Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday (February 26) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 25,615 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 166 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 40, while 14,641 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 621,462.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 2,844,897 – 2,621,004 of whom have recovered, 201,044 are still in hospitals and 22,849 have died.
Separately, another 91,178 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 50,652 their second shot and 238,274 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 123,159,238.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 433.61 million on Saturday, 363.11 million of whom have recovered, 64.54 million are active cases (77,843 in severe condition) and 5.96 million have died (up by 8,359).
Thailand ranks 32nd in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 80.53 million, followed by India with 42.9 million, Brazil with 28.67 million, France with 22.59 million and the UK with 18.8 million.
A joint project to study the river that runs through Thailand and Myanmar has led to proposed measures to tackle the constant problem of flooding and drought.
Results of the research project, “Joint Evaluation of Thailand and Myanmar on Flooding and Drought for the Management of Cross-Border Water Resource”, were presented at Le Meridien hotel in Chiang Rai on Friday.
The study focused on the Sai-Ruak River, a natural border between Thailand and Myanmar, which originates in Myanmar and flows past Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district before emptying in the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle area in the province’s Chiang Saen district.
The area is often hit by severe flooding in the rainy season and by drought in the dry season, causing adverse impacts on the residential and economic zones on both sides of the border.
Surasee Kittimonthon, secretary-general of the Office of the National Water Resources, presided over the presentation.
The event was also attended by Mae Fah Luang University president Chayaporn Wattanasiri, representatives from the Chinese Embassy and Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry as well as from relevant Thai and Myanmar agencies.
Surasee said the study led to the development of a warning system and a model on water management, as well as recommendations on how to deal with flooding and drought in the area.
All those findings would form a basis for future efforts to solve the dual problem in the border areas between the two countries, he added.
“The goal is to achieve sustainable management of the water resource for the development of economy, society and the environment in the future,” Surasee said.
The research project, conducted between 2020 and 2021, was funded by China as part of a Mekong-Lancang Cooperation special grant worth 2.45 million yuan (about 12 million baht).
The joint study has led to the development of a bilingual mobile application in Thai and Burmese providing updates on the water situation in the area. A warning system covering the river basin has also been developed, in addition to a model for water resource management, and water-management cooperation between local communities and agencies.
After half a century in the media business, Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) will launch the “One Nation” strategy in March in response to the group’s present and future challenges.
NMG chief executive Shine Bunnag said the constant changes in communication technology and consumer behaviour have made organisational restructuring necessary.
Under the “One Nation” project, the strengths of all media outlets under NMG will be combined and synergised, he said.
“One Nation is born of the Nation Group. There are certainly many brands under the group, but every editorial department works independently, with freedom and unity. This will bring more efficiency and synergy.”
Shine added, “We are now undergoing a big restructuring in line with the One Nation policy. Details will be available at a press conference to be held in March.”
Among the changes, Nation News Agency will be revived to provide a database and quality news to all media outlets under the group, according to the CEO.
“We firmly adhere to the principle ‘Content is king while context is queen’. The focus is on good and quality news in a proper context. Also, we remain firm in our commitment to media ethics and the duty of scrutinising corruption and protecting the public interest. We disagree with content that is socially destructive or causes hatred in society,” he said.
Under the One Nation project, there is a plan to develop a business model for NMG’s assets, including collected photographs and exclusive content, such as documentaries.
Those assets could be turned into digital format and distributed through a new platform or ecosystem, according to the CEO.
“We signed a memorandum of understanding with Future Competere Co Ltd, which specialises in developing the digital assets business. This is another important step for Thai media circles,” he said.
Digital assets, particularly those in the form of non-fungible token (NFT), have become increasingly popular worldwide, with a growing number of creators and collectors both domestically and overseas.
NMG executive director Adisak Limparungpatanakij, who is in charge of The Nation NFT unit, says that over the past 50 years of its existence, NMG has amassed a large collection of content stored in the digital format.
“These include about 3 million photos of incidents and events that are historically valuable and 60,000 copies of newspapers published continuously for over 50 years,” Adisak said.
“We are in the process of creating NFTs from those collections,” he added.
Meanwhile, NMG deputy CEO Somchai Meesen said that 2022 is an important year for the group as it is undergoing organisational restructuring and synergy of its editorial departments for improved efficiency in the face of new challenges.
The business-oriented newspaper Krungthep Turakij will remain the group’s media outlet. However, its content will be aimed not only at business people, but also the lay person.
