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Tourism program adds a plus
This weekend, the Phuket government announced a program whereby businesses can now flout their relative vaccinated status to customers with a certificate with a literal plus. The Amazing Thailand SHA Plus certification is reached via an online registration from the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration aka SHA. The government has urged all businesses and venues that are 70% inoculated…
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Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQ community in Thailand
In the United States, June is Pride Month – a month to celebrate the LGBTQ community, in memory of the Stonewall riots in June of 1969. It is a month to recognize the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer population in the US. While Pride Month isn’t officially international, some acknowledgement and celebration have been seen in Thailand. In Bangkok,…
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500,000 Sinovac doses reach Thailand
Yesterday, China’s embassy in Thailand announced that the second shipment of 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines given by the Chinese government got to Thailand. This second shipment brings the total donations of Sinovac from China to 6.5 million doses. Globally, China and Thailand have the most doses of Sinovac. Earlier this week, The Thaiger reported that 11 million doses…
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TAT proposes eased restrictions and 10 year visa to key groups
Key word – PROPOSAL. Perhaps tired of piecemeal baby steps to attract tourists while missing the bigger picture, The Tourism Authority of Thailand proposed a sweeping plan to give 4 target groups easy access to live, work and prosper in Thailand for a decade at a time. The radical proposal was presented to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha in a video conference…
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Man almost drowns looking for shells, suffers serious injuries
Yesterday afternoon, a man required medical attention after nearly drowning and suffering serious injuries after his search for shells went awry. He had been looking for shells near the Bali Hai Pier in Pattaya, a city on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The (name withheld) 60 year old man, was found lying unconscious on the beach when…
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Phuket Sandbox to be approved by Cabinet on Monday
It’s official, sort of. After months of kicking sand around, debating if it will really happen, the Centre for Economic Situation Administration officially approved the Phuket Sandbox plan, an important step forward. The announcement, made on Friday afternoon, appears to answer the often-posed question if the sandbox plan would ever happen as the much more intense and deadly third wave…
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UPDATE: Billionaire couple found dead at bottom of Koh Tao resort pool
The owner of a 5 star hotel in Phuket and his wife were found dead at the bottom of their hotel swimming pool on the island of Koh Tao on Friday afternoon. Police received the initial report at 4.45pm on Friday. The island off the Surat Thani province coast has gained notoriety after a string of suspicious and sensationalised deaths…
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Covid UPDATE Sunday: 2,671 new infections and 23 deaths
There has been another 2,671 new infections of Covid-19 detected across Thailand in the past 24 hours. There’s also been 23 deaths. 604 cases were detected in Thai prisons. Thailand has now registered a total of 148,604 cases, the vast majority since the start of April in what’s being called the third wave, which emerged from the bars, nightclubs and…
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Burmese coup leader says in interview he’s surprised by backlash
In an interview with a Hong Kong TV channel recently aired on Burmese television, Burmese coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said that he was struggling to control Myanmar after a surprise backlash. The interview by the Chinese language Phoenix Television was just aired Thursday in Myanmar. In the interview, the military leader said he did not anticipate such widespread and…
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Loei postponing appointments due to shortage of vaccines
With a lot of good news on Covid-19 vaccines being received from China and being mass-produced in Thailand, things are starting to look up for Thailand’s alarmingly slow national vaccination efforts. But the province of Loei announced yesterday that they would be postponing appointments for vaccines due to a shortage of jabs available to them. The governor of Loei took…
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Compensation for side effects or death from Covid-19 vaccine
Though serious side effects and death from vaccination are exceedingly rare, the Thai National Health Security Office will provide compensation for those negatively affected by a Covid-19 vaccine. The plan calls for 100,000 baht compensation for anyone with an adverse vaccine reaction that prevents them from working for a while, up to 240,000 baht for disabilities resulting from vaccination, including…
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TAT and Tourism Ministry push for domestic tourism in Phuket
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is partnering with the Tourism and Sports Ministry to build confidence and boost domestic travel to Phuket as it reopens to international tourism next month. They hope to give Phuket a much-needed boom by attracting local travellers as well as fully vaccinated international passengers. Aiming to get domestic travel up and running in August, the…
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Cancellation of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix for 2021
Race promoter Singapore GP have announced the cancellation of the 2021 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix due to “ongoing safety and logistic concerns” brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Colin Syn, Deputy Chairman of Singapore GP says the local GP has attracted fans from over 100 countries. “We understand that our fans were looking forward to another edition…
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Covid-19 sees a rise in dangerous scams in India
While Covid-19 was wreaking havoc across India, some devious scammers saw the desperation of a pandemic crisis as an opportunity. India has frequently been known to be a hotbed for ripoffs and scams, and the Coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the situation. In December an Indian call centre made US $14 million by cheating 4,500 Americans whom they tricked into…
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BTS make musical history with a slice of ‘Butter’
Four #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 12 months! South Korean band BTS have made history again with ‘Butter’, topping Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart this week… the 4th #1 hit from the 7-member BTS on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart in 1 year, following ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Life Goes On’, and their collaboration on the ‘Savage…
