COVID-19

Laos has extended its lockdown COVID-19 prevention measures across the country for a further 15 days as the community spread of COVID-19 in the capital continues. Given the situation in neighboring countries and community spread in Lao capital Vientiane, the lockdown order would be extended until ...

Thailand’s planned reopening of the resort island Phuket next month to vaccinated visitors, bypassing quarantine requirements, has met a lukewarm response, with hotel bookings indicating expected occupancy of less than 20% so far. The “Phuket Sandbox” initiative from July 1 will allow free movement on the ...

Vietnam has justifiably been praised as one of the world’s best performers during the Covid-19 pandemic. By the end of 2020, the country of 96 million people had recorded fewer than 1,400 cases, less than two dozen deaths and was one of the few Asian ...

The ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in Laos has been extended till June 19, according to a notice issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday. The notice outlines a gradual loosening of lockdown measures, with certain strict measures to remain in place. Travel within localities that have not ...

The state-run Electricite Du Lao (EDL) and Vientiane Water Supply State Enterprise have cut power and water tariffs by three and five percent respectively to help people cope with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The reduced tariffs, which will be valid for three months, will ...

Thailand is ramping up efforts to curb trade in wildlife to help reduce the risk of future pandemics, officials said Thursday, though it was unclear whether that would mean an end to all such sales in the wildlife trafficking hub. The government intends to make Thailand ...

For expatriates like me, an unexpected upside to life in Bangkok during the COVID-19 outbreak is that it has become significantly easier to hail a taxi. Before the pandemic, drivers would often ignore me or try to rip me off, thinking I was among the millions of ...

The official coronavirus death toll in the South-East Asian nation of Laos remained at zero until this month. Amid a rapidly spreading outbreak in neighbouring Thailand, the Laotian government sealed its borders and imposed a lockdown on April 22.  Everybody except for essential workers was required to stay home ...

The proportion of so-called digital adopters and digital leaders in Thai businesses is expected to rise in the coming years as more than half of all businesses are gradually embracing digital transformation, according to a virtual business seminar held by the country’s largest mobile operator ...

Thailand’s COVID-19 task force also recorded 25 new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 614 since the pandemic started last year. Excluding the jail clusters, Monday’s new cases of 2,782 are close to a record high of 2,839 recorded late last month. Thailand has administered ...