latest news in Thailand
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Thailand News Update | Breakthrough in southern Thailand insurgency violence
The Thai government, along with the most influential rebel group in Southern Thailand, have agreed to stop violence for 40 days, for the period April 3 to May 14, which includes the holy month of Ramadan and the Songkran holidays. For the first time in the brutal decades-long conflict, unarmed rebels will be allowed to visit their families during Ramadan.…
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Thailand News Today | Thailand starts new crackdown on single-use plastics
A Malaysia Airlines flight from KL to Borneo dipped its nose and dropped suddenly, allegedly flying erratically before turning back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The aircraft in question was an 8 year old Boeing 737-800, the same model of aircraft that crashed in southern China last month, killing all 132 passengers and crew. The incident happened last Sunday but…
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Thailand News Update | Thailand’s inflation highest jump in 13 years, 5.7% year on year.
Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman of CP Group, Thailand’s largest private company, has dropped from number 103 in last year’s ranking of Forbes’ new World’s Billionaires to number 137. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has topped the list for the first time. He ranks Number 1 with an estimated net worth of US $219 billion. This year, the total net…
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Thailand News Update | Thailand to target Indians travel destination & weddings
Petrol-powered cars are still in vogue, but Electric Vehicles, or EVs, are definitely on the rise. That’s the takeaway from this year’s Bangkok International Motor Show, which recorded sales of some 34,000 vehicles, a 14% increase compared to last year’s show. The 43rd edition of the popular motor show took place over a span of two weeks at Impact Muang…
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Thailand News Update | SF Cinema rents out its theatre halls to gamers due to slow box office sales.
The Royal Thai Police have arrested two officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau for allegedly kidnapping a gambling couple and their child last week. The wife claimed that officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau kidnapped her and her family for ransom, after they won 2 million baht from online gambling. The woman said that she, her husband and…
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Thailand News Today | Arriving tourists double as Thailand scraps pre-arrival test
On Saturday, Ramathibodi Hospital revealed they’ve diagnosed the first patient with the new variant, saying he’d already recovered. According to Dr. Supakit Sirilak, the director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, the new XE variant is a combination of the two Omicron sublineages BA.1 and BA.2. Further mutations to the virus are normal as cases rise, resulting in new variants…
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Asia News Today | Tensions on Korean Peninsula, Ramadan starts for Asia’s Muslims
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the South Korean defence minister a “scum-like guy”, warning that Seoul may face “a serious threat” for their talk about pre-emptive strikes from the north. The comments from Kim Yo Jong’s come during heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang carried out a rush of missile tests this…
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Thailand News Update | Koh Samui and Koh Phangan Ferry Services increased for Songkran
Just starting our bulletin today with a quick note about the new XE Omicron variant that has now been detected in Thailand. We are doing more about this in Good Morning Thailand program today. The key point is that, given the current knowledge, the variant appears no more likely to produce severe symptoms than the other Omicron variants. The one…
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Thailand News Today | Questions over accuracy of daily covid numbers
Last month, the Bangkok Post reported that about 100 billion baht left the market after the US Federal Reserve increased its interest rate. The fallout from the war has resulted in higher fuel prices and production costs, causing an economic slowdown. As a result, investors predict international credit rating agencies will downgrade Thailand this year. The 10-year Thai government bond…
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Thailand News Update | PCR tests upon entering Thailand scrapped, starting April 1
Starting today, travellers entering Thailand will no longer need to take a PCR Covid-19 test before their flight, but visitors will still need to take a PCR test once they land in Thailand. All travellers – vaccinated and unvaccinated – no longer need to take the pre-travel test, but requirements after entry vary depending on the program you come on……
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Thailand News Today | Be careful of the ladyboy gangsters in Thailand
Earlier this week, the National Institute of Development Administration revealed its recent poll results of potential candidates in the country. The NIDA poll showed that the incumbent PM’s popularity is fading. Prayut insists he’s done a good job and so has the government under his leadership. But the voting public appears to think otherwise. According to the poll for the…
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Thailand News Update | Energy & Food Price raises inflation rate for 2022
The body of the Iranian tourist who went missing on Tuesday after a white water rafting accident in Phang Nga province, just north of Phuket, has been found. Police are now investigating everyone involved in the incident.The 42 year old was white water rafting in Song Phraek with his four friends and two tour operators when their rubber boat hit…
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Thailand News Update | Updates on Koh Phangan’s Songkran Full Moon Party
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s unfazed by recent polls and shrugged off any suggestions his popularity was waning, insisting the government has “fared well” to run the country over the last few challenging years. He was responding to a NIDA poll released on Sunday that gave him only 12.7% of the respondents saying he would be the next prime…
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Thailand News Today | Thailand’s Tourism sector demands full reopening
Tourism businesses in Thailand are struggling to survive and barriers to increasing the number of foreign visitors to the kingdom must be removed immediately. That’s the view of Chamnan Srisawat from the Tourism Council of Thailand, who says the Omicron variant, coupled with Russia’s war on Ukraine, has dealt a double blow to the sector. A TCT poll that surveyed…
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Thailand News Update | Covid Visa Extension pushed back to May 24th
Starting April 1, that’s next Friday, the mandatory quarantine period for unvaccinated travellers entering Thailand will be reduced to five days. International travellers will also no longer need to take a pre-travel PCR Covid-19 test. The new requirements are pending publication in the Royal Gazette and the official announcement is expected to be published before the end of the month.…
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Put your water pistols away for Songkran 2022 | GMT
Songkran water splashing is not looking good for 2022. A Vietnamese man travelling thousands of miles for his wife was catfished. Albino water buffalo sold for millions in Thailand. Is riding on a motorbike in Thailand worth the risk. All this and more on today’s Good morning Thailand with Jay and Tim.
