World News
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Sponsored Top 10 reasons for expats to get a comprehensive health insurance in Thailand
Moving to Thailand offers plenty of excitement and adventure, but the local healthcare system can be complex to navigate as an expat. From unique health risks to high costs at private hospitals, having a comprehensive health insurance plan is essential....
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Foreign media express anxiety over Thailand’s press freedoms
Foreign journalists in Thailand are expressing concern about what they are calling restrictions on press freedom. Speaking at a recent Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand forum, speakers said that the current laws are “proving to be an obstacle to reporting of the anti-government protests”, despite government assurances there have been no curbs on freedom of expression. The “Journalism Without Fear…
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US launches most complex vaccine distribution today as Covid soars
Today, the US is launching its largest and most complicated vaccine distribution process in its history after Covid has continued to wreak havoc on its citizens for months. The site of the distribution, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is filled with tractor trailers loaded with suitcase-sized containers of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine. US regulators authorised the vaccine from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech…
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Laos – the ‘battery’ of Asia and a ticking environmental time bomb
LAOS POWER FACTS: Number of power plants soon to be completed by the end of 2020: 53 hydropower plants under construction or in the planning stage, including those set to be completed this year; there will be more than 90 hydropower plants in Laos with a combined installed capacity of almost 14,000MW. Transmission lines that connect with neighbouring countries: 14 carry power to…
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Thai government threaten to boycott new Lao hydro electric dam project
Loas officials have announced the announcement of yet another Laos hydro electric dam and Thai authorities aren’t happy. The long list of Laos and Chinese dams along the Mekong River have hugely affected the life of communities downstream of the Mekong in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. And Laos. The Lao PDR has been described as South East Asia’s ‘battery’ and…
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US approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine
The US has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, a situation that now permits the rollout of the new mRNA coronavirus vaccine. President Donald Trump promised the first immunisations will now take place “in less than 24 hours”, hailing the development. “Through our partnership with FedEx and UPS, we have already begun shipping the vaccine to every state and zip code…
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Thai border officials capture 14 illegal Burmese migrants at Tak border areas
The Thai military has captured 14 illegal migrants from Myanmar, in 2 operations in the northern province of Tak yesterday. The first occurred in the district of Mae Sot, when officials arrested 11 Burmese nationals, 1 male and 10 females, who were in the process of crossing the Mei River into Thailand. All 11 have been sent to a Tak…
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US Supreme Court rejects state bid to overturn presidential election
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last ditch bid from the Texas’ state attorney general, supported by President Trump, to block ballots of millions of voters in key battleground states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden. The Supreme Court order was unsigned, and the court did not provide a vote count from the sitting judges, but there were no…
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Health officials say all Covid patients in Thailand have been accounted for
The head of Thailand’s Disease Control Department says all Covid-19 cases across 7 provinces where infected returnees from Myanmar travelled, have now been accounted for. Opas Karnkawinpong says Thailand now has a total of 49 cases linked to Thai nationals who crossed illegally from Myanmar, bypassing health checks and quarantine. “So far, 49 cases have been found to be related…
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Chiang Rai governor leads clean-up operation amid Covid fears
Chiang Rai governor, Prajon Prachsakul, has led a clean-up operation across public areas and tourist attractions such as shopping malls, Chiang Rai Airport, Singha Park and the border checkpoint at Mae Sai. It follows the recent discovery of a number of infected Thai nationals who had illegally crossed from Myanmar, bypassing health checks and quarantine. At least 34 illegal returnees…
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Cher calls for Thailand’s only gorilla to be rescued after 30 years in Bangkok shopping mall zoo
US singer Cher has taken to Twitter to expose the plight of a Thai gorilla known as Bua Noi, who has lived above a shopping mall for 30 years. With her mate having died several years ago, she is Thailand’s only gorilla. Cher’s mission to rehome Bua Noi comes just after her rescue of 36 year old Kaavan in Pakistan,…
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Thai medic claims Burmese coronavirus a different strain, spreads 20% faster
Dr Prasit Watanapa from the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital says the coronavirus currently circulating in Myanmar is a different strain and is being transmitted 20% faster than the one detected in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic. The Wuhan strain is known as D614, whereas the more virulent strain currently found in Western countries is G614. Prasit…
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2 people suffer allergic reaction following Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the UK
2 UK health care workers who received the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday, the first group of people to receive the approved vaccine against Covid-19 in the western world, have suffered adverse reactions. The 2 cases were out of the 1000s who have already received the new vaccine. The National Health Service issued a warning yesterday that people “with a…
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Air Asia to focus on ASEAN expansion, as CEO expresses cautious optimism for 2021
Air Asia’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, says the low-cost carrier is planning to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and is in talks to form 3 new airlines. He points out that people still want to travel, and that demand makes him hopeful air travel could be back to its pre-Covid numbers within 6 – 12 months. “At the right…
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Passengers from Chiang Rai-Bangkok flights considered “low-risk”
Passengers from 4 flights between Chiang Rai and Bangkok are considered at “low risk” of contracting Covid-19, according to a statement from the Public Health Ministry. However, the ministry is asking all passengers to self-monitor for the next 14 days, and report symptoms such as fever, a cough, sore throat, or a loss of taste or smell immediately. The 4…
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China carries out first-ever lunar orbit docking, now heading back to Earth
