In a bid to protect people, private organisations and local authorities are not allowed to purchase Covid-19 vaccines yet, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday.
He explained that some vaccines have not undergone all phases of testing, and their efficiency and side effects are not clear as yet. He said these vaccines were being sold to countries for emergency use only.
Anutin also said that all vaccines bought by the government will first be checked by the Department of Medical Sciences before administered to the public.
First female rangers deployed in Kaeng Krachan National Park
NationalFeb 09. 2021Photo Credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
By The Nation
The Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province is getting the first batch of female forest rangers.
Photo Credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation on Monday introduced “Kong Roi Nam Wan” (syrup troops), after the female forest rangers had passed various types of training from February 4 to 5, such as tactics, armed and unarmed drills, intelligence, detention of suspects and law enforcement.
Photo Credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Pichai Watcharawongpaiboon, director of The 3rd Conservation Area Administration Office in Phetchaburi, said the troops would help the department in public relations with villagers, especially women and children.
“Besides, the troops can help resolve conflicts between the department and villagers, as they can frisk female suspects freely,” he said.
The Department of Land Transport (DLT) announced on Tuesday that funds received under the “RaoChana” (We Win) scheme can be used to pay for public transport.
Jirut Wisanjit, DLT director general, said “RaoChana” stickers will be displayed on vehicles participating in the scheme.
He added that the scheme will be applied to all types of public transport, namely buses, taxis, motorbike taxis, vans, Skytrain, Metro and trains.
Under the “RaoChana” scheme, the self-employed, farmers and welfare cardholders whose savings do not exceed Bt500,000 will receive two monthly payments of Bt3,500 each via the Pao Tang smartphone app. This is part of the government’s bid to ease people’s financial burdens during the Covid-19 crisis.
Time to watch Irrawaddy dolphins cavorting in Chachaoengsao
NationalFeb 09. 2021Photo Credit: Tourism Authority of Thailand Chachoengsao office
By The Nation
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is urging people to visit Chachaoengsao this month so they can catch sight of Irrawaddy dolphins frolicking in the Bang Pakong basin.
Photo Credit: Tourism Authority of Thailand Chachoengsao office
In a Facebook post on Monday, TAT said the dolphins usually show up on the eastern side of the Gulf of Thailand between January and February every year.
The post also urged people to experience nature and local people’s way of life.
Photo Credit: Tourism Authority of Thailand Chachoengsao office
Those interested can call TAT’s Chachoengsao office at
(038) 514 009 or visit its @TATChachoengsao Facebook page. Seats for dolphin viewing can be booked by contacting Wildlife eX via Line ID wlfx or by calling (083) 375 9696 and (092) 845 9444.
A suspect who allegedly shot and killed a senior police officer in a Suphan Buri petrol station was arrested from an apartment in Chonburi’s Sriracha district on Tuesday.
Police Sub-Lieutenant Charnwit Ditjaroen, aged 53 years, deputy inspection investigator of Suphan Buri Police Station, was shot dead by a member of a group of young people comprising six men and three women, who were drinking at a PTT petrol station on Suang Taeng-Uthong Road in Suphan Buri’s Muang district on Sunday night.
A witness told police that Charnwit, who was wearing civilian clothes, warned the group about turning the music on too loud and advised them to go home, when one of the men walked up to him from behind and shot him on the nape of the neck. After the shooting, the suspect and their group fled the scene on motorcycles and a pickup truck.
Police reviewed the CCTV footage and identified the alleged shooter as Sitthiphong Jasa-ard, aged 23 years, before tracking him down to an apartment in Chonburi province. Police also reportedly found a .38 handgun, believed to have been used by the suspect.
Sitthiphong was charged with murder, possession of an unregistered firearm, and bringing a firearm to a public place without proper reason. He was brought to Suphan Buri Police Station for interrogation.
Three members of the group — Somphot Thonglim, 26, Natthaphol Santithammethi, 26, and Montchai Sanithant, 22, had turned themselves in to Suphan Buri police shortly before Sitthiphong was arrested.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Tuesday reported 189 new cases,10 of them overseas travellers in quarantine facilities.
Of the 123 people exposed to the disease while visiting high-risk areas, 109 cases — 32 Thais, 74 Myanmar nationals, two Cambodians, and one unknown nationality — were in Samut Sakhon province.
Meanwhile, proactive testing led to the discovery of 56 cases, most in Samut Sakhon at 50, four in Samut Songkhram and two in Nonthaburi.
