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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Officials meet in Phuket to discuss implementing “area quarantine” from April
A number of officials, including Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn will meet in Phuket today to discuss the implementation of area quarantine on the southern island, possibly as soon as next month. Thai PBS World reports that various hotel representatives and other tourism businesses are expected to attend the meeting. The idea of area quarantine has been proposed for a number…
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Anti-government activists moved to Bangkok’s Thon Buri prison
Officials say 3 protest leaders have been transferred from Bangkok Remand Prison to Thon Buri Prison, in the Bang Bon district of the capital, to avoid overcrowding. Panupong Jadnok (“Mike”), Piyarat Chongthep (“Toto’’) and Jatupat Boonpattararaksa (“Pai Dao Din’’) underwent processing and health checks in the reception area of Thon Buri prison before entering 14-day quarantine. The Bangkok Post reports…
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Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha sprays hand sanitiser at reporters – VIDEO
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha sprayed hand sanitiser at reporters yesterday, avoiding a question about the cabinet reshuffle and walking out of his press conference followed by a mist of alcohol . The prime minister had been asked about a list of candidates for cabinet positions that opened up after 3 ministers were detained on insurrection charges for their involvement in…
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Thai tiger park faces permanent closure amid wildlife smuggling allegations
The threat of permanent closure hangs over a tiger park in the north-eastern province of Mukdahan, due to the alleged illegal smuggling of tiger cubs. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has brought charges against Mukda Tiger Park & Farm, also known as Mukda Suan Sua, and ordered the facility to close for 30 days. The DNP…
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An exotic animal café in Bangkok – Foxes, racoons, kangaroos and more! | VIDEO
Here is an animal café in Bangkok that animal lovers, dogs and cats and a whole lot more, don’t want to miss. There are all the usual naughty and playful animals, our fluffy loyal domestic dog and cat companions, but there’s also raccoons, a Fennec fox, Arctic fox, meerkats, an Australian wallaby, squirrels, dogs, cats, and more. The Little Zoo…
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Thailand to reduce quarantine to 7 days, meeting to confirm next Monday | VIDEO
ASQ, changes for people arriving in Thailand. After 12 months of forcing foreign travellers into a 14 day mandatory stay in a hotel, at their expense, as part of the Alternative State Quarantine program… better know as the ASQ… the Thai government have slightly relented in a revised ASQ. The updated quarantine is a response to immense pressure from the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Woman’s charred remains found near northern Thailand rubber plantation
The charred remains of a 19 year old woman was found near a rubber plantation in Phitsanulok, a province in northern Thailand. Police say the woman’s 18 year old boyfriend, a murder suspect, turned himself in. Jularat Kongkaew was reported missing on February 27. She had left her home the previous afternoon with her boyfriend, a Mathayom 6 student (equivalent…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Drug use suspected as Chon Buri driver flips vehicle, damages 3 other cars
A 35 year old man is in police custody after flipping his car and damaging 3 other vehicles in a major accident in the eastern province of Chon Buri. The Pattaya News reports that the driver, named as Chatchai Thaijiam, was arrested by police and is suspected of driving under the influence of illegal drugs. Emergency workers called to the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Thailand News Today | Thai army trim the Generals, sugar making Thais fat | March 8
71 new Covid cases in Thailand today, the generals are being told they’re going to face pay cuts and a Thai doctors has issued a warning about the link between Thai’s love for sugary sweets and life-threatening diseases… there goes my afternoon donut. And don’t worry, I’m not going to sing my way through the news today, it’s just nice…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Thai doctor warns of link between high sugar consumption and liver cancer
A Thai doctor has issued a stark warning about the link between eating a lot of sugar and the risk of various life-threatening illnesses, including cancer. Wannee Nitiyanan says that high consumption of sugar can trigger a number of non-communicable diseases, such as fatty liver, clogged brain and heart arteries, fatty liver, and liver cancer. She adds that around 70%…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Americans tend to misuse the Buddha image, but a Florida nightclub takes it too far – OPINION
Americans tend to misuse the Buddha image, but a nightclub in Tampa, Florida has taken it too far by placing a giant Buddha statue at its rooftop bar, allowing drunk people to sit and pose for photos, and even jump off on the statue. Businesses play an important role in society, and when they misuse a religious figure or image…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Updates on international travel to Thailand
Thailand to introduce “area quarantine” for international visitors from April From next month, foreign visitors to the Kingdom will be able to experience the delights of “area quarantine”, after the government confirmed the scheme for 5 provinces: Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Surat Thani, which includes the popular tourist islands Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. Some of…
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