Wittaya, Pryfon Enjoy 1st Round Lead at Junior Asian Tour
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
THE NATION
Wittaya Ngamhom and Pryfon Prom-on stole the show in the A boys’ and girls’ categories as the inaugural Junior Asian Tour (JAT) golf event teed off at the Southern Hills Golf & Country Club in Hat Yai, Songkhla on Friday.
Wittaya, 14, staged a solid front-nine performance before firing two birdies against one bogey after the turn to lead the boys 15-18 division following a 71, five ahead of Ingtawan Wangrungwichaisri. The latter committed seven bogeys, as opposed to only three birdies.
“I was playing quite solid today. I played consistently and was not too greedy out there. That’s why the score was quite steady,” said Wittaya. “I was a bit excited at the beginning but I tried to settle down. About the game plan for the next two days, I will try to hit my drivers on the fairways, find the greens and try not to need more than two putts,” he added.
On the girls’ side, Pryfon, despite an opening 81, surged on top of the leader’s board with Peeyaporn Intasae coming at second with 85.
In the boys 13-14 event, Tantikorn Klinpeng, with three birdies against four bogeys, fired a 73 to take first round lead. Nguyen Trong-Hoang of Vietnam fell five strokes back on a 78. In the girls 13-14, Arisa Bintachitt produced four birdies but committed a double bogey on the sixth hole and three bogeys to open her account with a 73 and led Louise Uma Landgraf by two strokes.
In the youngest 10-12 class, Wannagorn Bennukul carded a 77 to take a one-shot lead over Takrit Supagonchoowong in the boys’ competition while the girls was dominated by Suritpreeya Pruksanubal (73), followed by Rinlapat Jantara (77).
The season-opening edition is one of the six JAT circuits to be held in Thailand this year. It is competed in a stroke-play format and divided into three age groups: 10-12 years, 13-14 years, and 15-18 years.
Each stop features World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and Junior Golf Scoreboard which will serve as the path for youngsters to pursue their golf career in the future.
Apart from opportunities to gain world ranking points, youngsters with outstanding results on the Asian Junior Tour will receive wildcards into prestigious events including the LPGA, Ladies European Tour, Asian Tour, TrustGolf Tour and several professional events due in Thailand.
Four girls with the best results from JAT circuits 1-3 will be awarded wildcards into the final qualifying round of the LPGA-Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned Trustgolf Women Scottish Open.
Players, boy and girl, with outstanding results from circuits 1-2 will be granted spots in the Asian Tour – Ladies European co-sanctioned Asian Mixed Cup while those with best results from the JAT circuits 2-3 will earn their slots in the Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge.
Furthermore, winners from each JAT circuit will receive wildcards to the Thailand Mixed circuits 1-3 and the No 1 player on the JAT Order of Merits from JAT circuits 1-3 will be eligible for the Thailand Mixed circuit 4.
Cambodian artist casts shadows with paper as medium
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
Sitting in front of a black-and-white image printed on thick fabric with LED lights directly on the frame, Our Darith is cutting paper into small pieces and inserting them into the place with the utmost care and adjusting them to make them cast symmetrical shadows.
From the beginning of the first paper insertion until finishing the work as a whole completely on the thick paperboard the whole thing seemed disordered until Darith turned on the lights on the frame and the Angkor Wat shadow painting appeared as if by magic.
This is a kind of light and shadow painting created by Darith and based on the art of shadow casting on a piece of wood on the wall by a Japanese artist.
Darith, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, recalled: “I once saw a Japanese artist’s work where he arranged pieces of wood on a wall and illuminated them with light to create a human image. It really shocked me and I started to think that I would have to create this kind of art form myself. It was a childhood dream.”
While studying at university, Darith, 28, worked in film and pursued a career as an art director, focusing on the creation of materials and art for films after graduation.
At one time, he saw a picture that was widely shared on Facebook, a photo of shadows and light shining through the window frame of Angkor Wat, reminiscent of images of created Japanese art.
“I got the idea of arranging the pieces of wood on the wall and the twinkling lights of these two windows frames add together, I thought that using only things made of light and shadow I could create something new of my own. I also started researching and understanding art objects,” he said.
Darith’s idea did not materialize until the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the lockdown and closure of the country. The young man was suspended from the film industry but continued to innovate by discovering new things and starting to follow their dreams from childhood.
He decided to create art objects from light and shadow in a frame that could be displayed. Taking a sample by preparing a piece of wood or using their hands in front of the light to show various pictures on the wall, Darith saw that paper can easily change the shape of a shadow made by shining light behind it.
