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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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Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Tourism seeing signs of recovery after Covid-19 pandemic
Thailand’s reopening hasn’t quite caused an avalanche of tourists pouring into the country, but the tourism industry is seeing some recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic with a steadily increasing stream of arrivals gaining momentum. The CCSA reports that nearly 60,000 international travellers have entered Thailand in the first 16 days of the reopening program. With the increasing daily arrivals, November…
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Vaccine side effects fund has paid out 621 million baht
The program to pay financial compensation for anyone with mild or severe side effects after getting a Covid-19 vaccine has now paid out 621 million baht to 6,177 recipients. The National Health Security Office is responsible for the remedial assistance program that pays out up to 100,000 baht for mild side effects and up to 400,000 baht for side effects…
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China fines Alibaba, Tencent in anti-monopoly crackdown
As part of a larger anti-monopoly crackdown, China fined tech giants including Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings for not reporting 43 acquisitions over the past eight years. The State Administration for Market Regulation said the companies “failed to declare illegal implementation of operating concentration.” The acquisitions involved are assets in the areas of technology, medical technology and mapping. Each violation…
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Next CCSA meeting will discuss opening nightlife businesses sooner
Facing enormous pressure from entertainment and nightlife workers and businesses, the National Security Council Secretary-General hinted that lifting the ban on nightlife will be up for discussion at the next CCSA meeting. He said PM Prayut Chan-o-cha understands and sympathises with those in the industry but also worries about the Covid-19 situation as infections are still high and the country…
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Yemen: Journalists fear for their lives
It happened on Tuesday morning, two weeks ago. The journalists Rasha Abdullah al-Hazari and her husband Mahmud al-Utmi were about to drive to a hospital in Aden for a check-up on Rasha’s pregnancy. But when the couple got into their car, a car bomb exploded. Rasha died on the spot, along with her unborn baby. Her heavily injured husband was…
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Chamber of Commerce proposes familiar plans for the economy
Ahead of a meeting with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha tomorrow, the Thai Chamber of Commerce has compiled a list of measures to boost Thailand’s struggling economy. The proposal was sourced from 5 regional chambers of commerce and will be submitted to the prime minister tomorrow as part of his meetings with private sector representatives. The proposed measures aren’t particularly groundbreaking, mostly…
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Thai man arrested for alleged rape, drowning, burning Burmese woman
A 21 year old Burmese woman died after Thai man allegedly abducted, raped, accidentally drowned her, then set her body on fire. The incident took place in Prachin Buri and police have now arrested a 27 year old man who is alleged to have confessed to his crime, saying he was haunted by her spirit. Boonlai Buaman is working for…
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Wat Arsasongkhram used flood waters to celebrate Loy Krathong
For Wat Arsasongkhram in Samut Prakan, flooding seemed like the appropriate way to celebrate Loy Krathong, the festival offering worship to the water goddess Ganga. For a holiday that sees millions of Thai people floating krathong boats in bodies of water across Thailand, the temple took advantage of recent flooding to offer a unique venue for the boats to float.…
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3 Cathay Pacific pilots broke Covid-19 rules, got fired and infected
After what Cathay Pacific described as a serious breach of pandemic regulations, 3 cargo pilots were fired after becoming infected with Covid-19 and putting many others at risk. An internal investigation found the pilots for Hong Kong’s flagship airline broke Covid-19 safety rules while abroad in Frankfurt, Germany. The airline is known for being very proactive about Covid-19 safety and…
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Austria to enter lockdown Monday, Germany may follow
As Europe is increasingly engulfed in another wave of Covid-19 infections, Austria announced it will go into a full lockdown on Monday, and Germany in a national emergency is considering following with a lockdown of its own. The announcement makes Austria the first country in Western Europe to go back into a lockdown in the face of a worsening Covid-19…
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TAT: 400,000 tourist in 2021, 18 million in 2022 worth 1 trillion
The November 1 reopening of Thailand has received mixed results, with Pattaya reportedly seeing the vast majority of arrivals being expats coming home, and Hua Hin welcoming less than 100 of the 100,000 predicted tourists. But, as always, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has nothing but rosy predictions for the boom that will start any minute, with TAT Governor Yuthasak…
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TAT touts another rosy outlook for 2022 arrivals into Thailand – VIDEOS
Whilst the Ministry of Tourism and Sports approve marketing spending for 2022, their tourism promotion arm, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, have been throwing around more highly optimistic arrival figures for next year. “TAT set the revenue target from tourism in 2022 at 1.5 trillion baht, or about 50% of tourism revenue in 2019 (before the Covid-19 situation)”, according to…
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Sudan’s protest movement: ‘Now we are driven by anger’
The messages came in without prior warning. On Thursday evening, millions of texts, photos and videos about the protests and the violent clampdown finally reached cell phones in Sudan. “The footage is horrific,” Rania Aziz, a 36-year-old activist in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, told DW in a video call. Then she started crying. “We are experiencing a national shock now,” she…
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West Bank: Harvesting olives under rabbis’ protection
On a sunny autumn day, Palestinian Bashar Sharab is busy pouring freshly brewed coffee in small paper cups for Israeli and Palestinian volunteers who are helping him pick olives near the village of Awarta, near the West Bank town of Nablus. Pickers are perched on ladders to reach the small fruits, while others lay plastic sheets underneath the trees to…
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PM Prayut holds unscheduled meeting with US CIA head
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha had an officially unscheduled meeting this morning with David Cohen, the deputy director of the US Central Intelligence Agency. The unannounced meeting took place this morning when the deputy director of the CIA dropped in on the prime minister at Government House. The unscheduled meeting between the Thai prime minister and the American intelligence official was held…
