News
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Global coronavirus infections top 5 million
“We still have a long way to go in this pandemic. In the last 24 hours, there have been 106,000 cases reported to WHO, the most in a single day since the outbreak began.” The Covid-19 coronavirus has infected more than 5 million people worldwide since the beginning of the outbreak, as the World Health Organisation yesterday reported highest number…
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Death sentence handed down via video call in Singapore
A prisoner in Singapore has been sentenced to death via a Zoom video call, the first time the city state has delivered capital punishment remotely. Thai PBS World reports that 37 year old Malaysian citizen Punithan Genasan was handed the death penalty as punishment for a 2011 heroin smuggling operation. Like Thailand, Singapore operates a zero-tolerance policy for drug trafficking…
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Thai Airways union says it won’t oppose bankruptcy proceedings
“We opposed this position before but after reexamination, we have to show creditors that Thai Airways will genuinely follow the restructuring plan. Including adjustments to the board and staff.” In an abrupt reversal, the president of Thai Airways’ labour union announced yesterday that the union won’t oppose the government’s plan to reduce holdings in the airline and restructure the carrier…
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State of emergency likely to remain through June
Despite the reopening of many businesses and a loosening of the national curfew, Thailand’s national state of emergency appears set to remain in effect for at least another month, as authorities are “still not confident” about the nation’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, according to a military source. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha met yesterday with military top brass to address the…
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Thai car production hits 30 year low
As late as last year, the automotive industry in Thailand was the largest in Southeast Asia and the twelfth largest in the world, with an annual output of around 2 million vehicles. But in April this year, Thailand’s car production hit its lowest level in 30 years – just 24,711 units – amid weak global demand, factory shutdowns and widespread…
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Bars, nightlife venues may reopen early to mid-June if virus remains in check
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is mulling the possibility of bars and other entertainment venues being allowed to reopen on or before the current proposed date of June 15. This is when the country is scheduled to enter Phase Four of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. According to a report in The Pattaya News, the CCSA says any decision…
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Pattaya massage shops petition government to be allowed to reopen
Massage shops in Pattaya are appealing for permission to reopen as the city has not recorded a new case of the Covid-19 virus for 36 days now. Their plea comes as the government considers the possibility of allowing lower body massage only, to lessen the risk of virus transmission. However, the Thai Massage Association says it would be impossible for…
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Man steals one million baht to pay off gambling debts
What would you do if you were broke and owed 800,000 baht in gambling debts? Rob a bank? Seems like the start of a movie, but that’s basically what happened earlier this week in Northern Thailand. On Monday, 2 men robbed a car at gunpoint in front of Bangkok Bank Branch in Chiang Saen and sped off on their motorbike, Thai media…
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Cyclone Amphan: Crossed the coast and now saturating India and Bangladesh
Cyclone Amphan made reached the coastline late yesterday afternoon near the Indian town of Digha, on India’s eastern coast, near the border with Bangladesh. As the storm marched up the Bay of Bengal since the weekend, strengthening, thousands of people were evacuated as a precaution for the major storm system. Millions of other have taken shelter or made their way…
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Thailand News Today – Wednesday, May 20
Start off today with a sign of one of the new normals, at the Seacon Mall near Bang Na in Bangkok. Here you can see that they’ve installed foot switches for the elevator system. First to call the elevator and then, once you’re inside, to select the floor and close the doors. Luckily in the case of this elevator there…
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Last Covid-19 patient in Songklanagarind hospital sent home
A hospital on the front lines fighting Covid-19 in the Hat Yai district of the southern province of Songkhla has released its last remaining Covid-19 patient. The patient was sent home yesterday, after making a full recovery. According to the staff at Songklanagarind Hospital, the patient fell critically ill in his home province of Narathiwat and had to be transferred…
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More trouble for ailing Thai Airways as Airbus calls in its debts
Even as struggling national flag carrier Thai Airways strives to come up with blueprint for financial recovery, Airbus is calling in its debts on 30 aircraft rented by the airline. Thailand’s deputy transport minister says the company’s debts were checked on May 15, when documents showed that Airbus is trying to collect debts for rental of 30 airplanes as the…
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‘New normal’ seen in shopping malls across Bangkok
Part of the ‘new normal’, in times of Covid-19 in Thailand, involves redesigning traditional ways of doing things and changing daily life to stay safe and virus free. Today The Standard has revealed a few things that you might see in the near future. To minimise the risk of the spread of Covid-19 in elevators, engineers have created a new,…
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5 dead in high speed Surin crash
5 are dead after a pickup truck traveling at high speed crashed into a Mitsubishi Pajero in Issan’s Surin province yesterday. The incident happened on Surin-Prasat Road near the Sab-anan rice mill in the province’s Chaneang district. The pickup’s driver, who was one of those killed in the accident, is believed to have lost control of the vehicle on the…
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Chon Buri pedestrian dies in hit-and-run incident
A hit-and-run incident early this morning has left an unidentified male pedestrian, believed to be Thai, dead in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district. Police were notified of the incident at around 12:30am Authorities, emergency responders and The Pattaya News rushed to the scene to find the body of a man, believed to be Thai, estimated to be 35 -40 years old,…
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Temple closes to mark decade since redshirt crackdown
