Rangsit University students and staff have been ordered to self-isolate after one of its students was found to have travelled in the same public van as a returnee from Myanmar who later tested positive for Covid-19.
The university, located in Phatum Thani just north of Bangkok, revealed the timeline of the student:
1. On November 29, the student spent two hours (1pm-3pm) in the same van as the Covid-19 case while returning to his/her hometown in Ratchaburi.
2. On December 2, the student attended class at the university from midday to 5pm. He/she visited the second storey of Building 12/1 and the Student Affairs Office on the second storey of Building 14.
The university said the student is currently self-isolating at his/her residence to monitor symptoms.
“The university has urged all students and staff who came into contact with this student to self-isolate at their residence, said Rangsit University authorities. “Meanwhile all areas that the student visited have been disinfected.”
The Royal Thai Police and Public Health Ministry held a press conference on Friday to announce the enforcement of a new law that prohibits the sale or advertisement of alcoholic beverages via digital channels.
“From Monday, December 7, the sale and advertisement of alcoholic beverages online will be prohibited,” deputy police spokesman Pol Colonel Siriwat Deephor said. “Direct selling, persuading consumers, introducing products or other related services via digital channels that enable sellers to complete a sale without meeting the buyer face to face will be banned.”
This prohibition, however, does not include paying for alcoholic beverages via electronic methods at stores, restaurants or establishments that serve alcohol.
“Violators face up to six months in prison and/or Bt10,000 in fines,” Siriwat added.
Dr Niphon Chinanonwet, director of the Department of Disease Control’s Alcohol Control Committee, said these controls are being introduced because it is difficult to check if the sale of alcohol online is in compliance with legal limits, such as age, in line with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.
“This prohibition applies to all retailers and wholesalers, regardless of the size of company,” he said. “This law is not a ploy to cut off sales channels for small businesses as some say.”
Greenpeace Thailand also revealed the results of its 2020 plastic waste audit on Thursday.
It showed the brands that produce the most plastic waste are Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), Dutch Mill, Osotspa Group, TCP, and Lactasoy Group. The audit was based on samples collected in Chiang Mai (Doi Suthep) and Chonburi (Von Napa Beach) in October.
More than 70 volunteers in Thailand collected 13,001 pieces of plastic, the most common being food packaging (8,489), followed by household products (3,273).
The plastic item most commonly found was bags (2,647), followed by snack bags (2,099), plastic bottles (1,137), drinking straws (1,063), plastic labels (895),bottle caps (764), yoghurt cups (692), plastic scrap (691), beverage cartons (670) and bottle lock rings (588).
The brand audit is part of the “Break Free From Plastic” campaign launched in 55 countries around the world. Globally, the three most common brands of plastic waste are Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé.
Greenpeace says manufacturers must reduce the plastic packaging they use, since recycling is not doing enough to reduce the mountain of daily plastic waste.
One way to make manufacturers responsible for the waste is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law.
The EPR law has been adopted on a voluntary basis across the world as a guideline for manufacturers to take environmental impacts into consideration, from design, and distribution, to return, collection, reuse, and treatment of their products.
However, in Thailand the government is not taking EPR law seriously, said Penchom Saetang, executive director of the Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (Earth) NGO. Pushing this law will encourage manufacturers to change packaging practices and reduce the use of plastic, he said.
Meanwhile waste from Thailand’s food delivery services has increased 15 per cent from 5,500 tonnes to 6,300 tonnes per day in the “new normal” era, with up to a 12 times increase in online orders, according to Greenpeace Thailand.
Only about 25 per cent of the waste is recycled, while the rest adds to the country’s growing plastic pollution problem, says the NGO. It also warns that using plastic once and then throwing it away is becoming a new-normal way of life for Thai people.
Most units at the government’s first Senior Housing Complex are overbooked less than a month after it opened for reservations, said the Treasury Department on Friday.
The housing project for the elderly in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district is a collaboration between the Treasury Department and Ramathibodi Hospital, which is building an Elderly Care and Hospice Complex on the plot.
Units priced Bt1.82 million are overbooked by 150 per cent, Bt2.10 million units by 200 per cent, Bt2.80 million units by 300 per cent, and Bt2.99 million units by a whopping 1,500 per cent (15 times overbooked).
However, units priced at Bt1.99 million are still available for reservation.
A lottery will now be conducted to decide who gets to move into the complex.
“The department will end the reservation period today [December 4] to check the eligibility of people who have booked units,” said Yuttana Yimgarund, director-general of the Treasury Department. “The department will then place their names into a lottery.”
Sixty per cent of reserved units will be paid for in cash, 40 per cent via loans.
“The project is expected to start construction in April next year and open at the end of 2022,” Yuttana said.
Talks on another 50-rai senior complex nearby will be conducted by Ramathibodi Hospital and the Government Housing Bank on December 8, he said.
The senior complexes are part of the government’s policy to address Thailand’s rapidly ageing society.
Separately, Yuttana said 141 rai of state land in Phuket will be used to build a comprehensive health centre to promote the holiday destination as a world-class medical tourism city.
