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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014924

The government has tightened Covid-19 controls on durian exports after China temporarily blocked Thai shipments of the fruit earlier this month.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Srion has ordered all cold-chain storage operators to ensure their durians are certified under the Zero Covid standard.

“The ministry has instructed growers to adhere to the GAP [Good Agricultural Practice] Plus standard, while processors of durians must also follow the GMP [Good Manufacturing Practice] Plus to ensure the highest quality of Thailand’s No 1 export fruit,” he said on Monday.

Cold storage operators must make sure that all fruits are free of Covid-19 or they risk being rejected by foreign markets, Chalermchai told the “Eastern Monthong Best Quality” event hosted by the Thai Durian Association in Chanthaburi.

Chanthaburi governor Suthee Thongyaem added that the province has instructed cold chain operators and resellers to disinfect their facilities and vehicles regularly, as well as vaccinate all their staff and have them undergo ATK testing every week to meet the Zero Covid standard.

“We organised this event to urge all durian-export stakeholders to focus on Covid-19 preventive measures, which were lacking in the past,” he said.

Suthee was referring to China’s April 12-14 block on durians imported from Thailand after traces of Covid-19 virus were found in a fruit shipment at the Mohan border checkpoint.

During the event, the minister, governor and Thai Durian Association representatives witnessed Covid-19 controls at the durian storage facility of Lis Inter Corporation, one of Chanthaburi’s largest food export factories.

Durian production in Chantaburi and other the eastern provinces is up 26.42 per cent from last year to 732,330 tonnes as of April.

The eastern region expects May’s production total to reach 370,715 tonnes.

Published : April 26, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014923

Children under 5 who catch Covid-19 are at higher risk of developing severe symptoms leading to death than older children and adults, leading virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said on Tuesday.

“Since January the Public Health Ministry has recorded 51 deaths in children due to Covid-19. Of them, 39 are under 5 years old,” Yong wrote on Facebook.

Nineteen of the deceased toddlers had underlying health problems but 20 were healthy before contracting Covid-19, he added.

In contrast, most Covid deaths in children aged over 5 were in those with health problems.

Yong said one factor driving the high death rate in children under 5 was Thailand’s lower age limit for vaccination of five years old.

“Vaccines greatly help reduce the chance of patients developing severe symptoms and dying, but these children aren’t getting any,” he pointed out.

Many countries are now giving vaccines to children as young as three, he added.

“In China, children aged 3-5 receive inactivated vaccines, which are safer than other types.”

Yong cited a case study in the Lancet medical journal supporting giving vaccines to young children.

He added that Covid-19 vaccination for children under five is being considered by Thai authorities but urged them to make a decision soon to reduce Covid-19 deaths in toddlers and the pain borne by parents.

Published : April 26, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014922

Public Health Ministry reported on Tuesday (April 26) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 13,816 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 57 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.

Death toll increased by 120, while 21,072 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.

Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 1,971,249.
 

Published : April 26, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/pr-news/in-focus/40014910

The Australian and New Zealand embassies jointly marked Anzac Day at Kanchanaburi’s Hellfire Pass on Monday.

This is the first time in three years that an Anzac Day commemorative service has been held with the public in attendance.

Australian Ambassador Allan McKinnon said people from Australia and New Zealand recognise all current and former soldiers who have died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations and allies who have served alongside them.

“Their proud legacy of mateship, endurance, courage and self-sacrifice lives on and inspires Australians of all generations. Lest we forget,” he said.

Melissa Haydon-Clarke, New Zealand’s chargé d’affaires for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, said this year’s Anzac Day is especially poignant in light of world events.

“In the face of a manifest reminder of the appalling human cost of war, Anzac Day is an opportunity to honour the memory of all those who have sacrificed so much in the pursuit of freedom, peace and justice by re-dedicating ourselves to those ends,” she said.

Anzac Day is marked on April 25 each year to commemorate Australians and New Zealanders who have served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

This event also marks the anniversary of the first major military action taken by Australian and New Zealand forces in Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I on April 25, 1915.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014908

A police lance corporal, who was sentenced to slightly over a year in jail for a fatal road accident while riding a bike, was released on bail on Monday after he appealed against the verdict.

