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.
-
Nippon Steel makes $763 million acquisition of 2 Thai steelmakers
Japan is making a move to invest in Thai steel. Nippon Steel Corp, the largest manufacturer of steel in Japan has announced a strategic deal to buy stakes in two major steelmakers in Thailand. The deal is reported to be worth as much as US $763 million – about 25 billion baht. The giant steelmaker has been interested in acquqiring…
-
Food group denies hoarding pork after authorities raid warehouse
In a continued spat after Songkhla livestock authorities discovered over 200 tonnes of pork in a refrigerated warehouse, the company accused of hoarding the pork insisted it has not been doing so. The company, Betagro, which is one of Thailand’s leading agro-industry and food businesses, issued a letter of clarification yesterday, stating that the frozen meat belongs to its subsidiary…
-
Condominium sales slow down in Hua Hin and nearby coastal areas during pandemic
There’s a low demand for condominiums in the coastal areas of Hua Hin, Cha-am and Khao Tao. Only two new projects for sale were launched in the resort communities last year. Hua Hin, a seaside resort district in Prachuap Khiri Khan, about 3 hoursdrike south of Bangkok, is still a popular vacation spot, however, condominium sales there remained low throughout…
-
Police seize lottery tickets allegedly smuggled by Thailand Post staff
Police seized more than 200,000 lottery tickets allegedly smuggled by a Thailand Post staff member in the Isaan province Loei. Apparently, an employee of the government-owned postal service was selling hundreds and thousands of lottery tickets to brokers when the tickets were reserved for local vendors. The Thai lottery tickets are technically supposed to be sold at 80 baht, but…
-
Friday Covid Update: 8,640 new cases; provincial totals
13 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,000 with 302 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 8,640 new Covid-19 cases and 8,641 recoveries. There are now 82,720 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
-
Malaysia resumes Vaccinated Travel Lane ticket sales for air, land travel to Singapore
Malaysia’s health ministry announced today that ticket sales for air and land travel under a Vaccinated Travel Lane programme (VTL) with Singapore, which had been cancelled until yesterday due to Omicron concerns, have resumed. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the resumption of VTL follows a risk assessment of the current Covid-19 situation in both countries. However, ticket sales will…
-
Thai authorities crack down on pork hoarders in the midst of pork shortage crisis
In the midst of Thailand’s pork shortage crisis, suspected of being driven by an outbreak of the African Swine Fever, Thai livestock authorities discovered over 200 tonnes of unverified pork in a refrigerated warehouse in Chana, a district of southern province Songkhla, yesterday. The authorities believe the pork has been stored there since November. They are now inspecting the warehouse…
-
Storms in Northern Phayao province create a snowlike sight
“When it snows in Thailand” sounds like an alternative version of “when pigs fly”, a snappy way to say that something will never happen. But, photos in the Phu Kamyao district in the Phayao province in Northern Thailand show a thin layer of snow-like ice on the roads after heavy storms. The province sits on the Laos border and includes…
-
Pattaya Walking Street renovation 80% complete, officials target visitors of all ages
Renovations to Pattaya’s famous Walking Street are about 80% complete, according to the city mayor Sontaya Khunpluem. The project aims to clean up the redlight district street and draw in tourists of all ages… yes, he said all ages. The mayor told Thai media that overhead electric and communication wires have been moved to the underground to make the street…
-
First Thai rice export on Laos-China railway, step toward strengthening bilateral trade
The Lao-Chinese railway to Chongqing delivered its first Thai rice shipment of 1,000 tonnes, boosting hopes to strengthen bilateral trade and benefit the economy. More rice exports, and other farm exports, will follow, says the advisor to Thailand’s Agricultural Minister. The advisor added that the Thai government is looking into exporting fruit, orchids, rubber, cassava, palm oil as well as…
-
Australian news outlet places Indonesian capital in Bali in online map screw-up
An Australian news outlet has had to replace a map they uploaded online that mistakenly placed the Indonesian capital Jakarta on the island of Bali. Channel 9 News attracted some ridicule, not least among Indonesians, after the inaccurate map went viral, according to a Coconuts report. The report acknowledges that to some outsiders, Bali is Indonesia, or to others, it’s…
-
3 million doses of Pfizer allocated for children to arrive in Thailand next week
The first batch of Pfizer vaccines allocated for children will arrive in Thailand on January 26. A total of 3 million doses of the vaccine is expected to be given to children at the age of 5 to 11 years old starting on January 31, starting with children who are diagnosed with congenital diseases. The Deputy Director-General of the Department…
-
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha orders two agencies to lead crackdown on call-centre scams
Following escalating public complaints that many Thais have fallen victim to phone scams that steal either money or personal information, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned two government agencies to lead integrated operations to crack down on scammers and bring them to justice. According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Trisaranakul, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and the Royal Thai Police…
-
Sealed route proposal for asymptomatic infected tourists gets lukewarm reception in Phuket
Phuket officials have responded less than enthusiastically to a suggestion that infected asymptomatic tourists be allowed to travel via a sealed route. Pichet Panapong, the province’s deputy governor, says he believes infected tourists should stay in their hotel rooms. According to a Bangkok Post report, he’s already said as much to the immigration chief who initially made the suggestion. Pichet…
-
Tourism operators want cost of PCR tests reduced when Test & Go resumes
Following the CCSA’s decision yesterday to resume Test & Go from February 1 (with some changes) tourism operators are urging the government to make PCR testing more affordable. The revamped Test & Go entry scheme now requires overseas arrivals to book a hotel on day 1 and again on day 5 of their stay – and to take a PCR…
