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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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Indonesian religious council forbids crypto for Muslims
While cryptocurrency is growing steadily in popularity, Indonesia’s council of religious leaders have announced that crypto and digital assets are banned for Muslims. Indonesia holds the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, and the National Ulema Council is the religious authority that makes decisions based on Shariah law. In their deliberation and consultation with experts, they determined…
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Public Health Minister barred entry to Switzerland over vaccine requirements
Switzerland barred entry to Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, reportedly for not meeting the country’s Covid-19 vaccination requirements, and Thai media reports that the minister missed a World Health Organisation meeting. Anutin was the first person in Thailand to be injected with a Covid-19 vaccine on February 28, kicking off the country’s mass immunisation campaign. He was injected with…
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Flooding rains hamper Koh Samui for 2 days
The rain has stopped in Koh Samui… For a few minutes. On the island, there has been at least a drizzle nonstop for the past 2 days, with fits of torrential downpour pelting anyone who braves the weather.A popular Facebook group, Thunder Road Reporters, is a community group that members snap photos and post live updates of road conditions they…
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Friday Covid Update: 7,305 new cases; provincial totals
51 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 19,934 with 19,840 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 7,305 new Covid-19 cases and 7,900 recoveries. There are now 95,804 people in Thailand being treated for…
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RT-PCR Covid-19 tests still required for international arrivals – CCSA
After talk of whether to replace the mandatory RT-PCR Covid-19 test for international arrivals with the rapid antigen test kit method, the CCSA decided to continue to use RT-PCR tests to screen travellers upon arrival in Thailand. The antigen test kits, or ATKs, will be used for travellers on days 6 and 7, or if they develop coronavirus symptoms, according…
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List of provinces by the CCSA’s colour-coded zoning, in effect Tuesday
In its general meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, the CCSA decided to approved the following zoning, starting next Tuesday, November 16. The “dark red” zones have been reduced from seven provinces to six, with Chanthaburi reclassified as a “red” zone under less stringent disease control measures. A spokesperson says the nightly curfew in “dark red” zones from 11pm to…
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Modern luxury cultivated in Thai tradition
Sponsored Article The Thailand International Boat Show is delighted to have the InterContinental Phuket Resort as one of its key exhibitors and sponsors. “It is quite an achievement for the island of Phuket to stage the Thailand International Boat Show 2022 in January as soon as tourism starts to assume normalcy,” says Bjorn Courage, the general manager of the Intercontinental…
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Shining Stars – brightening young minds since 2008
Sponsored Article Shining Stars Kamala is excited to open its doors for its thirteenth year in the community. Shining Stars Kamala is a small progressive preschool and kindergarten located in Phuket, Thailand. This school offers an English-intensive curriculum for local and international students situated between the lush jungle hills and the west coast beach of Phuket. This small school allows…
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Bangkok Airways to resume flights between Suvarnabhumi and Phnom Penh
Bangkok Airways has confirmed it will resume flights to Cambodia from December, with a service between Suvarnabhumi airport and Phnom Penh. TTR Weekly reports that the announcement follows an earlier sales email from the carrier’s Phnom Penh office that promoted one-way fares to Bangkok. An Airbus A320 will operate the route 4 times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and…
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3 clinics raided with unlicensed South Korean chiropractic doctors
In Bangkok, 3 health clinics were raided by the Consumer Protection Division Police who found unregistered South Korean doctors working there. The raids took place in Chitlom and Sri Nakharin in Bangkok, and Muang Thong Thani housing estate in neighbouring Nonthaburi and were carried out under the coordination of Ministry of Public Health Ministerial Aide Sathit Pitudecha. The raids took…
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Businesses call on government to accelerate return of migrant workers
Businesses in Thailand are urging the government to speed up the process that will allow for the legal return of migrant workers from neighbouring countries. The Labour Ministry recently confirmed its intention to sign MoUs with Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos that would permit workers from those countries to enter Thailand from December. However, according to a Bangkok Post report, Thailand’s…
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Chon Buri father arrested for drugging and assaulting his daughter
After a 10-day manhunt, police have arrested a Chon Buri father accused of drugging and then sexually assaulting his 16 year old daughter. Police released details of the incident yesterday after chasing the man down in Minburi, Bangkok and taking him into custody. A woman went with her 16 year old daughter to the Ko Chan Police Station with the…
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Thailand will give fourth vaccine for those who need it for travel
Apart from the growing evident reality of global inequality of access to vaccines, across Thailand there is still a gap where some people are struggling to get access to their first vaccine while others have had their third booster shot already. Now Thailand is beginning a round of fourth Covid-19 vaccine injections for those who require one, mainly for international…
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Moderna vaccine rollout finally begins in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai marked a step in the right direction yesterday as, after a months-long wait, the province began its first injections of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. The Northern province has been experiencing a spike in Covid-19 infection in the last few weeks that has made it one of the daily most infected provinces in Thailand, so the first batch of…
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Government warns pro-democracy activists to behave
The Thai government has warned pro-democracy activists to cease any activity they see as a threat to the monarchy. Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam issued the warning in the wake of a Constitutional Court ruling that found 3 activists guilty of plotting to overthrow the monarchy. Anon Nampa, Panupong “Mike” Jadnok, and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul all deny the accusations, insisting they…
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Government considers easing entry rules, antigen testing may replace PCR test
In anticipation of more international arrivals in the coming months, the Thai government is reviewing current entry requirements. According to a Bangkok Post report, officials may replace the PCR test with antigen test kits and rules could be relaxed for people unfortunate enough to have sat near an infected passenger during their flight. Any amendment of the current rules would…
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Israel’s bet on early COVID booster shots pays off
People wait in line patiently at a pop-up vaccination center inside a city building in West Jerusalem. “I am here to get my third shot — it’s really important so Israel can open up,” says Leah Powell, a student visiting from the US. “There is still a mask mandate in some places, but it feels like real life is coming…
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TikTok hand signal: Is social media the next frontier to battle domestic violence?
