A 38-year-old man was arrested for trespassing a YouTuber’s studio in Bangkok in the nude and without reason.
On January 25, YouTuber Pakon Keawdee, or “Atompakon”, posted on his Facebook that his studio in Bangkok’s Bang Na area had been raided by a man, but nothing was robbed.
A case was filed at the Bang Na Police Station. Police on Monday asked the suspect, identified as Pichit (his surname was not revealed), to report at the station.
Pichit reportedly confessed to his alleged action, revealing further that he had twice invaded places in the nude — the studio, and a construction area. He added that he was unemployed.
However, he did not specify the reason for invading the studio without clothes. Pichit was charged with trespassing a private property at night.
Thai investors are worried that sanctions and boycott of Myanmar after the military-led coup on Monday will affect their business in the country, the Thai-Myanmar Business Council said.
The council has, so far, said it is not able to shed light on exactly what effect the coup will have on Thai businesses in Myanmar, as the government has yet to issue a statement on foreign investment and businesses.
However, it said Thai operators should not be affected directly if Myanmar is boycotted, as their businesses mainly target domestic consumers. Investors though stand to lose money due to the expected slowdown in Myanmar’s economy, it said.
It also said that now that the government led by National League for Democracy has been ousted, it is not sure if the new government will honour the contracts Thai investors had signed with the previous administration.
The council, however, believes bilateral trade will only be slightly affected.
Nearly 10,000 people and 900 businesses face police investigation for allegedly cheating the government’s tourism stimulus campaign “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together).
Deputy National Police chief Pol Lt-General Damrongsak Kittiprapat said on Tuesday that the Crime Suppression Division has joined provincial police divisions of regions 1 through 9 to look into the dealings of 9,800 people and 900 businesses.
These people came under the spotlight after it was reported that some individuals let others use their national ID cards to register for the subsidy. Also, some registrants were found to have exercised their rights in several different locations.
Under this scheme, eligible Thais can receive a 40 per cent discount on rooms and restaurant meals. They will also get an e-voucher when checking into a hotel and a 40-per-cent flight refund when checking out.
“Provincial police divisions will look into fraudulent dealings in areas under their jurisdiction, which will remove the need to transport suspects to the different provinces where they may have committed fraud,” Damrongsak said.
He went on to say that investigation into fraudulent dealings related to the “Kon La Khreung” (Let’s Go Halves) shopping subsidy scheme will be conducted by the Economic Crime Suppression Division.
“However, both divisions will strictly follow the investigation procedures stipulated by the Royal Thai Police.”
The Rao Tiew Duay Kan campaign runs from July 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021.
The State Railway of Thailand is on course to create SRT Asset Co, an asset development subsidiary, with the board of the new company expected to be finalised within two months after which the managing director will be appointed
SRT Governor Nirut Maneephan said on Tuesday that the SRT was still in the process of preparing all existing leases to hand over the work to the subsidiary after the memorandum of understanding is signed.
The leases have been divided into groups to make it easier to manage, such as leases without any problems, leases that have completed paid compensation, expired leases Including review of land ownership and areas with intruders.
SRT’s work transfer will be divided into two phases.
Phase 1: Transfer of land that is currently leased — more than 15,000 contracts.
Phase 2: Transfer of vacant land without lease agreement to allow the subsidiary to plan and develop an area of approximately 38,000 rai (6,080 hectares) worth more than Bt300 billion, for example, the area around Bang Sue Grand Station, Mae Nam Station, and other properties.
Currently, SRT has a total debt of Bt177 billion and it is expected that SRT Asset Co will generate more than Bt630 billion for SRT within 30 years, which will be sufficient for debt management and run the organisation in the future.
Owing to severe drought conditions, seawater has entered Bangkok’s raw water system, making tap water very salty.
Hence, Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang said on Tuesday that young children, the elderly, people with chronic illness and small pets should avoid tap water.
It is important for people with underlying conditions such as kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure as well as brain disease to avoid drinking tap water because of high sodium levels.
Though people with normal health can consume the water, they should reduce salt content in other things they consume.
People should also avoid using water from the Chao Phraya River or canals running off it because in some areas, the salt content is as high as 12 grams per litre.
Here are the salt per litre readings taken from Bangkok’s five water monitoring stations:
• Jaeng Ron 12.4g
• Dao Khanong 12g
• Bangkok Yai 9.6g
• Thewet 10.6g
• Bang Khen Mai 6.6g
Deputy Interior Minister Nipon Boonyamanee told the press on Monday that rising seawater from January 28 has affected raw water in Metropolitan Waterworks Authority’s pumping station in Pathum Thani.
Nipon added that the Royal Irrigation Department will look into ways of further filtering the water used from the Chao Phraya and Tha Chin rivers. He also urged relevant agencies to prepare for severe drought during the next two to three months.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Tuesday reported 836 new cases and two deaths.
Of the total cases, 17 were overseas travellers in quarantine facilities.
Of the new cases, 109 had been exposed to the virus while visiting high-risk areas, with Samut Sakhon province topping the list with 99 cases. One of the patients is a 26-day-old baby, one of the youngest so far, followed by seven in Bangkok and two in Samut Songkhram.
Meanwhile, proactive testing led to the discovery of 710 cases, with 688 found in Samut Sakhon and 22 in Bangkok.
Of the overseas travellers, 10 were Thais returning from Switzerland, Nigeria, the United States, Canada and Malaysia. A Swede travelled from Denmark, while a Canadian, two French, two Swiss and an Indian flew in from their respective nations.
Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, the spokesperson of CCSA, said there were two more fatalities, taking the death toll to 79.
A Thai woman with high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia, 75, residing in Samut Sakhon, developed symptoms on January 25 after contact with her infected husband. She had only slight symptoms initially. She was confirmed positive on January 28 when she started to develop fatigue and difficulty in breathing. She passed away at Samut Sakhon Hospital on January 30.
A Thai man, 68, with diabetes and last stage kidney disease visited a karaoke booth in Samut Sakhon province. He had cough, runny nose and muscle ache on December 30 and was confirmed positive on January 7. After a long fight for a month, he passed away on February 1.
Meanwhile, 703 patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 20,454. Of these, 17,974 contracted the virus locally, including 10,088 who were found via proactive testing, while 2,480 are returnees. So far, 13,217 have recovered and been discharged, 7,158 patients are still in hospital and the death toll has risen to 79.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 103.92 million (up by 392,565), 75.71 million have recovered, 25.94 million are active cases (107,956 in severe condition) and 2.25 million have died (up by 9,210).
Thailand ranks 115th on the global list of most cases. The US tops the list with 26.91 million, followed by India 10.77 million, Brazil 9.23 million, Russia 3.86 million and the United Kingdom 3.83 million.
The baht opened at 29.98 to the US dollar on Tuesday, unchanged from Monday’s close.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.95 and 30.05 on Tuesday, Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
On Monday night, the market was in risk-on state, despite economic numbers around the world being worse than investors expected.
China’s Caixin Manufacturing purchase managers’ index (PMI) in January fell from 53 points to 51.5 points, while the US ISM Manufacturing PMI in the last month dropped from the previous 60.5 points to 58.7 points.
In addition, German retail sales fell by around 10 per cent from November, the strategist added.
He said the market situation demonstrated that investors still have interest in risk assets, especially stocks that have been affected positively from the Covid-19 vaccine distribution.
The S&P500 index increased by 1.6 per cent, while the Nasdaq index rose by 2.6 per cent. The Stoxx 50 index closed positively by 1.4 per cent.
The US Ten-Year Treasury stayed at 1.07 per cent, and the dollar strengthened compared to other main currencies. The euro weakened to 1.206 to the US dollar.
Poon added that over 200 corporations would announce their financial results this week, including Amazon and Google.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will make a loss operating the Green Line extension of the BTS Skytrain despite hiking the fare ceiling from Bt65 to Bt104 effective from February 16, said Praphas Leuangsirinapha, BMA’s Traffic and Transportation Department director.
“The Green Line extension sections from Bearing to Samut Prakarn stations and from Mo Chit to Ku Kot stations had been partly opened for public use since April 3, 2018 and the whole route was opened on December 16, with no additional fees collected throughout the three years,” he said. “However, after opening the whole route, the train operator, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc [BTSC], has requested BMA to pay the operating fee for the extension sections, forcing the BMA to increase the fare in a bid to earn cash to pay the fee and its debt to BTSC.”
BTSC on Monday issued an ultimatum to BMA to pay its Bt30-billion-plus debt within 60 days or face suspension of Green Line services. The debt includes over Bt9.6 billion in wages for operating the Green Line extension since 2018 and purchase of a train operating system worth over Bt20 billion.
“Based on the actual cost of operation, the fare ceiling of the Green Line should be Bt158,” said Praphas. “To alleviate the financial burden of commuters who have suffered from the fallout of Covid-19, the BMA decided to reduce the ceiling to Bt104, which will inflict a loss of Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion per year. It is estimated that from 2021 to 2029, the BMA will suffer accumulated losses of Bt30 billion to Bt40 billion.”
Praphas added that the fare hike on the Green Line will only be applicable to the extension sections, while the main section, from Mo Chit to On Nut stations, still has the original ceiling of Bt65.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 12.97 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1,491.02 in the morning session on Tuesday.
Krungsri Securities forecast that the SET on Tuesday will move between 1,485-1,490 points, in line with other stock markets in the region, after investors relaxed their focus on the GameStop shares case in Wall Street.
The securities firm said that the stock market was supported by the increased price of crude oil, due to Saudi Arabia reducing its production.
The firm also warned investors about foreign funds continually flowing out.
Besides, it added that investors should purchase stocks whose earnings – to be announced in the near future – show a growth over the previous quarter, such as PTTGC, TOP, IVL, EPG, VNT, CBG, ROJNA, TVO, STGT, CPF, RCL, PSL, SYNEX, COM7, XO, WICE, JMT, JMART, SINGER, MTC, SAW, AD and KCE.
CBG, ICHI, OSP, SAPPE, RBF and DOD, who are benefited after the use of hemp for economic use has been allowed.
Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Boonyamanee said that his ministry had been coordinating with the Royal Irrigation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to solve the problem of brackish water in the Bangkok metropolitan area.
“During January 28 to February 2, saltwater has intruded the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority’s water supply in Pathum Thani province, so people in Bangkok and surrounding areas will experience brackish tap water in certain times,” he said. “The ministry has urged the Irrigation Department to increase the draining rate to reduce salinity in Chao Phraya and Tha Jin rivers, which should gradually reduce the water’s brackishness.”
Niphon added that the two ministries are also making sure that the water supply will be enough for consumption in metropolitan areas which cover Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakarn provinces during the upcoming drought season.
