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Tuesday Covid Update: 10,398 new cases; provincial totals
17 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,320 with 622 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 10,398 new Covid-19 cases and 8,922 recoveries. There are now 94,243 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Officers seize monitor lizards, monkeys from farm suspected of exporting to restaurants
A farm owner was arrested for allegedly raising and exporting water monitor lizards and macaque monkeys in the northern province of Phichit. Officers say they suspect the farm was exporting the animals to Cambodia, and then to Vietnam and China to be sold to restaurants, according to the commander of the National Resources and Environmental Crime Division. When officials arrived…
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Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital performs knee joint surgery using robotic-arm technology
Robotic surgeries have been around for a while, but at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, doctors announced that for the first time, they replaced an entire knee joint on an elderly patient using the Stryker’s Mako robotic arm. The robotic-arm assisted surgery was developed for knee replacements. It does a CT scan of the patient, creating a 3D image and helping surgeons…
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Anutin says no to easing restrictions, praises Thailand’s handling of pandemic
Thailand’s Health Minister has ruled out any further easing of Covid-19 restrictions, despite reports yesterday that the CCSA is considering such a move. According to a Nation Thailand report, Anutin Charnvirakul has also praised the country’s handling of the pandemic, including the vaccine rollout. Yesterday, Opas Karnkawinpong from the Department of Disease Control was reported as saying Thailand would need…
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Tourism revenue hits record low across all 77 provinces in Thailand
Tourism revenue has plummeted across each of the 77 provinces, according to data from Thailand’s tourism ministry. The Bangkok Post reports that income from both foreign and local tourism reached an historic low in 2021, dropping by nearly 70%. Meanwhile, the revenue gap between Bangkok and other major provinces remains wide. In 2021, Bangkok posted the highest revenue at 62.7…
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National police chief arrives on Phuket as officers investigate Jimi Sandhu murder
National police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk has arrived on the southern island of Phuket as investigating officers step up the hunt for those behind the murder of an Indian national on Friday night. The man, named by various sources as Jimi Singh Sandhu, was shot dead outside his Rawai villa in the south of the island. According to a Bangkok Post…
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PayPal suspension to affect small businesses, consumers, freelancers
PayPal has confirmed its services in Thailand will be suspended from March 7 as it reviews its agreements in order to comply with Thai regulations. Speaking to the Bangkok Post, a spokesperson said consumers, sole proprietors, and freelancers will be affected by the move for a time. “We have already opened account registration for registered businesses and continue the process…
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Indonesia tightens restrictions as Covid-19 cases rise in the capital
As the spread of the Omicron variant in Indonesia has led to a spike in cases in Jakarta, officials are tightening restrictions in the capital, Bali, Bandung in West Java, and Yogyakarta in Central Java. Reports initially said foreign tourists would be barred from entering Jakarta, but the transport minister released a statement today saying that tourists with the proper…
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Bangkok officials to shut down more than 20 illegal landfills in the capital
The Thai government is launching a project to get rid of illegal landfills in Bangkok. The “SHUT DOWN!” project is led by Bangkok’s Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, also known as Greencrop. So far, two of the more than 20 illegal landfills were raided in the operation. A report in Thai media says the dumps were in Bangkok’s Latkrabang district…
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Hundreds of Thai tourists stuck on mountain while visiting Naga Cave
Hundreds of Thai tourists were stuck on the mountain after visiting the Naga Cave at Phu Langka National Park in Bueng Kan province on Saturday. The cave is known for a giant rock with scale-like marking and a shape that looks like the mystical serpent, Naga. Thai people believe that this is a sacred spot to wish for good luck,…
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Australia calls for the “immediate release” of economist detained in Myanmar
The foreign minister of Australia says officials are using every opportunity to advocate for the release of Australian professor and economist, Sean Turnell, who was detained in Myanmar last year following the February 1, 2021 military coup. Foreign Minister Marise Payne released a statement yesterday calling on the “immediate release” of Turnell, saying his detention “unjust.” Professor Turnell’s detention is unjust,…
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Police arrest man for allegedly stealing 4,900 euros from tourists in Phuket
Police arrested a man who allegedly stole 4,900 euros from a Greek family travelling in Phuket. The family had left nearly their cash in their car, thinking it would be more secure than their hotel room where there was no safe to lock anything away while the maid cleaned. The suspect allegedly told police he spent most of the money…
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Monday Covid Update: 10,470 new cases; provincial totals
12 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,303 with 605 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 10,470 new Covid-19 cases and 8,711 recoveries. There are now 92,784 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Fire breaks out by Phuket viewpoint, 16 Thai and foreign visitors rescued
Around 16 locals and Thais were evacuated from a forest in Phuket after a fire broke out and spread quickly by the Laem Krating viewpoint by the Krating Cape. The flames blocked the exit and authorities had to send a boat to pick the tourists and others up at the bottom of the hill in Phuket’s Rawai district. Phuket authorities…
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China proposes to donate two used submarines to Thai Navy after problems in purchase deal
The Royal Thai Navy is reportedly in talks with China about receiving two decommissioned military submarines. But apparently, the offer is on the table because there was a problem with ordering parts for the submarine currently being assembled by China for Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post. The used submarines would be used for training while Thailand waits for its…
