News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Police detain all 4 inmates who escaped from Phetchabun prison
Police detained all 4 inmates who broke out of the Phetchabun Provincial Prison early yesterday morning. The inmates, all facing drug charges, escaped from the prison in province north of Bangkok at around 2:30am yesterday. The escapees did not run off too far and were all found within the district later that day. Just hours later at around 6am, officers…
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Foodpanda rider arrested on lèse majesté charges
Recently, Foodpanda faced public backlash and calls to be boycotted after they said they planned to fire a rider who was branded a terrorist. Yesterday, the same rider was arrested in Pathum Thani, a central province near Bangkok, on lèse majesté charges, arson and violation of the Emergency Decree’s ban on gatherings. The rider has been identified as 25 year…
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Unused Thai schools to be transformed into field hospitals as infections surge
Empty or unused school buildings across Thailand are to be converted into field hospitals as Covid-19 cases surge and the hospital bed crisis continues. Amporn Pinasa from the Office of the Basic Education Commission has issued an order for all unused buildings to be repurposed as makeshift field hospitals to increase the number of treatment facilities available. With hospitals in…
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Thailand’s airlines feeling the pinch with no government support
Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder in Thai AirAsia, says the latest partial lockdown threatens TAA’s financial status, with no government aid forthcoming. AA executive chairman Tassapon Bijleveld says the industry has been limping along without any help for over a year now and wants to know how the government expects to collect tax once large businesses collapse. In a Bangkok…
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Commercial space cowboys reach for the stars
In the wake of NASA’s Apollo and space shuttle missions, it seemed that the halcyon days of space exploration had had their run. Interest waned and many people no longer saw the point. More recently, however, interest has been piqued again, not least by the myriad of international missions to Mars. The latest craze is commercial space tourism as offered…
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Phuket officials concerned over “Sandboxers” who test positive for Covid on arrival
Out of the so-called “Sandboxers” who tested positive for Covid-19 since the Phuket reopening started on July 1, half of the infections were detected after the first test taken at the airport on arrival. The positive results conflict with the travellers’ negative results issued no more than 72 hours before departure, a requirement under the “Phuket Sandbox” model. Noticing a…
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Tight restrictions, curfews in 13 “dark red” provinces until August 2
Despite tight restrictions imposed last week in “dark red” zones, the Covid-19 situation has not improved. To combat the spread of the Delta variant, the government classified 3 more provinces as “dark red” zones and updated the disease control restrictions. An order was published in the Royal Gazette, making it official. The new zoning and updates on restrictions will go…
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Flights from dark red zones prohibited from Wednesday, July 21
UPDATE: Thai Smile are cancelling all of their domestic flights for 2 weeks. Thai Smile is the domestic subsidiary of Thai Airways. “Thai Smile Airways would like to announce the temporary suspension of service on all domestic flights effective from July 21, 2021 – August 3, 2021”. The result of the ban is that most airlines are just grounding their…
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8 women arrested in Tak for Myanmar river crossing
8 women were arrested for allegedly crossing the Moei River in Myanmar into northern Thailand’s Tak province, early this morning. The women carried “personal baggage” and were apprehended in a corn plantation by a 4th Infantry Regiment patrol. Local villagers had alerted officials to the crossing which led to the arrests. The women’s ages ranged from 22 to 32. They…
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Calls mount to boycott Foodpanda following plans to fire rider/protester
Foodpanda is being excoriated today following the food delivery service’s announcement that it was going to fire an employee for attending a pro-democracy protest. Users and restaurants of the service say they will boycott the service. The boycott (or pandacott) come after the service said it planned to fire a rider who was photographed at a protest. The company says…
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Monday Covid Update: 122,097 active cases; provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported a record high of 11,784 new Covid-19 cases and 81 coronavirus-related deaths. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has recorded a total of 415,170 confirmed Covid-19 infections and 3,422 virus-related deaths. There are now 122,097 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand. With the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant in…
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PM orders Thai Navy to postpone submarine purchases as pandemic rages
The Thai PM has instructed the Navy to postpone the planned purchase of 2 Chinese submarines, saying the funds must be diverted to fight Covid-19. The controversial 22.5 billion purchase was already postponed for a year last August. The Bangkok Post reports that Kongcheep Tantrawanich from the Defence Ministry says the PM has ordered a further postponement given the extent…
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4 inmates escape prison, 1 caught 3 at large
4 inmates escaped from a prison in northern Thailand’s Phetchabun Province early this morning. So far, 1 inmate has been caught, but 3 more inmates are still enjoying their freedom. The prison break was first reported around 3 am, says local police. Police and prison officials immediately set out to reincarcerate the escaped inmates. Local police stations were also notified…
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Tear gas, rubber bullets deployed against anti-government protesters in Bangkok
Police in Bangkok resorted to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse anti-government protesters yesterday, after hundreds of people rallied in the capital. A report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper recounts how activists used cars and motorbikes to avoid spreading Covid-19. Yesterday’s protesters had 3 demands: the resignation of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, a reduction in the military and monarchy’s…
