Thani Sangrat, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that HE Dr Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, is scheduled to visit Thailand as a guest of Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
This meeting will occur between February 14-18 to promote cooperation between Thailand and the Muslim World League and exchange ideas to create peaceful coexistence in a multicultural society with top Thai leaders, academics, university students and leaders of the Thai Muslim community.
Throughout the period of stay in Thailand, the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League and his team will follow the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 strictly for public health safety for Thai people.
A female boxer, who has become famous after a viral video clip showing her attacking a drunk harasser, has encouraged Thai youth to learn boxing for self-defence.
Praeploy Sae-ia, whose boxing alias was “Praeploy Cho Kangwan”, said on Thursday that youngsters should be aware of the benefits of boxing.
“At least, you can use the skill to defend yourself. Muay Thai helped me to become successful — I got a scholarship due to the sport,” she said.
The former professional boxer suggested that Muay Thai should be included in the Thai school curricula.
In early February, a video showing Praeploy kicking and punching a man at a Bangkok street-side bar went viral on Thai social media.
The man reportedly asked to clink glasses with her at the bar but poured a glass of beer over her head after she refused.
On Thursday, Praeploy took part in an event to launch the Seed Muay Thai project aimed at raising awareness about preserving the national sport and encouraging youths to learn Muay Thai for self-defence.
Sports Authority of Thailand deputy governor Thanukiat Chanchum presided over the event held at Wat Sutthi Wararam School in Bangkok.
A total of 127 school students took part in a Muay Thai clinic on Thursday and they were trained by professional boxers and boxing experts.
This was the fourth Seed Muay Thai event after the ones in Chiang Rai, Phuket and Buri Ram.
Thais can now access Thailand Digital Health Pass on Mor Prom app when they travel to 27 EU nations and 33 other countries, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday.
Anutin and Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha held a press conference to announce that Thailand Digital Health Pass has been endorsed and integrated into the European Union Digital Covid Certificate (EU DCC) since December 21.
The endorsement means Thailand Digital Health Pass accessed via Mor Prom app has the same recognition as the EU DCC, Anutin said.
Thailand’s residents can show the Thailand Digital Health Pass to prove their Covid-19 status before making visits to 60 countries that use the EU DCC system. The digital certificate can also be used to take part in activities of the countries, the public health minister added.
“I would like to thank the House committee on public health and executives of the Public Health Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Digital Economy and Society Ministry for pushing for the EU endorsement of the digital health pass,” Anutin said.
“I’m confident people will find it convenient to use the digital health pass when travelling to these countries.”
The press conference was also attended by permanent secretaries from the three ministries.
Sathit said the linking of the Thailand Digital Health Pass system to the EU DCC will not only make it convenient for Thais to travel to these countries, the Public Health Ministry can also monitor the Covid-19 status of people travelling from these countries.
Sathit said Thai officials, shops or government agencies can scan the QR code of the EU DCC of the tourists from the 60 countries to check their Covid-19 status.
Dr Kiartphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary for Public Health, said the Thailand Digital Health Pass has two parts of information. The first part will provide the identity of the pass holders, their names, ages, citizen IDs, and nationality.
Kiartphum said the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry links the database of passport numbers and names in English of the digital pass holders to be shown in the app.
The second part of the information shows whether the holders have received Covid-19 vaccination, been tested for Covid-19 or recovered from Covid-19. The information about vaccination and recoveries will be available for 180 days while the information about Covid-19 tests will expire in seven days.
Thanee Thongphakdee, permanent secretary for Foreign Ministry, said the endorsement of the digital pass was a proof of Thailand’s close ties with the EU.
The consumer index fell for the first time in five months, citing a drop in consumer confidence due mainly to a high rise in prices of food and commodity goods, according to a recent survey.
The key factors contributing to a fall in the index are the Covid outbreak, a general negative domestic outlook on the country’s economy, and the government’s vacillation on implementing the “Test & Go” scheme for foreign tourists, the survey by the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce said on Thursday.
The index has plunged from 30.0 to 28.5 in the first five months while anticipated spending in events related to Valentine’s Day is the lowest in 15 years, said university rector and poll chief Thanawan Pholwichai.
A related poll on Valentine’s Day celebrations surveyed 1,245 people aged 15-59 and found that spending during the period will drop to Bt2.095 billion, falling for the fourth year in a row and the lowest in the past 15 years.
Regarding the government’s “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) co-payment scheme, 64.7 per cent of respondents want an extra Bt3,000 on top of the Bt1,200 approved. Another 28.3 per cent said they want an extra Bt5,000, while the remainder said they want Bt3,000 for another three months.
A million applicants, including new and old, are welcome to register for the Bt1,200 subsidy on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration of Phase 4 of the scheme started on Thursday.
A new leak from an undersea oil pipeline off Rayong province has been reported, as an oil slick has been found in the Map Ta Phut sea, the Pollution Control Department said on Thursday.
Department director-general Atthaphol Charoenchansa quoted Star Petroleum Plc. as saying that around 5,000 litres of oil had caused a large oil slick around five kilometres from a single point mooring (SPM).
The company said it is finding out the true cause of the leak after it had been adjusting a section of the pipeline.
Atthaphol said his department had turned down a request by Star Petroleum to use a total of 5,000 litres of dispersant because it exceeded an amount regarded as sufficient.
The governor of Rayong has called an urgent meeting of local government agencies to cope with the consequences of the leak.
