Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (March 25) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 26,050 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 36 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 69, while 22,219 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 1,253,595.
Ice cream made of cannabis and kratom is among a host of new food products that have hit the market after Thailand removed the plants from the list of illicit drugs.
The Khru Wat Farm community enterprise, from Phatthalung province’s Muang district, has come up with ice-cream products having cannabis and kratom (mitragyna speciosa) as ingredients.
At a recent fair promoting products made of kratom held at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province, the local enterprise sold its cannabis ice cream and kratom ice cream at THB40 baht a cup and THB20 for a cone.
Khru Wat Farm’s owner Patthawan Pleng-arun said the cannabis and kratom used in the production of ice cream came from another local community enterprise certified by the Ministry of Public Health to grow the herbal plants.
She said that the ice cream products received a “response better than expected” from consumers.
According to her, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin, who presided over the fair’s opening, visited her booth and sampled the ice cream. “He liked it and said that it tastes much better than normal ice cream,” she said.
Angry tourism operators in Chiang Mai are offering gift vouchers worth up to THB50,000 for information that leads to the arrest of anyone posting false news of a new Covid-19 outbreak in the northern city.
They are worried that the social media post, which claimed “every square inch of Chiang Mai is under the risk of Covid”, would scare away potential visitors during the upcoming Songkran festival in mid-April, Chiang Mai Tourist Business Association director Amnart Duangsing said on Thursday.
Chiang Mai has been a popular destination for Songkran revellers.
The association has already lodged a complaint with the police regarding the matter.
Also, the group discussed the matter with local business operators who agreed to offer gift vouchers worth between THB30,000 and THB50,000 for accommodation, restaurants, spas, rental vehicles and zoos to informers, according to Amnart.
He added that the perpetrators would be charged with spreading false information on the Internet.
Anyone who has information regarding the perpetrators may call the Chiang Mai Tourist Business Association at 084-374-3310 or the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau’s hotline 1441.
Travel business owners in Chiang Mai on Thursday voiced concern that the fake news could further make things worse for them after over two years of downturn during the pandemic.
Jarasri Lin, managing director of Respect Travel who is a member of the association, said she hoped the reward campaign would discourage the spreading of fake news that undermines tourism.
Another association member Anupong Thangwongsakul, who owns Chiang Mai Rainbow Tour, said that such fake news would adversely affect the city’s tourism as it could scare away many prospective tourists.
Monthly contributions to the social security system will be reduced substantially for employees and employers from May to July to help them cushion impacts from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Thursday.
This measure would benefit about 24.2 million people, helping them to save as much as THB34.5 billion in total, he said.
The Social Security Fund is expected to spend a total of THB33.8 billion in compensation for the lost contributions, according to the labour minister.
During the three months, some 500,000 employers in the social security system will have their monthly contributions reduced from 5 per cent to 1 per cent of base monthly salary of THB15,000, in order to help them cut their costs.
About 11.2 million employees under Article 33 of the Social Security Act will be required to contribute only 1 per cent of the base salary, down from 5 per cent.
About 1.9 million employees under Article 39 will get their monthly contribution cut from 9 per cent to 1.9 per cent.
Another 10.6 million employees under Article 40 will get their monthly contribution reduced by 40 per cent.
The Betong Tourism Business Association is seeking help from the Tourism Authority of Thailand to subsidise air fare so that Nok Air could resume its flights to and from Betong International Airport in Yala province.
Narin Ruangwongsa, vice president of the association, said he has held talks with a representative of Nok Air about resumption of its services to and from Betong airport.
Due to far fewer bookings than expected, Nok Air has cancelled flights to and from Betong airport just a day after the airport was officially opened for commercial flights on March 14, and after Nok Air’s inauguration flight had landed at the airport on that day.
Nok Air announced on Friday that it needs two or three months to promote travel to Betong among local and foreign tourists before it can start flying again.
During the talks, Narin said his association had committed to the Nok Air representative that the association would guarantee at least 60 seats per flight but Nok Air would have to offer round trips at Bt5,000 per seat.
But the representative replied that the airline would need Bt6,000 for the round-trip fare per passenger, Narin said.
Narin said his association has asked the TAT to subsidise the THB1,000 fare difference, but it is yet to receive a reply.
He said the TAT would have to hold a meeting on Friday before it can respond to the request for subsidy.
Narin said if the TAT can subsidise the air fare, Nok Air would resume its Betong-Don Mueang route starting May 2 and there would be flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Narin said the Department of Airports has pledged full support in terms of laws and regulations to allow Nok Air to resume its flights.
Although Betong airport has no commercial flights landing and taking off, a lot of tourists continue to visit the airport, which has become a key landmark of Yala.
