#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403582

New Lumpini boxing stadium reopens with match on Saturday

NationalMar 11. 2021

By The Nation

Lumpini boxing stadium will reopen on Saturday (March 13) under a new name, the Army announced on Thursday.

The Bangkok stadium will relaunch as the Royal Thai Army Sports Development Centre (Lumpini Muay Thai Centre). The Army-run sports facility has been upgraded with an exercise area for soldiers and the general public, a competition stadium, muay Thai school, and muay Thai museum for both Thais and foreigners, said Army spokesman Santipong Thammapiya.

Boxing tournaments at the stadium will be held without spectators to comply with the government’s Covid-19 restrictions. The tournaments will be broadcast live online and on the Army’s Channel 5 TV station every Tuesday and Friday from 8.30pm to 10.30pm and Saturday from 2pm-4pm. PPTV channel will also broadcast the fights live on Saturday from 4pm-6 pm.

The first boxing matches at the reopened stadium will be televised on PPTV from 4 pm-6pm this Saturday.

Lumpini Boxing stadium was closed on March 14 last year after a tournament with around 2,500 spectators generated one of the largest Covid-19 cluster infections seen in Thailand. The Army general in charge of the stadium was transferred for allowing the event to go ahead in defiance of disease-control restrictions.

The stadium was closed during the second-wave virus outbreak beginning mid-December before restrictions were lifted on March 1.

Changes at the stadium are also part of a major overhaul of Army recreational facilities ordered after the mass shooting by a soldier in Nakhon Ratchasima last year. The shooting, by a soldier disgruntled over a barracks business deal gone sour, claimed 31 lives.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403578

More than Bt8 billion injected in schemes to help farmers: Govt House

NationalMar 11. 2021

By The Nation

The government has spent more than Bt8.3 billion on two farmer aid schemes in a bid to help rice farmers nationwide, the Thai Khu Fah Facebook page said on Thursday.

The Thai Khu Fah page is run by Government House.

The state allocated Bt3.83 billion to support more than 110,000 households in the rice farmers’ income guarantee scheme. The government has spent Bt46.8 billion on the rice farmers’ income guarantee schemes, so far.

The state has also earmarked Bt4.50 billion for farmers who agree to delay selling off their paddy. Payments under this scheme are made based on two regulations:

• Farmers who store their paddy in their barn get Bt1,500 per tonne.

• Farmers who sell their paddy to farming cooperatives get Bt500 per tonne, while the cooperative gets Bt1,000 per tonne.

Meanwhile, farmers now have until March 31 to take special loans, while those in the South can do so until July 31.

The government has spent Bt19.82 billion on loans for farmers who have agreed to delay paddy sales so far.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403577

Police arrest 12 in raid on online gambling business

NationalMar 11. 2021

By THE NATION

The Police Cyber Taskforce on Wednesday raided a house in Soi Puttanawithi of Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district after a tip-off that it was being used as the base of a gambling website called “DDPoker”.

Police arrested 12 suspects at the site, five of whom are Chinese nationals and the rest Thai. The house was being used as the office of a company called NUTS GAME-TH.

“We found that the suspects registered an online gaming company as a front for an online gambling operation,” said Pol Lt-General Preecha Charoensahayanon, deputy director of the taskforce. “The company is owned by a Chinese national residing in Hong Kong, while his Thai girlfriend was named managing director and administrator of the website.”

Police also confiscated several computers, laptops, 22 bank passbooks, Bt100,000 cash, five cars and two motorcycles. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the website, which has more than 170,000 visitors per month, has been circulating at least Bt30 million per month,” Preecha added. “We also found evidence of several million baht being transferred to a bank account in Hong Kong.”

Police will follow the money trail to uncover other related operations both in Thailand and overseas.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403576

Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi may reopen to foreign tourists without quarantine before October

NationalMar 11. 2021

By The Nation

The Tourism and Sports Ministry is discussing reopening three Andaman provinces – Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi – to foreign tourists without quarantine in a “sandbox” project before the country’s full reopening scheduled for October.

Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn revealed that his team had discussed the possibility with governors and tourism businesses in the three southern provinces.

Thailand and other countries are negotiating the possibility of a “city-to-city” or “island-to-island” travel bubble so that vaccinated tourists visiting the kingdom can visit designated Thai cities or islands without the need for quarantine.

This process will be submitted to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration to consider on March 19.

