Police commandos swooped down on four locations and arrested 17 Chinese suspects in a coordinated operation against call-centre scammers on Thursday.
Following a request by the Chinese Embassy, a team of 20 commandos raided a condominium on Soi Sukhumvit 39 and nabbed seven suspects, said Pol Maj-General Phanthana Nutchanart, head of the Police Cyber Taskforce.
Two of the seven have arrest warrants against them issued by China.
Police also searched three other locations and apprehended ten more suspects. Six have arrest warrants issued by China.
Phanthana said his taskforce was alerted by the Chinese Embassy to locate and arrest the 17 who allegedly ran a call-centre scam in Bangkok to dupe their fellow Chinese on the mainland.
He said two wanted suspects have flown the coop and are believed to have fled the country.
The searches led to the seizure of 19 notebook computers, 79 mobile phones, 167 SIM cards, Wi-Fi network repeaters, a gadget for remitting one-time passwords, 300 items for running an online gambling site, 14 luxury watches, 10 account books, three cars and one motorcycle, Phanthana added.
The Thai government has further relaxed Covid-19 measures in “orange” provinces as well as “blue” tourism provinces, allowing restaurants to remain open for two more hours for alcoholic drinks.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Thursday resolved to extend the time limit from 9pm to 11pm following a decline in Covid clusters from eateries and growing calls from business operators, CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said.
However, the extended drinking time applies only to restaurants that meet the “Covid-free setting” requirements under the Safety and Health Administration (SHA+) and Thai Stop Covid 2 Plus standards, the spokesman said.
During the long New Year holidays, entertainment venues operating as restaurants were blamed for a spike in new Covid cases, as many of them reportedly failed to implement strict preventive measures.
Taweesin said on Thursday that post-holiday infections linked to eateries have been on a decline after a time limit was imposed on alcohol consumption at those places.
At its meeting on Thursday, the CCSA also decided to reduce the number of “orange” provinces from 69 to 44 and “upgraded” the 25 provinces to the “yellow” zone under surveillance.
The eight “blue” tourism provinces — Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, Chonburi, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phang-nga and Phuket — remain unchanged.
To the delight of tourism operators, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) decided on Thursday to resume the Test & Go scheme but modified it to suit the Omicron situation.
The revised Test & Go scheme will be reintroduced on February 1 to travellers from all countries, the CCSA announced following a meeting chaired by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Under the original scheme, which was suspended on January 7 following a surge in new Covid-19 cases after arrival of the Omicron variant, fully vaccinated foreign tourists were required to book a hotel room for just one night. They were allowed to travel freely after testing negative via RT-PCR on check-in at their hotel.
But under the updated scheme, tourists are required to book a hotel room for at least five nights. The paid booking receipt is required as evidence for applying for entry via the Thailand Pass website.
The hotels they book must possess Safety and Health Administration (SHA) Plus certification or be allowed to serve as Covid-19 alternative quarantine facilities.
Tourists must undergo a RT-PCR test on the first day of arrival and again on the fifth day. If they test negative, they are free to travel to their destinations, the CCSA said.
The scheme also retains the requirement for tourists to purchase health insurance worth at least US$50,000. Additionally, they must have a negative RT-PCR test result within 72 hours before departure. Kids under 6 who travel with their parents will be exempted from the test.
Tourists are also required to provide certificates of full vaccinations or medical certificates that they have contracted and recovered from Covid-19 when they apply for entry via Thailand Pass.
Tourism business operators have been calling on the government to resume the Test & Go scheme to resuscitate the dying industry. They pointed out that the sandbox schemes in Phuket and three other provinces were not enough to revive the industry.
CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin noted that the committee decided to ease restrictions after the Covid-19 situation was seen to improve and stabilise.
He said new cases after the long New Year holidays were below worst-case scenarios, when it was feared these cases would rise to some 30,000 a day after the holidays.
On Thursday, the Public Health Ministry reported that there were 8,129 new Covid-19 cases and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Taweesilp said the graph of new Covid-19 fatalities was even lower than the expected projection line.
Due to the stabilised situation, the CCSA also decided to reduce the number of controlled or “orange-zone” provinces from 69 to 44, Taweesilp said.
The 25 provinces that were taken out of the orange zone were put under the “highly monitored” list of provinces, or the so-called yellow zone. Earlier, there were no provinces in this category.
