Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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6 guidelines issued for schools to re-open in July
The government is considering allowing schools in Covid-19 infection-free areas to open in July, and the Public Health Ministry has issued 6 guidelines to schools nationwide on how to guard against the spread of virus among students and faculty once they reopen. The Department of Health’s director-general made the announcement yesterday. “The first point that must be emphasised is preventing…
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Curfew shortened, malls open longer, but most beaches remain closed
Whooo hoo! A whole extra hour back. The national curfew has been reduced to just fours a night now. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has shortened the night curfew to 11pm – 3am effective from Monday night. Earlier it was thought the CCSA would remove the hour before midnight from the curfew. General Somsak Rungsita, secretary-general of the National…
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National figures for Covid-19 cases in Thailand (May 30)
Today the spokeswomen from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Dr Panprapa Yongtrakul announced just 1 new Covid-19 case. She revealed that the single confirmed case was an imported case from Saudi Arabia – a male Thai student who is now in state quarantine. This raises the national total to 3,077. No additional death reported today leaving the accumulated toll at…
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Panthongtae Shinawatra is a free man after AG decides not to appeal acquittal
Panthongtae “Oak” Shinawatra, son of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, is a free man, after Thailand’s Attorney General decided to not appeal against his acquittal for alleged money laundering. He was charged by the Department of Special Investigations after 10 million baht was deposited into his bank account by an executive of the Krisdamahanakorn Group of real estate companies, which was…
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Udon Thani temple blaze, abbot’s death likely caused by short circuit
Investigators in Udon Thani in Thailand’s north believe a short circuit was the cause of a fire at Wat Pa Ban Tad forest temple that killed a revered abbot. The assistant national police chief yesterday led senior officers and Udon Thani’s deputy governor to inspect the fire-ravaged living quarters of Phra Ajarn Sudjai Thanthamano, the abbot, who died in the…
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Nakhonchaiair to resume interprovincial bus services from Monday
In a move bound to thrill many Thais stranded away from their home provinces by the Covid-19 crisis and the Emergency Decree, interprovincial buses operated by Nakhonchaiair will resume service from Monday. The company’s CEO made the announcement today. She added that social distancing measures will be strictly enforced in the seating of passengers, all of whom who will also…
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Fire destroys construction camp in eastern Thailand – VIDEO
A fire has destroyed a construction camp in the town of Si Racha in the eastern province of Chon Buri, with more than 300 workers escaping injury. According to The Pattaya News, the fire broke out early yesterday morning, around 9am, and most of those living at the site had already left for work. The blaze swiftly tore through the…
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Foreigners with work permits to be allowed back into Thailand on case by case basis
Foreigners with work permits or permission from the Labour Ministry (and other some other government agencies) will be allowed to enter the country after registration, under phase 3 of the lockdown relaxation, which begins Monday. The Foreign Ministry made the announcement today. The Foreign Ministry has told Thailand’s foreign chambers of commerce about the relaxation. Eligible foreign nationals are invited…
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No new Covid-19 cases in 65 provinces for a month
The Covid-19 situation in Thailand is improving: the Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that 65 of Thailand’s 76 provinces have reported no new cases for a full month. But it says the situation is “still not stable enough”, and the government continues to screen people returning from abroad and is proactively testing suspected cases. The deputy director-general of the…
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Immigration police catch 54 illegal immigrants at Thai-Cambodia border
Thai immigration police have arrested a Cambodian man along with 53 other Cambodian nationals he had smuggled across the border into Thailand. The arrests took place in the province of Sa Kaeo, about 200 kilometres east of Bangkok. The man, named as 46 year old La Peun, confessed to police that the migrants had paid him 3,000 baht each to…
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Government to introduce financial incentives to boost domestic tourism
The Thai government is set to introduce some financial sweeteners to stimulate domestic tourism – essentially paying its citizens to holiday in their own country. A report in Bangkok Biz News, says that from July, Thai nationals will receive a discount of between 40-50% on hotel accommodation within the Kingdom. The scheme, aimed at a domestic kick-start to the country’s…
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PM assures MPs that government knows how to handle trillion baht loan
“Don’t worry, we got this…” Following the Finance Ministry’s securing of a trillion baht loan, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha spoke up to address concerns over how the funds will be administered. Answering questions raised by opposition parties, the PM said the government has clear rules in place on how the funds will be distributed, with the priority being small and medium…
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Rains, thundershowers predicted to blanket all regions
The Thailand Meteorological Department said today that the high pressure system from China covering Laos and Vietnam is causing the monsoon trough to move across the upper North and Northeast, while a moderate southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea. More rains are forecast for upper Thailand, with gusty winds and hail in the North and isolated heavy rains in…
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Standard Chartered Bank forecasts 2 year economic recovery for Thailand
Standard Chartered Bank says that it remains conservative on Thailand’s economic outlook, even though signs are emerging with the possibility of a further policy rate cut to below 0.25%. Their latest report forecasts a return to pre-Covid levels could take more than 2 years depending on improving business sentiment as the economy reopens, noting that the government has been disbursing…
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Security chief says country to reopen July 1
The chief of Thailand’s National Security Council announced today that Thailand has set July 1 for the end of all “business and activity lockdowns” ordered to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, include provincial and international travel. The announcement also included the end of the Emergency Decree and curfews, Bangkok Post reports. NSC Secretary-General Somsak Rungsita says the lift of restrictions…
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July 1 will end all lockdowns in Thailand, including international travel
The Thai government says it will lift all remaining business and activity lockdowns on July 1, according to the National Security Council chief. “This includes interprovincial and international travel, as well as the end of emergency decree and curfew.” The lift of all restrictions, imposed under the country’s emergency decree, would be a “complete reopening of the country”. Officials and…
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How has Thailand contained Covid-19 so effectively?
