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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011597

The National Communicable Disease Committee has set guidelines on the designation of Covid-19 as an endemic, hopefully within this year, the top official at the Public Health Ministry said on Thursday.

After prevailing for more than two years, the ministry believes that Covid-19 is now under control, with infections less severe and the situation improving, ministry permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit said.

The ministry’s national panel, chaired by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, resolved on Thursday that Thailand must not allow Covid-19 to become an endemic naturally but instead needs to set guidelines for the transformation, Kiattiphum disclosed after the committee’s meeting.

According to the top official, the three major factors for Covid-19 to be designated an endemic are:

▪️no more than one death per 1,000 cases;

▪️vaccination of at least 80 per cent of the population for protection against the Omicron variant, and;

▪️ the health system’s satisfactory efficiency in treating patients.

“We agreed on the guidelines to deal with Covid-19 as an endemic. It will take some time and you can’t tell exactly when,” he said.

“The implementation plan, measures and goal have been set for [Covid-19] to be treated as an endemic. When all the factors are available as required, a declaration will be made. That must be done within 2022,” Dr Kiattiphum said.

When asked if Thailand should wait until the World Health Organization declares Covid-19 an endemic, the permanent secretary responded that the country could make the designation when all the requirements are met.

Asked if people would be required to wear masks when Covid-19 becomes an endemic, Kiattiphum said measures would be announced later. He urged people to get booster shots soon in order to raise their immunity.

An endemic occurs occasionally and can be brought under control despite mutations, he said, adding that it would be similar to regular cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever and influenza.

Published : January 27, 2022

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011596

Surat Thani Immigration Police have arrested a Myanmar man for allegedly smuggling six of his compatriots into Thailand last year.

The Immigration Police announced on Thursday that Bumaw, 46, was spotted and arrested on a road in Tambon Talad in the Muang district of Surat Thani province on Wednesday.

Police said the man was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Surat Thani Court on September 29.

In September last year, Immigration Police arrested a Thai man, Ahlee Toh-said, and six Myanmar nationals who sneaked across the border from Malaysia. They were arrested in Tambon Bang Kung in Muang district. The six Myanmar people told police that they were heading to Bangkok.

Ahlee implicated Bumaw, saying the Myanmar national had hired him to smuggle the six to stay at a house provided by Bumaw before they would be transported to Bangkok.

Police later obtained an arrest warrant against Bumaw.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011595

Several Phuket government officials on Wednesday pledged to make necessary improvements after a British journalist’s criticism of the province’s “hospitel” facilities.

The British journalist, Jonathan Miller, had written a column in “The Times” newspaper about a hospitel facility in Phuket, criticising that tourists are living as paying prisoners there.

“Hospitels” are hotels partnering hospitals capable of providing comprehensive medical care for patients with less severe symptoms. Reacting to the criticism, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew said he has instructed officials to investigate the case.

He said the province is ready to address valid criticisms of the hospitel system but would rebut any information that was not true.

Narong insisted that tourists still have confidence in the province’s public health management as evidenced by 2,500 to 3,500 visitors entering Phuket each day.

He also believes that more tourists would visit the province once the “Test and Go” scheme is reopened from February 1.

Meanwhile, the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office, Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, said visitors who test positive for Covid-19 and develop mild symptoms could receive medical treatment at hospitels or hospitals.

She said the TAT will cooperate with Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, hospitals and other related agencies to ensure that tourists and hotel operators adhere to Covid-19 prevention measures.

“To contain the spread of Covid-19 and relieve the stress of tourists, TAT will create awareness among tourists that they can do activities inside the hospitel area, but cannot leave the facility,” she said.

She added that TAT has issued guidelines to take care of tourists visiting Phuket, which had been forwarded to its 29 offices worldwide to create awareness among foreigners.

