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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What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
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Thailand’s latest Covid-19 case was a tattoo artist travelling from Phuket to Chiang Mai
Thailand’s latest Covid-19 case revealed yesterday was a tattoo artist who had travelled from Phuket Province to Chiang Mai Province last Tuesday. Reports suggest that his main goal was to take his wife and son away from Phuket, being a high-risk province, but things didn’t go as planned when he ended up as the one who got infected. The tattoo…
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Former Thai PM Thaksin says lock-down was not the way to deal with Covid-19
Former, and currently fugitive, PM Thaksin Shinawatra says he believes the lock-down introduced in Thailand to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus was not the way to go. He maintains current restrictions are hurting the economy and their introduction was a mistake. Nation Thailand reports that Thaksin was speaking to BBC Thai when he criticised the measures put in…
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Singapore nurse leads Covid-19 patients in dance routine – VIDEO
A video posted online shows a Singaporean nurse at a Covid-19 isolation facility leading a group of patients in a morning dance routine. The patients are all migrant labourers now recovering after being treated for the virus. Singapore experienced an unexpected second wave of infections when over 20,000 migrant workers, all living in close proximity, caught the virus, with hundreds of…
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Marijuana valued at over 6 million baht seized in Mukdahan
Yesterday police in the northeastern province of Mukdaham announced the seizure of 616 kilograms of marijuana, valued at more than 6 million baht. Authorities say 5 suspects are in custody, identified as 46 year old Boonchu Sittithong, 20 year old Wilawan Lapphu, 22 year old Kittiphong Uttaprom, 34 year old Keng Sae Song and Somboon Chindalert, aged 43. Police got…
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Tourism sector prepares to resume business
Businesses that have been battered by the Covid-19 outbreak, especially those in the Eastern Economic Corridor (straddling Chonburi, Rayong, and Chachoengsao provinces) that rely mainly on tourism, are in desperate need of support. But the vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says it’s still too early to predict when tourism will recover, as it largely relies on arrivals…
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Workers claim Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi resort owes 10 million baht in unpaid wages
A group of 70 workers, representing over 200 employees at a luxury resort in northern Thailand, have filed an official complaint with Chiang Mai’s Department of Labour and Welfare, claiming they have not been paid for 4 months. Thai Residents reports that the workers are all from the 5 star Dhara Dhevi resort in Chiang Mai, which closed its doors…
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US ramps up presence in South China Sea along with coronavirus rhetoric
Over recent weeks US Navy ships and Air Force bombers have undertaken high profile missions aimed at telegraphic a clear message to China that the US military intends to maintain a presence in the region. The US is ramping up military pressure on China and tensions in the South China Sea. It’s accusing Beijing of leveraging the Covid-19 pandemic to extend…
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Vongfong, aka. Ambo, barrels into Philippines’ east coast
Typhoon Vongfong (aka. ‘Ambo’ in the Philippines) has made landfall, forcing tens of thousands of people to quickly evacuate whilst in the middle of lockdown amid their local Covid-19 outbreak. The typhoon struck the Phillipines east coast islands around Samar at around noon yesterday. Around 200,000 people living in the coastal areas near Samar have been affected. Vongfong packed winds of…
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Thailand News Today – Thursday, May 14
Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. Business owners have had a wake-up call from employees discovering the advantages of working from home. A spokesperson from Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy…
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Architecture students propose redesign and makeover of Bangkok prison
Most of Thailand’s prisons are well past their designed capacity. Living conditions for inmates are cramped and unsanitary. Now some architecture students are trying to come up with creative solutions to improve the living environment at one Bangkok prison. They’ve been working on design proposals that would make the conditions more “humane” at the Thonburi Remand Prison. “Treeward” is one design…
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Alleged Burmese poachers arrested with carcasses of protected species
Forest rangers arrested 2 alleged poachers from Myanmar in the Thong Pha Phum National Park in the western border province of Kanchanaburi province yesterday. Officers seized shotguns and the carcasses of several protected animals from the suspects. The chief of the national park said the rangers caught the suspects in Hindad subdistrict in Thong Pha Phum district, which borders with…
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Leading virologist warns against enabling second wave of Covid-19
A second wave of Covid-19 infections could easily strike Thailand unless people stick to the “new normal” of social distancing, according to Chulalongkorn University’s Head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology. Posting on Facebook today, Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote that everyone is looking forward to the second phase of easing Emergency Decree restrictions now that the rate of…
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Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic
Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. The increasing vacancy trend of Grade-A office space is expected to continue, possibly until a coronavirus vaccine is in effect, according to managing director of Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy, Surachet Kongcheep. Business owners have…
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Suicide deaths during pandemic could exceed virus-related deaths
Stress with money and other worries, brought on by the pandemic, have led a significant number of people in Thailand to take their own lives. Those who have studied the subject in Thailand say the number of suicide deaths this year could exceed the number of coronavirus deaths. Scholars in Chiang Mai University studied suicide cases that took place between…
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WHO spokesman: Covid-19 may never be wiped out
As nations around the world begin gradually lifting lockdown restrictions enacted to stem the spread of Covid-19, the World Health Organisation is warning that the virus may never be completely wiped out. The virus was first detected in Wuhan in China in December last year and has now infected more than 4.3 million people and killed nearly 300,000 worldwide. The WHO’s…
