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Covid-19 cases dent Chiang Mai’s tourism recovery (nationthailand.com)

Covid-19 cases dent Chiang Mai’s tourism recovery

NationalDec 05. 2020

By The Nation

Chiang Mai’s hotel occupancy rate has dropped suddenly due to uncertainty over new Covid-19 cases in the northern region, an industry official said.

Recently, 10 Thai women working in Myanmar’s Tachilek district sneaked into the country and put hundreds of people at risk in several provinces.

La-iad Bungsrithong, president of Thai Hotels Association of Northern Upper region, said 1,700 room night bookings at hotels in Chiang Mai had been cancelled, while tourists who were travelling as a group, such as local administrative organisations, had cancelled their reservations the most.

Meanwhile, she is worried that more tourists would delay their reservations during the long holiday that the government had announced earlier to stimulate domestic tourism, due to negative news of Covid-19 cases.

“To gain confidence among tourists, the Chiang Mai governor has assured that the provincial authorities will not impose lockdown measures. He also said that Covid-19 tests on people who had been in contact with patients had yielded 99.99 per cent negative results,” she said.

She added that the governor had held an urgent meeting with hotel operators and travel associations on December 1 to create awareness on implementing measures to contain the spread of the disease, while instructing government agencies to inspect venues which contained risks of infection.

“The association believes that the governor’s move would help boost tourists’ morale because there are many tourism events during this time,” she said.

She expected Chiang Mai’s hotel occupancy rate in December to increase, as the occupancy rate in the previous month was 60-70 per cent.

“The negative news of Covid-19 cases in the region, however, has caused an impact on tourism during this high season,” she added.

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Two local patients among 19 new Covid-19 cases (nationthailand.com)

Two local patients among 19 new Covid-19 cases

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Saturday reported 19 new cases over a 24-hour period.

The  new patients included two domestic cases, 13 in  state quarantine and four who had not been quarantined in the designated places.

The domestic cases were a Thai woman, 30, in Sing Buri province and a man, 50, in Chiang Rai province.

The two patients had been in contact with infected patients.

In the case of the woman, Dr Sophon Iamsirithaworn, director-general of the communicable diseases department, said on Friday that she had taken the same Nok Air DD8717 flight to Don Mueang as a 25-year-old woman, who had secretly crossed over. The 25-year-old had then taken another flight to  Phichit province.

The other patients in  quarantine consisted of nine Thai women and four foreigners.

One Thai aged 19 had returned from the UK, one aged 26 came  from the Netherlands, a  24-year-old returned from Malaysia, three patients aged 19, 59 and 66, had returned from the US, one person, aged 47, came from Mexico, and two persons, aged 22 and 24, were from Myanmar.

The foreign patients were two Indian women, aged 22 and 27, from Sweden and India respectively; and two men – a Swiss, 66, and Dutch, 56 — from Switzerland.

In addition, there were four people who were infected with Covid-19 but were not  quarantined in the provided places. These persons were one Myanmar man, aged 43, and three Thai nationals – two women aged 25 and a man, 32.

The Myanmar man had come to Thailand for a health checkup in Tak province’s Mae Sot district. The other three Thais allegedly crossed the border illegally via a natural channel.

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Live grenades discovered in wildlife sanctuary (nationthailand.com)

Live grenades discovered in wildlife sanctuary

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

Ten grenades were found in Huai Sala Wildlife Sanctuary in Si Sa Ket province when a local visited the forest area for collecting mushrooms and other natural products.

On Friday, the local, Supin Thammaporn, 58, informed what he had seen in the sanctuary to the chief of Phu Sing district, where the sanctuary is located.

The chief then contacted other officials, as well as volunteers, to check the suspected objects.

The officials found 10 live grenades. They cordoned off the area and put signs up to warn the locals.

The Army was contacted to dispose the bombs of.

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Man flees after allegedly shooting ex-wife and her father (nationthailand.com)

Man flees after allegedly shooting ex-wife and her father

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

A 40-year-old man shot his ex-wife and her father in Phitsanulok province, after reportedly failing to reconcile with the woman.On Friday, Noen Maprang Police Station was informed at around 6pm that two persons had been shot at Ban Sam Rang flea market in Noen Maprang district.Locals tried to revive the victims with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.Duangchan Klinkratok, 36, was shot on her right rib and the back of her head. Her father, Prachub KlinKratok, 60, was shot on his arm and left collarbone. They were admitted to Noen Maprang Hospital.The shooter was identified by witnesses as Suriyan Rodbanyang, 40, Duangchan’s ex-husband. He reportedly escaped the scene on his motorcycle after committing the alleged crime.Suttha Klinkratok, a relative of the injured persons, told police that Duangchan owned a food stall in this market, and her father was in charge of bringing the food to his daughter.Late in the afternoon, Suriyan rode his motorcycle to Duangchan’s stall and had a conversation with her. After that, he shot Duangchan and when the father tried to protect her, he was injured too.Police added that Suriyan had been released from prison two years ago, and they believed that he wanted to reconcile with Duangchan. However, Duangchan refused to reconcile, so he shot her in anger.

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BAAC rolls out measures to help flood-hit farmers in the South (nationthailand.com)

BAAC rolls out measures to help flood-hit farmers in the South

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has come up with a series of measures to help farmers affected by flooding in the South.

