COVID
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Island Party Crackdown | January 28
Around 9,000 people will face criminal charges for allegedly defrauding the “We Travel Together” subsidy scheme which was launched to stimulate the local tourist economy and to help hotels and restaurants ravaged from the long list of restrictions and international border closure. The national police chief says the police plan to prosecute around 9,000 people for conspiring with hotel operators…
- Covid-19 News
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says 19 million people will be vaccinated in the first phase of immunisations
After criticism that the Thai government is taking too long to start mass Covid-19 immunisation, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that 19 million people will be vaccinated in the first phase of inoculations starting next month. Vulnerable groups and frontline workers in areas at the highest risk of infection are first priority. Out of the 19 million people to be vaccinated…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 756 new Covid-19 cases
756 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 4,858 active cases. The CCSA has reported a total of 16,221 cases and 76 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year. The spike in cases over the past few days is due to a mass testing campaign in Samut…
- Thailand News
Restaurants to serve alcohol again, other restrictions to be eased
Go out and grab a beer this weekend… but at a restaurant. Bars in “red zones” are still closed. Restaurants will be able to go back to serving alcohol and can offer dine-in services until 11pm. The restrictions on restaurants, put in place to limit gathering to potentially prevent the spread of Covid-19, are being eased in all provinces except…
- Thailand News
Ask The Thais | Road deaths, dating foreigners, and is ‘farang’ racist?
Ask The Thais” is a new segment on The Thaiger where we ask some of our Thai staff to explain some of the unusual and sometimes inexplicable little nuances of Thai culture. You have a question? Send it in and we’ll get our MUCH BETTER LOOKING Thai staff to explain, from a Thai youth perspective, some of their culture and…
- Thailand News
111 people arrested at Koh Pha Ngan party for allegedly violating Covid-19 restrictions
Police raided a party in Koh Pha Ngan and arrested 111 on charges of violating Covid-19 disease control measures under the Emergency Decree. Immigration police and tourist police raided the event at Three Sixty Bar, a venue on a hilltop near Mae Haad Beach on the island known for its 360 degree view. Out of the 111 people arrested, 89…
- Pattaya News
Massage shops and spas in Chon Buri get the “okay” to reopen
Massage shops and spas as well as other similar venues in Chon Buri will be allowed to reopen after being closed for nearly a month due to strict Covid-19 control measures. Massage and spa workers gathered earlier this week, calling on the government to allow their businesses to reopen. Along with massage shops and spas, tattoo studios and beauty clinics…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 819 new Covid-19 cases, 1 death
819 new Covid-19 cases and 1 new death were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand has reported a total of 15,465 cases and 76 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year. There are now 4,335 active Covid-19 cases and many patients are asymptomatic, according to deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign…
- World News
Mass Covid-19 immunisation in poor countries could take until 2024
While developed countries, like those in the European Union, are likely to vaccinate most of the population within the next year, most poor countries won’t be able to reach mass Covid-19 immunisation until 2024, according to an analysis from the Economist Intelligence Unit. 84 of the world’s poorest countries will not receive enough vaccinations to reach herd immunity within the…
- Pattaya News
Chon Buri could be removed from “red zone” list, tourists expected to flock to Pattaya
After several consecutive days without a local Covid-19 case, Chon Buri might soon be removed from the government’s list of “red zones” for high risk of Covid-19. Once lockdown restrictions are eased, the coastal province expects to have an influx of tourists to Pattaya. The province has been under strict disease control measures and is classified as one of the…
- Covid-19 News
Thai DJ Celebrity party is likely to be “super spreader” event
The birthday party of Techin Ploypetch, better known as “DJ Matoom”, is now considered a super-spreader source of Covid-19, with 19 people already found infected after attending the event. According the CCSA spokesperson during the daily briefing today, “Transmissions in Bangkok should be highlighted. They show the possibility of a person becoming a super-spreader”. The birth of the super spreader birthday…
- World News
Moderna vaccine is proved ‘protective’ against Covid-19 variants
As fear over new variants of Covid-19 had prompted the travel restrictions to tighten worldwide, the United States biotech firm Moderna announced that its vaccine should protect against the variants identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Latest studies on the efficacy of Moderna vaccines confirmed that the vaccines are effective and protective against new variants. The company will…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 959 new Covid-19 cases, most detected in proactive case finding
Breaking Thailand’s record for highest daily spike in coronavirus cases, 959 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 3,679 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic, Thailand has reported a total of 14,646 cases and 75 coronavirus-related deaths. The majority of new cases were found in proactive case…
- Covid-19 News
Samut Sakhon speeds up proactive Covid-19 screening to test at least 60,000 people this week
Proactive Covid-19 testing in Samut Sakhon is increasing and health officials now aim to test at least 60,000 people this week. Medical officials from several hospitals are also coming together to help accelerate the screening at different venues in the province. The active case finding in Samut Sakhon, the primary “Covid-19 hotspot” in the new wave of infections, health officials…
- World News
