Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Why long-term expats in Thailand say insurance is worth every baht
Thailand’s warm weather, low cost of living, and good healthcare attract many long-term expats, including retirees and remote workers. Life here feels easy and affordable, but medical costs can be high if something goes wrong. Private hospitals are popular because...
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Thai Lion predicts football matches, other abilities currently unknown
Step aside Aslan, there’s a new mythical lion in town. A Thai zoo up in the northern province of Khon Kaen is claiming they have a lion that can predict the Euro 2020 football matches. The lion, a 5 year old white lion named “Boy”, has supposedly correctly predicted 4 Euro 2020 matches. The lion lives and does his sports…
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Reopening details for Phuket, Samui and beyond laid out
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha made the bold announcement Wednesday that Thailand would be reopening in 120 days and now more details are being solidified for different regions around the country. The Phuket Sandbox leads the way July 1, and new plans look to launch Samui Plus on July 15, with Krabi, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Buri Ram, and Phang Nga expected to…
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Woman falls off building on Pattaya’s Walking Street
Last night in Pattaya, a woman fell off a building. She fell an estimated 4 metres on the well known Walking Street. The woman, whose identity is unknown, fell around 11:30 pm. Emergency responders got to the scene to see a woman they believe is Thai and about 35 years old. She was lying on the ground in a pool of…
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Refinements to the Sandbox as the countdown continues to Thailand’s reopening
Nearing the 10 day countdown to the Phuket sandbox and it couldn’t be a more important milestone for Thailand’s battered tourist industry. The official re-opening to world travellers and tourists to the tropical island in southern Thailand is a vital pilot program for the rest of the country. This week the PM proclaimed that all of Thailand will be open…
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Amendment to reform Constitution rejected by Parliament
A draft amendment started by Pheu Thai Party, an opposition party, to establish a Constitution Drafting Assembly has just been rejected in the parliament. The legal advisory committee to parliament rejected the amendment, which was intended as a path towards creating a new, revised charter. The section in question, Section 256 in Thailand’s constitution, would be amended in order to…
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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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Sandbox latest, CCSA says all regions reopening must reach 70% local vaccination
Discussions about re-opening Thailand have spread beyond Phuket with the latest decisions from the CCSA. Meanwhile, Phuket’s Sandbox re-opening date of July 1 looms. The main narrative out of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is the need for regions or provinces, slated for re-opening to vaccinated overseas travellers, to have vaccinated 70% of their resident population before they can…
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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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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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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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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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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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Thai DDC probe into Covid-19 vaccine recipient deaths to finish next week
Thai health officials are finishing up an investigation into deaths involving those who had received the Covid-19 vaccine. The Department of Disease Control is looking into 68 deaths and plans to report the cause of death of each case next week. So far, 13 of the cases are not directly related to the vaccine, according to the director of the…
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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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Friday Covid Update: 3,058 new cases and 22 deaths
3,058 new Covid-19 cases and 22 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The recent and most severe wave of the virus, infecting 181,919 people since April 1, is now on a downward trend as the number of recoveries recorded each day continues to exceed the number of new cases. Today, the CCSA reported 4,094…
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Krabi hotels pin hopes on Phuket sandbox success
Hotel operators in the southern province of Krabi will be watching Phuket’s imminent re-opening with great interest. The success of the Phuket “sandbox” will determine what happens in Thailand’s other tourism hotspots. According to the Bangkok Post, a successful re-opening for Phuket would mean Krabi and other destinations can look forward to re-opening their hotels and recruiting workers for the…
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Tourism bodies concerned vaccination uncertainty will disrupt re-opening
Earlier this week, Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, pledged to re-open the country to international tourism within 120 days. But tourism operators aren’t breathing a sigh of relief just yet. Many have voiced concerns over the delays in the vaccine rollout, fearing that if Thailand doesn’t get its act together on vaccination, the re-opening could be affected. According to the Bangkok…
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Nightlife businesses petition government to reopen, sell alcohol
After more than a year of closures, a coalition of nightlife business representatives is petitioning the government to reopen next month and to lift the alcohol ban. With the support of the Democrat Party deputy leader Prin Phannichphak, who also heads the Modern Business Group, a collection of event organisers, musicians, fitness business reps and entertainment industry reps submitted the…
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Outbreaks at factories rise, operators ordered to file Covid risk assessment
With Covid-19 clusters reported at numerous factories in Thailand infecting thousands, the Industry Ministry is ordering all factory operators to fill out a Covid-19 risk assessment form by the end of the month, warning that operators that do not cooperate may face punishment. Around 150 factories in more than 20 provinces have reported outbreaks infecting a total of more than…
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Prayut going to Phuket, see if it’s Sandbox ready
Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, is set to travel to Phuket and determine its “readiness” to reopen for the proposed reopening on July 1. This news comes from a report in Thai media. The report says Prayut and other ministers will go to Phuket next Friday. When he gets to the island, Prayut and his cohorts will “inspect” the full…
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Chulabhorn Royal Academy details Sinopharm vaccine insurance
Chulabhorn Royal Academy has announced key details of their insurance coverage included with Sinopharm vaccinations they provide as the business registration deadline approaches tomorrow. The new specifics for coverage include generous age restrictions, residence status, period of coverage, and payout totals for the insurance for those affected by the vaccine. In a post to their Facebook page yesterday, the academy…
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Thai-English auto-translate down on Facebook due to “technical issues”
Facebook’s Thai to English auto-translation feature on posts and comments has been taken down due to “technical issues,” the social media company’s communications manager for Thailand and Laos wrote in a statement to The Thaiger. Some have pointed out that auto-translate displayed an incorrect and derogatory word for a post on a recent royal ceremony in Thailand. Facebook did not…
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Electricty outages in Phuket today
Electricity will briefly be shut off in the Heroines Monument area of Phuket today. The Provincial Electricity Authority will be installing high voltage cables. According to Thai media, the power outage will last from 9 am today to 4:30 pm. It will be near Thepkrasattri Rd and will extend from the Thalang office of the Provincial Electricity Authority to the…
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EU Free Trade Agreement talks resume after 7-year coup hiatus
After a 7-year delay following Thailand’s military coup, talks have resumed to create a Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and the European Union. The Ministry of Commerce hosted a meeting this morning between Thailand’s Commerce Minister, also a Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ambassador of the European Union to Thailand. The two met to have conversations about a variety of…
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