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KLM to introduce Amsterdam – Phuket flights from October
KLM has announced an expansion to its network from this coming winter, including flights from Amsterdam to Phuket, with a touchdown in Kuala Lumpur. The southern Thai island is one of 6 new destinations being introduced, the others being Mombasa in Kenya, Orlando in the US, Cancun in Mexico, Bridgetown in Barbados, and Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.…
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Arrest warrant issued for murder suspect who became a minor celebrity during the investigation
A murder suspect, who became famous in Thailand during the investigation, now has a warrant for his arrest over the death of his 3 year old niece. With the continuous and overdramatised media coverage on the case, the 44 year old suspect Chaiphol Wipha became a minor celebrity and gained a fan base, some who have raised donations to help…
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Philippines confirms delay in imports of AstraZeneca doses from Thailand
The Philippines has announced that the arrival of a first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines being imported from Thailand has been delayed. The delivery of the vaccines, manufactured in Thailand and ordered by the Philippines, has now been pushed back by several weeks. According to a Bangkok Post report, the development gives rise to questions about Thailand’s distribution plans for Southeast…
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Health Minister confident AstraZeneca doses will arrive on time
Thailand’s Public Health Minister says the delivery of 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is on schedule. Anutin Charnvirakul says the doses are expected to arrive in batches, throughout the month of June, and he’s confident the first lot will be here by June 7, when the national rollout begins. “I’m confident the first lot will be put…
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Thai Navy stands by decision to purchase 3 Chinese tanks
A spokesman yesterday defended the Royal Thai Navy’s decision to buy 3 Chinese tanks, while the country struggles to purchase an adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines. According to a Bangkok Post report, Navy spokesman Chettha Chaipiam says the purchase was agreed prior to the arrival of the pandemic. He points out that, the 398-million-baht agreement was signed during the 2020…
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It’s a yes: WHO approves Sinovac for emergency use
The CoronaVac vaccine from Chinese firm Sinovac has been approved for emergency use, making it the second Chinese vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organisation. The approval paves the way for more widespread global distribution, particularly as part of the Covax scheme. The scheme aims to provide poorer countries with equal access to Covid-19 vaccines but up to…
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Phuket foreigners can register for vaccine leftovers
Starting tomorrow, foreigners residing in Phuket can register for a Covid-19 vaccine. On Thursday and Friday, they can receive a vaccination from the “surplus” of doses still available. To register for the vaccine, foreigners are instructed to use the “Phuket Must Win” web portal. Mr Pracha Asawathira, who is with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and “involved” with…
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324 schools open in Lampang
Today, 324 schools across 13 districts in Lampang, a northern Thai province, opened their doors for the first semester in the “New Normal” system. At one Lampang school, Boonwart Wittayalai, students are set to alternate the days they go to school with, presumably, days they don’t go to school and learn online. Before entering a classroom, students must wash their…
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Malaysia imposes lockdown
Starting today, Malaysia imposed a strict lockdown on its country. The region avoided the first Covid-19 wave, thanks largely to decisive action: closing borders, issuing curbs. However, Southeast Asia has become the new Covid-19 epicentre, as their efforts to curb outbreaks have been impeded by recent Covid outbreaks, glacial slow vaccine rollouts, and citizens who have restriction fatigue. Malaysia has…
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Southeast Asia: The new covid-19 epicentre
Some western countries appear to have turned the tide against Covid-19 (China and India have also administered between 640 million and 208 million doses, respectively). The middle East is showing promise in vaccinating its citizens. But health experts predict some countries could be months or even weeks from being able to come out on the other side of their current…
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Countries push back against being associated with variants, new system may be coming soon
It is one thing to hear a foreign country be connected to the name of a virus, it’s another thing when it’s your country. It feels personal. Last week, many Thais were incensed to have their country associated with a Covid variant. Likewise, the Indian government has called for having all references to the “Indian Variant” scrubbed from social media. They…
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State of emergency extended in Japan
A month before the Olympic Games begin, a state of emergency has been extended in 9 Japanese prefectures, including Tokyo. The extended decree is in force until June 20 and covers Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. In the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gifu, and Mie, strict non-emergency restrictions are in force and have…
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Thai government allegedly ticked-off with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
The government is becoming increasingly irritated by the Bangkok Governor and his administration, according to a Thai Enquirer report. The media outlet says senior officials at the Public Health Ministry and at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration are critical of the governor’s random handling of the pandemic and its associated restrictions. The report is based on feedback from an…
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Police officers arrested for alleged involvement in Bangkok kidnap
Two high ranking police officers in Bangkok have been arrested for alleged involvement in the kidnap of a 60 year old Taiwanese businessman for a US$3 million ransom. Police say the man was abducted in broad daylight from a restaurant in the Thong Lor district over a failed business deal for rubber gloves. The March 28 incident where 60 year…
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Government unsure if local administration budgets can be used to buy vaccines
In what could put yet another spanner in the works, the Thai government is questioning if local authorities can purchase vaccines and whether state-allocated budgets can be used for this purpose. The Bangkok Post reports that officials at the Interior Ministry fear a chaotic rollout, with several local administrative organisations racing to order supplies of Sinopharm, the latest vaccine to…
