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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Phuket Covid-19: 2 deaths, 4 Sandbox infections, 10k total cases
In the last 24 hours, the Phuket Sandbox uncovered 4 new infections, the same as yesterday, and 2 people have died of Covid-19 in Phuket, bringing the total this week to 22 deaths. Today brought 219 new infections, the lowest since September 9, pushing the total infections in the third wave of Covid-19 starting the beginning of April over 10000…
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Facebook page that claims to sell dog meat met with scorn on social media
A business claiming to sell dog meat on Facebook was met with disapproval on social media this week. Dog lovers, in particular, were not keen on the idea. The Facebook page “Nuea Ma Tae Sakon Nakhon by Wittaya”, or: The real dog meats of Sakon Nakhon by Wittaya was created this week. The page says they have an expansive menu…
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Thailand welcomes its first AI influencer, “AI Ailynn”
Thailand is jumping into the influencer marketing game SkyNet style, with the introduction of AI Ailynn, a metaverse human designed by SIA Bangkok, which styles itself a “virtual influencer agency”. AI Ailynn, their first artificial intelligence influencer will chat with users, pose for pictures, and influence people to buy things. The company’s website describes AI Ailynn as a 21 year…
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Umbrellas out, more monsoonal rain in the wake of ‘Dianmu’
With tropical depression Dianmu now well into the Bay of Bengal and continuing to weaken, another low depression sits over Thailand’s lower north, continuing to drop rain in most parts of the country. The region is also coming to the end of the annual typhoon season which whips up west-moving storms from the Pacific and into the South China Sea…
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India: Why medical students are taking their own lives
At what is meant to be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressured to take up medicine as a career. I…
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Switzerland’s same-sex marriage referendum explained
Switzerland is one of the last nations in Western Europe to ban same-sex marriage. That could change on Sundaywhen voters decide if they should extend gay and lesbian couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The Swiss parliament alreadylegalized marriage for all last December, but a group of conservative Christian parties pushed for the decision to be revised in…
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Record-breaking 1 million Covid-19 vaccines given yesterday
Thailand set a domestic record yesterday with more than one million Covid-19 vaccines administered in one day. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha thanked the public and everyone involved in making yesterday Thailand’s most successful vaccination day and expressed confidence that Thailand will reach its inoculation goals by the end of 2021. The massive campaign of 1 million vaccines was launched as a…
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Junk messages must now be blocked by Thai mobile carriers
An order made by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission this week declared that all mobile phone operators must now block junk messages and fraudulent SMS. The order is aimed at curbing unsolicited junk messages on people’s mobile phones and protecting them from scams or malicious advertisements. The new order went into effect on September 23 and applies to all…
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Phuket begins new subdermal injection method for vaccines
Phuket has become the first province in Thailand to implement a new injection method of administering a third Covid-19 booster vaccine under the skin instead of into the muscle. Staff at the Indoor Sports Stadium at Saphan Hin began using the new vaccination method for the first time yesterday. The Ministry of Public Health recently approved the new method following…
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Phuket Covid-19: 5 new deaths and 4 new Sandbox infections
In the last 24 hours, the Phuket Sandbox uncovered 4 new infections and 5 people have died of Covid-19 in Phuket, bringing the total this week to 21 deaths. Today brought 225 new infections, and with 2,053 of the 2,418 hospital beds in Phuket full, hospital occupation rates have climbed once again to just under 85% after falling for the…
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Saturday Covid-19 Afternoon Update: full provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration update today reported 11,975 new Covid-19 infections in Thailand along with 127 deaths, both lower than yesterday. Covid-19 data was relatively good over the last 24 hours as total patients in medical care (124,540), patients in ICUs (3,323), patients on ventilators (729), suspected infections by ATK test (2370), and infections in prisons (93) have…
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Phuket man finds 30 million baht surprise “whale poop” on beach
A local villager in Phuket was on a jog Thursday morning when he stumbled on a substance that he believes may be worth up to 30 million baht. the man didn’t find gold, or diamonds, or even birds’ nest. The treasure that the 66 year old Mai Khao resident discovered? Whale poop. Ambergris is a waxy, solid substance that sperm…
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Saturday Covid-19 Update: 11,975 infections, 127 deaths
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 11,975 new Covid-19 infections in Thailand along with 127 deaths, both lower than yesterday. Covid-19 data was relatively good over the last 24 hours as total patients in medical care (124,540), patients in ICUs (3,323), patients on ventilators (729), suspected infections by ATK test (2370), and infections in prisons (93) have all fallen…
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Libya: Will elections finally bring healing?
