The Thaiger
- Thailand News
Comments, feedback, fact-checking and banning – the joys of the modern news editor
The news ‘business’ has become a 2-way flow of information and engagement. Whilst this democratisation of news is welcome in many cases, it’s also causing news and information providers like Thaiger plenty of new headaches. The Thaiger website is now receiving around 300 – 500 genuine comments a day (plus a lot of spam). All this engagement is causing fresh…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Political homes, Adult site bans, Nok Air rehab | November 5
Thailand News Today, the most-watched English-speaking Thai TV news service in the world. Short, sharp, to the point. Make it a part of your day. Young Thais say political divide has caused conflict with their parents The ongoing political protests have led to a new, raw divide in Thailand with a split between a younger generation demanding democracy and an…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya – fighting to survive its Covid crisis
Pattaya, like some of Thailand’s other former tourist hotspots, is facing some critical challenges. Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city because there’s simply no work and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open. The Thaiger filmed most of this video on a long weekend at the end of October, the busiest…
- Tourism News
The future of Thailand’s hotels, tough times ahead – VIDEO
Thailand’s hotels are facing a very dark time with the Thai borders still largely closed and many of them remaining closed for business. Whilst some local domestic stimulus has provided a bit of a minor reboot for the battered industry, there is still more than 90% of the rooms in the country remaining unoccupied with staff unemployed, debts and leases…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | Hotels wary, rain on the way | September 17, 2020
Despite new tourist visa, hoteliers remain skeptical about reopening As news comes of the cabinet approving a special long-term tourist visa scheme, hoteliers are remaining skeptical about reopening due to the lack of clarity in the recent announcement which will reportedly kick off next month. The president of the Thai Hotels Association’s southern chapter says more hoteliers will consider reopening…
- Thai Life
Top 10 English-language news sources in Thailand (2020)
This post is mainly for newbies, tourists and people-interested-in-Thailand news and views. Locals probably already have their favourite daily news sources, or trawl through many of these. All these Top 10s do it well, in their own way. Some do it better than others, whilst punching out daily news. We think they’re all stars because doing media in Thailand, in English,…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, June 11
Transport Company resumes service, bans foreigners The wheels on the bus go round and round. But not for foreigners living in Thailand. It’s now official. If you’re a foreigner you won’t be allowed on intercity buses operated by the state owned Transport Company, under the auspices of the Thai Ministry of Transport. They announced today that foreigners are banned from…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, April 23
Thousands of tourists stranded on a trio of Gulf islands An estimated 10,000 foreign tourists are stranded on three islands in the Gulf of Thailand – Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. More than half of them, around 5,700 are on Koh Samui, another 3,300 foreign tourists on Koh Phangan and about 1,000 on Koh Tao, after passenger flights…
- Covid-19 News
Pattaya issues three month prison sentence to curfew violators
Three Thai men were caught in Pattaya yesterday evening violating the Emergency Decree curfew and sentenced to three months in prison. Pattaya City Police posted on their Thai social media channels and reminded its Thai and English audience not to go out between 10 pm and 4 am without a valid reason or face the consequences. After a rise in curfew…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok deploys mobile testing units
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is providing testing at home for people who may have caught the coronavirus disease. City governor Aswin Kwanmuang said yesterday that the BMA, along with the Mor Lab Panda Facebook page, are sending mobile teams to conduct Covid-19 testing to the homes of people who complete an online questionnaire and are at risk. People who test…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket migrant workers permitted to return home
Some migrant workers were allowed to leave Phuket to return to their homes yesterday, as the provincial administration agreed to temporarily lift the travel ban so they could rejoin their families. One worker who hails from the nearby province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, told Thai PBS that he has been out of work for 2 months, and his family could…
- Covid-19 News
Over half returning from Indonesia tested positive with Covid-19
42 of the 76 Thais who returned from Indonesia on Monday have now ended up as Covid-19 patients. Members of the Thai Islamic community travelling to Indonesia to preform “Dawah ” an Islamic missionary tradition, amidst a rise of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, have returned with over half testing positive. After health care workers examined the returnees, 22 have been sent…
- Crime News
Not recommended: Smoking marijuana at a police checkpoint
Most of us approach a police checkpoint with a bit of anxiety and apprehension but sometimes the “sabai sabai” approach makes for a more interesting interaction when you roll down your window. Last night in Chaiyaphum province, central Thailand, a tattoo-adorned man was stopped at a checkpoint in Kaeng Khro district around 9pm. His behaviour led police to believe he…
- Covid-19 News
A Bangkok hospital offers free drive-through Covid-19 tests for taxi drivers
Few industries see more contact with potentially infected people than transportation services. That is why a new drive through testing system has been developed in the nation’s capital. Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi on Bangna-Trat Road has launched free drive-through Covid-19 tests for taxi drivers who live or work in Bang Na, Bang Kaew, Bang Phli, Suvarnabhumi Airport or Samut Prakan province,…
- Covid-19 News
Curfew violations on the rise
Despite the Emergency Decree of a nationwide curfew enforced by police checkpoints, armed soldiers, hefty fines and threats of jail time, people are still found to be violating the orders by going out. This from Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. “Not only are people ignoring the curfew, but the numbers of those caught violating…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Tuesday, April 7
