Inter-provincial bus company Transport Co expects fewer people to travel upcountry during the New Year break this year due to two consecutive long weekends, the Covid-19 outbreak and resulting financial problems.
An average of 100,000 people are expected to travel out of Bangkok on December 29-30 via vans or buses, which is 30 per cent less than the same period last year.
Manote Saichuto, acting president of Transport Co, said on Thursday that trips to the North have been most affected, especially to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Nan with more than 30 per cent bookings being cancelled. This has been attributed to Covid-19 infections brought across natural borders from Myanmar.
However, he said, trips to the Northeast remain unaffected.
Transport Co is also providing extra buses to cover people wanting to travel back to their provinces to vote for the provincial administrative organisation elections this weekend. It expects at least 60,000 to 80,000 passengers to head home to cast votes on Sunday.
The Centre for the Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced on Thursday that some types of visa have been reactivated, the certificate of entry (CoE) validity extended and sports tournaments have been given the go-ahead.
CCSA spokesperson Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said that since December 1, the authorities have been conducting three Covid-19 tests on people under quarantine, instead of two. The previous set up was to test individuals between the third and fifth day and then again between the 11th and 13th day. Under the new system, visitors will be tested on the first day, then between the ninth and 10th day and then again on the 13th or 14th day.
He said the new testing system may offer authorities an incentive to reduce the mandatory quarantine period from 14 to 10 days, though nothing is clear as yet.
Separately, the Public Health Ministry is looking for ways to cut down on the fees private hospitals are charging for Covid-19 tests. Private hospitals, which have been contracted to test people in alternative state quarantine (ASQ), have been asking the government for more funds.
Meanwhile, tourists who arrive on cruise ships and complete their 14-day quarantine on board will be allowed to extend their visa by another 15 days. The CCSA said that under the current 30-day visa, tourists only have 15 days to travel around after they have completed their 14-day quarantine.
Tourists have until December 29 to apply for the 15-day visa extension.
Meanwhile, tourists who are unable to travel within the time period specified in the certificate of entry (CoE) will be granted an extra 24 hours. If the travel can be completed within 72 hours after the original timeframe, then a new CoE will not be required.
Taweesin, however, provided little information on the Foreign Ministry’s plan to allow CoE applications to be completed online.
The CCSA has also issued a new list of 56 countries and territories whose citizens do not require a visa and can live in the Kingdom for up to 30 days. The countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Principality of Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Peru, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, non-immigrant visa holders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea can stay for a maximum of 90 days based on inter-governmental agreements.
Visa on arrival (VoA), however, is still suspended until the Covid-19 situation gets better.
Three types of visitors – transit visa holders, tourist visa holders (not from the 56 countries and territories listed above) and athletes participating in meetings or competitions hosted by Thailand – will get a 15-day extension on their visa to compensate for the 14 days lost in quarantine.
The Honda LPGA women’s golf tournament will be held in Thailand from May 3 to 9. Spectators will be allowed to join based on the virus situation at the time.
Separately, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry is planning to add Mandarin to the Thailand Plus application from January onwards. The apps will also be linked to smart wristbands and Thai Chana apps.
The spokesman added that Christmas and New Year celebrations will be held as usual, but under the new normal, people will be required to maintain social distancing, observe hygienic behaviour and agree to cooperate so there is no need for a lockdown like in other countries.
A thief called “Kid Spiderman”, who was recently released from prison, has landed behind bars again after stealing from several temples.
Somkid Taem-ngam, 33, was traced to an apartment in Bangkok’s Bang Khunthien district on Thursday, where police found several stolen items.
He had pilfered valuables from Wat Phai Lom temple in Nakhon Pathom on December 7 and was planning more raids with a friend who is expected to be released from prison soon.
Pol Maj-General Noppasin Poonsawat has warned temples to beware of people with suspicious behaviour.
The man got his nickname when he was spotted using a zip line to come down from a ceiling to steal. He was last arrested in 2016.
The Automotive Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has launched a car maintenance campaign in a bid to reduce the emission of PM2.5 dust particles. The campaign will run until the end of February next year.
“Seven car manufacturers will join the three-month campaign and provide discounts on car inspection, oil change and servicing at 540 participating car service centres in the metropolitan area,” honorary club president Suparat Sirisuwanangkura said. “We expect more than 480,000 vehicles to participate in the programme. To be eligible, cars should either have a diesel or petrol engine, be over seven years old and should have been registered within Bangkok and its perimeter.
“FTI is promoting proper maintenance of old cars to boost engine efficiency and help reduce air pollution, especially PM2.5 particulate matter, which is threatening the health of people in metropolitan areas,” he added. “More than 10,000 car owners joined the first campaign, which ran from February 10 to 29 this year. So, we have decided to launch another campaign to attract more motorists.”
Apart from campaigning for car maintenance, FTI has also been working with the government to promote electric vehicle-related industries in Thailand as part of its long-term strategy to reduce air pollution. FTI is using investment promotion and market stimulation strategies to encourage motorists to switch to cleaner alternatives.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Thursday reported 20 new cases in quarantine over a 24-hour period.
The new patients comprise 14 Thai returnees and six foreigners.
