Some interprovincial buses to start running from Sept 1
The Transport Company is planning to restart some of its interprovincial bus services from Wednesday now that the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has eased some restrictions in the 29 “dark red” provinces.
The 26 routes set to restart will include buses from Bangkok to Nong Bua Lamphu, Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Surin, Buri Ram, Ubon Ratchathani, Mukdahan, Chanthaburi, Trat and Saraburi.
In line with measures to curb infections, only 75 per cent of the seats will be filled and passengers will be required to always wear a mask.
27 tonnes of seized drugs worth almost 30 billion baht set alight
Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set fire to 27 tonnes of narcotics confiscated over the past year on Tuesday at Bangpu Industrial Estate in Samut Prakan.
“The 27,806 kilograms of narcotics burned today came from 138 cases,” said Dr Withit Saritdeechaikul, FDA deputy secretary-general. “The pile of drugs burned includes 15,890 kilos of amphetamine, 10,817kg of methamphetamine, 697kg heroin, 383kg of ketamine, 16kg ecstasy among others. The total street value has been estimated at Bt29.91 billion.”
27 tonnes of seized drugs worth almost 30 billion baht set alight
Withit added that the FDA has been burning confiscated drugs every year for 52 consecutive years. “We use the incinerator of Akkhi Prakarn which is capable of burning at 1,200 degrees Celsius,” he said. “Such high heat can turn the drugs to ashes very quickly without polluting the air.”
Falling baht makes Thai rice cheaper in global markets
The weakening baht will help Thailand meet its target of exporting 6 million tonnes of rice this year, though it has only shipped 2.59 million tonnes in the first seven months.
Pol Lieutenant Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said exports began looking up after mid-year, with 419,578 tonnes valued at 7.47 billion baht being exported in July, up 7.6 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively compared to June.
However, the 2.59 million tonnes of rice worth US$1.6 billion (51.7 billion baht) exported in the past seven months has been 22.4 per cent and 30.1 per cent respectively lower when compared to the same period last year.
Rice exports in July improved because the price of Thai rice dropped in line with market conditions and weakening baht, which made it possible for Thailand to compete with key competitors like India.
July saw 175,522 tonnes of parboiled rice being exported, marking a 107.4 per cent increase compared to June. These shipments were mostly sent to South Africa, Yemen, Benin, Niger and Cameroon.
However, the export of white rice in July stood at 136,501 tonnes, or 33.7 per cent lower than the previous month. The main markets were China, Japan, Angola, Cameroon, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The export of young jasmine rice stood at 74,850 tonnes, up by 21.1 per cent compared to June. These shipments mainly headed to the US, Hong Kong, Canada, France, Singapore and China.
“The association expects the August shipments to stand at 600,000 tonnes, especially since the price of Thai rice has dropped to match the tags of competitors. The demand for rice has also been consistently high in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Though there are still some logistical problems in some shipping routes, like the US and Europe, where freight rates are at a record high, the export of white and parboiled rice will keep rising,” he said.
Charoen added that he expects the export of these two varieties of rice to stand between 600,000 and 700,000 per month until the end of the year, which will help achieve the 6-million tonnes target.
In terms of price, the 5-per-cent Thai white rice currently goes for $409 per tonne. In comparison, 5-per-cent white rice from Vietnam is priced at $398 to $402 per tonne, from India at $368 to $372 per tonne and from Pakistan at $353 to $357 per tonne. The price of Thai parboiled rice is $415 per tonne, while that from India costs $348-$352 and Pakistan is $396-$400 per tonne, Charoen said.
Thailand opens doors for travel by Indian business execs
Indian business people are allowed to travel to Thailand, but Indian tourists will have to wait for further easing of measures.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in India revealed that the tourism sector could get more than THB100 billion in revenue if the pandemic measures were eased by the end of 2021, as there was a high demand among Indian tourists to travel to the kingdom.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has given its approval for Indian business persons who carry a work permit, reside and have family in Thailand to enter the country with 14-day mandatory quarantine since August 25, after travel had been suspended for four months. Indian tourists will have to wait for further announcements from the CCSA.
The TAT offices in Mumbai and New Delhi revealed that the pandemic situation in India was easing with lower infection rates, while more than 600 million doses of vaccine had been distributed.
Statistics in 2019 indicated a rapid growth in Indian tourists to Thailand due to the short flight duration and the waiver of visa on arrival fee. Thailand had generated more than THB80 billion income from Indian tourists within the year.
The TAT also said that Indian tourists had high purchasing power, especially the golf, wedding and millennials groups, and currently, there had been regular inquiries about the measures to enter Thailand. The measures for travelling in and out of India are not complicated, while Indian tourists are less sensitive to the pandemic situation, the TAT said.
Both the TAT offices will fully help build confidence in Indian tourists by providing information to publicise the situation in Thailand. A travel agency survey of 300 Indian participants confirmed that more than 94 per cent wish to travel to Thailand, and it should take less than one and a half months to arrange charter flights from major cities, such as New Delhi and Mumbai, to the Phuket sandbox scheme.
The TAT estimated that if the CCSA relaxed the measures by the fourth quarter, between October to December, to open the country for tourists without quarantine and resumed six commercial flights from India’s major cities, Thailand would gain almost a billion baht in revenue. If suspension of commercial flights were to be extended , the TAT said it would arrange weekly charter flights from New Delhi and Mumbai, which could generate almost THB200 million revenue for the country.
