Thailand

Public health authorities on Monday raised measures against Covid-19 to level 3, in preparation for a surge in transmissions. Level 3 means medical staff have to undergo screening for the virus. Within the next two months, every province will have at least one hospital capable of testing for Covid-19. The Department of Medical Sciences is also developing a coronavirus test …

When Cambodia’s prime minister greeted passengers on a cruise ship amid a coronavirus scare on Valentine’s Day, embraces were the order of the day. Protective masks were not. Not only did Prime Minister Hun Sen not wear one, assured that the ship was virus-free, his bodyguards ordered people who had donned masks to take them off. The next day, the …

The army has struck a deal with the Finance Ministry’s Treasury Department on the management of its commercial welfare projects and its commercial use of state land to ensure transparency and regulation compliance. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Monday will pave the way for the transfer of state land and commercial businesses to the Finance Ministry and allow most …

More than 300,000 Chevrolet cars in Thailand risk losing maintenance services after the US car maker General Motors (GM) announced a halt in sales of the Chevrolet brand locally by 2020. GM is selling manufacturing facilities in Rayong under a purchase agreement with Chinese car maker Great Wall Motors. Both parties want to close the deal and hand over the …

KUALA LUMPUR –  The High Court has allowed Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s application or an extension of time to allow the defendants to examine the 263 handbags and 40 watches seized, allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds, that were seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan …

A major Thai coffee brand has vowed to pay about 200 farmers who were forced to take out loans while waiting nearly three years for payments due them, leaving them with spiralling debts. Doi Chaang Coffee, which has more than 50 franchises in Southeast Asia, said it would pay about 7 million baht after the Thomson Reuters Foundation revealed the …

The new case, a 60-year-old Chinese woman whose family members earlier contracted the virus, takes the total number of cases in Thailand to 35 since January, Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministry’s permanent secretary told a news conference. The health ministry said on Monday that Thailand had recorded one new case of the coronavirus and was increasing screening of visitors from …

General Motors (GM) announced it will stop selling Chevrolet vehicles in Thailand and sell its Rayong plant by the end of this year. “Low plant utilisation [and low] forecast domestic and export volumes impacted the business case significantly,” Andy Dunstan, GM president for strategic markets, alliances and distributors, said on Monday. GM will continue to support existing Chevrolet customers for ongoing …

Armed robbers who stole hundreds of toilet rolls were being hunted by Hong Kong police on Monday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by coronavirus panic-buying. Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak. Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading …

The US flew home its citizens from a coronavirus-infected cruise ship in Japan Monday, with other nations preparing to follow suit as global concerns grow over the spread of the disease and the death toll at its Chinese epicentre topped 1,700. More than 70,500 have been infected across China by the COVID-19 virus as the world battles to contain the …