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Monks were amongst those who fled to safety in eastern Myanmar conflicts
Hundreds of monks were among the thousands of people who fled2 major towns in Mynamar’s Kayah (Karenni) State last week as fighting has intensified in the southern region between the military and local militia groups, known as the People’s Defense Forces which oppose the regime, The UN estimates that over 90,000 individuals have fled Loikaw city in the region where…
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Aung San Suu Kyi is “indispensable” for Myanmar peace talk, says Philippines FM
The Philippines, amongst other neutral ASEAN members, made a strong statement on solving the Myanmar crisis yesterday as its foreign minister urged the 10 member bloc to invite the deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to any peace talks, citing she’s the key figure in restoring democracy to the turmoiled Southeast Asian nation, regardless of her conviction. The Philippines Foreign…
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Monday Covid Update: 6,929 new cases, provincial totals
13 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 21,938 with 240 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 6,929 new Covid-19 cases and 5,255 recoveries. There are now 82,210 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Thailand reports second Omicron-related death, Covid fatality toll on a downward slope
The second death related to the Omicron Covid-19 variant in Thailand was reported today by the CCSA. Both deaths were elderly women with serious pre-existing health conditions who contracted the virus from infected family members. While cases involving the highly transmissible Omicron variant are on the rise in Thailand, the strain has proven to be less severe and the country’s…
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Pandemic creates labour shortages in Thailand
The Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to an ageing population and declining birth rates, has created a labour shortage in Thailand. Over the past two years, unemployed Thais have started to leave their jobs to work as freelancers or run their own businesses. The National Economic and Social Development Council states that the number of Thais in the workforce will go…
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Hackers target Twitter account of Thai Revenue Department
The government has advised netizens to be cautious after the Revenue Department’s Twitter account was hacked by unknown attackers. According to a Thai PBS World report, the hackers deleted nearly all previous tweets on the account and changed its name to Revenue/NFT. They then posted just one tweet, which read, “I’m looking to collaborate with NFT projects. DM (direct message)…
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Cobra Gold military exercise downsized this year due to Omicron spread
Thailand’s annual Cobra Gold military exercise, where Thai soldiers train the US and other foreign troops on jungle survival skills, is being scaled down this year due to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The large, multinational military exercise has been known for its snake decapitating demonstration where soldiers drink the fresh blood from the headless snake before…
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413 Bars in Bangkok ask permission to reopen as restaurants
More than 400 bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues in Bangkok have applied for permission to reopen as restaurants. The venues have been closed since April due to strict disease control measures. The government delayed its plan to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen in mid-January due to the Omicron outbreak in Thailand, but decided to allow the venues to apply for…
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Tourists unsure about new 300-baht fee, question how money will be spent
The jury’s out on Thailand’s new 300-baht tourism fee, with foreigners expressing reservations about its introduction. The Thai government has confirmed that all overseas arrivals will have to pay the 300-baht levy from April. Speaking to the Bangkok Post, a number of foreigners have questioned how the money will be spent. Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana has previously stated that the…
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Back to school in Phuket as governor’s order allows return to onsite learning
One of these provinces is doing its own thing… Despite central government recommending schools move to home learning until January 31, schools in Phuket have been told they can re-open. The Ministry of Education had advised Thailand’s schools to suspend in-classroom learning due to the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant, but Phuket governor Narong Woonciew has issued an order allowing schools on…
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Thai airlines pin their hopes on government resuming Test & Go
The president of the Airlines Association of Thailand says the government must allow the Test & Go entry scheme to resume as soon as possible. The scheme was recently suspended as the Omicron Covid-19 variant spread rapidly across the globe. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, who is also the boss of Bangkok Airways, says the scheme was working well, attracting more foreign visitors…
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Alibi for 2 tigers killed results in an additional charge for suspects
In the continuing saga of the 5 men accused of having killed 2 Bengal tigers, skinning them, and cooking their meat, the alibi they used to justify the poaching may end up backfiring on them as they are slapped with an additional charge. They were already charged with 10 different offences relating to the poaching including violating the Forest Reserve…
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Thailand’s first Omicron variant Covid-19 death in Hat Yai
An official from the Ministry of Public Health announced that today Thailand had its first reported death from the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The death recorded in Songkhla province in the south of Thailand was an 86 year old woman from Hat Yai. She had Alzheimer’s and was bedridden. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health said the elderly…
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Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic to be deported after visa saga
After a rollercoaster ride regarding 9-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic having his visa approved and revoked several times as courts debated his status as unvaccinated but recovered from a Covid-19 infection, the tennis star will now be deported from Australia. Novak lost a court appeal to try to reverse the cancellation of his visa when 3 judges upheld the…
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Poll: majority favour new draft bill that regulates NGOs
In a new NIDA poll, questions about a controversial draft bill aimed at regulating NGOs operating in Thailand showed that people generally support the regulation. The poll, conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration, asked people a variety of questions about how non-governmental organisations operate within Thailand. The topic has been controversial with many activists and some human rights…
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Can you protest in Thailand as a foreigner?
