The Public Health Ministry reported on Saturday (July 23) that over the past 24 hours, 2,578 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to hospitals, one of whom has arrived in Thailand from abroad.
The death toll has risen by 29, while 1,877 patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals.
The number of cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022, stands at 2,350,028.
A fugitive Malaysian businessman operating in Thailand has been arrested in southern Songkhla province for alleged money laundering.
Teow Wooi Huat, the founder of MBI Group International, was arrested in the early hours of Friday by a team led by National Police assistant chief Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn.
Police also searched his MBI Group office in Sadao district on the Thai-Malaysian border.
His capture came after recent arrests of local politicians in Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces for alleged involvement in illegal online gambling.
An investigation led by Surachate discovered their links to Teow, police said on Friday. The businessman was found to be the major financier of the online gambling rings.
MBI Group’s office in Thailand is located on a plot of land spanning over 100 rai (16 hectares). It is involved in a wide variety of businesses worth over 10 billion baht, ranging from hotels and entertainment places to amusement park and real estate.
The Malaysian businessman had been arrested in 2017 on the charge of drug dealing. He fled Songkhla and later managed to escape prosecution.
In 2018, Malaysian authorities charged Teow with financial crimes. His assets were seized for his connection with a pyramid scheme. He fled from Malaysia to Thailand last year.
His company MBI Group International made headlines in Malaysia in October 2019 when scores of Chinese nationals rallied outside the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, claiming they had lost their life savings to the firm.
The people said they had been “cheated” by an online pyramid scheme allegedly run by MBI Group International. Teow was also wanted in Malaysia in connection with a 336-million-ringgit (US$83 million) money-laundering scam in Macau.
Lovers of handcrafted timepieces are drooling over rare Patek Philippe creations, on show at Central Embassy in Bangkok until the end of July.
Catching the eye among the exhibition of ticking treasures are four exquisite dome table clocks, each showcasing a multitude of different crafts in one object.
Esplanade
The “Esplanade” commemorates Singapore’s Golden Jubilee with a geometrical shell and splash of fireworks across the clock.
Bay of Singapore
The “Bay of Singapore” was created for the Merlion state’s Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition in 2019.
Twilight Taipei
The “Twilight Taipei” celebrates Taipei’s skyline in cloisonné enamel, created to commemorate the brand’s first boutique in Taipei 101.
Singapore Skyline
Finally, the prima donna of this exhibition is “Singapore Skyline”, crafted to commemorate 50 years of partnership between Patek Philippe and Cortina Watch.
This unique piece, crafted in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel, features Singapore’s waterfront skyline from the Merlion to the Central Business District, the Esplanade and across to Marina Bay Sands.
Ref 5057R-001 in rose gold and Ref 5057G-010 in white gold
Meanwhile, two Patek Philippe watch models – Ref 5057R-001 in rose gold and Ref 5057G-010 in white gold – have been specially commissioned by Cortina Watch for the brand’s 25th and 50th anniversary. The latter is available for order at the event.
More than 70,000 Indian tourists flocked to Phuket over the past three months, with arrivals surging after the scrapping of the Thailand Pass scheme on July 1.
Up to 275,886 foreign tourists landed on the paradise island from May 1 to July 20, with the highest number (74,821) from India followed by Australia (27,698), Singapore (26,899), Britain (16,715) and Malaysia (12,609).
Somyot Pathan, president of the Phuket Old Town Tourism Community Enterprise, said the Sino-Portuguese architecture was particularly popular among Indian travellers. He said many, especially the younger set, showed up to take photographs and pick up souvenirs.
“The province will do well to understand the travel behaviour of Indian tourists,” he said.
Separately, local guide Poranan Rerksaksi said outdoor activities like go-karting and ziplining were also popular among Indians, adding that she believes they will contribute a great deal to the revival of the Thai economy.
Stunning portraits of 30 Miss Universe Thailand 2022 contestants went on sale as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Friday, in a charity auction to fund the construction of a hospital.
The “Rock the Iconic Fashion Set” is being sold by AssetWise as a limited edition of 600 NFTs that captures the looks of Thailand’s most beautiful women.
AssetWise CEO Kromchet Vipanpong said the NFTs were a great way of commemorating the beauty pageant and would be sought-after by collectors and investors.
The portraits were made by Assetwise’s subsidiary Digitonize Co by combining real estate software with blockchain technology. The company also joined hands with jewellers Mouawad, which made the crown for the contest, to adorn the contestants for the portraits.
The NFTs are being offered for sale at the Crownex shop on Bitkub’s NFT platform for 2 KUB per piece. One KUB is currently worth about 101 baht. All earnings will be donated to the Thep Siri Foundation to build a non-profit cardiovascular hospital.
Buyers will also be entered for a prize draw to win two tickets for the final round of Miss Universe Thailand 2022, while the top five collectors will get to participate in a meet-and-greet activity with the final five contestants.
The Public Health Ministry is working with the police in looking for a 27-year-old Nigerian man living in Phuket who has been diagnosed with monkeypox, the first confirmed case in Thailand.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday that the man reportedly took a taxi from the hotel on Wednesday night and has not been seen since. Earlier on July 16, he had visited a private hospital in Phuket to treat genital boils as an outpatient. The lab result three days later confirmed that he had the monkeypox virus.
Anutin, who is also a deputy prime minister, on Friday expressed his anger, saying the tourist’s behaviour was “horrible” and that he would be prosecuted under related laws, including the Communicable Disease Act. “This man might even face deportation,” added Anutin.
