News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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5 million Moderna vaccines for Thailand, half of expectation
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation said that only 5 million Moderna Covid-19 vaccines would be available at private hospitals, half as many as the 10 million total figure expected. The government of Thailand is giving free vaccinations using the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, while they had approved Johnson & Johnson, Modena, and Pfizer vaccines for private use. They later rushed to…
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Biden-Ghani meeting: Afghan president makes last-ditch effort to stop Taliban gains
US President Joe Biden will host his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, and other high-ranking Afghan officials, at the White House on Friday. The meeting is taking place at a crucial time for Afghanistan. NATO forces have already started pulling out from Afghanistan after their two-decade presence in the war-ravaged country. The withdrawal of all foreign troops is expected to be…
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Tokyo Olympics: A month to go, protesters intent on postponing games
Atsuko Nagayama is so angry that she is physically shaking. Standing with around 250 protesters in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo metropolitan government, she is holding a simple homemade placard with the words: “Cancel the Olympics.” “It is much too dangerous to go ahead with the gamesbecause we know that there are many variants of the coronavirus already…
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Apple Daily journalists say ‘press freedom is dead’ in Hong Kong
Hours before Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, announced Wednesday it would cease operations once and for all, dozens of its journalists arrived at the printing plant early Thursday morning to observe the last edition roll off the press. Emily, who joined the paper in 2019, said she had been on the front lines of the 2019 pro-democracy protests…
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Covid-19 round-up for expats 2: Will your country give a vaccine?
With so much information swirling around the reopening of Thailand and the international tourism and vaccine distribution for foreigners, we thought we’d round up some updates for our readers about what your home country says about if you should travel to Thailand and how they are helping with a vaccine and the Covid-19 situation inside the Kingdom. The information in…
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Covid-19 round-up for expats 1: Should you travel to Thailand?
With so much information swirling around the reopening of Thailand and the international tourism and vaccine distribution for foreigners, we thought we’d round up some updates for our readers about what your home country says about if you should travel to Thailand and how they are helping with a vaccine and the Covid-19 situation inside the Kingdom. The information in…
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Myth busted: Drinking alcohol does not kill Covid-19 – VIDEO
With the latest wave of Covid-19 infections, spreading quickly from clusters at Bangkok bars and nightclubs to provinces across Thailand, nightlife venues were the first to close and will probably be the last to reopen. Alcohol bans at restaurants in provinces with high numbers of active Covid-19 cases are also likely to stay in effect for a while. Thailand’s move…
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Power outages coming to Kathu, again
Electricity will be temporarily cut in parts of Kathu, Phuket tomorrow, announced the Provincial Electricity Authority. Further work is being done to install high voltage cables. Affected areas the westbound section of Phra Phuketkaew Rd, from Kathu intersection to Si Kor intersection. The power will only be out from 9 am to pm. The PEA apologises for any inconvenience not…
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Legalised marijuana up next? Courts get closer to legalising kratom
Even though kratom will soon be legal in Thailand, don’t rush to plant it at home yet It’s reported that kratom will be allowed to be used as traditional medicine by August of this year. The plant has been considered an illegal narcotic for decades. Previously, kratom was listed as a Class 5 Narcotic substance under the Narcotics Act. Taking,…
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Phuket police raids nab suspects for allegedly having guns, drugs, kratom
Yesterday, a raid in Phuket grabbed 5 alleged drug dealers. They confiscated over 1,000 Yaba pills (meth), crystal meth, guns and ammunition. One man was also arrested for allegedly having kratom leaves. According to the police report 33 year old Theerasat ‘Jack’ Onrat was arrested for allegedly possessing 940 yaba pills. Police confiscated his mobile phone and his pickup truck…
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Antivirus legend John McAfee apparent suicide in Spanish prison
Software pioneer and wanted fugitive John McAfee died by suicide in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday after the country’s High Court authorised his extradition to the United States on charges of tax evasion and fraud. McAfee’s lawyer said the antivirus titan died by hanging and could not stand any more time in jail in the Brian 2 penitentiary outside…
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Thursday Covid Update: 4,108 new cases; provincial totals
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded 4,108 new Covid-19 cases today, a rise in the daily case count over the past few days. The uptick in cases is “quite alarming,” according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun, who gives the daily CCSA report in English. There are now 39,517 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand. There are currently…
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Gathering for 89th anniversary of constitutional monarchy
Beginning early this morning, hundreds of people gathered at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the revolution that created the constitutional monarchy of Thailand. At 4:30 am on June 24, 1932, the revolutionaries with the People’s Party declared that the absolute monarchy was over. Today, Ratsadon and other related anti-establishment groups met at the monument…
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Police arrest suspect who allegedly killed Covid patient and 7-Eleven clerk
Police have arrested the suspect who allegedly shot and killed an employee at a Bangkok 7-Eleven and then broke into a Pathum Thani field hospital, killing a Covid-19 patient early this morning. 23 year old Kawin Saengnilkul, a former special forces soldier, was reportedly holding a person hostage at a relative’s home in Ranong when the police arrive at the…
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Multiple Bangkok hospitals stop Covid testing, citing fear of insufficient beds
Multiple hospitals in the Bangkok area have stopped doing PCR swab tests for Covid-19. Their rationale is that if some test comes back positive, there won’t be beds for the patients. Other hospitals have “scaled down” the swab tests because their staff is too busy, says Dr Suppachok Kirdlarp. Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, head of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases…