“When I first made the picture, it was very difficult because I did not know where to start, just knew that it started from paper. When cutting the papers it started out as just a simple triangle and I was not very happy,” he said.
The next image he is working on is a portrait of His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, starting with the printing of the portrait and turning it into a black and white image, then making a shadow version according to this picture.
He described the difficulty between drawing on paper and cutting out silhouettes, saying that when using a flexible pencil or brush, the painter could erase it at the wrong point, but in the case of shadows and light painting things were more difficult.
“When I created my first work, I was so excited that I bragged about it. They were interested and ordered a series of photos. I started receiving orders from customers from then on and so far I have made more than 30 paintings,” he told The Post.
Darith said that the image of Angkor is very complicated because each gallery of the temple is different and has small details that require a lot of patience.
He said that from the beginning to the completion of Angkor Wat it took him more than two months. For his annual paintings that can be sold to customers like the Buddha and Angkor Wat, the prices are from $299-$399 per painting.
For custom order pictures, most of which are photo replicas, the standard size is 60 x 90cm and sometimes slightly smaller and are priced at $499 and up, and possibly higher than this in the future.
In the past, due to the limited number of works made, Darith said that he has not yet shown his art in any art exhibition, but he plans to participate in other programmes.
“Obviously, for the upcoming Angkor Sangkran event [in April] I will show my work in the exceptional artist’s village, where I will add another work,” he said.
Darith, who said that producing light and shadow paintings takes time and talent, said he could also produce murals, but he focused on the circumstances that should be on the frame or on the wall.
As for electrical engineering skills, he said that from the time he studied until he completed three months of internship, he decided not to start a career in this field.
He explained: “When I served my internship, I realized that this skill was not suited for me because I went to work in the morning, came back home tired and went to bed and got up to work again the next morning. This is not what my life needs.”
Although he did not pursue a career as an electrical engineer, he has applied this knowledge to his artistic work experiences in the field of filmmaking by understanding the creative ideas needed to integrate the art form with technical aspects.
The former electrical engineer said he sees the value of the artwork based on knowledge and other skills.
“What I see, overall, is good artists always do things that make it even better, it is beyond work, with knowledge and other skills. We must do something to attract attention and expand our market,” he said.
Philippines rank 2nd to worst in Grade 5 students’ reading, math skills in Southeast Asia
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
As most Grade 5 students in the Philippines and its poorer neighbours do not have the minimum reading and mathematical skills expected at the end of primary education, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) stressed the need to “harness the potential” of early childhood education (ECE).
Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN in 2016 called for access to quality basic education for all children, including some 30 million learners in the Philippines, to lead students to relevant learning outcomes and equip them with required skills, especially in language and mathematics.
But based on the results of the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019 (SEA-PLM), only 10 % of students in the Philippines met the minimum reading standard and 17 % met the minimum mathematical standard expected at the end of primary education, as provided in SDG 4.1.1—Education Proficiency.
Grade 5 students in the Philippines received an average score of 288 in reading assessment, behind Vietnam (336), Malaysia (319), Myanmar (292) and Cambodia (290). The Philippines was ahead only of Laos, where students got an average score of 275.
While 288 means a Filipino Grade 5 student can read a range of everyday texts fluently and comprehend their meaning, only 10 % achieved the minimum proficiency level, which is the ability to understand texts with familiar structures and manage competing information.
The average score of Filipino Grade 5 students in mathematics assessment was also 288, indicating that they can generally apply number properties and units of measurement, but only 17 % had the ability to perform mathematical operations, including fractions, and interpret tables and graphs.
The Philippines and Myanmar, where students also got an average score of 288, were behind Vietnam (341), Malaysia (315) and Cambodia (289), and were ahead of Laos, where Grade 5 students received an average score of 279.
When it comes to writing assessment, Filipino Grade 5 students also received an average score of 288, behind Vietnam (327), Malaysia (318) and Myanmar (298), and ahead of Cambodia and Laos, where students got an average score of 285 and 283.
This suggested that a student in the Philippines can produce very limited writing with fragmented ideas and inadequate vocabulary as some 46 % fell to the lowest proficiency band in writing – those who have limited ability to present ideas in writing and can produce a few sentences with very limited content.
What’s wrong? Unicef stated in its latest policy brief that the Philippines supports one year of kindergarten education for all five-year-old children as mandated by the Kindergarten Education Act of 2012, which provides for the institutionalization of kindergarten education as part of basic education in the Philippine Educational System.