Nation Broadcasting Corporation and NBC Next Vision Co Ltd have combined their expertise in television and online content to make the digital television channel Nation TV 22 more than just television.
Nation TV 22 and Nation Online have seen high growth on all online digital platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.
NMG is also developing a new mobile application of a “lifestyle community platform” based on the user-generated content from its OK Nation website, which was popular more than 15 years ago, according to Adisak.
The now-dormant blogging website has about 100,000 registered bloggers, which are now known as “content creators”, with almost 1 million pieces of writing.
The news website Kom Chad Luek Online focuses on showbiz, entertainment and celebrity news, as well as content from social media.
“The People” new media team produces creative content under the theme “everyone has their own story”, in the form of interviews, graphics, still photos and video clips.
Spring News under NMG, born as a news agency in 2010 before becoming a television station, has transformed into a digital media outlet presenting news, information, knowledge and inspiring stories.
Students will no longer require guarantors to borrow from the Student Loan Fund once a new law comes into effect, the fund chief said on Friday.
Krisada Chinavicharana, permanent secretary at the Finance Ministry who is the ex-officio chairman of the fund, said the bill to amend the Student Loan Fund Act has passed the first reading in the House and it should clear Parliament soon.
He said once the bill is enacted and takes effect, students will no longer need third-party guarantors to seek loans from the fund because they can themselves be the guarantors.
Earlier, there had been reports that some teachers had suffered a financial crisis after they guaranteed loans of their students who would not repay the debt, prompting the fund to make the guarantors liable for the repayment.
Krisada said the new law would empower the fund to help the borrowers, who have been sued for not paying the debt after they graduated.
The new law would allow the fund to help the sued borrowers during the trials or after the court has made rulings or when they are under legal execution of the court orders, Krisada added.
The fund would be empowered to restructure the bad debt so that the former students could return the borrowed money to the fund, he said.
“During the past three years, the fund has not sued more ex-students because we would like to help the borrowers during the time of crisis,” Krisada said.
“We sued only in cases where the statute of limitations was about to expire. Anyway, the sued borrowers can try to reach an out-of-court settlement with us.”
Krisada urged borrowers to honour their debt repayment commitment to the fund so that it would have money to provide loans to future university students.
After the new law is enacted, guarantors who have been sued by the fund can also negotiate with the fund to find better solutions, he added.
Currently, the Student Loan Fund has about 600,000 debtors and about 40 per cent have become non-performing loans. During the past three years, the fund has reduced the fine for late payment from 7.5 per cent annually to 0.5 per cent annually. Apart from reducing the fine, the fund also reduced the fine amounts for borrowers who returned to negotiate debt restructuring, Krisada added.
City workers were spotted tidying overhanging cables on Sukhothai Road in Bangkok’s Dusit district on Friday.
This is part of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC)’s plan to clean up Bangkok’s skyline and that of adjacent provinces, which was endorsed by the Cabinet on November 23 last year.
NBTC’s deputy secretary-general Suthisak Tantayothin said this was part of its three-year overhead cable management plan, which will be conducted in collaboration with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, Provincial Electricity Authority and telecom operators.
He said NBTC will fund some of the work, especially in Bangkok.
“The aim is to ensure people’s safety, improve the city skyline and create a good image for Thailand,” he said.
A group of freelancers and online sellers showed up at the Parliament complex on Friday to seek help with the changes in PayPal’s policies.
The group, led by online children’s clothes seller Arunee Numkate and freelance translator Thirapat Charoensuk, submitted a letter to Palang Pracharath MP Watanya Wongopasi, who is the spokesperson for a House committee on finance, fiscal and financial institutions and markets.
The group called on the panel for help after PayPal (Thailand) announced all accounts registered to freelancers, casual online sellers and small-scale entrepreneurs will have limited functionality from March 7. To continue receiving payments all users are required to submit proof that they have been registered as juristic persons, PayPal said.
However, the group said this requirement has not just caused confusion but is also an added financial burden.
Watanya responded by saying her panel will call on the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and Commerce Ministry to look into the issue.
She said PayPal is supervised by the BOT and she believes it should be able to come up with a solution for freelancers.
She also said the panel will try to have PayPal delay the implementation of its new policy, which she believes is influenced by the BOT’s measures against money laundering.
Cause of confusion
Thirapat also complained that PayPal has provided no information on how freelancers can register as legal entities or even which Thai laws can be applied. He said when asked to clarify, PayPal only said they should register with the Commerce Ministry as “ordinary persons doing business” if they want to continue receiving payments.
