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A year of COVID – from Wuhan to World Pandemic | VIDEO
12 months ago the news of a mysterious respiratory illness started to emerge from hospitals in the central Chinese province of Hubei. Chinese health authorities said they were investigating a small cluster of pneumonia-like cases with an unknown cause linked to a seafood market in Wuhan. Those early days have given rise to any number of conspiracy theories that the…
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Muslim couples in Yala who show affection could be arrested and forced to marry
Muslim unmarried couples in the southern Thai province of Yala could be arrested, and even forced to wed immediately by Islamic authorities, if they are seen being ‘affectionate’ in public. The new rule was set by the Yaha Central Mosque last month, according to Khaosod English. It’s unclear what types of public displays of affection are considered inappropriate, but apparently…
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YouTube blocks music video with pro-democracy protest footage after legal complaint
A music video by a pro-democracy movement band was blocked on YouTube in Thailand due to a legal complaint from the government, according to the message posted on the video’s page. The band Rap Against Dictatorship, also known as RAD, made a post on their Facebook fan page saying that the music video for their song “Reform” was blocked on…
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UPDATE: 5 coastal provinces still open – Prayut rejects “total lockdown” proposal
The proposal for a “total lockdown” restricting travel in and out of 5 coastal provinces was rejected by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. The provinces, Samut Sakhon, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat, are implementing strict measures to control the spread of the virus, but the provinces will not be completely sealed off. In earlier reports, Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pitutacha…
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Public health official urges Bangkokians to eat at home
People in Bangkok should eat at home as much as possible to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus, according to the director-general of the Department of Health. While there is now a ban on dine-in service from 9pm to 6am in Bangkok, Dr. Suwannachai Wattanacharoencha says people should still eat a home during the day. He says the best…
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Social media users help track down 2 kidnapped children in Bangkok
A man is in police custody in Bangkok after social media users helped track down 2 children allegedly kidnapped in the capital. A 7 year old boy, named only as “B”, and an 8 year old unnamed girl, were visiting a shopping mall in the Phra Khanong district, close to their home, at the time of the incident. According to…
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Ban on Children’s Day activities in 28 “code red” provinces
The government’s Covid-19 task force has banned 28 Thai provinces, currently colour-coded “red” as a result of their case numbers, from holding any activities to celebrate Children’s Day on January 9. Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, is also calling on 11 “code orange” provinces, and 38 “yellow” provinces, to avoid holding activities to mark the…
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5 coastal provinces in “total lockdown,” no travel in or out
5 coastal provinces including Samut Sakhon, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chantaburi and Trat are under “total lockdown.” This means people cannot travel in or out of those provinces unless it is necessary. Deputy PM Satit Pitutacha says if the strict travel restrictions are not in place, then the Covid-19 outbreak could become “chaos.” Satit made a post on Facebook saying the…
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5 Thai provinces ordered into total lockdown
5 provinces in Thailand are in total lockdown, with travel restrictions barring anyone from leaving or entering, unless absolutely necessary. The provinces affected by the tough new measures are the eastern provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat, as well as the central province of Samut Sakhon, where Thailand’s Covid-19 resurgence originated last month. Thai PBS World reports that…
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No illegal gambling dens are in Bangkok, deputy PM claims
Following Covid-19 cases linked to illegal gambling dens in Chon Buri and Rayong as well as a nationwide crackdown on gambling, deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is assuring the public that there are no illegal gambling dens in Bangkok as some worry that the unlawful gatherings could potentially spread the virus. Gambling is illegal and police are “on top of it,”…
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Thai PM says government plans to buy a further 35 million vaccine doses
Thailand hopes to buy an additional 35 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, giving the country a total supply of 63 million doses, according to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. He has not confirmed where the additional supply will come from, but according to a Bangkok Post report, he says the government will ensure the vaccines meet Food and Drug Administration criteria.…
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NE Monsoon in South – warnings of heavy rain and flash floods
South of Thailand is expected to face the northeast monsoon that is expected to bring in heavy rain that may cause flash floods. With the prevailing monsoon in the upper and the lower part of the Gulf of Thailand, some southern provinces, including Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat are likely to be affected by strong winds and waves that…
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Thailand News Today | Record daily infections, Covid restrictions, British arrivals ‘on hold’ | Jan 4
745 new Covid-19 infections and 1 new coronavirus related death have been reported today during the daily briefing of the CCSA. Thailand now has 4,022 active Covid-19 cases with a total of 8,439 reported cases and 65 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak a year ago. Today’s figures include 505 cases in Samut Sakhon which were announced yesterday. Some…
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No dine-in service at Bangkok restaurants after 9pm
Bangkok officials announced a ban on dine-in services at restaurants after 7pm, but PM Prayut Chan-o-cha quickly changed the order to allow people to eat at the restaurants until 9pm, saying an earlier-hour ban would have a negative impact on the restaurant owners and the economy. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had announced this morning that restaurants in the capital would only…
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19 year old killed in motorbike street race accident in Chon Buri
A 19 year old was killed in a street race accident after he crashed his motorbike into a trailer truck early this morning in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district. Around 3 am this morning, a crowd of teenagers were lined up at the side of Highway 36 in the Nong Plalai subdistrict to watch the Jeerapat Nongyai race another motorbike rider.…
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Latest details of Covid restrictions and locations in Thailand | VIDEO
UPDATE: From tomorrow (Tuesday), restaurants will be required to close to in-dining customers, from 7pm to 6am. Restrictions are now in place, as of midnight last night, as the latest mitigations against Thailand’s Covid-19 outbreak. The outbreak, which kicked off on December 20 last year, has now reached most of Thailand’s provinces, some more affected than others, and that…
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Like a rolling stone (2 decades and counting). My home, Phuket.
