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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Sponsored Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
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Tuesday Covid Update: 18,901 new cases, provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 18,901 new Covid-19 cases and 147 coronavirus-related deaths today, raising the total case count since the start of the pandemic to 652,185 and the Covid death toll to 5,315. The latest and most severe wave of Covid-19 in Thailand, which was first recorded on April 1, has accounted for 623,322 infections and 5,221…
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Air Asia technician arrested for allegedly stealing electronics
Bangkok Police have arrested a technical who worked for Air Asia for allegedly stealing multiple pieces of electrical equipment. The thefts had been discovered after Air Asia had noticed the equipment was missing. Officials then checked CCTV and saw 27 year old Preecha Inthachai allegedly putting items in a bag. Don Muang police then arrested Preecha and searched his home…
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3 metre long python caught near family’s house in Phuket
Recently, a group of civil defence volunteers were called to a family’s house in Srisoonthorn, Phuket to help catch a 3 metre long python. Nopparit Rungrueng, who is the headman of the Srisoonthorn Subdistrict led the team of snake finders/catchers. The volunteers got to the house just before noon and started to look for the snake, which was spotted by…
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Government says not to buy Favipiravir/Avigan online, says it might be fake
Yesterday, Traisuree Taisaranaku, the deputy government spokesperson said that people should refrain from buying the antiviral medication Favipiravir online because it’s possibly fake. The drug also goes by the brand name Avigan, as well as other names. The spokesperson says the medication should only be taken if it is prescribed by a doctor. Traisuree says people were tricked through social…
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Man goes missing off Freedom Beach, Phuket
Yesterday, a man went for a swim off of Freedom Beach in Phuket and was carried away by a strong current. He was last seen early in the afternoon. Boonyarit Inthakarn from the Patong Police arrived at the beach just after 2 pm. 21 year old Thanakit Srisuwanwichian, told police he, and his then non-missing friend, Akkarapol Pattranonwere, were swimming…
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What is so important about the Sandbox?
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Being on the ground in Phuket over the past sixteen months of the pandemic I have experienced the up’s and downs of pandemic tourism firsthand. Over the past month with the Sandbox program coming into place, we have seen over 13,000 travellers arrive at the Phuket International Airport. “What is so important about the…
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Thailand’s foreign tourist numbers expected to plummet during 2021
Tourism officials have repeated a bleak prediction that international arrivals in Thailand are likely to drop to an all-time low this year. According to a Bangkok Post report, Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says foreign visitors to the Kingdom may only number 500,000 this year. “If the ongoing outbreak continues past September, the total number of foreign tourists this year might…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 18,901 new cases and 147 deaths
18,901 new Covid-19 cases and 147 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the total case count in the latest wave, first recorded on April 1, to 623,322 confirmed Covid-19 infections. There are now 209,039 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand. Dozens of isolation centres are being set up in Bangkok, the epicentre of the…
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Bangkok Train Market official says they will reopen
The Thaiger recently wrote that Bangkok’s Train Market/Ratchada Night Market was possibly closing for good. However, now, a member of the management team for the market says the closure is only temporary and that it will reopen as soon as conditions allow it to do so. “We had to close because of the situation right now, and we will announce…
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August vaccination plan: 80% of Bangkok residents; open to general public, expats
Thailand has opened its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign to the general public who are at least 18 years old, including foreign residents. Priority is still given to those who are 60 and above, and those who have one of the specified underlying conditions that puts them at risk of severe infection if they were to contract Covid-19. By the end…
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300 beds added to Phuket’s second field hospital
300 hospital beds have been erected at a meeting hall at Phuket Rajabhat University AKA PRU, in Rassada. It is set to be the second field hospital for “light green” Covid cases. The Phuket Vice Governor, Pichet Panapong says the 300 additional beds were set up because all beds at the first field hospital at Prince of Songkla University were…
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The Thaiger launches the ‘I Am Strong’ campaign
(Video Link Below) Here is a link to the donation page… https://gogetfunding.com/the-thaigers-i-am-strong-campaign/ The Thaiger (The Thaiger Pte Ltd) is reaching out to readers and viewers of our news channels to help the thousands of people who are falling through the cracks of government and community help at this time. Many of these people are migrant workers, but many are also…
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Protestors fill Bangkok streets to protest Prayut, many protest leaders present
Yesterday, a multitude of pro-democracy protesters sat in their cars and motorbikes gathered at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument demanding Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha resign. The “car mob” was full of pro-democracy leaders and anti-establishment groups, like Nattawut Saikua, former secretary general of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship/Red Shirt movement. As well as other protest leaders, such as Ratsadon leaders…
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Teenagers arrested for allegedly running underage prostitution racket
Two teenagers were arrested for allegedly running a prostitution racket where underage girls would provide sexual services. The 16 year old and the 19 year old were arrested at a hotel in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district by a task force investigating human trafficking. Officers also say they rescued two 15 year olds who were at the hotel and were hired to…
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PM’s daughters get letter asking them to tell their father to resign
A joint letter was sent to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s twin daughters Tanya and Nittha, asking them to relay the message to their father that he should resign because of his mismanagement of the Covid situation. The letter was sent by the daughters’ former classmates and was addressed to “Ms Ploy” and “Ms Ploen”. The former classmates’, Class 40 of the Communication…
