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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016952

Romance scammers tricked victims into investing millions via two applications, causing several million baht in losses, the police reported after 21 suspects were arrested in Cambodia.

Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) director Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapas said on Wednesday that the PCT had teamed up with Cambodian police to swoop down on the call centres in Sihanoukville and arrest 21 suspects.

Damrongsak said he would travel to Sa Kaeo next week so he could interrogate them himself.

He said he was ordered by National Police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk to solve the call centre scams urgently as they were causing big problems and always evolving.

Most culprits set up an office in neighbouring countries. This presented an obstacle in investigation, tracing and arresting suspects.

Damrongsak talked about the case in Sihanoukville. He said the suspects used good-looking profile pictures and chatted with victims through Tinder or Line until the victims fell for them.

Once the victims were hooked, the suspects invited them to invest in MetaTrader 5 (forex) or the digital currency trade. The suspects “guided” their victims and even gave them trading “advice”.

The victims were convinced to invest their money with a broker. Once they fell for the scam and transferred money, the suspects cut off contact with them.

The PCT, armed with court arrest warrants, travelled to Cambodia.

On Monday afternoon, both PCT officers and Cambodian police searched two offices at a hotel and casino in Sihanoukville.

They promptly arrested 21 suspects on several charges, including alleged fraud by impersonating others, being members of a secret and unlawful society, being members of a criminal association, involved in a transnational criminal organisation, and money laundering.

The suspects confessed to the crime, he said.

After Cambodian police start legal proceedings against them, they will be sent to Thailand. Damrongsak expects this to be next week.

He asked people to report any clues or suspicions on such scams via hotline 1441, or call 081-8663000 or visit http://www.thaipoliceonline.com to lodge a complaint.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016950

Theos-2, Thailand’s first satellite for earth exploration, has arrived in the country after being assembled in the United Kingdom and is being prepared for a launch in early 2023, government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said on Thursday.

Ratchada said Theos-2 was co-developed by British satellite experts and a team of 20 Thai engineers from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) about two years ago.

The small 100kg satellite is equipped with GPS, sensors for solar light intensity and magnetic field and cameras to snap high resolution images of one square metre per pixel of the earth.

“After launch, it will orbit the earth 13-14 times a day and pass Thailand 3-4 times daily,” she said. “The data and photos it gathers will be beneficial for territorial exploration and propel the country’s space programme.”

Theos-2 is currently being tested at the Satellite Testing Centre at Space Inspirium in Sriracha district, Chonburi.

The satellite is part of the cooperation between four organisations, namely the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Thai Aviation Industries, the Thai Subcontracting Promotion Association and GISTDA in developing the aviation and space industry in a bid to reduce reliance on foreign technology and innovation, as well as increase the country’s competitive edge in global aviation, logistics and defence industries, Ratchada noted.

“The government has been continually supporting the building and manufacturing of aircraft, spacecraft, ground service and maintenance equipment by both public and private sectors to promote Thailand as a regional hub for aviation and space industries,” she added.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016949

Four suspects have been arrested for allegedly possessing and trading preserved wildlife without permission, the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division announced on Thursday.

The four – Bowonwit (56), Pornthip (25), Suthep (35) and Sombat (43) – were arrested after police found they had allegedly sold a tiger cub to three other suspects who had been arrested at the parking lot of a department store in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district on April 5.

All last names were withheld.

After the police collected evidence and requested the Nonthaburi Provincial Court to hand them arrest warrants, officers launched the operation to hunt for the four in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya and Suphan Buri.

Bowonwit was nabbed at a residence in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district, Pornthip was arrested at the temple in Ayutthaya’s Phaci district, Suthep was duly picked up at a house in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district and Sombat was seized at a residence in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district.

Police said legal action is being taken against them, adding that all four initially pleaded guilty to the crime.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016948

National Telecom (NT) Plc has said it has been trying to detect and block calls from overseas scammers to prevent Thais from falling victims to call-centre gangs.

Sompong Assawaboonmee, manager of the telephone division of NT, said NT’s international line exchange facility has been equipped with a system to detect suspecting calls from abroad round the clock.

