Thammasat University on Thursday declined to give permission for an anti-government rally at its Tha Phra Chan Campus in Bangkok on September 19, citing safety and other concerns for its decision.
Student leaders on Wednesday announced plans to camp overnight at the campus on September 19 before marching to Government House the next morning.
Thammasat University’s official response stated that the protest to encourage human rights, freedom and responsibility should only proceed if it could guarantee safety and obey the Constitution and law.
It also said that the request to hold the rally was not in line with its September 3 announcement on political gatherings at the university. The announcement was made after an August 10 rally at Thammasat breached rules by raising the topic of monarchy reform.
The Thammasat administration said it would not allow the September 19 rally until protest leaders processed the request correctly.
Health authorities have tracked down 1,004 people who had contact with a DJ who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, becoming Thailand’s first domestic case in 100 days.
So far, 507 of the contacts have been quarantined and tested negative for Covid-19, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) announced on Wednesday.
The DJ, 37, tested positive on September 3 after serving a week at Bangkok’s Central Correctional Institute on a drugs charge.
Before that, he worked at several nightspots in Bangkok and lived at a condominium in Thung Kru district in the southwest of the city.
A Department of Disease Control Investigation Team led the operation to trace contacts of the infected man at 12 different locations around the city. All are being tested for the disease via the RT-PCR method.
The contacts, grouped according to their location, are as follows:
1. Six family members of the DJ (his wife, two children, sister-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in-law) who are at high risk. All tested negative and have completed their quarantine.
2. 143 residents of Baan Suan Thon condominium where the DJ lived. All tested negative.
3. 492 people at the Criminal Court. Of 14 high-risk contacts, 11 tested negative, results for two are pending, and one is still being sought. Of 478 at low risk, 146 tested negative and two are awaiting results.
4. 6 low-risk contacts at the Correctional Institute hospital group, all in quarantine which ends on September 18.
5. 121 contacts at the Correctional Institution, divided into 85 prison officers (24 high-risk and 61 low-risk) and 36 inmates (one high-risk and 35 low-risk). The high-risk was released on bail before being traced and booked for test on September 16.
6. 8 inmates who shared a cell with the DJ at Bangkok Special Prison. All tested negative and have completed quarantine.
7. 38 contacts at Sam Wan Song Kuen pub on Rama III. Of five at high-risk and 33 at low-risk, 29 have so far tested negative and completed quarantine.
8. 60 contacts at Sam Wan Song Kuen pub on Rama V branch. Of 25 at high-risk and 35 at low-risk, all tested negative and completed quarantine.
9. 15 contacts at First Cafe on Khao San Road. Two at high-risk and 13 at low-risk tested negative and completed quarantine.
10. 112 low-risk contacts on Khao San Road, all tested negative.
11. 3 low-risk contacts from Sarasas Witaed Suksa school in Samut Prakan – a teacher and two school-gate screeners. All completed quarantine and tested negative.
In addition, the Big C store in Suksawat was cleared as an infection risk after security video showed no sign the DJ’s car was parked there during the possible infection period.
Of the 1,004 contacts, 570 have tested negative while the others are in home quarantine awaiting results of tests, the DDC said. The department urged people to continue wearing masks, maintain social distancing, and to avoid sharing their personal belongings.
The haunting howls of a pack of dogs on Wednesday (September 9) led people to the body of a motorbike taxi driver, who had hanged himself from a tree in Chonburi’s Bang Lamung district.
Witness Thanapong Kosonsitthikul produced photographs to explain how he and other residents in his area were led to the dead man by the dogs.
Police, who were immediately notified of the suicide, said they found a letter the deceased had written to his lover.
They believe he may have resorted to suicide due to heartbreak.
Teenagers from rival gangs in Phetchaburi province turned a hospital’s emergency room into a battlefield on Wednesday (September 9) after two of them were admitted with wounds sustained from an earlier fight at a barbecue restaurant.
Police arrived to find 10 teenage boys and girls attacking each other as nurses and other hospital staff tried to reason with them. It finally took some 10 police officers to bring the situation under control.
Three of the students even tried to attack a patient, but were stopped in time by police officers.
During interrogation, police learned that Prakaifah Morawong, 20, had sustained stab wounds after getting into a fight with Dechawat Talakanjanawat, 18, who landed in hospital with wounds to his head.
Members of the two gangs then followed them to the hospital to continue the battle, forcing hospital staff to remove other patients from the vicinity.
Traffic in downtown Chiang Mai came to standstill on Thursday (September 10) morning when a driver hit two power poles and knocked them over.
Rescue staff rushed to the scene and helped the driver, identified as 38-year-old Chetthida Chaimueangrak, out of the car. She was sent to Chiang Mai Medical Centre after showing signs of dizziness and amnesia.
Her Toyota Vios was totalled in the accident, with two power poles knocked over – one blocking the road.
Police suspect the woman was drunk and could not control her car when making a turn, and ended up crashing into the poles one after the other.
The accident brought the rush-hour traffic to a standstill for about an hour.
Pathum Thani police arrested a teenager on Thursday (September 10) for allegedly killing a school security guard day in a fit of anger.
Lam Luk Ka Police Station learned of the murder after the body of Parinya Unsab, 36, was found near a teacher’s house with a fractured skull.
Security guard Tatsanai Ta-Aua, 43, told police that Parinya had previously spoken about arguing with teenagers who came into the school campus to smoke weed.
At around 4.40am on Thursday, Parinya called police to say a group of teenagers had shown up to cause disturbance, but the youngsters had fled by the time police showed up.
