Myanmar
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Migrant worker exodus prompts fears of labour shortages
The director-general of Thailand’s labour department has met with Myanmar’s Ambassador Myo Myint Than to discuss how Thailand can manage the country’s migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government wants Burmese migrant workers to stay in Thailand rather than return to their homeland during the crisis. Suchart Phonchaiwisetkun explained that many workers have demanded to be allowed to continue…
- Crime
Carpenter killed at migrant workers’ camp
A Burmese carpenter was killed early yesterday morning at a central Thailand workers’ camp which houses hundreds of migrant workers. 32 year old Thein Tun, was stabbed multiple times and was dead by the time police arrived at the Sino-Thai Engineering camp in the Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok. Police found a knife but are still looking for possible…
- Crime
25 arrested after police raid online gambling base in Mae Sot
Police arrested 25 people involved in online gambling after a raid Saturday night at a house in Mae Sot, Northern Thailand, right on the Burmese border. Police also confiscated equipment used for the online gaming. Out of the 25 people arrested, 5 of them were Thai and the rest were foreigners, mostly from China. Since people have been staying at…
- Road deaths
2 killed after truck slams Phuket power pole – VIDEO
2 men are dead in Phuket after a truck slammed into a roadside power pole on the notorious Kata hill road, just out of Chalong yesterday. Police say the two men killed were a Thai and a Burmese national. The deputy chief of Karon police says the accident occurred at about 4:50pm at the mouth of Soi Suksan 1 on…
- Thai Life
Burma or Myanmar? Myanmarese or Burmese?
We refer to Myanmar a lot in our news because it’s a bordering foreign country to Thailand and many people from Myanmar work in and around Thailand. But is it Myanmar or Burma, and are the people that live there Myanmarese or Burmese? As you’ll read across the media there is no precise answer to the question with foreign powers…
- Thailand
Central Thailand prepares for return of thousands of Burmese workers
The central province of Samut Sakhon is preparing for the return of over 5,000 migrant labourers from Myanmar over the next month. The workers had returned to their home country to obtain the required paperwork and officials now say their employers must take responsibility for their quarantine. Employers are being asked to arrange accommodation to house the workers for the…
- Crime
Millions of baht worth of cigarettes seized after smuggled over Burmese border
Illegal cigarettes, valued around 2.6 million baht, have been confiscated by police after they were smuggled in over the Burmese border and into the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thai media reports. Three men were caught by police shortly after they crossed the border, but one was able to run back into Myanmar. Although it was just cigarettes, smuggling of…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
More stranded Burmese workers to be allowed home
Burmese workers, stranded in Thailand since the start of the outbreak, will be allowed to travel from Bangkok to Thailand’s western Tak province from today up to July 20, to expedite their return to their motherland across the border in Myanmar. The concession was finalised after the Transport Company met with the deputy permanent secretary of foreign affairs and representatives…
- Thailand
Thailand News Today – Tuesday, May 19
Thailand’s new Covid-19 cases – May 19 Today the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, reported 2 additional cases of Covid-19 bringing the total number of cases in Thailand to 3,033. No further deaths have been confirmed today, leaving the accumulated toll at 56. The 2 new cases were the daughter and son in law of a previously confirmed Covid-19 patient…
- Crime
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…
- Economy
Fishing industry seeks 50,000 men amidst Covid-19 migrant exodus
With millions of Thais unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one business is definitely hiring: a senior government official said Saturday that Thailand’s fishing industry is seeking to hire as many as 50,000 men to go to sea aboard trawlers. The chief of the Department of Employment’s provincial branch in the southern province of Ranong, Phithoon Damsakhon, was quoting a…
- Malaysia
Malaysian authorities round up migrant workers over Covid-19 fears
After the recent debacle in neighbouring Singapore, Malaysian authorities are locating undocumented migrants to contain potential spread of Covid-19. Already around 700 migrants and refugees have been detained in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia does not formally recognise refugees, regarding them as illegal migrants. Singapore’s recent surge in Covid-19 case numbers has been mainly from migrant workers living in cramped…
