Two airlines will open new domestic routes later this month after being given the green light by the Department of Airports.
Bangkok Airways will launch new Bangkok-Khon Kaen and Bangkok-Mae Sot services, while Nok Air will operate a Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son route.
The new routes will run from March 28 to October 30 as part of the summer flight schedule.
The new Bangkok-Khon Kaen service will offer 14 flights per week while the Bangkok-Mae Sot route will offer 21 flights per week. There will be three flights per week on the Chiang Mai-Mae Hong Son route.
Meanwhile, the department said that Krabi, Surat Thani and Hua Hin airports were now ready to receive international flights.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will ask the Cabinet to increase disability allowance from Bt800 to Bt1,000 per month, said its director-general Saranpat Anumatrajkij on Friday.
“Eligible candidates must possess a disability ID card, be aged over 18, and not be state welfare card holders,” said Saranrat, whose department comes under the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.
The department has also extended the deadline to apply for Bt10,000 emergency loans for disabled people from March 31 to May 31, to help alleviate financial burdens of the disabled.
“For information on the loan, visit www.dep.go.th or the service centre for the disabled disabilities in your province,” she said.
Elephants at the Chiang Mai Night Safari will be presented with a buffet of treats to mark National Elephant Day on Saturday.
Feasting on the array of fruits and vegetables will be the five resident Asian elephants aged between 18 and 43.
People wanting to visit the Night Safari are required to register online first as part of measures to curb Covid-19.
Asian elephants, normally found in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, are now at the risk of extinction.
The National Elephant Day has been marked on March 13 every year since 1998. The day was announced to underline the importance of the close relationship elephants have had with locals in Thailand for hundreds of years.
The Ministry of Public Health has postponed the launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, as it is awaiting the results of an examination after cases of blood clotting were reported in some countries.
Dr Piyasakol Sakonsattayatorn, consultant on strategy and planning for management of the Covid-19 vaccine, announced the postponement of AstraZeneca vaccination for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Cabinet members, who were to be the first recipients.
Dr Piyasakol said that it was necessary to delay the vaccination because there were reports from Denmark and Austria on Thursday night about suspected side-effects that caused blood to clot in the veins.
The Ministry of Public Health and the medical team believed that the vaccination would be the safest for the public but wanted to find out if the side-effects in some European countries, especially Denmark and Austria, were caused by the vaccination, he said.
Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok said there were chances of finding adverse reactions or side-effects in a mass vaccination programme. Blood clot in the veins is most common among African and European people, who are at three times more risk than Asians, indicating that genetic factors are involved. There are currently 3 million doses of the vaccine given in Europe, of whom 22 have died, or 7 in a million.
He said the vaccine was not bad but they needed to ensure that the problem did not occur from a manufacturing error.
AstraZeneca vaccine in Thai ministry hand manufactured in South Korea from where Thailand is sourcing its supply after it’s original supplier, Italy, was blocked from fulfilling the order because of an EU restriction. It is not known from where Denmark has got its vaccine.
The National Vaccine Committee has postponed the AstraZeneca vaccination for 1-2 weeks.
Dr Yong added that race or heredity was a major risk factor in vaccination.
However, coagulation has never been associated with any vaccine, he said, adding, Thailand now needs to patiently wait for the report data that may come out within 1-2 days. He still believes that AstraZeneca is one of the best vaccination options.
The MRT Yellow Line, running from Lat Phrao to Samrong in Samut Prakan, is about 74 per cent ready and the builder, BTS Group Holdings, plans to gradually open the line for trials this year.
As for the extension connecting the Yellow Line to BTS Green Line, negotiations with the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) have not been concluded yet.
Sources have said that the operator of the Yellow Line extension may have to compensate Bangkok Expressway and Metro (BEM), which runs the MRT Blue Line, for lost revenue because the new extension will allow commuters to connect with the Green Line without needing to use the Blue Line.
A study conducted by the MRTA showed that the number of Blue Line users will drop by about 6,000 per day once the extension is running.
“BTS will not pay any compensation, because it is a listed company. We cannot give any guarantees,” BTS chief Surapong Laoha-Unya said.
He said there is still time to negotiate, but if the MRTA insists on a guarantee of compensation from BTS for lost revenue, then the project will have to be dropped.
MRTA has said it will look into the matter on March 18.
The Yellow Line extension, linking Lat Phrao with the BTS Green Line at Ratchayothin station, is about 2.6 kilometres long and will cost more than Bt3 billion to build. BTS has offered to provide the funding for the project.
Forest officials were relieved to find the wild elephant they had helped revive last week is healthy and leading its life normally in the Chachoengsao Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary.
On Friday, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) veterinarian Pattarapol Maneeon posted an update on Facebook saying the elephant and her calf were healthy as per images captured by hidden cameras in the forest.
On February 28, veterinarians were called to help a wild elephant that had strayed from the sanctuary and collapsed in a rubber plantation in Chanthaburi province.
