#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014756

Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (April 21) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 21,931 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 115 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.

Death toll increased by 129, while 24,619 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.

Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 1,882,795.
 

The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 4,106,230 – 3,889,912 of whom have recovered, 188,926 are still in hospitals and 27,392 have died.

Separately, another 21,533 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 45,539 their second shot and 61,387 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 131,950,758.
 
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 507.03 million on Wednesday, 459.31 million of whom have recovered, 41.49 million are active cases (41,927 in severe condition) and 6.23 million have died (up by 3,222).

Thailand ranks 24th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 82.49 million, followed by India with 43.05 million, Brazil with 30.31 million, France with 27.97 million and Germany with 23.78 million.

Published : April 21, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014752

Motorists violating the black smoke emission limit will be fined THB5,000, the Land Transport Department has confirmed.

The department announced on its website that news being shared on social media of the hefty fine is true.

The department said the new rate of fine took effect on April 13 and the measure is aimed at reducing PM2.5 particles in the air in cities.

The announcement said apart from the fine, vehicles found to have black emissions over the limit would be painted with the words “prohibited from use” until the owners of the vehicles fix the engine to bring down emissions of black smoke to within the acceptable limit.

The announcement said the department would assign officials to randomly check vehicles on all roads around the country for black smoke emissions. The inspection would be either an opacity check of the black smoke or with filter paper.

In case of opacity check, the value of black smoke opacity must not be over 30 per cent and for filter paper check, the value must not be higher than 40 per cent, the announcement states.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014745

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) announced on Wednesday that the Electronic Transactions Development Agency had alerted the agency that NACC data was released on the website https://raidforums.com/Thread-Thailand-Big-Data-Corruption-Leak-Query-System-DOX, which has now been seized by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and the Justice Department.

“Apreliminary investigation revealed that the released information included two sets of data published on the NACC’s website since 2019,” said the announcement.

“The first set is a list of debts and assets of 780 accounts, which has also been released on two other URLs, namely http://178.128.223.11:3000/nacc and https://datathon.corrupt0.org/nacc.

“The second set comprises 1,366 file cases that the NACC ruled as having merit. This data has also been released on two other URLs, namely http://178.128.223.11:3000/nacc-case and https://datathon.corrupt0.org/nacc-case,” said the anti-graft agency.

“The data published on those URLs could have been edited by anyone with a Google Account as the publishers have allowed public editing, and therefore might not be accurate compared to the true data available on NACC’s website,” said the announcement.

“The NACC would like to announce that the above URLs are not the official websites of the agency. Please go to www.nacc.go.th if you want to access information the agency has made available to the public,” it said.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014744

The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has advised people to work at home, protect themselves from being infected and receive vaccine jabs to contain the spread of Covid-19 after the Songkran festival.

The announcement came amid worrying forecasts of a surge in new Covid-19 infections as people return from their hometowns after Songkran get-togethers.

The Public Health Ministry is evaluating the number of Covid-19 cases in the next two to four weeks as a big rise in the number of virus cases and deaths would threaten Thailand’s plan to declare Covid-19 endemic by July.

Thailand recorded 20,361 cases and 128 deaths on Wednesday.

Here are three DDC measures to curb Covid-19 post-Songkran:

• Work at home for five to seven days and take a rapid antigen test before going to your workplace or attending a gathering.

• Adhere to universal prevention principles by wearing a face mask, maintaining a social distance, especially with the elderly, children and people with chronic diseases, and avoiding eating or drinking with the elderly.

• Follow the universal vaccination principle by receiving Covid-19 vaccine jabs.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014743

The government should launch the fifth phase of the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) co-payment scheme in a bid to boost food sales, the Thai Restaurant Association said on Wednesday.

In a letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the association said restaurant food sales had dropped sharply after each phase wound up or people used up all their rights, adding that rising production costs are also affecting restaurant operators.

The association pointed out that the co-payment scheme had helped boost food sales at restaurants, resulting in increasing demand for ingredients and employees.

Meanwhile, the scheme had enabled the government to collect more tax from restaurants, something that’s positive for the economy, it added.

“Hence, we ask the government to launch the fifth phase of the Khon La Khrueng scheme to boost people’s purchasing power and stimulate the economy,” the association said.

It added that total expenditure under the past four phases of the scheme was 55.74 billion baht – 28.35 billion from registrants and 27.39 billion from government subsidies.

The association thanked the prime minister for launching measures to assist entrepreneurs.

As of Wednesday, 29 million rights under the fourth phase of Khon La Khrueng had been snapped up. It is scheduled to end on April 30.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014740

Street dogs taken care of by a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai’s Muang district prevented an immigrant from allegedly stealing donations to the temple on Tuesday morning.

Monks and novices heard the dogs barking and howling at 6.30am so they came out of their living quarters and found a man cornered by the temple dogs outside a building.

The monks and novices of Wat Don Chia in Tambon Pa Daed then captured the man and handed him over to Weerachai Chaimongkol, the tambon chief.

Weerachai said Phra Atikarn Wutthipong, the abbot of the temple, later dropped the complaint against the man. He said the suspect was an unemployed man from a neighbouring country and he appeared to be drunk. The temple decided not to press charges against him and his identity was withheld out of compassion as the man has been unemployed, the tambon chief said.

Weerachai said the man broke a glass window of the building where the temple’s reclining Buddha image is kept with an alleged intent to steal donations from a box inside the building.

But the dogs were alerted by the noise and cornered him before he could enter the building.

