From Thursday (April 1), Thailand will reduce its quarantine period for foreign travellers with Covid-19 vaccination certificates from 14 days to 10 days.
However, travellers from 11 countries where the South African variant of coronavirus is prevalent will still have to undergo the full 14-day quarantine period, according to the Department of Disease Control.
Travellers from the following African countries, both Thai returnees and foreign nationals, will have to spend 14 days in Thai quarantine:
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Wednesday reported 42 new cases, 18 of whom are returnees and illegal border crossers.
Of the total, 19 were exposed to the virus while visiting high-risk areas, with Bangkok and Samut Sakhon leading the list with eight cases each, followed by three in Samut Prakan.
Apisamai Srirangsan, assistant CCSA spokesperson, said the cases include a 28-year-old woman working in the kitchen of a Bangkok hotel being used as an alternative quarantine facility, who came in close contact with eight family members and workmates. The woman lives in Samut Prakan.
She tested positive on March 22 after developing a fever and losing her sense of smell and taste.
Health officials learned that her job at the hotel was serving food to quarantined people and taking out the trash. The patient confessed she sometimes forgot to wear gloves and clean her hands properly after taking out the trash. Officials are now tracing everybody she may have come close in contact with.
Proactive tests, meanwhile, have led to the discovery of five cases – two in Bangkok and three in Samut Sakhon.
Of the 18 returnees, nine are Thai nationals, two Filipino ship crew, and a traveller each from Pakistan, Holland, Malaysia, Britain and Canada. Two Thais were also arrested at Thailand’s borders with Malaysia and Myanmar on March 16 and found positive on March 27.
Meanwhile, 47 patients have recovered and been discharged. As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 28,863. Of them, 25,766 had contracted the virus locally, including 16,062 who were found via proactive testing, while 3,097 were returnees.
So far, 27,426 people have recovered and been discharged, 1,343 patients are still being treated, and the death toll remains at 94.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am, the number of confirmed cases globally has risen to 128.82 million (up by 541,919), 103.95 million have recovered, 22.05 million are active cases (95,876 in severe condition) and 2.82 million have died (up by 10,866).
Thailand ranks 116th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 31.1 million, followed by Brazil at 12.66 million, India at 12.15 million, France at 4.59 million and Russia 4.53 million.
No boats will be plying Bangkok’s Saen Saeb canal from April 11 to 15 because the company running the service is giving its 350-strong team of drivers and fare collectors a Songkran break for the first time in two years.
The company, Family Transport, said suspending services during the Songkran break was reasonable because there will not be many commuters during that period.
Close to 18,000 people use the Saen Saeb canal boat service daily, especially during the 6am to 9am and 3pm to 7.30pm rush hour, Family Transport said. It operates some 55 boats in the Saen Saeb canal route.
The operator believes the number of daily commuters will return to 40,000 or 50,000 once the Covid-19 situation improves and Thailand opens its doors to foreigners.
The boat operator was severely affected when the virus hit Thailand in April 2020 and the number of commuters dropped to less than 5,000 daily, resulting in a loss of Bt15 million per month.
The Royal Gazette website on Wednesday published a Transport Ministry announcement that extends the service life of taxis from nine to 12 years, to be effective retroactively from January 21.
The announcement, signed by Department of Land Transport director-general Jirut Wisanjit, stipulates that taxis with less than seven seats registered from December 26, 2008, to December 31, 2020, will have a service life of 12 years starting from the date that its fare meter is first used after being issued by the department.
The measure was approved by the Cabinet back in September 2020 in a move to reduce the financial burden on cabbies during the Covid-19 crisis.
More than 80 participants representing the Thai government, academia, non-governmental organisations and the private sector convened at Bangkok’s Pullman Hotel for the launch of the Green Climate Fund (GCF)-financed programme titled “Increasing resilience to climate change impacts in marine and coastal areas along the Gulf of Thailand”.
The GCF approved a US$3-million (Bt93.6 million) grant for Thailand – to be implemented by UNDP – over a four-year period starting August 2020.
The programme was developed in collaboration between the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, both under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, and UNDP in Thailand.
The project was launched with key partners discussing its concept, objectives and expected outcome, and the overall implementation plan.
Thailand’s coastal zones are rich with biodiversity, marine life and mangroves that are distributed along both coasts of 24 provinces. With Thailand located in the monsoon region, it is highly susceptible to extreme climate events, such as sea-level rise, flooding, cyclones and erosion. Healthy mangrove systems offer tremendous protection to coastal communities against storm surges and coastal erosion; they are also critical nursery areas that help support local fisheries and overall marine biodiversity.
