World News
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Thailand scores highest for mask-wearing in survey of ASEAN nations
A survey carried out by internet-based market research firm YouGov reveals that Thais are the most likely to wear face masks and to use hand sanitiser. Khaosod English reports that the survey examined the habits of citizens from 6 ASEAN member-states and found that 95% of Thais always wear a face mask in public. (It’s currently still law to wear…
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12 Rohingya arrested for illegal entry in Tak province
Police in the western Thai province of Tak, near the Burmese border, say 12 Rohingya were arrested in the Mae Sot district and charged with illegal entry. The Rohingya are an ethnic group in Myanmar. Most live in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast. Myanmar is a majority Buddhist state, but the Rohingya are primarily Muslim, though a small number…
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Thais on repatriation flight from London were reported with ‘fevers’
Of the 264 passengers who arrived from London on a repatriated flight 2 days ago, yesterday deputy director of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport reported that 9 Thais on the flight were discovered with a high temperature at the initial screening when they deplaned. “Airport staff screened all passengers who arrived on the EVA Air flight number BR068 from London.” “The…
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New drug has potential to stop Covid-19 without a vaccine
Scientists at China’s prestigious Peking University say a drug being tested at a Chinese laboratory could not only shorten recovery time for those infected with Covid-19, but perhaps even offer short-term immunity. They believe it could “bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt”. The director of the university’s Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics told AFP that the drug has…
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Global recovery unlikely to happen next year – IMF
The head of the International Monetary Fund says the global economy is going to take longer than initially thought to recover fully from the shock caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus. She’s also warning against the danger of protectionism. Kristalina Georgieva says the Fund is likely to revise its forecast for a 3% contraction in GDP in 2020 downward, but gave…
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“Off the charts” – biggest drug seizure in decades
“Truly off-the-charts.” That was the assessment of Jeremy Douglas from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime talking about a major drug seizure in Myanmar’s northern Shan state. How off the charts? Authorities seized 200 million methamphetamine tablets (yaba), more than 500 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice), and 35.5 tonnes and 163,000 thousand litres of precursor chemicals used to manufacture…
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Global aviation in acute crisis
by Andrew J Wood “…by the end of May 2020 most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.” Global aviation has been battered and commercial scheduled air traffic remains mostly grounded as countries enforce their lockdowns and travel restrictions. There are few signs that the end is in sight. For the largest of carriers like IAG (British Airways), United, American…
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New Zealand social distancing rules see PM turned away from café
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has been turned away from a café due to restrictions she put in place as part of the country’s response to the Covid-19 virus. When the café, in the capital city of Wellington, reached the maximum number of customers permitted under social distancing rules, it was forced to turn away the PM, who had arrived with…
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Synthetic drugs growing in east, Southeast Asia: UN report
The synthetic drugs market in East and Southeast Asia continues to expand and diversify, and the price of methamphetamine “yaba” tablets has dropped to the lowest level in a decade as the supply has surged. A report released yesterday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime titled “Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest Developments and Challenges”, warns…
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Nearly 100 million baht of methamphetamine seized in Nong Khai
General Suchart Theerasawat, Deputy Director of the Nong Khai Police station (northeastern Thailand), has put the results of a massive drug haul on display for the media. Police had confiscated 28 sacks containing illicit drugs – 5,600,000 methamphetamine tablets (yaba) and 2 sacks of crystal methamphetamine (ice) weighing 33 kilograms. The drugs had an estimated street value of 93,900,000 baht.…
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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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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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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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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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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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Typhoon Vongfong closes in on the Philippines, hits coast later today
The Philippines is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Vongfong. During Tuesday and Wednesday, Vongfong strengthened from a modest tropical storm with winds of 95 kph to the equivalent of a major typhoon. Maximum sustained winds are now up to 195 kph and the typhoon continues to strengthen as it approaches the Philippines’ coast. The only difference between a ‘hurricane’ and…
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‘Vongfong’ heads northwest along Philippines coast