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Chon Buri governor says Pattaya bars will stay closed for now, Covid cases remain high
With ongoing calls from Pattaya bar and nightclub owners to reopen, the Chon Buri governor recently addressed the business owners saying restrictions and disease control measures will stay the same for now as the province still has a number of Covid-19 cases, mostly clustered at markets, factories, construction sites, and migrant worker dormitories. Governor Phakharathorn Tieanchai says many businesses in…
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UPDATE: Police identify alleged gunman who opened fire at field hospital, killing a patient
Update: Police have identified the shooter as 23 year old Kawin Saengnilkul who served as a private in a special warfare unit in Lop Buri. He was dismissed in November 2019. Police told the Bangkok Post that Kawin decided to become a special forces soldier because of his love for weapons. On Kawin’s Facebook page, many of his photos and…
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PM orders investigation into pricey street lamps
Thailand’s PM has ordered an investigation into accused corruption over decorative street lamps in Samut Prakan. Prayut Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered an investigation into local governments for the purchase of 600 kinaree (animal-human hybrid/Buddhist mythical figures) street lamps in the Racha Thewa sub-district. The Racha administrative organisation is accused of blowing through over 642 million baht to install 6,773 lamps.…
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Phuket governor outlines plans to track and trace foreign arrivals
The governor of Phuket says the authorities and provincial officials are creating a command centre for the purpose of tracking and tracing foreign tourists under the island’s sandbox scheme. The island re-opens in 1 week’s time to vaccinated tourists from low to medium-risk countries. According to a Pattaya News report, governor Narong Woonciew says a meeting was held yesterday between…
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Thursday Covid Update: Latest wave exceeds 200,000 cases
The latest and most severe wave of Covid-19 in Thailand has exceeded 200,000 infections. Since April 1, when the clusters at Bangkok nightlife districts were detected, 203,784 Covid-19 infections have been reported by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Today, the CCSA reported 4,108 new Covid-19 cases and 31 coronavirus-related deaths. Out of the new cases, 229 were found in correctional…
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First delivery of Sinopharm vaccines approved for distribution
The first lot of Sinopharm doses ordered by the Chulabhorn Royal Academy have passed quality checks and can now be distributed. 1 million doses of the second Chinese vaccine approved for emergency use in Thailand arrived in the Kingdom on June 20, according to a Bangkok Post report. Supakit Sirilak from the Department of Medical Sciences says his department took…
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Flight traffic to Phuket expected to increase by 6% next month
The state agency Aeronautical Radio of Thailand says it expects a 6% uptick in traffic to Phuket International Airport, once the southern island re-opens in a week’s time. Spokesman Tinnakorn Chuwong says the airport is ready to welcome foreign tourists under the sandbox scheme, which has now been given the go-ahead by Cabinet. The Bangkok Post reports that, while overall…
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Hotel platform predicts increasing demand for holidays in Thailand
With just days to go before Phuket re-opens, and talks underway to re-open the country as a whole in October, one of the world’s largest hotel platforms says the data shows things are looking up for Thailand. Bradley Haines from SiteMinder says Thai hotel operators should feel some encouragement from current booking trends around the world. According to Haines, the…
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Covid-19 task force pushes back on Bangkok lockdown proposal
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is so far resisting calls for a 7-day lockdown for Bangkok as cases in the capital soar. Yesterday, Thailand reported 3,174 new infections and a record high of 51 deaths, most of them in Bangkok. However, according to a Bangkok Post report, the CCSA says the pros and cons of locking down the capital…
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Meteor causes explosion, green glow above Northern Thailand
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a…. bolide?! Last night in Nothern Thailand, sounds like an explosion were heard while many witnessed a mysterious greenish turquoise glow in the skies above. Scientists suspect it may have been a bright type of meteor called a bolide. The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand explained that the sights and sounds many…
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Elephant that broke into Hua Hin kitchen now in memes and ads
Andy Warhol said, “in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” But in today’s world, you haven’t arrived until you’ve become a meme. The elephant that broke the wall into a Hua Hin home’s kitchen on Sunday to snack may have gotten a taste of fame (and a taste of rice too, reportedly) when its video went viral…
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India-China tensions drive Ladakh infrastructure overhaul
As the stalemate between India and China along the fiercely contested Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between the two countries, drags on, the mountainous region of Ladakh is seeing a major infrastructural overhaul, triggering both hope and fear among the local people. New tunnels and roads are being carved out in the toughest terrains of the Himalayan…
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Phuket governer reviews rules, new details for July 1 arrivals
In announcing what is expected for the first arrivals in the Phuket Sandbox plan on July 1, Governor Narong Woonsew mostly reconfirmed the rules set out, though a few details and additions came to light. Thailand will welcome back international travellers with the first international flights arriving next Friday. The first arrivals to Phuket will be fully vaccinated Europeans from…
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Pakistan picks up its COVID vaccination drive just in time
Laiba Zainab, a 25-year-old journalist in Pakistan’s central city of Multan, was eager to receive a shot of China’s Sinopharm COVID vaccine on June 10, after spending five months waiting for her age group to be called. Pakistan’s vaccination drive got off to a bumpy startearlier this year, beset by lack of supply and vaccine hesitancy. In February, only senior…
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Autopsy requested for young policeman with vaccine
An autopsy has been requested by the family of a young policeman who died suddenly just 11 days after his second injection of the Covid-19 vaccine. The family of the Khon Kaen police officer want to know definitively if the vaccine was connected at all to his unexpected death. The young man was an officer at the Muang district police…
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