The National Press Council of Thailand announced on Tuesday that it will unofficially start following requirements set in its new constitution as of Wednesday.
Secretary-general Chai Patakamin was quoted as saying in the council’s website that the committee has approved the new code, which now requires the council to supervise all kinds of media, instead of just print and digital media.
The number of committee members is also set to increase from 21 to 23, as it will be supervising more media channels.
The rules will be officially changed once the current committee completes its tenure in March 2021.
Health authorities say a South Korean soldier who spent almost a month in Thailand tested positive for Covid-19 on his return to his homeland on Sunday (November 8).
The soldier was among 202 attendees of a planning session for next year’s Cobra Gold military exercise, held in Rayong on November 3-5, said Walairat Chaifu, chief of the Epidemiology Division at the Department of Disease Control (DDC).
Participants comprised 177 Thai soldiers and 25 foreign troops, who were drawn from the United States (12), South Korea (5), Indonesia and Australia (2 each), Singapore, Japan, and India (one each). They stayed at a hotel in Ban Chang District, which hosted their meetings and a buffet meal.
The South Korean soldier tested positive on Sunday after taking a flight from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Incheon Airport.
He arrived in Thailand on October 17 and spent two weeks at an alternative state quarantine (ASQ) hotel in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit area. He twice tested negative during quarantine.
On November 1, he was picked up by an embassy car and moved to another hotel on Sukhumvit.
On November 2, a van from the embassy picked him up and ferried him to the meeting in Rayong’s Ban Chang.
On November 6, the soldier travelled back in the embassy van to a Sukhumvit hotel – health officials are checking whether this was the same hotel he stayed in previously.
On November 8, the soldier travelled to Suvarnabhumi Airport for the flight back home.
Walairat said the other South Korean soldiers on the same trip had tested negative.
However, Thai soldiers who attended the meeting have been quarantined as a precaution.
Thai health authorities investigating the source of the infection have contacted their counterparts in South Korea to find out whether the soldier caught the virus in Thailand or before he left his own country.
AP Honda, the Thai subsidiary of Japanese automaker Honda Motor, has launched “Green Win by Honda” project, in which 50 Honda PCX electric motorbikes will be used to provide taxi services to Bangkokians.
The project also includes the setting up of 10 battery switching stations, the first of which has been installed in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn hotel.
This project, which has been launched in response to the government’s initiative to promote electric vehicles, will provide motorbike taxi services along the BTS Sukhumvit line.
Passengers will be charged normal fares and the service will run for one year from this month onwards.
From January 1, cancer patients can receive treatment at all equipped hospitals, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.
He was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Department of Medical Services to announce its medical policy for next year. Present at the forum were more than 300 provincial public health officers and doctors.
“In line with the new medical care policy for 2021, cancer patients will be able to receive treatment at all state hospitals that are ready to provide the service,” Anutin said. “We aim to reduce waiting time and deaths among cancer patients.”
Anutin added that the department will also focus on employing Covid-19 prevention measures when Thailand opens its doors to more foreigners in 2021 to reduce the risk of medical professionals contracting the virus.
“Next year we will further promote the use of medical cannabis by training more medical professionals on safely using medical cannabis extracts,” he added.
Dr Somsak Akksilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said the department has developed four schemes to boost the efficiency of medical institutes in treating cancer patients.
“The Thai Cancer Base Plus [TCB Plus] platform was created to register cancer patients with the aim of facilitating seamless transfer between hospitals, while the One Program will help prioritise treatment options for each patient based on their symptoms and progression rate,” he said. “We have also created the DMS Bed Monitoring System to help hospitals manage available beds, and the DMS Telemedicine mobile application will help schedule tele-consulting service for patients in remote areas who cannot travel. They will receive their medicines through mail.”
Thai Airways International (THAI) is selling more than 400 products via its TG Warehouse Sale Facebook store in order to generate extra revenue for the company, the firm said on Wednesday.
