Even though Thai agriculture has been associated with rice for centuries, the severe drought has forced farmers to grow other crops to pull through the crisis.

Zucchini presents an alternative for farmers. It is a drought-tolerant plant and their seeds can be exported to other countries at Bt800 per kilogram.

A zucchini tree normally produces two squashes with each bearing 200 – 300 seeds.

120 kilogrammes of zucchini seeds can sold for Bt96,000-Bt100,000, compared to Bt3,200 – Bt6,000 for 400 kilograms of rice.

The statement follows recent news that Sawanpracharak Hospital has detained two patients and one suspect, who returned from Wuhan City in Hebei province, China, for monitoring coronavirus symptoms, leading to rumours on social media that those people were infected.

The Office’s director, Dr Direk Khampaen, said the Department of Medical Sciences under the Public Health Ministry found negative diagnosis results after monitoring their symptoms for 14 days, allowing them to return home.

“We would like to warn people to be careful by wearing a face mask, eating cooked food, washing your hands frequently, and avoiding crowds,” he said.

“Besides, people should wear gloves and masks when touching poultry or patients. If anyone shows any signs of coronavirus symptoms, they should see a doctor immediately.”

He added that if the office has any new information on the coronavirus, it will notify the public immediately.

The number of Chinese tourists has reportedly decreased, affected by the coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, China, before spreading to other countries, especially those in Asia.

The deadly virus, which has caused death, has led to a shortage of medical masks in numerous countries.

Meanwhile, a patient coming down with flu has shown symptoms similar to those of the new coronavirus. The case was reported in Nakhon Ratchasima province today (January 27).

A source close to Surachet said he wanted to reward his parents by being ordained. He added that Surachet has acted professionally since he moved to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Earlier, Surachet had exposed details of a “low-quality” biometric identification system sold to the Royal Thai Police.

This reportedly led to his car being shot at outside a massage parlour by someone allegedly affected by the exposure.

He was forbidden by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from giving “false” reports to his supervisors or doing anything in the civil service that might contravene an order from his commander.

“We confiscated 9,033 vehicles from January 1 to 25, and around 7,000 vehicles in late December,” he said.

Previously, the police had ordered 17 operational teams to monitor the emission of black smoke from vehicles at 17 points in Bangkok.

Also, it created 16 teams of officials to support this operation from January 23-25, with the collaboration of the Department of Land Transport.

“About 30-40 per cent of vehicles were prohibited temporarily from use, 60 per cent of them trucks and 40 per cent small vehicles,” he added. “Police confiscated around 130,000 vehicles in 2018, and 140,000 in 2019.”

In addition to the confiscation of vehicles, police distributed medical masks to people as a part of measures to tackle PM2.5. They were given as gifts by Bangkok Metropolitan Police chief Pakkapong Pongpetra during the Chinese New Year festival.

The masks were given to students in 25 schools as well.

Police also are using high pressure water trucks to spray water in the air to reduce the dust particles. The truck operation is performed from 3am to 4am along the routes with high levels of PM2.5.

Furthermore, police have asked constructors of the MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit)’s Blue Line to spray a water curtain or use a sun shade net to prevent the particles from scattering in the air.

“The Royal Thai Police will collaborate with the Marine Department to monitor boats emitting black smoke while travelling on Chao Phraya River,” the deputy chief added.

Phadet Laithong, director of Wildlife Preservation Division Region 2 under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, together with officials from the Department of Livestock Development, inspected the zoo in Chon Buri on Sunday (January 26) after they received complaints that the zoo had put piglets in the same cage as a tiger, stirring public criticism and concern for the piglets’ safety.

After the inspection, the officials found that the zoo had put female tiger Saimai, aged 1 year and 9 months, in the same enclosure as two piglets aged around 2 months. The zoo had put up posters advertising its “tiger-feeding piglets show”. One of the posters claimed that Saimai was raised on pig milk and has been staying with the piglets. Now she lets them drink her milk.

Zoo director Matohe Jeawae said the facility has been running the show for some time now and Samai has never harmed the piglets.

“However, I cancelled the show immediately after receiving complaints and have ordered zoo staff to put the piglets in a cage separate from the tiger to prevent any future problems,” he said.

Balogh Laszlo, 60, was found dead on the first floor in the east area of the airport with no traces of violence or injuries. Police suspect he had been dead for eight hours when they found his body.

Laszlo was under detention for visa overstay. He was earlier supposed to return to his homeland on Friday (January 25) at noon. He had been detained like other violators and there was no sign of any attack on his body.

Police who patrolled the area at night saw him sleeping like the others but in the morning his body had gone cold.

Pol Colonel Nathapol Komintarachart, chief of Suvarnabhumi Police, said the Hungarian embassy had been asked to contact and inform his relatives. The body would be sent to Rama Bangplee Hospital or the Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute in Samut Prakan province for an autopsy to establish the cause of his death.

On Monday (January 27), doctors of Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital in Muang district reported to the Ministry of Public Health and the Nakhon Ratchasima governor that a male patient, aged 34, had been treated for flu at the hospital. He showed symptoms similar to the pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus.

According to the report, the patient is a resident of Jakkarat district and had just travelled back from his workplace in Wuhan city in China on January 22. Three days later, he had a flu and visited the hospital where he was diagnosed with symptoms similar to patients infected with coronavirus. The doctors then put him in quarantine and ordered all medical personnel to wear protective suits when treating the patient. The hospital also closed down the Luang Pho Khun building, which is where the patient is being treated, to the general public.

The hospital said it is awaiting the blood test results to confirm the patient’s status.

The prime minister said that China is still handling the situation while the Thai government has to prepare the list of Thai people in China, an assembly point and departure table before permission is granted.

The Thai embassy in China reported that there were no urgent requests to return to Thailand from those who were in China at this moment.

The premier asked people to be calm and support the officials to do their jobs effectively, as the government has prepared a plane for a month and the Minister of Foreign Affairs is managing all the processes.

Reacting to a question on his reported harsh style in dealing with the media, Prayut said the government does not have enough time to answer all the questions of the press and it was not necessary to publish some details of their work.

Manee Chomyat, a farmer who grows marigold, said on Monday (January 27) that she grew marigold on two rai of land. Growing the flower took only 65 days.

“Marigold uses less water than corn. We only have to protect them from fungal disease,” she said.

“We cut the flowers for sale every three days. Each time we can collect more than 10,000 flowers for sale, which generates an income of Bt5,000 to Bt6,000.”

She added that the important thing is to be attentive all the time to make sure that it will yield the best quality.

“The product price is up to the market demand and the size of the flower at 50 satang per flower,” she added.