A younger elephant, believed to be the ill animal’s offspring, was nearby guarding its mother.
Veterinarians could only get close to the ill pachyderm after they had tranquilised the young one. When they got to her, they managed to inject her with glucose, vitamins and medication.
According to a DNP Facebook post, officials had on March 1 tried to use a winch to lift the animal, as it could not stand on its own.
However, the effort was in vain as the animal would not allow the use of the equipment.
Eventually, at around 9pm, the elephant stood up on her own and walked out of the plantation.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Friday reported 81 new cases, 11 of whom are returnees and three illegal migrants arrested at the Thai-Myanmar border.
Thirty cases were exposed to the virus while visiting high-risk areas. Samut Sakhon leads the list with 14 cases, followed by seven in Pathum Thani, five in Bangkok and two each in Tak and Phetchaburi.
Proactive testing led to the discovery of 37 cases, of which 21 were found in Samut Sakhon (16 Myanmar nationals and five Thais), 13 in Pathum Thani (10 Myanmar nationals, two Thais and one Cambodian) and three Myanmar nationals in Tak.
Of the travellers found infected, seven are Thais returning from the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, and the Philippines, as well as, an American from Kazakhstan, an American from the US and two Britons from their country.
Meanwhile, three men from Myanmar were caught crossing the border illegally in Prachuap Khiri Khan province on March 3 and tested positive on March 9.
Separately, 56 patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 26,679. Of these, 23,777 had been infected locally, including 14,795 who found via proactive testing, while 2,902 were returnees. So far, 26,056 have recovered and been discharged, 538 patients are still in hospitals, and the death toll remains at 85.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 119.12 million (up by 477,306), 94.73 million have recovered, 21.75 million are active cases (89,952 in severe condition) and 2.64 million have died (up by 9,634).
Thailand ranks 116th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 29.93 million, followed by India at 11.31 million, Brazil at 11.28 million, Russia at 4.36 million and the United Kingdom at 4.24 million.
Krisadang Nutjaras, an attorney from the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre, on Friday visited the Criminal Court along with professors from the faculties of political science, sociology and anthropology at Thammasat University and Mahidol University to post bail for three pro-democracy protesters of the Ratsadon group.
Panasaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa and Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak have been charged with violating Article 112 or the lese majeste law of the Criminal Code, for sedition under Article 116 as well as the unlawful assembly of 10 or more persons under Article 215 for their role in a political rally on September 19-20, 2020, at Thammasat University and Bangkok’s Sanam Luang area.
They were denied bail by the Criminal Court on Monday and have been detained at Bangkok Remand Prison and Central Women Correctional Institution.
Penguin and Rung are currently undergraduate students at Thammasat, while Pai is a graduate student at Mahidol.
“The professors have agreed to pool money to post bail for the three at Bt500,000 per person, so that they could be released and continue their study, as now is the exam period,” said Krisadang. “We urge the court to reconsider releasing them on bail. Keeping them in prison will cut off their opportunity for proper education and destroy their future.”
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 7.66 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 1,582.79 in the morning session on Friday.
The SET Index is expected to rise to between 1,580 and 1,585 points on positive sentiment over the European Central Bank easing its monetary policy and US President Joe Biden signing a $1.9-trillion economic relief bill, a Krungsri Securities analyst said
However, he warned investors to beware of volatility in foreign funds flows that would pressure the index.
He recommended that investors buy:
▪︎ AP, SPALI, LPN, LH and SIRI, which benefit from Bank of Thailand’s revision of the Loan to Value Ratio rule to help home buyers.
▪︎ AOT, MINT, CENTEL, CPN, CRC and MAJOR, which benefit from positive news of the Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand.
▪︎ HANA, KCE, TU and CPF, which benefit from the weakening baht.
▪︎ CBG, ICHI, SAPPE, RBF, DOD, PTG, and TACC, which benefit from positive news on hemp production and its general use.
The SET Index closed at 1,575.13 on Thursday, up 2.08 points or 0.13 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt102.01 billion with an index high of 1,584.61 and a low of 1,569.87.
The baht opened at 30.55 to the US dollar on Friday, unchanged from the close on Thursday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.50 and 30.60, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
He said that the direction of the US Ten-Year Treasury yield had still been effective towards the dollar’s movement. If the yield decreased or became stable, the market would be open to risk, pressuring the US currency to weaken and supporting other currencies to strengthen.
He explained that the baht had been supported by the sales of assets, stocks in particular, that tended to increase in volume.
Meanwhile, importers would tend to buy the dollar, when it was at Bt30.50, the market strategist added.
Poon also predicts that the dollar will strengthen if the market fluctuates. In that case, the baht will weaken up to 30.90 per US dollar.
It was possible the Thai currency would strengthen again if the dollar weakened and foreign funds flowed back into the Thai capital market, he added.
