COVID
- Visa Information
Deadline to apply for “Covid” visa extension July 29; office closures
The deadline to apply for a 60-day special “Covid” visa extension is July 29, but many should apply at least a week prior as Immigration offices will be closed for public holidays during the last week of the month. Immigration offices in expat-dense areas tend to get packed during the days leading up to the deadlines. The special visa extension…
- Covid-19 News
South Korea launches Sandboxesque reopening
Vaccinated travellers can avoid 14-day quarantines as long as they have proof of World Health Organisation-approved vaccination, a negative Covid-19 test, are not travelling from a high-risk country, and get advance approval before travelling. Wait, wait! Before you click away, this isn’t yet another Phuket Sandbox story; this is the strikingly similar reopening plan enacted by South Korea that also…
- Phuket News
Flights and passenger numbers slowly rising in Phuket Sandbox
As we enter day 4 of the Phuket Sandbox reopening, while numbers aren’t anywhere near earlier estimates or historical totals, they are steadily growing day by day. Each day has brought a few more flights and passenger numbers to Phuket and the arrivals are steadily creeping up. By today, the original first-day estimate of 1,500 arrivals, should be surpassed. Today’s…
- Tourism News
Sandbox: 6000 registered, no positive Covid-19 tests, new land restrictions
Now that the Phuket Sandbox is up and running, international travellers are trickling back in to enjoy the Thai tropical island. More than 6,000 people have reportedly registered for the Phuket Sandbox so far, no arrivals have tested positive for Covid-19 yet, and officials are tightening up the land entry borders to the island. The Director-General of the Department of…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA says no new restrictions are needed to fight Covid-19
With Covid-19 infections surging and spreading throughout the country, and daily infection numbers rising along with an increasing death toll, officials have decided what additional measures need to be taken to cope with the situation: none. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has announced that the rules and restrictions in place now are adequate in the fight against the increasing…
- Thailand News
Thailand still plans to fully reopen on October 15, despite Covid-19 uptick
Despite the recent and most severe wave of Covid-19 infections still peaking, Thailand is on track to reopen on October 15 to those travelling from overseas who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The “Phuket Sandbox” model, which launched yesterday, will serve as a pilot project for the nationwide reopening plan. The “Samui Plus” travel model next on the list,…
- Covid-19 News
Friday Covid Update: 6,087 new cases and 61 deaths; provincial totals
An uptick of 6,087 new Covid-19 cases and a record high of 61 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 270,921 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 2,141 fatalities. The recent and most severe wave of infections has accounted for the majority…
- Covid-19 News
More than 100 doctors sent to Bangkok as Covid-19 deaths hit a record high
While PM Prayut Chan-o-cha attends the welcoming of foreign tourists under the “Phuket Sandbox” reopening scheme, more doctors have been sent to Bangkok following a spike in Covid-19 cases and a record high in coronavirus deaths. Hospitals in the capital, the epicentre in the latest and most severe wave, are experiencing a shortage of beds in intensive care units to…
- Covid-19 News
Friday Covid Update: Another record high, 61 deaths and 6,087 new cases
Another record high in Covid-related deaths and an uptick in new coronavirus cases were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The CCSA recorded 61 more deaths involving Covid-19 patients, the highest daily death count in Thailand since the start of the pandemic last year. 6,087 new Covid-19 cases were also reported, an uptick in cases over the…
- Bangkok News
Entertainment and nightlife reps submit petition for aid, reopening
At 10 o’clock this morning a rally of owners, staff, musicians and entertainment sector workers gathered at the House of Representatives to submit a petition for support after long-term Covid-19 closures or permission to reopen August 1. Dozens of representatives from the entertainment industry took part in the demonstration after 3 continuous months of shuttered businesses due to the pandemic…
- Covid-19 News
Uptick in Covid-19 in Isaan as workers flee Bangkok construction camps
With numerous workers fleeing to their home provinces to avoid Bangkok’s recent disease control restrictions sealing off construction camps for the next month, there has been an uptick in Covid-19 cases in other various provinces, particularly in the Isaan region. This week, 129 people in 32 provinces tested positive for the virus after travelling from Bangkok. 84 people tested positive…
- Thailand News
More than 30 children at Isaan care centre test postive for Covid-19
More than 30 young children at a care centre tested positive for Covid-19. Health officials say a 2 year old boy, who was first infected by this mother, spread the virus to the childcare centre in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Altogether, 8 teachers and 34 students at the centre tested positive for the virus. The 2 year old boy’s…
- World News
South Korea lifts quarantine for some travellers who are vaccinated
Today, South Korea is lifting its 14-day quarantine for some foreign arrivals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Those from countries classified as a high risk for infection must still undergo quarantine. Foreigners who are vaccinated against the coronavirus can enter South Korea under the new policy, but only if they are entering the country for business, for academic or…
- Covid-19 News
Thursday Covid Update: Cases and deaths spike amid Phuket reopening
Just as Phuket is reopening to foreign tourists, Thailand’s current and most severe wave has hit a high of 52,052 active Covid-19 cases, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The daily death toll has set a record high with 57 coronavirus-related fatalities today, raising the total Covid fatality count since the start of the pandemic to 2,080. 5,533…
- Health
Top virologist Yong faces backlash for Covid-19 suggestions
Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University and Thailand’s top virologist has recently come under fire for missteps in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. A petition on Change.org has garnered about 10,000 signatures calling for his removal from the University Centre as those opposed to his recent actions and suggestions question…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s virology expert: give Sinovac to children over 3