Phuket Tourist Association president Phumkit Raktaengam said the province had reached an agreement to take care of tourists as follows:

• Beds at hospitals should be reserved for patients who develop severe symptoms.
• Hospitels are set up to take care of patients with mild symptoms for 10 days.
• Hotel operators in Phuket have been asked to reserve 5 per cent of their rooms to treat tourists with mild symptoms.
• Community isolation facilities have been set up to support patients with mild symptoms from other provinces.

He denied Miller’s criticism, saying that the hospitel’s move to allow tourists to engage in activities outside their rooms was aimed at relieving stress. He also denied that the hospitel had held a party.

“We will create awareness on activities that tourists can do later,” he said.

He added that the association would address some of the criticisms by the journalist and ask the hospitel to improve facilities, such as internet, TV signal and swimming pool.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011594

An important bill to amend the traffic law to improve public safety may be enacted in time for enforcement in July, a member of the House committee on transportation said on Thursday.

Chart Thai Pattana party-list MP Nikorn Chamnong was speaking to reporters after a meeting of the committee at Parliament.

The panel conducted the meeting on pedestrian safety at zebra crossings after female doctor Waralak Supawat-Jariyakul was killed by a speeding big bike at a crossing on a Bangkok road on Friday.

The panel invited representatives of the Road Accident Prevention and Mitigation Committee, the Land Transport Department, the Royal Thai Police and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to the meeting.

Nikorn said the House panel had proposed an amendment bill to increase public safety on roads long before the tragic accident.

The bill seeks to have a separate licence for big bike riders and will increase the current Bt1,000 fine to Bt4,000 for violators of traffic signs, Nikorn said.

He said the amendment bill is pending deliberation by the Senate, which is scheduled to review it on January 31. Once the bill is approved, it will be sent back to the House for reaffirmation if major changes are made to it and the bill will subsequently be sent for royal command and enacted, Nikorn said.

He said the House panel proposed that there should be on-demand traffic lights at all zebra crossings so pedestrians could use the red light for motorists to stop.

“It’s not right to have pedestrians run across the crossing and risk their lives,” Nikorn pointed out.

He said the House panel doesn’t want the doctor’s death to be in vain, so it would summarise its proposals and send them to concerned government agencies later for implementation.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011592

The Royal Thai Navy set up an emergency operations centre on Thursday to handle a major oil spill off Rayong’s coast, with officials confident that the situation would ease in about five days.

Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatpalin, spokesman of the Royal Thai Navy, held a press conference to announce the establishment of the emergency centre.

Also present at the press conference were Pornpimol Charoensong, director of the Water Quality Control Division of the Pollution Control Department, Pithak Wattanapongpisal, director of the Marine Safety and Environment Office of the Marine Department, and Dr Pornsri Sutthanarak, deputy director-general of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department.

The emergency centre will coordinate with other government agencies to dispose of the spilled crude oil as fast as possible, the spokesman promised.

He said the centre instructed the First Naval Area to set up an on-scene command to draft strategies for disposing of the oil.

Rear Admiral Wichanu Thupa-ang, director of the Security Affairs Office of the Naval Operation Department, said the operation would involve using buoys to trap the spilled oil and a skimmer to suck the oil into tanks for disposal later by the Industry Department.

The Navy will also use buoys to try to re-direct the oil – that was heading ashore – into the deep sea, where it will be trapped and disposed of.

As for the oil that has already reached the shore, officials will use water hoses to wash rocks and bulldozers to scoop up contaminated sand for removal.

Each disposal team would work only four hours a day and would be in full protective gear to avoid direct contact with dangerous chemicals, Wichanu said.

Star Petroleum Refining said in a statement that the oil started leaking at 9.06pm on Tuesday at its single point mooring – a floating jetty that allows petroleum tankers to transfer crude oil for the company’s refinery in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

Star Petroleum initially announced that the leak could be as high as 400,000 litres, but Pithak said the company in its latest estimation claimed the spill involved 20,000 to 50,000 litres, judging from some 5,300 litres of crude oil left over from the leakage.

