An outdoor visual extravaganza is being held daily to commemorate the birthday of much-loved monarch, King Rama IX, in the compound of the Defence Ministry in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district.
The late king’s birthday, December 5, is marked nationwide as Father’s Day.
The shows, held at 6.45pm and 8.30pm, will run until Sunday.
Exhibitions on the achievements of the late king are also being held along Sanam Chai Road and Saranrom Park.
The Government Housing Bank (GH Bank) expects to be hit by Bt4.5 billion in non-performing loans (NPLs) by the end of this year, and believes its profits for 2020 will drop from Bt13 billion to Bt9 billion.
Chatchai Sirilai, the bank’s president, said the last batch of the GH Bank’s moratorium scheme, which ends on January 31, was joined by borrowers owing a total of Bt90 billion.
“In this group, about Bt9 billion is owed either by customers in a fragile group or those who have registered for the longest moratorium period allowed,” he said.
“We estimate that half of these loans, or Bt4.5 billion, will eventually become NPLs.
“Therefore, the bank has set up a reserve fund for the possibility of NPLs, which has resulted in our estimated profit target for 2020 being slashed from Bt13 billion to Bt9 billion,” he added.
“The previous moratorium scheme, which ended in October, however, showed a positive outcome,” Chatchai said. “Of the Bt275 billion debts that joined the programme, 87 per cent of the customers were able to pay back in full, 8.7 per cent could pay back in part, while the rest were unable to pay.”
As for payments being delayed due to the crashing of several banks’ mobile applications and online platforms earlier this week, Chatchai said GH Bank has extended the due date for November by four days or to December 4 to help customers who could not pay on time.
“We will also skip sending the late payment data to the National Credit Bureau, so customers are not be blacklisted for late payment,” he said.
“The GHB ALL mobile application has more than 800,000 registered users, though we previously aimed for 1 million users by yearend. However, due to economic recession we decided to extend the target timeframe to within the first quarter of 2021 instead,” he added.
A man was found lying in a pool of blood near the Boromratchonnee intersection in Bangkok, and it is believed he may have succumbed to injuries from an accident.
On Monday, Bang Phlat Police Station received a call at around 10pm about a man lying unconscious on the footpath, with blood flowing from his nose and mouth.
Paramedics were called from Vajira Hospital nearby, but were unable to save the man, who was later identified as Sunchai Choeisophon, 51. Police found identification documents, bank book and Bt5,000 in cash on his person.
Witnesses said they saw the man kick a Teflon box before falling down.
Initial inspection shows that the cause of death may be an accident, but police are investigating to see if the man had been attacked.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Wednesday reported 18 new cases in quarantine over a 24-hour period.
Most of the new cases are asymptomatic Thais who returned from abroad:
> A Thai woman, 56, travelled back from Turkey and went into alternative state quarantine in Samut Prakan on November 17. She was found positive on November 22.
> A Thai male construction worker, 53, returned from Kuwait on November 17 and entered hotel quarantine in Chon Buri. He tested positive on November 20.
> A Thai woman, 24, returned from Germany on November 19 and went into hotel quarantine in Bangkok. She was found positive on November 30.
> A male Egyptian language teacher, 44, arrived on November 24 and entered hotel quarantine in Samut Prakan. He tested positive on November 29.
> A Thai man, 31, returned from Israel on November 25 and went into hotel quarantine in Bangkok. He was found positive on November 30.
> A Thai man, 24, and a Thai female farmer, 29, flew back from Japan on November 25 and entered hotel quarantine in Chon Buri. Both tested positive on November 29.
> A Thai woman, 32, flew back from Sweden on November 26 and went into hotel quarantine in Bangkok. She was found positive on November 30.
> A Sudanese woman, 57, arrived on November 30 and entered alternative hospital quarantine in Bangkok. She tested positive the same day.
> Five Thais – one man (aged 31) and four women (27, 56, 56, 66) travelled from Switzerland on November 25. All went into state quarantine in Chon Buri and were found positive on November 29.
> A Thai man, 69, returned from the United States on November 29 and entered hotel quarantine in Bangkok. He tested positive the next day (November 30).
> A Thai woman, 43, and a man, 44, returned from Myanmar on November 24 and went into hotel quarantine in Bangkok. They were found positive around November 28-29.
> And a Thai woman, 25, who worked in an entertainment venue in Myanmar and entered Thailand illegally via the natural border. She admitted to entering the country on November 26. She contacted health officers for a test on November 28 and was found positive on November 30. She was taken to hospital in Chiang Rai.
Meanwhile, 11 patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has increased to 4,026 (1061 in state quarantine). Of these, 144 are in hospital and 3,822 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains at 60.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am the number of confirmed global cases has reached 64.19 million (increasing by 576,938 in 24 hours). Of these, 44.43 million have recovered, while 18.27 million are active cases (106,030 in severe condition) and 1.49 million have died (an increase of 11,887).