Surachai Rassamee, acting manager of BAAC, said the bank is concerned about people in the southern region, especially farmers whose crops were damaged by flash floods and water run-offs due to the northeast monsoon that was prevailing over the South earlier this week.

“Initially, the BAAC donated 8,518 survival kits to villagers in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Songkhla provinces, and also worked with district administration offices in providing food, water, portable toilets and sleeping bags to people displaced by the flood,” he said.

“For existing customers affected by the flood, the BAAC will offer debt moratorium, depending on the extent of damage to their homes or agricultural produce,” he added. “Furthermore, they can apply for emergency loan of a maximum of Bt50,000 with no interest for the first six months.”

The BAAC also has earmarked Bt5 billion as loans for customers who need to fix their homes or farming facilities and equipment damaged by the flood.

“The maximum loan allowed for each customer under this programme is Bt500,000 with interest at minimum retail rate (MRR) minus two, under an up to 15 years repayment plan,” added Surachai.

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Man, 27, shot dead at Bangkok noodle shop (nationthailand.com)

Man, 27, shot dead at Bangkok noodle shop

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

A 27-year-old man was shot dead at a noodle shop in Bangkoi Yai district in front of his wife and baby.

At 9pm of Friday, Tha Phra Police Station were alerted of a shooting at a noodle shop on Jaran Sanitwong Road, Wat Tha Phra subdistrict, Bangkok Yai district.

At the scene they found the body of Athit (last name withheld) with four gunshot wounds on his chest.

The shop owner, Jaran, 59, who is the mother-in-law of the deceased, reportedly said that Athit, who was working as an engineer at a construction company, was helping in the shop with her husband, her daughter, and their one-month-old child, when a motorcycle with two riders parked in front of the shop.

“A small-built man around 160 centimetres tall, who was riding pillion, entered the shop and shot Athit multiple times before getting on the motorcycle and riding towards the Tha Phra intersection,” she said.

Police are gathering evidence and reviewing CCTV footage along the route where the suspects escaped.

“This looks like a planned assassination, as the gunman pinpointed the victim with no collateral damage,” said Pol Colonel Preecha Phengphao, Tha Phra police chief. “We are also looking into the victim’s background to see if he has any enemies or conflict that could have motivated the attack.”

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South gets some respite from rains while upper Thailand gets cooler (nationthailand.com)

South gets some respite from rains while upper Thailand gets cooler

NationalDec 05. 2020

By THE NATION

A weak northeast monsoon prevails over the Gulf and the South bringing less rain to the areas, the Thailand Meteorological Department forecast on Saturday.

Waves in the Gulf are about two metres high and over two metres high during thundershowers. All ships should proceed with caution and keep off thundershowers, the department said.

Meanwhile, the strong high-pressure system from China covers upper Thailand, resulting in cool to cold weather with strong winds and 2-4 degeees Celsius drop in temperature. Mountaintops are cold to very cold with frost in some areas, the department said.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:

North: Cool to cold weather; minimum temperature 14-18 degrees Celsius, maximum 28-32°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 4-13°C with frost in some areas.

Northeast: Cool to cold weather with strong winds; minimum temperature 12-16°C, maximum 26-29°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 7-14°C.

Central: Cool weather with strong winds; minimum temperature 18-20°C, maximum 29-32°C.

East: Cool weather with strong winds; minimum temperature 17-21°C, maximum 30-32°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres off shore.

South (east coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 22-23°C, maximum 29-32°C; waves two metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.

South (west coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 20 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 22-25°C, maximum 31-33°C; waves a metre high and two metres during thundershowers.

Bangkok and surrounding areas: Cool weather with strong winds; minimum temperature 20-21 degrees, maximum 30-33°C.

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Inequality in education is a more serious problem for Thai students (nationthailand.com)

Inequality in education is a more serious problem for Thai students

NationalDec 05. 2020

By By Bangkokbiznews Team

On Tuesday, several students assembled before the Education Ministry in Bangkok, demanding that the strict school-uniform code be lifted as well as other reforms be introduced in the country’s education sector.

On Tuesday, several students assembled before the Education Ministry in Bangkok, demanding that the strict school-uniform code be lifted as well as other reforms be introduced in the country’s education sector.

Though students mentioned several problems that day and earlier, the one major problem they left out was the serious inequality faced by children.

In Thailand, almost 100 per cent of children have completed their elementary education, but only 65 per cent have completed high school, a 2019 report compiled by the National Statistical Office in cooperation with Unicef shows.

The report says that up to 160,000 youngsters across the nation cannot be educated because they live in very remote areas, while up to 30,000 juveniles are missing out on education because they are behind bars for drug charges.

In addition, some children in Thailand suffer other problems like poverty, pregnancy or disability, which hinders their education.

The report also showed that nearly 400,000 children live on the streets or are the offspring of migrant workers. When these children are denied education, they tend to be lured into drug abuse, human trafficking or violence.

Another problem worth mentioning is chronic malnutrition among children in the educational system, especially in remote areas.

A report on the nutritional status of hill tribes in Chiang Rai province, conducted by Chiang Rai College lecturer Sukanya Buasri, showed that though the children were provided with three meals a day, they still suffered malnutrition, particularly the very young.

It is understandable that transporting food to remote areas is difficult, therefore feeding children in these remote areas is expensive and can cost more than the funds allocated for school meals.

Also, the state funding for schools in remote areas was too low to allow for the hiring of contractors who can provide nutritious meals.