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June letter warned only 3 million AstraZeneca vaccines per month
AstraZeneca now looks like it will deliver far less than the original 10 million vaccines announced, but letters newly leaked show the Public Health Ministry was alerted at least a month ago that the actual amount of doses would be far less than that. In a letter dated June 25 to Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, AstraZeneca confirmed with…
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Foreigners over 75 can get a vaccine at Bang Sue Bangkok
Foreigners of a certain age got some good news today as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that expats over 75 years old living in Thailand are now eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine in Bangkok. The announcement made this evening goes into effect tomorrow when Bang Sue Central Station will begin to accept qualified foreigners living in Thailand for…
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Lockdown extending as flights from dark red zones are prohibited
A new announcement has declared that all domestic airlines must cease operation of any passenger flights out of the dark red zones including Bangkok and Pattaya beginning July 21. The decree comes as Covid-19 infections continue to rise in Bangkok and surrounding provinces while daily Covid cases hit 5 digits and daily deaths hit triple digits, both for the first…
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Despite ban, protests call for removal of PM for Covid-19 failure
Despite new restrictions banning gatherings of more than 5 people in dark red zones including Bangkok, increasingly angry protests are calling for the removal of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha amid his government’s Covid-19 failures. The government enacted a prohibition on gatherings, saying that skyrocketing Covid-19 infections motivated the rule, though many question the timing of the order on the eve of…
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Poll: Covid-19 situation critical, government should help, not profit
A new Suan Dusit Poll tells that over 60% of people think the Covid-19 situation in Thailand has become “very critical” with nearly 90% citing the soaring death and infections numbers as the biggest concerning factor and 78% concerned over widespread business closures. A jarring 78% of respondents complained that the government needs to stop putting their profits over the…
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LATEST: European flooding death toll exceeds 170
The flood that was dubbed the “flood of death“, has now claimed over 170 lives. 143 people have reportedly died in Germany and 27 in Belgium due to flooding. The flooding’s toll on Belgium has resulted in the Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, declaring July 20 a national day of mourning. The PM says the floods might be the most…
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Government meeting to address rising Covid-19, action to take
With Covid-19 growing and record numbers being reported, the government is on edge and considering stricter measures to try to contain the spiralling pandemic. Yesterday saw 2 morbid benchmarks surpassed as daily infection numbers crept past 10,000 for the first time and daily Covid-19 deaths were over 100 for the first time. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration will be…
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Covid UPDATE: 11,397 new infections, provincial totals
Another rise in new infections detected over the past 24 hours and announced this morning by the public health department. 11,397 new cases were announced, a rise on yesterday’s figure and the second over 10,000 people. Another 101 Covid-related deaths today, the second day over 100 deaths being announced. 318 cases were announced from prisons this morning. 283,910 people have now…
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Breakup goes south when girlfriend allegedly stabs boyfriend to death in Pattaya
Yesterday in the Chon Buri province of Bang Lamung, which is part of Pattaya, a woman allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death in a case of self-defence. Bang Lamung Police and first responders got to the scene just after midnight. There, they found 36 year old Anuwat Ratchawong lying in front of the house. He was bleeding profusely from multiple…
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Royal Thai Navy goes ahead with plans to buy 2 submarines
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy says they are going ahead with plans to buy more submarines from China. The Royal Thai Navy was undeterred by rampant outrage on social media over buying 2 submarines for 22.5 billion baht is an indulgence while the country is besieged by Covid. Others criticised the move by saying the submarines are unnecessary…
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Traditional Thai medicine “Fah Talai Jone” gains steam as a treatment, despite shaky scientific merit
A well known traditional Thai medicine is gaining steam as a potential treatment for Covid despite its dubious scientific merit. Fah Talai Jone, or andrographis paniculata, has been used to treat a number of different illnesses, including the flu, a sore throat, and inflammation. Now, the herb is also being used to treat mild Covid systems in “green level” patients, provided…
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Covid UPDATE Sunday: 11,397 new infections, daily news briefs
Another rise in new infections detected over the past 24 hours and announced this morning by the public health department. 11,397 new cases were announced, a tase on yesterday’s figure and the second over 10,000 people. Another 101 Covid-related deaths today, the second day over 100 deaths being announced. 318 cases were announced from prisons this morning. Watch out for increased…
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Belgians pick up the pieces after deadly floods
The Belgian town of Pepinster, southeast of Liege, has just woken up from a nightmare. Wading through knee-high brown water with his wife and son, local resident Paul Brasseur looked back at what was left of their family home. “We’re alive and that’s all that matters — not everyone was so lucky,” he said. The Brasseurs’ house on the banks…
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Couple hangs themselves to escape Covid-19 debt
A couple who were said to be deeply in debt due to Covid-19 in Mueang Chon Buri were found hanging in their home, apparently by suicide. Neighbours say the man and woman were both food cart vendors who struggled to find enough customers to make ends meet and had turned to a loan shark for help paying their bills. Yesterday…
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