Eleven electric buses from Electric Vehicles Thailand Plc (EVT) will offer free rides to Bangkok commuters on two routes – Din Daeng-BTS Sanampao and Rom Klao-Airport Link Lat Krabang.
“The two routes are part of a pilot project to build a comprehensive network of buses that use 100 per cent electricity,” EVT chief executive officer Nuchanat Wasurat said on Tuesday.
“The company had been selected by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration [BMA] for the project, which aims to increase the use of electric vehicles and reduce air pollution in the city,” she said.
“We expect to sign a contract with the BMA soon and estimate the project will start in mid-2022,” Nuchanat said.
“The Din Daeng route will have six buses while the Rom Klao route will have five. Each bus can carry 20 passengers and the fare will be free during the pilot phase,” she said.
The Din Daeng route runs from Din Daeng district office to Bangkok City Hall 2, Veterans General Hospital and BTS Sanampao station before returning to Din Daeng district office.
The Rom Klao route runs from Rom Klao Housing Community to Queen Sirikit 60th Anniversary Garden and Airport Link Lat Krabang before heading back to the housing community.
“If the pilot project is successful, we expect to see more electric bus routes connecting Bangkok train stations such as the Green, Red and Pink lines to provide a seamless network of public transport powered purely by electricity,” she added.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is readying medical professionals to provide Covid-19 vaccine to children aged 5-11 at their schools in the province, while those over 12 years old can now get the jab at Bangkok Youth Center (Thai – Japanese).
“We will provide vaccination under a school-based system for children aged 5-11 in Bangkok areas soon,” said Panrudee Manophaiboon, director of BMA Health Office on Tuesday. “We have compiled the list of all children qualified to get the jab who already provided their parents’ consent, and are allocating medical professionals to administer the jabs at their schools.”
“As for children aged over 12 years in Bangkok areas, they can get a Covid-19 jab at Kilawes 2 Building in the Bangkok Youth Center (Thai – Japanese) in Din Daeng district,” she added. “The vaccination centre there can provide jabs to around 2,000 people daily. Recipients can either walk-in or pre-register online via QueQ application.”
The BMA Health Office will also distribute printed media to schools in the province detailing how-to and suggestions to prepare children before and after getting Covid-19 vaccine. The office has urged all vaccine recipients to register on Mor Phrom application which tracks vaccination history and side effects for future reference.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday (January 12) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 7,681 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 12 of whom have been found in prisons.
Death toll increased by 22, while 3,350 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 2,292,290 – 2,204,135 of whom have recovered, 66,286 are still in hospitals and 21,869 have died.
Separately, another 49,784 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 133,047 their second shot and 330,377 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 107,271,904.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 314.18 million on Wednesday, 261.79 million of whom have recovered, 46.87 million are active cases (95,475 in severe condition) and 5.52 million have died (up by 7,847).
Thailand ranks 25th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 63.39 million, followed by India with 36.06 million, Brazil with 22.63 million, the UK with 14.73 million and France with 12.57 million.
The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Wednesday (January 12) that another moderate high-pressure system covers the Northeast of Thailand and the South China Sea. Cool to cold weather, strong winds and a decrease in temperature by 1-4 °C are forecast in the Northeast while the North, the Central and the East will experience cool morning with light fog.
Mountaintops in the North and the Northeast are cold to very cold with temperature ranging from 4 to 14 °C.
The Department also mentioned that the northeast monsoon across the Gulf of Thailand and the South becomes stronger and brings isolated thundershowers to the lower South.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is as follows:
North: Cool to cold weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 15-18 degrees and highs of 29-36 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 4-14 degrees Celsius.
Northeast: Cool to cold weather and strong winds; temperature lows of 14-18 degrees and highs of 29-32 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 7-14 degrees Celsius.
Central: Cool weather with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 19-21 degrees, highs of 32-34 degrees Celsius.
East: Cool weather with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 18-23 degrees, highs of 31-33 degrees Celsius; waves less than a meter high and over a meter high offshore.
South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 20-24 degrees, highs of 30-32 degrees Celsius; waves 1-2 meters high and about 2 meters high during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Mostly cloudy with isolated light rains; temperature lows of 22-25 degrees, highs of 33-34 degrees Celsius; waves less than a meter high and about a meter high offshore.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Cool weather with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 21-23 degrees, highs of 32-35 degrees Celsius.
Foreign applicants for Thai citizenship must now pass a Thai language test, under new rules approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday. Foreign applicants must take an exam set by the Nationality Application Committee or show proof they are studying at an Education Ministry school.
