Covid-19 News

Thailand Covid-19 news, vaccine updates, travel restrictions, and government policies—stay informed on case numbers, safety measures, and global developments. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Covid-19 updates in Thailand.

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  • 3 men arrested in Sinopharm vaccine scam

    3 men arrested in Sinopharm vaccine scam

    A vaccine scam was broken up with 3 men alleged to have pretended to be doctors to sell people Sinopharm vaccines that did not exist. Police have identified and apprehended 3 men they believe to be the perpetrators of the scam that saw men posing as doctors in order to take payments for vaccines appointments that never actually existed. The…

  • Bars can reopen in Rawai Phuket.. but not like we hoped

    Bars can reopen in Rawai Phuket.. but not like we hoped

    The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! After mounting pressure and a meeting today with Aroon Solos, the mayor of Rawai, Phuket, bars, pubs and entertainment venues will be allowed to reopen. Just without any of the things that bring customers. The mayor of Rawai met with the Muang District Chief and a select group of…

  • Pattaya still eyes September reopening despite Covid-19 surge

    Pattaya still eyes September reopening despite Covid-19 surge

    The Pattaya Move On programme to reopen one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations to international travellers is facing an uphill battle as the Chon Buri province faces unrelenting growth in Covid-19 infections. Despite continued infections, the Chon Buri Tourism Council plans to push forward the reopening plan set to begin in September. The province has recorded over 13,500 Covid-19 infections…

  • Available Covid patient beds at Bangkok hospitals hit “critical level”

    Available Covid patient beds at Bangkok hospitals hit “critical level”

    The available beds at Bangkok hospitals for Covid-19 patients have hit a “critical level” with only 10% of beds now open for those with severe coronavirus symptoms, according to the Public Health Ministry. With the uptick in Covid-19 cases over the past several months and a sharp increase over the past few weeks, said to be due to the spread…

  • With Covid-19, Tourism Ministry mulls new reopening strategy

    With Covid-19, Tourism Ministry mulls new reopening strategy

    The Tourism and Sports Ministry is reevaluating the plans for reopening Thailand and its tourism hubs as Covid-19 infections are rising all over the country. While they admit that the surge in Covid-19 is a major health and safety issue, they insist on the necessity of reopening and restarting the tourism economy and get Bangkok reopened in particular. Minister of…

  • Thursday Covid Update: Provincial totals; 2,224 new cases in Bangkok

    Thursday Covid Update: Provincial totals; 2,224 new cases in Bangkok

    All of Thailand’s 77 provinces recorded new Covid-19 infections today. A total of 9,186 new Covid-19 cases and a record daily high of 98 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA recorded a total of 372,215 confirmed Covid-19 infections and 3,032 Covid-related fatalities. Out of…

  • New Covid-19 response teams to be dispatched to 69 Bangkok communities

    New Covid-19 response teams to be dispatched to 69 Bangkok communities

    In an effort to contain the Covid-19 outbreak in Bangkok where the highly transmissible Delta variant, said to now be the dominant strain, 69 response teams have been set up to conduct rapid Covid-19 tests in high-risk communities to quickly detect infections and contain the virus. Governor Aswin Kwanmuang says the so-call “Comprehensive Covid-19 Response Teams,” or CCRTs, which are…

  • Man tries to bluff his way through Phuket checkpoint, police unravel ruse

    Man tries to bluff his way through Phuket checkpoint, police unravel ruse

    Early yesterday morning, a man tried to bluff his way through a Phuket checkpoint by using his friend’s vaccination certificate to gain entry to the island and hopeful tourist paradigm. However, the bigger problem wasn’t that man tried to gain entry into Phuket. The bigger problem was that man already had gained entry into Phuket using this bluff. Multiple times. The…

  • Phuket finds 3 more infected visitors, total now stands at 10

    Phuket finds 3 more infected visitors, total now stands at 10

    Yesterday, 3 more visitors to Phuket were found to be Covid positive. The discovery brings Phuket’s total infected visitors to 10, says the daily Covid report that comes from the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office. The daily report also signified 8 new local infections. This brings the total number of people infected from April until now to 797. However, the…

  • Chon Buri “closes” 2 factories and construction camp, work will continue

    Chon Buri “closes” 2 factories and construction camp, work will continue

    Yesterday, the Chon Buri Governor announced that 2 more factories and a construction worker camp will be closed after Covid cases surfaced at the locations. As part of Thailand’s “sealed bubble” strategy, the locations are closed down but the staff still gets to live and work while they also quarantine at the same time. Leaving or entering the locations is…