- Coronavirus Thailand
19th clear day for Covid-19 cases in Chiang Mai
Today marks the 19th consecutive day without a new Covid-19 case in the northern capital and there are only 8 patients still remaining in hospital receiving treatment. But a doctor from the provincial Epidemiological Prevention Medical Centre warns that there are still ongoing cases in Thailand and neighbouring countries, so the people of Chiang Mai must not rest easy and…
- Cambodia
Thailand names 5 more ASEAN countries as ‘high risk’, 4 are border nations
A Ministry of Public Health announcement yesterday, signed by Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and published in the Royal Gazette, claims the Covid-19 situation in 5 nearby countries is escalating. Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar have now been added to the list of countries and territories considered as high risk areas for infection. On March 6,…
- Myanmar
Yangon applies curfew despite low reported case
Burmese authorities in the largest city Yangon have announced a night curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Like Thailand, the curfew runs from 10pm to 4am, starting from last night, affecting some 7 million people. The curfew will remain in place “until further notice”. Mandalay, a city of around 1.5 million, has also imposed a similar curfew from…
- Việt Nam
Tình hình Covid-19 tại Đông Nam Á: Indonesia “vươn” lên thành vùng dịch lớn nhất khu vực
Với gần 6.000 ca nhiễm Covid-19, Indonesia đã vượt qua Philippines trở thành vùng dịch lớn nhất Đông Nam Á, đồng thời cũng là vùng dịch chết chóc nhất khu vực. 1, Indonesia Tổng số ca nhiễm: 5.923 ca (tăng 407 ca). Số ca tử vong: 520 ca (tăng 24 ca). Nước này đã làm xét nghiệm nCoV cho 42.000…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Migrant workers in Thailand can now stay until November 30
Yesterday the Thai government officially announced a blanket extension for the country’s migrant labourers. They will now be permitted to stay until November 30 this year and will be exempted from any sort of overstay penalty. Government Spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat says that the government has backed the Ministry of Labour’s review of the Cabinet resolution on March 24 on the…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Stranded Burmese permitted to return home
Stranded Burmese people at Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai Tachileik border crossing in Northern Thailand have been allowed to return home to Myanmar. The Burmese people, stuck in Thailand since borders were closed as a prevention in the spread of Covid-19, have been held in quarantine at Phra That Doi Wao temple in Mae Sai. Myanmar officials allowed them to cross…
- Crime
Burmese pair arrested at border for smuggling 16.5 million baht
Police in the Tak province, northern Thailand, yesterday arrested two Burmese nationals for trying to smuggle 16.5 million baht in cash into Thailand. Authorities say the two, identified as 29 year old Ded Paioou, and a 24 year old woman called “Namitu” were arrested in tambon Tha Sai Luad, following a tip-off. Officers say the pair were driving a pickup…
- Crime
Police hunt Burmese man accused of killing Chon Buri boy
Police in Chon Buri have launched a manhunt for a Burmese worker who is a suspect in the murder of an 11 year old boy. The boy’s body was found in a cassava farm in the province’s Sri Racha district on Sunday. Police believe the 49 year old Burmese national known only as “Wan,” may still be hiding in Chon…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Stranded migrant workers can stay and work in Thailand, for now
Today the Thai Labour Ministy is allowing stranded workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to stay and work beyond the expiration date of their work permits, due to the recent closure of their borders. Labour Minister Mom Ratchawongse Chatumongol Sonakul says that the migrant workers are allowed to continue with their work until the borders reopen. “This decision will benefit…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Thailand seals borders in North, Northeast
“All travellers should closely monitor announcements concerning the border closure to prevent misunderstandings.” Thailand’s borders are now sealed to all but freight traffic in the North and Northeastern regions. The third Thai-Lao Friendship, linking Nakhon Phanom province with Khammouane province in Laos, closed at 10pm yesterday as a precaution against the Covid-19 coronavirus. Goods vehicles are still permitted but drivers…
