Thailand News
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Phuket man arrested for posing as a monk, asking for money
A man allegedly posing as a monk to solicit donations and 3 others allegedly involved in the scam were arrested by Phuket police. Some complaints regarding the fake monk had reached the governor. Police say they found a man dressed in the orange robe and 3 others sitting in the back of a pickup truck with a bag full of money.…
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Thailand hopes to welcome long-stay visitors escaping winter in Europe
The Thai government is understood to be finalising a plan to open the borders to long-stay visitors escaping the European winter, aka. snowbirds. With borders closed to to most international arrivals, the country’s tourism sector is devastated and in desperate need of a kick-start. Boon Vanasin, from Thonburi Healthcare Group, says officials are considering the introduction of long-stay visas, enabling…
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Families call on government for answers to alleged activist abductions
Families of those who were allegedly abducted while abroad are calling on the government to give answers to the missing cases. The families gathered together yesterday in remembrance of those they lost from enforced disappearances. Recently, protests sparked after the June disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit who was living in exile in Cambodia. Surveillance footage shows Wanchalearm, a Thai Monarchy critic,…
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Thai critics abroad get threatening packages
Threatening packages have been sent to 3 Thai critics of the monarchy that live overseas including well-known Thai journalist Jom Petchapradad and Red Shirt activist Phontip Weeden who both live in Los Angeles in the US. Another who received a package was Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a Scottish journalist and writer of the 2014 book “A Kingdom in Crisis,” which is…
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Government postpones controversial submarines deal
With a recent poll revealing that one of the public’s biggest concerns is the government’s decision to spend billions of baht on 2 submarines, many will welcome the news that officials have decided to shelve those plans… for now. If not the polls, the outrage on social media was a good indication about the public mood over the matter. The…
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UPDATE: Pushback from local associations over the Thai government’s “Phuket Model”
UPDATE: Amidst the “plans” and “models” being proposed by the government to re-open Thailand to some form of general tourism (nothing confirmed yet), there’s also been some pushback from operators in some of the hardest hit areas. The government had proposed the Phuket Model as a way of kicking off tourism from early October. But the model involves a mandatory…
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Survey: majority support students’ freedom of expression
A recent survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, found that a majority of Thais agree with students across the country giving the anti-government”3 finger salute” and wearing white ribbons, saying that they have the right to free expression. The study was conducted August 25-27 on 1,317 people aged 15 and over, of various levels of…
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Second locally produced Covid-19 vaccine proves effective in monkey trials
A doctor at Chulalongkorn University yesterday announced that announced tests of a new locally produced Covid-19 vaccine on monkeys have proven successful. The head of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre, Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, says the latest vaccine, which uses proteins from tobacco leaves, was been tested on mice and monkeys with satisfactory results and will…
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Plan on the table to allow Europe’s ‘snowbirds’ into Thailand for up to 9 months
Another day, another ‘plan’ flown up the pole to see if it will catch some wind. This time a prominent health provider claims the government is developing a new ‘visa’ for sunseekers. If adopted it could allow foreigners to stay in Thailand on a long-stay visa for up to 9 months. Nothing has been finalised as yet but Boon Vanasin, the…
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TAT launches “White Vest” tourism campaign
The Tourism Authority of Thailand this week launched its “White Vest” tourism campaign this week, based on intensive training to promote safety, hygiene and world class customer service at tourist spots throughout the country. Those who pass the campaign will be awarded a white vest and a certified ID badge that they can wear to signify to all tourists, both…
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House committee postpones meeting on subs purchase… again
A Parliamentary committee meeting on the Royal Thai Navy’s controversial purchase of 2 Chinese submarines has been postponed for a third time, until Monday. The Democratic party vehemently opposes the purchase, saying the 22.5 billion baht would be better spent on Covid-19 relief efforts and aiding the recovery of the nation’s battered economy. Democrat MP Akkharadet Wongphithakrot, acting as spokesman…
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Covid-19 update: 1 new imported case, no deaths (29 August)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported a single coronavirus today – an asymptomatic returnee from the Netherlands in state quarantine – bringing the total in Thailand to 3,411 since the outbreak began. A CSSA spokesperson said said the new case is 30 year old employee who arrived in Thailand on August 15 and stayed at a state quarantine facility…
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Bangkok police say they’ll charge “rioters”
Bangkok police say they’ll press charges against pro-democracy activists who caused chaotic scenes in support of their colleagues yesterday, even throwing paint on some officers. Supporters of the pro-democracy activists who arrived at Samran Rat police station to acknowledge charges stemming from a rally on July 18, broke police barriers and 1 of them threw a container of paint at…
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There is no date for the reopening of general tourism in Thailand, except Phuket
Deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul says Thailand will not be “fully reopened to foreign tourists” along the lines of Phuket’s “safe and sealed” model, because the government and CCSA has to consider too many details. Thailand’s largest island, Phuket, is going to be a pilot program for the partial re-opening to any tourist that wants to visit – but with…
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Debate rages behind closed doors on allowing return of foreign tourists
The debate over allowing foreign tourists back into Thailand is heating up, even as plans are being made for the “Phuket model” and airlines cautiously begin announcing charter flights for long-stay foreign tourists later in the year. Thailand has gone nearly 100 days without a confirmed locally spread case of Covid-19, putting it in a tough spot compared to countries…
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New lease on life for 7 of Thailand’s budget airlines
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today threw a lifeline to 7 of Thailands’ domestic low-cost airlines, beginning with the injection of 24 billion baht in soft loans for the struggling aviation sector, battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Representatives of Thai Air Asia, its long haul division Thai Air Asia X, Thai Smile, Thai Lion Air, Thai Viet Jet, Bangkok Airways and Nok…
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19 year old arrested for allegedly recruiting teens for prostitution
A 19 year old woman was arrested for allegedly recruiting young girls on social media for prostitution. Police say some of the girls that she recruited for sex work were teenagers. Some of them as young as 15 years old. The woman used Twitter to lure the girls in and provide them with prostitution work. Police did not report the…
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Should foreigners go to protests and get involved in Thai politics?