The Criminal Court released Norawich at 2pm after setting his bail at THB200,000. The convict’s father, a police officer, and Norawich’s commander used their police ranks as guarantee for his temporary release.

Norawich was the chief of a unit of the second company of the first subdivision of the Protection and Crowds Control Division. He was speeding on his Ducati bike when he crashed into Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an eye doctor, at a pedestrian crossing on Phya Thai Road in January.

After the court gave him a jail term, the Royal Thai Police announced he would be fired from service.

Norawich declined to speak to reporters after being released on bail.

Norawich’s lawyer, Sonthaya Noicharoen, said the court had sentenced Norawich to one year and 15 days and declined to suspend the jail term because he was riding a motorcycle without a licence plate.

Sonthaya said the order to revoke his licence should have five-year period but he would check with the authorities later.

Sonthaya said the defendant was sorry for what happened and accepted the ruling but he decided to appeal for a lighter sentence because he had been trying to atone for what had happened.

Natthapong Chinawong, the lawyer of Waraluck’s parents, said the parents were pleased with the ruling. The verdict would be cited in two civil cases against the Royal Thai Police and Norawich and against the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, demanding compensation of THB72 million in each case.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014905

The police lance corporal who ran over a doctor as she was crossing the road will be fired, the Royal Thai Police announced on Monday.

This statement came after the Criminal Court gave the corporal a reduced sentence of one year and 15 days in jail and 4,000 baht in fines.

Royal Thai Police spokesman Pol Maj-General Yingyot Thepchamnong said Pol Lance Corporal Norawich Budadok was suspended from police service in January when his speeding Ducati motorcycle hit a doctor and killed her at a Bangkok zebra crossing.

The Criminal Court found Norawich guilty as charged with the killing of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul and sentenced him to two years and 30 days in prison and a fine of 8,000 baht, before halving the sentence.

Yingyot said the Royal Thai Police will cite the ruling to issue an order permanently removing Norawich from police service. The lance corporal plans to appeal for a lighter sentence.

“If Norawich appeals and if the court changes the ruling, then he can seek to be reinstated as a police officer. However, it will depend on the court’s next ruling,” the spokesman said.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION

Thailand is doing all it can to control Covid-19 with the goal of downgrading it to an endemic, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday.

Earlier, Public Health permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit said the official designation of Covid-19 as a pandemic would end in June.

But Anutin clarified on Monday that the ministry has not set a date for declaring Covid-19 an endemic. Anutin said his ministry had simply set a goal and set the criteria to reach the goal.

He said the government would have to take into account the infection situation, the mortality rate and the readiness of medicines and hospital beds before declaring an end to the pandemic and redesignating it an endemic.

“Now I see that Thailand is ready because the rate of hospitalisation has dropped and the use of ICU equipment for patients has also gone down,” Anutin said.

When reporters told him that some medical experts suspected the new infection numbers had gone down, many people did not undergo tests for the coronavirus. Anutin said the ministry would focus on the rate of severe symptoms and mortality rate rather than counting the number of new infections to decide on redesignating it an endemic.

“We’ll use the same criteria that’s being used by most countries now,” Anutin said.

“If you want to see zero infection rate first, the government must lock down the country. Will the people be able to tolerate it? Examples from countries that locked themselves down showed that their citizens could not live their normal lives and their economy was damaged.

“We have passed that point. We have enough experience and we can control the situation. We have everything on hand. We have vaccines and have several choices of medicines.”

Asked whether he thinks the new infections are now on the downtrend, Anutin said the government has done its best.

“I don’t want to say whether we are on the downtrend on new infections because I fear that people may become complacent. I would like people to continue to comply with the preventive measures and the spread will gradually die down,” Anutin said.

Anutin added that the Public Health Ministry will purchase more protein subunit vaccines to inoculate people who may suffer from side-effects from other types of Covid-19 vaccines.

Last week, the Indian government donated 200,000 doses of Covovax vaccine, which is a type of protein subunit vaccines, to Thailand. Protein subunit vaccines contain harmless and purified pieces (proteins) of the virus, which have been specifically selected for their ability to trigger immunity.

