#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40015003

Popular Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park in Phitsanulok province will be closed to visitors for two months – from May 1 to June 30 – to allow environmental rehabilitation.

Park chief Suthon Wiangdao said on Thursday that the next two months usually sees fewer visitors due to the rainy season, therefore it is a suitable time to close the park for both day visits and camping to let nature heal itself.

“Tourists can start visiting the park again from July 1, when we expect the rain forest to be in perfect condition,” he said.

Situated about 130km from Phitsanulok city centre, the 307 sq km mountainous park extends east into Loei and Phetchabun provinces nearly 40km from the Laotian border.

The park has recorded sightings of rare wild animals in its forest areas including leopards, leopard cats, Asian black bears, Asian golden cats, hog badgers, serow and barking deer, besides more than 200 bird species.

The park is also historically significant as it was the scene of fighting between communist insurgents and the Royal Thai Armed Forces between 1968 and 1972, which resulted in the insurgents surrendering with the help of the Hmong community present in the area.

Published : April 28, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40015001

Thai President Foods has notified its trade partners and retailers that the prices of its popular “Mama” instant noodles will be adjusted up starting from May, a news source revealed on Thursday.

The company said wholesale prices of yellow noodles such as Tom Yum and minced pork flavors will increase from 143 baht to 145 baht per box of 30 packs, and from 858 baht to 870 baht per carton of 180 packs. This will make the retail price of Mama noodles go up from 6 baht per pack to 6.50-7 baht.

However, the prices of white noodles and Mama Cup will remain the same.

The source said the company cited rising costs of transport and raw materials such as wheat flour and palm oil in the past few years as the reason for the price increase.

“The company expects transport costs to jump even higher after the government ends its 30-baht-per-litre cap on the diesel price on May 1,” added the source.

Mama is Thai President Foods’ flagship product, witnessing sales worth 14 billion baht in 2021. The brand of noodles has undergone a price increase three times throughout its history.

The company started selling Mama instant noodles in 1972 at a retail price of 2 baht per pack. It hiked the price to 5 baht in 1997 as a result of the Tom Yum Kung financial crisis. The price of Mama went up again ten years later, in 2007, to 6 baht per pack due to rising raw material costs.

Published : April 28, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014995

Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (April 28) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 14,437 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 77 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.

Death toll increased by 127, while 18,509 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.

Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 2,000,573.
 

Published : April 28, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

The Thailand Meteorological Department (TMD) warned people to beware of thunderstorms from April 29 to May 5.

Thailand is entering the pre-southwest monsoon period, a transition from the hot to rainy season.

The wind system before the rainy season will vary:

• South or southeast wind: morning to late morning.
• Southwest wind: afternoon to night.

South and southeast winds will blow humidity from the Gulf of Thailand across the country, which will cause thunderstorms in some areas. Meanwhile, eastern and southeastern winds will blow the humidity to cover the Gulf of Thailand and the South, which will lead to scattered thunderstorms there.

The TMD advised people to prepare for thunderstorms in some areas, while those working in the open should beware of heatstroke.

The department also said that on some days the weather might be hot as there would be numerous wind currents. The rainy period depends on the wind direction.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014986

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s proposal to raise postal service rates.

The ministry said Thailand Post is likely to incur a loss as it had not requested an increase in postal service rates for 18 years despite the increase in operational costs due to inflation.

“Citing the data between 2011 and 2020, Thailand Post has a social service burden of up to THB18.38 billion and it is likely to increase further,” the ministry said.

Thailand Post made a profit of THB3.82 billion in 2019, but it fell to THB385 million in 2020, and it incurred a loss of THB904 million in 2021.

In its 2020 annual report, Thailand Post said the agency has to run more than 5,000 post offices to enable people to access postal services even though some of them generated low revenue.

The revised postal service rates are as follows:

Envelopes (1-2,000 grams):

2022-2024: THB3-55 a piece

2025 onwards: THB4-62 a piece

Postcards:

2022-2024: THB2 a piece

2025 onwards: THB3 a piece

Publications (1-2,000 grams):

2022-2024: THB3-25 a piece

2025 onwards: THB4-33 a piece

Parcels (1-1,000 grams):

2022-2024: THB15-20 a piece

2025 onwards: THB20-25 a piece

Delivery of literature for the blind, weighing not more than 7,000 grams, is still free.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014984

Researchers are likely to develop Covid-19 antiviral drugs than vaccines as there is lower investment involved, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

He explained that any development of vaccines would focus on containing the spread of the disease during an emergency before concentrating on safety once the situation returns to normal.

“To study a vaccine’s efficiency, it is necessary to have more than 10,000 volunteers use both real and placebo jabs,” he said.

“However, a study on drug efficiency involves up to 1,000 volunteers, so it requires lower investment compared to vaccine trials.”