A survey conducted by Super Poll shows that taking responsibility for one’s own health is the most effective way to prevent a second wave of Covid-19 infections in Thailand.Noppadon Kannika, Super Poll Research Centre’s director, said the survey was conducted between December 1 and 4 on 1,154 samples nationwide.According to the survey, 96.2 per cent said they were worried about a second wave in the country, though 3.8 per cent were unconcerned.As to what can be done to prevent another wave, 96.5 per cent said people should behave responsibly towards themselves and others in society.Also 95.1 per cent said people should avoid going to protest sites to protect themselves from Covid-19, while 92.4 agree that all border checkpoints must be strictly monitored. Another 91.3 per cent said the work-from-home measure should be implemented again.Meanwhile, 91.8 per cent said they were satisfied by the public health authorities’ response to the outbreak.
By The NationLocations in Phichit province that were visited by one of the Thai women who sneaked into the country have been disinfected, as has the venue where a Chinese opera festival will be organised.
On Thursday, vehicles normally used to spray pesticide in farms were being driven around the province spraying hydrogen peroxide for sanitising purposes.
The chemical was sprayed in all schools and three public venues that the Covid-19 patient had allegedly visited, including Bird Bar and Crocodile Rock Pub in Muang district.
The chemical was also sprayed at the venue where an annual event will be held.
A 25-year-old Phichit native, who had been at the 1G1 Hotel in Tachilek across the border between November 17 and 27, sneaked back into Thailand via Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district on November 28. She then took a flight to Bangkok and another to Phitsanulok before travelling home to Phichit.
Chiang Rai provincial authorities are cooperating with their counterparts in Myanmar to help Thais return home via legal channels in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
This move comes after 10 Thai women working in Myanmar’s Tachilek district sneaked into the country and put hundreds of people at risk in several provinces. There have been several new Covid-19 cases in Tachilek.
As of Thursday, 17 of the 67 Thais who had registered with the Border Consortium have returned to Thailand.
Chiang Rai Immigration Superintendent Pol Colonel Nuttawut Saengduean said another 42 Thai nationals had registered with the Foreign Ministry to return via the Mae Sai checkpoint.
He said returnees will be allowed to enter the country every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and are required to be tested for the virus and spend 14 days in isolation at places designated by the authorities.
“They will be sent to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital immediately if they test positive,” he said.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Friday reported 13 new cases in state quarantine facility and one local transmission case over a 24-hour period.
Eight of those in quarantine facilities were Thai women, one Thai male and four foreigners.
A Thai woman, 45, returned from Ukraine and tested positive on December 1 after staying in a state quarantine hotel in Samut Prakarn province for one day.
A Thai woman, 33, returned from the Netherlands and tested positive on December 1 after stay in a state quarantine hotel for three days in Bangkok.
A Thai masseuse, 33, returned from Norway and tested positive on December after staying in a state quarantine facility for three days in Chonburi.
A Nepali man, 46, tested positive on December 1 after saying in an alternative state quarantine hotel for five days in Bangkok
A Czech man, 71, tested positive on December after staying in an alternative state quarantine hotel for 12 days in Samut Prakan.
A German woman, 68 and a Thai woman, 41, travelled from Germany and tested positive during December 26-28 in an alternative state quarantine hotel in Samut Prakan and a state quarantine facility in Chonburi after staying in for four days and five days respectively.
Three people flew in from the United States — an American man, 31, and a Thai female engineer, 30, tested positive in an alternative state quarantine in Bangkok, while a Thai male student, 32, tested positive in a state quarantine hotel in Chonburi during December 1-2 after staying in for 12 days, five days, and arrival day respectively.
Three Thai women, aged 23, 24 and 25, who worked in an entertainment venue in Myanmar returned legally to Thailand on December 2 and were taken to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital.
Meanwhile, a male waiter, 28, at 8088 cafe restaurant in Chiang Rai, was confirmed as a local transmission case and was taken to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital. His health history reveals the source of infection was likely a friend, a 28-year-old Phayao resident, who had worked at the 1G1 entertainment venue in Myanmar’s Tachilek district in early November and had allegedly illegally entered the country on November 27. He had contact with her from November 28-30; they had meals and she shared his room. He also went to the Farm Festival at Singha Park in Chiang Rai with three other friends. His symptoms started developing on December 2 which was the same day he went for a test and was found to be positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, seven patients have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand increased to 4,053 (1,081 in state quarantine), 154 are in hospital, 3,839 have recovered and 60 have died
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Friday, the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak has reached 65.53 million (up by 687,631), 45.4 million have recovered, while 18.65 million are active cases (106,570 in severe condition) and 1.51 million have died (up by 12,679).
Thailand ranks 151st for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number with 14.53 million, followed by India 9.57 million, Brazil 6.49 million, Russia 2.38 million and France 2.26 million.
A clash between two gangs in Phitsanulok’s Wang Thong district in the wee hours of Friday resulted in five young people getting seriously injured.
Police showed up to find the five victims in a critical condition with several gunshot wounds.
Initial investigation revealed that they were heading to a fair in the district when members of a rival gang showed up and began attacking them with guns and ping pong bombs.
The attackers apparently thought their territory was being encroached upon.
Police have launched an investigation and a manhunt for the offenders.
Dr Niphon Chinanonwet 
Photos by Charoon Thongnual 
Provincial authorities have been working on clearing the trash to make way for the water to flow.
Garbage is one of the biggest issues faced by Nakhon Si Thammarat, which has been ranked as one of the biggest creators of trash in the country.
Meanwhile, despite low tide, several residents in the Pak Phanang River Basin are still flooded in and are seeking aid in food and transportation.