People in yellow-zone provinces are allowed to consume alcohol in restaurants and events can be held with no more than 1,000 people, the doctor said.
He said the CCSA had heeded calls from business operators to extend the drinking time from 9pm to 11pm for restaurants in tourism pilot provinces, or the blue zone, as well as yellow-zone provinces.
The CCSA also heeded calls from pubs, bars and karoke shops to allow them to resume business after they adapted their venues to become restaurants.
He said these operators must obtain permission from provincial Covid-19 situation committees and their venues must meet SHA Plus or Thai Stop Covid 2 standards, while they need to enforce Covid-Free-Setting measures to be allowed to reopen as restaurants that can serve alcohol.
Due to the improved situation, the CCSA decided not to extend the Work From Home period for government agencies after this month-end, Taweesilp said.
He said large schools with 1,000 students outside orange-zone provinces may consult their provincial committees for resuming on-site studies provided they observe and implement strict Covid-19 preventive measures among students.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) on Thursday said there had been no reports of 5G signals in Thailand interfering with the radio altimeter, a device used by pilots to read the aircraft’s altitude above ground during the landing process.
“Radio altimeters usually use a frequency in the range of 4.2-4.4 gigahertz, or 4,200-4,400 megahertz, while 5G signals in Thailand are on the 2.6 Ghz frequency, which is quite far from that of the aviation device,” said the statement.
“CAAT has been monitoring the issue since June 2021 after the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] and the International Civil Aviation Organization had issued warnings to aviation authorities worldwide. Since then, there have been no reports of such an issue in Thailand, but the CAAT will keep monitoring the situation closely.”
The issue caught global media attention last week when the United States’ FAA said that some Boeing 787 passenger jets should take extra care when landing in wet or snowy conditions at airports near 5G towers.
“Interference from 5G signals could affect the planes’ altimeters, leading to delays in deploying the spoilers and thrust reversers that slow the aircraft down after landing,” the FAA said in a statement on January 14. “The presence of 5G C-Band interference can result in degraded deceleration performance, increased landing distance, and runway excursion.”
In simple terms, it suggests that an interference of signals could lead, in the worst-case scenario, to a plane running off the end of the runway.
“The issue in the United States has yet to be found in other countries, as telecom operators are usually required to use frequencies that are at least 100 to 200 Mhz away from the aviation frequency,” the CAAT said. “Furthermore, in Thailand the 5G base stations must be at least 200 metres away from aircraft landing areas to avoid creating any interference.”
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Environment Office has organized the “Bangkok Flora Festival” from January until July of this year as a New Year gift for Bangkok residents and to promote domestic tourism.
In January, the festival has been held at Wachirabenchathat Park, also known as Rod Fai Park in Chatuchak district, and features 30,000 sunflowers and other decorative plants in the 4-rai exhibition area.
The second phase of the festival will be held in March at Wanapirom Romklao Park in Lat Krabang district and will feature spider flowers as the highlight.
The third phase will be held in May at Mahakarn Fort Park in Phra Nakhon district. The event will focus on variety of cosmos.
The festival will be concluded in July at Chatuchak Park in Chatuchak district, where participants can appreciate the beauty of verbena finesse, among other flowers.
A total of 160,000 flowers are expected to be displayed throughout the four phases of the Bangkok Flora Festival, while participants must strictly adhere to Covid-19 preventive measures.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised related agencies for their efforts in helping Thailand’s Andaman Sea Nature Reserves make it to Unesco’s World Heritage tentative list, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Wednesday.
The Cabinet had approved the promotion of the natural reserves on November 16 and their names were submitted to the World Heritage Centre on December 18.
“The premier also urged related agencies to pay attention to natural resources for the benefit of citizens and the country,” Thanakorn said.
The spokesman cited Prayut as saying that once the Andaman Sea Nature Reserves are made World Heritage sites, related agencies must cooperate to ensure that the area’s ecosystem is up to standard.
“We believe that the Andaman Sea Nature Reserves will be another important tourist attraction for both Thais and foreigners, which would help boost the economy and create jobs for residents in the area,” he pointed out.
The Andaman Sea Nature Reserves cover six national parks in Ranong, Phang-nga and Phuket, They are:
The Public Health Ministry will not issue a school shutdown order if Covid-19 infections are found in only a few students, Department of Health deputy director-general Dr Sarawut Boonsuk said on Wednesday.
