The National Health Security Office has so far paid Bt1.509 billion as compensation to 12,714 people who developed side-effects after they received Covid-19 vaccines.
The NHSO reported on Wednesday that from May 19, 2021 to March 8, 2022, a total of 15,933 people had filed complaints of negative reactions to Covid-19 vaccines.
The NHSO said 2,328 complaints were rejected after it ruled that the side-effects were not related to the vaccinations.
The NHSO added that 891 cases were pending consideration.
Of the rejected cases, 875 complainants are appealing against the earlier decision of the NHSO.
Deputy Transport Minister Athirat Rattanaseth on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion and fire at an oil tanker in Samut Prakan province that caused a worker’s death.
Athirat rushed to the pier of IRPC Plc on Soi Suksawad 45 in Samut Prakan’s Phra Pradaeng district after an oil tanker, Smooth Sea II, caught fire following an explosion at about 9.20am on Wednesday morning.
Athirat assigned a team of officials to help rescue volunteers to search for a missing worker. His body was found soon after the minister arrived at the scene.
The minister said three other workers, who were injured following the fire, have been sent to hospital and they have been declared safe.
The four workers jumped from the oil tanker when the explosion occurred. Three of them managed to swim to the pier while the other worker drowned.
Athirat said he had also assembled a second team of experts, which will go on board the oil tanker to check and investigate the cause of the explosion.
The minister said that IRPC has confirmed the oil tanker was now safe for forensic examination. The oil tanker was reportedly empty when the explosion occurred.
Athirat said he was not sure how long the experts would take for examination of the oil tanker but the tanker and the pier would be declared off-limits for now.
The minister said a third team of officials would work with district officials to check whether 200 families in three nearby communities had been affected by toxic smoke from the oil tanker.
If the people were affected, the authorities would provide them full assistance, Athrat added.
Meanwhile, Samut Prakan police chief Pol Maj-General Chumpol Pumpuang said the affected people can file complaints at Phra Pradaeng Police Station.
They must show their identification card and household registration and photos of their damaged assets or physical injuries to file complaints with police.
The National Communicable Disease Committee (NCDC) on Wednesday approved measures for dealing with Covid-19 during a four-month transitional period before it is declared an endemic disease.
The measures were approved during a NCDC meeting at the Public Health Ministry chaired by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Anutin said several countries are now making preparations for treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease but Thailand’s measures are aimed at striking a balance of protecting public health while driving the economy on the road to recovery.
At the end of the transitional period, no more Covid tests will be required and all nightlife entertainment places will be allowed to operate as usual.
Anutin said that during the transitional period, the government will still retain preventive and disease-tracking measures, vaccinations and legal measures that will change according to the situation.
During the four-month transitional period, the Public Health Ministry will focus on the factors for considering whether Covid-19 has reached endemic status, Anutin said.
He explained that the ministry would consider the reproduction rate of the virus and the death rate in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s standard that says an endemic disease must see a death rate no higher than one in 1,000.
Other factors are people’s access to medicine, Anutin said.
He said the meeting asked the Disease Control Department to analyse Covid-19-related deaths to find out the exact causes.
He said the department was also asked to consider how to adjust social measures once the Covid-19 emergency is abolished.
The Public Health Ministry will also speed up vaccinations of people in risk groups and for some 2 million elderly people who have not been inoculated. Those who have not received a booster dose will also be advised to get one before the Songkran holidays, Anutin added.
Ministry permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit said after the NCDC meeting that the number of new Covid infections was expected to decrease to some 1,000 to 2,000 a day in late June and the public health system would be able to cope with them.
Kiattiphum said the four-month transitional period is divided into four phases.
The first phase begins from March 12 to early April and is regarded as an upward trend of the pandemic, in which the ministry will retain strict control measures.
During the first period, travellers from abroad will be required to undergo a RT-PCR test on the first day of their arrival and an antigen test on the fifth day. Those who have not been vaccinated will be quarantined for 10 days.
The second phase, from April to May, is expected to see a spread rate that is still high, and foreign travellers will be required to have antigen tests on the first and fifth days of their arrival. Unvaccinated tourists will be required to quarantine for five days.
The third phase, to start from late May to June, is expected to be a time when new infections slow down. Unvaccinated tourists will be required to undergo an antigen test at the airport, Kiattiphum said.
In the fourth or last phase starting from June 30, Covid-19 is expected to become endemic and foreign travellers will no longer be required to undergo any tests, he added.
During the first and second phases, the ministry would retain strict measures for tracing Covid to prevent it spreading among large groups of people.
During the third and final phases, the ministry aims to focus on checking for people who develop severe symptoms to prevent deaths.
Kiattiphum added that during the first and second phases, risky venues such as pubs and bars would still be closed, but be allowed to resume business in the third phase.
Three workers were injured and another went missing after an explosion occurred on an oil tanker moored at a dock in Samut Prakan on Wednesday morning.
Residents of Soi Suksawad 45 and Marine Department officials said the blast was heard on the Smooth Sea oil tanker at 9.20am. The tanker was docked at the IRPC pier.
The explosion produced a billow of black smoke above the oil tanker.
Firefighters from the IRPC and local administration rushed to the scene to fight the blaze and managed to bring it under control at 10.30am.
Four injured workers on the vessel jumped overboard to escape the fire. Three managed to swim to the pier while the fourth went missing, officials said.
A search is on for the missing worker.
The officials have yet to announce the cause of the blast or the extent of the injuries suffered by the workers.