Anutin added that the government has also stopped the requirement of RT-PCR tests for foreign arrivals, which is a step in downgrading the pandemic.

Meanwhile, permanent secretary Kiattiphum said 15 provinces have offered to be available for a pilot project to test the endemic status. He said the Disease Control Department will set measures for the 15 provinces to comply before they could declare an end to the pandemic in those areas.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014901

The number of Covid-19 infections during this year’s Songkran festival was 1.7 times lower than last year, the Public Health Commission said on Monday.

Official virus control measures were effective despite the huge number of people travelling during the holiday, commission vice-chairman Chalermchai Boonyaleephan said.

Last year, average daily Songkran infections rose from 1,394 between April 13 and 17 to 1,856 between April 20 and 24, up 33 per cent.

“Meanwhile, Covid-19 infections between April 13 and 17 this year numbered 34,002 per day before rising to 40,362 between April 20 and 24, up 19 per cent,” Chalermchai said.

He added that this year’s infection data came from people who tested positive using RT-PCR tests and antigen test kits as 50 per cent of Omicron cases are asymptomatic.

“Hence, the number of Covid-19 infections during Songkran this year was 1.7 times lower than last year,” he said.

This year’s Songkran also saw an average of 118 Covid-related deaths per day between April 13 and 17, rising 8 per cent to 128 deaths between April 20 and 24.

However, the Songkran Covid-19 death rate for this year and last year would be compared two weeks after the festival ended, he added.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014899

A police lance corporal was sentenced to one year and 15 days in jail on Monday for ramming his Ducati motorbike into a doctor at Bangkok zebra crossing in January.

The Criminal Court found Pol Lance Corporal Norawich Budadok guilty as charged with the killing of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul at a pedestrian crossing on Phya Thai Road in Ratchathewi district on January 21. Waraluck worked as an ophthalmologist at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine.

The court initially sentenced Norawich to two years and one month in jail and fined him 8,000 baht, but later commuted the sentence by half, bringing it down to one year and 15 days in jail and a fine of 4,000 baht.

The court also ordered the confiscation of his motorbike and ordered the Land Transport Department to revoke his licence because he was a danger to others.

Norawich said he will appeal the ruling and seek bail later in the day.

The police officer was speeding down the road’s right lane on his Ducati big bike when he crashed into Waraluck. The speed he was riding at was clocked at between 108 and 128 kilometres per hour.

Norawich was hit with nine charges when arraigned on February 22, namely:

• Using a motorbike without a licence plate

• Using a motorbike for which annual registration tax has not been paid

• Using a motorbike without a third-party insurance

• Using a motorbike that has no side mirrors

• Failing to ride on the left lane

• Riding without caring about the safety of others

• Failing to observe traffic signs on the road

• Riding a motorbike recklessly and putting people and their property at risk

• Riding a motorbike recklessly and causing another person’s death

Waraluck’s parents have filed a civil lawsuit against the Royal Thai Police and Norawich demanding 72 million baht in compensation for her death.

Published : April 25, 2022

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40014890

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn is confident Malaysian visitors will restore southern Thailand’s tourism industry once the Test & Go scheme ends on Sunday, May 1.

Phiphat visited the islands of Koh Nu and Koh Maew in Songkhla to oversee preparations for opening the far South on Saturday.

He said Koh Nu and Koh Maew will be promoted as “hidden” tourist destinations in Songkhla, with attractions such as the Morakot Cave and Chomphu cliffs. Both islands will be open all year apart from monsoon season. Meanwhile, Songkhla Old Town is being promoted for Unesco World Heritage listing to add to its tourism appeal.

“Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s move to scrap Test & Go will encourage Malaysian travellers to enter the country, helping tourism recover, Phiphat said.

He vowed to help revive tourism in Songkhla, his home province, citing the recovery in Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket under the sandbox scheme.

“It’s time to restore tourism in provinces close to Malaysia, such as Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla and Satun,” he added.

Published : April 25, 2022

By : THE NATION