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.
-
Thailand News Today | ASQ quarantine update, lights out on Koh Samui | March 9
In today’s news, the government is looking to cut the quarantine time in half, more news on Thailand’s vaccine roll out, and the Thai Navy accidentally cuts off Koh Samui’s electricity supply. We’ve also got the latest information on the country’s air quality woes later in this edition. Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin has announced that everyone who receives both…
-
Koh Samui lights back up, underwater electricity cable repaired
Electricity is back on Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan after an underwater cable supplying electricity to the islands was damaged. Yesterday, blackouts swept over both islands in the Gulf of Thailand off the Surat Thani coast. Earlier reports say the cable was damaged by a Thai navy ship’s anchor, but now Provincial Electricity Authority district manager Jakkrit Meedet says…
-
Officials mull over new guidelines for this year’s Songkran water festival
With Thailand’s massive water festival, Songkran, set to go on next month, officials are now mulling over potential guidelines to help reduce the risk of Covid-19. The culture minister says there is talk of setting up so-called “water play” areas that allow the water fights and splashes with a Covid-19 check-in at the entrance. Pattaya News says face shields, goggles…
-
Vietjet CEO, dreams to transform the world
“Start-ups shouldn’t ‘save on’ dreams but rather dream big and realise them by simple acts each day at your business or organisation.” Meet the tour-de-force behind the establishment of VietJet, one of the region’s most successful aviation start ups. SPONSORED CONTENT Any first-timers meeting Vietnam’s only self-made female billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao will be taken aback by the opposites…
-
Second batch of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to arrive in Thailand on March 25
A second order of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines are expected to arrive on March 25, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced today. 800,000 doses are set to be sent to Thailand later this month. Along with informing the Thai government on the expected arrival date for the vaccines, Chinese officials also asked that the Thai government consider vaccinating Chinese nationals…
-
Travellers undergoing yacht quarantine to wear wristbands to track location and monitor health
Foreign tourists travelling to Thailand by yacht and undergoing the mandatory quarantine period onboard the vessel will be asked to wear a smart wristband to monitor their health and track their location. The Digital Economy Promotion Agency teamed up with Advanced Info Service, known as AIS, and Phuket tourism operators to launch the so-called “Digital Yacht Quarantine” programme. Apparently, tourist…
-
Thailand government promotes cannabis as a cash crop at Buriram festival
Thailand’s government is pushing for cannabis use in all kinds of foods and products, as long as the plant’s psychoactive component, which causes the “high,” isn’t used. Over the weekend, people flocked to the Cannabis 360 festival held by the government in the Isaan province Buriram. Those at the festival could get a cone of hemp soft serve ice cream…
-
Thailand to issue vaccine certificate to everyone who gets 2 doses of Covid jab
Thailand’s Public Health Minister says everyone who receives both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine will be issued with a vaccine certificate. The vaccine certificate will be similar to the vaccination books already in circulation for some time and used to prove inoculation against yellow fever. According to a Coconuts report, both the paper and online version of the certificate will…
-
Blackout on Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan after navy ship anchor damages underwater cable
A widespread blackout swept over Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan after a Thai navy ship anchor dropped on an underwater cable which supplies power to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand off the Surat Thani coast. The 115kv cable runs from Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Khanom district to Koh Samui. The anchor damaged the cable about 2 kilometres out…
-
AstraZeneca rollout confirmed for Thursday, with PM first in line
First, there was the unexpected arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine on the same day Thailand took delivery of the Chinese one. Then there was the announcement that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was too old for China’s Sinovac jab and would get the AstraZeneca one instead. And then there was the delay to the PM’s inoculation, blamed on paperwork that was missing…
-
Economic think-tank says the future of tourism in Thailand hangs on vaccination
The research division of Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank says everything hangs on vaccination strategies, both here and abroad. Kevalin Wangpichayasuk from the Kasikorn Research Centre says the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines globally will have a significant impact on the recovery of tourism in the Kingdom, with 2 million foreign tourists expected to arrive in the last quarter of the year. However,…
-
Slow return of foreign tourism makes more redundancies inevitable – Airlines Association of Thailand
The president of the Airlines Association of Thailand says further layoffs in the sector are inevitable, due to the slow return of international tourism. In a Bangkok Post report, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth says the sluggish revival of foreign tourism, now not expected until the last quarter of the year, means all carriers continue to face financial hardship. And while there was…
-
Local Thai politician arrested after allegedly firing shots at a pub
A local politician allegedly shot 4 people at a pub in Nakhon Phanom. Witnesses told the Bangkok Post that the man started firing shots at throughout the pub because he was drunk and unhappy with the table service. Police arrested 58 year old Paisal Saengnarai, who is a kamnan, the governing official of a tambon or sub district. Witnesses say…
-
Quarantine for vaccinated travellers to Thailand reduced to 7 days
For the past year the mandatory quarantine period in Thailand has been 14 days, sometimes up to 16 days and 15 nights. Now the Thai government has reviewed the quarantine period and announced changes. If you’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the mandatory quarantine period will be reduced from 14 days to 7 days. The announcement was made by Thailand’s…
-
Women’s Day: CCSA recognises women’s role in pandemic, Thai PM promises plan for gender equality
Marking International Women’s Day, the prime minister promised a new plan to end gender discrimination and disparities in Thai society while the spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recognised Thai women’s contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a report by Nation Thailand, the PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said a national strategy has been put in place to help end…
