The Ministry of Tourism and Sports will next week ask the Cabinet to approve its tourism stimulus scheme for seniors.
“Tiew Thai Wai Kao” (Seniors Travel in Thailand) is designed to boost tourism among retirees during working days, minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn explained on Thursday. The programme will boost the whole tourism sector, adding jobs across the country, he said.
Eligible for the scheme are seniors aged 55 to 75 who arrange trips through registered travel agencies. They will get a government subsidy of up to Bt5,000 per person if their trip is more than three days.
The scheme will generate about one million trips in Thailand, injecting around Bt18.85 billion into the economy, said Phiphat. Up to 100,000 guides will also be hired to facilitate seniors’ travel, he added.
Kasikornbank plans to allocate cash reserves worth Bt36.8 billion for KBank branches and ATMs during the New Year holiday from December 28 to January 1.
Bt10.5 billion of that total will be distributed among KBank’s 860 branches nationwide, with Bangkok getting Bt4.5 billion, said the bank.
Another Bt26.3 billion will be loaded into 8,200 K-ATMs across the country, with a whopping Bt14 billion to support New Year revels in Bangkok.
Hundreds of locals showed up at the Thailand National Sports University Samut Sakhon campus at noon on Thursday to block efforts to turn the campus into a field hospital for Covid-19 patients.
Their argument was that some 10,000 people live near the university, and there are many kindergartens and nurseries nearby as well as a child development centre. They said that placing Covid-19 patients in the middle of the community would be unsafe, especially if a patient escapes or enough care is not taken to keep them sequestered. They also pointed out that it would be almost impossible to deal with the situation, especially since there is a shortage of staff.
Instead, the villagers said, the infected people should be placed on fishing boats or near infection hotspots like the Talay Thai market.
“Samut Sakhon authorities should find a better solution than this,” a representative said.
As of Wednesday, 1,202 people had tested positive for novel coronavirus in Samut Sakhon and most of them are migrant workers.
Villagers continued with their stake out even after officials retreated for fear beds and patients may be smuggled in.
Residents also protested against plans to set up a field hospital near Pantai Norasingh Water Park, saying businesses around the area will be badly affected.
Chiang Rai authorities deported 72 Myanmar workers back to their homeland on Thursday. No reason was given for the move. Authorities said the workers had previously entered Thailand legally and none had worked in the Covid-19 hotspot in Samut Sakhon.
The group was screened for Covid-19 before being expelled via the border checkpoint in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district.
Separately, the Immigration Bureau on Thursday reported results of a roundup of undocumented immigrants in Bangkok and Samut Sakhon province, the epicentre of the latest Covid-19 outbreak.
The bureau said 300 immigration officials working alongside Labour Ministry and Public Health Ministry personnel found 61 unregistered migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province on Tuesday. Fifty-four were from Myanmar, four from Cambodia and the remaining three from Laos. Most of them had crossed the border illegally, said the bureau.
All were tested for Covid-19 but none was found to be infected.
The non-profit Mekong Migration Network has urged Thai authorities not to scapegoat undocumented migrant workers for the latest outbreak of Covid-19 in Thailand. Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon are thought to be the source of the outbreak. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered an investigation of human-trafficking gangs who reportedly bribe Thai immigration and border officials to bring migrant workers into the country.
Kayaking down Bangkok’s Ong Ang Canal will not be allowed from Friday onwards in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said in a Facebook post that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has suspended the activity to prevent transmission of the virus through shared paddles, kayaks and life jackets.
“The aim is to ensure people’s safety under measures to contain the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
Kayaking down the Ong Ang Canal became popular after the BMA improved the scenery and began blocking the area to traffic from Friday to Sunday every week in a bid to promote tourism.
In a bid to avoid congestion and ensure smooth travel between provinces, the Department of Highways on Thursday released details of new routes from Bangkok motorists can take during the New Year holidays.
The routes are:
To North
• Rangsit route to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Singburi, Chai Nat’s Manorom district and Nakhon Sawan.
• Nonthaburi route to Suphanburi, Chai Nat and Nakhon Sawan.
• Rangsit route to Ayutthaya’s Wang Noi district, Saraburi, Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan’s Tak Fa district and Phitsanulok.
• Rangsit route to Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang junction, Chiang Rak Noi subdistrict, Highways 347 and 32 to the North.
• The Eastern outer ring road to Wang Noi district, Rojana Road and Highway 32 to the North.
To Northeast
• Saraburi route through Muang Khom, Tha Luang, Dan Khun Thot, Kham Thale So and Mittraphap Road to Nakhon Ratchasima.
• Wang Noi district route to Saraburi, and then via Pak Chong and Sikhiu to Nakhon Ratchasima.
