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Traffic advice for motorists heading to Lat Phrao (nationthailand.com)

Traffic advice for motorists heading to Lat Phrao

NationalNov 27. 2020

By The Nation

Bangkok motorists heading to the Lat Phrao five-point crossing have been advised to avoid the following routes from 2pm onwards on Friday as the anti-establishment Ratsadon group is scheduled to hold a rally at the five-point crossing from 4pm.

Related story:

Ratsadon group plans rally today as a ‘drill against coup’

Pol Maj-General Jirasan Kaewsangek, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said Lat Phrao intersection connects with many routes and usually struggles with heavy traffic, especially during rush hour.

To avoid being caught in jams, motorists are advised to avoid:

• Phaholyothin Road (outbound) from Kamphaeng Phet to Ratchayothin intersection

• Phaholyothin Road (inbound) from Ha Yaek Lat Phrao (Lat Phrao five point crossing) to Ratchayothin intersection

• Lat Phrao Road from Ratchada-Lat Phrao to Ha Yaek Lat Phrao intersection

• Vibhavadi Rangsit Road (inbound), frontage road from Horwang Road to Ha Yaek Lat Phrao intersection

• Vibhavadi Rangsit Road (inbound), frontage road to Lat Phrao or Ratchayothin overpasses

• Lat Phrao intersection at the road level

Instead, motorists are urged to use:

• Ratchadaphisek Road

• Chokchai 4 Road

• Lat Phrao Wang Hin Road

• Senanikom Road

• Sutthisan Winitchai Road

• Vibhavadi Rangsit Road

• Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road

• Soi Chokchai Ruammit

• Soi Vibhavadi Rangsit 3

• Tollway

He added that traffic police officers will be deployed around the rally area to ensure there are no traffic jams.

Motorists can call Traffic Control and Command Centre’s 1197 hotline, use M-Help Me smartphone app or visit Traffic Police Division’s website for more information.

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Quarantine stays can now be booked on Agoda (nationthailand.com)

Quarantine stays can now be booked on Agoda

NationalNov 27. 2020Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong (left), Dr Satit Pitutecha (middle), and John Brown (Right) 

By The Nation

The Public Health Ministry is joining forces with online hotel booking platform Agoda to help Thais and foreigners book their stay at an alternative state quarantine facility.

The deal was launched on Friday at the Mövenpick Hotel BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok by Deputy Public Health Minister Dr Satit Pitutecha. Also present were Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, director general of the Department of Health Service Support, and John Brown, Agoda’s chief executive officer.

Under the new link up, people wanting to return to Thailand can conveniently look for and book quarantine packages that are suitable to their needs.

This cuts down on time required for booking a hotel room under the Public Health Ministry’s regulations.

The platform works in 39 languages, with 24/7 support and customer care provided in 21 tongues, including English and Chinese, as well as a quick and easy payment process.

Dr Tares said 113 ASQ-certified hotels are now able to generate more than Bt1.2 billion in revenue for the country. The number of hotels providing alternative quarantine stays has expanded from 37 to 100, and are expected to attract at least 30,000 tourists and generate more than Bt1 billion in revenue.

Thanking the ministry for its forward thinking, Brown said this collaboration will inevitably contribute to other projects in the future and also respond to the needs of people.

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Gold Card holders can now change hospital instantly (nationthailand.com)

Gold Card holders can now change hospital instantly

NationalNov 27. 2020

By The Nation

From January, people under the Gold Card health scheme will be allowed to change their hospital or clinic without having to wait for 15 days.

The move would improve access to medical services, said National Health Security Office (NHSO) secretary-general Dr Sakchai Kanjanawatana on Friday.

Previously, people had to wait until the 15th or 28th day of each month to change their healthcare unit.

People changed their healthcare unit 3.96 million times last year and 3.62 million times this year, said Sakchai.

“People can make the change at healthcare units and National Health Security Office Region 13 in Bangkok, or by using the NHSO smartphone application. But you can change your healthcare unit no more than four times per fiscal year,” he added.

The NHSO has also upgraded the registration system to prevent abnormal and repeat registrations, such as by using the same house registration.