Officials said they came to take photos at the airport sign at the passenger terminal. They said they came to see the beauty of the bamboo-decorated terminal.
Earlier, the Airports department had transferred the director of Betong airport, but it explained that the move was based on internal suitability and had nothing to do with the cancellation by Nok Air flights.
The Medical Services Department on Thursday signed a contract to purchase 50,000 treatment courses of Paxlovid drug with Pfizer Thailand for Covid-19 patients in risk groups.
Department director-general Somsak Akkasilp took part in the online contract signing with Deborah Seifert, country manager of Pfizer Thailand and Indochina.
Somsak said the purchase contract was signed after his department had been in close contact with Pfizer since August last year and the department had placed an order for the drug on January 19. The Paxlovid drug was approved by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration on January 28.
Somsak said his department needed a Cabinet nod first before it could sign the contract on Thursday.
The drug is scheduled to reach Thailand in early April before it will be allocated to provincial hospitals around the country, Somsak said, adding that the inspector-generals of public health zones will decide how to allocate the drug to hospitals in their zones, depending on their respective situation.
The director-general said that clinical tests have shown Paxlovid has helped prevent 88 per cent of patients from dying or being hospitalised after they were administered the drug within five days of their first symptoms showing up.
Paxlovid consists of nirmatrelvir and nitonavir drug. A patient will be given four nirmatrelvir pills and two nitonavir pills a day for five consecutive days to complete a course of treatment.
Somsak said not all people infected with Covid-19 virus would be given Paxlovid. He explained that up to 70 to 80 per cent of people can fight the virus without having to take any drug.
Studies showed that 50 per cent of people who have been infected with the Omicron variant would not show any symptoms and only 50 per cent of those who have symptoms need medicine, he said.
Doctors would prescribe necessary drugs to patients depending on their health record and vaccinations. For example, those who have been fully vaccinated and who have no comorbidities will receive only a Thai herb.
Somsak said the guidelines for prescribing Paxlovid will be similar to the guidelines for administering Molnupiravir, which the department had purchased earlier.
“According to the guidelines for Molnupiravir announced on March 21, Paxlovid will be given to the elderly, to those who have comorbidities and those who have not been vaccinated or have been given only one shot of vaccine,” Somsak said.
Seifert said the Paxlovid has been approved in over 50 countries around the world and 1.5 million courses have been distributed. By July 30, the distribution will reach some 30 million courses of treatment, she added.
Joint raids by Thai and Cambodian police netted 61 suspected “call centre” scammers preying on Thai victims, it was revealed on Thursday.
The raids took place recently at two locations – a deserted factory and a casino building – in Cambodia’s coastal city of Sihanoukville, deputy national police chief and Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) head Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapat told a press conference held at the Royal Thai Police headquarters.
Among the suspects were 59 Thais and two Taiwanese men described by the police as “masterminds”. They were charged with a variety of offences, including public embezzlement, money laundering, committing a cross-border crime, and being part of a criminal gang.
Police searches of the premises found scripts for scammers posing as Thai authorities, falsified documents claiming to be issued by Thai state agencies, such as arrest warrants and court summons, as well as computers and communication devices.
The joint operations in Cambodia were led by Pol Maj-General Teeradej Thumsutee and Cambodian police deputy chief Pol General Sar Theth.
At the first location, a deserted factory on Santepheap Road, 28 suspects were arrested — 26 Thai nationals and two Taiwanese nationals who were their bosses — police said on Thursday.
At the second location, the Diwei Entertainment City building used as a front for the gang, 33 Thais were arrested while they were allegedly calling prospective victims in Thailand.
This gang focused on deceiving their victims to invest in digital money, futures trade and online business by offering high returns, as well as romance scams, according to police.
Some Thai gang members told police that they earned about THB30,000 per month, plus a 3.5 per cent commission from the money earned through deceit from Thai victims.
Thai and Cambodian police are holding joint training on online crimes at the Central Police Strategy Training Centre in Nakhon Ratchasima province, where 30 Cambodian officers and 20 Thai officers will take part from March 27 to April 11.
PCT chief Damrongsak said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Royal Thai Police to crack down on the online scammers as the crime has been on the rise.
A total of 4,649 police complaints of online scams have been submitted through online channels after police began accepting online petitions since March 1 via the website www.thaipoliceonline.com.
Suspected scams can also be reported to the PCT by calling 081-8663000 or 1441 and through its website www.pct.police.go.th round the clock.
The Department of Livestock Development has achieved success in the development of a vaccine to tackle the outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle.
