Security at border checkpoints in 10 provinces will become tighter after three Myanmar nationals travelling into Thailand via Tak’s Mae Sot district tested positive for Covid-19.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said the border provinces where security will be tightened include Kanchanaburi, Chumphon, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Tak, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Mae Hong Son, Ranong and Ratchaburi province.
Chatchai Phromlert, the Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary, has tasked provincial governors and district chiefs to strictly monitor the situation.
All Covid-19 cases will be handled in line with the regulations and measures imposed by the Public Health Ministry, namely a daily report on new patients and continual screening of people at risk.
leven provinces were hit by storm and floods during October 7 to 12, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on Monday morning.
The affected provinces are: Nakhon Ratchasima, Sa Kaeo, Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chonburi, Rayong and Chainat.
In total, 2,309 households in 262 villages in 35 districts were damaged. However, there were no injuries or death.
The department said that it had already ordered soldiers and related officials to visit the storm-hit areas to help the victims.
It explained that the recent rainfall nationwide was influenced by a tropical depression, as well as a southwest monsoon that prevailed across the Andaman Sea, the South, and the Gulf of Thailand.
The Thailand Meteorological Department forecast on Monday that continuous rainfall is likely across the country with isolated heavy rain and strong winds in the East and the Central, including Bangkok and its vicinity, and the South.
The tragic accident on Sunday in Chachoengsao province that left 18 people dead on Sunday, when a train rammed into a tourist bus, stemmed from a broken crossing signal and the lack of the gate, the Department of Rail Transport said.
High-ranking officials, including Pichet Kunadhamraks, the department’s deputy direct-general, and Nirut Maneephan, governor of the State Railway of Thailand, visited the accident site.
They found that the broken signal was the reason why a freight train transporting containers crashed into a bus with 60 passengers.
Twent-nine people were injured.
The department is studying guidelines to lessen accidents on railroad crossings.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob confirmed that the SRT’s budget for installing gates at railroad crossings had been cut by the panel studying the draft of Budget Procedures Act for fiscal 2020.
Results of a Suan Dusit Poll released on Monday show that the biggest problem Thais are suffering now is the rising price of food and necessities.
The poll was conducted between October 5 and 9 and involved 1,164 respondents nationwide.
According to the poll, the biggest complaint people have is that food and necessities are getting expensive, followed by low income, inefficient government administration, inefficient teachers and schools, and political conflicts.
The top five reasons the respondents cited for making these complaints were:
• Urgent need to solve problems;
• The problems are unbearable;
• They want their lives to be improved;
• They want the government to be aware of these problems;
• These problems have made them anxious.
As for the top five persons who can solve these problems, the respondents chose the government, the prime minister, the people, related agencies and themselves in that order.
PM urges quick relief for people affected by ‘Linfa’
NationalOct 12. 2020Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha
By The Nation
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged authorities related to weather and disaster relief nationwide to deal with the impact of downgraded tropical storm “Linfa”, which is expected to affect people in many areas, Government Spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Monday.
“The prime minister has instructed related authorities to alleviate the storm’s impact on people’s daily lives,” he said.
“For people’s safety, officials in flood-prone areas should prepare for evacuation if necessary.”
He added that the prime minister had asked people to have faith that the government and its authorities are ready to tackle this storm to mitigate the impact on people.
“People can contact the Thailand Meteorological Department’s hotline: 1182 anytime for more information,” he added.
According to the meteorological department‘s forecast for Monday, the category 2 depression Linfa has weakened to category 1 active low-pressure over Attapeu in Laos and could bring more rain to the lower East and the Northeast regions, while Mukdahan, Roi Et, Yasothon, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket, Surin, Buriram and Nakhon Ratchasima are expected to face heavy rains.
“Meanwhile, the strong southwest monsoon prevailing across the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf of Thailand could bring continuous rainfall in the lower Central, the upper South and the East. People in risky areas should beware of the severe conditions,” the department said.
Separately, the department said another depression storm over the upper South China Sea is likely to strengthen to a tropical storm and is expected to move near Hainan in China on October 13-14 this year.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported five new cases in state quarantine and at the airport screening checkpoint over 24 hours on Monday.
The new cases, all Thai nationals, include a 20-year-old male entertainment venue employee, who arrived from Hong Kong on September 29 and is in state quarantine in Bangkok. He was found positive on Saturday.
A 52-year-old woman and two-year-old girl also tested positive on Saturday, with the woman suffering from high fever and diarrhoea. The mother and daughter had both returned from the United Kingdom on October 5 and are in state quarantine in Bangkok.
Also included is a 23-year-old female student who flew back from the US and a 47-year-old male freelancer from Singapore who both tested positive at the screening checkpoint in Suvarnabhumi Airport on October 8 and 9 respectively.
The woman had lost her sense of smell, while the man had been re-infected after first being hit by the virus in April.