• Nakhon Nayok route to Ban Na, Kaeng Khoi and Pak Chong to Nakhon Ratchasima province. Motorists can also use Highway 33 in Ban Na Rai to head for Kabin Buri district in Prachinburi and Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew.
• Chachoengsao route to Phanom Sarakham, Kabin Buri, Wang Nam Khiao, Pak Thong Chai to Nakhon Ratchasima.
To East
• Highway No 7 to Chonburi and Pattaya.
• Bang Pakong route to Chonburi.
• Phanat Nikhom route to Chonburi.
To South
• Samut Sakhon route to Samut Songkhram, Wang Manao intersection, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
• Samphran route to Nakhon Chai Si, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Wang Manao intersection, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
• Borommaratchachonnani route to Nakhon Chai Si, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Wang Manao intersection, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The department’s director-general Sarawut Songsivilai said he has instructed traffic officials to ensure smooth traffic in 10 routes, namely:
• Don Muang to Rangsit, Bang Pa-in junction, Ayutthaya, Bang Pahan, Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani and Nakhon Sawan.
• Lat Bua Luang to Suphan Buri and Chai Nat.
• Bang Pa-In junction to Wang Noi, Nong Khae, Saraburi, Kaeng Khoi, Pak Chong, Lam Takhong, Sikhiu, Pak Thong Chai intersection and Nakhon Ratchasima.
• Ramindra to Min Buri, Nong Chok, Chachoengsao, Prachinburi, Kabin Buri and Pak Thong Chai intersection.
• Rangsit to Thanyaburi, Ongkharak, Ban Na and Kabin Buri.
• Bang Khun Thian junction to Samut Sakhon, Ban Bo, Samut Songkhram and Wang Manao junction.
• Taling Chan to Salaya, Nakhon Chai Si, Nakhon Pathom, Bang Phae, Ratchaburi and Wang Manao junction.
• Thap Chang to Suvarnabhumi, Lat Krabang, Bang Pakong, Nong Kham, Nong Prue and Pattaya.
• Bang Na to Bang Phli, Bang Wua and Bang Pakong.
• Kanchanaphisek Eastern and Western outer ring roads.
A total of 885 schools nationwide were temporarily closed on Friday as part of measures to contain the latest outbreak of Covid-19.
Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) said 234 high schools and 651 primary schools closed their doors for 12 days. Most are in provinces hit by Covid-19 infections linked to last week’s outbreak in Samut Sakhon province, 45 kilometres south-west of Bangkok.
Schools have been closed in Bangkok along with 17 other provinces – Kanchanaburi, Kamphaeng Phet, Chiang Mai, Ratchaburi, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Pathom, Saraburi, Suphan Buri, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and Uttaradit.
Tests on 14 Myanmar workers found dumped at the entrance to Green Lake Village on Bangna-Trat Road in Samut Prakan have all come back negative for Covid-19.
Police are investigating the owners of a plastics factory that employed the workers after they were found abandoned on Tuesday night. Another four workers dumped by the factory were rounded up on Wednesday.
Samut Prakan police chief Chumpol Pumpuang said all 18 abandoned workers were screened and cleared of Covid-19 infection but have been sent to a quarantine facility for 14 days, as per Public Health Ministry rules.
Only six of them have work permits.
Police investigating the plastics factory where they worked found 34 Myanmar nationals – seven men and 27 women – still working there. All had work permits.
Questioned about the dumped workers, the factory manager claimed a driver had taken them to other areas without informing the factory. The manager assured police that all the remaining migrant workers would be tested for Covid-19.
Police said they will interrogate the factory’s administrators before deciding whether to charge them with violating the Disease Control Act for moving migrant workers without permits.
Health authorities have found no Covid-19 infections among 51 seafood vendors and migrant workers tested at Ying Charoen Market in northern Bangkok.
The 65-year-old market in Bang Khen district is still open. However, sales of seafood have been suspended as a precaution after the Covid-19 outbreak in a Samut Sakhon wholesale seafood market last week. Ying Charoen Market’s seafood vendors are also self-quarantining for 14 days. The market’s operator says more than 97 per cent of stores are open for business as usual.
A Bangkok restaurant owner announced on social media that she was ready to welcome all Myanmar nationals to her eatery after many shops and stores decided to shut their doors to migrants amid the new Covid-19 wave.
The virus has returned to Thailand and most of the infected persons this time are migrant workers from Myanmar. This has given rise to prejudice against Myanmar nationals, but also an online movement calling for equality and human dignity between locals and foreigners.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday night, Chatthamon Singtankong said migrant workers living in and near the Prachauthit area were welcome to dine at her restaurant.
She has even offered to provide free food to those who don’t have money. Her restaurant is open from 6am to 7pm daily.
Her post was applauded by other Facebook users, and some even wanted to donate her money, but she refused.
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