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Foreign workers get jabs in 2-day Phuket mass vaccination drive
In 2 days, yesterday and today, Phuket has set out to vaccinate 22,613 migrant workers and 5,758 foreign workers who are legal with a work permit. Vachira Phuket Hospital has teamed up with Angsana Laguna Phuket resort in the north of Phuket and Central shopping centre in the middle of the island for the foreign worker mass vaccination drive. The…
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Si Racha ice factory closed due to Covid
An ice factory in Si Racha, a district to the north of Pattaya and south of Samut Prakan, has been ordered to close for the time being as there have been multiple confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections stemming from their business. As ordered by the Chon Buri Governor today. Chon Buri Governor, Phakarathorn Teanchai, gave this notice via the Chonburi…
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Man arrested for allegedly smuggling durian into Thailand
Last night, a man was arrested and charged with smuggling durian into Thailand from Myanmar. 25 year old Pairat Wattanom, a Thai Man from the Thai Province Ranong, which is part of the isthmus that has the Andaman Sea on one side and the Gulf of Thailand on the other, has been arrested and waits for the judicial system to…
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Police arrest suspect who allegedly sold assault rifles stolen from military base
Officers in Thailand’s Deep South have arrested a man for allegedly selling assault rifles that were stolen from a military base in Narathiwat, a province by the Malaysian border with ongoing violence from the religious separatist insurgency. 6 out of the 26 AK102 assault rifles stolen from the the 4th Army Area base have been found. Earlier reports said 28 assault…
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Siam Bioscience delivers 1.8 million local AstraZeneca vaccines
Well, it’s a start. Good news today for Thailand’s snail-paced rollercoaster of vaccine rollout as the Ministry of Public Health has taken possession of the first 1.8 million AstraZeneca vaccines produced domestically. The vaccines were manufactured in the Bangkok by Siam Bioscience and are slated to be an integral part of Thailand’s mass vaccination scheme officially launching next Monday. Siam…
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Covid UPDATE Friday: 2,631 new cases and 31 deaths, provincial totals
2,631 new Covid-19 cases and 31 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, the latest wave of infections in Thailand, the CCSA has recorded 143,116 Covid-19 infections and 1,083 deaths. In total, there have been 171,979 Covid infections and 1,177 Covid-related deaths reported in Thailand since the pandemic started last year. Of the…
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Scrutiny over public and media idolising of suspect Uncle Phol
Following the arrest of Chaiphol Wipha, known as Uncle Phol to murdered 3 year old ‘Nong Champoo’, his elevation in the media to celebrity status is receiving criticism. He’s been a prime suspect in the murder for over a year, but a warrant was issued June 1, he surrendered yesterday, and is now in police custody. At first, the media…
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India places order for 300 million doses of unapproved vaccine
India signed an order yesterday for 300 million doses of an unnamed Indian vaccine that will cost US $205-206 million. The currently untitled vaccine comes from the Indian firm Biological E, which is in Phase 3 trials. The vaccine has shown “promising results” in the first two phases, says the government. From the government: The arrangement with Biological-E is part…
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US President Biden pledges vaccines donation, 25 million to start
The UN-backed COVAX program, to help supply vaccines around the world, got a boost today as US President Biden vowed that America will donate 25 million vaccines to start. The donation would make up nearly 25% of all vaccines procured through the COVAX program to date. The UN effort seeks to bulk up vaccine supplies in Asia, Africa, and South…
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Pro-PM Prayut public relations campaign draws criticism
In what critics believe to be an ill-conceived plan, the Prime Minister Operations Centre has launched a campaign to tell people to lay off the criticism of Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. In a charm offensive to encourage Thais to think “the PM is cool, so just chill out”, critics say the PR campaign has across as “aggressive and pompous”. The…
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Train accident kills 9 in China
Early this morning, 9 people were confirmed dead from a railway accident in China’s Gansu Province, a northcentral province south of Mongolia. Reportedly, the train rammed workers. The train was coming from Urumqi and was head to Hangzhou, when it crashed into railway workers around 5:25 in the morning in Jinchang city. Emergency responders were sent to the scene to…
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Chulabhorn Royal Academy receives no vaccines from government, postpones first doses
Bangkok’s Chulabhorn Royal Academy says it has to postpone its planned administration of first doses as the Thai government has not allocated it any supplies of the AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccines. The academy, which is sponsored by Princess Chulabhorn, sister of His Majesty, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, says the administration of first doses will be stopped from June 14. However, those…
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Car accident leaves woman in critical condition
Early this morning, a woman crashed her car into a trailer truck in Bang Lamung, a district in the Chon Buri province. She is currently in critical condition. At 1:30 am Bang Lamung police were alerted to the accident that happened in a U-turn on Sukhumvit Road. When emergency responders got to the scene they found a damaged sedan in…
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Former army adviser convicted of human trafficking dies in prison
A former army adviser, convicted of trafficking Rohingya migrants to camps in Southern Thailand, died in a prison hospital this week. 65 year old Manas Kongpan had a heart attack while he was exercising at the Medical Correctional Hospital where he had been admitted to treat hypertension, high cholesterol and bradycardia. The former army adviser was one of more than 100…
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Epidemiologist says “zero Covid” countries risk isolation unless vaccination is ramped up
A leading infectious diseases specialist in Australia says countries using tight border control measures to maintain their “zero Covid” status risk being left in limbo unless vaccination is accelerated. According to a Bloomberg report, Greg Dore from the University of New South Wales in Sydney says border restrictions that have kept Covid-19 deaths below 1,000 in Australia are not sustainable.…
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