News
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Tourism operators want cost of PCR tests reduced when Test & Go resumes
Following the CCSA’s decision yesterday to resume Test & Go from February 1 (with some changes) tourism operators are urging the government to make PCR testing more affordable. The revamped Test & Go entry scheme now requires overseas arrivals to book a hotel on day 1 and again on day 5 of their stay – and to take a PCR…
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Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says Thai 5G is not an issue
After a wave of flight cancellations and airline schedule and equipment reshuffling in the US, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand spoke up to reaffirm that 5G signals in Thailand do not have any conflicts or negative effects on aircraft or flight equipment. The CAAT explained that, in Thailand, 5G bandwidth is on a different wavelength than anything used in…
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Dr Yong says hurrying for a fourth vaccine is wasteful
Dr Yong Poovorwan is almost always the go-to person for explanations and opinions about Covid-19 as Thailand’s top virologist. And now he is saying that it would be wasteful for people in Thailand to race to get a fourth vaccine as many places are discussing and launching second booster programs. As the head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical…
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20 baht bills getting a modern polymer update on March 24
Money enthusiasts, get ready! On March 24 the 20 baht bill is getting a radical new update. The Royal portrait will still be prominent but the flimsy, green paper the bills have been printed on for decades is being replaced with a modern new polymer with a glossy, plasticky feel. Starting on March 24, the new, more durable polymer 20…
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Thailand’s Test & Go registration reintroduced for travel starting February 1
Test & Go is back on, and vaccinated travellers will be able to register for (almost) quarantine-free entry to Thailand re-starting February 1. There have been slight revisions to the rules, now requiring travellers to have proof of their hotel booking on the first and fifth day of their stay in Thailand when they will undergo RT-PCR tests. In the…
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At least 3 killed, 7 injured as Myanmar’s army raid displaced camps in Kayah State
At least three refugees were killed and seven others were injured during the Myanmar army’s raids on refugee camps in eastern Kayah State, where innocent civilians were forced to leave their houses as fighting escalated between the Tatmadaw (army) and armed opposition groups. According to a source from the local Catholic Church in Myanmar who spoke to the Vatican News,…
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Vietnam eases entry procedures for foreign employees and returnees with valid visas
Foreigners with valid visas can now enter Vietnam without having to get approval from the immigration offices or local authorities, starting from Tuesday as the government eased entry restrictions. This means people with valid temporary residence cards (TRCs), permanent residence cards (PRCs), valid visas, and valid visa exemption certificates will be able to enter Vietnam without any permission from the…
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Chon Buri villagers complain of air pollution from burning crops
Residents of a Chon Buri housing estate complained to local authorities that crop burning at nearby plantations has been causing not only air pollution, but ash has been falling on their cars, houses, and clothes. They say sugar cane plantations in particular were creating the ash in the air through illegal burning, causing poor air quality for the people living…
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More than a million Covid-19 vaccinations ‘expire’ in Indonesia before distribution to public
Indonesia had a Covid kerfuffle today after more than a million Covid-19 vaccination shots expired before they could be used, most of which were donated just one to three months, due to their short shelf life. According to Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, nearly 98% of the 1.1 million dosages were thrown out as a result of rushed shipments…
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First meeting of Thailand’s Lower House this year adjourned due to lack of numbers
The first meeting of the year for Thailand’s House of Representatives, which was meant to begin yesterday, had to be abruptly adjourned because the minimum number of MPs required were not present. 227 MPs were present, a number 10 short of the minimum number required to conduct the proceedings. Half of the House’s 473 members were required to attend. In…
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Thammanat Prompow, 21 MPs booted from Palang Pracharat
After a meeting of the executive members of the Palang Pracharat Party yesterday, a shocking 22 MPs including popular but controversial Secretary-General Thammanat Prompow who made headlines after details of an arrest and jail time in Australia came to light recently. Once a rockstar in the ruling party who called himself the main artery of the party, Thammanat was pushed…
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Burmese migrants trafficked through Thailand caught by Malaysian border
Last night, Thai soldiers caught 31 Burmese migrants on the Thailand-Malaysia border, illegally passing through Thailand and hoping to work in Malaysia. The migrants were found hiding in a ditch on a rubber plantation in Sadao, a district of Songkhla province. The group 25 men and six women had reportedly travelled from Myanmar’s Myawaddy township. After they crossed into Tak…
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Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry will not order schools to close down because a few pupils are infected with Covid-19, but only if there are clusters of infections, according to the deputy director-general of the Department of Health. Dr Sarawut Boonsuk explained that the ministry would order the school to close the classroom for three days to clean it thoroughly if…
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New Zealand closes its borders to arrivals over fear of Omicron outbreak
New Zealanders are currently unable to return home as the Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins orders a temporary halt to the only route back to the country due to the fully occupied numbers of managed isolation and quarantine, or MIQ, as demands soar following the threat posed by the Omicron strain yesterday. Although the ban would be temporary, no date…
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Facebook mistakenly banning ok content a growing problem
Language and expression have nuances, subtleties, and variety in meaning, both explicitly and implicitly stated. The problem is, Facebook often times does not. Society is facing an increasingly conspicuous problem of Facebook and other social media platforms using algorithms to block prohibited content while lacking any useful channels to rectify mistakes. Many people have experienced getting muted or banned temporarily…