Yong said the possibility of developing an entirely new Covid-19 vaccine is almost zero at this point because a third phase of clinical trials needs a large amount of investment, plus the severity of the disease is likely to drop.

He pointed out that no new Thai influenza vaccine has been launched after one was developed during the flu outbreak in 2009.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014982

To celebrate the upcoming Royal Ploughing Ceremony, which will be held at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang on May 13, the Rice Department is handing out six breeds of rice weighing 1,728 kilograms that it received from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Department director-general Nutthakit Khongthip said on Wednesday the six breeds of rice are 245kg of Jasmine 105, Pathum Thani 1 (399kg), Kor Khor 43 (125kg), Kor Khor 6 (70kg), Kor Khor 87 (300kg), and Kor Khor 85 (589kg).

To reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading, those interested in receiving the rice can scan the QR code below or register online at https://rice.moac.go.th/ from May 8. Each person will be entitled to two bags of rice in husks that they can grow themselves. Registrants can pick up the rice at provincial or district agricultural offices from May 13.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014977

Phuket has fully opened its doors to travellers from May 1 without restrictions, as the number of Covid-19 patients is continuously decreasing.

Phuket’s Committee of Communicable Disease on Tuesday approved to cancel screening measures by any method, in line with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)’s conclusion on April 22.

Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiew said after the meeting that the committee had analysed the Covid-19 situation. They found that the number of patients in Phuket had continued to decrease. He said that as of Sunday there were only 98 new confirmed cases.

The committee has decided to allow travellers to enter Phuket without presenting vaccination certificates or Covid-19 test results from May 1.

Phuket public health chief Dr Koosak Kookiatkul confirmed that Phuket is ready to deal with any new wave of infection after cancelling the screening measure.

He said that there are only 20 pneumonia patients in Phuket while the occupancy rate is only around 24 to 25 per cent. If there are new patients, he expected that hospitals will be able to provide beds to them.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014972

The Department of Livestock Development on Monday unveiled two pairs of sacred oxen for the royal Ploughing Ceremony at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang on May 13.

Oxen eligible to participate in the ceremony must have good characteristics and manners plus similar skin and fur colour, said department director-general Sorawit Thaneeto.

The first pair of oxen are named “Por” and “Piang”. Both main oxen are 10 years old. Combined, their names mean “sufficiency”.

The second pair of oxen are called “Perm” and “Pool”. The reserve animals are 12 years old, and combined their names mean “prosperity”.

“These oxen have pinkish-white skin, clean white fur and no dark spots or other colours on their bodies,” he explained. “Their horns and tails are beautiful and they look graceful while standing or walking.”

Separately, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry said this year’s royal Ploughing Ceremony will be held live via the Television Pool of Thailand, Radio Thailand and on social media from 8am on May 13.

In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough. They plough a furrow in ceremonial ground while rice seeds are sown by court Brahmins.

After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including grass, rice grain, corn, green beans, sesame, liquor and water.

Depending on what the oxen eat, court astrologers and Brahmins make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014964

Suvarnabhumi Airport announced on Tuesday that ambulances of both hospitals and foundations under the National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) can enter the airport at any time to pick up emergency patients.

The airport was responding to a viral post on social media by Facebook user “Tuktik Kon Chiang Nua”, who claimed the airport did not allow an ambulance he had called in to pick up his father, a taxi driver who suffered a sudden shock while dropping off passengers at the airport.

The taxi driver reportedly died soon after due to lack of oxygen supply to his brain.

“I had called NIEM via their hotline 1669 to pick up my father, but Suvarnabhumi officials said the airport was not under NIEM jurisdiction and all emergency cases must be handled by a private hospital located at the airport,” wrote Tuktik in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“Waiting for an airport emergency unit to arrive resulted in delayed treatment for my father, and we lost him before he could reach the nearest Sirindhorn Hospital. Later, the emergency team charged me 13,000 baht for the ambulance and medical fees despite the fact that the ambulance service via 1669 is free.”

In its announcement, the airport said an investigation revealed that the incident took place on April 25 at around 7.40pm when airport security officials had been alerted that a taxi driver had suffered a seizure on the road outside Gate 6 of Passenger Terminal 4.

“Officials then contacted the emergency medical team at Samitivej Suvarnabhumi Clinic located inside the airport to help the patient. After providing preliminary aid the team decided to use its ambulance to transport him to Sirindhorn Hospital, which is the closest public hospital and has equipment for his treatment,” said the announcement.

“Suvarnabhumi Airport did not restrict any NIEM ambulance,” the airport insisted. “In the past there have been several incidents where ambulances from hospitals and foundations have entered the airport to pick up patients suffering from accidents or acute illness,” it added.

Published : April 27, 2022

By : THE NATION