“We have discovered that there are many fake news about the new coronavirus and are working with Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) to investigate and arrest the offenders,” he said.

“So far the TCSD has identified 15 sources of fake news via social and online media,” said Buddhipongse. “After investigation we found that six of those sources have violated the section 14 (2) of Computer-related Crime Act B.E. 2560: Uploading falsified information into a computer system which may affect the national security, public safety or may cause public panic.”

The DES Minister added that two of six offenders had been arrested and charged. “As for the other four, investigators found no intention to cause harm on their parts and were let go with a warning after signing a police report,” he added.

“Tracking down these offenders are challenging and often take some times, as most of the fake news spreaders use fake names when registering to a website. Some even register from a proxy location abroad,” Buddhipongse added.

Director general Chirute Visalachitra said on Thursday (January 30) that taxi drivers and bus drivers and conductors are at risk of infection due to their regular close proximity to tourists from China, where a virus outbreak is occurring.

“They must be more careful about sanitation, wear facemasks and use handwash gel,” he said.

Chirute asked that they pay attention to their Chinese passengers’ physical condition and inform health officials or call the public health hotline if someone is seen coughing badly, wheezing or with a runny nose.

Chirute said he had ordered all bus lines to scrub their terminals daily and collaborate with the authorities in watching for signs of coronavirus.

“I’ve also ordered provincial transport offices and their branches to clean and sterilise their facilities more frequently, especially at public touch points like elevator buttons, handrails and doors,” he said.

It was one of 68 giraffes newly imported from Africa to be displayed in Thai zoos.

These two animals were being transported on Tuesday when they leapt from the truck, briefly causing a traffic jam. One was soon recaptured.

The body of the other was extracted from the pond and sent for autopsy.

Officials had already expressed concern that the escaped giraffe might fall into a deep ditch and be unable to climb out.

The Aranyaprathet Customs House in Sa Kaeo province handed over clothing, bags, shoes and blankets deemed in violation of intellectual property laws to Thai Asia 14001 Co Ltd.

There were 58,839 items worth a combined Bt14 million among the 142 shipments seized at the eastern border.

Sasirin posted photos of the accident scene on Mae Rim-Samerng Road leading to Mount Mon Jaem in Mae Rim district.

She said the Korean national team is training in Thailand from January 18-February 25, and cited unnamed witnesses as saying one of the team’s members – an Asian youth cycling league champion – had been struck down by a pickup truck at about 10am on Wednesday and died at the scene soon after.

Sasirin asked anyone who happened to be passing the scene at that time in a vehicle with a dashboard camera to contact her via Line ID ‘thunderxxx’ so she could try and determine how the accident happened.

Speaking during verbal interpellation by opposition MPs about the coronavirus crisis, Satit said the government had formed an ad hoc centre since January 3.

The deputy minister confirmed that the total number of infected people in Thailand was now 14 — 13 Chinese and one Thai who had returned from Wuhan. Three of the Chinese patients are still recovering in Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute while the others have returned home. He assured that all hospitals are ready to deal with suspected cases if the number did not exceed 10,000. The latest case is that of a Chinese person who had travelled from Myanmar but no trace of the virus has been found so far.

“We will be able to control the situation in Thailand. Recently, we contacted Chinese authorities to help us evacuate all Thais in Wuhan. They said they would allow that on February 4. However, we have to wait for official confirmation,” said Satit.

Future Forward Party MP Wayo Assawarungruang asked about the coronavirus situation and urged the government to deal with the problems. He claimed that the 14th patient was a Thai taxi driver who had got the virus from a Chinese passenger. However, the Public Health Ministry announced that all the recent cases were Chinese. He also added that the death rate is 2-3 per cent with the youngest victim around 36 years old.

Satit said the 14th patient is currently under observation for symptoms. He said the monitoring of information by many parties had led to delays. He said detecting an infected person generally takes 5-6 hours for confirmation. However, because of the technology in the labs, the confirmation process using two labs takes 3 hours, less than the original 5 hours. He added that he was confident that if all parties cooperated, Thailand would survive the epidemic.

“There is a lot of fake news on social networks such as ‘‘skin contact will lead to virus infection’. I asked an expert and they confirmed that it’s not true unless there is a wound on the skin; another rumour doing the rounds is that all infected patients will die. Facts show that the symptoms of the disease are not severe enough to cause death. The majority of deaths are of elderly people, patients who have had chronic illnesses, lung diseases and respiratory diseases,” Satit explained.

This is despite a decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to maintain the interest rate at 1.75 per cent and the European parliament’s approval of a Brexit arrangement.

But the coronavirus outbreak – which has resulted in 170 deaths and 7,736 infections, more than SARS in 2002-2003 – remains a “worrying situation” that makes investments risky, Krungsri said.

The safe-haven assets are US bonds, gold and foreign fund flow with a net shell for consecutive five days and around Bt8 billion in value, it said.

There are also jitters over news that the Constitutional Court is to consider whether the budget bill for fiscal 2020 is invalid due to an alleged voting irregularity, which could further delay budget disbursements.

The SET Index on Wednesday closed at 1,525 points, rebounding by 11.30 point or 0.75 per cent, and the trading value was Bt64 billion.

Net foreign investment was Bt2.758 billion.

A plane to evacuate Thais in Wuhan is now ready but the government is still awaiting permission from China, he added.

“I will travel by plane to Wuhan since I have been appointed by the Cabinet to take care of this matter,” Anutin said. “We will leave no one behind.”

Until now, 9,239 people around the world have been infected with coronavirus and 170 have died. Thailand is the country with the second most number of infected patients, totalling 14.

The 10th-standard student, Chanchira Henthongdee, was visited later on Wednesday (January 29) by the principal of Prathandongrungwittayakarn School, accompanied by the school’s teachers.

The student’s parents explained that a sugarcane plantation was set fire to on Tuesday (January 28) and the fire spread and destroyed their house as well as the neighbouring house of the student’s grandmother.

Presently, the student and her parents are living temporarily in a relative’s house.

Wing Commander Suthirawat Suwanawat, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, referred to a recent photo that was widely shared online, showing an unconscious Chinese man who had dropped to the ground from his chair at the airport. The man, according to social media posts, is believed to have died of infection by the new coronavirus and that was the reason ground officers were not allowing people to take a photo of the incident.

Suthirawat explained that the incident had occurred on January 27. The airport officer who responded to the incident took the unconscious Chinese man to hospital where they found high alcohol levels in his blood. Other officers had stopped people from taking photos of the man because of the airport’s regulations.

Meanwhile, in another case in Chiang Mai, a female Chinese tourist was found dead in her hotel room (January 29). Initially, it was reported that her death was not linked to the coronavirus.

Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, Inspector General Region 1 of the Public Health Ministry, said a special medical crew was sent to take custody of her body. The 32-year-old woman had come from Guangdong province of China. She had taken a direct flight to Chiang Mai with her friends. The four witnesses [her friends] said that she had not shown any signs of sickness but revealed that she had been drinking since the previous evening. All her friends were examined and they tested negative for the new coronavirus. The body of the deceased woman will go through autopsy while the four people who were close to her will be closely monitored until the real cause of the death is found.