Likewise, the Early Years Act of 2013 mandated the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council to coordinate ECCD programs offered by government agencies, including the provision of pre-school education for children who are three to five years old.
Early childhood education (ECE), it said, “offers a vital foundation for lifelong learning by nurturing children’s foundational and transferable skills that prepare them to participate in primary education and beyond.”
ECE likewise lessens the risk of school failure.
Based on the SEA-PLM National Report of the Philippines, Grade 5 students who attended an ECE program before entering primary school perform better in reading, writing, and math assessments, compared to those who have no ECE experience.
Almost 95 % of children who had two years of ECE were able to read words even before primary education, compared to only 88 % who did not have ECE experience.
At least 92 % of those with two years of ECE were able to do simple addition, compared to only 87 % who did not attend ECE programs.
But despite the benefits of ECE experience and the government policies that support it, the program is still “limited” in the Philippines as only 66 % of five-year-old children were enrolled in kindergarten, while only 47 % of children three to four years old were in preschool.
“It is imperative to ensure all Filipino children have access to quality ECE,” Unicef said.
Disparity in access Factors such as gender, socio-economic status (SES), location, and school type set apart students’ ECE participation. While location and gender disparities in ECE attendance are relatively small, there are more marked gaps by SES and school type.
While 93 % of students from the highest-SES families attended at least a one-year ECE program, the figure is 83 % for students from the lowest-SES households.
Likewise, 54 % of children from the highest-SES families participated in an ECE program for two years or more, compared to 39 % from the lowest-SES students.
“This is consistent with global evidence that access to ECE has a strong association with household factors,” Unicef said.
When it comes to school types, 95 % of students from private schools participated in at least a one-year ECE program, compared to 84 % of students from public schools. More than 62 % of students from private schools received two years or more of ECE, compared to 41 % of students from public schools.
“The disparity in ECE attendance by urban-rural divisions is not so apparent,” Unicef said.
Eighty-six % of students from urban areas received ECE for one year or more, compared to 85 % among those from rural areas. However, children from urban areas have a slightly greater advantage in attending ECE programs for more than two years. Half of the students who live in urban areas participated in a two-year ECE program.
There is also a small gender disparity in ECE participation, although girls have a slightly greater advantage than boys. Specifically, 88 % of girls received at least a one-year ECE program, compared to 83 % of boys. Almost an equal share of girls (44 %) and boys (43 %) attend an ECE program for two years or more.
Give ECE access to all According to Unicef, it is “critical to increasing participation in kindergarten so that all children are physically, socio-emotionally, and intellectually prepared for primary education.”
To achieve this, while the analysis shows that children from low-SES families and public schools are at a relative disadvantage in accessing ECE, data collection needed to be strengthened at the school level to identify the profile of children who are not attending kindergarten and the barriers they are facing in accessing the services.
“At the same time, as the disparity in ECE attendance by SES is prominent, household factors may play a strong role in children’s access to ECE. In this sense, parents from low-SES families should be capacitated in their responsibilities to send their children to ECE,” it said.
Then in areas where it is difficult to reach public schools, partnerships with non-government service providers may play a crucial role in ensuring access to kindergarten.
Likewise, Unicef stressed that alternative kindergarten models and catch-up programs may supplement access in this regard.
‘Right age’ to go to school Unicef said starting education at the right age will also give a head start in learning and could help achieve higher success in school, with data suggesting that children who received ECE are more likely to attend primary education at age 6, which is the official primary school starting age in the Philippines, compared to those who did not attend ECE.
It stressed that students who entered primary education at a later age perform significantly worse in reading, writing, and mathematics than peers who joined at the right age.
Based on results of the SEA-PLM, which is a large-scale regional learning assessment program to assess learning outcomes of Grade 5 students in Southeast Asia, students who entered primary school at age 6 received a 288 score in reading assessment, compared to those at age 7 (286) and 8 or older (275).
Then in writing assessment, Grade 5 students who entered primary school at age 6 got a score of 289, higher than those who entered primary school at age 7 (284) and 8 or older (273).
Likewise, students who entered primary school at age 6 received a score of 288 in math assessment, compared to those who entered primary school at age 7 (286) and 8 or older (276).
Academically engaging parents needed It was revealed that Grade 5 students whose parents were more involved in their academic activities had higher scores in reading, writing, and mathematics.
But among the six SEA-PLM participating countries, Filipino children had the largest gap in test scores between those with the highest-engaging parents and the lowest ones, implying that parents’ involvement in academic activities is essential in children’s school performance.
