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Blazing opportunity: Four Twenty Thailand offers franchise programme
Did you know that Four Twenty, Thailand’s premier cannabis brand, has a franchise programme? That’s right, you can now join their efforts to bring high-quality cannabis products and a vibrant community experience to more locations across Thailand. Four Twenty has...
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Wednesday Covid Update: 3,440 new cases and 38 deaths
3,440 new Covid-19 cases and 38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, the latest wave of infections in Thailand, the CCSA has recorded a total of 136,599. Out of the new cases, 1,087 were detected in correctional facilities. Thousands of inmates at more than a dozen Thai prisons have contracted the…
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Thai Navy stands by decision to purchase 3 Chinese tanks
A spokesman yesterday defended the Royal Thai Navy’s decision to buy 3 Chinese tanks, while the country struggles to purchase an adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines. According to a Bangkok Post report, Navy spokesman Chettha Chaipiam says the purchase was agreed prior to the arrival of the pandemic. He points out that, the 398-million-baht agreement was signed during the 2020…
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It’s a yes: WHO approves Sinovac for emergency use
The CoronaVac vaccine from Chinese firm Sinovac has been approved for emergency use, making it the second Chinese vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organisation. The approval paves the way for more widespread global distribution, particularly as part of the Covax scheme. The scheme aims to provide poorer countries with equal access to Covid-19 vaccines but up to…
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Phuket foreigners can register for vaccine leftovers
Starting tomorrow, foreigners residing in Phuket can register for a Covid-19 vaccine. On Thursday and Friday, they can receive a vaccination from the “surplus” of doses still available. To register for the vaccine, foreigners are instructed to use the “Phuket Must Win” web portal. Mr Pracha Asawathira, who is with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and “involved” with…
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Body found in water off Patong
Yesterday, a man’s body was found in the sea near Tri Trang Beach, a lesser-known beach between Patong and Paradise Beach, south of Patong. Patong Police are investigating the matter. Rescue workers were called in around 3:40 pm to the Coral Beach Bridge at the southern tip of Patong beach. A local fisherman had reportedly hauled the unidentified corpse ashore.…
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Malaysia imposes lockdown
Starting today, Malaysia imposed a strict lockdown on its country. The region avoided the first Covid-19 wave, thanks largely to decisive action: closing borders, issuing curbs. However, Southeast Asia has become the new Covid-19 epicentre, as their efforts to curb outbreaks have been impeded by recent Covid outbreaks, glacial slow vaccine rollouts, and citizens who have restriction fatigue. Malaysia has…
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Southeast Asia: The new covid-19 epicentre
Some western countries appear to have turned the tide against Covid-19 (China and India have also administered between 640 million and 208 million doses, respectively). The middle East is showing promise in vaccinating its citizens. But health experts predict some countries could be months or even weeks from being able to come out on the other side of their current…
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Countries push back against being associated with variants, new system may be coming soon
It is one thing to hear a foreign country be connected to the name of a virus, it’s another thing when it’s your country. It feels personal. Last week, many Thais were incensed to have their country associated with a Covid variant. Likewise, the Indian government has called for having all references to the “Indian Variant” scrubbed from social media. They…
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Thai Brewers Association asks for reprieve from alcohol ban
Yesterday, the Thai Brewers Association delivered a petition to the CCSA and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration asking them to reverse the ban of alcohol sales in restaurants, bars as the ban has been harmful to their businesses and they have not been given any other options. The statement reads: The Thai Brewers Association truly understands the goodwill and purpose of…
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Thai government allegedly ticked-off with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
The government is becoming increasingly irritated by the Bangkok Governor and his administration, according to a Thai Enquirer report. The media outlet says senior officials at the Public Health Ministry and at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration are critical of the governor’s random handling of the pandemic and its associated restrictions. The report is based on feedback from an…
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Police officers arrested for alleged involvement in Bangkok kidnap
Two high ranking police officers in Bangkok have been arrested for alleged involvement in the kidnap of a 60 year old Taiwanese businessman for a US$3 million ransom. Police say the man was abducted in broad daylight from a restaurant in the Thong Lor district over a failed business deal for rubber gloves. The March 28 incident where 60 year…
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Government unsure if local administration budgets can be used to buy vaccines
In what could put yet another spanner in the works, the Thai government is questioning if local authorities can purchase vaccines and whether state-allocated budgets can be used for this purpose. The Bangkok Post reports that officials at the Interior Ministry fear a chaotic rollout, with several local administrative organisations racing to order supplies of Sinopharm, the latest vaccine to…
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Don’t worry, says PM, we’ll have enough vaccines
The Thai PM says he’s confident there will be no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines and that expected deliveries will arrive as scheduled. Prayut Chan-o-cha was speaking yesterday during a House of Representatives address, ahead of a debate on the budget for the 2022 financial year. According to a Bangkok Post report, the PM says the distribution of vaccines to areas…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 2,230 new cases and 38 deaths
2,230 new Covid-19 cases and 38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, in the latest wave of cases, the CCSA has reported 133,159 infections. Out of the new cases, 77 were detected in correctional facilities, a drastic decrease in infections at Thai prisons. Thousands of inmates at more than a dozen…
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TAT outlines rules for Phuket re-opening | VIDEO
So, here they are, the dos and don’ts for all those vaccinated tourists planning trips to the southern island of Phuket from July 1. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has laid out the rules governing the Phuket Sandbox model that will see the island re-open to international visitors in just a few weeks’ time. While fully vaccinated tourists will no…