The man reportedly admitted to stealing money from the donation box on April 11 because the temple had not locked the front door of the building. But the temple later found out that donations had disappeared so it locked the door and was planning to install a security camera.

The abbot said he told the man to turn over a new leaf in exchange for his decision not to press charges against him.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014739

A co-founder of the new Sarng Anakot Thai (SAT) Party affirmed on Wednesday that it would nominate former deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak as its prime ministerial candidate.

Wichian Chawalit, former Palang Pracharath party-list MP, said Somkid would be SAT’s number 1 PM candidate and the second would be Uttama Savanayana. Uttama is slated to become party leader when SAT announces its executive board later in the day after the party’s first general assembly.

Wichian resigned as Palang Pracharath MP on Monday to join SAT.

He claimed several Palang Pracharath MPs would follow in his footsteps by joining SAT but they aimed to wait for a while so that the country would not have to waste money on holding by-elections if they quit as MPs.

Wichian said the party would formally introduce Somkid as its PM candidate after it prepares a political base for him.

“Somkid will definitely join the party but he will have to wait for the right time, that is after the party develops a strong team and when everybody is ready to work,” Wichian said.

“Somkid will not administer the party’s affairs but he will be in charge of the bigger picture, spearheading economic and national policies.”

Several SAT co-founders were co-founders of the Palang Pracharath Party that nominated Prayut Chan-o-cha for prime minister.

Wichian said SAT has no plans so far to be an ally of Palang Pracharath but SAT would not be an enemy of Prayut either.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014735

A video clip of a cat enjoying its owner’s mango sticky rice went viral on Wednesday.

Demand for the well-known dessert continued to rise, thanks to Thai rapper Danupha “Milli” Khanatheerakul making a guest appearance at the popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on Sunday.

Commanding the stage in a skimpy red outfit, Milli took a break from her twerk-heavy dance routine to grab a bowl of mango sticky rice and take a mouthful.

Line Man had said on Monday that orders for the snack in Thailand had risen more than 3.5 times after the hashtag #MilliLiveatCoachella became a top-trending topic on Twitter.

Praiwan Ubonkan, a 54-year-old resident in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Thung Yai district, explained that his cat suddenly joined him at the table while he was digging into mango sticky rice and he had no option but to give the little feline the dessert, something he had not done before.

Praiwan said his pet looked like it was enjoying the snack.

Meanwhile, Puangrat Buaphan, a 64-year-old retailer in Talat Yen market in the same district, said sales of mango sticky rice have risen sharply, from 30-40 sets per day to 140.

She added that sales of other Thai sweets have risen as well in response to Milli publicising the snack on stage at a major international event, portraying Thai soft power.

Puangrat thanked Milli for boosting mango sticky rice sales, while asking the young rapper to publicise other Thai delicacies in her upcoming performances.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014731

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is discussing a merger deal between True Corporation and Total Access Communication (Dtac).

The discussions follow a Royal Gazette announcement last Thursday that the appointment of five new NBTC members has been royally endorsed.

Prof Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck, a medical specialist and a former member of the defunct National Legislative Assembly, will serve as NBTC chairman after being chosen by the new members on January 14.

The four other newly endorsed NBTC commissioners are: the agency’s former deputy secretary-general, Air Marshal Thanapant Raicharoen; Prof Pirongrong Ramasoota, former lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Communication Arts; Torpong Selanon, president of the Thailand Association of the Blind; and Assoc Prof Suphat Suphachalasai, former director of Thammasat University’s Institute of Area Studies.

The NBTC will reportedly discuss a few issues:

• Two draft notifications – a plan on universal telecommunications and social services, and criteria and procedures for revenue collection to fund the plan – as the NBTC has been appointed to conduct public hearings on the notifications.

• Plan for bidding of satellite orbit licences for broadcasting and broadband communications. NBTC is responsible for maintaining the orbital slots.

• Plan for 3500 MHz spectrum bidding, which is considered a preparation for 6G and low earth orbit satellite technologies.

• Supervision of the True-Dtac merger deal, as well as supervision of True Move H Universal Communication and Dtac TriNet after the merger of the two parent companies is completed.

“Meanwhile, there is a possibility that the new NBTC board will allow its subcommittee and independent advisers to continue to decide on the True-Dtac merger deal,” the press said.

Separately, a telecommunication industry source said True and Dtac would call their new company “True-D”. However, the name has not been registered with the Department of Business Development yet.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014728

Nursing homes for the elderly can now be certified as temporary community isolation centres for elders who have contracted Covid-19 but have mild or no symptoms, Department of Health Service Support director-general Dr Thares Krainairawiwong said on Tuesday.

“The department has updated rules for community isolation centres by allowing nursing homes for elders to apply for the certification,” he said.

“To be certified as a temporary community isolation centre, the nursing home must be registered under the Health Establishment Act 2016 and pass evaluation by the department or a provincial public health office.”

To pass the evaluation, the establishment must have suitable isolation rooms and adequate beds for Covid-19 patients.

Also, the nursing home’s medical staff must closely monitor patients’ condition and be ready to transport them to nearby hospitals in case they develop severe symptoms.

“Furthermore, certified nursing homes must have zones for Covid-19 patients, separate from normal residents/staffers, with different entrances/exits to prevent the virus from spreading,” Thares said.

“All rooms for Covid-19 patients must be properly ventilated or have separate air conditioning, and must be staffed with a different team from personnel providing normal care,” he said.

“The nursing homes should also have a teleconference or telemedicine system to communicate with patients to miminise the risk of infection, while relatives can only be in touch with patients online,” Thares added.

Published : April 20, 2022

By : THE NATION