Of those testing positive in quarantine centres, eight are Thais returning from Romania, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Japan and Sweden. A British national from Mexico and a Frenchman who flew in from his country also tested positive in a Bangkok hotel.
Meanwhile, 986 patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 23,746. Of these, 21,185 had been contracted locally, including 13,439 found via proactive testing, while 2,561 were returnees. So far, 18,366 have recovered and been discharged, 5,301 patients are still in hospital (2,497 in hospitals and 3,571 in field hospitals) and 79 have died.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 107 million (up by 319,355), 79 million have recovered, 25.67 million are active cases (102,935 in severe condition) and 2.34 million have died (up by 8,190).
Thailand ranks 114th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 27.7 million, followed by India 10.85 million, Brazil 9.55 million, Russia 3.98 million and the United Kingdom 3.96 million.
Chulalongkorn University on Tuesday said six more of its staff were infected with Covid-19, bringing the total number to 13.
The university said it aimed to test another 389 people.
The university announced its first case on February 5 during a proactive testing campaign.
The Covid-19 Chulalongkorn Committee organised tests for 230 close contacts of the infected staffers. The screening found six more Covid-19 cases, taking the total to 13 people.
The committee has decided to expand proactive screening with an additional 389 people to test and urgently investigate the disease in collaboration with the Urban Disease Prevention and Control Institute, Department of Disease Control and Public Health Service Center 5, Bangkok.
The baht opened at 29.99 to the US dollar on Tuesday morning, strengthening from Monday’s close of 30.03.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.95 and 30.05 on Tuesday, Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
Financial markets were in a risk-on state continually, amid investors’ hopes of a recovery in the market, especially in the US, he said.
This market situation underlined the issue of reflation trades again, pushing several stock markets up. The Russell 2000 rose by 2.5 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.74 per cent.
In Europe, the Stoxx 50 increased by 0.27 per cent and the FTSE MIB of Italy by 1.5 per cent.
However, Poon said that some market players saw this growth of risk assets as unreliable, causing some purchasing power to move towards safe haven assets. The Ten-Year Treasury yield stayed around 1.17 and 1.18 per cent, and the dollar weakened slightly.
Hopes of an economic recovery and the weakened dollar also helped increase the price of commodities. Brent crude oil price reached over $60 per barrel, while the price of gold rose by around 1 per cent to $1.832 (Bt 54,898) per ounce.
Bitcoin shot up recently by 17 per cent to $45,571 (Bt1,365,603).
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 12.28 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 1,528.71 in the morning session on Tuesday.
A Krungsri Securities analyst expected the SET to rise to between 1,525 and 1,530 points on hopes of progress in the rollout of a US economic relief package and Covid-19 inoculation, triggering hopes of an economic recovery.
He added that energy and petrochemical shares gained positive sentiment from rising oil price in over a year as well.
He recommended that investors buy:
▪︎ PTTGC, TOP, IVL, EPG, VNT, CBG, ROJNA, TVO, STGT, HTC, CPF, RCL, PSL, SYNEX, COM7, XO, WICE, JMT, JMART, SINGER, MTC, SAWAD and KCE, who are expected to report improved results for the fourth quarter of 2020.
▪︎ CBG, ICHI, OSP, SAPPE, RBF, DOD and PTG, which benefit from positive news of hemp.
The SET Index closed at 1,516.43 on Monday, up 19.82 points or 1.32 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt94.27 billion with an index high of 1,517.31 and a low of 1,507.09.
A sinkhole appeared on Maha Rat Road in front of the Navy Club, near Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram or Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district on Monday night.
“The sinkhole is about a metre wide and four metres long,” said Pol Colonel Jamorn Thongphan, chief of Phra Ratcha Wang Police Station.
“Initial reports revealed that a car that was passing over the hole was slightly damaged, but no one was injured.”
Police have laid a metal sheet to cover a patt of the hole and closed off the traffic lane on Maha Rat Road leading to the police station, while the other lane that leads to Phrachan Pier is still usable.
Officials have contacted Bangkok’s Public Works Department to inspect and repair the road surface immediately. They speculated that the sinkhole could have occurred due to work by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority to move powerlines along the road underground.
Police expect to open the traffic lane as normal on Tuesday morning.
Photo Credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Photo Credit: Tourism Authority of Thailand Chachoengsao office