Special 7% tax for online businesses kicks off tomorrow
A special electronic service (e-service) tax will be collected from online platforms from Wednesday (September 1) onwards.
The 7-per-cent value-added tax will apply to businesses that earn more than 1.8 million baht in online sales annually. The government expects to earn some 5 billion baht from this tax in the first year.
The authorities have been mulling this e-service tax for two years now before it was implemented at the beginning of this year. Businesses required to pay the tax include:
190 deaths, 14,666 new cases as Thailand’s infection rate eases
For the first time in over a month, Thailand’s daily infection numbers on Tuesday dropped to 14,666 with 190 deaths. Of the new infections, 304 were found in prisons.
Meanwhile, 19,245 patients have recovered and been discharged over the past 24 hours.
Thailand’s total caseload from Covid stands at 1,204,729 – 1,021,772 of whom have recovered, 171,368 are still in hospitals and 11,589 have died.
Separately, another 383,094 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 430,625 their second shot, and 3,623 their third shot, bringing the total Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 31,771,819.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, confirmed cases globally had risen to 217.92 million, 194.80 million of whom have recovered, 18.60 million are active cases (113,758 in severe condition) and 4.52 million have died (up by 7,566).
Thailand ranks 29th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 39.95 million, followed by India 32.77 million, Brazil 20.75 million, Russia 6.90 million and France 6.76 million.
The US Embassy in Bangkok laid the foundation for a new annex in its compound this month.
The annex, expected to be completed by 2025, will be used to centralise operations and will also serve as a new, modern platform for providing consular and diplomatic services.
The embassy says the annex will also be used to support the expansion of US-Thai relations in security and commerce.
The US believes the construction of the annex will significantly benefit the Thai economy as it is spending $625 million (20.21 billion baht) on the project and will employ some 2,000 workers.
The US established ties with Thailand in 1818 and the two countries signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1833. This was the first treaty the US signed in Asia, making Thailand the oldest ally in the region.
It’s been more than a year since a toddler in Trang began helping her rescue-worker parents collect corpses and treat injuries.
The family of three, father Kitti Amnakmanee, mother Priyaporn Somsri and two-year-old daughter Nipada “Nada” Amnakmanee work for the Sawang Phakdee Trang rescue service.
Kitti said he has been working as a rescue worker for three years now and wanted his wife and daughter to work with him so they could be together. He also wanted to share his know-how.
When young Nada began showing interest in the job, her father got her a uniform and asked that she be given her very own rescue ID number.
Nada’s job is to pass medical equipment to her parents. She also appears to be unfazed by blood, dead bodies, injured or sick strangers or animals. Though she shies away when someone wants to take a selfie with her, carry or play with her.
The world’s youngest rescue worker is only twoThe world’s youngest rescue worker is only two
Otherwise, she is always smiling when helping her parents and sometimes stays up working with them until 9-10pm.
Bangkok condo staffer faces the fury of hungry tenant
A video has gone viral on Facebook of a woman tenant in a Bangkok condo repeatedly slapping and trying to attack a female condo staffer.
The reason for her wrath was reportedly a delay in condo staff bringing the tenant her food.
On Sunday, Facebook page “Ma Doo Nang Kan” (Let’s watch movies) published a video of the condo tenant attacking a female staff.
The video was captured at a condominium in Bangkok’s Sutthisan area.
The condo tenant was a high-risk person for Covid-19, and had quarantined herself in her room.
Normally, the condominium staff brought the meals she ordered from an application to her room, but on that day the staff were reportedly late in delivering the food.
The tenant reportedly left her room and came down to the staff office to demand her food.
However, she was stopped by a staffer, who said condo rules required her to have a Covid-19 test result to enter the room. The tenant reportedly lost her temper and attacked the staffer.
In the video, the tenant is seen slapping the condo staffer even as she is held back by other staff.
The tenant reportedly later agreed to compensate the staffer for her violent behaviour, and decided to move out of the condo.
Thailand making vaccine deals with partner countries to combat Covid-19, says Foreign Ministry
The Foreign Ministry has been using diplomatic channels to procure Covid-19 vaccines and other aid from partner countries, ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said on Monday.
“The ministry has been strengthening ties with the US, China, Japan, India, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Russia, who in turn have been providing Covid-19 vaccines and other necessities to help us combat the pandemic,” he said.
Tanee added that China has donated more than 7.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to Thailand and has helped facilitate the purchase and timely delivery of more Sinovac and Sinopharm doses.
Japan gave 1.05 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in early July, while the US donated 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine on July 30. The US has promised another 1 million Pfizer doses plus a $5 million (161.7 million baht) cash donation to Thailand’s Covid-19 fund.
In early August, the United Kingdom donated 415,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, while Bhutan agreed to enter a vaccine swap deal which would see it delivering 105,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Thailand.
Switzerland, meanwhile, donated 102 ventilators and 1.1 million rapid antigen test kits during an official visit of the Swiss vice president and foreign minister to Thailand on August 1-3.
The Foreign Ministry has also negotiated with the German government to obtain 2,000 sets of Casirivimab/Imdevim monoclonal antibodies to treat Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms.
“The ministry is seeking cooperation with India, South Korea and Australia to procure more vaccines for Thai people,” Tanee added.
27 tonnes of seized drugs worth almost 30 billion baht set alight
The world’s youngest rescue worker is only two
The world’s youngest rescue worker is only two
