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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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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Schools closed in 28 Thai provinces
Thailand’s Ministry of Education is closing all schools in 28 ‘highly controlled red zone’ provinces until January 31, or until further notice. The statement was released over the weekend and applies to all education institutions and both “informal and formal, public or private” schools. Parents should contact their schools to find out about alternative online teaching arrangements for affected schools. Here’s…
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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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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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Drunk driving claims most traffic accidents over holiday season
Drunk driving is being blamed for most of the road accidents over the 7 deadly days of driving during the New Year season. So far, there have been 2,748 road accidents with 316 deaths and 2,741 injuries reported on the 5th day of the weeklong stretch. Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation says there were about 383 accidents with 44…
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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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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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Majority of Thais think economy will get worse – NIDA Poll
A recent poll has indicated that a majority of Thai respondents think that the economy will get worse this year, along with a continued unrest surrounding the political landscape. The survey by the National Institute of Development Administration was conducted December 24-25 on 1,326 people, aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupations nationwide by random sampling…
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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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3 eastern provinces being considered for full travel restrictions, including Pattaya
Rayong, Chanthaburi and Chon Buri (including Pattaya), are headed into a full lockdown scenario after the Ministry of Public Health formerly asked the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration to impose additional restrictions on travel in and out of the provinces. Most of the infections in the 3 provinces are linked to illegal gambling dens. A decision will likely be made…
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216 new Covid cases in Thailand, 11 people in ICU
216 new confirmed infections of Covid-19 have been announced today at the daily media briefing in Bangkok. As usual, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin fronted the announcements on behalf of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. 1 more person has also died, a 47 year old Chon Buri woman in the Banglamung district with complications of diabetes. It’s been reported in Thai media…
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New Year holiday draws homegrown tourists to Phuket, Koh Samui
With the vast majority of foreign holidaymakers still steering clear of Thailand, or simply unable to get a visa at the moment, the country has become almost completely reliant on homegrown tourists. The New Year holiday has brought some slight relief to islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, as visitors from other parts of the country arrived to welcome in…
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Lucky escape for mother and baby after stray bullet enters house
A woman in the eastern province of Chon Buri has told of her lucky escape, after a stray bullet pierced the roof of her home and landed in the room where she was trying to get her baby to sleep. The woman, named in a Thai Residents report as 25 year old Aphitsaya Raksasuk, was attempting to get the 1…
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Government confirms social security net for workers laid off due to virus restrictions
The Thai government has confirmed it will compensate employees forced out of work by Covid-19 restrictions, by paying 50% of their salary for up to 90 days. The country has found itself in the grip of a sudden resurgence in cases, with many provinces under strict restrictions in an attempt to control the spread. Read the latest on closures HERE.…
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Chon Buri bar raided for violating Covid-19 restrictions
Police have raided a bar in the Banglamung district of Chon Buri after it was found to have violated a closure order currently in place to curtail the spread of Covid-19. The eastern province now has over 211 active cases of the virus. Earlier this week, the Chon Buri governor introduced strict restrictions in Banglamung and Pattaya in an effort…
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Thailand looking to speed up Covid-19 vaccination timeline
Amid a new surge in Covid-19 cases, Thai officials are planning to increase the number of vaccines available and speed up the timeline for administration. Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has confirmed the plan, following complaints from the country’s tourism industry when an initial statement said vaccination might not begin until as late as June.…
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More closures in Bangkok as BMA mulls further restrictions
• High risk entertainment venues closed • BMA’s 437 schools closed for at least 2 weeks • CCSA considering restricting Bangkok restaurants to take-any only services only The Bangkok Metropolitan Organisation has closed “high risk’ venues around Bangkok as of midnight last night. The city’s 437 public schools run by the BMA have also been ordered to close until at least January 17.…
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How Asian countries celebrate the arrival of another year
As the dust settles on this year’s somewhat muted New Year celebrations, some Asian countries still have their own festivities to look forward to. And it’s not all fireworks and drunken parties – in Asia, the dawn of a new year is seen as a time to celebrate family and good fortune, while washing away the bad luck of the…
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2020’s movers, shakers and influences (that weren’t Covid) | VIDEO
2020 The big events, the winners and the losers 2020 has been one of the most disruptive years in history, certainly for anyone that has lived since the great depression and the world wars. But although Covid-19 has been the big headline for the year, there has still been highlights and big news in all fields. Some of these big…
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Good things that happened in 2020
There’s no disputing the fact that none of us are going to remember 2020 with great fondness. With a global pandemic wreaking havoc around the world, and no end in sight in the immediate future, it’s hard to see any positives in the year just gone. However, buried in the midst of all the doom and gloom, there were some…
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WHO approves emergency use of the Pfizer/BionTech Covid vaccine
The World Health Organisation has granted “emergency validation” for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, allowing countries across the globe to now approve its import and distribution for their citizens. In a statement released on the final day of 2020, the WHO said its validation, the first since the start of the pandemic, “opens the door for countries to expedite their own…
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Day 2 of the New Year road safety campaign – 74 people dead
Day 2 of the New Year holiday period (December 30) on Thailand’s roads ended up with 74 dead out of 586 road road accidents. 576 people were injured. It was the second day of the “New Normal, Safe Driving, No Accidents” campaign which was prepared to raise road safety awareness, but ended up buried under much of the Covid news…
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His Majesty presents televised end of year message
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn is appealing to Thai people to appreciate their rich culture, which exhibits virtue, beauty and progress… the foundation of life and mind. HM also asked all Thai people to conduct themselves “with virtue and reason in order” to overcome the Covid-19 crisis. His Majesty spoke in a televised end of year broadcast saying that cultural…
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Why Thailand celebrates the New Year not once, not twice, but 3 times
While the year just gone may be referred to as 2020 by most of us (with perhaps a few expletives thrown in, given the year it was), we are currently in the year 2563 in Thailand. As everyone who lives here knows, Thailand uses the Buddhist calendar, as well as the Western, or Gregorian, calendar, adding to our eternal confusion…
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Dawn Wells, “Mary Ann” from Glligan’s Island, dies at 82
Dawn Wells, one of the castaways in Gilligan’s Island, playing Mary Ann, has died in Los Angeles from Covid-19 complications. She was 82 years old. Her career lasted a lot longer than the fateful trip of the SS Minnow… the three hour tour! Dawn was born in Reno, Nevada, and started a career in Hollywood where she appeared in TV shows…
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Musical composition of His Majesty King Bhumibol the most popular New Year song in Thailand – VIDEO
A song written by His Majesty, the late King Bhumibol, and Prince Chakrapan Pensiri, in December 1951, is still the most popular New Year song among the people of Thailand today. Pohn Pee Mai, which translates as “New Year Blessing” can be heard on TV channels, radio stations, and at public gatherings, and has been a part of Thai culture…
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Inflight catering ban on domestic flights in Thailand amid Covid-19 surge
Damn. I was looking forward to another stale sandwich wrapped in 7 layers of plastic, unable to open it for fear of elbowing the lady next to me, on my flight today. Airlines flying domestic routes within Thailand have been instructed to not serve inflight meals or drinks from today. The ban has been introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority…
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