If approved, the sandbox model will go ahead in the three southern provinces first because all three generated income of Bt600 billion, accounting for around one-fifth, or Bt3 trillion, of total countrywide tourism revenue in 2019, with Phuket alone earning Bt470 billion and Krabi Bt100 billion.

Sandbox models can be started under the condition that 70 per cent of the people in each area have been vaccinated.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry has discussed the issue with the Public Health Ministry, requesting that residents in the three provinces be vaccinated. Some 3 million vaccine doses will be needed for the purpose.

“According to the timeline set by the government, foreigners will be allowed to travel to Thailand [later this year] without quarantine. But we want to do it faster. We hope this can be done starting with Phuket in July under the condition that at least 70 per cent of its population is vaccinated – a requirement of 900,000 doses for 450,000 people,” Phiphat said.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403575

58 new cases reported, Samut Sakhon leads list again

NationalMar 11. 2021

By The Nation

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Thursday reported 58 new cases, four of whom are returnees and one an illegal migrant arrested at the Thai-Myanmar border.

Seventeen of the cases were exposed to the virus while visiting high-risk areas. Samut Sakhon leads the list with 12 patients, followed by two in Bangkok and one each on Prachuap Khiri Khan, Nonthaburi and Ratchaburi.

Proactive testing led to 36 cases, 26 of which were found in Samut Sakhon (23 Myanmar citizens and three Thais) and 10 in Bangkok (one Thai, one Cambodian, one Algerian and seven Myanmar citizens).

Of the travellers found infected, three are Thais returning from Japan, the United States and the United Arab Emirates as well as a Canadian passport holder who flew in from Indonesia.

One Myanmar national who was arrested on March 3 for illegally crossing the border in Prachuap Khiri Khan province tested positive on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 54 patients have recovered and been discharged.

As of Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 26,598. Of these, 23,710 had been contracted locally, including 14,758 who were found via proactive testing, while 2,888 were returnees. So far, 26,000 have recovered and been discharged, 513 patients are still being treated and the death toll remains at 85.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 118.63 million (up by 461,335), 94.24 million have recovered, 21.76 million are active cases (89,790 in severe condition) and 2.63 million have died (up by 9,948).

Thailand ranks 116th on the global list of most cases, which is led by the US with 29.86 million, followed by India at 11.28 million, Brazil 11.2 million, Russia 4.35 million and the United Kingdom 4.23 million.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403570

New passport fees take effect

NationalMar 11. 2021

By THE NATION

The Royal Gazette website on Wednesday published an announcement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding the new fee rate for making a passport.

The announcement, signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai on February 23, stipulates the new fee rate will be effective from March 11.

Here are the new rates:

• Bt500 for making a 3-year passport

• Bt1,000 for a 5-year passport

• Bt1,500 for a 10-year passport

• Bt1,000 for issuing an official passport

• In case a passport is needed urgently (on the same day), applicants must pay an additional Bt2,000.

• Bt200 for issuing an emergency passport

• Bt100 for passport endorsement

• Bt100 for a copy of passport holding history

The Foreign Affairs Ministry will exercise its discretion on whether to wave the fee for urgent or emergency passports due to humanitarian or government-related reasons.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403563

Raised speed limit of 120 km/hr now in effect

NationalMar 11. 2021

By THE NATION

The Royal Gazette website on Wednesday published a transport ministerial regulation raising the speed limit on four lane highways or more from a maximum 90 km/hour to 120 km/hour.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said last month that “the new speed limit aimed to facilitate traffic flow in accordance with current traffic conditions while ensuring road users’ convenience and safety”.

The increased speed limit is applicable for roads/highways that have four or more lanes (two lanes for each direction, divided by median barriers) in a straight section with no intersections or U-turns at road level.

The speed limit for each type of vehicle is:

> Vehicles with less than 7 seats: maximum 120 km/hr

> Vehicles in the rightmost lane: minimum 100 km/hr

> Passenger vehicles of over 7 seats but less than 15 seats: maximum 100 km/hr

> Vehicles with more than 15 seats or weighing over 2,200 kilograms: maximum 90 km/hr

> Tricycles and tow trucks: maximum 65 km/hr

> Motorcycles: maximum 80 km/hr

> Motorcycles with engines of 400cc or more: maximum 100 km/hr

> School buses: maximum 80 km/hr.