Sompong said if the system detects irregularity, the calls will be blocked and the operators of the blocked numbers would be alerted to check.

Sompong said most foreign calls from call-centre gangs had an irregular format and sometimes they called unusual destination numbers, such as unassigned numbers or numbers with space code.

He said a line that makes irregularly-repeated calls to the same destination number in a short time would also be blocked and investigated.

Sompong said the NT has been using the same format of international phone numbers with the ITU Telecommunication Standardisation Sector. 
The format starts with a “plus” sign and follows with the country code from where the calls are made.

He urged Thais to reject calls from countries where they do not have relatives or calls that do not follow the format of the ITU-T.

In case of suspicion, telephone users can call the NT Contact Centre 1888, he said.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016947

All ten recent suspected cases of monkey pox have tested negative and the virus has not been detected in Thailand so far, the Disease Control Department (DCD) announced on Thursday.

Director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said the Public Health Ministry had received reports from foreign disease control checkpoints and private and public hospitals around the country that there were a total of ten suspected monkey pox cases and all patients were foreigners.

However, subsequent laboratory tests showed they did not have monkey pox, Opas made it clear.

He said six of the individuals were actually found to have been infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and they had received muay Thai training in gyms in Phuket and Krabi.

Lab tests found that the four other cases were simply skin infections, Opas added.

The DCD chief said local public health offices have been informed to advise the muay Thai gyms where the patients trained to clean all gear and spray disinfectants regularly.

Gyms have also been asked to be on alert and check if their clients have any rash or blisters, in which case they must instruct the clients to see a doctor and the patients must inform the authorities of their timeline, Opas said.

DCD Epidemiology Division director Dr Chakkarat Pittayawong-anont said the latest suspected case was reported by a private hospital in Samut Prakan on Tuesday.

The patient is an Australian boxer, who arrived in Thailand on June 7. He received training at a Pathum Thani gym before suffering from a fever, cough and sore throat. He later developed a rash and clear and infectious blisters on his face, neck and arms.

Chakkarat said a subsequent lab test found he did not have monkey pox but doctors were still checking the cause of the symptoms.

The World Health Organisation reported that 3,157 people in 45 countries have been confirmed to have monkey pox from May 7 to June 22. The first case in Southeast Asia was detected in Singapore. The patient is a British air steward, 42, who visited Singapore from June 15 to 17 and returned to the island country again on June 19. He was admitted to Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases on the night of June 19 and the following day was confirmed as having monkey pox.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016940

Global science initiative GISAID has reported that Europe and South Africa have found more patients infected with Omicron, specifically the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which have mutated from the original Covid virus found in Wuhan, Dr Wasan Chantrathit, chief of Ramathibodi Hospital’s Centre for Medical Genomics, said on Wednesday.

“It is worrying that tests show BA.4 and BA.5 can multiply quickly in human lung cells, which could cause pneumonia easier than the BA.1 and BA.2 subvariants, which can multiply faster in the upper respiratory mucosa but rarely spread down to the lungs,” he said.

“However, the World Health Organisation [WHO] has yet to announce the BA.4 and BA.5 as subvariants of concern, as further evaluation is yet to be carried out on a large number of hospitalised patients.”

Wasan said that since April 2022, Thailand reported 23 cases of BA.4 and 26 with BA.5, most of whom were foreigners arriving in the country.

Sample testing at residences in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces by the Centre for Medical Genomics found no cases involving the two variants.

According to the GISAID report, infections found in Thailand in the past 60 days can be categorised by subvariants:

• BA.2 – 44%

• BA.2.9 – 26%

• BA.2.10 – 7%

• BA.2.3 – 5%

• BA.2.10.1 – 4%

• BA.2.27 – 3%

• BA.5 – 1%

• BA.4 – 1%

• BA.2.12.1 – 1%.

“It is hard to say if a new surge or outbreak will occur in Thailand, as additional research is required to get to know the new subvariants,” said Wasan.

