News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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2 of the 62 people arrested at Bangkok sex party test positive for Covid-19
2 of the 62 people who were arrested at the alleged drug and sex party in Bangkok have tested positive for Covid-19. Large gatherings are prohibited in Bangkok, particularly those where people are in “close contact,” to prevent the spread of the virus. Reports say the large gathering at the Faros Sauna was a “chemsex” event involving drugs to enhance sex.…
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Bali officials run out of patience with badly-behaved tourists
The Indonesian holiday island of Bali has lost patience with misbehaving visitors, with several tourists being deported for their high-jinks. Singapore’s Channel News Asia has been documenting the activities likely to get you kicked out of Indonesia – don’t say you haven’t been warned. Bali locals are not in the mood for jokes as their country continues to do battle…
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Phuket study confirms Sinovac vaccine offers 80% protection
A study on the southern island of Phuket indicates that inoculation with the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine reduces the chance of contracting the virus by more than 83%. Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit from the Public Health Ministry says around 22% of the island’s population has now received both doses of the Sinovac vaccine, with 45% having received the first dose. According to…
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Biden orders US officials to review rival theories to confirm Covid-19 origin
US President Joe Biden has ordered staffers to investigate and confirm the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing out that rival scenarios, including a possible Chinese lab leak, continue to circulate. Biden says US intelligence agencies are exploring 2 likely theories but have yet to reach concrete conclusions, with debate raging around both. “I have now asked the Intelligence Community…
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93% of Covid samples from April test positive for variant found in the UK
The Covid-19 variant first detected in the United Kingdom is said to have been found in many of the cases detected in April. Out of 300 samples, 93% tested positive for the mutated strain, B.1.117, according to director general of the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Medical Sciences, Supakit Sirilak. The latest outbreak of Covid-19 started in clusters in Bangkok’s…
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Pattaya plans for reopening with no quarantine for vaccinated travellers
Pattaya will reopen to foreign tourists this year under a model similar to Phuket… but only if 70% of residents are vaccinated against Covid-19. Local officials are seeking more vaccine doses in an effort to reach herd immunity and bring people back to one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations. Under the plan “Pattaya, Move On,” quarantine in Pattaya would be…
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Government “revamps” vaccination registration after scrapping Mor Prom
After scrapping its Mor Prom app, the government is now rejigging Covid-19 vaccine allocation, amid registration issues and new infection clusters. The much-lauded (by the government) technology was launched on May 1, initially so the elderly and those with 7 underlying conditions could register. However, the system quickly became overwhelmed with the numbers trying to register, which caused it to…
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Thursday Covid Update: 3,323 cases and 47 deaths
3,323 new Covid-19 cases and a record high of 47 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. There has been a total of 112,354 infections recorded since April 1, the latest wave of Covid-19. There are now 46,469 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported 141,217 Covid-19 cases…
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Mahidol University: We did not state Fingerroot is effective medicine for treating Covid-19 symptoms
Mahidol University, located in Nakhon Pathom, a central Thai province, has denied they are associated with any claims made by product advertisers that extracts from Fingerroot, a root that has the appearance of long, jaundiced fingers, can be used to treat Covid-19 sufferers. A rector from the university, Professor Dr. Banchong Mahaisavariya, attempted to distance the university from the advertisers’…
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6 arrested in Pattaya for illegal online gambling operation
In Pattaya today, 6 people were arrested, accused by the Police Cyber Taskforce of running illegal online gambling websites. The task force raided the Pattaya home yesterday afternoon along with the Pattaya City Police.2 women and 4 men, all Thai nationals, were taken into custody after being found running Baccarat gambling websites from the Baan Suan La La Na house…
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Thailand News Today | BKK clubs deny responsibility, Sinopharm for Thailand, 2,455 cases | May 26
2,455 new Covid-19 cases were reported today, and 41 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest fatality count in Thailand since the start of the pandemic. Samples taken from Covid-19 patients in southern Thailand are being tested to check for the highly-contagious, so-called South African variant. The managers of 2 nightclubs in the Thong Lor district of Bangkok are denying any responsibility for…
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DIT chews on regulations to lower food delivery service fees
After pressure from the Department of Internal Trade, food delivery services in Thailand will lower their rates to aid struggling food vendors during Covid-19. Restaurants have been complaining about the high commissions that food delivery services like Food Panda, Gojek, Grab, and Line Man charge restaurants, typically taking a 30% bite out of profits. The DIT has requested that food…
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Police in Koh Samui arrest 9 people for gathering and drinking alcohol
Police in Koh Samui arrested 9 people for allegedly gathering and drinking alcohol, a violation of the strict disease control rules put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The island has been working to contain the virus and administer vaccines quickly to prepare for the reopening to vaccinated foreign tourists on July 1 under a travel model similar…
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Woman driving to market slides into canal, drowns in flash flood
A 60 year old woman in the Isaan province Nakhon Ratchasima drowned after her motorcycle was swept into a canal during a flash flood and the woman was carried away by a strong current. Her body was found about 1 kilometre away from the village in the Wang Nam Khieo district. The woman, later identified as Kanchanee Kanpraser, was driving her…
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Thailand gets onboard with ridesharing taxi app regulations
Never one to be late to a trend, Thailand is jumping on the bandwagon, after hailing the bandwagon first using a ridesharing app. Many countries have wrestled with how to regulate the taxi-hailing app concept and the grey area it occupies between not-quite-a-taxi and not-quite-a-private-car, and now Thailand is looking to implement regulations within a month. A deputy spokesperson for…