Unicef said although gender disparity remains relatively small, girls are slightly more likely to have the most academically engaging parents than boys. Specifically, 22 % of girls are supported by the highest-engaging parents in learning, compared to 16 % of boys.
When it comes to geographic location, parental engagement in academic activities is more prominent in bigger municipalities and cities, with 26 % of children from urban areas having the highest-engaging parents, compared to 15 % of children from rural areas.
“There is also a marked disparity by school type at the expense of children from public schools. Thirty-four % of children in private schools are supported by highly engaging parents, while the figure is only 17 % for children in public schools,” Unicef said.
However, disparity by SES appears more significant than disparity by gender, location, and school type as 33 %of children from the highest-SES families have the most academically engaging parents, compared to 8 % of those from the lowest-SES households.
‘Upgrade teachers’ knowledge, skills’ Based on the results of the SEA-PLM, instructional training enables teachers to acquire sufficient knowledge and skills to deliver quality education and is essential to promoting student achievement.
However, data suggest that most teachers in Grade 5 did not receive pre-service training in teaching foundational skills in the classroom.
This, as among teachers with less than two years of teaching experience, only 7 % had training in math before they entered the classroom, followed by 8 % in reading, and 13 % in writing.
“The figures essentially remain unchanged even among teachers with longer teaching experience” as only about 5 % to 6 % of those with more than two decades of teaching experience had received pre-service training in reading, writing, and mathematics.
In-service training opportunities are also still limited for early career teachers, with only about 6 % of teachers with less than two years of experience having in-service training in writing, 14 % in mathematics and 17 % in reading.
But Unicef said teachers are likely to receive in-service training in foundational skills throughout their teaching career.
Security guard killed in shooting at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
A gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran on Friday, in an attack Baku branded an “act of terrorism” that it said was the result of Tehran failing to heed its calls for improved security.
Police in Tehran said they had arrested a suspect and Iranian authorities condemned the incident but played down talk of any political motive for the attack.
The incident comes amid increased tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran, which is home to a large ethnic Azeri minority after Baku appointed its first-ever ambassador to Israel this month.
“The attacker broke through the guard post, killing the head of security with a Kalashnikovassault rifle,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said.
A video posted on social media appeared to show a gunman running past a guard post and forcing his way into the embassy building, firing through a door.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, quoted on a government site, said that based on evidence and initial observations the gunman’s motive was “completely personal.”
“Necessary security measures have been taken to continue normal activities at the embassy and diplomats of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran,” he said.
However, the Azeri foreign ministry said it planned shortly to evacuate its embassy staff from Tehran. It also summoned the Iranian ambassador in Baku to express its anger and demand justice.
In a strongly-worded statement, the ministry said an “anti-Azerbaijani campaign” in Iran had contributed to the attack, without elaborating, and accused Tehran of long ignoring its appeals to bolster security at the embassy.
“Unfortunately, the latest bloody terrorist act demonstrates the serious consequences of the failure to give the necessary attention to our constant appeals in this regard,” it said.
In a separate statement on Twitter, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev demanded swift punishment for those involved in the “act of terrorism.”
Aliyev has complained in the past about Iran’s treatment of its Azerbaijani minority, saying for example that Azeris have no schools where they can study in their own language.
The superintendent of criminal affairs in Tehran, Judge Mohammad Shahriari, quoted the assailant as saying his wife went to the Azerbaijan embassy and had never returned home, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
When the assailant contacted the embassy, he never got an answer and believed his wife was still inside.
Iran’s police chief said on television that the man’s wife was from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, a secular Muslim former Soviet republic which borders Iran, has friendly ties with the United States and Israel and has had difficult diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.
Israel has had an embassy in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of Azerbaijan in recent years. It has also provided diplomatic support for Baku in its standoff with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards carried out major military drills along the country’s borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan amid fears of renewed fighting between the two South Caucasus states last year.
Only 3 parties can contest all 400 constituencies in the next election: EC
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
If the House of Representatives was dissolved today, only three political parties would be able to field candidates in all 400 constituencies in the upcoming general election, Election Commission secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said on Saturday.
He did not name the three political parties, but said they all have branches or representative offices in every province and, therefore, are eligible to field candidates in every constituency.
Only the Democrat, Pheu Thai, and Palang Pracharath parties have branches in every province.
Eighty-three other parties registered with the Election Commission – including Ruam Thai Sang Chart (United Thai Nation), which is expected to nominate Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as its PM candidate for the next election – have not set up branches in all provinces.
