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Ministry targets 3.8% boost for agricultural GDP (nationthailand.com)

Ministry targets 3.8% boost for agricultural GDP

NationalDec 02. 2020

By The Nation

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry aims to boost the country’s agricultural gross domestic product by 3.8 per cent and agricultural productivity by 1.2 per cent annually.

It also aims to reduce the number of low-income farmers by 10 per cent and increase irrigation areas by 350,000 rai each year.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry permanent secretary Thongplew Kongjun said the ministry will work under the concept of “Agri Challenge” to solve immediate problems for farmers, and set up workflows in line with the “new normal” era.

Urgent missions the ministry needs to work on include the Royal Projects, the One Tambon One New Theory Agriculture Group, large scale agricultural projects, and smart farming, he added.

“We will hold a monthly meeting and assign tasks to central and provincial departments immediately afterwards to ensure our missions achieve success,” he said.

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Cabinet gives green light to new 120kph speed limit (nationthailand.com)

Cabinet gives green light to new 120kph speed limit

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The Nation

Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting approved a Transport Ministry draft for new speed limits on Thai roads.

The draft ministerial regulation raises the speed limit on highways from 90 kilometres per hour to 120kph – but only for cars.

A limit of 90kph has been set for trucks weighing more than 2.2 tonnes and buses with room for more than 15 passengers. Minivans and buses with capacity for 7-15 passengers are limited to 100kph. A 65kph limit applies to cars towing another vehicle, small four-wheelers, and three-wheelers.

Meanwhile motorcycles have an 80kph speed limit, though big bikes of 35kW or more have a 100kph ceiling.

School buses are limited to 80kph.

The speed limits will apply on national and rural highways of four lanes separated by a barrier and without U-turn points.

The draft regulation also sets a minimum speed for the fast lane of highways of 100kph, aimed at easing traffic congestion and helping the transport sector.

The proposal will now be submitted to the Council of State for legal examination.

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Parliament approves new quotas for exports to EU, UK after Brexit (nationthailand.com)

Parliament approves new quotas for exports to EU, UK after Brexit

NationalDec 01. 2020

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit

By The Nation

Parliament on Tuesday unanimously endorsed amendments to Thailand’s trade agreement with the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit explained to Parliament that the trade agreements had changed because the UK had separated from the EU, causing Thailand to renegotiate quotas for its exports.

Thai officials have renegotiated quotas for about 31 Thai products exported to the EU, and 32 products exported to the UK. The new quotas came into force on Tuesday (December 1).

MPs voted to pass three draft documents on trade with the EU and UK.

The first is a draft agreement between the EU and Thailand under Article 28 of the relevant General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, with amendments to quotas in the EU’s table of obligations. The second is a draft letter on trade from the UK government to the Thai government, and the third is a draft letter on the same subject from the Thai government to its UK counterpart.

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Fourth woman tests positive after sneaking back from Myanmar (nationthailand.com)

Fourth woman tests positive after sneaking back from Myanmar

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The Nation

A fourth Thai woman has tested positive for Covid-19 after crossing from Myanmar to Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, local health officials said on Tuesday.

The three other women were found to be infected after they sneaking back into the northern province last week. Two remained in Chiang Rai and one travelled to Chiang Mai, sparking fears of an outbreak in the North.

The fourth case reportedly worked with the three other women in the entertainment industry in Myanmar’s Tachileik city, before sneaking back over the border to escape Covid-19 restrictions there.

The infected woman quarantined herself at a Chiang Rai hotel, before developing symptoms and surrendering to public health officials.

Sanitisation operations have begun at public venues in Mae Sai district, including the market.

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Online HIV testing platform a big hit in Bangkok (nationthailand.com)

Online HIV testing platform a big hit in Bangkok

NationalDec 01. 2020

By THE NATION

Mahidol University is working on an online HIV testing platform to enable those at risk to take a test without visiting the hospital.

“A recent study revealed about one-third of male teenagers in Bangkok who have homosexual intercourse contracted HIV unknowingly,” said Asst Prof Thomas Guadamuz, who heads the Centre of Excellence in Research on Gender, Sexuality and Health at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University. “Furthermore, in Thai society those who test positive for HIV often face discrimination. This means people engaged in risky behaviours may become unwilling to get tested at hospital.”

“The Centre of Excellence in Research on Gender, Sexuality and Health is developing an online platform to provide HIV testing using technology such as video conferencing, to enable those at risk to take a test at their home,” he said. “Candidates will be instructed to provide a sample of their blood on a piece of sterile paper and mail it to the Clinical Research Centre, Department of Medical Sciences. The centre will perform a rapid HIV test on the sample and send the result to the candidate via their electronic channel of choice.”

Guadamuz added that the pilot project has been well-received by homosexual men, who expressed interest in using the platform to test their blood periodically. “We hope that the project will help reduce the spread of HIV/Aids in Thailand and fulfil the “90-90-90” goal of Joint United Nations Programme [UNAIDS] on HIV/Aids,” he said.

By 2030, UNAIDS wants 90 per cent of people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 90 per cent of all people diagnosed with HIV to receive antiretroviral therapy, and 90 per cent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy to have viral suppression.

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Retailers under ‘Let’s go Halves’ scheme warned against jacking up prices (nationthailand.com)

Retailers under ‘Let’s go Halves’ scheme warned against jacking up prices

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The Nation

The Finance Ministry is calling on retailers participating in the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) subsidy scheme to stop jacking up their prices and taking advantage of shoppers.