“The Department of Disease Control [DDC] notified me this morning that investigation on persons close to the patient had not found any infections so far,” said Anutin. “Monkeypox is not an easily transmittable disease, but we still need to contain the infection and monitor the symptoms of those at risk. Therefore authorities will try to bring him in as soon as possible.”
The DDC said on Friday that the two persons who may have come into contact with the patient have shown no symptoms and have tested negative. They have, however, been told to remain in isolation for 21 days for observation. Six out of 142 people who have been to two entertainment venues that the man visited in the past week have shown symptoms of fever and sore throat, but their blood test has shown no traces of the virus. They are also under observation in isolation for 21 days.
Half a million doses of smallpox vaccine that have been in cold storage for the past 40 years are safe to use to prevent monkeypox, health authorities said on Friday.
The news comes after Thailand recorded its first confirmed case of monkeypox – a 27-year-old Nigerian man who was hospitalised after arriving in Phuket last week. The infected man reportedly left the hospital without authorisation on Thursday and is now being sought by police, immigration and disease control officials.
A sample of the stored smallpox vaccine was sent for testing by the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Medical Sciences in May.
Department director-general Dr Suphakit Sirilak said on Friday that the vaccine passed five quality tests – for appearance, physicochemical properties, safety, identity, and potency.
The smallpox vaccine was manufactured in 1979 and 1980 and stored in 10,000 tubes, each of which contains 50 doses. The doses were then stored in powdered form and refrigerated at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.
Suphakit said they could be used in a public health emergency if the disease spreads in Thailand and the government is unable to purchase fresh vaccine stocks.
The World Health Organisation has approved three types of smallpox vaccine – second-generation, third-generation and fourth-generation. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved third-generation vaccines for use to prevent monkeypox.
Thailand’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bitkub, on Friday postponed to next month the scheduled suspension of services for maintenance.
Bitkub Exchange had announced on Thursday that it would suspend services for maintenance from Friday night to Saturday morning, while assuring there was no need to be alarmed.
The company repeated the assurance on Friday. “Please be assured that the company’s business is continuing normally. We still offer deposit and withdrawal services for all types of [digital] assets,” Bitkub said.
The announcement came just a day after Zipmex, another digital asset exchange platform, had suspended all baht and cryptocurrency withdrawals from its digital wallet on Wednesday evening, citing “market fluctuations” and liquidity issues faced by its business partners.
Bitkub will now suspend service from 9.30pm on August 6 until 5am on August 7, according to its latest announcement on Friday.
As a result, Bitkub customers will not be able to withdraw BCH, BTC and XRP digital coins traded on the platform for seven and a half hours during the maintenance period.
Bitkub explained on Friday that the postponement was in line with a new maintenance schedule set by the US-based digital asset trust company, BitGo.
Mangosteen trees in the eastern region are being felled in large numbers to grow the pricier durian, a senior Department of Agriculture official said on Friday.
Chonlatee Numnoo, director of the Agricultural Research and Development Office’s Region 6, wrote in a Facebook post that although as many as 140,000 tonnes of mangosteen fruit have been exported this year, the prices are not as attractive as those of durians.
“So, it is not surprising that many mangosteen orchards have been turned into durian plantations. The other day, I spotted a truck full of firewood that was cut from mangosteen trees,” he said.
“It’s very sad because it takes several years for a mangosteen tree to grow that big. Mangosteen trees survive far longer than durian trees,” Chonlatee said.
Mangosteen prices have fluctuated in recent years, ranging from 20 to 50 baht per kilogram.
According to the official, mangosteen growers have faced many issues over the past several years, including unstable prices, price curbs by middlemen, high wages of harvesters, and a lack of processing industry for the fruits that cannot be exported.
He noted that Thai authorities appear to be more interested in durians although mangosteens have more problems.
Chonlatee suggested that mangosteen growers form their own association to boost their bargaining power in pushing for action by relevant authorities and those in power.
His regional office is located in Chanthaburi province, with the responsibility covering seven provinces in the eastern region — Chachoengsao, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat.
The owner of a Bangkok tropical fish shop is in hot water after employing scantily clad models to swim in a tank at the shop’s opening ceremony.
Clips of the bikini-clad “mermaids” swimming in the large aquarium at Arowana Mall in Chatuchak district on Wednesday drew a wave of criticism on social media.
Netizens slammed the promotion for objectifying women while questioning whether it was legal. However, the stunt also attracted plenty of publicity, with many social media users expressing a keen interest in the event.
Store manager Attachai Addoddorn, 28, said on Thursday that around 20 models had been hired to appear in swimsuits as a way of livening up the atmosphere at the launch promotion.
The models then became “mermaids” as they slipped into the fish tank, one by one, to swim alongside the shop’s star attraction – a 30-year-old Asia arowana fish (Scleropages formosus) worth 1 million baht.
He said the event lasted less than five minutes but the video capturing the scene was shared widely on social media. It drew queries about the store from both Thai and foreign netizens, with many later turning up at the store only to be disappointed that the event had already ended.
Attachai admitted that the mermaid stunt may not have been to everyone’s taste. He said he accepted the criticism and would take responsibility if police decided to bring charges.
Esplanade
Bay of Singapore
Twilight Taipei
Singapore Skyline
Ref 5057R-001 in rose gold and Ref 5057G-010 in white gold
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