Strong winds and high waves are expected to hit the South until Thursday, the Thai Meteorological Department announced on Monday.
The department added that the strong winds and waves up to 3 metres high are being caused by the southwest monsoon prevailing over the Andaman Sea and the upper portion of the Gulf of Thailand.
“All ships should proceed with caution. Small boats should stay docked until June 2,” the department warned.
TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app in the first quarter this year, according to digital analyst Sensor Tower.
The majority of the top 10 most downloaded apps were social media platforms, with US-owned Meta and China’s ByteDance owning six of them.
Meta’s four platforms on the list are Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger, while ByteDance owns TikTok and video-editing platform CapCut.
TikTok also topped the download rankings throughout last year, as the world sought relief from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“TikTok surpassed 3.5 billion all-time downloads in the first quarter of 2021, becoming just the fifth app (and the only one not owned by Meta) to cross this threshold,” Sensor Tower said. “No app has had more downloads than TikTok since the start of 2018.”
Apart from being the most downloaded app in the world, TikTok is also the highest-grossing non-game app, based on first-quarter revenue from the App Store and Google Play. Impressively, it achieved its top spot despite being banned in India since 2020.
TikTok generated US$821 million (9.57 billion baht) in consumer spending in the first quarter of this year. The video-sharing platform was the top-grossing app on the App Store, and the second-highest-grossing on Google Play, coming just after Google One.
The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) has tightened screening of wildlife imports as well as indigenous monkeys in a bid prevent monkeypox entering Thailand.
The new measures were adopted following a meeting of wildlife officials and businesses organised by the DNP. Attendees agreed on new screening guidelines for wildlife imports at airports. Meanwhile the DNP is seeking to restrict imports of wild animals until monkeypox-control measures are in place.
Prasert Sornsathapornkul, director of the CITES wild animals and plants protection division, said the meeting sought solutions amid growing concern over the global spread of monkeypox.
Thailand has a large population of indigenous monkeys that could act as carriers of the disease.
Also present at the meeting were DNP Wildlife Health Management Division chief Pattarapol Maneeon and officials from wildlife checkpoints at Suvarnabhumi and other airports.
As of Monday, there had been no reports of monkeypox cases detected in Thailand.
Pattarapol said monkeypox had been added to the list of diseases screened for in the DNP’s regular surveys of monkeys in Thailand. He highlighted the risks of wildlife staff being infected by secretions from the animals, adding DNP staff had been told to wear gloves and footwear during checks on monkeys.
He also advised people worried about monkeypox to monitor the news closely and avoid contact with potential monkeypox carriers such as rodents and primates. They should also wash their hands with soap and clean water immediately after touching these animals and see a doctor immediately if they develop symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches and rash.
Meanwhile the DNP is checking health histories of all animals imported from Africa over the past year.
Monkeypox is endemic in central and west Africa but has spread to more than 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia this month.
Rallies are being held in eight areas across Bangkok on Monday, as activists return to the streets to protest punishments under the Section 112 lese majeste law, and other issues.
The following demonstrations are planned for today.
– 6am at Russian Embassy in Bang Rak district: Hunger strike by a group calling itself the “national people’s parliament” to protest Russia’s war against Ukraine.
– 6am at United Nations building in Phra Nakhon district: Protest by a group representing non-profit organisations against the government’s draft bill to regulate NGO activities.
– 6am at Finance Ministry in Phaya Thai district: Rally by Farmers’ Federation of Thailand to protest budget allocation via four state banks, namely Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Government Housing Bank, Government Savings Bank and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank.
– 7am at Criminal Court in Chatuchak district: Rally to demand bail for activists who have been prosecuted under the Section 112 lese-majeste law and release of protesters who have been imprisoned.
– 3pm at German Embassy in Sathorn: Activist Phawat Hirunphon (Je Pocky) will submit a letter protesting Section 112 to officials at 3pm.
– 4pm at Bangkok Remand Prison in Chatuchak district: Rally by Artists for People group to demand release of activists imprisoned under the lese-majeste law. Protest will be joined by Resistant Citizen group at 5pm.
– 5pm at Victory Monument in Ratchathewi district: Rally by several groups to call for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s resignation and release of activists jailed under lese-majeste law.
– 5pm at Office of the Attorney General in Lak Si district: Rally by We Volunteer (Wevo) group calling for bail-release of activists jailed on lese majeste and other charges.
Scrapping the Test & Go scheme has been a blessing for the Thai tourism industry, with some 20,000 foreigners landing in the country daily.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Sunday that the government is not ignoring the tourism sector as alleged by the opposition.
He pointed out that after the Test & Go scheme was dropped on May 1, Thailand has been welcoming some 20,000 foreign tourists daily.
The Test & Go scheme required tourists to take an RT-PCR test and stay in quarantine until a negative test result was released.
Thanakorn said that judging by this uptrend, the government now expects at least 500,000 tourist arrivals every month during the low season from May to September, mostly from countries nearby.
He added that the arrivals should more than double during the high season from October to December because Thailand is a great getaway for people from Europe and the US during the winter months.
The spokesman went on to say that the government expects Chinese tourists to start returning late this year. Once Chinese tourists return, he said, the number of foreign arrivals should surge to nearly 10 million or about 50 per cent of the pre-Covid level. He said if the arrivals rise as expected, then the country should easily be able to generate some 1.5 trillion baht in revenue this year.
However, he said, even though the Test & Go scheme has been cancelled, foreign tourists still need to register their arrival via the Thailand Pass website, provide proof of Covid-19 vaccines or a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours prior departure as well as a US$10,000 insurance policy.