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Driving down a seemingly endless winding road on the warm tropical island of Phuket, I glance up and see a sign indicating a left turn, shouting out in big bold letters ‘Welcome to Days of Future Past.’ Reading between the lines, let me state that we have landed headfirst like crash test dummies into the…
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Thai VietJet offers passengers change of flights during Covid outbreak
Thai VietJet, along with all the other Thai domestic airlines, is being impacted by a drop in traffic during the current list of restrictions during the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand. According to Thai Residents, “for passengers who booked tickets and made payments before January 1, 2021 with travel date between January 5 – 3, 2021, can change their travel…
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New restrictions in place, get ready for additional screening at airports | VIDEO
Good morning and sawasdee krub from the Phuket Domestic Terminal. Additional restrictions announced today in relation to the 28 provincial red zones are now in affect. You can read the latest about these restrictions here… https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/update-new-restrictions-come-into-force-in-thailand-from-today Keep up to date with all the latest Covid restrictions and changes to our lives here in Thailand at thethaiger.com
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UPDATE: New restrictions come into force in Thailand from today
Some new restrictions have been introduced and others tightened as the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the latest list of restrictions taking effect from today. The latest list was published in the Royal Gazette yesterday and are now in force. On Friday the BMA suggested that restaurants in Bangkok may be prevented from providing in house dining, and providing take…
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541 additional Covid-19 infections announced for Samut Sakhon, mostly migrant workers
On top of the numbers of new infections announced earlier today – some 315 both local and imported cases – the province of Samut Sakhon has reported 541 additional Covid-19 infections this afternoon afternoon. Most of them are migrant workers from the local seafood industry. The Mahachai Shrimp Market on the coast of Samut Sakhon, just south west of Bangkok,…
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Vandals target US politicians over pandemic relief package
Vandals have targeted the homes of US politicians over a hotly-debated $900 billion pandemic relief aid package. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi saw their homes littered with graffiti, fake blood and a pig’s head. “Were’s [sic] my money” and “Mitch kills the poor” graced McConnell’s front door and window in Louisville, Kentucky,…
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Covid hotspot Samut Sakhon adds 541 more Covid cases to today’s total
Thailand’s Covid hotspot of Samut Sakhon is adding 541 more Covid cases to the total amount of infections reported today. On the province’s Facebook page, it says 455 migrant workers and 86 Thais were found this afternoon to be infected with Covid-19, raising the total amount of cases in the province to 2,401 since the 2nd wave broke out in…
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Chonburi adds 62 more local transmissions today of Covid-19
Chonburi province has added 62 more cases of locally transmitted Covid-19 cases to the total amount of cases reported today in Thailand this afternoon. The accumulative confirmed cases in this new cluster of infections has now reached 305 patients with 1 death. Of the newly confirmed cases, 50 were discovered in the Si Racha district, 7 in Banglamung, 2 in…
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Rayong, Chon Buri (including Pattaya) and Chanthaburi face full travel restrictions
Rayong, Chanthaburi and Chon Buri (that includes Pattaya), could be facing a full lockdown as soon as tomorrow if a recommendation from the Ministry of Public Health is approved by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The outbreak of new infections are almost entirely linked to illegal gambling dens, mostly in Rayong. Thailand’s Deputy Health Minister says the measure “is…
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Britons arriving in Thailand test positive for Covid UK variant
Britons arriving in Thailand from England, have reportedly tested positive for the Covid-19 variant that was first identified in the UK. The family of 4 arrived from Kent, in southeast England, and are currently under quarantine at a private hospital after receiving the positive test results. Dr. Yong Pooworavan, chief of the Virology Centre of the Faculty of Medicine at…
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Unidentified man’s body found hanging from tree in Koh Larn
Pattaya police are investigating an incident in which an unidentified man’s body was found hanging from a tree in the Koh Larn forest. They say the body could be that of a foreigner, as they await autopsy results. The body was discovered by a hiker last night at sundown, who called the police at 7pm to investigate. After taking speedboats…
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315 new Covid infections – 294 new, locally transmitted, 21 imported
Today, authorities at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, are reporting 294 new, locally transmitted infections of Covid-19 with 21 new imported cases, bringing the total to 7,694 cases since the pandemic began. 38 more have been discharged from the hospital, with the overall death toll remaining at 64. Currently, there are 3,293 Covid active patients in the hospital or…
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Deputy PM says relying on tourism is “unacceptable”
Thailand’s deputy PM says that relying too much on tourism is “unacceptable.” In Supattanapong Punmeechaow’s speech, he said that the tourism industry will never be allowed to recover to its previous levels. For years, Amazing Thailand was the nation’s slogan, which brought in $56.2 billion in 2019 alone, but after Covid struck, it is clear that there has been a…
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“Red zone” provinces may see tightened measures amid Covid outbreak
The 28 “red zone” provinces in Thailand, which are deemed high-risk for the spread of Covid-19, may see a potential tightening of measures after the country has experienced a spike in cases. The clamping down on these provinces also falls in line with the temporary closures of 25 types of businesses in Bangkok, in a further effort to curb the…
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