After Parinya’s body was discovered, police tracked down a teenager who apparently was in an uncontrollable state. Police then contacted his sister for testimony and put the boy in jail to calm him down.
The chief photographer and the reporter of a news agency quit on Tuesday (September 8) because they were guilty of turning Chaipol “Uncle Pol” Wipa, a key suspect in the Nong Chompoo case, into a celebrity.
Despite being slammed by many Thai netizens, the news agency portrayed the murdered toddler’s uncle as a misunderstood innocent.
Just a month after the three-year-old’s naked body was found in a Mukdahan forest, Chaipol had won support from people across the country as well as job offers from the entertainment industry.
This, however, left those fighting for justice frustrated. They slammed the media for misrepresenting the case and forcing the investigation to take a backseat. They also launched a campaign to ban Chaipol and media that continued to report his news.
Meanwhile, Pol Lt-General Charoenwit Sriwanit, chief of the Provincial Police Region 4, said despite four months of investigation, the Nong Chompoo case has seen no progress.
Acting National Police Chief Pol General Suwat Chaengyodsuk said only 63 out of 900 people gave testimony that was actually related to the case, while all suspects have undergone DNA tests. He said the evidence may not lead to the criminal, but police have done their best to solve the case.
The body of three-year-old Orawan “Nong Chompoo” Wongsricha was found in the Phu Phan Noi forest within the Phu Pha Yon National Park on May 14 after she disappeared from her house near the mountainous region of Mukdahan’s Dong Luang district on May 11.
An autopsy by Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital found many wounds on the child’s body and genitals, but the hospital did not confirm she was raped.
Activist Nuttaa Mahattana said via social media yesterday (September 9) that she has sent an open letter to the education minister about the case of a schoolboy who died after being forced to do 100 squat jumps. She also complained about the way the ministry works.
The boy was forced to do the squat jumps on September 3 for failing to submit his homework.
Nuttaa’s post mentioned that yesterday was the boy’s cremation ceremony.
In the letter, the activist told the minister corporal punishment was a violation of the ministry’s laws, as well as a violation of children’s rights according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
She said she had submitted documents on July 10 to the ministry’s permanent secretary after several right violations.
Nuttaa demanded the ministry show responsibility, punish bad teachers and promote its complaints channel. She also wanted the ministry to reform its punishment procedures of erring teachers.
However, what she received from the ministry was only a letter informing her that it got her letter.
The activist pointed out that corporal punishment across the country showed the ministry’s and its subsidiaries’ “inefficiency” in making schools a safe zone.
Nuttaa demanded that the ministry consider her demands on July 10 and reform its operational rules. She asked the ministry to take responsibility for the dead boy.
In her letter, she also said the Education Ministry must have a long-term plan to deal with authoritarianism in schools.
The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) and Department of Mental Health (DMH) have jointly set up a special team to monitor social-media users and see if any comments indicate they have an intention to kill themselves.
An operational system should be ready within this year to deal with suicides, which are on the rise.
CSD chief Pol Maj-General Jirapob Puridet said his officers will be cooperating with DMH and media influencers round the clock. He said as soon as CSD learns about a person who has the tendency of committing suicide, it will inform local police, who will then have this person taken to the Department of Mental Health for treatment.
Dr Kiatiboom Vongrachit, DMH director general, said last year there were some 4,419 suicides. However, he said, in the first six months of this year – since the Covid-19 outbreak – some 2,551 people had killed themselves compared to 2,092 in the first half of 2019.
The top reason for suicide was relationship problems, followed by mental illness, financial problems and alcoholism.
Cabinet to consider special tourist visa next week: TAT
NationalSep 10. 2020Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn
By The Nation
The visa will be valid for an initial 90-day stay but can be renewed twice – 90 days each time – for a maximum stay of 270 days. The visa, which costs Bt2,000 per person, is suitable for foreign tourists who want to stay in Thailand for a long time, Yuthasak said.
Plans to allow foreign tourists in must take into account the balance between public health safety, consent from local residents and income by the tourism sector, which accounts for 20 per cent of gross domestic product, he said.
“If the situation in the fourth quarter does not improve and no foreign tourists have yet travelled to Thailand, 2.5 million jobs out of a current 4 million in the tourism sector may be lost. So TAT has to prepare for ‘limited exposure’ to foreign tourists, hoping to attract tourists from markets such as Europe in the fourth quarter of this year. If the results are good, numbers can be expanded,” Yuthasak said.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents previously suggested allowing in tourists from cities or countries at low risk of Covid-19 without any quarantine. Most recently, TAT drafted guidelines, waiting for Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
“Efforts have been made to move forward with the limited exposure. However, after the cases of the Egyptian soldier being infected with Covid-19 in Rayong and a DJ in prison also being infected, concerns have been raised about a new coronavirus outbreak,” Yuthasak said.
Some 28.3 million Thais visited other provinces in the first six months of this year, a 63 per cent decrease, generating revenue of Bt202 billion, a decrease of 62 per cent. Meanwhile, 6.7 million foreign tourists were expected this year, hoping to generate Bt332 billion, a 65 per cent decrease.
Foreign tourists are expected to return to Thailand in the second quarter of 2021 (April-June) due to the likely development of a Covid-19 vaccine, Yuthasak added.
TAT expects a rebound in tourist numbers from Northeast Asia and Asean in the near term. It hopes to attract approximately 16.7 million visitors from the Asia-Pacific region and 3.8 million visitors from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
Chaipol Wipa 
Nuttaa Mahattana 
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn 