A Bangkok temple, where 6 people were shot and killed by the military during the 2010 “redshirt” political protests, has closed during the tragic event’s 10 year anniversary. A sign was put in front of Wat Pathum Wanaram saying it was closed for “disinfection,” according to Khaosod. But many see the significance of the closure relating to the events a…
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Man’s death raises alarm about homeless during the pandemic
A homeless man died recently of pneumonia, raising the alarm of Thailand’s homelessness problem during the pandemic. A few days before he died the man, who has not been identified, went to a community pantry in Suphan Buri, just outside Bangkok, and took home just one carton of milk, according to Nation Thailand. He then developed a fever last week, testing…
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Thai massage shops may reopen soon, from the waist down only
The Thai Government is debating whether to allow massage shops to reopen soon, provided treatment is limited to the lower body. Coconuts reports that the director of the Health Service Support department, Thares Karassanairawiwong, says upper body massage, including the back, shoulders and neck, will not be permitted for now as it may involve a higher risk of Covid-19 infection.…
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Criticism over bad English lesson in Thai online class
Thai schools are pushing for online learning to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but a recent English lesson posted online is just proof that basic English levels remain poor in the country. The video of a Thai teacher with poor pronunciation spread across the internet, with some saying she should be a student rather than a teacher. The teacher…
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Thailand scores highest for mask-wearing in survey of ASEAN nations
A survey carried out by internet-based market research firm YouGov reveals that Thais are the most likely to wear face masks and to use hand sanitiser. Khaosod English reports that the survey examined the habits of citizens from 6 ASEAN member-states and found that 95% of Thais always wear a face mask in public. (It’s currently still law to wear…
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12 Rohingya arrested for illegal entry in Tak province
Police in the western Thai province of Tak, near the Burmese border, say 12 Rohingya were arrested in the Mae Sot district and charged with illegal entry. The Rohingya are an ethnic group in Myanmar. Most live in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast. Myanmar is a majority Buddhist state, but the Rohingya are primarily Muslim, though a small number…
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Thai Airways’ credit rating downgraded
The credit rating for Thai Airways will be downgraded before bankruptcy restructuring takes place. Tris Rating (Thai Rating and Information Services) has downgraded the company rating for Thai Airways and its rating for Thai Airway’s senior unsecured debentures from “BBB” to “C” while maintaining a negative Credit Alert. Following the government’s resolution yesterday it seems that the national carrier has…
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Krispy Kreme employee allegedly fired after post about former Thai King
A man was fired from a Krispy Kreme Doughnut Thailand store after making disparaging remarks about a former Thai king. Now some people are boycotting the doughnut business for their actions. But Krispy Kreme executives deny the allegations. ‘Chaiyaporn Sornbudnak’ made a post on Facebook about King Rama IX, who died in 2016. News sites can’t even publish the man’s Facebook…
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Ex high ranking Buddhist officials convicted of embezzling millions
5 former National Office of Buddhism officials, including a former chief, have been found guilty of stealing 21 million baht from the organisation back in 2015. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases convicted the 5 of embezzlement and sentenced them to prison. They are also required to repay 21 million baht to the NOB. The convicted were…
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Thais on repatriation flight from London were reported with ‘fevers’
Of the 264 passengers who arrived from London on a repatriated flight 2 days ago, yesterday deputy director of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport reported that 9 Thais on the flight were discovered with a high temperature at the initial screening when they deplaned. “Airport staff screened all passengers who arrived on the EVA Air flight number BR068 from London.” “The…
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Most of Thailand placed on storm alert
As Thailand continues to feel the effects of cyclone Amphan, officials in Bangkok and 62 of Thailand’s 76 provinces have been ordered to monitor for possibilities of flash flooding and other impacts until tomorrow, according to director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. Authorities say 223 households in Nan, Lampang, Kalasin, Surin, Amnat Charoen, and Uthai Thani have already…
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New drug has potential to stop Covid-19 without a vaccine
Scientists at China’s prestigious Peking University say a drug being tested at a Chinese laboratory could not only shorten recovery time for those infected with Covid-19, but perhaps even offer short-term immunity. They believe it could “bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt”. The director of the university’s Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics told AFP that the drug has…
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Thailand News Today – Tuesday, May 19
Thailand’s new Covid-19 cases – May 19 Today the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, reported 2 additional cases of Covid-19 bringing the total number of cases in Thailand to 3,033. No further deaths have been confirmed today, leaving the accumulated toll at 56. The 2 new cases were the daughter and son in law of a previously confirmed Covid-19 patient…
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Competition Commission warns food delivery companies over unfair practices
The Office of Trade Competition Commission says it’s keeping an eye on the practices of food delivery companies to ensure restaurants that are currently unable to serve food on their premises are not being ripped off. Nation Thailand reports that the OTCC says operators who hike up their commission will face hefty fines of up to 10% of their annual revenue.…
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Highway number 7 from Pattaya to Map Ta Phut opens this Friday
According to the Thai Highways Department, the long awaited extended section of the Motorway Number 7 from Pattaya to Map Ta Phut will open up this Friday and will be accessible free of charge to users until the end of August. The Director General of the Highways Department informed the media this morning. “From May 22 the public can use…
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