-
CCSA Update: 71 new Covid-19 cases
71 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. There are currently 579 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 26,441 coronavirus cases in Thailand and 85 deaths. “The numbers are getting better,” according to deputy spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Natapanu Nopakun, who…
-
Chiang Mai hotels slash prices amid ongoing slump in tourism
Hotels in the northern province of Chiang Mai have been forced to cut their rates by up to 90%, in a desperate bid to attract more domestic tourists. According to a Bangkok Post report, La-Iad Bungsrithong, from the northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, says with tourists mainly favouring the southern beach destinations this month, hotel operators in the…
-
Pro-democracy activist hit with 6 million baht fine for removal of plants at rally site
Protest leader Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, aka “Rung”, has been hit with a fine of nearly 6 million baht, after removing plants at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument. Panusaya and 5 other activists have been charged with removing plants placed as decoration around the monument, during a political rally on February 13. She says Samran Rat police station has ordered her to pay 5.9…
-
Thailand’s pro-democracy activists ignore emergency decree warnings over weekend
Ignoring a police warning not to violate the emergency decree, pro-democracy activists gathered in their hundreds at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument yesterday. Although the anti-government protests have kicked off again after a 2 month hiatus, the numbers are well down on last years crowds, now measuring more in the hundreds than the thousands. The Bangkok Post reports that members of the…
-
Is this the next big change in pop music? The winners of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, BTS
https://youtu.be/bFmUwmQZ30A 2020 IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award. In the past 8 years the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award has been given to Ed Sheeran, Adele, One Direction, and Taylor Swift and Drake. BTS are backed up by ARMY, their huge fanbase. The power of ARMY. The IFPI represents the recorded music industry worldwide. It’s…
-
Why Thai locals make homes for the spirits
Spirits are everywhere in Thailand. That’s what many locals believe. Spirits are said to inhabit the miniature, temple-like structures, known as spirit houses, which are placed outside nearly every Thai home, plantation, hotel and even between Bangkok’s high-rise buildings. Flowers, bright red soda and other offerings for the spirits are routinely placed on the dollhouse-sized structures as a form of…
-
The Area Hotel Quarantine – tweaking Thailand’s arrival options
We spoke about the new proposal for an Area Hotel Quarantine last Friday and in Thailand News Today. The mandatory 14 day quarantine (magically extended a couple of days at many facilities at the foreigner’s cost) remains the key sticking point for the return of tourists or travellers, in any significant or useful numbers. A number of visas and quarantine…
-
OPINION – Vaccinating against Covid-19, why wouldn’t you?
by Andrew J. Wood The World Health Organisation not only advises that vaccines save millions of lives each year, but they also reduce transmissions. They and their partners are working together on tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions and distributing vital medical supplies to those in need, thereby reducing the number of infected people to transmit the virus. Vaccines…
-
In case you missed it… Here’s a weekly roundup of top news in Thailand
Social distancing for Songkran, Thailand’s New Year water festival Thailand’s massive water festival Songkran, celebrating the Thai New Year, got the “okay” as long as the festivities are in line with Covid-19 prevention measures. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says people need to abide by social distancing rules during the Songkran holiday from April 13 to 15… So make sure your water gun…
-
Freedom House downgrades Thailand to “not free”
US based Freedom House, a democracy advocacy group, has downgraded Thailand from being “partly free” to “not free” in its latest global rankings. The Freedom in the World 2021 report released this week assigned Thailand a total score of 30 out of 100, dropping from 32 out of 100 in the previous survey conducted in 2019. Before, Thailand was deemed…
-
Motorists told to avoid certain areas in Bangkok as protests planned for today
Bangkok motorists are being told to avoid areas where protests are planned to take place today. Kasetsart intersection, Lat Phrao intersection, Rachaprasong shopping district’s Central World shopping mall and 11th Infantry Regiment barracks in Bangkhen are the sites where demonstrators are set to infiltrate. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner says he is most concerned about the Lat Phrao intersection, due to…
-
2 Phuket Town nightclubs shut down after allegedly violating multiple laws
2 Phuket Town nightclubs are shutting down after allegedly violating multiple laws. The Maldives and H20 on Lim Sui Ju Road, on the south end of Phuket Town were ordered by the Phuket Governor to close immediately, with the Maldives being ordered to close for 5 years. The order comes after the Phuket City Police inspected the Maldives club, arresting…
-
Thailand bans assemblies, protests, mass gatherings citing Covid-19 fears
Thailand’s government has banned assemblies, protests, and mass gatherings citing fears over Covid-19 spreading. The Royal Gazette, Thailand’s official site for publishing new laws and regulations, made the announcement late last night on the heels of another protest scheduled for today. The ban is in place for Bangkok and 5 other provinces including Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, Pathum Thani, Nakhon…
-
Thailand News Today | Changes to quarantine, ‘adult content’ ban continues | March 5
Thailand’s Public Health Minister is chairing a meeting next Monday, where a vaccine passport scheme and potential travel bubbles is on the agenda. Anutin says those who’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be issued with a book to confirm their vaccination. It’s hoped this will make international travel easier, as well as boosting the public’s confidence and helping life return…
-
Pattaya announces plans to hold Songkran Festival
The tourist city of Pattaya is planning to hold Thai New Year, or Songkran Festival, this year as long as they receive the “go ahead” from the government. The Pattaya City Mayor, Sonthaya Khunplume, made the announcement today, saying that the water festival will be held with all the traditional activities including those taking place at temples. Songkran is the…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.