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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UPDATE: Confusion over Thailand designating 11 destinations as ‘high risk’
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry yesterday designated 9 countries and 2 Chinese territories as high risk areas for the Covid-19 virus. He announced that visitors to Thailand from these destination are now subject to 14 day home quarantine and will have to adhere to strict health-related follow-ups. The official government post, on a Public Health Ministry letterhead, was released to the…
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Is the “footshake” the new handshake?
People around the world are changing the way they greet each other due to fears of spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus. In Beijing, the capital of the country where the outbreak began, red banners tell people not to shake hands but rather to join their own hands as a sign of greeting. Loudspeakers tell people to make the traditional “gong shou”…
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Mt Merapi erupts, closes Adi Sumarmo International Airport in Indonesia
Adi Sumarmo International Airport in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia has been closed because of an active volcano erupting, spewing smoke and ash into the sky. There have been no reports of casualties or damage, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency. The airport on Indonesia’s Java Island was forced to close temporarily this morning after the volcano, Mt Merapi, erupted spewing…
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Gunman in Manila mall standoff surrenders, releases hostages
Further to a story earlier reported by The Thaiger, a former security guard has released some 30 people and walked out of a Manila shopping mall after hours of gruelling negotiations, ending a day-long hostage crisis in an upscale commercial district. The gunman, identified by police as Archie Paray, a former guard at the complex, left the V-Mall in suburban…
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South Korea wages “all-out response” – cases exceed 4,000
“The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level.” South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has announced that is government will wage “all-out responses” in response to the outbreak of coronavirus which has added 476 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total of infections to 4,212. The death toll in South…
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France bans large gatherings, discourages “air kisses”
The number of coronavirus cases in France has nearly doubled and currently stands at 100, of whom 86 are hospitalised, two have died and 12 have recovered, according Jerome Salomon, the head of France’s national health service. To fight the spread of the virus, France is banning all indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000, and discouraging the public from…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: China cases ease, 42 cases now in Thailand
The total confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) is now 85,217, with 2,924 people having succumbed to the disease. 39,554 people have fully recovered, approaching 50% of total cases. In Thailand there are now 42 confirmed cases with 28 people listed as “recovered”. The latest Thai victim is a 21 year old salesman whose job is said to have exposed him to foreign…
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Coronavirus myths: Eight things you should probably already know
Two months after the first cases came to the attention of the world, a lot more is known about the coronavirus, aka. Covid-19. Here’s a few well established myths and a few scientific facts. MYTH: ‘Face masks don’t work’ Wearing a face mask is no guarantee that you won’t be infected. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets and larger…
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World’s largest travel fair, ITB, cancelled in Berlin
Organisers of the world’s biggest travel expo, the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin, have cancelled the event over coronavirus fears. 160,000 visitors were expected to attend this year’s event. “We take our responsibility for the security and the health of our guests, exhibitors and employees very seriously. It is with a heavy heart that we have to look at the…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: S Korean cases exceed 2,000, cases in 15 European countries
The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has now killed at least 2,858 people worldwide as the focus of the outbreak now moves away from China and to outbreaks in central South Korea, northern Italy and other parts of Europe. 83,379 people are now infected but, notably (and increasingly), 36,562 people have fully recovered. At least 15 European countries now have confirmed cases of…
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More virus cases reported outside of China than within
For the first time ever, more COVID-19 coronavirus cases were reported in countries other than China yesterday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The US is urging travellers to delay or cancel travel to South Korea after that country’s confirmed cases passed the 1500 mark. New cases were found around the world, from Pakistan to Brazil. The Iranian government…
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Cambodia burns, Bangkok chokes, schools closed
Bangkok mums and dads will need to sort out what to do with the kids for the rest of the week after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration closed public schools from today because of the excessive air pollution. Most of the smoke and haze is blowing in from Cambodia with light easterly winds. All schools under the supervision of the BMA…
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Uncertainty as Malaysian PM Mahathir resigns
Just days after Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad was given a mandate by the ruling coalition to stay on until after November’s APEC Summit, he has submitted a letter of resignation to the nation’s king. His office made the announcement today, amid talk of forming a new coalition. The fate of Malaysia’s current ruling coalition has been in doubt since surprise…
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World’s biggest band launch their new album “Map of the Soul: 7” BTS
From the first determined drum stroke in the new BTS music video (below) you get the sense that these guys mean business for their new album. The music video for their first official single ON kicked over more than 70 million views in its first 2 days since launch. The world’s biggest band BTS – in terms of album sales,…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: Spark in cases in Italy and South Korea, Air Asia cancels flights
Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases have now reached 79,561 around the world, with 77,345 of the cases confined to China. The rise in cases has been principally in China with 409 new cases and South Korea with 161 new cases. 2,619 people have died from the infection. The major outbreaks, outside China, have been in South Korea, aboard the Diamond Princess (still…