Thailand ranks a safe 151st for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number, with 14.1 million, followed by India (9.5 million), Brazil (6.39 million), Russia (2.32 million) and France (2.23 million).
Mukdahan residents are demanding to know why two public parks in the Si Boon Ruang sub-district have been allowed to turn into overgrown jungles.
Some have also asked if these parks were built just as an excuse to get government funds.
An official from the provincial Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning said these parks were part of five projects that were started in 2016 and completed two years later.
The parks were ruined after the flood, the official said, adding that the governor will be informed of the complaint and steps taken to reconstruct them.
Four passengers were injured when an omnibus flipped over amid rain and fell into a Nakhon Si Thammarat canal, trapping 40 passengers inside the vehicle.
Thung Yai police were notified of the incident at 4am on Wednesday and rushed to the scene with a team of volunteer rescuers.
At the scene they found several trapped passengers crying for help. Rescuers had to pry open the vehicle’s emergency door on the roof to bring them out one by one.
The four injured passengers were sent to hospital, while the others were taken to a nearby gas station to rest.
The driver told a reporter that the wet surface of the road caused the bus to slide towards the canal so he quickly turned the wheel in another direction, but the sudden movement made the vehicle flip over and fall into the canal.
A flash flood struck Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Lansaka district on Tuesday after a mass of water thundered down from Khao Luang mountain.
Continuous rain in the South has increased the level of water in catchment areas on the mountain, with the water overflowing to downstream canals and residential areas.
Residents of Pho Sadet sub-district in Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat were affected the most and had to promptly evacuate with their belongings.
Schools and universities in the flooded areas announced they were closing on December 2 and 3, or until the situation normalised for the safety of students.
Water current reportedly remained strong in the morning as rain continued to fall.
The baht opened at 30.25 to the US dollar on Wednesday, unchanged from its closing rate on Tuesday.The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.15 and 30.35, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.On Tuesday night, the S&P 500 increased to 3,662 points amid a “risk on” market state.Jitipol explained that the index was supported by tech stocks, a weakened dollar and investors who believed the US government would come out with a fresh stimulus package at the end of the year.The US Ten-Year Treasury yield rose by 8.7 basis points to 0.93 per cent while the dollar weakened by 0.7 per cent and the euro strengthened to 1.2 per dollar, the first time since April 2018.The market situation boosted the gold price by 2.1 per cent to $1,800 (Bt54,450).In Thailand, the baht moved in a narrow range as investors were cautious after the Bank of Thailand issued measures to control the exchange rate. Also, foreign investors sold Thai bonds they were holding.Jitipol mentioned that the baht and other Asian currencies would continue to strengthen if the capital market experienced no obstructions.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is planning 40 per cent discounts on tour packages at a maximum Bt5,000 for each senior citizen who travels during the weekdays under the second phase of the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) campaign.
The first phase runs until December 31 and offers eligible people a 40 per cent discount on rooms and restaurants at participating establishments. They also receive an e-voucher when checking into a hotel, as well as a 40 per cent flight fare refund when they check out.
“At a Centre for Economic Situation Administration meeting on Wednesday, we will propose the scheme to offer similar benefits from the Rao Tiew Duay Kan campaign to senior citizens aged over 55 who travel on weekdays,” said TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
“This will help promote tourism during the weekdays and reduce crowding at tourist attractions during the weekends.”
Yuthasak said the senior-citizen campaign will use Bt5 billion from a total budget of Bt20 billion that TAT received to run the entire campaign.
“The maximum discount a person can get is Bt5,000. Registration will open for 1 million senior citizens. Eligible candidates must buy a package tour from a domestic tour operator to receive a 40 per cent discount. This is to ensure revenue distribution among local travel entrepreneurs,” he said.
The other criteria include: the package must feature cross-provincial travel and more than a 3-day/2-night stay from a tour operator who has a licence approved before January 1, 2020.
The Interior Ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with Siam Kubota Corporation and the Rang Jorakhe district administration office in Ayutthaya province under a “Straw Bales for Zero Burn” campaign aimed at reducing air pollution, especially PM2.5 dust particles, that are caused by farmers burning their leftover crops to prepare for the next cultivation season, Deputy Interior Minister Nipon Bunyamanee said on Tuesday.
“Under this campaign, Siam Kubota will provide rice harvesting machines that are capable of making rice straw bales to selected farmers in Ayutthaya so they no longer need to burn their fields after harvest,” he said.
“The straw bales will be sold to Siam Cement Group, which will use them as biomass fuel in their cement manufacturing factories.
“The straw bales, when used as fuel, produce lower emissions than fossil fuels and therefore help reduce greenhouse gas and lessen the environmental impact,” Nipon said.
“Furthermore, under this project, farmers will earn extra income from straw bales instead of burning their fields, which is not only dangerous and environmentally hazardous but also a waste of time and marketable materials,” he added.
The late king’s birthday, December 5, is marked nationwide as Father’s Day.
Exhibitions on the achievements of the late king are also being held along Sanam Chai Road and Saranrom Park.
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