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Facebook post by medical staffer ruffles police feathers (nationthailand.com)

Facebook post by medical staffer ruffles police feathers

NationalDec 15. 2020Pakpoom Dejhasadin 

By The Nation

Police are considering pressing charges against a medical technician for allegedly falsely portraying the authorities in a bad light.

Pakpoom Dejhasadin, aka Panda Lab Doctor, a medical technician from the National Blood Centre and the Thai Red Cross Society, had posted a picture on his Facebook page of illegal immigrants entering Thailand, with a caption that claimed the immigrants normally crossed the border in Pong Nam Ron district of Chanthaburi province.

The Royal Thai Police is considering charging Pakpoom with violating the Computer Crimes Act as his intention might be to damage the authority’s image.

He later explained that his real intention was to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country which might come from illegal border crossings.

He also warned that if he was charged for that kind of action, people might be afraid to advocate for the country’s public health safety in the future.

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Nine foreign arrivals test positive in quarantine (nationthailand.com)

Nine foreign arrivals test positive in quarantine

NationalDec 15. 2020

By The Nation

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced nine new cases over a 24-hour period on Tuesday.

The cases, all foreigners, include an Ethiopian woman, 30; a Swiss man and woman, 50 and 57; a six-month-old boy from Britain; a 44-year-old woman from the Netherlands; a 38-year-old Dutch man who arrived from Qatar; a Romanian man, 42; an American man and woman, 60 and 52.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand rose to 4,246 (1,252 in state quarantine). Of these, 237 are in hospital and 3,949 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains unchanged at 60.

According to Worldometer, the total number of confirmed cases globally has risen to 73.19 million. Of them, 51.32 million have recovered, while 20.23 million are active cases (106,517 in severe condition) and 1.62 million have died.

Meanwhile, Thailand ranks a safe 151st for most cases in the world, while the US tops the list with 16.94 million cases, followed by India (9.90 million), Brazil (6.92 million), Russia (2.68 million) and France (2.37 million).

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Weather and vehicle combustion blamed for Bangkok’s unsafe air quality (nationthailand.com)

Weather and vehicle combustion blamed for Bangkok’s unsafe air quality

NationalDec 15. 2020

By The Nation

The level of PM2.5 dust particles in the air in Bangkok has exceeded the safety standard in 70 districts, the Air Quality and Noise Management Division reported.

The hazardous haze has affected health in five districts — Prawet, Khlong San, Bangkok Yai, Nongkhaem, Bang Bon.

The IQAir website for air relegated Bangkok to the 10th most polluted city at 10.10am.

Teerapat Prayoonsit, permanent secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the haze would further cover Bangkok until December 17.

He said that factors such as wind and depression cause the air to be still and the dust from vehicle combustion keeps circulating in the capital.

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Construction of key transport hub Bang Sue Central Station completed (nationthailand.com)

Construction of key transport hub Bang Sue Central Station completed

NationalDec 15. 2020

By THE NATION

Civil construction of Bang Sue Central Station, which will serve as the hub of high-speed train connecting three airports (Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao), as well as the 10 stations of the Red Line urban train route, is now 100 per cent complete.

The Red Line is expected to open for commercial use by November 2021.

The Red Line that runs between Bang Sue and Rangsit stations will help shorten travel time between the city’s heart and urban areas to only 30 minutes thanks to the high-speed 120kph train. It is expected to transport at least 272,500 passengers per day. Public test runs will start from March 2021 until the official opening in November.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and members of the Cabinet are scheduled to visit the Bang Sue Central Station on Tuesday and board the Red Line urban train in its full system test run.

Meanwhile, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) plans to develop a rental apartment project in Don Muang to accommodate those whose properties were expropriated for building the high-speed train project.

A source from SRT revealed that the authority was studying the possibility of developing a rental apartment project on 5 rai of land (0.8 hectare) in Don Muang district as residence for people whose properties had been expropriated to build the high-speed train connecting three airports.

