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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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.

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  • Thailand News Today | Bangkok nightspot Covid clusters, Tesco/CP merger goes to court | April 5

    Thailand News Today | Bangkok nightspot Covid clusters, Tesco/CP merger goes to court | April 5

    We’ll start off with a Covid whip around… some minor clusters popping up around parts of Thailand…. Thailand’s Chon Buri province, which includes Pattaya, has revealed 7 more Covid-19 infections today. There were another 8 yesterday. The new infections are worrying officials, who say they are the most the province has seen in 3 months. Japanese nationals are among the…

  • CCSA Update: 194 new Covid-19 cases, outbreak at Narathiwat prison

    CCSA Update: 194 new Covid-19 cases, outbreak at Narathiwat prison

    194 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Most cases are linked to an outbreak at a prison in the southern province Narathiwat. A number of other cases are linked to bars and entertainment venues in Bangkok. Out of the 194 new cases, 94 cases were in Narathiwat. Most are prison inmates.…

  • Some Bangkok international schools close following rise of Covid-19 cases in the area

    Some Bangkok international schools close following rise of Covid-19 cases in the area

    Some international schools in Bangkok are temporarily closing down due to the rise of Covid-19 cases in the area with 71 cases linked to bars and entertainment venues in parts of the city – primarily Thong Lor and Ekkamai along the Sukhumvit strip, and around Chatuchak, to the north of the city centre. Regent’s International School Bangkok sent out a…

  • Thailand to discuss travel bubble with Singapore

    Thailand to discuss travel bubble with Singapore

    Thailand is looking into setting up a travel bubble with Singapore. Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry will discuss the idea this week with officials from the Singapore Embassy. Tourism officials are also looking at potential travel bubbles with other neighbouring countries with a low number of active Covid-19 cases, such as Vietnam and Laos, according to sports and tourism minister…

  • Foreigners charged with DUI teach English to Koh Samui probation staff

    Foreigners charged with DUI teach English to Koh Samui probation staff

    Foreigners on Koh Samui who have been caught driving while intoxicated are now teaching English to probation officers as part of their community service. Those with a drink driving charge are ordered by the court to complete 24 hours of community service. The foreigners have been teaching probation staff basic greetings and conversational English as well as grammar and legal…

  • Phuket’s pilot program to reopen Thailand – Interview Bill Barnett | VIDEO

    Phuket’s pilot program to reopen Thailand – Interview Bill Barnett | VIDEO

    There’s a lot more of Thailand besides Phuket, but the southern Thai island has received a lot of attention in the past few weeks because of the intention to remove quarantine for vaccinated international arrivals from July this year. There’s a lot at stake as the rest of Thailand will be watching the pilot program, eager to see it work…

  • Chon Buri sees 7 more Covid infections today, 5 foreigners

    Chon Buri sees 7 more Covid infections today, 5 foreigners

    Thailand’s Chon Buri province, which features the tourist city of Pattaya, is seeing 7 more Covid-19 infections today. The Chon Buri Public Health Office made the announcement after seeing 8 infections just yesterday. The new infections are worrying officials, who say they are the most the province has seen in 3 months. Japanese nationals claimed 5 of the infections today,…

  • Thai man arrested after beating and killing dog for being “mangy”

    Thai man arrested after beating and killing dog for being “mangy”

    A 24 year old Thai man has been arrested in northeastern Thailand’s Udon Thani province, for beating and killing a dog because it appeared to be “mangy.” Watchdog Thailand, posted a graphic video clip on Facebook of the man assaulting the dog several times with a knife and pipe in front of its owner’s house. Later that day, the dog’s owner…

  • Thailand allows entry to 11 groups of travellers, cuts quarantine down for those vaccinated

    Thailand allows entry to 11 groups of travellers, cuts quarantine down for those vaccinated

    Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is allowing 11 groups of tourists to enter the Kingdom with shortened quarantine times for those who have been fully vaccinated. Those who are vaccinated are able to complete a 7 day quarantine upon entering as long as they can show proof along with registering at Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health. The registration process…

  • Thailand unlikely to join ASEAN in pressuring Myanmar junta to stop bloodshed

    Thailand unlikely to join ASEAN in pressuring Myanmar junta to stop bloodshed

    Thailand’s government is unlikely to join other members of ASEAN in calling for Myanmar’s junta to stop the bloodshed. Fears over receiving a flood of refugees across the Burmese border and damages to its military ties may be of more importance to the Kingdom, despite the government’s recent claims that it is “gravely concerned” over the situation in Myanmar. If…