Pornchai Triraveja, fiscal policy adviser for the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) and the ministry’s spokesperson, said increasing prices also goes against the scheme’s aim to reduce people’s cost of living in the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said complaints about retailers who violate the scheme’s rules can be emailed to halfhalf@fpo.go.th, by calling FPO at (02) 273 9020 extensions 3697, 3527, 3548 and 3509 or by calling Krungthai Bank at (02) 111 1144.

“The ministry is cooperating with related authorities to investigate this issue. We will suspend the use of Tung Ngern smartphone application and take legal action against retailers found to be violating the rules,” he said.

As of November 30, more than 870,000 shops and over 9 million citizens have joined the scheme. So far, total spending stands at Bt31.77 billion, of which Bt16.22 billion has been spent by the public and Bt15.55 million by the government.

The top five provinces with the highest spending were Bangkok, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Chonburi.

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Woman missing for nearly a week found dead at foot of cliff in Mae Hong Son (nationthailand.com)

Woman missing for nearly a week found dead at foot of cliff in Mae Hong Son

NationalDec 01. 2020

By THE NATION

The body of a woman who had mysteriously gone missing since November 25 in Mae Hong Son’s Mae La Noi district was found on Monday in a creek two kilometres from her home.

The family of Siriporn Chaupnaya, 43, reported her missing on November 27, saying she had walked out of the house at 11pm two days earlier and had not returned since. They also said she suffered from a mental disorder but did not elaborate.

After an extensive search, her body was found in a stream at the foot of a cliff. Investigators believe she must have lost her footing while on top of the cliff and fallen to her death.

The body has been sent to Mae La Noi Hospital for autopsy, though the woman’s relatives do not consider the death suspicious.

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Phichit records four deaths from raw pork consumption this year (nationthailand.com)

Phichit records four deaths from raw pork consumption this year

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The Nation

Newest data shows that Phichit province has the highest number of deaths due to the consumption of raw meat and is the second-highest in terms of patients with symptoms caused by unusual eating habits.

Records show that four Phichit residents have died from Streptococcus suis and 22 patients have been diagnosed with it between January 1 and November 23 this year.

Streptococcus suis is a zoonotic disease that can be transferred to humans from pigs.

Public health officials are calling on people to avoid consuming local delicacies that feature raw meat. Locals are also being urged to avoid exposing themselves to raw pork that may cause infections and instead only consume meat from farms that follow high standards.

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10 new Covid-19 cases recorded in arrivals from Russia, US, Pakistan (nationthailand.com)

10 new Covid-19 cases recorded in arrivals from Russia, US, Pakistan

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The NationThe Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 10 new cases in state quarantine facilities over a 24-hour period on Tuesday.

Most of the cases this time are foreigners who came from Russia, the US and Pakistan.

Three people – an American teacher, 23; a Thai businesswoman 63; and a Thai businessman, 65 – all arrived from the United States on November 27-28 and checked into alternative state quarantine hotels in Bangkok, where they tested positive right away.

A Thai woman, 50, arrived from Sudan on November 24 and checked into a quarantine hospital in Bangkok for unrelated medical treatment. She tested positive on November 29.

Four Russians – a businesswoman, 28; a diver, 39; businessman, 29; and a seven-month-old infant – arrived on November 23 and checked into a quarantine hotel in Bangkok, where they tested positive on November 26 with the exception of the businessman, who was found positive on November 28.

Two Pakistanis – a male engineer, 32, and his wife, 30 – arrived on November 15 and checked into a quarantine hotel in Samut Prakan. There the woman tested positive on November 27, while the man tested positive on November 29.

Separately, eight other patients have recovered and been discharged.

The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 4,008 (1,044 in state quarantine facilities), 137 of whom are in hospital and 3,811 have recovered fully. The death toll remains unchanged at 60.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am, the total number of confirmed cases globally has hit 63.58 million (up by 496,245). Of them, 43.98 million have recovered, while 18.13 million are active cases (105,929 in severe condition) and 1.47 million have died (up by 8,291).

Thailand ranks 151st in the number of cases in the world, while US tops the list with 13.91 million, followed by India 9.46 million, Brazil 6.33 million, Russia 2.29 million and France 2.22 million.

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Quick-thinking wife manages to save her husband from wild elephant attack (nationthailand.com)

Quick-thinking wife manages to save her husband from wild elephant attack

NationalDec 01. 2020

By The Nation

A woman’s spontaneous reaction saved a rubber tapper in Bueng Kan province from being killed by a wild elephant late on Sunday.

The woman managed to drive way the elephant by screaming and banging together objects before the animal could stomp her husband, Supat Klonsalab, 33, to death.

Supat is currently being treated in hospital for injuries that are not too severe.

His wife Primanee Chairat, 37, told reporters that the pachyderm took her husband by surprise, adding that the area was not an elephant habitat.

She said when she found the elephant stomping on her husband, she quickly grabbed some objects and banged them together to make a noise and scare the animal way.

Taweep Khamphaengmuang, chief of Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary, offered the couple gifts and some funds to cover Supat’s medical bill.

He also apologised for the accident and said elephants sometimes ventured out of the sanctuary to find food. He said people should place bright lights around the perimeter of their property or burn chillies to drive them away.