Padeang Industry (PDI), which is engaged in the renewable energy business, is investing Bt2.8 billion to pick up a 51 per cent stake in two hotels — Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River and Capella Bangkok – which will be opened completely in 2021.Tommy Taechaubol, PDI managing director, said that the board of directors had approved acquisition of stake in both hotels.Tommy explained that Four Seasons Bangkok is controlled by a company named “Urban Resort Hotel”, while Capella Bangkok is held by “Waterfront Hotel”. His company will purchase 51 per cent of shares of both hotel holders from “Landmark Holdings” at a total price of Bt2.8 billion.Tommy added that total revenue generated from both hotels in 2021 would be more than PDI’s revenue from its renewable energy business.
The Department of Internal Trade (DIT) is taking action against stores that are abusing privileges under the government’s subsidised shopping scheme.
The DIT said that 277 people had filed complaints via the department’s hotline 1569 about stores taking undue advantage of the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) scheme.
DIT deputy director-general Wattanasak Sur-iam said after the government launched the scheme on October 23, the department had cooperated with provincial commerce offices in inspecting stores that participated in the scheme to prevent retailers from taking advantage of people.
He said125 people had filed complaints about Blue Flag stores and 152 had complained about stores taking part in the subsidy scheme. He said retailers used various methods to take advantage of people, such as jacking up prices, removing price tags on products, showing price tags in other languages and violating rules.
“The department has filed a lawsuit under The Price of Goods and Services Act, BE 2542 (1999) against these stores,” he said. “Meanwhile, we found that most of the stores under the scheme had jacked-up product prices to receive the government’s subsidy.”
He added that those who take advantage of people would face more than just the Bt140,000 fine or seven years imprisonment or both.
“The department would also suspend privileges of Blue Flag shops who violate the rules,” he added.
Chiang Rai has found nine new cases of Covid-19 linked to the 1G1 Hotel in Myanmar, provincial officials said.
All the nine were women aged 20-44 years, who had travelled through legal channels.
Chiang Rai administration officials held a press conference on Sunday regarding the Covid-19 situation in the province.
They said the nine women had travelled across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and entered the quarantine process as soon as they had returned to the country without being exposed to the community at all.
In total, there are 20 cases in Chiang Rai in the last two weeks, 14 of whom were found during quarantine in the state local quarantine facility, five had sneaked in through a natural channel, and one local was infected from a patient who had entered illegally.
Chiang Rai Governor Prachon Pratsakul said that the infections were all linked to 1G1 Hotel in the Tachilek district of Myanmar. He said the new nine cases were not unexpected, as they all worked and lived together. The province is still open to receiving Thai people who want to return, he said.
So far, 171 people have returned from Tachileik province and are all admitted to Chiang Rai Prachanukerah Hospital.
“He urged those who had sneaked in earlier to report to public health officials as soon as possible.
“I believe the situation can be controlled because most of the cases found in the state local quarantine have limited contact groups, so I believe that after 14-25 days, Chiang Rai would be safe as a New Year 2021 gift to people and tourists who want to continue visiting,” said the governor.
Dr Tosthep Boonthong, from Chiang Rai Public Health, said all the nine patients had travelled together in a group of 16. The remaining seven are not found to be infected.
As for the case of one infected local person found in the Muang district of Chiang Rai province, the authorities detected 22 high-risk people because they had visited Singha Park and many other entertainment venues. There were around 200 people at risk, but all test results showed that the risk group was negative.
Dr Chaiwetch Thanapaisal, director of Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, said the hospital had room to accommodate up to 30 beds. The first patient from this new group of patients will complete the scheduled treatment on December 8.
Chiang Mai people welcomed the chill of winter as frost appeared at the top of Doi Inthanon mountain.
With the temperature plunging to 5 degrees Celsius, locals and tourists greeted the cold weather.
On Sunday, at the top of Doi Inthanon, in Chom Thong district of Chiang Mai province, the first frost of the year could be seen with the naked eye, spread over leaves and grass, after the temperature continued to drop for successive days.