Should foreigners get involved in the Thai protests? Is it any of our business? Is there a danger of being targeted and thrown out of the country? Most foreigners, certainly the vast majority, will say they’re uncomfortable even discussing local politics with Thais, especially THAT other big topic. Most are happy to walk the beaches, explore or sit in the…
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Satellite captures flood devastation in Thailand’s lower-north
The devastation wreaked by heavy floods in Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, provinces in the lower-north of the country, can be seen from space. A report in Nation Thailand says an Italian satellite, Cosmo Skymed-1, has captured photos that show over 125,000 rai of land is submerged as a result of heavy rainfall in the area. PHOTO: Nation Thailand Around 100,000 rai…
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Pro-democracy activist mounts campaign near Bangkok memorial
Political activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa has started a campaign he’s calling “Camp Not Jail” near a Bangkok memorial that commemorates pro-democracy activists who were killed in a 1973 rally in the capital. Jatupat, commonly known as “Pai Dao Din”, has erected a number of tents, where he screens documentaries about democracy to attract the attention of passersby. Nation Thailand reports that…
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Thai Government puts wheels in motion for constitutional reform
The coalition government has approved a motion that sets the stage for the 2017 Thai Constitution to be amended. A report in the Bangkok Post today says a 200 member panel is being formed to oversee the process. Members will include 150 elected writers, as well as senators and academics, while student representatives may nominate a further 50 members. It’s…
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CCSA considers another 2 groups of foreigners for return to Thailand
The next batch of returnee categories is now being considered by the CCSA. This time, foreigners with permanent residences who have been stranded overseas for the past 6 months, and long-term foreign residents, will receive priority when the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announces the next date for the next phase of lifting the shutters on Thailand’s borders. The chairman…
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Thai Airways launching direct flights to Phuket for “Safe & Sealed” campaign
Thai Airways is dusting off its fleet and getting ready to relaunch international travel, with direct flights to Phuket from 6 countries planned to take off in the next few months. It’s all designed to co-incide with the announced “safe & sealed” campaign which the Thai government hope will re-boot tourism for the beleaguered island. Thai Airways flights have been…
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TikTok CEO quits amid pressure to sell
Kevin Mayer, the high flying CEO of TikTok, quit today under US pressure for the platform’s Chinese owner Bytedance to sell popular video app, which Washington says is a national security threat. In a letter to employees, Mayer said his decision to leave comes because the “political environment has sharply changed.” Mayer, a former Disney executive, joined TikTok as CEO…
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Northern Thailand pigs on lockdown after virus outbreak
While humans are still trying to get a handle on the coronavirus, pigs in Northern Thailand are facing their own virus outbreak. The Department of Livestock Development have opened an investigation after the death of 5 pigs. Some pig farmers may need to kill off their pigs to prevent the virus from spreading. The pigs died from porcine reproductive and…
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Human trials of Thai-made vaccine delayed by months
Thailand’s hopes of having a locally made coronavirus vaccine early next year appear to have been dashed; the head of Thai team developing the vaccine said in a press briefing yesterday that Thailand will delay human trials due to limited production capacity at overseas facilities. Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of the Chulalongkorn University’s vaccine development program, said health authorities had planned…
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PM issues ominous warning as students submit manifesto
Yesterday, leaders of the student movement Free Youth submitted their now-infamous 10 point manifesto on reforming the Monarchy to a House committee for consideration. Panasaya Sitthijirawattanakul, a leader of a group calling itself the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, forwarded the 10-point manifesto, which was compiled at a demonstration on August 10 at Thammasat University, to Move Forward Party…
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Government orders social media companies to block more websites deemed offensive
The Minister of Digital Economy and Society says his ministry is asking social media companies to block access to content that breaches Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act. Buddhipongse Punnakanta has confirmed that court orders are in place to block over 1,000 links said to contain offensive content. Of those, 661 can be found on Facebook, 289 on You Tube, and 69…
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No legal action from Facebook: minister
Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society said yesterday he doesn’t believe Facebook will take any legal action against the government and the ministry in relation to legal requests to take down or restrict access to some of its content, since the platform has cooperated well with previous requests. Buddhipongse Punnakanta was speaking at a press conference at the DES…
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Amnesty International accuses Facebook of caving in to Thai Government
“The company should not have given in to the demands in the first place.” Facebook has acquiesced to the Thai Government’s demands to remove a Facebook Group that had been critical of the Thai Monarchy. The page, “Royalist Marketplace”, had a following of a million people and administered by a self-exiled Thai living in Japan. The group’s page cannot be accessed in…
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