-
Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says Thai 5G is not an issue
After a wave of flight cancellations and airline schedule and equipment reshuffling in the US, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand spoke up to reaffirm that 5G signals in Thailand do not have any conflicts or negative effects on aircraft or flight equipment. The CAAT explained that, in Thailand, 5G bandwidth is on a different wavelength than anything used in…
-
20 baht bills getting a modern polymer update on March 24
Money enthusiasts, get ready! On March 24 the 20 baht bill is getting a radical new update. The Royal portrait will still be prominent but the flimsy, green paper the bills have been printed on for decades is being replaced with a modern new polymer with a glossy, plasticky feel. Starting on March 24, the new, more durable polymer 20…
-
UPDATE: Thailand’s Test & Go is back on for travel starting February 1
The Thailand Pass Test & Go program has been rebooted, and vaccinated travellers will be able to register for (almost) quarantine-free entry to Thailand re-starting February 1. There have been slight revisions to the rules, now requiring travellers to have proof of an SHA+ hotel booking on the first and fifth day of their stay in Thailand when they will…
-
Thailand’s Test & Go registration reintroduced for travel starting February 1
Test & Go is back on, and vaccinated travellers will be able to register for (almost) quarantine-free entry to Thailand re-starting February 1. There have been slight revisions to the rules, now requiring travellers to have proof of their hotel booking on the first and fifth day of their stay in Thailand when they will undergo RT-PCR tests. In the…
-
At least 3 killed, 7 injured as Myanmar’s army raid displaced camps in Kayah State
At least three refugees were killed and seven others were injured during the Myanmar army’s raids on refugee camps in eastern Kayah State, where innocent civilians were forced to leave their houses as fighting escalated between the Tatmadaw (army) and armed opposition groups. According to a source from the local Catholic Church in Myanmar who spoke to the Vatican News,…
-
Chon Buri villagers complain of air pollution from burning crops
Residents of a Chon Buri housing estate complained to local authorities that crop burning at nearby plantations has been causing not only air pollution, but ash has been falling on their cars, houses, and clothes. They say sugar cane plantations in particular were creating the ash in the air through illegal burning, causing poor air quality for the people living…
-
Pattaya pushes forward with 300 million baht budget for Old Town Nakula project
Pattaya city officials are putting efforts into a number of developments into the Old Town Nakula market in Pattaya to boost domestic and international tourism as well as cultural learning centres as to develop the old fishing town into a coastal destination with restaurants, nightlife, and a top-ranked seafood market. It is one of the primary initiatives in the first…
-
More than a million Covid-19 vaccinations ‘expire’ in Indonesia before distribution to public
Indonesia had a Covid kerfuffle today after more than a million Covid-19 vaccination shots expired before they could be used, most of which were donated just one to three months, due to their short shelf life. According to Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, nearly 98% of the 1.1 million dosages were thrown out as a result of rushed shipments…
-
First meeting of Thailand’s Lower House this year adjourned due to lack of numbers
The first meeting of the year for Thailand’s House of Representatives, which was meant to begin yesterday, had to be abruptly adjourned because the minimum number of MPs required were not present. 227 MPs were present, a number 10 short of the minimum number required to conduct the proceedings. Half of the House’s 473 members were required to attend. In…
-
Burmese migrants trafficked through Thailand caught by Malaysian border
Last night, Thai soldiers caught 31 Burmese migrants on the Thailand-Malaysia border, illegally passing through Thailand and hoping to work in Malaysia. The migrants were found hiding in a ditch on a rubber plantation in Sadao, a district of Songkhla province. The group 25 men and six women had reportedly travelled from Myanmar’s Myawaddy township. After they crossed into Tak…
-
One injured during dawn gunfight near Chon Buri’s Bang Saray Beach
Several residents had been jolted from their beds by the sound of multiple gunshots in Sattahip’s Bang Saray sub-district in Chon Buri when two teenagers reportedly clashed in a gunfight near the beach at dawn on Tuesday, injuring one. More than 10 gunshots have been reported to Sattahip police in front of a resort on Jantasaroe Road where bullet cartridges…
-
Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry will not order schools to close down because a few pupils are infected with Covid-19, but only if there are clusters of infections, according to the deputy director-general of the Department of Health. Dr Sarawut Boonsuk explained that the ministry would order the school to close the classroom for three days to clean it thoroughly if…
-
New Zealand closes its borders to arrivals over fear of Omicron outbreak
New Zealanders are currently unable to return home as the Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins orders a temporary halt to the only route back to the country due to the fully occupied numbers of managed isolation and quarantine, or MIQ, as demands soar following the threat posed by the Omicron strain yesterday. Although the ban would be temporary, no date…
-
Thursday Covid Update: 8,129 new cases; provincial totals
19 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 21,987 with 289 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 8,129 new Covid-19 cases and 6,978 recoveries. There are now 82,734 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
-
Restrictions ease, 25 provinces reclassified as “yellow” zones
Restrictions are easing in 25 provinces following a revision to the colour-coded zoning based on local infection rates. Starting January 24, those provinces will move from “orange” controlled zones to “yellow” zones under surveillance. In the “yellow” and “blue” zones, alcohol sales will be allowed until 11pm. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation decided to relax some measures today at its…
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.