  • New Covid-19 clusters at bars in Bangkok’s Thong Lor and Ekkamai areas

    New Covid-19 clusters at bars in Bangkok’s Thong Lor and Ekkamai areas

    New Covid-19 clusters have been reported at several bars and pubs in Bangkok, primarily off Sukhumvit Road. So far, 40 people have tested positive for Covid-19 after visiting entertainment venues in Bangkok. Those who have visited bars in the Thong Lor, where most of the infections were reported, are asked to go to the website “BKKcovid19” and fill out an…

  • Firefighters’ bodies retrieved, 100,000 baht to families

    Firefighters’ bodies retrieved, 100,000 baht to families

    Bodies were retrieved in the early hours of today for the 4 firefighters who lost their lives during yesterday’s building collapse in Bangkok. The director of the Thawi Watthana District Office confirmed that at about 6:30 am rescuer workers were able to remove the bodies of the heroic firemen, most of them volunteers. The bodies were pulled from the wreckage…

  • Travellers around the world eager to return to Phuket

    Travellers around the world eager to return to Phuket

    Travellers of 28 nationalities have indicated that they would like to come to Phuket after mandatory quarantine is done away with for those that have received their Covid-19 vaccination. This according to the Phuket Tourist Association. The popular destination for foreigners will be the first location in Thailand to remove quarantine restrictions in the government’s long-term plan to reopen the…

  • 100+ Covid-19 infections cancels all prison visits in Thailand’s south

    100+ Covid-19 infections cancels all prison visits in Thailand’s south

    After a small Covid-19 outbreak reported yesterday, the Corrections Department has now cancelled all prison visits from tomorrow through May 5, after testing revealed more than 100 people infected within the prison systems in Narathiwat, a border province in the south of Thailand, and Surat Thani. Originally 2 prisoners in Narathiwat Central Prison were confirmed to have Covid-19 Friday, with…

  • Tourism Authority of Thailand aims to attract expat golfers

    Tourism Authority of Thailand aims to attract expat golfers

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand is poised to organise golf events targeted at Thailand’s expatriate community as part of efforts to restore confidence in domestic tourism under the banner “Stay Play Safe”. Minister of Tourism and Sports Phipat Ratchakitprakarn says that the motivation behind the campaign is “to re-energise a sector that has been badly hit closures and restrictions brought…

  • Investigations continue after 5 people die during Bangkok house fire rescue

    Investigations continue after 5 people die during Bangkok house fire rescue

    Police and BMA officials are continuing their investigations today after 5 people – 4 of them volunteer emergency responders – died as a building collapsed while rescuers were trying to find a man trapped inside. Another person was trapped, alive, under the rubble and was the subject of a longer rescue later yesterday. The fire took place early yesterday morning…

  • 10 rebel groups in Myanmar throw their support behind anti-coup protesters | VIDEO

    10 rebel groups in Myanmar throw their support behind anti-coup protesters | VIDEO

    Myanmar’s most prominent ethnic and political rebel groups are throwing their support behind the country’s anti-coup protesters. Yesterday, 10 of the groups convened a conference call to discuss the military leaders killing protesters and citizens. Nearly 600 Burmese citizens have now been killed in the violent crackdown that started after the February 1 coup that ousted the government of Aung…

  • 16 German tourists kick off Phuket’s tentative re-opening plans

    16 German tourists kick off Phuket’s tentative re-opening plans

    3 months away and Phuket will be Thailand’s first province to waive the mandatory quarantine stay for foreign travellers who have been vaccinated. Well, that remains the plan as Thailand starts to work through a 4-phase re-opening schedule which will take the rest of 2021 to roll out. The subjects of these re-opening experiments will be the expected tourists who,…

  • “Mommy, there’s a snake!” – Expat in Phuket shares her story

    “Mommy, there’s a snake!” – Expat in Phuket shares her story

    The following story was written by Amy Sukwan, an American who has been living in Thailand for 7 years. To share a story with The Thaiger, click HERE. “Mommy, there’s a snake!” my 8 year old daughter Eliza said, waking me up in the middle of the night. I came out of our modest bungalow in Phuket at some unholy…

  • Vaccine certificates in the works for Thailand

    Vaccine certificates in the works for Thailand

    With vaccination finally underway in Thailand, some uncertainty still exists regarding vaccine certificates and official paperwork after receiving your Covid-19 jabs. The Public Health Ministry says that they are waiting for the World Health Organisation to release a standardised format for a vaccine certificate before they start issuing them. That form is expected to be released in June according to…