Then on February 5 PayPal changed the rules again and announced that all accounts in Thailand must be registered as legal entities, he said.
Arunee, who has been selling clothes online for eight years now, said suddenly on November 11, PayPal demanded she registers with the Commerce Ministry. However, she said, on February 5, it changed its policy again.
She said registering as a juristic person will take time and is worried she may not be able to meet the March 7 deadline.
Hence, Thirapat said, the group wants the panel to speak to PayPal and find out which government agency has pushed for the changes and which laws these changes are based on.
The group also called on the House panel to cancel the requirement for freelancers to register as juristic persons and take responsibility for the damage caused by the confusion.
The group also wants PayPal to postpone the implementation of the new policy and allow non-business users to continue using the service.
Thai AirAsia is set to unveil a special flight-plus-ticket package for the so-called “Red War” between Manchester United and Liverpool in Bangkok this summer.
Talks are underway with the match organiser Fresh Air Festival, Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Thai AirAsia’s parent company Asia Aviation Plc, said on Friday.
“The discussion involves a special package that includes an air ticket and a ticket for the match. The aim is to attract tourists from other Asean countries to watch the match,” Tassapon said.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, CEO of Thai AirAsia and Asia Aviation, said Fresh Air would be consulted over which Asean markets to target to draw fans for the match.
“Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore all have a lot of supporters of the two football clubs,” he noted.
The CEO also expects travel rules to be more relaxed by July, when the match is scheduled to take place.
The highly anticipated game between Manchester United and Liverpool, officially called “The Match: Bangkok Century Cup 2022”, is due to be held at Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium on July 12.
Ticket prices range from Bt5,000 to Bt25,000.
The organisers claim this will be the first match in Asia between the two English Premier League giants.
The Thai economy will suffer if the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict lingers or expands, former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij warned on Friday.
He noted that both countries – not just major trading partners like the US and European Union – are significant to the Thai economy.
“A conflict that expands into a war will have an impact on us one way or another. What’s clear now is that the price of oil is rising, while stocks and cryptocurrencies are falling. If this [armed conflict] extends or expands, the Thai economy will definitely be affected,” Korn said in a Facebook post.
Korn, who also leads the Kla Party, said Ukraine is more important to the global economy than thought earlier. He also pointed out that Russia sends its gas to Europe through Ukraine and disruption can have an impact on global fuel prices.
He also said Ukraine is a major producer of food, especially wheat, and cattle.
“It is said that Ukraine has the potential to feed up to 600 million people. If this conflict continues, food prices will surge, which will result in a higher cost of living,” Korn wrote.
Thailand has entered its fifth wave of Covid-19, with highly contagious Omicron replacing Delta as the dominant strain. The Omicron subvariant is now estimated to account for around 95 per cent of new cases, with Delta accounting for the rest.
Officially, the infection rate has now climbed above 20,000 new cases per day but these figures are thought to be a fraction of the true caseload.
The good news is that the bed occupancy rate has not reached the critical levels seen during last year’s Delta outbreak, thanks to a higher vaccination rate plus milder symptoms generated by Omicron.
Let’s take a look at the symptoms of each variant.
A rare adult Siamese crocodile was spotted in Phetchaburi’s Kaeng Krachan National Park by rangers recently.
The park’s chief Itthiphol Thaikamol said on Friday the rangers took photographs of the crocodile sunbathing on the sandy bank of the 35-kilometre creek that runs through the park.
Every month, rangers get on a raft and travel downstream to set up cameras to survey wildlife. This trip can take up to five days and the latest wrapped up on February 20.
“This is an endangered animal, and its sighting in Kaeng Krachan is extremely rare,” Itthiphol said.
“They also spotted other wild animals like sun bears, deer, banded linsang, yellow-throated marten and otters.”
The Siamese crocodile has been classified as a species threatened with extinction by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). They are native to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra. An adult Siamese crocodile can be up to four metres long and usually lays eggs in May on a sandy riverbank. Like most freshwater crocodiles, they are lone hunters and live on small fry. Siamese crocodiles do not attack humans unless threatened or hungry.
Itthiphol said the Siamese crocodiles are wild and very different from crocodiles raised in farms, which are often cross-bred.
“Apart from the rare crocodile, Kang Krachan National Park has also seen an increased number of tigers, which are also on the endangered list. This means the park’s ecosystem has been improving, so rare animals are starting to multiply,” he added.
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