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Monday Covid Update: 17,970 new cases, provincial totals
17,970 new Covid-19 cases and 178 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 633,264 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 5,168 coronavirus-related deaths. The recent wave has accounted for 604,421 of those cases. Thailand now has 208,875 active Covid-19 cases. Over the…
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Healthcare worker pleads with PM to set up “war room” to manage pandemic
A healthcare worker at the Thammasat University field hospital in central Thailand has urged the Thai PM to set up a “war room” for daily Covid-19 meetings. In a Facebook post, the unnamed medic pleads with the PM to hold daily meetings with his ministers in order to stay on top of developments and deal with issues immediately, as opposed…
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Official detained after spreading rumour of planned coup to oust PM
Following a rumour that a military coup to remove PM Prayut Chan-o-cha from office was in the works, a state official has been detained, accused of spreading fake news. The Bangkok Post reports that deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen has confirmed that a man has been detained for questioning in the central province of Chachoengsao, where he has admitted to…
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Thai AirAsia suspends flights, cuts salaries as financial woes continue
As Thailand’s airlines continue to struggle with the financial fallout from Covid-19, Thai AirAsia has suspended all flights for this month. The carrier is also cutting staff salaries or deferring partial or whole payment until September. According to a Bangkok Post report, the airline’s financial woes are worsening as low passenger numbers show no sign of improving and cash flow…
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Monday Covid Update: 17,970 new cases and 178 deaths
17,970 new Covid-19 cases and 178 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. In the latest and most severe wave of infections, first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported 604,421 confirmed Covid-19 infections. There are now 208,875 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand. Over the past several days, the daily Covid-19 case count has…
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Family finds long lost man after he is rescued from 17 metre well
They say when you lose something valuable you’ll often find it in the place you’d least expect it. That certainly turned out to be true for a family with an estranged uncle who they had lost 15 years ago who was reunited with them after a freak accident that found the man at the bottom of the well in Sattahip.…
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16 new dark red provinces and restrictions extended to August 16
16 more provinces will be added to Thailand’s dark red zones and all will see partial lockdown restrictions extended until August 16 according to a statement this late afternoon by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The announcement extended the lockdowns set to expire August 3 for an additional 2 weeks, and expanded the number of provinces classified as dark…
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Foreigners able to register on vaccine site despite data leaks, glitches
The debut of Thailand’s new vaccine appointment registration site expatvac.consular.go.th has now opened to mixed reviews. Many reported a host of problems, but quite a few people said that in the end they received emails confirming their registration and forthcoming appointments. And of course, it opened to a data breach. The vaccine registration site launched at 11 am and within…
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Covid UPDATE: 18,027 infections, provincial totals
Today the public health department has announced an additional 18,027 infections and 133 Covid-related deaths from the past 24 hours. 374 of the new cases were found in Thai prisons. 13,402 patients have been released from hospital. Yesterday there were 18,912 new infections announced, a record high. 4,691 patients are still under care in ICU with 1,012 people on ventilators. Vaccines……
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August flight plans: Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Lion
With lockdowns, sealed provinces, travel restrictions and ever-changing updates due to the continuously growing Covid-19 infections around the country, struggling airlines are scrambling to keep up. AirAsia was the first earlier this month to cancel all domestic flights, and other local airlines quickly followed suit. Yesterday Bangkok Airways cut nearly all of their domestic flights, extending their flight suspension until…
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New site for foreigner vaccine; Mor Prom deletes appointments
In life – as in vaccine registration processes – if at first you don’t succeed, try a few dozen more times. Following on the myriad plans to register people, local and foreigners for vaccines, many of which started and ended within days and suffered data leaks, site crashes, glitches (see the second half of this article) and near-constant confusion, a…
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Facebook fake news post suggesting a coup faces prosecution
While pressure has been mounting against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, a Facebook user posted a false claim that an army had captured the Prime Minister and is staging a coup and is now facing charges. The story was posted midday yesterday and seemed to detail a coup attempt, alleging that 300 military members from Lop Buri were already holding PM Prayut…
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Prayut says he will not resign, warns politicians to behave
Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, says he will not answer the reoccurring call for him to resign, neither will he dissolve the House as Thailand’s Covid situation continues to worsen. The PM also cautioned politicians against exploiting the crisis, and/or inciting hatred which he says will only make the situation worse. The recondite hatred statement mirrors a statement from government…
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Covid UPDATE: 18,912 infections, provincial totals
Today the Public Health department has announced 18,912 new infections and 178 Covid-related deaths for the past 24 hours around Thailand. There were 810 cases from Thai prisons. Today’s totals are a new record for daily cases since the start of the pandemic. Here are today’s provincial totals for the past 24 hours… • 10,678 patients were released from medical…
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Government says it’s okay to criticise them, if it’s fact based
It’s okay to criticise the government, such as the Health Minister who recently suggested huge crowds of people were an optical illusion. It is also okay to demand the government get more vaccines, and faster, as long the criticisms are based on facts, said government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri and the Deputy Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek, yesterday. The recent government order forbidding…
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