The United Kingdom will remove Thailand from its Covid-19 red list as of 4am on October 11, after which fully vaccinated travellers from Thailand will be allowed to enter the country without having to quarantine.
However, those to land on British soil before this will have to follow red-list rules.
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is concerned that tourists may not be interested in Thailand if the country takes too long to open its doors.
FTI chairman Suphan Mongkolsuthee said it is safe for Thailand to open since 40 to 50 per cent of its population has been vaccinated.
Also, he said, the number of daily cases has dropped, and Thailand has the facilities to treat Covid-19 patients. However, he said, the authorities should speed up the vaccination rate in the business sector before reopening the country.
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Suphan predicted that Thailand’s gross domestic product will grow by less than 1 per cent as the number of tourists visiting under sandbox schemes was lower than expected.
He said that though the economy is showing signs of recovery and economic activities have resumed after the lifting of lockdown, the government still needs to lend a helping hand to small businesses. He said most SMEs cannot reopen due to liquidity problems.
A hacker who allegedly stole the personal data of 600,000 individuals from a well-known private company’s database was arrested by the Technology Crime Suppression Division on Tuesday.
The division had tracked the suspect Worapol Rittidech, 27, to a condominium in Samut Prakan’s Thepharak Subdistrict.
Worapol reportedly admitted to stealing the data from the company’s user system, which he had helped develop, and selling it for about 300,000 baht. He said he spent the money on online gambling.
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“The suspect was charged for performing actions on the computer system without permission,” TCSD officers said.
The Federation of Thai SMEs has joined up with the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs to help local SMEs boost their market share in the Middle East.
Federation chairman Sangchai Theerakulwanich told the reporters on Thursday that the federation had organised an online training with more than 300 SMEs participating. The training was in cooperation with the government and private sectors to support and promote Thai SMEs to gain access to export markets to the Middle East.
Sangchai said that the country’s exportation to the Middle East values more than 250 billion baht per year while the gross domestic product (GDP) of each country in the Middle East market is high. He also said that these countries have quality workers, important sources of funds and natural energy, such as oil and gas, which is important to the Thai economy while there are market gaps that can open up new market opportunities.
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“As for Thai exports from January to August, the value of exports to the Middle East market was over 174 billion baht. In 2020, the export value totaled more than 225 billion baht and over 257 billion baht in 2019. If there are cooperations to develop capacity, quality and standards that are continually meet the market demand, including promoting Thai SMEs’ products, the value of exports in this market should increase rapidly which would be the future market for the SMEs,” said the federation chairman.
The Public Health Ministry reported on Thursday that since February, Thailand has administered more than 57.38 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Of these, 33.77 million were first jabs, 22 million second jabs and 1.6 million booster shots.
“The aim is to increase the number of first jabs to 43 million and second jabs to 26 million by the end of October, or 61 per cent and 37 per cent of the population respectively,” said Public Health permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit. “By the end of November, we aim to boost these numbers to 75 and 55 per cent, and to 85 and 70 per cent by yearend, which is the global standard for developing countries.
“If the vaccination rate continues as planned, by January 1 the Covid-19 situation in Thailand will have greatly improved and people will be able to resume their daily activities under the new normal,” he added. “By mid-2022, the Covid-19 crisis in Thailand should be largely subdued after more than two years of spreading.
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“With more businesses and public venues being allowed to open, citizens need to continue following disease control measures or infection rates may rise again,” he warned.
“If people strictly observe Covid-19 control measures as they did during the lockdown period, we will see a gradual drop in daily cases to less than 10,000 and less than 5,000 in following months.”
Separately, Dr Chawetsan Namwat, director of the Department of Disease Control’s emergency disease and health hazards control division, said that so far only 10 per cent of people who have received free antigen test kits (ATK) have submitted their test results.
“Use the ATK even if the infection rate in your community has dropped as people infected with Covid-19 may be asymptomatic and may be unknowingly spreading the virus to others,” he said. “The ministry’s proactive testing campaigns usually find clusters of infection in crowded areas such as markets and funerals, where most participants say they don’t feel sick, but later test positive.
“Besides, the ATKs have an expiration date and could provide an inaccurate result if left unused for a long time. Therefore you should use the ATK and submit the result right away,” he added.
Public Health Ministry has delivered 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Krabi to prepare for the full reopening of resort province to foreign tourists, said minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Thursday.
“Currently about 62.5 per cent of those in risky groups in Krabi have been vaccinated against Covid-19, while the overall vaccination rate in the province is at 35.7 per cent,” he said. “We aim to vaccinate 100 per cent of locals before fully open the province to foreign tourists.”
Risky groups include elders aged over 60 years, pregnant women of over 12 weeks, and people with underlying health problems.