The law also requires political parties to hold primary votes among their members to select their election candidates in the constituencies they plan to contest.
Sawang said that it generally takes about 20 days for a political party to complete the six to seven steps primary voting requires.
The next national vote is tentatively scheduled for May 7, after the House of Representatives’ four-year term ends on March 23. However, PM Prayut has the power to trigger an early election with a House dissolution.
Sawang said last week that the Election Commission needs time to designate the boundary of constituencies in line with the amended electoral law, which is awaiting royal endorsement.
“We will have 25 days after the law takes effect to designate constituencies. If the House was dissolved now, there would be no constituencies and candidates’ applications would be affected,” he said.
Pheu Thai opts not to counter Jatuporn’s damaging allegations
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
A key figure in the opposition Pheu Thai Party has declined to publicly spar with an outspoken former colleague, Jatuporn Prompan, who made a series of damaging claims against the party and its patriarch – former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
“The Pheu Thai Party has no policy of countering allegations or getting involved in exchanges of arguments with Jatuporn or anyone else,” Nattawut Saikua, director of the Pheu Thai Family, said on Friday evening.
Pheu Thai is focused on election campaigning, he said.
Nattawut also asked Jatuporn to stop alleging that Phue Thai has, among other things, made a deal to form a coalition with the ruling party.
Jatuporn and Nattawut were key leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, also known as the red shirts, formed by loyal supporters of Thaksin and his proxy Pheu Thai.
Their strong support was credited with the party’s electoral wins over the past decade.
Nattawut said that if the red shirts voted for another political party in the “pro-democracy camp”, he believed it would not be because of the allegations made by Jatuporn.
“I am convinced that most red shirts still believe in the Pheu Thai Party. After the House dissolution, I would like to ask our red-shirt brothers and sisters to join hands with us again,” he said.
The politician also said that Pheu Thai’s goal was to win a landslide victory in the next general election.
The goal is not to “bring Thaksin home” but to send the remnants of the post-coup junta back to their homes, he claimed.
Earlier, Jatuporn demanded that the main opposition party issue a public declaration that it would not form an alliance with the ruling Palang Pracharath Party after the upcoming general election.
He also accused fugitive former premier Thaksin of repeatedly betraying the red shirts, who were his loyal supporters and helped vote his proxy Pheu Thai into power.
Jatuporn said that Pheu Thai had been in government for just a few years before Thaksin wasted its election victory by having it push a 2013 bill to grant amnesty to anyone involved in the political conflict – including those accused of murder and corruption.
Many viewed the bill as a deliberate move to benefit Thaksin.
It led to massive street protests against the government led by Thaksin’s youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
The protests and ensuing violence culminated in a military coup in May 2014 – which Jatuporn said resulted in eight “wasted years” for Thailand under coup-leader Prayut’s rule.
Jatuporn warned that history would repeat itself if Pheu Thai returned to power and made the same amnesty move again.
Songkran set to become Thailand’s 4th intangible cultural heritage
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
Songkran, Thailand’s renowned water festival, is set to be inscribed as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) now that it has been included in Unesco’s tentative list of nominees.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) included “Songkran in Thailand, a traditional Thai New Year festival” in its list of nominations for 2023.
If Songkran is successfully inscribed, it will become the fourth ICH from Thailand on the prestigious Unesco list after Khon (Thai masked dance) in 2018, Nuad Thai (traditional Thai massage) in 2019 and Nora (dance drama in South of Thailand) in 2021.
Tom yam kung, Thailand’s famous spicy prawn soup, has been on the list of nominees since 2022, the Unesco website shows.
Thailand plans to seek ICH status for other Thai cultural heritage including Muay Thai, Phi Ta Khon (ghost mask festival in the Northeast), khao niao mamuang (mango and sticky rice), and khao kaeng (curry and rice).
Intangible cultural heritage refers to a practice, representation, expression, knowledge or skill considered by Unesco to be part of a place’s cultural heritage.
There are seven branches of intangible cultural heritage – performing arts, handicrafts, traditional literature, traditional sports, old customs, folk wisdom and language.
Tourist Police warn Erawan Shrine vendors against overcharging pilgrims
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
Police have warned vendors near Bangkok’s Brahma Shrine against overpricing, after a video showing a group of Chinese tourists spending more than 13,000 baht to buy offerings went viral.
Tourist Police deputy commander Maj-General Apichart Suribunya said he had instructed police officers responsible for the religious site, also known as the Erawan Shrine, to prevent vendors from overcharging pilgrims.