Can a foreigner in Thailand go out on to the streets and protest and express his opinion? Will you get dragged away by the police and put into jail? Should you be protesting at all even though it might not have anything to do with you as a guest in the country? What are the things you can and can’t…
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Covid-19 infection rate, totals in international travellers surging
While the government suspended the Test & Go scheme in order to curb the spread of the Omicron variant last month, people who are already approved are still trickling in, and many have come as part of the Sandbox programme. Despite throttling the influx of international travellers, the number of Covid-19 infections brought in from abroad has been steadily rising,…
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Bus driver who fled 2007 accident with multiple deaths finally arrested
A tour bus driver who fled a horrific accident in Nakhon Ratchasima that left multiple injuries and fatalities and that he was deemed at fault for in 2007 has finally been caught and arrested. The now 52 year old man was arrested in Bangkok for the crime of negligent driving that led to the accident on the Friendship Highway 15…
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Police seek Russian couple after wife tests positive for Covid-19
After mild punishment for the first widely reported case of someone leaving their approved hotel before their quarantine period was over, it seems the floodgates are open. In Koh Chang, 6 people who tested positive for Covid-19 left their hotel and had to be tracked down. A few days ago a Russian man with Covid-19 who was supposed to be…
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Pork, petrol and noodles – inflation impacting prices in Thailand
Heading into 2022, the ‘I’ word is spooking economists around the world as they look at tools to try and control rampant inflation. Even in Thailand there has been big rises in staples, making headlines this week, particularly in the pork industry. Meat and produce prices have been sneaking up and now impacting the cost of living for everyone living…
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Fugitive arrested 7 years after trafficking Rohingya migrants
On May 18, 2015, the Nathawee Provincial Court in Songkhla issued an arrest warrant for Chamsudin Tordin for various charges relating to human trafficking. Today, after nearly 7 years as a fugitive, Chamsudin was taken into custody and will face charges regarding trafficking of Rohingya migrants. The man is now 38 years old and is a native of Muang District…
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Police raid Bang Lamung pool party in violation of Covid-19 rules
In what has become a common occurrence, police in Pattaya raided another illegal party in violation of Covid-19 regulations, this time a pool party in Bang Lamung. Police described the venue, saying it was like a tavern or villa converted into a pool party location that was serving drinks and blasting music long after curfew with no regard for Covid-19…
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A second Russian man with Covid-19 missing from Phuket hotel
A Russian man who tested positive for Covid-19 is being sought after disappearing from his hotel room and not returning yet. Wait! Don’t click away! This isn’t a story about the Russian man who was the subject of a manhunt Thursday and Friday. This is another very similar incident and police are still searching for the missing Covid-infected man. Anton…
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COVID-19 SATURDAY: Hospitalisations double in a week, 10 million boosters
Today, the CCSA reported 7,793 new Covid-19 infections, down 365 since yesterday, and 18 Coronavirus-related deaths, up 3 from yesterday. Since April 1, 2021, in the latest wave of the virus in Thailand, a total of 2,287,535 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been reported, with 21,916 total deaths from the pandemic. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the…
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Omicron stabilising, officials consider easing Covid-19 restrictions
While infections of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have caused a sharp rise in the daily statistics, deaths and even hospitalisations have not been as affected, causing the Ministry of Public Health to call for an easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Numbers of fatalities, as well as those on ventilators and in ICUs still remain low, says Minister of Public Health…
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Singapore requires office-workers to be vaccinated, few exemptions
Get vaccinated or lose your job. That’s the thrust of new workplace laws being introduced in Singapore. From today an earlier concession, allowing negative-testing employees to keep working in offices, is dropped. Employers now have the option to redeploy unvaccinated staff to ‘working from home’ duties, put the staff on leave without pay, or simply sack them if they are…
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Woman stole 59b of food, stabbed Mini Big-C staff to escape
A woman was caught when she stole 59 baht worth of snack items at a Mini Big C in Nontha Buri, but things escalated quickly when she stabbed the employee that caught her to make her escape. The sad story took place on December 29, but after a warrant was issued for her arrest, police just managed to track the…
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Herbal remedy could be up to 96 percent effective against Covid-19
While Thailand is developing its own version of the Covid-19 fighting Molnupiravir pill, a more traditional treatment may also prove to be useful in fighting the pandemic. Thai herbal fever medication has been found, in a laboratory environment at least, to allegedly “contain” the Covid-19 virus according to research by the Thai Department of Medical Sciences and reported in Thai…
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More than 100 Burmese job seekers detained for allegedly entering Thailand illegally
Amidst thousands of refugees legally fleeing into Thailand’s soil due to fighting escalating near the Thai border, job seekers from Myanmar are also trying to cross the border by natural passageways, evading immigration checkpoints and mandatory quarantine. Reports say many have been paying fees of nearly 22,000 baht (US$ 666) to brokers to cross over to Thailand. On Thursday alone,…
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Malaysia hands 3 suspected insurgents to Thailand following peace talks
Officials in southern Thailand told reporters that Malaysia had delivered three suspected militants on Wednesday after Thai authorities and rebel groups finished their negotiations. Reports say it was their first in-person peace talk in nearly two years. The rare handover marked the first official transfer of convicts linked to the ethnic and religious separatist insurgency in Thailand’s Deep South region near…
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