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Top 10 things to see and do in Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Phú Quốc is a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand (aka. Vịnh Thái Lan in Vietnamese). The island is actually closer to Cambodia than Vietnam. Phu Quoc is a rising star in the island destinations of south east asia. It has big ambitions and will catch up quickly with some key infrastructure already in…
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Busted! Cambodia cracks down on suggestive Facebook sellers
Cambodian women’s rights groups are slamming a crackdown on well endowed women who wear “provocative clothing” while selling goods live on Facebook, calling the crackdown dangerous and baseless. Seven groups point out that the women are breaching no law. “There is no evidence-based research that affirms that women’s clothing choice is the root cause of degradation of social morality.” Cambodian…
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Consumer groups warn of risks in buying a new Chevrolet
General Motors’ decision to pull production of its Chevrolet line out of Thailand has prompted consumer advocacy groups to remind prospective buyers of risks. The Foundation for Consumers and the Office of the Independent Committee for Consumer Protection said yesterday that buyers “should be wary of uncertainty as General Motors will pull its operation out of the country” by the…
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Coronavirus cases more than double in South Korea to surpass 150
South Korea has reported its first death from the COVID-19 corona virus. The government reports that a 63 year old man, who died Wednesday, tested positive for the virus in a post mortem examination. The exact cause of his death has yet to be determined. He died in North Gyeongsang province, where he had been hospitalized for over 20 years,…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: S Korea tops 156 cases, Ukrainians attack evacuee bus
The total number of infected worldwide cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) stands at over 76,735. At least 2,247 people are now dead from the virus, with all but 11 of those deaths in mainland China. 18,561 people are now registered as ‘recovered’ from the virus. The fatality rate still sits around 2%. • There has been a sharp spike in new cases…
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CORONAVIRUS update: Scientists debunk conspiracies, South Korea cases jump to 82
“We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.” China’s National Health Commission reports there has been 114 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak bringing the death toll to at least 2,126. 16,433 people have now fully recovered around the world. Around the world, there are 31 new cases in South Korea…
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Hong Kong police on a roll as third suspect in toilet paper heist flushed out
Hong Kong has been gripped by panic buying since the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, as frightened residents hoard essentials like rice and toilet tissue. Now, a third man man has been arrested there for his role in a bizarre toilet paper heist, as a gang aimed to clean up during a run of frenzied buying in the city. The 26 year…
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Korea reports 15 more coronavirus cases, total now 46
South Korea today confirmed 15 more cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus bringing its total number of infections to 46, amid growing concerns that the illness is spreading despite tighter quarantine measures. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 13 new patients were found in Daegu, 300 kilometres southeast of Seoul. It’s presumed they contracted the illness…
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Chinatowns around the world fall quiet over coronavirus fears
Chinatowns around the world, some centuries old, are quiet, as businesses to survive the effects of global concern over the COVID-19 outbreak. Businesses in Australia’s oldest Chinatown enclave, dating back to the influx of fortune-seekers during an 1850s gold rush, report their earnings have dropped by more than half and they have been forced to cut staff hours dramatically, a…
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Cambodia’s carelessness over coronavirus could bring disaster
When passengers from the MS Westerdam disembarked in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on Valentine’s Day last week, it was smiles and handshakes all around, as Prime minister Hun Sen greeted them with roses. Protective masks were nowhere to be seen. Not only did the PM not wear one, his bodyguards ordered people wearing masks to take them off. The next day, the…
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World travel suffers as coronavirus outbreak drags on
The Public Health Ministry is asking Thais planning trips to Japan and Singapore to reschedule their visits, saying that travellers need to be aware of the rising number of people infected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) in those two countries. Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima, the permanent secretary at the Thai Public Health Ministry, says the coronavirus outbreak had reached the third stage…
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The Great Hong Kong Toilet Roll Heist of 2020
And now from the files of the ‘Laws of Unintended Consequences’, a coronavirus story with a twist. Police in Hong Kong have arrested two men and are still searching for a third following a toilet paper roll heist. Some 600 paper rolls were stolen in a panic-theft linked to shortages over the coronavirus. Yesterday morning a delivery was being made…
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21 Vietnamese fishermen taken for coronavirus testing in Songkhla
21 Vietnamese crew from four Vietnamese fishing boats looking for sea cucumbers have been taken ashore to a Songkhla Navy hospital by Royal Thai Navy officials last night. They are being quarantined whilst being tested for coronavirus. Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea. They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: WHO fights the ‘infodemic’, recession fears in Europe
A total number of 67,100 cases of Coronavirus (covid-2019) have now been confirmed worldwide, along with 1,526 deaths reported and 8,193 people recovered. The number of reported full recoveries is now over 5 times the rate of reported deaths, and continues to rise each day. The infodemic… On top of the spread of the virus, there has been increasingly dangerous…
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Singapore megachurch suspends services, goes online
Facing a burgeoning crisis in the southeast Asian island-state, Singapore’s biggest megachurch, with a congregation of 16,000, will stop holding services this weekend due to the rising number of coronavirus cases and instead broadcast its lively, gospel-style message online. City Harvest Church is one of the most profitable churches in Asia, but has been embroiled in a corruption scandal in…
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