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5 senior police officers demoted for allowing gambling operations
Five police officers were demoted for turning a blind eye to allow gambling venues to operate in their areas of jurisdiction. Those officers were from Khu Kot Police Station in Pathum Thani and Bang Sao Thong Police Station in Samut Prakan, where officers busted two large gambling operations and made dozens of arrests. The officers were demoted due to their…
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Calls for campaign to teach drivers to stop at red lights (yes, really)
The secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand has called for a campaign to educate Thai drivers about the need to stop at red lights and pedestrian crossings. In a post on his Facebook page, Ittaporn Kanacharoen says drivers need to be taught about the rights of pedestrians and the need to give way at zebra crossings and red traffic…
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Fear of back taxes preventing some businesses from participating in government co-payment scheme
Signs are popping up outside restaurants and shops across Thailand, advising customers that they don’t accept payment via the government’s 50/50 stimulus scheme. Thai PBS World reports that a number of businesses are refusing to participate in the Khon La Khrueng (Let’s Go Halves) subsidy scheme, fearful that the government will come along and claim back taxes further down the…
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Malaysia battles Omicron surge, daily new infections expected to hit 15,000
Malaysia’s health minister has warned that daily Covid-19 infections may soon reach 15,000 as a result of the highly-contagious Omicron variant. According to a Bloomberg report, Malaysia’s daily case count topped 10,000 yesterday for the first time in 4 months as Omicron continues its rapid spread across the country. Meanwhile, according to health ministry data, nearly 80% of Malaysia’s population…
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Cash, safes, passports seized from Phuket villa in “gangster” murder investigation
Following the murder of an alleged gangster in Phuket, police have seized a number of items from the Indian man’s rented villa. According to a Bangkok Post report, investigating officers have removed 2 safes, 2 passports, and 700,000 baht in cash from the villa in Rawai, in the south of the island. The 32-year-old victim, named locally as Mandeep Singh,…
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Police in Northeast find almost 2 million meth pills after car flees checkpoint
Police in Khon Kaen, a Northeastern province in Thailand, found almost 2 million meth pills in a car that drove away from them right before they began to search it at a checkpoint. The police eventually caught up with the driver when he jumped out of the minivan and ran into a sugarcane plantation (these drug couriers ALWAYS run off…
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Thai PM wants faster vaccines for kids 5 and older
Thai PM Prayut wants health authorities to move faster to vaccinate kids 5 years old and older, as infection rates have gone up for children in the age group 5-11 years of age. From January 1 to February 2, 2022, there were 10,266 Covid-19 cases for kids in this age group, a 5.6% increase from April to December 2021, government…
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Phang Nga village hit by 2004 tsunami opens museum
One Phang Nga village community that was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami, Baan Nam Khem, has officially opened a museum about the tsunami, known as the Asian Tsunami (which was commemorated again recently). Thailand’s Minister of Culture, who attended the opening, says the museum will educate people about the history of how the tsunami devastated the Baan Nam Khem…
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Australia to finally open to tourists in March
Vaccinated international tourists will finally be allowed to enter Australia again in March. The country’s borders shut exactly two years before that in March 2020. Skilled migrants and international students were only allowed back in December 2021. But now that Covid-19 cases are down in all states except Western Australia, Australia’s home affairs minister says she’s making the opening a…
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Man flies out of speeding car in Phuket, 3 injured
Three people in a speeding car in Phuket were injured early this morning, and one man even flew out of the car when it crashed into a guardrail. The man’s head hit a potted plant on the pavement, and the car kept spinning until it hit a power pole. The man who flew out of the car, a passenger, was…
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VIDEO: Phuket police search for 2 gunmen over shooting death of Jimi “Slice” Sandhu
Police are still investigating the shooting of a former “gangster” who had been deported from Canada 6 years ago. 32 year old Indian Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, was gunned down while getting out of his red SUV around 10pm on Friday night in Rawai, Phuket. He was a former ‘person-of-interest’ for police in British Columbia, Canada, referred to as a “gangster”…
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In Bangkok, almost 90% of cars, motorbikes, public vehicles still don’t stop at zebra crossings
A health organisation and a road safety organisation teamed up to study how many cars, motorbikes, and public vehicles stop for pedestrians at 12 zebra crossings in Bangkok. They found that altogether, 89% wouldn’t stop. For motorcycles, the rate was 92% of 6,449 motorcycles that wouldn’t stop. For cars, the rate was 86% of 7,619. For public vehicles it was…
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Do you legally have to wear masks in Thailand?
With the Covid 19 pandemic came the wearing of masks as the new normal in Thailand, and many other countries around the world. Some people are fine with wearing masks whilst other remain strongly opposed to it, for a variety of reasons. Whether you like it or not it is “strongly encouraged” to wear a mask in Thailand. But do…
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Sunday Covid numbers, sixth day of climbing infections
A new high today, the sixth day in a row where the new infection numbers have been slowly rising again in Thailand. Today’s total of 10,879 new infections is the highest since October 14 last year when the numbers were trending down following the Delta (third) wave was sweeping through Thailand (from July to November 2021). Out of today’s new…
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UPDATE: Gunmen shoot dead a deported Canadian ‘gangster’ in Rawai, Phuket
A former British Columbia “gangster”, who was deported from Canada 6 years ago for “serious criminality”, has been shot to death in Rawai, Phuket. 32 year old Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, was gunned down while getting out of his car around 10pm last night. Sandhu, who the Vancouver Sun report was affiliated with the ‘United Nations’ gang, was the alleged owner…
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