The move was initiated by THAI’s management team to optimise the use of plates and utensils to suit the number of flights that are expected to decrease significantly over the next one to two years due to the Covid-19 crisis.
People can search for THAI products and place an order via https://www.facebook.com/tgwarehousesale/. They can decide whether to receive the products at firm’s Suvarnabhumi warehouse or through a delivery service.
A pick-up truck crashed into a truck carrying a load of refrigerators in Si Sa Ket province on Tuesday, killing one and injuring four.
Police arrived at the accident site in Muang district at 9.45pm to find three injured people in the pick-up truck, who were immediately sent to hospital.
Meanwhile, the other truck’s driver and passenger were found stuck between the front seats. The passenger, later identified as Buri Ram-resident Pinyo Chantet, 32, had died immediately.
Witnesses said they heard a tyre explode before the two vehicles crashed, and decided to call the police because they were worried the vehicles would explode.
A motorbike taxi rider surrendered to police on Tuesday for reportedly stabbing her workmate out of anger, which she said had been building for two years.
Thongthae Janmun arrived at Wang Thonglang police station at 4pm to confess that she had committed a murder that morning. She said the conflict was not related to work, as they usually picked up passengers from different places, but that she and the victim often had personal clashes.
That morning, the victim had slapped Thongthae on her head, which infuriated her. So, she pulled out a knife and stabbed the other woman.
Thongthae has been charged with intention to murder, which will result in a sentence.
A small conflict erupted at the police station when the victim’s family tried to attack Thongthae.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported three new cases in state quarantine facility over a 24-hour period on Wednesday.
The cases include a 40-year-old Thai woman who returned from Turkey on November and checked in at an alternative state quarantine hotel in Bangkok. She tested positive on Monday.
The second case is a 58-year-old Thai woman who returned from the United Kingdom on Monday and checked into an alternative state quarantine hotel in Bangkok where she was found positive on the same day.
The third case is a 62-year-old British woman who arrived on Sunday and was found positive upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport. She had all the symptoms, including fever, cough and runny nose.
Meanwhile, 15 patients have recovered and discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,847 (889 in state quarantine), 102 of whom are in hospital and 3,685 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains unchanged at 60.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am, the total number of confirmed cases worldwide had increased to 51.8 million (up by 542,390). Of them, 36.39 million have recovered, while 14.13 million are active cases (94,967 in severe condition) and 1.28 million have died (up by 9,190).
Thailand ranks 149th globally in terms of most cases, while the US tops the list with 10.56 million, followed by India 8.63 million, Brazil 5.7 million, France 1.82 million and Russia 1.81 million.
Migrant workers who have completed a four-year contract will be allowed to stay in Thailand for another two years to help solve the problem of labour shortage due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said the Cabinet had resolved on Tuesday that workers who can prove they have completed four years of employment within November 1 this year and December 31, 2021, can stay in the country for another two years.
This decision is based on the fact that many neighbouring countries have not been able to tackle the pandemic, and the new measure is expected to curb the spread of the virus as well as solve the problem of labour shortage.
Suchat Pornchaiwiseskul, director-general of the Department of Employment, said employment contracts have to be in line with the memorandum of understanding and workers who wish to stay another two years must have medical certificates and should submit a request to work with the department.
They will also have to apply for a work permit within a year, which will cost Bt1,900, and have the correct visa and immigration records.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday said the good image of Thailand would be hurt after a Ratsadon demonstrator head-butted a Russian man in Pattaya during an anti-government protest in the tourist beach city.
Prayut also said the incident has “defamed all Thai people”.
The pro-democracy group in Pattaya apologised for the incident “despite the victim’s provocation”.
The premier insisted the government does not have double standards and did not favour royalist protests. The government, he said, is only seeking peace.
The “Bad Student” group now plans to march to the Education Ministry from Democracy Monument on November 14 to express their political standpoint.
Meanwhile, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry said Ratsadon activists used online social media with ill-intent, violating the laws on November 8 and 9.
The ministry said it would soon examine the group’s posts and shares so legal action could be taken.
