Naval officials and other police agencies have seized illegal cigarettes valued at 30 million baht. The officials seized a boat that had been used to transport the goods. 1,900 boxes with 475,000 packs of cigarettes were discovered. Allegedly, the smugglers were trying to move their shipment without paying tax. Thai media reports that government agencies had received information from a…
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A Korean restaurant catches fire at a Phuket shopping centre
Yesterday afternoon in Kathu, Phuket, a fire erupted in a Korean restaurant that is part of the Central shopping centre. Thai media speculates that the fire broke out in the kitchen of the Sukishi Charcoal Grill Restaurant on the 3rd floor of the shopping centre. Witnesses told police they saw smoke emerging from the restaurant. Chatri Chuwichian of the Wichit police…
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Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved for emergency use in Thailand
It’s been rolled out successfully around the world for several months now, with a seemingly high efficacy rate. And now, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has finally been approved in Thailand. The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that the mRNA vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the Kingdom. mRNA vaccines work by instructing cells in the body to make…
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1 dead 99 unaccounted for in Florida building collapse
What that tells you is…. nothing like this was foreseeable Last night, a building collapsed in Miami, Florida. 1 person is reported dead, dozens are missing, and 99 people are unaccounted for. 102 people have been located, so far. It is unknown how many people were in the building when it went down. A search and rescue effort is currently…
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Airlines participate in trials of IATA Travel Pass app
A number of airlines worldwide are participating in trials of a Travel Pass app from the International Air Transport Association. TTR Weekly reports that at Montréal-Trudeau airport in Canada, Air France is trialling the app for outbound flights until July 15, just one of a number of airlines testing it globally. The app is designed to ease passengers’ concerns about…
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Covid-19 cluster found at children’s home outside Bangkok
A cluster of Covid-19 infections has been reported at a children’s home in the central province of Pathum Thani, with at least 33 children testing positive. The Bangkok Post reports that the children at the Rangsit Babies Home are all between the ages of 3 and 6 and 6 babysitters at the home are also infected. Apisamai Srirangson from the…
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Phuket officials in last-minute scramble to fix sandbox hiccups
The president of the Phuket Tourist Association says clarity is needed around a number of issues if the island’s July 1 re-opening is to proceed smoothly. According to a report in the Bangkok Post, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam says confusion over tracking apps and vaccine certificates are just 2 of the issues that need to be sorted out. The sandbox scheme was…
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Slovenia: Trapped in the spirit of the past after 30 years of independence?
“Dreams are allowed today, tomorrow is a new day” are words etched into the historical memory of Slovenians, also known as Slovenes. On 25 June 1991, they were uttered by Milan Kucan, then president of the Yugoslav Socialistic Republic of Slovenia and subsequently twice president of independent Slovenia. On that day, Slovenia declared its independence and officially separated from Yugoslavia.…
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TAT claims 1,500 travellers arriving in Phuket July 1
The much-maligned and restriction heavy Phuket Sandbox plan might open with a bang, as the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced that 1,500 people would arrive on July 1. The governor of TAT said that international flights scheduled to arrive in Phuket on the first day of reopening have 1,500 tickets booked so far. The island intends to welcome back the…
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5 million Moderna vaccines for Thailand, half of expectation
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation said that only 5 million Moderna Covid-19 vaccines would be available at private hospitals, half as many as the 10 million total figure expected. The government of Thailand is giving free vaccinations using the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, while they had approved Johnson & Johnson, Modena, and Pfizer vaccines for private use. They later rushed to…
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Biden-Ghani meeting: Afghan president makes last-ditch effort to stop Taliban gains
US President Joe Biden will host his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, and other high-ranking Afghan officials, at the White House on Friday. The meeting is taking place at a crucial time for Afghanistan. NATO forces have already started pulling out from Afghanistan after their two-decade presence in the war-ravaged country. The withdrawal of all foreign troops is expected to be…
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Tokyo Olympics: A month to go, protesters intent on postponing games
Atsuko Nagayama is so angry that she is physically shaking. Standing with around 250 protesters in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo metropolitan government, she is holding a simple homemade placard with the words: “Cancel the Olympics.” “It is much too dangerous to go ahead with the gamesbecause we know that there are many variants of the coronavirus already…
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Apple Daily journalists say ‘press freedom is dead’ in Hong Kong
Hours before Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, announced Wednesday it would cease operations once and for all, dozens of its journalists arrived at the printing plant early Thursday morning to observe the last edition roll off the press. Emily, who joined the paper in 2019, said she had been on the front lines of the 2019 pro-democracy protests…
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Covid-19 round-up for expats 2: Will your country give a vaccine?
With so much information swirling around the reopening of Thailand and the international tourism and vaccine distribution for foreigners, we thought we’d round up some updates for our readers about what your home country says about if you should travel to Thailand and how they are helping with a vaccine and the Covid-19 situation inside the Kingdom. The information in…
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Covid-19 round-up for expats 1: Should you travel to Thailand?
With so much information swirling around the reopening of Thailand and the international tourism and vaccine distribution for foreigners, we thought we’d round up some updates for our readers about what your home country says about if you should travel to Thailand and how they are helping with a vaccine and the Covid-19 situation inside the Kingdom. The information in…
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