  • Government Pharmaceutical Organisation sues over Moderna profiteering allegations

    Government Pharmaceutical Organisation sues over Moderna profiteering allegations

    The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation is suing the chairman of the Thonburi Healthcare Group and a mathematician, both of whom have criticised its procurement of the Moderna vaccine. The Bangkok Post reports that the GPO has filed police complaints against THG chairman Boon Vanasin and mathematician Loy Chunpongthong. Both men have alleged that the GPO profited from the purchase of Moderna…

  • Thursday Covid Update: Record high of 98 deaths; 9,186 new cases

    Thursday Covid Update: Record high of 98 deaths; 9,186 new cases

    A record daily high of 98 coronavirus-related deaths was reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The CCSA also logged 9,186 new Covid-19 infections, continuing on the trend of daily infections hitting the 8,000s and 9,000s. In the latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, there have been 343,352 confirmed…

  • 1 million additional vaccine doses being purchased for Bangkok residents

    1 million additional vaccine doses being purchased for Bangkok residents

    The Thai government has pledged to purchase an additional 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for Bangkok residents in the coming 2 weeks. Apisamai Srirangson from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says the plan is to vaccinate 70% of the capital’s residents, but to date only 43.6% have been vaccinated. The Bangkok Post reports that the Disease Control Department will…

  • Government forging ahead with mixed vaccines, amid doubts and confusion

    Government forging ahead with mixed vaccines, amid doubts and confusion

    The Thai government plans to go ahead with a proposal to combine vaccines from different manufacturers, in an effort to boost immunity against the Delta variant. The move comes after a World Health Organisation scientist warned against the practice, raising concerns among the Thai public. Following reports that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was questioning the decision, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri has…

  • Proposal: stop Covid-19 testing foreign workers in dark red zones

    Proposal: stop Covid-19 testing foreign workers in dark red zones

    Thailand’s Minister of Labour Suchat Chomklin is scrambling to explain away a leaked alleged proposal to stop testing foreign migrant workers for Covid-19 after Thai social media exploded all day with criticism. The order had been sent to the Bangkok Employment Office Area 1-10 on July 5, but just came to light yesterday. The proposal to cancel testing for foreign…

  • CCSA clarifies what shops can and can’t open in Bangkok

    CCSA clarifies what shops can and can’t open in Bangkok

    With the lockdown restrictions launched Monday that shut down all but the most essential businesses, some shops are unsure of if they are essential or not. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration added some clarification today on what shops could and could not open for lockdown. They released details for Bangkok and the surrounding 5 provinces of Nakhon Phathom, Nonthaburi,…

  • Confusion and cancelled appointments over new vaccine mix-and-match policy

    Confusion and cancelled appointments over new vaccine mix-and-match policy

    With contradicting statements over the mixing of Covid-19 vaccine brands, many in Thailand’s medical field have been confused, and some even cancelled appointments today. This week, the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved to be used as a third “booster” shot and as a second dose for those who received a Sinovac shot. But just as Thailand announced the approval, a chief…

  • Wednesday Covid Update: 9,317 new cases; provincial totals

    Wednesday Covid Update: 9,317 new cases; provincial totals

    9,317 new Covid-19 cases and 87 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Out of the total of 363,029 Covid-19 cases reported by the CCSA since the start of the pandemic last year, the latest and most severe wave, first recorded on April 1, has accounted for 334,166 of the infections. The 87 new coronavirus-related fatalities…

  • For Covid-19, officials want you to stop talking… on trains anyway

    For Covid-19, officials want you to stop talking… on trains anyway

    British trains are known for being silent, with nobody disturbing others with chatting. Now British expats can get a taste of home as Thailand’s train authorities add to their Covid-19 safety precautions the request of no talking on trains to avoid the spread of the virus. The Department of Rail Transport has already implemented health and safety regulations to attempt…

  • Man changes Virologist’s Wikipedia to include “Sinovac salesman”, faces charges

    Man changes Virologist’s Wikipedia to include “Sinovac salesman”, faces charges

    Recently, a Thai national allegedly modified the Thai language Wikipedia entry for Thai virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan to include that Dr Yong is also a “Sinovac salesman for the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration”. He is now facing charges such as criminal defamation and maybe computer crimes. On Monday, Bangkok police searched the 24 year old aspiring scribe’s home and seized his…