On Sunday morning, the top of Doi Inthanon mountain recorded 5 degrees Celsius. Visitors to the area enjoyed not only the chill but also the sight of frozen dew. They also could see the beautiful sea of mist and the first light of the new day
A man in Udon Thani province went on a stabbing spree on Saturday, leaving two persons dead before he was arrested.
The man stabbed seven people, and claimed to be unconscious of his actions under the influence of a drug.
At 1.30pm, police were notified that seven people had been attacked with a knife at an intersection. Among them were reportedly minors who were severely injured.
A 16-year-old schoolgirl was stabbed in the neck and succumbed to her injuries at a hospital while a a 22-year-old woman died at the scene.
The injured included four females — a 17-year-old student, who was stabbed in the mouth, a 20-year-old, a 45-year-old and a 33-year-old. The youngest victim was a 13-year-old boy who was stabbed in the neck.
Thirty policemen and rescuers had to surround the alleged assailant before he was captured.
He could not provide useful information while being interrogated but said that he had taken two amphetamine pills and he did not know what had happened after that.
The overflowing Songkhla Lake has inundated a key road connecting Songkhla and Phatthalung provinces, causing serious traffic disruption.
The flood situation in the southern region has aggravated as the rising water level has entered residential areas.
Five districts located near the lake have been affected while the road connecting Songkhla with Phatthalung, namely Ranot-Talay Noi, has been under water.
Meanwhile, local farmers had to move their livestock to higher ground, while the youth have spent their holidays catching fish to help their families gain some income.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Sunday reported 14 new cases in quarantine, including two local infections, over a 24-hour period.
CCSA spokesperson Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin emphasised that the global situation had aggravated significantly since last month but added that Thailand was not experiencing a second wave as the numbers were still low.
Most of the new cases are Thais who had returned from abroad.
On November 20, a British man, 71, travelled from the United States.
On November 28, a Thai woman, 46, returned from Belgium, a Thai woman, 45, returned from Ukraine, two Thai boys aged 9 and 10 flew back from Saudi Arabia, and a Thai female student, 16, returned from Sweden.
On November 29, a Thai woman, 43, returned from Japan.
On November 30, a Thai woman, 31, travelled back from the United Kingdom.
On December 3, a Thai woman, 38, returned from Qatar.
Three people travelled from Myanmar — a Burmese man, 24, entered legally on November 24, while a Thai man, 70, who had stayed in Myawaddy for the last 2-3 months, and a Thai woman, 26, who was linked to a male patient, 30, reported on Saturday, did not go through the regulated screening process or the mandatory quarantine. The woman had worked in an entertainment complex in Tachilek district, in Myanmar. Five of her high-risk contacts and 10 low-risk contacts had been reached for quarantine and tested.
Two women, 26, were found positive in Bangkok and recognised as local transmissions. One had a history of travel to Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province, from November 27-29, while another is a health officer who has duty at a Bangkok alternative stapte quarantine hotel.
Meanwhile, five patients have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand increased to 4,086 (1,104 in state quarantine), 173 are in hospital, 3,853 have recovered and been discharged and 60 have died.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak had reached 66.85 million (up by 620,775), 46.24 million have recovered, 19.07 million are active cases (106,022 in severe condition) and 1.53 million have died (up by 10,096).
Thailand ranks 151 for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number with 14.98 million, followed by India 9.64 million, Brazil 6.57 million, Russia 2.43 million and France 2.28 million.
Dr Sophon Iamsirithaworn, general communicable diseases director at the Department of Disease Control, said 23 cases were linked with Myanmar’s Tachilek town — Chiang Rai (11), Chiang Mai (5), Bangkok (3), Ratchaburi (1), Phichit (1), Singhaburi (1), and Phayao (1).
He revealed that 227 close contacts of the Singburi case had all tested negative and were in quarantine to ensure health safety.