  • CCSA Update: 84 new Thai Covid-19 infections, 1 death

    CCSA Update: 84 new Thai Covid-19 infections, 1 death

    Thailand saw 84 new Covid-19 infections and 1 death as reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. This brings Thailand’s total infections above 29,000 to 29,031 and 95 deaths, with 1,268 active cases being treated currently.   Today’s death, a 29 year old woman living in Bangkok, had been mistakenly told she tested negative on March 21, and…

  • Southern Thai people turn from tourism to gold panning

    Southern Thai people turn from tourism to gold panning

    Thars gold in dem hills! With tourism in Thailand struggling due to Covid-19, and an economy needing some help, some people in the southern Thai region of the country have found income in an unusual source: panning for gold. The Sukhirin region close to the Malaysian border is known for gold deposits in the Sai Buri River and surrounding mountains.…

  • Busy in BKK – dust off the planes, Thais are travelling again! VIDEO

    Busy in BKK – dust off the planes, Thais are travelling again! VIDEO

    BKK is busy, well, compared to the last 10 months in Thailand. Bangkok’s two airports were closed as part of the 2020 ‘lockdown’ and only reopened at the end of May after about 8 weeks, and only to domestic traffic (with some limited international repatriation, cargo, and a few passenger flights). Over the past 10 months Tim has been flying…

  • Phuket Airport welcomes first 7 day quarantine travellers

    Phuket Airport welcomes first 7 day quarantine travellers

    In the early hours of Saturday, a flight arrived at Phuket International Airport welcoming the first travellers to benefit from the reduced mandatory quarantine launched on April 1. The reduction of the isolation period is part of the 4 stages of fully reopening Thailand to international tourism, planned to roll out over the next 8 months (and probably into early…

  • Reporter banned from Government House says police aimed a gun at her at rally

    Reporter banned from Government House says police aimed a gun at her at rally

    A Thai reporter who has been banned from Government House claims a police officer pointed a gun at her, 2 days before the run-in with the PM that led to her removal from the press gallery. Kamonthip Aungsakularporn found her access to Government House revoked after challenging PM Prayut Chan-o-cha over claims that Thailand was forcing Burmese refugees back over…

  • Reporter hospitalised with mystery illness after being bitten by monkey

    Reporter hospitalised with mystery illness after being bitten by monkey

    A reporter who visited the Bangkok home of an obese monkey before it was removed by The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, is being treated in hospital after being bitten by the macaque. “Godzilla” found fame overnight after he was removed from his owner due to concerns about his weight. Godzilla had been living at a market…

  • Heavy storms to hit many parts of Thailand between today and Tuesday

    Heavy storms to hit many parts of Thailand between today and Tuesday

    The Thai Meteorological Department is warning of sudden summer storms, bringing strong gusts and possibly even hail, across many parts of the country. Yep, looks like the wet season has arrive d abut early in parts of Thailand this year. The TMD says the north-east, east, north, central, and upper south of the country will be affected from today until…

  • Hong Kong slaps Singapore Airlines with 2 week ban over Covid infractions

    Hong Kong slaps Singapore Airlines with 2 week ban over Covid infractions

    Hong Kong has implemented a 2 week ban on Singapore Airlines passenger flights from Singapore, after a passenger tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Hong Kong authorities say 3 other passengers on the flight also failed to follow the territory’s Prevention and Control of Disease Regulations. Singapore Airlines have confirmed the ban, which is in place until April 16, but…

  • Thailand News Today | Monk dies after C-19 vaccine, Phuket dusts off international airport | April 2

    Thailand News Today | Monk dies after C-19 vaccine, Phuket dusts off international airport | April 2

    In today’s episode we look at…An elderly monk has died after being vaccinated for Covid-19, Phuket Airport’s international terminal is switching its light on for the first time in nearly a year, and an elaborate banquet set up in Chon Buri… but all the guest were dead. A 70 year old monk has died the day after he was injected…

  • Bangkok student with Covid travelled to Phuket

    Bangkok student with Covid travelled to Phuket

    A student from Nakhon Pathom province near Bangkok has tested positive for Covid-19 and his busy social calendar, including a holiday to Phuket, raises concern of spreading infections. The 19 year old man, studying at Mahidol University, site of a Thai Covid-19 vaccine in trials now, lives in a dorm on campus in Tambon Salaya of Buddha Monthon district, according…