Thailand is often pitted as “one of the great development success stories” and this is for fair reason. Poverty in the country has declined substantially over the last 30 years from 67 percent in 1986 to a mere 7.8 percent in 2017, as measured by the upper-middle income class poverty line of US$5.5 per day.
Just last week, a special online summit was held among Southeast Asia’s leaders to discuss strategies that could be taken at a regional level to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The new coronavirus has infected over two million people and killed more than 150,000 worldwide. Governments have implemented drastic measures to contain the virus such as travel curbs and citywide lockdowns.
Thais are flocking to Bangkok's Chinatown to sell their gold jewellery as the price of the precious metal spikes and the economy tanks due to the coronavirus pandemic.Gold surged to a seven-year high on Tuesday (14 April) to US$1,731.25 an ounce, following global moves led by the US to reinflate economies with trillions of dollars of stimulus measures.That has boosted the price of gold across the world, tempting many to sell their stocks of the precious metal at a time of economic hardsh
Thai temple-goers poured water into the hands of monks Wednesday using a bamboo pole decorated with mangoes and bananas - a novel hack to enforce social distancing while honoring the country's New Year traditions.The three-day holiday - known as Songkran - is renowned for its booze-fueled water fights that take over entire neighbourhoods.This year however the government banned all street celebrations to prevent the spread of coronavirus, making it the quietest in living memory as the hol
Over the years, Thailand has gained a reputation among travellers from many countries for its sex tourism.
Thailand discovered its first COVID-19 case on 13 January, 2020, a 61-year-old woman from the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, China. Nearly a month after that, the Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok announced that they had observed success in treating severe cases of COVID-19 using a combination of drugs that are normally used in the treatment for influenza and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Initial results showed vast improvement in patients 48 hours after receiving the treatment.
On Thursday, Thailand declared a state of emergency and called for a nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO), the country's borders are now closed to foreigners while only businesses deemed essential can remain operational. “Thailand is at a turning point in the outbreak and the situation could get a lot worse,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a televised speech.
Dozens of prisoners broke furniture and torched buildings during a riot in a Thai jail on Sunday sparked by fears of a coronavirus outbreak in the facility. During the violence some convicts escaped from the Buriram prison where more than 2,000 are held, the justice ministry said.
Thailand barred entry into the kingdom late on Wednesday, enacting sweeping emergency powers in a bid to stem the local spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The measures, which stopped short of a full lockdown after days of vacillation by the government, are a hammer blow to the country's vital tourism sector.Tens of thousands of travellers remain in the kingdom, facing uncertainty with airlines in chaos and restrictions on return to their countries. Bangkok, a city of 1
A Buddhist monk scrawls a prayer on an orange face mask beseeching "an end to the suffering" caused by the deadly coronavirus - a finishing touch to the facial covering weaved out of recycled plastic at one Thai temple.The country has one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases in Southeast Asia, and over the weekend infections doubled to 721 in a pandemic that has killed more than 15,000 globally.As borders close and public spaces shut down, a group of innovative monks near Bangk
Southeast Asia is facing the possibility of billions of dollars in losses from the sharp drop in Chinese tourists since the COVID-19 outbreak.According to a report by global audit, tax and advisory network, KPMG International, the risk of a global recession in 2020 is extremely high as nations shutdown economic activity to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.A report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), outlining the economic impact of COVID-19, stated that, “tourism arrivals in many de
Tens of thousands of migrant labourers from Lao and Myanmar flooded bus stations and border crossings in Thailand on Monday (23 March), defying requests to stay put to prevent exporting infections of the deadly coronavirus. Lao and Myanmar, as of 23 March - two of Southeast Asia's least developed countries - both claim they have no cases of COVID-19, which has killed more than 15,000 people globally. The number of confirmed infections in Thailand, which employs millions