As for farm festival participants in Chiang Rai, more than 2,000 people had been checked and found negative so far.
Dr Taweesin asked cooperation from the public by wearing face masks and checking-in with the ThaiChana app as the recent domestic cases took about 2-3 days to conclude and track all close contacts. If ThaiChana is fully utilised, it would help stop Thailand from entering the second wave since health officers can easily and quickly contain all risks.
Researchers from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi have found 4,000-5,000 green peafowl in Phayao province.
They intend to make a map of birds around the country to record the actual population.
The new number is 10 times higher than the previous study which estimated only 400-500 peafowl in Khao Sanam Priang Wildlife Sanctuary.
Tananun Chotprasertkhun, a researcher funded by the Asahi Glass Foundation, who is studying peafowl in the northern region, is trying to figure out the exact number of the population for ecotourism management.
She said that peafowl are an indicator of the abundance of forest and whether the forest has a suitable eco-system for the flora and fauna.
She said that the birds and the locals have conflicts due to the expansion of human residential and agricultural zones where peafowl come to find food.
The idea of ecotourism will help them live in harmony and the model community will be the Huai Khao Kam subdistrict in Phayao province.
The peafowl is under Thailand’s wildlife protection and it is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of endangered species.
A strong high-pressure system still covers upper Thailand, lowering the temperature by 1-2 degrees Celsius, the Thailand Meteorological Department said on Sunday.
Cool to cold weather and strong winds are also expected in the Northeast and the East. On mountaintops, isolated frost is forecast with cold to very cold weather. People should watch their health due to the variable weather conditions, the department said.
Meanwhile, the weakening northeast monsoon prevails across the Gulf of Thailand and the South with isolated thundershowers. Moderate winds in the Gulf force the waves up about two metres high and more than two metres high in thundershowers. All ships should proceed with caution and keep off thundershowers, the department said.
The weather forecast until 6am Monday:
North: Cool to cold with a 1-2 degrees Celsius drop in temperature; minimum temperature 14-17°C, maximum 27-31°C; cold to very cold on mountaintops and frost in some places with minimum temperature 4-13°C; northeasterly winds 10-25 kilometres per hour (kph).
Northeast: Cool to cold with strong winds and slight drop in temperature; minimum temperature 11-16°C, maximum 26-30°C; cold on the mountain top with minimum temperature 6-13°C; northeasterly winds 20-35kph.
Central: Cool in the morning with slight drop in temperature; minimum temperature 17-19°C, maximum 30-32°C; northeasterly winds 15-30kph.
East: Cool with strong winds; minimum temperature 17-22°C, maximum 30-32°C; northeasterly winds 15-30kph; waves 1-2 metres high and about two metres offshore.
South (east coast): Partly cloudy with isolated thundershowers mostly in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces; minimum temperature 21-24°C, maximum 30-32°C; northeasterly winds 20-35kph; waves about two metres high and above two metres in thundershowers.
South (west coast): Cloudy with isolated thundershowers, mostly in Krabi, Trang and Satun provinces; minimum temperature 22-24°C, maximum 31-33°C; northeasterly winds 20-35kph; waves about a metre high and about two metres offshore.
Bangkok: Cloudy with strong winds; minimum temperature 19-21°C, maximum 30-32°C; northeasterly winds 15-30kph.
The Bureau of the Royal Household on Saturday allowed people to worship the statues of previous Kings of Thailand enshrined in Bangkok’s Grand Palace, to mark the birthday of the beloved late monarch King Rama IX.
To visit the Palace, the visitors had to enter through Wat Phra Kaew. The door was open from 8am to 9pm.
December 5 is celebrated as Father’s Day in Thailand. Fathers and their children on Saturday were allowed to use the BTS, BRT and Airport Rail Link services for free from 6am to midnight. The free fares covered all routes provided fathers and their children started and ended the journey together. In addition, all children up to 90 centimetres tall were allowed to travel for free.