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Opening Phuket and Thailand to travellers and tourists on July 1 | VIDEO
If you’re wanting, or able, to come to Thailand at the moment, the best chance is about to happen. It’s called the Phuket Sandbox, but it’s a pilot program for the rest of Thailand’s tourist areas, and eventually the entire country, to reopen safely for travellers and tourism from July 1. There will be changes to the scheme and additional…
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Newborn’s body found in shallow grave in Si Racha
During the weekend a newborn baby’s corpse was found by the side of the road in Si Racha, a district north of Pattaya. The makeshift grave was located near the Khao Namsap Temple in Thung Sukhla. A local resident, 59 year old Sangwien Duangyai, found the body and alerted the local police. She told Thai media: I feed street dogs…
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Thailand News Today | ‘Covid’ visa extensions, Bangkok aims for 70% vaccination in 1 month | May 31
The deadline to apply for a 60-day visa “Covid” extension has been pushed to July 29, now allowing stays up until late-September, The Department of Disease Control has set an ambitious goal to vaccinate at least 70% of Bangkok residents by July, Thailand has officially extended its Emergency Decree for a 12th time set to expire on July 31 and…
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Canadian woman sexually assaulted while doing a live stream video in Bangkok
Police are searching for a man who was caught on camera sexually assaulting a Canadian woman near Bangkok’s Lumpini Park while she was doing a live stream video for social media. The video shows the man running up to the woman from behind and appearing to reach is hand down below her waist. The woman made a post on Twitter…
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Border patrols in Thailand’s Deep South tighten following lockdown in Malaysia
Following the lockdown measures in Malaysia, troops in Thailand’s Deep South province of Narathiwat have tightened patrol along the natural border to make sure people are not entering Thailand illegally, evading checkpoints and the mandatory quarantine, to prevent Covid-19 from being spread through the country’s porous borders. Officers will focus primarily border districts Waeng, Su-ngai Kolok and Tak Bai, areas…
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Bangkok loosens restrictions, allows 5 types of places to reopen tomorrow
Bangkok city officials are loosening restrictions in the capital and are allowing 5 types of venues to reopen tomorrow (May 1) while other venues under the closure order must remain closed at least until June 14. Bangkok remains the epicentre of infections with 1,356 cases reported today and 41,573 infections over the past couple months in the latest wave of…
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All residents in Ho Chi Minh to be tested for Covid following outbreak in the city
A Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam’s largest city of Ho Chi Minh has driven the Vietnamese government to test all residents for the virus. While infections in Vietnam have remained low, a new cluster linked to a religious mission has been reported in the city and what a local officials call a “very dangerous” new variant was recently found in the…
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Monday Covid Update: 5,485 new cases and 19 deaths, provincial totals
A record high of 5,485 new Covid-19 infections were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. 19 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 1,031. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 159,792 Covid-19 cases, including 130,929 infections reported in the latest wave…
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Water outage in Pa Khlok, Phuket tomorrow
Starting tomorrow, there will be a water outage in Phuket’s Pa Khlok. The outages will be a result of a mains water supply shutoff on Thepkrasattri Road, which is near Phuket’s airport runway in Mai Khao, as announced by the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority. The PWA said that the mains water needs to be shut off in order to connect…
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Vietnamese president asks US for help with Covid-19 vaccination efforts
The President of Vietnam has written to US President, Joe Biden, asking for help with Covid-19 vaccines as his country battles a surge in infections. Over 4,000 new cases have been recorded since a fourth wave took hold at the end of April. The country has received 2 shipments of 2.5 million AstraZeneca doses through Covax, the global initiative set…
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Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand dies while on holiday on Koh Lipe
The Ukrainian ambassador to Thailand died yesterday morning while on holiday on Koh Lipe, a small island west of the southern province Satun. Local health officials say the 45 year old ambassador, Andrii Beshta, died from a heart attack. Andrii’s son said that his father had vomited and lost consciousness before he died. They had been staying in the same hotel…
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Full lockdown in Malaysia from tomorrow
From tomorrow, Malaysia goes into full lockdown in an attempt to flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections across the country. PM Muhyiddin Yassin had been resisting calls for a lockdown, saying he was trying to balance public health needs with economic recovery. However, even some businesses in the country’s tourism sector have been pushing for tougher measures. Just hours before…
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Thai government accused of concealing AstraZeneca supply issues
Medics are accusing the Thai government of a lack of transparency over supply issues associated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The Rural Doctors Society says the administration is keeping quiet about the real situation and the supply challenges it faces. The government has consistently said that the first batch of locally-produced doses would be delivered this week. The Foreign Ministry…
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Government considering linking ID details to social media profiles
In what it says is an attempt to address fake news, fraud, and unlawful content, the government is considering linking people’s ID cards to their social media profiles. According to a Bangkok Post report, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry claims doing this would also boost e-commerce on social media. Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn says a draft regulation on the subject…
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Thai government calls on all foreigners to register for Covid vaccine
Roll up, roll up…your sleeves. The Thai government says all foreign nationals living in the Kingdom should register for vaccination, ahead of the national rollout next month. The news was confirmed by Natapanu Nopakun from the Foreign Ministry, who you may know from the daily English-language briefings on behalf of the Covid-19 Situation Administration. “All people living on Thai soil,…
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