In case highways/roads have traffic signs indicating minimum and maximum speeds, vehicle users must maintain speeds within this range, except for when it cannot be done due to traffic conditions or other appropriate reasons.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403562

Man caught while allegedly attempting to smuggle 32 gold bars into Myanmar

NationalMar 11. 2021

By THE NATION

Kanchanaburi police on Wednesday arrested a man after discovering 32 gold bars, each weighing half a kilogram, tucked under the driver’s seat of his pickup truck as it headed for the Myanmar border.

Chart (last name withheld), aged 36, a local of Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhlaburi district, was stopped by police near the Thai-Myanmar border checkpoint in Nong Lu subdistrict before officers made the glittering discovery.

The gold bars were promptly confiscated as evidence.

Police reportedly said they had tracked down the suspect following an intelligence report about a smuggling network that was transporting gold bars to Myanmar without going through customs procedures.

Chart reportedly confessed that he was paid Bt6,000 by a woman who, he claimed, owned a gold shop in Payathonzu, a town in southern Myanmar’s Karen state. He said she hired him to buy gold bars worth Bt28 million from a shop in Bangkok’s Yaowarat area and smuggle them across the border to her.

“The suspect also said that had done the job twice this month. The first time, on March 3, he smuggled four gold bars worth Bt6.4 million, and on March 5 he smuggled another five gold bars worth Bt7.4 million into Myanmar,” a police officer said.

Police are investigating the suspect’s employer and her motive for buying gold bars. They speculated it could be due to the political unrest in Myanmar, which has driven some businesspeople to convert their cash into gold bars, which are easier to transport or hide.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403553

Hot, hazy day forecast across Thailand, isolated thundershowers in the South

NationalMar 11. 2021

By THE NATION

Upper Thailand will see a hot to very hot day with outbreaks of thundershowers and gusty winds in some areas, while the lower North, the Northeast, the Central region including Bangkok and its vicinity, and the East will experience hot weather, the Meteorological Department said on Thursday, adding that an easterly wind prevails over the South and the Gulf and will bring isolated thundershowers to the South.

Here’s the weather forecast for the next 24 hours:

North: Hot to very hot with haze during the day; temperature lows of 17-23 degrees and highs of 34-40 degrees Celsius.

Northeast: Hot with haze, isolated thundershowers with gusty wind in 10 per cent of the area; temperature lows of 21-24 degrees and highs of 34-37 degrees Celsius.

Central: Hot with haze, isolated thundershowers with gusty wind in 10 per cent of the area; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees, highs of 37-39 degrees Celsius.

East: Hot with haze, isolated thundershowers with gusty wind in 20 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees, highs of 33-37 degrees Celsius; waves less than a metre high and 1 metre offshore.

South (east coast): Partly cloudy with isolated thundershowers in 10 per cent of the area; temperature lows of 22-25 degrees, highs of 32-35 degrees Celsius; waves a metre high and over 1 metre during thundershowers.

South (west coast): Hot during the day with isolated thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 21-26 degrees, highs of 35-36 degrees Celsius; waves less than a metre high and 1 metre offshore.

Bangkok and surrounding areas: Hot with haze, isolated thundershowers in 10 per cent of the area; temperature lows of 24-25 degrees, highs of 35-38 degrees Celsius.

Source: Thailand Meteorological Department

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403547

New jetty for Maya Bay 70% complete but no decision on reopening

NationalMar 10. 2021

“Not yet” was the answer given by authorities on Tuesday to calls for the famed Maya Bay in Krabi province to reopen after two years in rehab.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation was responding to a March 5 call from local Krabi authorities desperate to lift restrictions at one of their top tourist attractions.

The National Resources and the Environment Ministry said Maya Bay would only open after the department has finished upgrading facilities and tourist management to ensure sustainability.

Located on Koh Phi Phi Leh, the bay was shut in June 2018 to allow its corals and other marine life to recover from years of crowding by tourists.

Red fishing buoys guard Maya Bay to prevent boats from entering during its two-year rehabilitation programme.

Prayoon Pongpan, chief of Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, said work to upgrade infrastructure on the island, including the jetty in Loh Samah Bay, was 70 per cent complete and due to be finished in May.

Initially, a limit of 370 visitors per trip would be imposed for Maya Bay, he said.

However, the reopening date would be decided by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa, who would discuss the matter with experts first.

Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, said that to allow its coral reefs to recover, the new gateway to Maya Bay should be the jetty at Loh Samah – otherwise the two years of rehab efforts would be in vain. He said the national park should slowly open the beach in line with the government’s plan to reopen the country in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Maya Beach became famous as the backdrop for the 1999 global hit film “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio.