Thailand-

The following is our weekly feature in which we take a look at the top developing stories and things to follow over the past week.

As we publish dozens of stories a week, this allows our readers to get a quick glimpse of the most important stories taking place and to monitor and follow for the week ahead, as chosen by our editorial team.

They are in no particular order of importance.

  1. What’s next for pro-democracy protesters after a chaotic Saturday night protest?

A planned protest near the Grand Palace in Bangkok by pro-democracy group ReDem on Saturday, March 20th, 2021 turned into a night of running clashes and street battles between protesters and police. Both sides involved seemed to raise tensions and police openly used tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and batons on protesters in what may have been the biggest crackdown yet. Police stated in a late-night statement that protesters had been warned “dozens” of times regarding that rallies and protests were illegal and not to approach the Grand Palace before the clashes began, sparked by protesters removing containers blocking a road to the Palace and attempting to reach it, which then continued around the area throughout the night including near Khao San road. The question now after a night of chaotic and violent protests is what will happen next…and how soon the protesters will call another protest.

  2. Will we get more clarity on quarantine?

After multiple decisions were made on Friday by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration regarding quarantine measures being shortened from fourteen days (really fifteen) to ten, and eventually to seven, many questions remain. One of the foremost questions is around what countries will be eligible for the reduced quarantine and when exactly it will begin. These questions should be clarified over the next week and have been a major discussion point across online forums and social media groups. Read more about the original decisions below.

RECAP: Thai government finalizes several important issues, namely Songkran festival, Emergency Decree extension, health measures for domestic relaxation, Covid-19 vaccine policies, and state quarantine measures

3. Pattaya water sports festival to take place next weekend

Enjoy water sports in Jomtien Beach? Great news then, as next weekend brings the first of two weekends of exciting water sports at Jomtien Beach. More details are below.

Pattaya to hold multiple marine sports competitions over next two months at Jomtien Beach

4. How will Covid-19 develop over the next week with recent clusters found at more markets in Bangkok and an Immigration Detention Center?

Covid-19 cases have risen slightly in Thailand over the past week, driven by clusters found at a market and Immigration Detention Center. As a result, authorities made the decision last week that Songkran this year will be water and party free and will focus on the strictly traditional and religious aspects of the festival-a decision that isn’t good for tourism and business but based on comments on Pattaya News was well received by many local ex-pats who don’t enjoy the wet and wild festival, in some cases even leaving the country to avoid it before Covid-19. So far, both the market cluster and detention center seem controlled and well-traced but the situation is still developing and will be worth keeping an eye on.

Thai police and Immigration investigating outbreak of Covid-19 in an Immigration Detention Center

That is all for this week, as always thank you for reading TPN Media and The Pattaya News.

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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/