Pithak said an aerial survey by a helicopter seemed to confirm that the spilled oil was about 20,000 litres.

He said the clean-up operation could take about five days but this would also depend on the weather. There are currently no strong winds, so the spilled oil was drifting slowly towards the shore, Pithak added.

He said the Navy’s help had been sought to monitor the wind direction and the floating oil mass.

Pornsri told the press conference that the Marine and Coastal Resources Department would sue the company that caused the spill. The money would be used to rehabilitate the environment following any impact in the future.

She made it clear that if the spill reached the coast, it could affect 150 rai of coral and 300 rai of seagrass, and it could take time to rehabilitate the environment after the damage.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011590

An epidemiologist and medical lecturer at Chulalongkorn University on Thursday has warned Thais to strictly protect themselves as the spread of the Omicron variant in the country has not peaked yet.

Thira Woratanrat posted on his Facebook wall that figures from other continents were an indicator the Omicron wave in Thailand and other Asian countries had not peaked yet.

Thira said Omicron started spreading in Asia after other continents and it was on the uptrend and but yet to hit highs like in other continents.

He noted that Thailand’s decision to open the country to foreign tourists could lead to various Covid-19 strains entering the country.

He said the most worrying virus now is a new Omicron variant, called BA.2 variant.

“From the timing and environment related to national policies, I can say it’s not our peak yet,” Thira said.

“It’s extremely necessary for us to strictly protect ourselves every day. We must wear masks all the time; two layers of masks — an inner surgical mask and an outer cloth mask,” Thira said.

He urged Thais to observe social distancing and meet other people only when necessary and spend the least time with them.

The medical lecturer also urged Thais to prepare all necessary medicine at home and buy rapid antigen test kits for home use in case some family members fall ill.

“Please be aware that you may get long Covid symptoms because Covid-19 is not a common cold,” he wrote.

The medical lecturer also noted that more children in the United States had contracted Omicron but the US has passed its Omicron peak.

He said the Omicron peak has affected the US seriously and the number of infections was much higher than in previous Covid-19 waves.

Although Omicron had caused less severe symptoms, the number of American people receiving hospitalisation and emergency care was higher than in previous waves, he noted.

Thira said the new Omicron BA.2 variant spread much faster than the BA.1 variant, so the situation is worrying.

Omicron infections have reached 362 million worldwide with 3.34 million new cases recorded on Wednesday, the epidemiologist said.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011589

The Civil Court on Thursday started accepting online petitions from consumers who had fallen victims to online shopping fraud, Court of Justice spokesman Sorawis Limparangsi said.

The court’s newly opened division officially starting operating from Thursday, and will deal directly with online shopping cases.

Consumers who suffer damage from online shopping can now file their petition with the court through an electronic filing system at any time and at no cost, the spokesman said.

Also, the Court of Justice will later sign an agreement on cooperation for protection of online shoppers with the Consumer Protection Board, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the Food and Drugs Administration, the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Execution Department, the Royal Thai Police, and the Thailand Consumers Council, Sorawis said.

The agreement calls for exchange of information and a common plan and goal for protection, remedy and dispute settlement involving online shopping consumers.

The new Civil Court division was set up after several thousands of complaints from online shoppers who did not get the goods they had ordered or received ones with different quality, size or colour from what was advertised.

More than 80 per cent of the fraud complaints came from consumers who had ordered via fraudulent Facebook users, according to the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry. Its hotline has received some 2,000 complaints on average each month about online fraud.

Last year, the ministry received more than 33,000 complaints involving online shopping fraud, up by over 50 per cent from over 20,000 a year earlier.

More than half of the complaints involved three groups of goods — fashion items, home products, and IT equipment, according to the DES Ministry.

Published : January 27, 2022

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011581

The Agriculture Ministry plans to seek an emergency fund of Bt2.9 billion to combat African Swine Fever (ASF) and will consult China as well as Vietnam and other countries next week on measures to tackle it.

Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on unveiled the plan after a meeting of the national committee on the prevention of ASF.

He said the committee received a report that the ASF virus was detected in 13 provinces from January 10 to 25 – Nakhon Pathom, Bangkok, Buri Ram, Suphan Buri, Phang-nga, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon, Mahasakham, Mae Hong Son, Si Sa Ket, Khon Kaen, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Nong Bua Lampu.

“On February 3, the Livestock Development Department will consult with its counterparts in China, Vietnam and other countries where ASF has been detected to implement measures for dealing with it,” Chalermchai said.

After the department drafts a comprehensive plan to contain the spread of ASF, the Agriculture Ministry will seek Bt2.93 billion from an urgent central fund for the measures. The amount will include remedies for small-time pig farmers, Chalermchai added.

He said livestock officials will comb the rest of the country to check if ASF has spread to other provinces.

The minister said not all the 13 provinces were declared ASF zones. The Livestock Department has only declared spread zones within a 5km radius of areas where the virus was found.

During the meeting, the committee was informed that 202 pigs had died of ASF in the 13 provinces and officials have culled 425 of the animals to contain the spread.

The committee learned that there are now 107,157 pig farmers in the country, a 43 per cent drop from 189,152 in 2021.

The Livestock Department told the meeting that Bt1.48 billion will be used for containment measures while the rest would be used to pay compensation and for rehabilitation of small-time pig farmers.

The department also proposed that the Agriculture Ministry instruct the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to set aside a budget of Bt45 billion as a soft loan for affected pig farmers.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011580

The massive oil spill off Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong came from 160,000 litres that leaked from a floating jetty, not 400,000 as reported earlier, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources director-general Sophon Thongdee said on Wednesday, citing a report from Star Petroleum Refining, operator of the offshore facility.

He said 80 per cent of the oil spill has been “eliminated” with dispersant, confirming the spill will not wash up on shore.

“The oil spill has not affected marine and coastal resources,” Sophon said. “However, we will bring in academics to assess the environmental impact, both short term and long term.”

Sophon said the department would demand compensation from Star Petroleum Refining in a bid to prevent a similar occurrence.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011577

Thai-Chinese people are buying a large amount of fresh food as offering for Chinese New Year, leading to increasing demand, Department of Internal Trade (DIT) director-general Wattanasak Sur-iam said on Wednesday.

According to him, the prices of most products are either stable or have increased “slightly”, except for pork.

The DIT has urged pig sellers to keep prices “stable”, between 100 and 110 baht per kilogramme during the festival. Pigs currently go for 104 baht per kg.

The department has placed a limit on the price of retail pork – 205-210 baht per kilogramme. It has also put a cap on the price of chicken.

The DIT has asked malls to cooperate in keeping prices down.

Wattanasak said market pork prices are stable and even decreasing after the DIT held discussions with the Swine Raisers Association of Thailand, slaughterhouses, and malls. He asked people who come across “ridiculous” pork prices to inform the department via hotline 1569.

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Wattanasak said Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit had ordered 55 patrol units to carry out a price survey in Bangkok and nearby provinces.

He warned that sellers who do not put price tags on products or those who increase prices “too much” will be charged.

He also said stores that increase prices unfairly will be removed from the Thong Fah (Blue Flag) scheme.

In provinces, governors will set up patrol units with related organisations to monitor food prices and quantity.

Wattanasak admitted that the price of bottled palm oil has increased this year because the palm price rose to 11 baht per kilogramme. However, the Office of Agricultural Economics expects production to increase and more palm oil to come on the market, leading to a better situation in February or March.

He said he was monitoring the situation and asked manufacturers and malls to cooperate so the price won’t soar.

Wattanasak also asked manufacturers of soybean oil to cap the price at 55 baht per bottle.

Published : January 27, 2022

By : THE NATION