“However, a shutdown will be imposed if clusters crop up in schools,” he made it clear.
Sarawut said that if one or two confirmed cases were found in a classroom, the ministry would order the school to shut down the class for three days for a thorough clean-up. If confirmed cases were found in more than one class, the school must shut down the entire grade for three days for cleaning.
“To ensure everyone’s safety, schools may put a halt on all group activities and order students in high risk groups to take online classes only,” Sarawut said.
Since January 1 the number of infections among children aged 13-19 has risen more than children in other age groups, the Department of Health reported.
“From November 2021 to January 18, 2022, there was only one patient under 18 who died from Covid-19, which is a low mortality rate among children,” Sarawut pointed out.
So far, Thailand has vaccinated 4.5 million children in the age group of 12-18 with a first jab, or 88.4 per cent of around 5 million children in this group. Precisely 4.09 million children have received the second jab, or 79.6 per cent of this age group.
The Public Health Ministry expects to start vaccinating children aged 5-11 from mid-February.
A key Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meeting to be held on Thursday is expected to consider easing lockdown measures and reintroducing the Test & Go scheme, a news source reported on Thursday morning.
“It is speculated that the meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, will approve adjustments of Covid-19 zones to reflect the current situation,” the source said.
“Some 24-27 provinces in the orange zone [high infections] will be categorised as yellow , effectively reducing orange provinces from 69 to 42-45.”
Meanwhile, the blue zone provinces, or pilot tourism areas, will stay the same at eight.
The source also speculated that the CCSA meeting would allow restaurants in blue provinces to serve alcoholic beverages until 11pm, extending the current 9pm deadline.
“The CCSA meeting will also consider resuming the Test & Go scheme that has been suspended since December 21,” the source said. “The improved scheme will have new requirements, including using a mobile application to track visitors’ movements during the first seven days of their stay in Thailand, as well as mandatory RT-PCR tests.”
The source also said the CCSA would most likely approve the extension of the Covid-19 emergency decree for two months as the current period ends on January 31.
“[But] do not expect any discussion on reopening of pubs and bars, as these venues are still considered a high risk for causing clusters,” the source added.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (January 20) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 8,129 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 214 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 19, while 6,978 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 2,353,062 – 2,248,341 of whom have recovered, 82,734 are still in hospitals and 21,987 have died.
Separately, another 43,455 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 101,021 their second shot and 344,979 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 110,799,936.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 339.49 million on Thursday, 273.2 million of whom have recovered, 60.71 million are active cases (96,807 in severe condition) and 5.58 million have died (up by 8,808).
Thailand ranks 26th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 69.78 million, followed by India with 38.22 million, Brazil with 23.42 million, the UK with 15.51 million and France with 15.18 million.
The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Thursday (January 20) that the westerly trough moves through the North and the upper Central of Thailand while the southeasterly winds bring the moisture from the Gulf and the South China Sea to the lower Central and the East regions. Thundershowers, gusty winds and hails are forecast in these areas. People should beware of the severe condition by keeping off outdoor places, big trees and unsecured billboards. Farmers should prevent for crop damage.
The high-pressure system still covers the upper country and the South China Sea, resulting in cool to cold weather and light fog in the morning. Mountaintops in the North and the Northeast are cold to very cold with temperature in range of 7-15 °C.
The Department also mentioned that the weak northeast monsoon prevails across the Gulf of Thailand and brings isolated thundershowers to the South.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is as follows:
North: Cool weather in the morning and thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas with gusty winds and hails; temperature lows of 16-20 degrees and highs of 24-32 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 7-14 degrees Celsius.
Northeast: Cool to cold weather with light fog in the morning and isolated light rains; temperature lows of 13-18 degrees and highs of 27-32 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 9-15 degrees Celsius.
Central: Cool weather with light fog in the morning and thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 19-22 degrees, highs of 32-33 degrees Celsius.
East: Cool weather with light fog in the morning and thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 19-23 degrees, highs of 31-33 degrees Celsius; waves less than a meter high and about a meter high offshore.
South (east coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 20-25 degrees, highs of 30-33 degrees Celsius; waves 1-2 meters high and 2 meters high during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 21-25 degrees, highs of 32-35 degrees Celsius; waves less than a meter high and about a meter high offshore.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Partly cloudy with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 21-25 degrees, highs of 31-34 degrees Celsius.
He said two wanted suspects have flown the coop and are believed to have fled the country.
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