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CCSA shuts down order to reopen 5 types of venues in Bangkok
Just as Bangkok was about to reopen some venues and businesses, the order was shut down by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. After businesses went weeks under a strict closure order, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration agreed to loosen restrictions and decided to reopen 5 types of venues and businesses, with conditions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but the…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 2,230 new cases and 38 deaths
2,230 new Covid-19 cases and 38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, in the latest wave of cases, the CCSA has reported 133,159 infections. Out of the new cases, 77 were detected in correctional facilities, a drastic decrease in infections at Thai prisons. Thousands of inmates at more than a dozen…
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TAT outlines rules for Phuket re-opening | VIDEO
So, here they are, the dos and don’ts for all those vaccinated tourists planning trips to the southern island of Phuket from July 1. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has laid out the rules governing the Phuket Sandbox model that will see the island re-open to international visitors in just a few weeks’ time. While fully vaccinated tourists will no…
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Opening Phuket and Thailand to travellers and tourists on July 1 | VIDEO
If you’re wanting, or able, to come to Thailand at the moment, the best chance is about to happen. It’s called the Phuket Sandbox, but it’s a pilot program for the rest of Thailand’s tourist areas, and eventually the entire country, to reopen safely for travellers and tourism from July 1. There will be changes to the scheme and additional…
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Thousands of restaurants could close due to Covid restrictions, many others struggling
Thailands newest wave of Covid, as well as the most virulent, and the lockdowns and restrictions because of it, is set to ruin hundreds of restaurants. One restaurant owner, 79 year old Kamol Trisitthichet, who owns Arlek Ratchawongse, spoke to Thai media about his ongoing struggles. He says that his business has lost 500,000 baht since the pandemic started. Further, despite…
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Thailand News Today | ‘Covid’ visa extensions, Bangkok aims for 70% vaccination in 1 month | May 31
The deadline to apply for a 60-day visa “Covid” extension has been pushed to July 29, now allowing stays up until late-September, The Department of Disease Control has set an ambitious goal to vaccinate at least 70% of Bangkok residents by July, Thailand has officially extended its Emergency Decree for a 12th time set to expire on July 31 and…
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Canadian woman sexually assaulted while doing a live stream video in Bangkok
Police are searching for a man who was caught on camera sexually assaulting a Canadian woman near Bangkok’s Lumpini Park while she was doing a live stream video for social media. The video shows the man running up to the woman from behind and appearing to reach is hand down below her waist. The woman made a post on Twitter…
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Border patrols in Thailand’s Deep South tighten following lockdown in Malaysia
Following the lockdown measures in Malaysia, troops in Thailand’s Deep South province of Narathiwat have tightened patrol along the natural border to make sure people are not entering Thailand illegally, evading checkpoints and the mandatory quarantine, to prevent Covid-19 from being spread through the country’s porous borders. Officers will focus primarily border districts Waeng, Su-ngai Kolok and Tak Bai, areas…
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Tokyo Olympics: Spectators must be vaccinated or test negative for Covid
Fans who wish to go to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will either need to be vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid-19 before they will be allowed into venues. In addition to the requirements for spectators, officials are considering banning cheering, eating, giving high fives, or drinking alcohol, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun Daily. Those who break the rules…
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All residents in Ho Chi Minh to be tested for Covid following outbreak in the city
A Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam’s largest city of Ho Chi Minh has driven the Vietnamese government to test all residents for the virus. While infections in Vietnam have remained low, a new cluster linked to a religious mission has been reported in the city and what a local officials call a “very dangerous” new variant was recently found in the…
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Monday Covid Update: 5,485 new cases and 19 deaths, provincial totals
A record high of 5,485 new Covid-19 infections were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. 19 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 1,031. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 159,792 Covid-19 cases, including 130,929 infections reported in the latest wave…
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Water outage in Pa Khlok, Phuket tomorrow
Starting tomorrow, there will be a water outage in Phuket’s Pa Khlok. The outages will be a result of a mains water supply shutoff on Thepkrasattri Road, which is near Phuket’s airport runway in Mai Khao, as announced by the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority. The PWA said that the mains water needs to be shut off in order to connect…
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Thai soldiers keep watch after bomb explosions in Myanmar border town
Over the weekend, local media in Myanmar reported that 2 bombs exploded near the Thai border. The blasts could be heard by those in Thailand at the Phra Chedi Sam Ong border checkpoint, known as the Three Pagodas Pass, in Kanachaburi’s Sangkhla Buri district. Thai soldiers were deployed to the checkpoint as a precaution. The explosions went off at 10:10pm…
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Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand dies while on holiday on Koh Lipe
The Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand died yesterday morning while on holiday on Koh Lipe, a small island west of the southern province Satun. Local health officials say the 45 year old ambassador, Andrii Beshta, died from a heart attack. Andrii’s son said that his father had vomited and lost consciousness before he died. They had been staying in the same hotel…
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Full lockdown in Malaysia from tomorrow
From tomorrow, Malaysia goes into full lockdown in an attempt to flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections across the country. PM Muhyiddin Yassin had been resisting calls for a lockdown, saying he was trying to balance public health needs with economic recovery. However, even some businesses in the country’s tourism sector have been pushing for tougher measures. Just hours before…
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