The first part of the land in the Don Muang area had been expropriated and will be submitted to project partners to start construction within October 2021.

“SRT is reserving 5 rai of land for this rental apartment project. Currently the process of land survey and designing of building plan is underway,” said the source.

“It is expected that the EIA [environmental impact assessment] could start during May-June 2021 and construction should start by mid-2022 and finish before October 2023.”

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Legal hurdle blocks transfer of state-run airports to AOT (nationthailand.com)

Legal hurdle blocks transfer of state-run airports to AOT

NationalDec 15. 2020

By THE NATION

A plan to transfer airports run by the Department of Airports (DOA) to Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) would have to be shelved as there was no law allowing the transfer of government-run airports to a public company, AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said on Monday.

He was speaking after a meeting with the permanent secretary for transport, Chayatham Phromsorn, as well as executives of related agencies to discuss the issue.

“However, the meeting has proposed two approaches to solve this problem; one is to manage the airports under a joint venture operation, the other is to establish a special purpose entity to handle airport administration,” he said.

“The DOA and AOT will study the two options based on the annual investment plan of the DOA to determine how much investment is needed in order to achieve the goal of making Thailand a regional flight hub.

“There will be another meeting in the next two weeks and we will choose the suitable approach to present to the Ministry of Transport and then to the Cabinet for approval,” he added.

The DOA was planning to transfer three of its airports — Krabi, Buriram and Udon Thani — to AOT.

Udon Thani is of great importance as a flight hub to the northeast region. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Udon Thani Airport saw more than 2.7 million passengers per year.

AOT was planning to open new direct flights from overseas to the airport, which would have increased passengers by 250,000 per year, as well as to install safety equipment of international standard, including CT scanners.

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Government ready to heed protesters’ demand to delay industrial estate in Songkhla (nationthailand.com)

Government ready to heed protesters’ demand to delay industrial estate in Songkhla

NationalDec 15. 2020

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thammanat Prompao

By The Nation

A people’s network from Songkhla province won several concessions from the government after negotiations on Monday, including delaying a proposed industrial estate. The Jana Rak Thin (Love Jana) network, which has been protesting outside Government House since December 10, on Monday held talks with Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thammanat Prompao on  postponing the Jana Industrial Estate project in Songkhla province, along with several other issues.

Negotiations between the Jana Rak Thin Network and the government representatives led by Thammanat and Prasan Wangrattanapranee, assistant Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, went well on Monday, with the protesters agreeing to move from Government House to a nearby commercial area, after they started the protest on December 10.

Thammanat said he had briefed Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who has acknowledged the problem and considered the appointment of a subcommittee for solving problems jointly by the government and network representatives and drawing up a memorandum of understanding. Prawit will sign the order and propose to the Cabinet the memorandum of understanding on Tuesday.

The agreement between Jana Rak Thin network and Thammanat includes postponing the Jana Industrial Estate project and complete environmental impact assessment first, cancelling the process of revising the consolidated city plan to industry area, and conducting a strategic environmental assessment.

Police are preparing to move containers placed in front of Government House after the protesters moved to a commercial area nearby.

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PTT vows no oil price hike during New Year holidays (nationthailand.com)

PTT vows no oil price hike during New Year holidays

NationalDec 15. 2020

By THE NATION

PTT will not adjust the price of all kinds of fuel during the New Year holidays from December 26 to January 3, despite the rising global oil price, to facilitate travel by people to their hometowns.

“On December 31-January 1, customers who refuel over Bt500 per receipt at PTT stations will receive a Thai product gift under our campaign to promote entrepreneurs in local communities,” Jiraporn Khaosawas, chief executive officer and managing director of PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc said. “Also, when you buy a drink at Café Amazon at 20 PTT stations in Bangkok located on major highways leading to other regions from December 30 to January 3, you will receive a free packet of Café Amazon original drip coffee.”