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High-income tourists to return next year despite K-shaped recovery: TDRI (nationthailand.com)

High-income tourists to return next year despite K-shaped recovery: TDRI

NationalNov 27. 2020Somkiat Tangkitvanich 

By THE NATION

Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), says the global economy is recovering in a K-shaped trend, meaning some countries are recovering fast while others spiral downwards despite the discovery of Covid-19 vaccines.

“TDRI estimates the global economy will contract by 4.4 per cent on average [this year], with China growing fastest thanks to its effective outbreak management and strong economic structure,” Somkiat told a seminar titled “Global and Thai economy after Covid-19”. And while Covid-19 was not the deadliest disease, it is the biggest threat to the global economy since the 2008 global depression, he added.

“A Covid-19 vaccine should be available by mid-2021, with pre-orders now surpassing 3 billion doses,” he said.

“The arrival of vaccines will enable Thailand and other countries to open for tourism. We calculate the first group of tourists to visit Thailand will be high-earners, as they will be among the first to obtain the vaccine commercially,” he added.

Although Thailand had successfully contained the outbreak, resulting in only 60 domestic deaths, the country still needed to improve in other aspects, Somkiat said.

“The World Economic Forum reported that Thailand is still suffering from wealth distribution issues where development is only occurring in the Central region and rarely in rural areas,” he said. “This has resulted in economic disparity and lack of progress in technology and innovation at regional levels.”

He prescribed three ways to improve the Thai government’s efficiency – eradicating corruption, reforming laws and regulations, and improving government services.

“Thailand has large tax revenues as well as natural resources to support national development. But corruption, legal obstacles and lack of efficiency in government services have hindered both short- and long-term development.”

He said Thailand should learn from Estonia, which has been leaping forward after the government applied digital technology to all its services, enabling citizens to complete any government-related transaction using only an ID card.

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Rescued hornbill succumbs to injuries (nationthailand.com)

Rescued hornbill succumbs to injuries

NationalNov 27. 2020

By THE NATION

An injured hornbill found on Koh Chang island on November 19 succumbed to its injuries on Thursday night at a veterinary in Chonburi province.

Veterinarian Jadet Siridamrong said the bird died at around 10pm even though the team at Nuern Plub Warn Hospital tried to help it with an aspirator.

The bird had been found injured near Khiripetch Waterfall and was believed to have been shot. It arrived at the hospital on November 21.

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Endangered clouded leopard spotted in Si Sa Ket (nationthailand.com)

Endangered clouded leopard spotted in Si Sa Ket

NationalNov 27. 2020Photo credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation 

By The Nation

A clouded leopard was spotted in Si Sa Ket’s Kaban Krabai field for the first time in more than two decades, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said on its Facebook page on Friday.

Photo credit: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation

Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, director of the Protected Areas Regional Office 9, said Phanom Dong Rak Wildlife Sanctuary’s patrol officers also found images of hog deer, barking deer, hog badger, leopard cat, Asian wild dog, fox, coal-billed ground cuckoo and Malayan Night Heron taken by camera traps on Wednesday.

He said after officers released wild animals like pheasants, deer and peacocks in the field in 2015, the number of predatory animals such as foxes and leopard cats had increased, adding that the clouded leopard was an endangered species in Thailand.

“This shows that the officers’ efforts of strictly surveying the area and taking good care of animals has paid off,” he said.

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Eco-friendly electric boats go on stream on Bangkok canal from today (nationthailand.com)

Eco-friendly electric boats go on stream on Bangkok canal from today

NationalNov 27. 2020

By The Nation

Electric passenger boats opened for public service on the Phadung Krung Kasem canal route in Bangkok after the opening ceremony at 9am on Friday.

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang welcomed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who joined the opening ceremony of the first eco-friendly passenger boats in Thailand at the Hua Lamphong pier.

The governor said that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration prioritised the development of transportation to encourage more Bangkok residents to use public transportation.

Seven electric vehicles are expected to replace diesel engine boats, as they produce less noise and pollution. The boat can carry 30 passengers.

They are available from 6am to 7pm and there will be no charge for six months. The fee in the future will be only Bt10.