When countries around the world first started going into lockdown in early 2020, women’s organizations had to think of ways to help people who might be trapped at home with their abusers. One of them, the Canadian Women’s Foundation, came up with a hand signal to show that one is in distress: tucking one’s thumb into the palm and curling…
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Teen sought in fatal Phuket stabbing yesterday turns himself in
A brutal stabbing yesterday in Rawai resulted in an 18 year old Thai man being killed and a manhunt for the 19 year old man accused of stabbing him. Now Boonyapat ‘Not’ Petcharat has turned himself in to the Wichit Police Station seeming to be confessing to the crime. He turned himself in at 3 am and also surrendered a…
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CCSA meeting tomorrow to revise colour zones and restrictions
Tomorrow the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration will hold a general meeting to consider possible colour zone adjustments and additional disease control measures for the country. The CCSA meeting will be chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and will discuss all areas of pandemic management. According to the Government House, the 3 primary topics of tomorrows meetings will be continuing and…
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Pakistan: Imran Khan slammed for negotiating with Peshawar school attackers
Dost Muhammad was shellshocked when he heard that the Pakistani government had started negotiating with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group was responsible for attacking a military-run school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, laying siege to it, and killing 132 schoolchildren. Muhammad lost his 14-year-old son, Asad Aziz, a grade 8 student, in the attack, which is dubbed “the…
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Covid-19 medications are a boon, but don’t replace vaccines
The good news of several new anti-viral pills that have shown to be effective in greatly reducing Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths, coupled with statistically rare vaccine side effects or deaths that some people latch onto, may tempt many to skip getting vaccinated and rely solely on medication once they get infected. But a Thai expert on crisis communication with the…
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Thailand Pass problems? Support beefed up with 24-hour hotlines
The Thai government has been touting the success of the Thailand Pass programme while quietly acknowledging a cornucopia of shortcomings and problems users have encountered and publicly complained about. But, due to the high volume of complaints about problems in attempting to register on the Thailand Pass website, the Department of Consular Affairs has beefed up their helplines with a…
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Government panel created to defend consumers online from fraud
A new panel was established by The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, which will be in place to protect online shoppers from fraud. As Thailand’s internet economy experiences massive growth, problems related to online transactions are rising, too. With this panel, the government aims to help protect consumers from these internet scams. Secretary general of the Thailand Consumer Council…
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Internet economy of SEA expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030
The internet economy of Southeast Asia is growing… fast. Industries like online shopping and food delivery have grown exponentially since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters reports, citing an industry report released yesterday. The region’s internet economy is expected to continue growing, and eventually reach US$1 trillion by 2030. This joint report was released by Google, business consultancy group…
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Lawsuit filed against Baldwin, set gun handler claims conspiracy
Following a tragic fatal accidental shooting on the set of a Hollywood movie being filmed in New Mexico, crew members of the movie are suing actor and producer Alec Baldwin who fired the fatal shot. The famous actor was starring in as well as producing “Rust”, an Old West film, when he was handed a gun to rehearse a scene…
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Loy Krathong celebration by ICONSIAM to be “magical” and under SHA standards
The Tourism Authority of Thailand partners with ICONSIAM, Thai Chamber of Commerce and alliance to preserve the Thai traditional festival of Loy Krathong by organizing ICONSIAM A Magical Loy Krathong Upon The Chao Phraya River under a high level of hygienic and safety measures according to SHA The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has partnered with ICONSIAM and business alliances…
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Teenager stabbed to death at Phuket home
An 18 year old was stabbed to death in a fight last night in the Rawai neighborhood of Phuket and officers are now looking for those involved. When emergency responders arrived to the home at around 7pm and found Nakarin Somboon unconscious on the floor and severely bleeding from 10 stab wounds, including a deep cut to his right chest.…
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50 year old man arrested accused of sexual abuse of 9 year old girl
Accused of sexually abusing a 9 year old girl, police in Bang Lamung arrested a 50 year old man working at a wood factory. The Huayyai Police responded to a complaint in the Pattaya area from a man and his 9 year old niece alleging the sexual abuse on Tuesday. The man reported to police that, in speaking with the…
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Hackers seized Constitutional Court website after protester ruling
In response to the Constitutional Court making a controversial decision that pro-democracy demonstrations, and the speeches leaders gave at them, were considered an illegal attempt to overthrow the government and monarchy, computer hackers took over the Court’s website homepage and did some redecorating. The website was hacked and text was changed to display the phrase “kangaroo court” – a slang…
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