The first potential typhoon for this year’s typhoon and storm season in the western Pacific now has a name. It’s been called ‘Vongfong’ and is is quickly becoming a threat to the Philippines. While the peak of the western Pacific typhoon season is late summer, there are frequent storms in the winter or early spring due to the warm waters of…
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Regional travel bubbles, the short-term tourism solution
As nations slowly get their heads around the first outbreaks of Covid-19, the attention is now pivoting to re-opening businesses. And re-opening borders for tourism. But, at least for the short term, the future of tourism will probably be regional travel bubbles – loose agreements between neighbouring nations to allow (reasonably) free travel between two or three countries. Staying isolated…
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Australian government warns citizens not to let down their guard as restrictions ease
The Australian government is warning its citizens not to let their guard down as some restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus are lifted. The country has had 98 deaths from around 7,000 cases to date. Given the devastating figures coming from many other parts of the world, Australia (and neighbouring New Zealand) appear to…
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China on alert as 17 new Covid-19 cases reported, highest in two weeks
China has recorded its highest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases since April 28, with 17 new cases. Five of those are in Wuhan, where the outbreak began in late 2019, and is the highest number recorded there since March 11. A Reuters report says that 7 of the cases recorded yesterday involve arrivals from overseas, a big jump from…
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Border patrols nab 29 Thais sneaking back from Malaysia
Border patrol police arrested 29 Thai nationals for illegal entry yesterday, as they were attempting to sneak over the Malaysian border into the Sabayoi district of Thailand’s southern Songkhla province, mostly heavily wooded forest. The group – 18 men and 11 women – rode through forests on 15 motorbikes to avoid immigration checkpoints. They were intercepted by police on a…
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Rock legend Little Richard – dead at 87
The music world has lost an icon: Little Richard, a pioneer who, with a few others, transformed Chicago (electric) blues into the frenzied new style called rock ‘n’ roll, has died. He was 87. His outrageous antics showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally.” Rolling Stone magazine said yesterday…
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Containing the misinformation virus – social media platforms race to remove ‘Plandemic’
The rush is on to remove a viral video entitled ‘Plandemic’, a conspiracy theory program which has been as viral as the actual virus it spreads false information about. The world’s leading social networks are taking down the video, edited in the style of a highly-produced documentary. But new ‘infections’ keep popping up as people with copies of the 26 minute video…
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US State Department claims China and Russia conspiring to rewrite coronavirus narrative
The US yesterday accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false claims the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Beijing is increasingly adopting techniques perfected by Moscow. Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which tracks foreign propaganda, told reporters: “Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic…
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Bike-riding monkey attacks, drags Indonesian toddler – VIDEO
A video showing a monkey grabbing and dragging a toddler along a street in Indonesia has gone viral, leaving netizens around the world arguing over what actually happened. Was it a simian kidnap, a monkey mucking around, or a hungry monkey with evil intentions? Asiaone reports that the incident occurred in Surabaya, Indonesia last week. The clip shows the monkey…
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Former Garuda Indonesia CEO jailed over aircraft engine rort
A former CEO for Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has been jailed for bribery and money laundering. The sentence was related to the procurement of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce for the airline. Emirsyah Satar has been handed down an 8 year sentence and fined US$1.4 million by the country’s corruption court. Mr. Satar served as CEO of…
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Singaporean visa forger sentenced, fined, awaiting deportation
A Singaporean former-embassy staff was yesterday handed a suspended 114 months sentence by a Thai court after being convicted of 38 counts of forging Thai visa documents. When arrested by police in the northern province of Chiang Rai police on Tuesday, 26 year old David Han was found to have forged employment documents, salary slips, and certificates from universities both in…
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Leading Philippines broadcaster shut down after clashes with Duterte
The Philippines’ leading television and radio broadcaster, ABS-CBN, has been ordered to shut down by the country’s parliament, where the majority of members are loyal to President Rodrigo Duterte. Critical coverage of President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs angered the Philippine leader, but his gripe with ABS-CBN goes back to the 2016 presidential election when he accused the network of refusing to…
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Covid-19 hotline for forgotten migrant workers
45 year old Maw la Myine is from Myanmar and works for NGO Thai Raks, educating his community about public health issues such as HIV and TB. And now, Covid-19. Maw has a gift for languages, having been a volunteer Mon language teacher to children at home. His ability to speak Thai led to him becoming a translator, liaising between…
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