From June 1, these rules will not apply to Thai nationals returning from overseas, Thanakorn said, adding that all border checkpoints will also be reopened from next month.
The Disease Control Department (DCD) said that as of Sunday, no monkeypox cases had been detected in Thailand. However, the department’s emergency centre urged vigilance among at-risk communities, including gay men.
DCD director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said samples from a suspected monkeypox case tested negative at Medical Services Department and Chulalongkorn Hospital laboratories.
He said the suspected case was simply infected with Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) and would be discharged from Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute after a day or two of treatment.
On Saturday, the DCD emergency operations centre issued an update on the global outbreak of monkeypox based on the latest World Health Organisation report.
The update said surveillance should be stepped up in risk groups, especially gay men.
While anyone can contract monkeypox through close contact with an infected person, countries where the disease is now spreading are reporting a higher proportion of cases among communities of gay men.
The DCD centre recommended the government step up public awareness campaigns among risk groups, giving them information on how to avoid infection and monitor for symptoms.
Symptoms of monkeypox infection include fever, headache, swollen lymph glands and a rash.
A surge of arrivals from at-risk countries following easing of travel restrictions has triggered concern that monkeypox will soon be imported to Thailand. The disease has so far been detected in more than 20 countries across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Arrivals from these countries are now being screened for symptoms at Thai airports, where they are also handed “health beware” notices.
A proposal floated on Change.org about discontinuing the use of traditional Thai numerical digits in official documents has sparked a flurry of arguments online.
The campaign titled “allow the use of Arabic numerals in Thai official documents for the sake of digital development”, was launched on www.change.org on Friday evening by a user who goes by the name Keng Susumpow.
As of 2pm on Sunday, the campaign had received 1,021 signatures in support. The campaigner, whose aim is to collect at least 1,500 signatures, said he wanted to call on government agencies to start using Arabic numerals for the sake of convenience and digital processing.
He said the use of Thai traditional numerals in digital documents blocked the development of digital document processing. He said the campaign to conserve and promote the use of Thai language should not be linked to the use of traditional numbers.
For instance, he said, the use of Thai digits with English words like 5G, Windows 10 and internet URLs in official documents looks strange and becomes invalid in computer processing.
On Sunday, a Palang Ruam Pracha Chart Thai MP posted a Facebook message opposing the campaign. Her argument is that the Thai script and numerals were created by King Ramkhamhaeng and reflected Thainess.
However, Sarinee Achvanuntakul, an independent academic on economics, posted a message supporting the campaign.
“I invite everybody to sign the campaign and share it. The lives of people who analyse government figures will improve. I support it because Thailand is the only place in the world that uses traditional numerals, and this is an unnecessary identity for this life or next.”
She also pointed out that the Thai numerals for 7 and 9 are confusing and can open the door to mistakes.
However, those who disagree with the campaign have demanded to know how replacing traditional numbers with modern ones on official documents will help develop the country, while other naysayers say Thai numerals pose no problems to educated people.
Most respondents believe Thailand is ready to become a fully digital society, a recent opinion survey by a university found.
The online survey covered 1,051 respondents and was conducted by Suan Dusit University’s Suan Dusit Poll from May 13 to 18. The results were announced on Sunday by Suan Dusit researcher Pornphan Buathong.
Pornphan said 89.30 per cent of the respondents believe Thais are now ready for digital life, though 10.70 per cent disagree.
When asked what digital technology they normally use, 79.96 per cent said they use technology for communication and sending messages via social media, 78.44 per cent use digital banking services, while 75.19 per cent said they use it for watching movies, listening to music and playing online games, etc. Respondents were allowed to give more than one reply to this question.
When asked to compare the use of digital technology now with pre-Covid years, 76.97 per cent said they relied more on digital technology, 2.09 per cent said they used less, while 20.94 per cent said their usage remained unchanged.
As for issues they encounter in digital life, 82.40 per cent cited fake news, 63.84 per cent said they encountered scammers who tried to entice them into transferring money, while 62.04 per cent contended with hackers who pretended to be someone they know. The respondents were allowed to give more than one answer to this question.
When asked how they have adapted to an online world, 71.81 per cent said they use their judgement when consuming online information, 57.90 per cent told themselves that the world has changed, while 57.05 per cent said they use digital technology on a trial-and-error basis.
When asked what they want to see in the future of digital Thailand, 70 per cent want easy-to-use online systems with no disruption or bottleneck, 61.52 per cent want Thais to have equal access to digital platforms and 54.79 per cent said they want free digital services.
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has removed ATK results from its daily Covid-19 count because most of these cases are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, a senior official said.
Dr Sumanee Wacharasint, director of the risk communication and health behaviour development division, said on Saturday that the DDC learned that most people who test positive using rapid antigen test kits (ATK) have few or no symptoms.
Hence, the DDC has stopped adding these results to its daily Covid-19 count, said Sumanee, who is also assistant spokesperson of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
She added that the figures reported on the DDC dashboard have been based on a two-week average for a while.
The CCSA, meanwhile, announces figures reported to it on the previous day, she said.
She added that the removal of ATK results from the dashboard would have no effect on the country’s estimate of Covid cases because the figures would now focus on people with severe symptoms who need hospitalisation.
Sumanee added that the new system of counting Covid-19 cases will be applied from the beginning of next month.
She said the DDC will propose to the emergency operating committee of the Public Health Ministry that its daily dashboard will only include people with severe symptoms who must be admitted to hospital.
If the committee agrees, the proposal will be forwarded to the CCSA for approval, she said.
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