With more than 1 million tourists visiting Phang-nga Bay annually, Thailand is working to protect and adapt its marine and coastal areas to global warming. Climate change will impact local tourism, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture and natural resources, while creating additional stress on land and water resources.
To address this issue, the new programme will support the kingdom in advancing its climate change adaptation planning in relation to marine and coastal areas in the Gulf of Thailand.
In addition, the programme aims to contribute towards several Sustainable Development Goals as outlined in the 2030 agenda, including gender-responsive solutions to reduce disaster risks, enabling climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The new GCF-financed programme is an important contribution to Thailand implementing its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) that was finalised in 2018. Throughout the implementation of the NAP, the programme will utilise best practices and information from other interventions, such as the Safe Marine for Life project implemented by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, and will meaningfully expand the knowledge and regulatory framework, particularly for sub-national levels.
The programme will ensure close coordination among provincial-level agencies to set aside a budget for fishermen and farmers along coastal areas to better adapt to natural disasters, such as tropical storms, and keep beaches clean in order to maintain eco-friendly tourist destinations.
“I hope this programme will serve as a mechanism for cooperation among our two agencies and drive the implementation of the adaptation process considering climate change factors along Thailand’s coastal areas to create climate resilience,” said Raweewan Bhuridej, ONEP secretary-general. “This will contribute to Thailand’s 20-year strategy as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Within the framework of Thailand’s nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement, climate change adaptation is noted as being a “top priority in Thailand’s national response to climate change”.
To date, Thailand’s GCF-financed programme has focused on NAP preparation, national climate risk modelling and a vulnerability analysis.
“The UNDP is a long-time partner of Thailand when it comes to climate action and we have been working with our Thai partners at both the policy level and local communities on mitigation and adaptation measures,” UNDP resident representative in Thailand Renaud Meyer said during the launch.
“This new GCF-funded project is timely and will provide a great platform to apply the Bio-Circular-Green development model promoted by Thailand as part of the Covid-19 recovery.”
He also emphasised the need to redefine the relationship between humans and nature to ensure win-win cohabitation. Involving coastal communities in this effort is both urgent and required to strengthen the resilience of Thailand, safeguard progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and continue with efforts towards sustainability.
At the country level, the ONEP will act as a key government agency to coordinate and seek collaboration from 12 other relevant Thai government agencies.
The programme seeks to build additional partnerships with interested development parties, including international organisations, civil society organisations, academic institutions and the private sector.
Linkages will be made to this programme through integrated approaches to mainstreaming and piloting adaptation responses in key NAP sectors, including tourism, agriculture, health, and human settlements.
There are presently about 2,000 Karen refugees in Mae Hong Son’s Mae Sariang and Khun Yuam districts, with officials providing them with shelter and other necessities, provincial Governor Sithichai Jindaluang told a press conference on Tuesday.
The 2,000 Karen fled air strikes by Myanmar government forces. The strikes came amid the bloodiest week so far in the Myanmar junta’s crackdown on the civilian population, with 141 reportedly killed on Saturday alone.
“The refugees have been crossing the border since March 11 as the situation in Myanmar started to escalate, and there are now about 2,000 Karen refugees in Mae Sariang and Khun Yuam districts,” Sithichai said.
“Thai officials have not only provided shelter and other necessities to the refugees but are also negotiating with those who can return to Myanmar to leave voluntarily. We believe this particular group will return home within 1-2 days,” he told the media.
“As for those who refuse to return or are unable to do so right now, the province will treat them under guidelines to be issued by the Thai government,” he said.
“If the situation in Myanmar worsens and more refugees enter Thailand, the province may consider building a refugee centre, subject to approval by the Interior Ministry.”
Sithichai also said that seven refugees were injured while fleeing to Thailand. Five are being treated at Sobmei Hospital and one each at Mae Sariang and Sri Sangwan hospitals in the province.
“Once the injured have been cured they will either be sent back or sent to join other refugees in Thailand,” he added.
“The province has been following humanitarian principles and international laws in dealing with the Myanmar refugees,” the governor insisted.
Life-cycle theory states that people borrow more in times of low income and save when their income is high. Hence, young people beginning careers tend to have large personal loan and credit card bills. Those debts rise in middle age from auto and home loans, before declining as they approach retirement.
