Seven people, including 4 police, injured in Friday’s crackdown on protesters
NationalOct 17. 2020Photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit
By THE NATION
Four policemen were among the seven people injured during the crackdown on student-led protesters rallying in Bangkok on Friday, the Erawan Centre of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said on Saturday.
The injured police personnel were sent to Police General Hospital in Bangkok, while other people were treated in government and private hospitals.
On Friday evening, police used water cannons to clear pro-democracy protesters from their rally site at the Pathumwan intersection.
A substance that causes irritation to the eyes and skin if exposed to it was reportedly mixed with the water. Police denied using tear gas but confirmed that the water contained a chemical that could cause discomfort to the skin, which could be washed off with water.
Ten new Covid-19 cases were reported in state quarantine over a 24-period on Saturday, including two domestic cases and eight cases in the state quarantine.
The domestic cases were two Myanmar nationals in Tak province. They are a married couple, aged 63 and 53, who have been living in Thailand for several years and have a son who now works at the Mae Sot–Myawaddy goods transport checkpoint. Officials suspect that they contracted the virus from there.
The other cases included a Nepalese, aged 26, one from the United Arab Emirates, aged 24, a 43-year-old from the US, a 57-year-old from Poland, three people aged 22, 25, 56 from the UK, and and a 24-year-old from Japan. All of them, except the Nepalese, are Thai nationals.
Meanwhile, four Covid-19 patients have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,679 (736 in state quarantine),142 are in hospital and 3,478 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains unchanged at 59
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Saturday, the total number of confirmed cases worldwide had risen to 39.57 million (increasing by 412,917), 29.65 million have recovered and 1.1 million have died (up by 6,185).
Thailand ranks 143rd in number of cases, while the US tops the list with 8.28 million, followed by India 7.43 million, Brazil 5.2 million, Russia 1.36 million and Spain 982,423.
The government has clarified that two Covid-19 cases in Tak province were Myanmar nationals.
Rumours have been circulating in social media since Friday that two Thai nationals were found to have contracted Covid-19 in Tak’s Mae Sot district, which shares a border with Myanmar.
Thanitphol Chaiyanan, adviser to Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pitutecha, said that the two patients are in fact of Myanmar nationals.
“There was a miscommunication in reporting the cases, which has resulted in people misunderstanding that the patients were Thais,” he said. “The Public Health Ministry has confirmed that they are both Myanmar nationals.”
Thanitphol added that the patients were a married couple who had been living in Thailand for several years and had a son who now works at the Mae Sot–Myawaddy product transport checkpoint. Officials suspect that they contracted the virus from there.
“They recently tested positive for Covid-19, but have shown no symptoms so far. They are both being treated at Mae Sot Hospital,” he said. “Officials are making sure that their treatment is following the public health standards to prevent an outbreak among local communities.”
Thanitphol added that on Sunday, Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul would visit Tak province to monitor the situation on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Police on Friday evening used water cannons to clear protesters who call themselves Khana Ratsadon 2563 (People’s Party 2020) from their rally site at the Pathumwan intersection.
A substance that causes irritation to the eyes and skin if exposed to it was reportedly mixed with the water. However, police denied firing a tear-gas mixture on protesters.
After using water cannons, police marched along Pathumwan Road, holding shields to force rallyists out of the intersection, while the protesters gradually backed off to their new rally point in front of Chulalongkorn University.
At around 8pm, the rally leaders told the protesters to disperse from the area and announced that they would hold a rally again on Saturday. The time and place were to be announced later.
The Thailand Meteorological Department forecast on Saturday that an active monsoon trough lies across the Central, the upper South and the East, while the strong southwest monsoon prevails across the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf of Thailand.
Continuous rainfall is forecast for most of the country with isolated heavy to very heavy rains in the North, the Northeast, the East and the South. People in risky areas should beware of the severe conditions that may cause flash floods and water runoff, the department said.