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High waves bring deluge of foreign waste to Nakhon Si Thammarat beach (nationthailand.com)

High waves bring deluge of foreign waste to Nakhon Si Thammarat beach

NationalNov 27. 2020

By The NationTwo-metre waves in the Gulf of Thailand have forced fishermen in Nakhon Si Thammarat province to evacuate the area while foreign waste is being swept ashore.

Locals have found lots of waste washed up on the beach in Hua Sai district. The labels on the waste showed that they were not products from Thailand, but from neighbouring countries.

They said the storm usually brought the waste matter to the beach every year, resulting in degeneration of the environment in a place which was a tourist attraction.

They said that there was no appropriate management by the local officials despite repeatedly facing the waste issue.

Oil spill is another problem that the locals are concerned about, as it has damaged the ecosystem of the beach in the past, but there was no organisation taking responsibility.

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19 returnees, mostly Thai, test positive in state quarantine (nationthailand.com)

19 returnees, mostly Thai, test positive in state quarantine

NationalNov 27. 2020

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

Most of the new cases are Thais returning from Europe and Middle East.

Of the new cases, three were returnees from the US, namely two Thai men aged 30 and 75, and a 61-year-old American national, who checked into a state quarantine hotel in Bangkok on November 14.

They tested positive between November 24 and 25. The 75-year-old man was found to be a repeat case, as he had been infected once before on October 28.

The fourth case was a 27-year-old Thai businesswoman, who had flown back from the United Kingdom and checked into a quarantine hotel in Bangkok on November 16. She tested positive on November 24 and had fever, sore throat and headache.

A 30-year-old chef who returned from Luxembourg on November 19 and checked into a quarantine hotel in Bangkok tested positive on November 24.

A 40-year-old mother and her three children – sons aged five and 10 and daughter aged 12 – arrived from Saudi Arabia on November 20 and checked into a state quarantine facility in Chonburi, where they tested positive on November 24.

Two Indian nationals, a 32-year-old salaryman and a 44-year-old engineer, arrived on November 11 and checked into a quarantine hotel in Bangkok, where they tested positive on November 23.

A 31-year-old Thai masseuse returned from Sweden on November 12 and checked into a state quarantine hotel, where she tested positive on November 24 and was found to be suffering from a fever, sore throat and headache.

Two Thai women, aged 26 and 52, flew back from Germany on November 14 and checked into a state quarantine facility in Chonburi, where they tested positive on November 25.

A 42-year-old Italian programmer, who landed in Thailand on November 16 after taking a connecting flight from the United Arab Emirates, tested positive on November 21 at an alternative quarantine hotel in Bangkok.

A 69-year-old Omani businessman who arrived on November 19 and went alternative state quarantine hotel in Samut Prakan tested positive for virus on November 24.

Two 37-year-old Thai women, one a masseuse and the other a businesswoman, returned from Georgia on November 21 and checked into a state quarantine facility in Chonburi. They were found positive on November 24.

A 41-year-old Thai returned from Poland on November 21 and went to state quarantine facility in Chonburi, where he tested positive on November 25.

Meanwhile, two earlier patients have recovered and discharged.

The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,961 (1,000 in state quarantine), 111 of whom are in hospital and 3,790 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains unchanged at 60.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Friday, the total number of confirmed cases worldwide has hit 61.3 million (up by 540,802). Of them, 42.39 million have recovered, while 17.47 million are active cases (104,903 in severe condition) and 1.44 million have died (up by 10,953).

Thailand ranks 151st for most cases in the world, while the US tops the list with 13.25 million, followed by India 9.3 million, Brazil 6.2 million, Russia 2.19 million and France 2.18 million.

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Visitors to Songkhla beaches warned of high waves (nationthailand.com)

Visitors to Songkhla beaches warned of high waves

NationalNov 27. 2020

By The Nation

Warning signs have been put up on Laem Samila and Chalatat beaches in the Muang district of Songkhla province, prohibiting tourists and locals from getting into the waters as waves were getting higher.

Songkhla Municipality had to implement the measure after the northeast monsoon created extreme weather and big waves.

A report by the Thailand Meteorological Department at 5am on Friday said that Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces would face heavy rain from Friday to Saturday.

The height of waves in the lower parts of the Gulf of Thailand was about 2-3 metres and the department has urged seafarers to travel with caution.