  • Government extends emergency decree for the 13th time

    Government extends emergency decree for the 13th time

    The Thai Cabinet has approved an extension to the emergency decree until at least the end of September, meaning it has now been extended 13 times. According to a Pattaya News report, the extension comes into effect on August 1 and means the government will retain extraordinary powers, including the ability of the courts to hand down heavy penalties to…

  • Thammasat University Hospital needs shipping containers to help overwhelmed morgue

    Thammasat University Hospital needs shipping containers to help overwhelmed morgue

    Thammasat University Hospital, located in central Thailand’s Pathum Thani Province, is running out of room in its morgue and is now looking for shipping containers to store the remains of Covid victims. The hospital posted on Facebook to say it anticipates Covid cases to surpass 10,000 soon, as health officials increase their testing efforts in high risk areas. The Thammasat…

  • Government dismisses rumours of Phuket sandbox collapse as “fake news”

    Government dismisses rumours of Phuket sandbox collapse as “fake news”

    The government says the Phuket sandbox scheme is going “very well”, describing rumours of its imminent demise as, “fake news”. According to a Bangkok Post report, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchan from the Centre for Economic Situation Administration says the only thing threatening the sandbox scheme is false reporting on social media that claims the island has been ordered to close due to…

  • Strict measures to mitigate virus risk as Surat Thani re-opens tomorrow

    Strict measures to mitigate virus risk as Surat Thani re-opens tomorrow

    The governor of Surat Thani says the measures in place under the “Samui Plus” model will help guard against the spread of Covid-19 as 3 islands re-open to international tourism. Governor Witchawut says foreign visitors to Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phang Ngan will have to adhere to strict rules as part of the Samui Plus model. From tomorrow,…

  • Concerns raised as Health Ministry appears to ignore WHO warning on mixing vaccines

    Concerns raised as Health Ministry appears to ignore WHO warning on mixing vaccines

    The public is questioning the Thai government’s proposal to combine Covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers despite a warning from the World Health Organisation. The WHO’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, has warned against the practice, saying there is not enough information on the potential risks. However, the Pattaya News reports that Thailand’s National Communicable Disease Committee has just approved the proposal…

  • 42-billion-baht aid package to cushion the financial impact of Covid restrictions

    42-billion-baht aid package to cushion the financial impact of Covid restrictions

    The government will provide a 42-billion-baht aid package for businesses and individuals affected by the latest Covid-19 restrictions in the 10 “dark red” provinces. The Bangkok Post reports that 30 billion baht of the relief package will come from the government’s loan decree, while the other 12 billion will come from the national budget. The provinces of Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom,…

  • First night of curfew: 299 arrested

    First night of curfew: 299 arrested

    From last night to this morning, police arrested 299 people across 10 provinces. The suspects were allegedly not adhering to the new curfew, says police spokesperson Yingyot Thepjamnong. The breakdown of arrested is as follows: 57 arrested in Bangkok 187 arrested throughout: Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, and Pathum Thani 7 arrested in Nakhon Pathom and Samut Sakhon 48 arrested in Songkhla,…

  • Bangkok Government Complex provides free Covid testing, registering online first imperative

    Bangkok Government Complex provides free Covid testing, registering online first imperative

    For people who wish to get a free Covid test at the Government Complex, they must register online first, says the National Health Security Office, today. The test will be the rapid antigen test. The testing location is on Chaeng Wattana Road and will be open until July 30. The hours are 8 am and 4 pm, but not on…

  • Tuesday Covid Update: 8,685 new cases; provincial totals

    Tuesday Covid Update: 8,685 new cases; provincial totals

    Continuing on a sharp upward trend in the latest wave of Covid-19 infections, Thailand now has 95,410 active coronavirus cases. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded 8,685 new Covid-19 cases today, raising the total case count since the start of the pandemic last year to 353,712. The latest and most severe wave of the virus, first recorded on April…

  • Thai government accused of mismanagement during the pandemic

    Thai government accused of mismanagement during the pandemic

    The Thai government is being accused of mismanagement related to the Covid-19 pandemic and procurement of vaccines. The Thailand Development Research Institute released a report outlining the government’s role in combating the spread of the virus, saying there were poor preparations leading up to the recent and most severe wave. The institute is now calling for an independent committee to…