Thailand’s top virologist Yong Poovorawan has suggested that the Sinovac vaccine be given to children older than 3 years old by the end of 2021 in an effort to reach Covid-19 herd immunity. The doctor who heads the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University said he believes that the Chinese vaccine has the least severe side effects…
- Covid-19 News
Thursday Covid Update: Record high of 57 deaths; 5,533 new infections
5,533 new Covid-19 cases and a record high of 57 Covid-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, the latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, the CCSA has reported 235,971 Covid-19 cases. Out of the new cases, 44 were reported in correctional facilities, showing an improvement in the Covid…
- Entertainment
Nightlife, restaurants suggest opening in defiance of restrictions
After a year and a half of closures and lockdowns and restrictions and regulations that often start and even end with the nightlife and entertainment industry, some bar and restaurant owners are sick of it and growing defiant. Citing the lack of government assistance and the sporadic and last-minute closure decisions that through livelihoods into chaos, some owners are urging…
- Northern Thailand News
2 illegal Chinese immigrants in Tak arrested eluding quarantine
In the northwestern province of Tak, where Covid-19 cases are surging, 2 illegal Chinese immigrants who snuck out of quarantine were arrested in Mae Sot Town today. The pair were found wandering in town and taken into custody by army members of the 4th Infantry Regiment. In Tambon Mae Ku, the two migrant workers, Zhang Yong Lyu and Liu Wei,…
- Tourism News
Tourism jobs continue to be lost – nearly 1 million in 2021
It’s easy to look scornfully at the government and tourism industry’s rose-tinted predictions of the Phuket Sandbox reopening and further return of international tourism to Thailand by the end of the year. But a look at the current statistics for the battered tourism industry helps explain the need for hope. This quarter, 550,000 jobs were lost in the tourism industry.…
- Covid-19 News
New study:Moderna effective against Delta variant
A new lab study shows that the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Moderna is reasonably effective against the growing Delta variant first identified in India. The study found that the vaccine was only slightly less effective against the newer strain than it is against the original Covid-19 virus. The study tested blood serum from 8 subjects who had finished their second…
- Thailand News
Krabi man allegedly fires gun at quarantine hotel, flees with wife and son
A man in Krabi was arrested after he allegedly fired a gun, shooting through a window of an alternative state quarantine, or ASQ, hotel and ran off with his wife and 9 year old son who were staying at the hotel after coming in close contact with those infected with Covid-19. 45 year old Somyos Khongsiri’s wife and son were…
- Covid-19 News
Wednesday Covid Update: 4,786 new cases, record high of 53 deaths
4,786 new cases and a record daily high of 53 Covid-related deaths were recorded today by Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The daily coronavirus death tally in Thailand has been in the 20s to 40s during the current and most severe wave of the virus, infecting 230,438 people since April 1. Out of the new cases recorded today, 127…
- World News
Bali plans 5-year visa scheme for digital nomads as island stalls reopening
Digital nomads in Bali will be granted a 5-year visa, according to Indonesia’s tourism minister. The government is waiting until the Covid-19 situation improves before reopening the island to foreign tourists. To revive the tourist island’s economy after the pandemic, tourism officials hope to attract more digital nomads, online-based business owners and people who work remotely. Under a proposed scheme,…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | Phuket Sandbox, No money, no honey, no GDP | June 29
As the southern island of Phuket gets ready to re-open to vaccinated foreign tourists on Thursday, hotel operators say they’re well prepared. A manhunt has wrapped up in northeastern Thailand after a man was arrested, suspected of killing his 72 year old father, allegedly over welfare money. Meanwhile in Chiang Mai. Police were looking for a man who allegedly killed…
- Covid-19 News
Private hospitals in Thailand to offer Moderna vaccine packages for 3,400 baht
Those in Thailand will be able to reserve a package of the 2-dose Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for 3,400 baht, according to the Private Hospital Association. Member hospitals agreed on the set price to cover both doses of the US-made Covid-19 vaccine as well as the service fee and insurance. Pre-paid bookings open up on Thursday while the vaccine deliveries are…
- Covid-19 News
Tuesday Covid Update: 4,662 new cases; provincial totals
Continuing on an upward trend in Thailand’s most severe wave of Covid-19, 4,662 new infections were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported 254,515 confirmed Covid-19 infections. Of that number, 225,652 were reported since April 1, the start of the recent and most extreme wave of…
- Covid-19 News
Sinovac vaccine 71% to 91% effective against Alpha variant, Thai study shows
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry says 2 doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine are 71% to 91% effective against the Alpha variant of the virus which was first detected in the UK. A study on the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine, also known as Coronavac, was done by Thailand’s National Communicable Diseases Committee and the National Vaccine Committee. The study…
- Covid-19 News
Monday Covid Update: 5,406 new cases; provincial totals
A significant uptick of 5,406 new Covid-19 cases was recorded today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, just as new restrictions are taking effect in Bangkok and other “dark red” provinces to curb the spread of the virus. Of the 249,853 Covid-19 cases recorded in Thailand since the start of the pandemic last year, the recent and most severe…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 screening centre in Bangkok temporarily closed to migrant workers
After many migrant workers infected with Covid-19 were reportedly abandoned at the Public Health Ministry’s Pre-Admission Centre in Bangkok, it is now temporarily closed to migrant workers. The centre is used to screen people who are infected with the virus before sending them to a facility for treatment. Apparently, a number of workers have been dropped off at the centres.…