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Police “Joe Ferrari” torture case in court today, main charges denied
Today the 7 police officers accused of the suffocation death caught on video of a suspect in custody at the Nakhon Sawan police station had their day in court. Pol Col Thitisan “Jo Ferrari” Utthanaphon admitted that he assaulted the suspect, but claimed his death was an accident and denied the strongest charges of murder and torture against him. In…
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Sea gypsies hope better livelihood ahead upcoming local elections
Local elections are coming up and it will be the first time many of Thailand’s Moken tribes, or also known as sea gypsies, will be voting in the Tambon Administration Organisation elections. The indigenous Moken tribes are known for their lifestyle of semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers for centuries in the Andaman Sea. They are known to be able to hold their breath…
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Truck veers off road and smashes through Chon Buri grocery store
A local grocer met with a rude awakening as he slept in a bedroom in the back of his grocery store in Chon Buri. At 2 am, the owner of a grocery store in Bor Thong was woken by a pickup truck smashing through the front of his shop, nearly into his bedroom behind the store. Bor Thong Police responded…
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Friday Covid Update: 6,855 new cases; provincial totals
51 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 20,305 with 20,211 of those fatalities during the latest wave, which was first recorded on April 1. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 6,855 new Covid-19 cases and 7,655 recoveries. There are now 89,821 people in Thailand being…
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Pattaya mayor calls for more security on Bali Hai pier
After a number of incidents went viral on social media, the mayor of Pattaya ordered officials to crack down on issues at the Bali Hai pier. Crimes like price gouging and tour boats operating without licenses have been frequently reported, so as of yesterday there will be a significant increase in police and security on the pier. Bali Hai pier…
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TAT highlights November and December events in Blue Zones
Throughout the Blue Zone, designated as tourist provinces that are welcoming tourists in a 7-day Sandbox scheme, events and celebrations are taking place to welcome people back to Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand compiled a list of activities and highlights in November and December from these 17 zones where fully vaccinated travellers can arrive from around the world with…
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Mali’s dancing plastic monster
Bamako, Mali, has an environmental star. Contemporary dancer Zol uses his constume and dancing skills to highlight plastic pollution. SOURCE: DW News
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Singapore-Malaysia Vaccinated Travel Lane starts Monday, 6 airlines offer flights
With Singapore and Malaysia’s so-called “Vaccinated Travel Lane” launching Monday, allowing quarantine-free travel for those going to and from the two countries, six airlines will offer flights under the scheme. AirAsia, Jetstar Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air, Scoot, and Singapore Airlines are set to fly between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur under VTL programme, starting Monday, according to the Civil Aviation…
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China’s lobbying for Myanmar junta to join Xi Summit met with opposition
China’s Special Envoy of Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang has pressed Southeast Asian governments to allow Myanmar’s military ruler to attend a regional meeting hosted by China’s President next week, but has faced heavy opposition, diplomatic sources told Reuters reporters. He visited Singapore and Brunei last week, but was told that Myanmar military junta chief Ming Aung Hlaing would be unable…
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11 inmates climb through hole in ceiling, escape from prison cell in Nakhon Sawan
Nearly a dozen inmates climbed through a hole in a holding cell and escape from the Khlong Pho Temporary Prison in the central province Nakhon Sawan where they were held as a isolation period before being sent to Nakhon Sawan Central Prison. Officers say the inmates have been found. Police Major-General Raphiphong Sukphaiboon from Nakhon Sawan police station said the…
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Pattaya tourism quiet until entry and booze rules are eased
According to the acting president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, Pattaya is still quiet, and 95% of tourists there are Thai since the reopening to international tourists on November 1. Of the 200 to 300 people per day who do come, the majority are not tourists but businesspeople and expats. And many of the tourists who do come end…
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APEC summit in Thailand to focus on regional economy
Next year Thailand will be hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The Foreign Ministry explains that this year the meeting will be focused on economic recovery and growth in the region following the global Covid-19 pandemic. Promoting cooperation between member nations is the emphasis of this event, reports Thai PBS. The theme of the summit is said to…
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Thai Foreign Minister reportedly admits to meeting with Myanmar’s military junta
Following reports in Burmese media that Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Minister visited Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw last weekend to meet with the military junta and coup leader, the minister has reportedly revealed details about his trip, saying he discussed humanitarian aid for the country’s citizens. Foreign Affairs Minister, Don Pramudwinai, who also serves as Deputy PM, reportedly admitted to meeting with coup…
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Today’s Loy Krathong breaks traditions, Thais encouraged to celebrate “virtually”
Every year, on the 12th full moon on the lunar calendar, Thais celebrate Loy Krathong, giving thanks to the water goddess by releasing lotus-shaped floating offerings onto the water. Rivers, canals, and other bodies of water are filled with the beautiful offerings, known as krathongs, which are usually made from banana tree trunks and decorated with flowers, leaves, candles, and…
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Schools closed in north-east as shared transport blamed for Covid-19 outbreak
A Covid-19 outbreak has closed 2 schools in the north-eastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, with students and teachers quarantined. According to a Thai PBS World report, provincial health officials are blaming shared school vans for the spread of the virus. 24 students have tested positive and 295 other students and their teachers have been quarantined for observation. It’s understood a…
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