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Thailand News Today | Easing of entry restrictions possible after Songkran
Thailand’s tourism minister says entry restrictions could be eased further IF there is no surge in Covid cases following next month’s Songkran holiday. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says Test & Go and Thailand Pass could be scrapped from June 1, if there is no spike in Covid cases or deaths after the Thai New Year holiday. Phiphat is anxious for the country…
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Thailand News Update | Thailand cuts quarantine time
Starting April 1, that’s next Friday, the mandatory quarantine period for unvaccinated travellers entering Thailand will be reduced to five days.International travellers will also no longer need to take a pre-travel PCR Covid-19 test. The new requirements are pending publication in the Royal Gazette and the official announcement is expected to be published before the end of the month. But…
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Thailand News Today | Is the Deltacron variant a cause for concern?
A devoted Vietnamese husband attempted to paddle across the Bay of Bengal from Phuket to India on an inflatable boat to see his wife who he hadn’t seen in two years due to the Covid pandemic. Thai marines found 37-year-old Ho Huang Hung yesterday away from the Andaman coast after he had been at sea for 18 days. Hung was…
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Thailand News Update | Pattaya’s Songkran Covid-19 restrictions
The mayor of Pattaya has approved the Songkran celebration but has changed the focus of the event to traditional and religious activities instead, obviously aiming at domestic tourists without a lot of international tourists to cater for this year. With fears and concerns about Covid-19 lingering, water and foam events, as well as alcohol consumption and any big celebrations will…
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Thailand News Update | Tourism officials call to end all entry restrictions in Thailand
Thailand’s tourism officials want an end to all entry restrictions for vaccinated travellers by June 1. That means no quarantine, no Test & Go rules, no Sandbox zones, no Covid-19 tests. A plan to gradually lift restrictions over the next few months, leading up to the removal of all restrictions by June 1, has been drafted by the Tourism and…
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Thailand News Today | Bangkok Police crack down on ‘Gentleman’s clubs”
The five boating buddies of the Thai actress Tangmo should take lie detector tests — again. That’s the recommendation of Senator Somchai, head of the Standing Committee on Human Rights, Rights, Liberties and Consumer Protection. He made the statement to the media after a meeting on Monday, in which he heard reports from the police and forensics pathologists involved…
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Thailand News Update | Khao san pushing to host activities for Songkran
Business owners on Bangkok’s Khao San Road are pushing for government officials to allow the popular nightlife district to host activities for Songkran, the Thai New Year which is celebrated with massive water fights. Well, that was in the past… this year it’s certainly going to be a much-diluted celebration. Khao San Road has become known as a top destination…
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Thailand News Today | Phuket pushes for special visa for digital nomads
Phuket officials are pushing for a visa scheme for “digital nomads” who want to live or stay in Thailand while working remotely. Under the proposed Phuket X Community for Digital NOMADs Visa, eligible foreigners would be offered a work permit and a stay on the island province for six months to a year. The visa scheme would also allow foreigners…
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Thailand News Update | SongKran in Thailand for 2022?
A woman has stabbed a man to death in Samut Prakan over the weekend, claiming the man chased her son with a wooden stick. She said she first tried to stop the man from hurting her son, but then he hit HER with the stick. The woman’s son, Vorakan, told police he’d been drinking with the man and a group…
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Thailand News Today | Water fights are banned for Songkran this year
It might soon get a little easier to travel to Thailand. The government plans to scrap the pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated travellers entering the country under the Test & Go and Sandbox schemes. A spokesperson says they are waiting for confirmation. Under the planned revisions, a PCR test is needed on arrival and a self-administered rapid antigen test…
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Asia News Today | Record Covid cases in South Korea, Japan and Australia add extra Russia sanctions
The Asia-Pacific region has been lagging behind other parts of the world, in regards to Covid recover, but now appears primed for a tourist and business travel comeback. Unlike most of North America and Europe, the omicron variant surge in most locations in the Asia-Pacific region still hasn’t peaked. Countries including South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam…
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Thailand News Update | North Korea shares coding knowledge with Thailand
Another big day for the CCSA as we hope to see some decisions coming out that will ease current restrictions or further modifications to the Thailand Pass. On the agenda, the possible removal of the pre-arrival PCR test, a lowering of the insurance amount from 20,000 to US$10,000, allowing Thailand’s nightlife to officially reopen and even a possible relaxation of…
- World News
Asia News Today | Chinese react to stock slump, Thai nightlife may re-open
China’s top economic official have stepped in to reassure investors, claiming that Beijing will take measures to support the Chinese economy and financial markets. The comments follow a sharp sell-off that has been partly fuelled by reaction from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Liu He, a vice-premier and economic adviser to the Communist party executive, says the government will take measures…
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Thailand News Update | Talks to scrap pre-departure Test & Go PCR test
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry is set to make a proposal to scrap the pre-departure PCR for Test & Go travellers, making entering the country at least a bit easier convenient and less expensive.The proposal will need to be approved by the CCSA, which will meet again tomorrow and is expected to discuss a number of topics, including possibly lifting the…