Krabi is one of the pilot areas that join the government’s extended tourism sandbox scheme that started in August. Vaccinated tourists who have stayed in Phuket for 7 days and still test negative will be able to travel to selected destinations under sealed routes model such as Koh Phi Phi and Kho Ngai in Krabi as well as Khao Lak and Kho Yao in Phang Nga.
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“Priorities in vaccination will be given to students in the province, as the schools will reopen from November onward,” added Anutin. “Health professionals and volunteers who have close contact with patients will also get the jabs to prevent the infection.”
“We need to achieve the 100 per cent vaccination in Krabi as soon as possible as the province is located near Phuket and has a potential to welcome more foreign visitors from the sandbox programme,” added Anutin. “When every local is vaccinated, the province will be safe from Covid-19 and the tourism industry can start growing again.”
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has asked the Royal Thai Navy to provide a fleet of 12 boats to help push water from the Chao Phraya River into the sea to prepare for possible flood.
“The move will help prevent flood in the Chao Phraya basin as the Royal Irrigation Department has increased the draining rate of Chao Phraya and Pasak Jolasid dams to prepare for water mass flowing from the North,” said Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang on Thursday. “Furthermore, the storm surge that is expected to occur during October 7-10 will prevent the flowing of water from Chao Phraya River to the Gulf of Thailand, so we need the boats to speed up the flow.”
Bangkok, Navy work together to prevent flood
Aswin added that the Naval Dockyard Department has agreed to provided 12 boats, each is capable of pushing 30,000 to 150,000 cubic meters of water per day. The boats will push the water from Khlong Lad Pho floodgate in Samut Prakan province to the Gulf for the distance of 600 meters during low tide.
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“The boats will also help prevent flood in areas outside the embankment of Chao Phraya River, and will continue pushing water until the situation returns to normal,” added the governor.
The Khlong Lad Pho floodgate was built in 2002 to shorten the Chao Phraya River’s flowing distance to Gulf of Thailand from 18 kilometers to only 600 meters and help prevent flood in the areas.
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Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday (October 8) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 11,140 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 72 of whom have been found in prisons.
Death toll increased by 116, while 9,933 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 1,689,437 – 1,561,790 of whom have recovered, 110,113 are still in hospitals and 17,534 have died.
Separately, another 413,804 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 454,491 their second shot and 43,382 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 58,298,700.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 237.56 million on Thursday, 214.66 million of whom have recovered, 18.05 million are active cases (84,215 in severe condition) and 4.85 million have died (up by 7,902).
Thailand ranks 26th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 45.02 million, followed by India with 33.91 million, Brazil with 21.53 million, the UK with 8.05 million and Russia with 7.69 million.
The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Friday (October 8) that the strong southwest monsoon prevails across the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand while the monsoon trough lies across the Central and the lower Northeast. Thundershowers are forecast over the country with isolated heavy rain in the Northeast, the East and the South. People in risky areas should beware of severe condition and rain accumulation that may cause flash flood and overflow. Waves in the Andaman Sea are 2-3 meters high and over 3 meters high in thundershowers. All ships should proceed with caution and keep off thundershowers, while small boats should keep ashore.
The department also mentioned that the tropical depression over the upper South China Sea has upgraded into the tropical storm “LIONROCK”. It is expected to make landfall over upper Vietnam during October 10-11.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is as follows:
North: Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees and highs of 33-36 degrees Celsius.
Northeast: Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees and highs of 28-36 degrees Celsius.
Central: Thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 22-25 degrees, highs of 33-34 degrees Celsius.
East: Thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees, highs of 30-33 degrees Celsius; waves 2 meters high and over 2 meters during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees, highs of 30-32 degrees Celsius; waves 2 meters high and over 2 meters during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 20-25 degrees, highs of 28-31 degrees Celsius; waves 2-3 meters high and over 3 meters during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-25 degrees, highs of 32-34 degrees Celsius.
A recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the four southern border provinces is a cause of concern and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Public Health Ministry to monitor the situation closely, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana on Thursday.
The PM also instructed Public Health Ministry’s permanent-secretary Dr Kiattibhomm Vongrachit to send a team to the provinces to monitor the situation. The PM hopes the outbreak can be contained in the next month or two with cases dropping by at least 10 per cent every week.
In response to Prayut’s instructions, the Public Health Ministry has sent 1 million Favipiravir tablets, 20,000 ATK test kits, 100 oxygen concentrators, 25,000 doses of AstraZeneca and 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine.
Wednesday saw 1,922 new cases in the four provinces – 309 in Pattani, 666 in Songkhla, 501 in Narathiwat and 446 in Yala.
Bangkok, Navy work together to prevent flood
Bangkok, Navy work together to prevent flood
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