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PM orders ministries to study staggered work hours to reduce traffic congestion
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered authorities to study the possibility of permanently staggered working hours as the Covid-19 pandemic eases because such a policy might help ease long term traffic congestion. Staggered working hours, as well as working from home and learning from home, could be enforced in future to solve traffic problems, according to the PM. He tasked the Education…
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72 year old taxi driver disappears with millions
A elderly taxi driver has vanished without a trace after he became an overnight millionaire when he told the media a sad tale of poverty, indebtedness and lack of family support, according to one of his creditors, who is also the owner of the taxi company. Preecha Chumsombat, the owner of the Mangkorn Chao Phraya taxi rental service in Samut…
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Koh Tao residents caught without face masks made to do push-ups and jumping jacks – VIDEO
Officials on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand have come up with a novel way to punish people for not wearing face masks, still a legal requirement under the Covid-19 emergency decree when people are out in public. The Pattaya News reports that both tourists and Thais caught without protective face coverings are being made to…
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Thai carmakers slash production by 50% in 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic could cut Thailand’s automobile production by up to 50%, according to the Federation of Thai Industries. Thailand is the eleventh biggest carmaker in the world, producing more than 2 million cars last year. The FTI now expects only half that in 2020. FTI automobile club’s spokesman club’s spokesperson was speaking to Thai Enquirer: “If the outbreak is…
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Thai billionaire urges government to allow tourists to return
The senior chairman of Thailand’s largest food and agriculture business, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP All), is appealing to the Thai government to open up the country to overseas visitors once more. The Bangkok Post reports that billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont says Thailand needs to start easing travel restrictions in a bid to restart the tourism industry. “Thailand’s economic losses from the lockdown…
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Australian government takes on Google and Facebook over re-publishing ‘news’
A leading Australian consumer watchdog is calling for Google and other tech giants to pay Australian news outlets A$600 million (12.4 billion baht) a year under a new code of conduct ordered by the government. News Limited and Nine Entertainment have also voiced their support for the news ‘tax’. The Australia government announced plans to force Google, Facebook, and other…
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South Korea asks Thailand to remove it from list of “high risk” countries
South Korea is asking to be removed from Thailand’s list of “high-risk” countries. The list was drawn up in early March, when South Korea was second only to China for Covid-19 case numbers. It now ranks 40th, and is considered one of the countries most successful at managing the outbreak. To date, none of the 7,000 Thai citizens, who have…
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Defence Ministry to take legal action over anti-government slogan campaign
The Defence Ministry is vowing to take action after an anti-government slogan was projected onto various Bangkok monuments and buildings, including the Defence Ministry building itself, at the weekend. The Seek the Truth slogan also appeared on the Democracy Monument, at the Victory Monument BTS station and on Wat Pathum Wanaram temple. Former members of the now defunct Future Forward…
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Fewer Chinese tour groups, more independent travellers to reboot SE Asia travel
Hoping that Chinese tourism is going to ride magically back into Thailand on the back of a gleaming red dragon and save the tattered tourism sector may be precipitous. Of course there are so, so many unknowns even the regular travel writers and consultants are scrambling to forecast a way forward. For Thailand, the ban on international flights hasn’t even…
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Thailand News Today – Wednesday, May 13
Zero new cases. Covid-19 update, first time since March Very happy to announce another milestone in Thailand’s own battle with the Covid-19 virus. No new cases announced for today, the first time that’s happened since March 9. This keeps the country on track for the second phase of reopening and easing of Emergency Decree restrictions scheduled for this Sunday, but…
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Phuket government officially requests the opening of land, water and air links
The southern resort island province of Phuket will ask permission from Bangkok to reopen its airport, sea ports and permanent road access to the mainland (Sarasin Bridge) after several days with no new Covid-19 infections detected. The provincial governor says the province will ask the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand for approval to reopen the airport this Saturday. The CAAT ordered…
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Movies in a Covid world – The case for the return of the Drive In
One of the industries hard hit by the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has been the film industry. At both ends the industry has been shuttered – the making of the movies and then the watching of the movies in cinemas. At some stage the movie making machine will chug back to life and, sometime, we’ll be allowed to go…
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Strange pineapple tree worshipped by plantation owner in Songkhla
The owners of a rubber plantation in the southern province of Songkhla today reported they had found a strange pineapple tree on their farm. “It looks like 15 pineapple trees merged together as one.” Reports from Thai media reveal that after the discovery of the fascinating tree, Phanchakonrat and her husband had brought flowers, incense and candles to worship it,…
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CCSA will announce list of businesses, activities that can recommence
Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, has announced that the CCSA will likely decide on Friday on a full list of business and leisure activities which will be allowed to resume as part of the second phase of leasing Emergency Decree restrictions. The national state of emergency was declared in March to halt the spread…
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Thieving monkey safely caught in Chon Buri
A mischievous macaque, aka. rhesus monkey, has been caught after stealing food from local residents in Chon Buri province’s Banglamung district. Authorities of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were notified of the monkey yesterday afternoon at a housing estate. They arrived at the scene to find the male monkey, estimated at around 2 years old, eating…
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