China has carried out its first-ever lunar orbit docking today with a probe carrying lunar samples collected over the past week during a 48 hour stay on the Moon. The mission is named Chang’e-5, after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess, and is bringing back the first lunar soil samples in over 40 years. The capsule carrying moon rocks and soil…
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China lied about the early days of the pandemic – newly leaked documents from Wuhan
Covid-19 was first reported at the very end of last year in Wuhan, a city of 11 million in the central Hubei province in China. The deadly respiratory virus has since infected more than 66.8 million people and led to over 1.53 million deaths around the world, according to Worldometers.info This week, specifically December 1, marks 1 year since the…
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FazWaz accelerates growth in SE Asia property market with latest funding round
FazWaz, a leading real estate transaction marketplace headquartered in Bangkok, has raised a new round of funding to accelerate growth into 2021. Serial investor and Online Marketplaces Chairman Simon Baker via CAV Investment Group says he’s been closely following FazWaz for the last 3 years since they first attended our Property Portal Watch Conferences in 2017. “I believe that their mission…
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Chiang Mai man tests positive for Covid-19 after illegal crossing from Myanmar
A 32 year old Chiang Mai man who was employed at the now notorious 1G1-7 Hotel in Myanmar has tested positive for Covid-19 after sneaking across the border into Thailand. The man worked as a DJ at the hotel and entertainment complex in Tachileik until he returned to the Kingdom via an illegal crossing at the Chiang Rai border on…
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US senators introduce resolution in support of Thailand’s pro-democracy movement
The US Senate has called on the Thai government to end violence against political activists, as it introduced a resolution in support of the pro-democracy movement. 9 members of Congress introduced the resolution, including Thai-American senator Tammy Duckworth, who has previously served in the US military. “As a Thai-American who fought to protect the right to peacefully protest here at…
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Covid-infected Thai returnees: Myanmar hotel in the spotlight
With the news that at least 10 Covid-infected Thai women working in Myanmar bypassed health checks and quarantine on their return to the Kingdom, all eyes have turned to their place of work. Interest in the 1G1-7 Hotel has grown as a result of a resident in the border town of Tachileik claiming it is used as a centre for…
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150 Thai workers ask to be allowed home from Myanmar’s virus-hit Tachilek
The Department of Disease Control says up to 150 Thai nationals have applied to return from Tachilek, as Covid-19 cases rise in the Burmese border town. The requests come as health officials attempt to trace hundreds who came into contact with a number of Covid-infected Thai women who crossed into the Kingdom illegally, bypassing health checks and quarantine. A man…
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100,000 people now hospitalised in the US as daily deaths from Covid-19 surpass 3,000 on Wednesday
The US’s single-day toll for Covid-19 deaths passed 3,000 people for the first time on Wednesday. Yesterday the US recorded its 14 millionth coronavirus case, with the local pandemic currently racing out of control. Wednesday’s death toll of 3,157 people came as hospitalisations surpassed 100,000 for the first time. The US has recored 1 million additional cases of Covid-19 in less…
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The BTS Law, South Korean parliament amends conscription law to allow Jin to stay with BTS
Many countries still have compulsory military conscription, where young men, usually, are enlisted to serve under their country’s military services. Thailand has it, so does Singapore, Myanmar and Cambodia in our immediate sphere. So does South Korea. That’s a problem for pop kings BTS. Of course the 18 – 24 months becomes a disruption to your life and your career,…
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2 infected Thai women took domestic flights after illegal crossing from Myanmar
2 Thai women, both infected with Covid-19, took domestic flights after entering the Kingdom illegally from Myanmar and bypassing health checks and quarantine. It’s understood that a total of 10 Thai women have now crossed illegally from Myanmar, without undergoing any health checks or carrying out mandatory quarantine. All 10 have tested positive for Covid-19, with several having worked in…
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Chinese probe collects rock samples from surface of the Moon
The Chinese, like the rest of us, are mostly prohibited from travelling at the moment, but it hasn’t stopped them travelling to the Moon. A Chinese space probe has landed on the surface of the Moon to bring back the first lunar samples in nearly 5 decades. Since the US dropped its Apollo missions to the Moon in 1972, the…
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No evidence of voter fraud that would change election outcome – US Attorney General
After repeated claims on voter fraud from United States President Donald Trump, and refusal to concede his loss to president-elect Joe Biden, the US Justice Department says they have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud “that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election”, according to US Attorney General William Barr. President Trump has repeatedly posted on Twitter…
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Phuket officials concerned about virus risk from undocumented migrant workers
The discovery that 3 Thai nationals infected with Covid-19 returned from Myanmar and bypassed health checks and quarantine, has officials in Phuket on high alert. Over the weekend, it was discovered that a 29 year old Thai woman had illegally crossed from Myanmar and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 after admitting herself to a Chiang Mai hospital. 2 other women…
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2 more cases identified in the northern Thailand Covid-19 mini outbreak
2 more people have been confirmed as infected with Covid-19 in the current mini-outbreak in Northern Thailand. In this case both women had crossed the Thai/Myanmar border and worked at the same bar in Myanmar as the original patient, feared to be a potential super-spreader. The 29 year old is now being treated at a hospital in Chiang Mai. Chiang…
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Tokyo Olympics may cost almost US$2 billion more due to Covid delay
The Tokyo Olympics may cost almost US$2 billion more than its original budget of US$13 billion, after it has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Olympic organisers say they will decide on the increased budget for the Games after communicating with Japan’s government and Tokyo. The Games were postponed by 1 year after Covid-19 spread worldwide, with its opening…
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US President Trump rejected again by appeals court upon challenging election results
US President Donald Trump’s legal team has been rejected again by a Philadelphia appeals court upon challenging the state’s election results. Despite the court dismissing the case, citing the “campaign’s claims have no merit,” Trump’s lawyers are vowing to appeal to the US Supreme Court. Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, who is also the 3rd Circuit Judge, wrote for the…
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