Things to look ahead to for the following week in news in Thailand

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The following is a weekly feature from TPN/The Pattaya News that will take place every weekend, giving a look at “the week ahead” in news and things to keep an eye on. Unlike our local and national top story round-ups, this will be focused on all news, both national and local. This also won’t be a top five, as the number of things to be aware of and look forward to could change week to week.

Our goal is to provide our regular readers a short, factual and concise preview of the week ahead and things to look forward to and follow up on news wise.  The articles and points below are not in any particular order.

1.  More information on special tourist visa and likely visa amnesty/grace period extension

There is a press conference scheduled today at noon that will likely give many more details on several topics near and dear to many, the upcoming Special Tourist Visa and perhaps an announcement on amnesty being extended, technically even though the date for amnesty ended Saturday the 26th.  We will be reporting on this conference live today. For now, read on the current information known about the Special Tourist Visa, designed for long-stay tourists intending at least three months in the country.

Thailand’s ‘Special Tourist Visa’ details including fees and additional charges explained

2. Protesters likely to give more information on their next moves after members of Parliament and Senators vote to delay a vote to change the Constitution and instead set up a panel to study any changes

Protesters were not happy last week after members of Parliament and Senators voted to delay any changes to the constitution that protesters have been demanding.  Instead, the Government voted to set up a bipartisan panel that will study any changes. This will delay any voting for at least a month. Protesters have vowed to have even more intensive protests and ramp up pressure, however some experts claim certain splinter groups asking for extreme changes are hurting public support for the protesters and diluting their three core requests: Dissolve Parliament, rewrite the constitution and stop public and private harassment of protesters.

Vote for constitutional amendments in Parliament in Thailand delayed at least one month, protesters upset with decision

3.  Myanmar Covid-19 escalating situation threatens to spiral out of control, Thailand continues to ramp up border protection as fears rise about illegal migrants possibly bringing the virus back to Thailand

Myanmar has been struggling with a fresh new outbreak of Covid-19 in the country after months with no cases officially locally spread. They have taken drastic measures, including essentially locking down the entire largest region in the country, Yangon, which has five million people.  All domestic travel has been suspended and in Yangon nearly every business is closed and over 45,000 people are in “hard quarantine”.  Still, cases continue to rise in a country that does not have a sophisticated health care system and shares a large, wild border with Thailand.  Fears continue to rise that Myanmar citizens trying to flee the harsh lock-downs and loss of employment will try to flee, despite domestic travel suspended, to Thailand for work.

Thailand residents on Myanmar border asked to watch for illegal migrants closely due to Covid-19 concerns

That is all for this week, thank you for reading!

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Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN Media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/