When the Covid-19 was first detected in Thailand in January, a time when the deadly virus and its contagiousness were barely understood, the kingdom might have seemed like a likely backdrop for massive infection and mortality. Untold hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists visited the nation for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, and Thailand was the first country outside…
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Massage shops, boxing stadiums may be allowed to reopen next week
But we won’t know until tomorrow. Phase 3 of the easing of Covid-19 emergency measures could finally see boxing stadiums, massage parlours, spas, cinemas and tutorial schools allowed to reopen next month. Pubs, bars and nightlife venues are expected to remain closed, well that’s the rumours for now anyway. The deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department says activities and…
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Thailand’s Covid-19 figures (May 28)
Today the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has announced 11 new cases of coronavirus disease for Thailand. All confirmed cases were reported as quarantined repatriates from overseas. This brings the national numbers to 3,065 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Dr. Taweesilp , the spokesman for the CCSA, says “of the new cases 1 was a 32 year old Thai woman, who returned…
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Thailand developing level 4 “gold standard” biohazard suits
In order to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 crisis, Thai scientists are developing a Level 4 biohazard suit, dubbed the “gold standard” by the organisers working on the project. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation and the textile industry are collaborating on the the suits after successfully developing Level 2 suits. The GPO, together with…
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More people charged in illegal surrogacy scandal
More people involved in the surrogacy scandal turned themselves in yesterday and are now facing charges. According to the Bangkok Post, 4 doctors and a scientist are looking at charges for their alleged involvement in the illegal ring which uses Thai women to carry babies for people in China. A report yesterday says a Thai doctor faces charges for human…
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Government looks to domestic travel in phase 3 of easing Covid restrictions
A committee has been convened to agree which restrictions can be lifted as Thailand enters the third phase of its exit from lock-down. Addressing a press conference on behalf of the committee, General Somsak Roongsita says re-starting domestic tourism is one of the main priorities of the committee, which comprises public health officials, doctors and business leaders. While interprovincial buses…
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Hope for overseas foreigners separated from families in Thailand
“We appreciate the sacrifices and regret the inconvenience caused.” For weeks now, foreign nationals who normally reside in Thailand but find themselves stranded overseas due to the Covid-19 travel ban, have been pleading with the government to be allowed to return to their families. Now, there may finally be some hope on the horizon. At least their plight is now…
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Thailand News Today – Wednesday, May 27
Covid-19 update: 9 new cases, all imported 9 new cases of Covid-19 announced this morning – all 9 were ‘imported’ cases by Thai nationals returning from overseas. • 2 recently returned from the US • 18 and 27 males, flew back on May 12 • found to be infected yesterday, the last day of quarantine • 6 students, aged…
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Elephant injures 2 Burmese men in Kanchanburi
2 Burmese men were attacked and critically injured by an elephant in a forest in the western province of Kanchanaburi’s Thong Pha Phum district last night, according to Thong Pha Phum National Park officials. They had only patchy details of the incident. 35 year old “Tun” and 60 year old “Ngae” had gone into the forest to pick mushrooms in…
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4 new board members for THAI restructure, 1 has airline experience
Four new board members for Thai Airways are the face of hope for the national airline as it addresses massive losses and restructuring. The airline’s business is now being addressed under the country’s Bankruptcy Act. Piyasvasti Amranand, Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, Boontuck Wungcharoen and Pailin Chuchottaworn have joined the Thai Airways executive board. Piyasvasti served as the airline’s president from June 2009…
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Internet service blocks PornHub, backs down after outrage
It’s no secret pornography is a little tricky to access in Thailand (according to someone else’s research). Recently, the internet service True Online confirmed that they are blocking the popular site PornHub, but quickly backed down on their statement after a storm of angry comments on Twitter. “I pay you asshole, are you my parents?” one person wrote on Twitter,…
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Bank report predicts extended timeframe for Thai tourism recovery
As the severity of the current situation facing Thailand’s lucrative tourism industry starts to sink in, Kasikorn Bank Research Centre have released a report with some stark predictions. Thailand’s tourism and hospitality industry faces losses of 1.69 trillion baht in 2020 and recovery “may not be clearly evident” next year. The report also foreshadows strict ‘new normal’ procedures as government measures…
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UPDATE: ‘Bleach mum’ was the maternal mother of sick boy
Today local Thai media report the latest update about the women allegedly forcing her children to drink bleach. Her adopted daughter died due to ‘allergies’ back in December. But the latest case of her sick son now unveils a suspected malicious intent to cause illness in her children. Doctors at Thammasat Hospital in Bangkok confirm that a DNA identity test…
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3 quarantined returnees confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand (May 26)
Today, in the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily press conference, Dr. Taweesilp confirmed 3 new cases of coronavirus in Thailand, of which all were recorded as quarantined overseas repatriates. This brings Thailand ‘s total of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 3,045. The death toll remains at 57 fatalities with no additional deaths reported today. Dr. Taweesilp says from the new cases…
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