AstraZeneca says reports of vaccine’s low efficacy among elderly is “completely incorrect”
The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca says reports that its Covid-19 vaccine has an extremely low efficacy among the elderly is “completely incorrect.” German newspapers published articles today reporting that the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, has an efficacy less than 10% in those over 65 years old. The economic daily Handelsblatt reported that Berlin estimated the vaccine’s efficacy…
- Bangkok News
Chatuchak market is in worst crisis in 5 decades due to Covid-19, vendors say
Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok’s biggest market and a popular tourist destination, is hit hard by the new wave of Covid-19. With the lack of foreign tourists due to travel restrictions over the past year, as well as more locals staying at home despite the market’s strict disease control measures, the number of visitors at the market has dropped by 90%.…
- Covid-19 News
At least 19 Covid-19 cases linked to 2 parties, including celebrity’s birthday
At least 19 Covid-19 cases are related to 2 parties – a 5-day New Years celebration in Chiang Mai and a birthday party in Bangkok for a famous TV and radio host Techin Ployphet, aka DJ Matoom, on January 9. A senior police officer in Bangkok is the latest case possibly linked to the Bangkok “party cluster.” The officer tested…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 187 new Covid-19 cases and 2 deaths
187 new Covid-19 cases and 2 deaths were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. There are currently 2,950 active cases in Thailand. Since the start of the pandemic, the CCSA has reported a total of 13,687 Covid-19 cases and 75 coronavirus-related deaths. A 61 year old British man died after testing positive for Covid-19. The…
- Covid-19 News
Czech ‘Covid’ sniffer dogs can detect Covid-19 with a 95% success rate
Czech dog trainers say canines can sniff out Covid-19 with an astonishing 95% success rate. The team of trainers in Renda, a Czech mountain village, are working in their own time to teach the dogs to tell the difference between fake samples of Covid and real ones by sniffing pieces of cloth. Lenka Vlachova, a trainer who works at Prague’s…
- Health
Efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines will drop during mass inoculations: Thai virologist
Thai virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan from Chulalongkorn University, has spoken about claims that the efficacy of every vaccine available today, including Covid-19 vaccines, tend to lower after being used in mass inoculations, compared to the findings from the laboratory during human testing trials. He recommends that people should not rely solely on the vaccines alone because uncertainty will remain during…
- Thailand News
CCSA Update: 309 new Covid-19 infections in Thailand
The CCSA’s daily briefing today started with an update about a NBT news presenter who has attended the daily briefings at the CCSA studio and testing positive for Covid-19. The CCSA spokesman then announced that all people working in the CCSA studio, including himself, are defined as a “low risk” group for infections. The CCSA spokesman says he, together with…
- Thailand News
Thai tourism operators want to offer vaccination-inclusive packages
Vaccination seems to be the great new hope of most of Thailand’s businesses battered by Covid-19, especially the tourism industry. Thai tour operators are now floating the idea of “vaccination tour packages” to attract inbound travellers after the first inoculations are distributed in February. Sort of an STV with vaccination included. The tourism plan is expected to potentially benefit those…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Gambling crackdown, Seafood market to reopen, Vlogger challenge | Jan 21
In a nationwide crackdown on gambling, police in the Isaan province Khon Kaen raided a warehouse and seized more than 400 slot machines. Acting on a court warrant, police searched the warehouse. The locks on the door had been changed and police had to break into the warehouse. Inside, canvases covered 418 slot machines. Police say the machines were “plug…
- Covid-19 News
Sumut Sakhon’s Central Prawn Market to reopen at the end of January
Samut Sakhon Central Shrimp Market, the epicentre of the latest wave of Covid-19, is ready to reopen by the end of January after a big clean up. The reopening is considered “important” to the province’s economy, according to the province’s deputy governor. It will also be a new beginning for the workers, mostly migrant workers, who have been so profoundly…
- Thailand News
210 billion baht stimulus confirmed for “Rao Chana”
A budget of 210 billion baht of stimulus handouts to help financially-affected people from the Covid-19 outbreak, has been confirmed and ready to be distributed to 31 million people. Each applicant in the project will get 7,000 over 2 months, but not in cash. They will only get money transferred via the “Pao Tang” app once subscribing to the website…
- Thailand News
Gambling crackdown continues, 400 slot machines seized in warehouse raid
In a nationwide crackdown on gambling, police in the Isaan province Khon Kaen raided a warehouse and seized more than 400 slot machines. Acting on a court warrant, police searched the warehouse in the Mueang district. The locks on the door had been changed and police had to break the locks to enter the warehouse. Inside, canvases covered 418 slot…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA Update: 59 new Covid-19 cases and 1 death
The new wave of cases has been on a downward slope in recent weeks. Today’s count of 59 new Covid-19 cases is the lowest daily count since mid-December. A coronavirus-related death was also reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. A 48 year old Thai woman died after testing positive for Covid-19. The woman worked as…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 travel pass to pilot on Etihad and Emirates Airways flights
A travel pass for passengers inoculated against Covid-19 or who have tested negative will be piloted on flights for Dubai’s Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways. With the travel pass issued by the International Air Transport Association, passengers can keep control of their data and share their test results with airlines and authorities for travel. The travel pass will be…