Under the new rules, applicants must be able to speak and understand Thai. The old rules only required applicants to “have knowledge of the Thai language”.
Applying for Thai citizenship has also become more expensive
The Cabinet approved doubling the application fee from 5,000 baht to 10,000 baht.
The application fee for children rises from 2,500 baht to 5,000 baht.
Meanwhile the certificate of naturalisation now costs 1,000 baht, up from 500 baht.
Application for recovery of Thai nationality costs 2,000 baht.
The new processing deadline for applications is 90 days, or 120 days for applications filed from abroad.
Benefits of Thai citizenship include being able to buy property, work without a visa, and own a Thai company.
Phuket is adding 300 hotel isolation rooms for foreign travellers who test positive for Covid-19, after a marked increase in infections. Last week, Phuket’s daily infection rate rose from 238 new cases on Wednesday to 742 on Sunday.
The Phuket Tourism Association found that some tourists had to wait for insurance claims or alternative quarantine accommodation after testing positive. Not all had funds available to do this, it added.
In response, it established the Travellers Communication Isolation (TCI) centre to accommodate this group of tourists. The move will see 300 Hotel Isolation Rooms open on Wednesday (January 12) at three Phuket hotels.
The Communicable Disease Committee has instructed Phuket hotels to offer 5 per cent of their rooms to the Hotel Isolation Room programme for tourists who test positive.
Phuket’s infection rate is rising among both locals and foreign tourists under the sandbox and Test & Go schemes, according to authorities. Those arriving on Phuket are screened twice, with 1 per cent currently testing positive in the first test and about 4 per cent in the second.
Phuket is still receiving about 4,200 bookings per day from foreign tourists, according to the tourism association. Most arrivals are from Germany, Russia, the UK, US and France.
The Cabinet on Tuesday earmarked 18.16 billion baht for nine mega-projects in Bangkok, namely: • Bridge over the Chao Phraya River connecting Kiakkai intersection with Saphan Dang intersection.
• Second bridge over the Chao Phraya River from Kiakkai intersection (Section 5) connecting to elevated motorways and routes from Kamphaeng Phet Road to Phaholyothin Road.
• The Phraya Ratchamontri drainage tunnel from Phasi Charoen to Sanam Chai canal.
• Reinforced concrete dam in the Bang Phai Canal running from Khlong Phraya Ratchamontri to the canal’s end in Greater Bangkok.
• Reinforced concrete dam with a wastewater collection system in Saen Saep Canal from Min Buri floodgate to Nong Chok floodgate.
• Reinforced concrete dam in Bang Na from Kret canal to Chao Phraya River.
• Extension of drainage tunnel under Bang Sue canal from Ratchadaphisek Road to Lat Phrao canal.
• Phase 2 of the Min Buri wastewater treatment project
• Preventing and solving coastal erosion problems in Bang Khunthien.
The Cabinet has in principle approved measures to support women in the civil service as proposed by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.
The aim is to protect the female workforce, strengthen their finances and boost men’s role in raising children.
The measures approved on Tuesday include:
• Child development facilities: Nurseries or creches will be set up for children up to the age of three, with opening and closing times adjusted based on parents’ working hours.
• Promoting paternity leave: New fathers will be given time off to help look after their newborns. They will also be given the option of using up their 15-day paternity leave in batches instead of in one go.
• Extending paid maternity leave: Civil servants can now take 98 days paid maternity leave – up by eight days – and can extend their leave by another 90 days at half the salary. In all, women can take up to 188 days or about six months off as maternity leave.
Previously, women were only allowed 90 days paid maternity leave and could take another 60 days without pay.
Thai livestock officials on Tuesday launched urgent action after discovering the much-feared African swine fever (ASF) in a province neighbouring Bangkok.
The Livestock Development Department said a sample collected from a slaughterhouse in Nakhon Pathom tested positive for ASF, prompting emergency actions to stop the virus from spreading. Department chief Sorawit Thanito has declared a 5-kilometre containment zone around the slaughterhouse.
The infected sample was among a batch of more than 300 samples collected from pig farms and slaughterhouses in Ratchaburi and Nakhon Pathom on January 8-9. All other samples tested negative for ASF, said Sorawit. Livestock officials are now tracing the source of the infected pig while liaising with the Pig Farmers Association, the Thailand Veterinary Dean Consortium and other agencies on how to contain the spread of the virus. The department also called an emergency meeting of its ASF containment committee. Sorawit noted that ASF virus does not cause disease in humans, so pork is safe to consume provided it is cooked at a temperature higher than 70 degrees Celsius. Thai authorities earlier this week denied ASF was behind a shortage of pork supplies and soaring prices in Thailand.
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