New coronavirus cases in Thailand fall to 38, 1 more death In another dramatic drop in new case numbers, Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported only 38 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, and one additional death. The cumulative death toll for Thailand now stands at 27. The 38 new infections appears to show a declining…
- Covid-19 News
Covid Cat Craze Challenge aka. Flying Pussy Competition
What do we get when we add panic buying of toilet rolls, worldwide sports on hiatus, and lots of free time during the Covid-19 global pandemic quarantine measures? Cat videos of course! Not just cats, but cats v Toilet rolls. Cats jumping increasingly stacked toilet paper has gone viral, and no, not the kind that will make you ill for…
- Covid-19 News
Proper use and disposal of sanitary masks
With new regulations in Phuket for the compulsory use of sanitary face masks, it is important to know how to properly use and dispose of sanitary masks. The World Health Organisation has created some instructional videos and provided recommendations to keep the mask the most effective possible while at the same time ensuring it’s proper maintenance and disposal. While the…
- Covid-19 News
Foreigners in Thailand worried about their security
Ever had the feeling you’re not wanted at the moment? As the highly infectious Covid-19 disease spreads through Bangkok’s streets, Thai PBS World reports the city’s expatriate community has multiple reasons to be nervous. The trouble began in early last month when Thailand’s mercurial Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul blasted “all farang” (a derogatory term for white-westerner), for not wearing…
- Covid-19 News
How to make a CDC-recommended face mask (without a sewing machine) – VIDEO
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US announced they were recommending citizens wear masks in public as a way to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. “We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals who are ‘coronavirus asymptomatic’ (not showing symptoms), and that even those who eventually develop symptoms, can transmit the virus to others.…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Aviation authority extends arrival ban another 12 days
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, having earlier saying they would lift the ban on incoming flights tonight, has now decided to further extend the ban on passenger flights to the Kingdom until the end of Saturday, April 18. CAAT had initially prohibited all aircraft from entering Thailand for three days, which would have ended at midnight tonight but it…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Ban on arriving flights lifts at midnight tonight
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand’s three day flight arrival ban will end at midnight tonight. The ban on all aircraft from entering Thailand for three days came into effect when some 152 returning Thai nationals landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday evening and refused quarantine orders, saying they had not been informed of the requirement and demanding to return…
- Covid-19 News
Chiang Mai vigilantes set up roadblocks and checkpoints
A subdistrict of the northern Chiang Mai province is taking matters into its own hands by locking down residents and setting up checkpoints to screen people entering the area in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus. The village headman in Khilek in Mae Taeng district Anan Siriphakphokhin says residents are worried about the worsening outbreak. “In Khilek subdistrict alone, about…
- Covid-19 News
Quarantined woman escapes back to Ubon Ratchathani
An Ubon Ratchathani woman, who defied quarantine orders in Bangkok and travelled back home, has tested positive for Covid-19. The Ubon Ratchathani Centre for Covid-19 Situation reports that a 30 year old woman from Khemarat district who left her apartment in Bangkok’s Soi Pattanakarn 43, tested positive for Covid-19 after she entered the province to return home to Thailand’s Isaan…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket: Patong on official lockdown from today
Phuket’s Governor Pakkapong Thaweepat has issued a closure order for Patong with all non-essential travel in or out of the popular tourist town banned in an attempt to slow a potential large scale outbreak of Covid-19 in Phuket. In recent weeks the daily reports of new cases in Phuket were mostly focussed on cases in Patong, especially around the Bangla…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: PM vows to track down the errant passengers. Chaos at Suvarnabhumi – VIDEO
UPDATE: PM orders yesterday’s BKK arrivals to report to state quarantine facilities, or be arrested. The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has told 152 Thais who landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday afternoon, and refused to enter the state-organised quarantine, to report themselves before 6pm tonight (Saturday) so they can start their 14 day supervised quarantine, or else. A total of…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation: State of Emergency affecting homeless dogs and cats
During these troubled times, Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket has changed a few policies. Community Relations Manager Sakdapol Thongjan issued a special notice saying… in light of the escalation in Covid-19 cases worldwide, and to support the community efforts to stem the spread within Thailand, with immediate effect Soi Dog Foundation has decided to close the sanctuary to visitors and volunteers…
- Covid-19 News
Is a 24 hour national curfew next?
The Thai government may impose a 24-hour curfew if the rate of new Covid-19 infections does not slow to a manageable level after this current national trial curfew of 10pm to 4 am and 8pm to 3am in Phuket now in effect. The national curfew was announced yesterday by Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and came into affect from today. There…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 UPDATE: US records nearly 10,000 new cases, Thailand total 827 cases
Today the world’s numbers of cases surge past 400,000. Two days ago the numbers were 50,000 less. The current hotspots are the US and Europe where the pandemic is still spreading swiftly. The US had the largest batch of new cases in the past 24 hours, adding nearly 10,000 new cases to its 53,609 total – 9,875 cases in the…
- Covid-19 News
The Thaiger, punching on in tough times
The Thaiger is a small, dedicated team who have been working overtime to keep up the flow of accurate (as best we can) information over the past two and a half months as the coronavirus story has evolved. But we’re a small business, like many others, and have a lot of pressures on us to keep punching on whilst so…