“WHO has made it clear that Omicron will not be the last Covid variant spreading in the world, therefore we need to continue observing and studying the new mutations, and also make people aware of the current situation so that everyone remains vigilant but does not panic,” he added.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016938

Risk groups accounted for most Covid-19 deaths as only 54.7 per cent of people in these groups received a booster dose, the Public Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Covid-19 situation is not worsening after entertainment venues were allowed to reopen and the alert level dropping to 2, Ministry permanent secretary Dr Kiatiphum Wongrajit said.

The number of patients and both active and severe cases are starting to decrease and become stable, with most patients being in Bangkok and its vicinity or big provinces, especially in mueang districts, he said.

Kiatiphum said most infections resulted from close contact. These patients usually have a low fever, cough and sore throat, like influenza.

However, there are still around 20 deaths per day. Most were people in the risk groups, including elders aged over 60 and people with underlying diseases who did not get a booster dose, he said.

A booster could reduce the chance of getting infected and prevent severe symptoms and death, Kiatiphum pointed out.

So far 139.3 million doses have been administered. Precisely 81.8 per cent of people have received the first dose, 76.2 per cent the second and 42.3 per cent the third, or booster dose.

Kiatiphum said the vaccination percentage is still far from the goal as 60 per cent of people should get a booster for a safe reopening and for Thailand to declare Covid-19 endemic.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016935

The government will maintain energy and financial stability to mitigate the impacts of rising energy prices especially on vulnerable people, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Wednesday.

He made the remark after presiding over a National Energy Policy Council meeting. The council is responsible for regulating fuel prices and overseeing the Oil Fuel Fund.

He said several agencies have adjusted their energy use to cope with rising gas and fuel prices, especially the use of electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Prayut pointed out that the rising energy prices have affected many countries, not just Thailand.

It is necessary to study what factors have caused the price rise, whether they are internal or external, he said.

Prayut said the government was putting in all effort to seek additional energy sources to tackle the problem in a sustainable way.

He vowed to maintain energy stability to ensure it is “sufficient” to support businesses and the economy.

The government must take care of energy prices to mitigate any impact on citizens, especially diesel and cooking gas, which have severely affected the cost of living, the PM said.

He also said the government would launch a series of measures to assist vulnerable people, as well as maintain financial stability to support economic growth.

Fitch Ratings is still maintaining its BBB+ (high) rating for Thailand, the same level before the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising energy price crisis, Prayut added.

The government will do its best to tackle all problems, he promised.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016929

With the government removing travel restrictions at the country’s land borders on May 1, Ranong has witnessed 8,108 people travelling in and out of the province, most being via the Grand Andaman Pier, which provides ferry services to a casino at Grand Andaman Hotel on Myanmar’s Thathay Kyun Island.

Thathay Kyun is called Koh Son by Thais. Besides the casino, the island features hotels, a golf course, restaurants and duty-free shops. People can travel to the island via speed boats, which depart every 30 minutes, from 8am to 11.30pm.

“Many tourists have visited Ranong as a gateway to the casino, helping generate income for local tourism businesses, including hotels, restaurants and public vans,” Ranong Chamber of Commerce president Nit Uitekkheng said on Wednesday. “Meanwhile, the Covid situation in the province is also gradually improving, with more people dining out after disease control measures on establishments were eased.”

Ranong Governor Somkiat Srisanet said this week that 90 per cent of the province’s population had received two shots of vaccine, or more than 470,000 doses.

“To prepare for the transition to the endemic stage of the disease, we aim to provide booster shots to more than 60 per cent of people in risk groups within July,” he said.

“Ranong residents can now walk into any of 46 public hospitals in the province and get vaccinated for free,” he added.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40016926

Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (June 23) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 2,299 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, five of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.

Death toll increased by 18, while 1,783 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.

Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 2,283,793.
 

The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 4,507,228 – 4,455,035 of whom have recovered, 21,650 are still in hospitals and 30,543 have died.

Separately, another 13,129 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 28,081 their second shot and 78,038 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 139,293,613.

According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 546.65 million on Thursday, 522.25 million of whom have recovered, 18.05 million are active cases (36,347 in severe condition) and 6.35 million have died (up by 1,519).

Thailand ranks 26th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 88.44 million, followed by India with 43.35 million, Brazil with 31.89 million, France with 30.35 million and Germany with 27.45 million.

Published : June 23, 2022

By : THE NATION