The Thai nationals are:
5 from India (aged 33, 38 and 41 and two aged 42)
1 from the UK (36)
1 from the United Arab Emirates (49)
1 from the US (54)
2 from Sweden (20 and 37)
1 from France (45)
2 from Switzerland (50 and 73)
1 from Kuwait (31)
The foreigners comprise one Indian, two British nationals, one German and one Pakistani, aged 42, 60, 17, 79 and 30, respectively, from their home countries, and a Dutch man aged 75 from Switzerland.
As of Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has increased to 4,281 (1,287 in state quarantine). Of these, 232 are in hospital and 3,989 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains at 60.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am the number of confirmed global cases has risen to 74.52 million (increasing by 714,908). Of these, 52.36 million have recovered, 22.16 million are active cases (107,525 in severe condition) and 1.65 million have died (an increase of 13,446).
Thailand ranks a safe 152nd for most cases in the world. The US has the most number, with 17.36 million, followed by India 9.95 million, Brazil 7.04 million, Russia 2.73 million and France 2.4 million.
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) on Thursday announced that it had opened the new Rangsit Station and has shut down the existing station now that the Red Metro line railway (Bang Sue-Rangsit) has gone into operation.
The new station is approximately 300 metres north of the original station.
Passengers can purchase tickets on the 2nd floor of the station.
For more information, contact 1690 at any time of the day or night.
The Sathira Dhammasathan warehouse in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district was burned to ashes on Thursday. Police believe that a near-by transformer which exploded was the cause of the fire.
Bang Khen police station was notified of the incident at 4.30am and contacted the Bang Khen and Lat Phrao fire stations to dispatch trucks to extinguish the flames.
Seven fire trucks and a team of rescuers rushed to the warehouse, which stored wood. The wood fuelled the flames. Firemen had to spend an hour to completely douse the flames.
There were no reports of any injuries or deaths.
A nun at Sathira Dhammasathan said she heard a crackling sound of the wood going up in flames, and went out of her residence to check.
On seeing the blaze engulf the warehouse, she quickly called the police. The fire meanwhile began to spread to nearby houses.
The police believe an explosion at a transformer started the fire, but they are conducting an investigation.
The construction of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s (Egat) hydropower plant at Pha Juk dam in Uttaradit’s Muang district is progressing as planned and should meet its targeted commercial operation date of December 2022, Thidet Iam-sai, deputy director-general of engineering and power plant construction at Egat, said on Wednesday.
“The power plant will have two generators, each capable of producing 7 megawatts, hence the total capacity of the plant is 14 megawatts,” he said.
“It is expected to generate up to 90 million units of electricity for the power grid per year and reduce CO2 emissions of 45,833 tonnes annually.”
Thidet explained that the plant would use water released by the Pha Juk dam to generate electricity, which is an efficient use of water resources while not affecting the surrounding communities, which will still be able to use water from the dam for consumption and agriculture.
“Furthermore, hydropower is a clean, sustainable energy and is one of the cheapest of renewable energies,” he said.
On Wednesday, Egat opened a hydropower plant at Klong Tron dam in Uttaradit’s Nam Pad district for commercial use. The plant has a capacity of 2.5 megawatts and will produce 11.8 million units of electricity for the power grid.
So far Egat has built nine hydropower plants at dams nationwide – Chao Phraya, Mae Klong, Naresuan, Pasak Jolasid, Khun Dan Prakan Chon, Kwai Noi Bumrung Dan, Kiew Kho Ma, Chulabhorn and Klong Tron. They have a combined capacity of 87.95 megawatts.
Egat is also planning to build a floating solar power plant at selected dams, with a pilot project at Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani. It is expected to be completed by mid-2022 and will generate 45 megawatts of electricity.
The baht opened at 30.03 to the US dollar on Thursday, unchanged from its closing rate on Wednesday.The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.90 and 30.10 during the day, predicted Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Wednesday night, the S&P 500 Index closed at 3,701.26 points, increasing by 0.2 per cent. The Stoxx 600 Index and the price of WTI crude oil and gold meanwhile rose in the range of 0.4 to 0.8 per cent.
Jitipol explained that the market rose partly after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting resolved to freeze the interest rate at 0 to 0.25 per cent.
Also, the FOMC committed to using the full range of Federal Reserve tools to support the US economy, therefore promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals.
Financial markets also took note of a US report on macroeconomics and foreign exchange policies of major trading partners. The document categorised Vietnam and Switzerland as “FX manipulators”, while Thailand was placed on the monitoring list. This came as the dollar weakened.
In Thailand, Jitipol estimated that the baht in the short term would move in a narrow range. The market tends to monitor currency operations conducted by the Bank of Thailand.Economic recovery next year would be a main factor that would draw investors back to Thailand, he added. A recovery would possibly be a factor for the baht to strengthen.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) warned the public via a Facebook post on Wednesday to beware of scammers who are now sending an SMS to customers claiming to be from the bank and urging them to update their data.
“They will ask customers to click on a link leading to a fake website that looks like the bank’s official one, prompting customers to enter their personal info,” the bank warned.
“If you find such a message or website, please do not enter your personal data such as ID card number, credit card number, birth date, ATM pin code, username, password or one-time password [OTP] that the bank generated for transactions,” it advised.
“SCB has no policy to notify customers via SMS, Line or Facebook Messenger to provide their personal info,” the bank clarified.
For further inquiries, contact the SCB Thailand Facebook page or call 02-777-777.
Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin