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Man dies after receiving Sinovac vaccine in Phuket
A man died the day after he received his first dose of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine. Health officials say the cause of death was a heart attack and the man had “fatal medical conditions”. But the man’s wife claims the death was due to the vaccine. 43 year old Winai Hemin from Phang Nga, just a north of Phuket, was…
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Police in Bangkok arrest 6 people on gambling and drug charges
Six recent graduates have been arrested on charges of illegal gambling and using class 5 drugs. The graduates, between the ages of 23 and 25, allegedly used SIM cards to sign up for gambling sites to obtain bonuses from new players. According to media reports, they were allegedly earning between 1,000 to 10,000 baht a day on their gambling operation. Yesterday,…
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Social media users can face legal action for spreading false Covid-19 information
Those who post false information about the Covid-19 situation in Thailand could face legal action. Several people are facing charges for posts they made on social media with misleading information on the spread of the coronavirus in Thailand and vaccine side effects. The false statements could potentially provoke social unrest and threaten national security, according to the Digital, Economy and…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 2,455 new cases and 41 deaths, provincial totals
2,455 new Covid-19 cases and 41 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest fatality count since the start of the pandemic, were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. A total of 109,031 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since April 1. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported 137,894 Covid-19 cases in Thailand and 873…
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Cabinet approves Emergency Decree extension, prison funding
The Emergency Decree enacted to attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Thailand has just been extended for 2 more months, until the end of July. Cabinet ministers met yesterday to determine the future of the decree and agreed to extend it from June 1 to July 31, while also approving funding for fighting Covid-19 in the Thai prison…
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Managers of Bangkok clubs blamed for third wave deny any wrongdoing
The managers of 2 nightclubs in the Thong Lor district of Bangkok have denied any responsibility for causing a third wave of Covid-19. The Krystal and Emerald clubs have been widely blamed for sparking a resurgence of the virus that has now spread across the Kingdom, threatening tourism re-opening plans and further decimating an already-fragile economy. Both managers face charges…
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China’s Sinopharm vaccine up for approval in Thailand
China is seeking approval for its Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine to be used in Thailand. Documents have been submitted and Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration secretary general Paisal Dunkhum says the vaccine will be reviewed for its quality, safety, and efficacy. He says he expects a decision on whether to approve the vaccine for use to be made within the next…
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Health officials checking for additional cases of South African variant in South
Samples taken from Covid-19 patients in southern Thailand are being tested to check for the highly-contagious, so-called South African variant. Supphakit Siriluck from the Medical Science Department says so far, the variant has only been found in Narathiwat province, but samples from patients in Songkhla and Phatthalung are also being analysed. Supphakit says that at the moment, the world is…
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Vaccine reluctance in Hong Kong may see unused doses being discarded
The take-up of Covid-19 vaccines has been so low in Hong Kong that, according to a BBC report, the territory may end up throwing away 2 million Pfizer doses. Fewer than 20% of the population has been vaccinated and the 2 million doses will expire in 3 months’ time. Hong Kong has procured sufficient doses to inoculate its entire population,…
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Thai industry body says government may miss vaccination target due to supply issues
The Thai government is being warned that ongoing issues with Covid-19 vaccine supply may cause it to miss its target of obtaining 10 million doses in June. The Federation of Thai Industries says the supply problems will impact the country’s vaccination rollout and is calling on the government to accelerate the process by allowing private companies to import doses from…
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Aghast! Outages for The Thaiger
Sincere apologies to all our Thaiger readers as we’ve been experiencing some outages as we migrate to a newer and faster server. With eyes on the long-game, we want to provide you with the fastest, most trouble-free experience but we may have some more problems in the next few days. Our YouTube channel is still fine with the daily programs…
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Health Minister insists AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered on time
The required doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be ready for the government’s June 7 rollout. So says Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in response to concerns over supply issues. A number of hospitals have already suspended use of the vaccine, due to low or no supplies. According to a Bangkok Post report, Anutin met with representatives from AstraZeneca…
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Over 2 dozen assault rifles missing from military base in Narathiwat
A military base in the deep south province of Narathiwat, discovered 28 AK-102 automatic rifles were missing. The rifles were first noticed missing on May 18 from the 2nd Narathiwat Territorial Defence Company, located in tambon Kamphu. The next day Mayusor Kudae, the assistant chief, filed a complaint with local police against those whom he believed were responsible for the…
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Motorbike death believed to be caused by face mask
PHOTO: Sanook.com A motorbike driver in the northern Thai province of Uthai Thani has died from injuries he sustained after he drove into a utility pole. Witnesses said they saw a face mask covering the motorbike driver’s eyes and they believe it obstructed his vision, causing the crash. Mew, a 43 year old Burmese national, had bought the motorbike only…
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Thailand News Today | AZ vaccine doses postponed, new 1 minute Covid test | May 25
Thai government has rescheduled the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccines 16 weeks after the first dose, The National University of Singapore says a breath test that can detect Covid-19 infection within a minute has been approved for use in the city state, 2 trains collided in KL, Malaysia leaving more than 200 people injured and Heavy rain to very heavy…
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