Strong winds with waves 2-3 metres high and more than three metres high during thundershowers are predicted for the Andaman Sea. The department advised all ships to proceed with caution while small boats should keep ashore.
Meanwhile, the category 2 tropical depression over central Vietnam and the South China Sea is set to make landfall and downgrade to category-1 active low pressure over Cambodia, bringing isolated heavy to very heavy rain with strong winds to the lower North, the Northeast, the Central and the East of Thailand.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-26 degrees Celsius, maximum 29-32°C.
Northeast: Cloudy with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy to very heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-24°C, maximum 27-30°C.
Central: Cloudy with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 23-25°C, maximum 30-32°C.
East: Cloudy with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy to very heavy rain; minimum temperature 23-26°C, maximum 28-31°C; waves two metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Cloudy with thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 24-25°C, maximum 30-33°C; waves two metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Cloudy with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy to very heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-25°C, maximum 29-32°C; waves 2-3 metres high and over three metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Cloudy with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 25-26°C, maximum 30-32°C.
NationalOct 16. 2020Photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit
By The Nation
Police used water cannon to clear protesters from their rally site at the Pathumwan intersection on Friday evening. Police denied using a tear-gas mixture on protesters.
Meanwhile, Bangkok’s Pathumwan Municipal Court has issued arrest warrants against 12 leaders of the pro-democracy movement that calls itself Khana Ratsadon 2563 (People’s Party 2020) for allegedly breaching Article 9 of the Emergency Decree.
National Police chief Pol General Suwat Chaengyodsuk has prohibited the use of certain roads, BTS stations and Skywalks in downtown Bangkok by anyone other than authorised personnel.
Routes blocked to general citizens are:
Ploenchit Road from Rajprasong intersection to Chidlom intersection
Rajdamri Road from Pratunam intersection to Rajdamri intersection
Rama I Road from Ratchaprasong intersection to Chalerm Phao intersection
Buildings blocked to general public are:
Rajdamri BTS Station to Chidlom BTS Station
Skywalk between Siam BTS and Ploenchit BTS stations
Public bus and van services within a of 5-kilometre radius of the protest rally at Ratchaprasong Intersection will be suspended from 3pm on Friday, said the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BTMA). Services were being halted until traffic around the anti-government rally site returned to normal, the BMTA said.
Meanwhile, the BTS Skytrain will not pick up or drop off passengers at Chidlom, Ratchadamri, Ratchathewi, Siam and National Stadium stations from 3pm onward, according to the operator’s official Twitter account.
New test kit will cut quarantine down to 10 days, says Anutin
NationalOct 16. 2020Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul
By The Nation
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday that the plan to reopen the country to foreigners is under discussion and the authorities are looking into the option of reducing quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days.
The Public Health Ministry is also developing Covid-19 test kits that do not require the drawing of blood or swabs and will only take three to five days to produce an accurate result.
These test kits should then reduce the quarantine period to less than 10 days. Results of a study on a sample group will be at the next Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting.
A specialist in virology at Chulalongkorn University has highlighted the huge differences in Covid-19 death tolls from country to country across the globe.
Dr Yong Poovorawan said that that China had registered 200 times fewer Covid-19 deaths per million people than the US.
The area of the globe with the highest Covid-19 death toll was the Americas, with the US recording 659 deaths per million and Brazil recording 708, he added in a Facebook post on Friday.
“In Europe, the UK and Spain’s death per million people are 600 and 696, respectively,” he said.
“In Asia, India’s death toll per million people is 79 – higher than China where the Covid-19 outbreak has killed just three people per million.
“Thailand’s deaths per million people is 0.9,” he added.
Dr Yong said the huge differences in Covid-19 death tolls were due to various factors, including median age of the population, Covid-19 prevention methods and DNA.
“Most Covid-19 patients are old, while the median age of Americans is definitely higher than Indians,” he said, adding that Japan’s Covid-19 death toll is only 13 people per million despite its high median age.
Photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit 
Photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit 
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Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul 
Dr Yong Poovorawan 