Meanwhile, three Covid-19 cases have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,641 (703 in state quarantine), of whom 128 are in hospital and 3,454 have recovered. The death toll remains unchanged at 59.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Monday, the total number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 37.74 million with an additional 278,013 cases. Of them, 28.34 million have recovered, while 8.3 million are active cases, of whom 68,735 are in a severe condition. The virus has claimed a total of 1.08 million lives, with 3,874 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours.
Thailand ranks 140th for most cases in the world, while the US tops the list with 7.99 million, followed by India with 7.11 million, Brazil 5.09 million, Russia 1.29 million and Colombia 911,316.
Four Myanmar nationals who had sneaked into Tak province on the border were arrested, while three Burmese drivers who came to collect goods in the province tested negative for Covid-19, authorities in Tak said.
Patrolling units reported that four males were arrested while sneaking into Thailand via the Moei River early on Monday.
The authorities found Bt12,340 cash and one cellphone among them. Initial tests showed some of them might have used drugs.
They were later taken to Mae Sot Police Station for questioning.
Meanwhile, locals are worried about Covid-19 spreading in the province, as Myanmar has been struggling to contain a second wave of the pandemic. Last week, Mae Sot Hospital confirmed that three drivers from Myanmar who had travelled to receive some goods in Mae Sot district were infected with Covid-19.
The baht opened at 31.07 to the US dollar on Monday, unchanged from Friday’s closing price.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 31 and 31.20 on Monday and between 30.80 and 31.30 this week, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
He said that the Asian currencies, including the baht, would weaken slightly after the dollar weakened last week. Moreover, he said that the development of a Covid-19 vaccine is a factor to support the Asian currencies.
This week, Jitipol predicted that assets in financial markets would move in a wide range. He added that the market was most interested in the economic stimulus policies of the US, which could affect the election next month.
Jitipol explained that if Donald Trump earned more scores, the market would fluctuate more and the dollar would strengthen.
He said that listed companies in the US would start announcing their results for the third quarter.
Also, the International Monetary Fund will soon state the new economic trends for 2020, after it had previously announced that the global economy would contract by 4.9 per cent in 2020 and recover by 5.4 per cent in 2021. If this prediction was improved, it would be positive for risk assets.
Jitipol forecast that the dollar index this week would move between 92.5 to 93.5 points, from the present 93 points.
About one-fourth of respondents in a government survey in September travelled upcountry during weekends and holidays and the majority of travellers spent less than Bt5,000 on the trip.
“The survey was conducted in 884 districts in every province among 8,124 respondents,” Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, revealed of the office’s survey on consumer behaviour.
“Out of 27 per cent who said that they had travelled upcountry from July-September, 56 per cent said the objective was sightseeing, while 44 per cent travelled to visit their families.”
“Of the respondents, 86.1 per cent said they spent less than Bt5,000 on the trip, 37.7 per cent said they spent Bt5,000 to Bt10,000, while only 13.9 per cent spent more than Bt10,000,” she added.
The survey also asked respondents about their travel plans for October; 47.7 per cent said they have no plan to travel upcountry, 40.6 per cent are still not sure, while only 11.7 per cent already have a plan.
“The top three issue that worry consumers in the current situation are: a second Covid-19 wave (40.1 per cent), increasing prices of consumer products (17.2 per cent) and increasing household debt (14.4 per cent),” added Pimchanok.
“From the survey results, there are indications that domestic tourism might not recover in the second half of the year, as people are still worried about the pandemic and economic recession,” she said. “Entrepreneurs in the tourism industry need to adjust their strategy to suit consumer behaviour in the new normal era, with focus on increasing protection against Covid-19 as well as keeping the price affordable and suitable to the consumer’s economic status.”
“The Ministry of Commerce has been conducting surveys on consumer behaviour as well as product and service prices periodically to make sure that there is no price gouging or product hoarding. If you witness or experience unfair pricing of products or services, please contact the ministry’s hotline at 1569,” she added.
Kasikornbank Plc (KBank) is preparing to issue perpetual bonds worth $500 million (approximately Bt16 billion) at 5.275 per cent interest with a five-year term to add funds to its tier 1 capital, a news source revealed.
“The bonds are expected to go on sale on October 14 with Citibank acting as underwriter, while KBank cannot buy back the bonds until the five-year term is up,” added the source.
The source speculated that the move aimed to increase the bank’s tier-1 capital to tackle non-performing loans (NPLs), which are expected to increase after the Bank of Thailand’s automatic debt suspension programme ends on October 22.
“KBank is now ranked Baa1 (stable) by Moody’s Investors Service while Standard & Poor’s ranks their credit score as BBB+ (negative),” said the source. “Meanwhile, the bank’s NPL is currently at 3 per cent, but the debts in the special mention group (1-3 months behind in payment) are at 7-8 per cent. Issuing the perpetual bonds is therefore a pre-emptive measure to keep NPLs under control.”
The source also added that issuing perpetual bonds would entail a lower cost than issuing ordinary shares, as currently investors’ interest in bank’s shares is declining due to increasing NPLs, prompting banks to give around 30 per cent discount on their ordinary shares, or provide up to 10 per cent interest.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha 