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Thursday Covid Update: 8,129 new cases; provincial totals
19 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 21,987 with 289 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 8,129 new Covid-19 cases and 6,978 recoveries. There are now 82,734 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Thailand extends State of Emergency for another two months
Thailand’s State of Emergency was extended for another two months. The decree, which was first invoked by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha in March 2020, gives the government sweeping powers, through the establishment of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, to set restrictions and measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Thailand. The decree was last set to expire on…
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Book publishers known for controversy raided by Bangkok police
Just in time for the National Book Fair coming to Bangkok, police this morning rated a Bangkok book publisher known for issuing material against the grain of normal Thai society. Fa Diew Kan, which translates to “Same Sky”, was raided at about 10:30 this morning by around 30 police officers. The officers came with a warrant to look for books “about…
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Alcohol sales at restaurants in approved provinces will be allowed until 11pm
Alcohol sales at restaurants in approved provinces will be allowed until 11pm, starting January 24. Under Thailand’s colour-coded zoning with corresponding disease control measures, alcohol sales at restaurants until 11pm will be allowed in “yellow” zones under high surveillance and “blue” zones which are approved for pilot tourism programmes. In 44 provinces, classified as “orange” zones, alcohol sales at restaurants…
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Time frames laid out for vaccine booster shots in Phuket
Authorities in Phuket have announced their plans to provide third and fourth vaccines as booster shots to protect the tourist province from Covid-19.  The ministry of the Interior’s Phuket office issued the plan through the Phuket info centre that they operate, and was developed by the Phuket City development company, a group of businesses that work on major public service projects…
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21 year old woman found drowned in Phuket pond
Police in the Chalong sub-district of Phuket found the drowned body of a 21 year old woman in the pond of a housing estate yesterday evening. After being notified that a woman had fallen into the pond and drowned, the police rushed to the scene. They, along with a diving team, then spent an hour searching the waters for the…
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Hotels call for Covid-19 land and building tax cuts to be extended
The hotel industry is asking the government to extend a land and building tax cut that was enacted in June of 2020, citing the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic with no economic recovery in sight. They requested the 90% tax cut be extended for 2 more years, or, failing that, enact a new tax cut of 70 to 80% to…
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Those who don’t report positive ATK results can face penalties – DDC director
Has your at-home Covid-19 test come out positive? If so, report the results to government health officials. Those who do not report their result can face charges. Speaking at a press conference, the director-general of the Department of Disease Control, Opas Karnkawinpong, warned that anyone who finds themselves infected with Covid-19 by using the ATK test and keeps it a…
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Pork price crisis ups demand for poultry, chicken added to price control list
Thailand’s pork price crisis is causing an increased demand for chicken, leading poultry and egg prices to surge. The Ministry of Commerce has now added chickens and chicken meat to their price control list. The ministry now mandates that chicken raisers with over 100,000 chickens, and slaughterhouses with the capacity for over 4,000 chickens a day, disclose their quantity, stocks,…
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Former police chief ‘Joe Ferrari’ says he just wanted to “scare suspect”
A former police chief charged with murder after a drugs suspect died when multiple plastic bags were placed over his head during questioning, says he just wanted to scare the victim. Thitisan Utthanaphon, aka. Joe Ferrari in Thai media, a police chief in the northern province of Nakhon Sawan at the time, told the court that he never intended to…
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Prince Andrew shuts down social media accounts as backlash grows in Britain
The British prince formerly known as His Royal Highness has quit social media amid a barrage of negative publicity ahead of a civil lawsuit in the US. Prince Andrew faces a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, a now 38-year-old woman, who accuses him of sexual assault and battery when she was just 17. Giuffre says she was trafficked by…
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Bangkok’s subway introduces new payment methods featuring Visa and Master
The burden of queuing up to purchase your ticket at machines or top-up from ticket booths at Bangkok’s subway is now soon to be gone with MRT introducing new contactless payment methods with Visa and Mastercard, according to its official Facebook post. Passengers will be able to scan there credit card at the gate rather than touching a plastic token…
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Elderly rescued from unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok after reports of poor conditions
Elderly people kept in poor conditions at unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok, some abused and even put in shackles, were rescued yesterday. Thai authorities raided two centres in the Lat Krabang and Nong Chok districts, which are both owned by the same person, and discovered residents squeezed into tiny rooms, and some residents even in shackles. Authorities then took 40…
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Department of traditional medicine says it can treat Long Covid with Thai herbs
Long Covid, the often-debilitating series of symptoms some people are left with even after recovering from Covid-19, can be treated with Thai herbs. So says the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, which is offering treatment to Long Covid sufferers. The Bangkok Post reports that practitioners of traditional and alternative therapies have launched a mobile unit offering Thai herbs…
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CCSA says Test & Go could make a comeback soon – with a few tweaks
The government’s Covid-19 task force meets later today to discuss the fate of the Test & Go entry scheme, along with the potential easing of some restrictions. Supoj Malaniyom from the CCSA says Test & Go could make a comeback soon, but will involve stricter monitoring of foreign arrivals’ health. The Bangkok Post reports that the scheme could now require…
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