However, that smooth picture has been disrupted by Covid-19, as people’s plummeting income brings the risk of defaults and ultimately bad debts. Supachai Chanpaibul, a certified financial planner at the Thai Financial Planners Association, said the pandemic has shown us that to survive an uncertain future we need financial discipline – including a long-term retirement plan.
The key to that discipline, he said, is to divide our salary into three parts:
70 per cent on living costs – this money is to pay for everyday necessities such as food, water, electricity, gas, etc. Resist the consumerist temptation to spend it on that “must-have item”.
20 per cent for savings – the portion needed for career education/training, or for a long-term retirement plan. This money for saving or investing is important as it will have a long-term impact. It can be invested in bonds, debentures, GPF Fund, provident fund, RMF Fund, SSF Fund, life insurance, etc, said Supachai, with individual investors deciding which risk/return strategy is best for them.
10 per cent emergency money – invested to protect against economic uncertainty. Options here include health insurance, deposits, and savings accounts. Money market funds or short-term bond funds will also help, he said.
Supachai added that people who manage their finances skilfully are likely to survive even bad economic downturns without going broke or getting trapped in a cycle of credit card or personal debt.
Asean Summit to discuss Karen issue as Thailand watches Myanmar situation
NationalMar 31. 2021Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai
By THE NATION
The Asean Summit in April in Brunei will address the issue of Myanmar’s ethnic Karen that have fled across the border to Thailand to seek refuge, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Tuesday, adding that Bangkok is closely monitoring the situation.
“I cannot reveal the details to be discussed at the summit [in Bandar Seri Begawan], but can say that we aim to bring peace to Myanmar and the Asean community as soon as possible, which is the ultimate goal of the summit,” he said.
On Monday about 2,000 ethnic Karen fled air strikes by Myanmar government forces to Mae Hong Son’s Mae Sariang district. The strikes came amid the bloodiest week so far in the Myanmar junta’s crackdown on the civilian population, with 141 reportedly killed on Saturday alone.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed on Tuesday that Thailand would not push back the refugees fleeing the violence in Myanmar.
“Nobody is pointing guns to keep them out of the country,” Prayut said of the refugees. “This is a humanitarian problem and both sides need to find a solution together.”
Don said Thailand would accept the refugees temporarily but there would be no establishing any centre for them.
“When the situation returns to normal these refugees will be sent back, which is normal practice by any country that accepts refugees,” he said.
“I have talked with the authorities in Myanmar about the refugee problem and urged them to reduce the violence so that the situation can return to normal as soon as possible,” Don said.
“The Myanmar authorities acknowledged our request, but said they would adjust their actions based on the situation,” he added.
The baht opened at 31.31 to the US dollar on Wednesday, weakening from its close of 31.25 on Tuesday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 31.20 and 31.35 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
He mentioned that the dollar was still a major factor in the baht’s direction but the US currency did not weaken this time as investors were hopeful the US economy would recover more quickly than expected. Therefore, it was almost impossible for the baht to strengthen, he said.
Poon advised investors to monitor fund flows in the stock market.
He predicted that several foreign currencies would be purchased in the next months for the purpose of paying dividends, and the baht would weaken more from this financial activity.
The second quarter would see the baht weakening the most, he added.
Police will set up checkpoints for DUI – driving under the influence – that involves alcohol tests via breathalyser in some provinces including Bangkok starting April 1, deputy National Police chief Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapas said on Tuesday.
In October last year, National Police chief Pol General Suwat Jangyodsuk ordered a temporary halt to all kinds of police and security checkpoints, including alcohol testing checkpoints following several complaints of foul play against officers.
“To ensure transparent operations by officers at these checkpoints, police have started installing CCTV cameras at the points as well as body cameras on officers to record their interaction with road users,” Damrongsak said.
“Checkpoints in some provinces are now ready to operate again, such as in Bangkok, Ubon Ratchathani and Nakhon Ratchasima,” he said.
“We want to start opening these checkpoints as early as April 1, as the Songkran festival is approaching and a high volume of traffic is expected. Having these DUI checkpoints will greatly help reduce road accidents caused by drunk driving.”
The checkpoints will sport a sign informing road users that CCTV cameras are installed, as well as the telephone number of the commanding officer in that area in case anyone wants to file a complaint.
“Besides installing CCTV cameras, we have established the TPCC [Traffic Police Checkpoint Control] database to list all checkpoints in the areas to reduce an overlap,” Damrongsak added. “Commanding officers can use this database to easily check if there is any unauthorised checkpoints in their areas.”
Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai
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