The list of participating PTT stations can be viewed on Café Amazon’s Facebook page.

Jiraporn Khaosawas

Jiraporn added that these campaigns were part of the company’s efforts to deliver New Year gifts to customers and promote domestic travel to support the Thai tourism industry.

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Showers and morning fog forecast for upper Thailand, heavy rains in South (nationthailand.com)

Showers and morning fog forecast for upper Thailand, heavy rains in South

NationalDec 15. 2020

By THE NATION

The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Tuesday that a rather strong high-pressure system from China has extended to cover upper Vietnam. It is expected to cover the Northeast of Thailand and the South China Sea by Tuesday night.

Isolated rain is likely in the lower Northeast, the Central and the East, followed by a 1-3 degrees Celsius fall in temperature with strong winds in the Northeast. Morning fog and isolated thick patches are also likely in the North, the Central and the East, including Bangkok and its vicinity. All vehicles should be cautious in foggy areas, the department said.

The strong northeast monsoon also covers the Gulf and the South, bringing more rain and heavy downpour in some areas.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:

North: Cool to cold weather with fog in the morning and thick fog in some areas; minimum temperature 14-22 degrees Celsius, maximum 29-36°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 3-14°C.

Northeast: Cool weather with fog in the morning and dense fog as well as isolated rain in some areas; minimum temperature 17-22°C, maximum 31-33°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 10-15°C.

Central: Cool weather with fog in the morning and isolated rain in some areas; minimum temperature 23-24°C, maximum 33-36°C.

East: Fog in the morning and isolated rain in some areas; minimum temperature 23-25°C, maximum 31-35°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres off shore.

South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-24°C, maximum 27-33°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.

South (west coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-24°C, maximum 29-33°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.

Bangkok and surrounding areas: Fog in the morning and isolated rain in some areas; minimum temperature 24-25°C, maximum 32-34°C.

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Hundreds of suspected corruption cases in Khon La Khrueng stimulus scheme (nationthailand.com)

Hundreds of suspected corruption cases in Khon La Khrueng stimulus scheme

NationalDec 15. 2020

By THE NATION

Around 700 cases of suspected corruption in the Khon La Khrueng (Let’s Go Halves) stimulus scheme are being investigated, said the Finance Ministry on Monday.The suspects had been caught in the application process or after being reported by members of the public. They involve both shops and individuals, though the ministry did not reveal what form the alleged corruption took.Possible corruption in the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” tourism stimulus package has also been reported to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.Separately, the Fiscal Policy Office said the second phase of Khon La Khrueng will be launched on Wednesday (December 16) to cover another 5 million people. To be eligible, applicants must be Thai nationals, aged at least 18, who are not state welfare card holders. People who did not pass the first-phase registration process can re-register this time. Those who registered for the first phase can continue their participation via the “Pao Tung” wallet mobile application from Wednesday.As of Sunday (December 13), Khon La Khrueng had around 970,000 registered shops and 9.53 million registered individuals. Total spending generated by the stimulus scheme is Bt43 billion – Bt22 billion from the public and another Bt21.1 billion by the government.

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Toon Bodyslam in hospital with neck injury (nationthailand.com)

Toon Bodyslam in hospital with neck injury

NationalDec 14. 2020Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai 

By The Nation

Fans of the rock band Bodyslam were shocked to hear its popular lead singer Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai was receiving treatment in hospital for a neck problem on Sunday evening.

Toon was sent to Bangkok’s Phramongkutklao Hospital after suffering a bulging disc in his cervical vertebrae. 

The 41-year-old rock star created history last year when his epic, 55-day run across the country raised Bt1.2 billion for cash-strapped public hospitals. Cervical herniated disc is a recognised condition among athletes, though it is not known whether Toon sustained the injury through running.    

A nephew of Aed Carabao, Toon founded Bodyslam with Thanadol Changsawek and Nathaphol Phannachet in 2002. The band have released seven hit albums so far, mostly under GMM Grammy.