Throughout the year, national and international hopes have been pinned to the date of the Libyan national elections on December 24. However, exactly three months prior to this election date, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly fractured. This week, the Tobruk-based lower chamber of the Libyan parliament, also called the House of Representatives, withdrew its support for the…
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UN General Assembly: Africa’s leaders push for unity
World leaders are delivering their speeches at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York. In the past, Africans have mainly ignored this event but this year appears to be different. DW has the highlights of what several African nations brought to the global arena. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan makes debut Making her maiden appearance at the UN General…
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Modern masculinity in Africa: Pressures, expectations and breaking the mold
What does it mean to be an African man in the 21st century? What kind of pressures are men under? And how do we even define masculinity in the modern world? These were just some of the questions put to the panel in the latest edition of The 77 Percent’s Street Debate in Nairobi, Kenya. Conversations around masculinity and manhood…
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India: Why many medical students are taking their own lives
In what should be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressurized to take up medicine as a career. I don’t think…
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German election: Pakistani-origin female politician eyes Bundestag seat
Misbah Khan, a Green party candidate for the German federal parliament, talks to DW about her journey in German politics as a young female politician with a migration background. SOURCE: DW News
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Covid-19 UPDATE: Provincial totals, vaccinations and more
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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German election: Which chancellor hopeful does the EU want?
EU heads of government haven’t made any official statements about the upcoming German election. But think tanks and insiders have speculated which chancellor candidate each country might prefer. In the running are Angela Merkel’s current finance minister, Olaf Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD); Merkel’s favorite, Armin Laschet, from her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU); and Annalena Baerbock, the…
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Contrary to Anutin, US says delivery of vaccines awaits Thailand
In a meeting with Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, founder of the new Thai Sang Thai Party, US Senator Tammy Duckworth stated that she is pushing for more vaccine donations from the US to Thailand, but that Thailand has yet to collect 1 million Pfizer vaccines waiting for them now. The conversation took place in Washington DC on Wednesday. Duckworth was born in Thailand and…
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Tackling malnutrition in Ghana
Nurses in Pelungu, eastern Ghana teach pregnant mothers how to cook food to retain maximum nutrition. Malnutrition and anemia are prevalent among rural Ghanaians despite an abundance of fresh food. SOURCE: DW News
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CCSA approves reopening delay, state of emergency extension
The state of emergency in Thailand has been extended and the reopening of the country postpone following approval by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The CCSA subcommittee met yesterday to approve the extension proposal and discuss reopening. Chairman of the subcommittee National Security Council Secretary-General Natthapon Nakpanich approved the proposal that keeps Thailand in a state of emergency and…
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Video of feet on bread appears to be from India, not Thailand
A video and news story that sent an uproar through the Thai community of workers at a bread factory putting their feet on the bread before packaging has been revealed to have not taken place in Thailand. The Immigration Bureau had ordered a far-reaching check on breadmaking factories across Thailand and particularly in Bangkok to try to uncover the source…
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Malaysia considers further re-opening to domestic tourism
Malaysia’s tourism minister says the re-opening of inter-state travel is now a high priority as the country seeks to reboot domestic tourism. Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri says other islands are hopeful they will soon be able to follow Langkawi, which re-opened for vaccinated domestic tourists on September 16. According to a TTR Weekly report, the tourism ministry is considering re-opening…
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Weather warning issued as tropical storm Dianmu approaches
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning for the North, Northeast, East and Central regions, as it monitors tropical storm Dianmu, which is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression. The TMD says the storm made landfall over the central Vietnamese province of Quang this morning and is about 260 kilometres southeast of Amnat Charoen province, in north-east…
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Education ministry to accelerate vaccination of over 200,000 teachers
All vocational and secondary school students should be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the vaccination of 210,000 teachers is being accelerated ahead of schools re-opening. So says Suphat Champatong from the Education Ministry, adding that the government has taken delivery of 3 vaccine types – viral vector, live attenuated, and inactivated. In a Bangkok Post report, Suphat says the…
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US judge orders Facebook to disclose anti-Rohingya content as part of international case against Myanmar
A court in the US has ruled that Facebook must disclose posts it removed from its network on the grounds that they were inciting violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The move comes as a number of countries take action against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice. The Bangkok Post reports that Judge Zia Faruqui has criticised Facebook for…
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Friday Covid Update: 12,697 new cases and 132 deaths
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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Partitions to be added to 3,000 taxis to fight Covid-19
A pilot project is underway, launched by the Department of Land Transport, to install 3,000 partitions in taxis for Covid-19 safety throughout the month of October. The Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob stated they hope the move instils confidence in hired transportation services and increases public safety against the spread of Covid-19. The acrylic partitions will be installed in taxies…
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