Apichart, who is also spokesman for the Tourist Police, said that no further complaints had been received from tourists after police warned vendors they could face legal action for overpricing.
Vendors at the shrine have been told to always tell prospective customers the prices of their goods in advance, Apichart said.
Vendors outside the shrine tend to sell garlands and other offerings at higher prices than those inside the shrine’s compound, he said, adding: “This is normal.”
The famous place of worship – often visited by locals and foreign tourists from Asia – is located in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel at Ratchaprasong intersection.
A woman who admitted that she was the vendor in the viral video clip said that during celebrations for the Lunar New Year, a group of about 10 Chinese tourists bought six sets of offerings from her – two sets for 1,200 baht each, two for 900 baht each, and two for 600 baht each.
Four of the tourists also bought 16 doves from a nearby outlet for 500 baht apiece, she said.
The combined cost was 13,400 baht.
The vendor said she showed the tourists a price list before they decided to buy.
“Throughout my 30 years of business here, I have never taken advantage of tourists. I always notify them of the prices,” she said.
She said that while talking with the group of Chinese tourists, she saw a Thai man making a video of their interaction. When she asked him why he did not respond.
She realised the reason after the video was posted on social media, she said.
Over 80% of Thais have ‘hybrid immunity’ against Covid-19: virologist
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
More than 80% of the Thai population has developed “hybrid immunity” to the Covid-19 virus from a combination of vaccination and infection, Professor Yong Poovorawan said on Saturday.
More than 70% of the Thai population, or over 50 million people, were infected with Covid-19, while at least 80% of the population has been fully vaccinated (with at least two doses), the virologist wrote in a Facebook post.
“So, most of the population – over 80% – have developed hybrid immunity, which helps lessen the severity of disease, covering new mutations like XBB.1.5, which is expected to arrive soon,” the virologist wrote.
Hybrid immunity can protect against Covid-19 better than vaccination or past infection alone, he added.
Prof Yong leads the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine.
New Covid-19 variants tend to be less severe than in the past, he said, explaining that it was the nature of viruses to become less severe as they evolve because they have to rely on living carriers for their survival.
He said that after a series of mutations, new Covid-19 variants have constantly caused less severe symptoms. Globally, the fatality rate of Covid-19 has fallen from 3-5% at the outset of the pandemic to less than 1% now.
In Thailand, the fatality rate has dropped from 1% when it became an epidemic here, to less than 0.1% now, Yong said, adding that for healthy people, catching Covid-19 was now no different from getting the flu.
Top cop calls for transparent probe into claim police extorted cash from Taiwanese actress
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023
The national police chief on Saturday called for a thorough investigation of allegations made by a Taiwanese actress that she and her friends were detained, humiliated and extorted for cash by Thai police while vacationing in Bangkok early this month.
“National Police Chief General Damrongsak Kittiprapas has ordered a thorough investigation into the case,” police spokesperson Maj-General Archayon Kraithong said on Saturday.
Damrongsak also instructed Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Lt-General Thiti Saengsawang to send a team from its Investigation, Detection and Management Branch to collect additional evidence from where the incident took place, said Archayon.
The explosive allegations were first made by actress An Yu-Qing, also known as Charlene An, in Taiwanese media on January 7, shortly after returning from a vacation in Bangkok. The explosive allegations were first reported in Thai media earlier this week. They are now the subject of graphic reports in media throughout the region.
She said police stopped a taxi she was sharing with friends at a checkpoint near the Chinese Embassy on Ratchadaphisek Road on the night of January 4.
Police detained them for two hours before eventually releasing them after receiving a payment of 27,000 baht, she told several news outlets in Taiwan. An also posted messages about the incident on her numerous social media pages, which have several hundred thousand followers each.
The police must make sure that the investigation is transparent and based on solid and thorough evidence, Archayon said. “If any officers involved are found to be guilty, they will face absolute disciplinary and legal action,” Archayon quoted the police chief as saying.
Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy chief Maj-General Samroeng Suanthong replied to An’s allegations on Thursday, after interviewing six officers who were manning the checkpoint where she and her friends were stopped on January 4.
Samroeng rebutted An’s claim of extortion. He said she was detained because she could not produce a passport and appeared drunk. Police officers eventually decided to release her and her friends because they were not dangerous, he added.
On Friday An wrote on her Instagram page that she would raise the issue with the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).
“I was threatened,” she said, challenging police to release all CCTV footage taken near the checkpoint at the time of the incident. Previously, she said police had humiliated her and her friends.
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