The department’s director-general, Sorawit Thaneeto, said on Thursday that the vaccine was as efficient as the imported one. He expected the first lot of vaccines to be ready in the middle of May this year.
He added that the price of the lumpy skin vaccine was THB9 per dose, which will help reduce farmers’ expenses and enable Thailand to have its own vaccine to tackle the disease.
Sorawit Thaneeto
Sorawit said that LSD was first found in the Phanom Phrai district of Roi Et province on March 29 last year.
“After that, the Department of Livestock Development in cooperation with provincial government agencies and farmers contained the spread of the disease,” he said.
He revealed that government agencies had so far imported 5.3 million doses of lumpy skin vaccines costing more than THB160 million, while farmer associations had imported another 500,000 doses costing THB22.5 million.
“Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Dr Chalermchai Sreeon told the department to research and develop vaccines to tackle LSD in May last year,” he said.
“The research and development resulted in oil and water inactivated vaccines. It was found that the efficiency of oil inactivated vaccines were 20 per cent higher than water ones.”
He added that the field trial at Chokchai Farm in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima province in December last year proved that the oil inactivated vaccines could stimulate immunity in cattle against lumpy skin similar to the imported vaccines.
Sorawit added that vaccine production capacity would be between 50,000 and 100,000 doses per month. The department is studying the possibility of boosting production capacity to between 500,000 and 1 million doses, which is expected to be achieved in the middle of next year.
“This move will enable the department to reduce import costs by THB280 million annually, while the vaccines can also be exported to other Asean countries,” he added.
The Marine Department has jumped onboard with the private sector to operate electric boats on five routes in Bangkok and some other provinces this year, department deputy director-general Phuripat Theerakulpisut said.
The five are:
1. The Chao Phraya river route, in which the department has teamed up with Energy Absolute to make an electric boat that can transport 250 passengers.
2. Phadung Krung Kasem canal route, following cooperation between the department and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The 5km-long route takes 20 minutes to traverse. Seven new electric boats and a modified existing one will ply the route, carrying up to 30 passengers each.
3. Khlong Saen Saep canal route. The 11.5km Wat Sriboonreung-Minburi route will have 11 available Krobkrua Khonsong boats carrying up to 40 passengers each.
4. Khlong Damnoen Saduak canal route in Ratchaburi. The Marine Department will use two electric boats to promote tourism.
5. A sea tourism route, featuring the electric “Banpu Next e-Ferry” following cooperation between the department and SakunC Innovation. The boat, which was moved from Phang-nga Bay to Nakhon Si Thammarat, can accommodate 50 passengers. Services actually commenced in December 2020. There will now be a lunch cruise from Sichon Harbour to Khao Phlai Dam once a day, starting at 2pm and ending at 5pm.
The government will be urged to scrap the Thailand Pass requirement for incoming travellers from June 1 in a bid to boost the country’s tourism, Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thursday.
He said the proposal would return travel to Thailand “back to normalcy, just like in 2019” — before the world was hit by Covid-19. If the government accepts the proposal, travellers will not be required to register for Thailand Pass currently required under the Test & Go, Sandbox and quarantine schemes.
The minister said he had suggested that rapid antigen testing be applied to arriving travellers so ease the fears of locals, although the final decision regarding the matter should rest with the Ministry of Public Health.
He said his ministry would submit this proposal to the government through the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), which is chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, among relaxation of preventive measures for the country’s reopening.
“We [Thailand] are like a hare running faster than others. What should we do to prevent humiliation when ending up being overtaken by a tortoise? The goal for Thai tourism is to become a global leader,” Phiphat said.
His proposal came amidst growing calls from the tourism sector for the scrapping of the Thailand Pass requirement.
Addressing a general meeting of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) on Thursday, Phiphat revealed that after the long Songkran holidays in mid-April, his ministry would propose to the CCSA that the requirement for RT-PCR testing for arriving travellers be dropped from May 1. He added that only an ATK result certified by the hospital should be required.
However, the proposal for further easing Covid-19 preventive measures would be made only if the number of daily Covid cases does not exceed 60,000, including the ATK results, and the deaths are under 100 per day, according to Phiphat.
At present, incoming travellers are required to undergo RT-PCR testing for Covid on the day of arrival in Thailand and ATK on the fifth day. Previously, they had to show negative results of RT-PCR testing administered no more than three days before their departure flight to Thailand.
Although Betong airport has no commercial flights landing and taking off, a lot of tourists continue to visit the airport, which has become a key landmark of Yala.
Earlier, the Airports department had transferred the director of Betong airport, but it explained that the move was based on internal suitability and had nothing to do with the cancellation by Nok Air flights.
Sorawit Thaneeto
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