The oil carried by the 3,043-tonne Smooth Sea has a flash point of lower than 60 degrees Celsius.
Firefighters continued to douse the tanker with water to prevent more fires.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket office has set up a call centre to help stranded Russian and Ukrainian tourists.
Office director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri said Russians were the number one visitors to Phuket before the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted, followed by Germans, English, French and Swedish.
She said approximately 2,200 Russian tourists were stranded in the province after that country’s national airline announced a suspension of flight services.
Nanthasiri Ronnasiri
“TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn has ordered the office and other pilot areas to set up call centres to assist stranded Russian and Ukrainian tourists regarding accommodation and financial issues,” Nanthasiri said.
“The office is also working with the Phuket Tourist Association [PTA] and the Andaman Guide Association on hiring Russian-language guides to receive calls.”
Meanwhile, PTA president Bhummikitti Ruktaengam said the association had implemented guidelines to seek a new market to compensate for a sudden lack of incoming Russian tourists.
The PTA had meanwhile handed a circular to association members, asking them to take care of Russian and Ukrainian tourists stranded in the province, he added.
A cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved a waiver of excise tax for B0 diesel (diesel with less than 0.005 per cent of sulfur) and fuel oil used in electricity generation until September 15.
The move aims to help reduce the cost of electricity generation for domestic use, deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said on Tuesday.
Ratchada said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) currently uses natural gas to produce about 60 per cent of electricity consumed in the country. However, due to the rising global price and a weakening baht, the cost of electricity production has been on the rise. Egat is therefore looking to switch to using B0 diesel and fuel oil as the main fuels for electricity generation instead of natural gas.
“The waving of excise tax on B0 diesel and fuel oil for six months will help bring down the cost of electricity generation and therefore reduce power bills by 1-1.5 baht per unit,” said Ratchada.
“Furthermore, the manufacturing cost of consumer products will also go down due to a lowered electricity cost for factories,” she added.
A cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s (CCSA) proposal to retain the number of Songkran holidays at three days – from April 13 to 15 – said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
With these three days being combined with the weekend of April 16-17, the Songkran Festival will be a five-day holiday this year.
In the past, the government had sometimes announced additional holidays before or after Songkran to form a longer holiday period in a bid to promote tourism. However, due to the Omicron variant spreading fast this year, the CCSA believed it was best to minimise the number of holidays to prevent a spike in infections from interprovincial travel during the festival, he said.
“During the meeting, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered all relevant agencies to organise Songkran activities only under strict disease control measures to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further,” said Thanakorn.
“The Public Health Ministry also reported that it had drafted additional measures to be implemented during the holidays to ensure people’s safety from the disease.”
In the next CCSA meeting, the Public Health, Tourism & Sports and Culture ministries will discuss the measures to ensure that they can be enforced at Songkran activities nationwide, Thanakorn added.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday (March 9) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 22,073 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 92 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 69, while 24,747 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 865,438.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 3,088,873 – 2,843,850 of whom have recovered, 221,585 are still in hospitals and 23,438 have died.
Separately, another 55,820 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 18,227 their second shot and 88,932 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 125,199,011.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 449.99 million on Wednesday, 384.22 million of whom have recovered, 59.73 million are active cases (69,631 in severe condition) and 6.04 million have died (up by 6,807).
Thailand ranks 33rd in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 81.01 million, followed by India with 42.98 million, Brazil with 29.14 million, France with 23.16 million and the UK with 19.31 million.
Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai on Tuesday hoped for cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, but warned a breakthrough for peace will not be easy.
He said every party wants to see the situation return to normal, adding that related parties are currently negotiating to resolve the conflict.
“Even though it is not easy, it should be done to make the situation return to normal as soon as possible, otherwise it would cause an impact on security, the economy and citizens’ lives,” he said.
He said the Cabinet is monitoring the situation closely to deal with the upcoming impact, while reiterating that no one wants the conflict to prolong.
He said Thailand’s participation in the Asean-US meeting would not affect relations between Thailand and Russia, as the holding of the meeting had been decided at the end of last year, before the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted.
He also confirmed that the Thai government would do its best to take care of Russians and Ukrainians stranded in Thailand, especially those who are facing problems using international money transfer services.
An F-16A fighter jet of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) crashed in Chaiyaphum province on Tuesday afternoon, however the pilot escaped as he ejected in time.
Air Force spokesman AVM Prapas Sonjaidee said the accident happened at 1.40pm in the Chaturas district of Chaiyaphum province.
Prapas said the F-16A plane, bearing No. 10331, belonged to the103rd fleet of the Air Wing 1. It was the first plane of the Flying Unit 2 of the fleet.
Prapas said the fighter jet developed a malfunction during training. The pilot managed to exit and landed safely in a parachute.
The spokesman added that a rescue operation team of the Air Force reached the site and rescued the pilot after the accident.
Prapas said an aviation accident probe committee of the RTAF would visit the crash site to investigate the cause of the crash.
Prapas conveyed the RTAF’s thanks to local people and rescue volunteers who came to the assistance of the pilot, but he urged the public to stay away from the crash site.
Athirat said he had also assembled a second team of experts, which will go on board the oil tanker to check and investigate the cause of the explosion.
Meanwhile, Samut Prakan police chief Pol Maj-General Chumpol Pumpuang said the affected people can file complaints at Phra Pradaeng Police Station.
The officials have yet to announce the cause of the blast or the extent of the injuries suffered by the workers.
Nanthasiri Ronnasiri
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