A Star Petroleum Plc statement issued to the governor categorised the leak as Tier 1, meaning the oil leak is not in excess of 20 tonnes, while a damage control team was at the leak site in anticipation of assistance from vessels and aircraft belonging to the Royal Thai Navy.
The statement described the slick’s colour as silver but did not provide an explanation on the type of oil or the severity of the leaked, or how easily or differently the slick could be dealt with.
A new initiative aimed at mitigation of harm and convenient reporting of general and sex crimes has been launched for students at schools and college campuses, Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong told a press conference on Thursday.
Complaints and emergency alerts over safety and crimes can be made directly to the Ministry of Education’s Safety Centre through four online channels, She said.
Apart from the MoE Safety Centre application, alerts can be made to the website addressed at www.MOESafetyCenter.com; LINE @MOESafetyCenter and call centre 0-2126-6565.
Trinuch said follow-up into the progress of the investigation on harm and further problem-solving will be made in addition to immediately responding to complaints, while big data collection of information of those complaints is digitally stored and sorted.
Under the scheme, heightened security and surveillance are to be provided at schools and universities, apart from improved measures on human-to-human violence, accident prevention, general violation of rights, and mental and physical health hazards.
The Safety Centre scheme has been assisted by nine ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Royal Thai Police, Trinuch said.
A network of operators and regulators of airline businesses have expressed their support for the planned construction of terminals on the northern side of Suvarnabhumi Airport, an airline executive said yesterday.
The chairman of the Airport Consultative Committees (ACC), Suwatthana Sribunrueng, said all three major organisations had lent their support to the Airports of Thailand (AOT)’s North Expansion initiative, which is expected to able accommodate 101 million air travelers in the next 20 years.
The three organisations cited by Suwatthana are the International Air Transport Association, the Board of Airline Representatives, and the Airline Operators Committee.
North Expansion is planned by state-enterprise AOT and is intended to service domestic flights.
Suwatthana, who is also Thai Airways chief executive officer, reiterated the Mixed Concept initiative aimed at servicing both domestic and international flights. Under Mixed Concept, car park buildings and aircraft pits will be built separately from the existing passenger terminals.
Suwatthana described pre-Covid crowd problems at Suvarnabhumi Airport as nearly exploding, as the current capability could cope with around 60-65 million. If the North Expansion is not implemented, a vast national economic loss is certain, he warned.
Asked why expansion on the south of Suvarnnabhumi Airport has not been planned, he said the construction would require more time and funding.
The ACC was set up on the instructions of Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob, chaired on an interim basis by Suwatthana.
All prisoners will receive a third anti-Covid booster dose by the end of this month, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Thursday.
Around 91.3 per cent of a total of 248,632 prisoners have received their first two doses, while 107,346 of them had received a booster dose, he said. Those who have not received the third dose are newly received into the prison system, he said.
Somsak, who oversees the Corrections Department, thanked all governmental agencies for having provided the vaccines to officials and prison guards across the country.
The CEO of Star Petroleum Refining (SPRC) promised on Thursday to speed up payment of compensations for the oil leak off Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate.
SPRC CEO Robert Dobrik gave the assurance after a meeting of the committee coordinating compensation.
Rayong Governor Charnna Iamsaeng chaired the meeting. In attendance were deputy governor Yutthapol Ongart-itthichai, Rayong police chief Pol Maj-General Wara Wetchaphinan and Dobrik himself.
An underwater pipeline owned by SPRC leaked on January 25, releasing oil into the sea 20 kilometres southeast off Map Ta Phut on the eastern seaboard. Local fisheries were ordered to halt operations for at least a month until water conditions improved.
The governor said all sides must cooperate to ensure locals, who are low-income earners, receive the first amount of compensation as soon as possible.
Charnna said the tri-partite team has been coordinating between the affected people and the company to negotiate compensation that is satisfactory to both sides, and the rates would be based on a Rayong Court ruling in an oil leak case in 2013.
Dobrik said the SPRC would speed up compensation to all affected groups and would also hasten rehabilitation of the environment.
A special complaints centre, set up in the province after the oil leak, received 6,268 complaints from January 30 to February 9.
The price of pork, as well those of other goods and services, have been going down across the country, Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Thursday.
Pork price has dropped from Bt187 as of January 30 to Bt164 per kilogram, he said.
There was a nationwide furore and criticism of the government when the price last month shot up to Bt220 per kilogram.
Thanakorn said prices of other goods, such as fresh chicken and palm oil, also were decreasing.
The spokesman said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s order to inspect pork and meat storage facilities nationwide to deter possible hoarding was primarily responsible for the easing of prices.
The PM’s order required owners of cold storage to report to authorities if their stocks of pork exceeded five tonnes. Following the order, 404 meat businesses had declared being in possession of about 15.5 million kilograms of pork.
Authorities said 616 businesses had failed to report stocks totalling 19.5 million kilograms of pork and will face legal action. Twelve violators have been prosecuted of whom three have been convicted and nine others are on trial, he said.
An unspecified number of violators of other rules are also facing legal action for selling pork at prices higher than government-regulated rates and failure to produce price tags of pork prices.
A government restriction on the export of pork remains in place, which has also played an important part in controlling the price of pork, Thanakorn said. He said the government will issue another rule requiring registration for owners of small-sized, and individually owned pig farms.
Dobrik said the SPRC would speed up compensation to all affected groups and would also hasten rehabilitation of the environment.
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