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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011096

Thailand will ready its population to live with Omicron Covid-19 as an endemic disease this year, a senior health official said on Friday.

Disease Control Department chief Opas Karnkawinpong said the country was slightly ahead of the World Health Organisation and other countries regarding measures to deal with the new Omicron strain.

However, he added that Thailand did not disagree with the WHO’s warning that it is too soon to regard Omicron as an endemic rather than pandemic disease.

“We are simply launching a public awareness campaign on how to prepare and to live with Omicron as endemic disease,” Opas said.

The switch from a pandemic to an endemic occurs when a virus becomes manageable via a high vaccination rate.

Opas said the country will only make the switch when more Thais have immunity and the country can safely live with Omicron.

The Public Health Ministry will monitor the situation closely before picking the right time, he added.

“We expect that if all people cooperate, Omicron will become endemic in Thailand within this year, not today or tomorrow,” Opas said.

Several other major countries have begun talking about treating Omicron as endemic.

Opas cited cross-vaccination and opening the country to foreign tourists as examples of how Thailand was ahead of other countries in dealing with Covid-19.

“Now we are talking about dealing with Omicron as endemic,” he added.

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011093

Bangkok’s move to sell antigen test kits (ATK) at an affordable price is proving a hit with locals – including disabled people who often find city services difficult to access.

Avisually impaired man queuing at a Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) pharmacy in Ratchathewi on Friday morning said he was impressed with how easy it was to buy a test kit. He explained that he made the payment by using the voice-command function of his mobile banking application.

The GPO is selling boxes of 20 ATKs for 700 baht or 35 baht per piece. The ATKs are being offered at eight of its pharmacies, in Ratchathewi, Yot-se Road, Charan Sanitwong, Thewet, Rangsit, the Public Health Ministry, Tropical Diseases Hospital and the Government Complex in Chaeng Wattana until January 19 (closed Saturday and Sunday).

Each pharmacy has stocks to serve up to 1,000 people daily.

Related stories:

• Long queues in Bangkok as GPO makes ATKs more affordable
• GPO expected to release new Aids drugs by 2022-end
• 1.38 million doses of Moderna vaccine to arrive this Saturday: GPO

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011092

Police have uncovered a boat-registration scam in their crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing that threatens Thailand’s 12.5-billion-baht export industry.

The drama began on January 8 when the Noree-Nava fishing boat disappeared after asking permission to switch off its geo-location system because it had “suffered damage”. Chon Buri marine inspectors eventually tracked it down and suspected it had been dumped as part of a registration-switching scam.

On Thursday, national assistant police chief Surachet Hakparn asked officers to investigate boat registrations in nearby Samut Sakhon.

Investigators found Sanan Saelee had bought a boat from Sutheera Mukda in Chon Buri on November 16 and re-registered it under a different name. Discovering that the boat’s number was damaged, police called in Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (MECC) officials, who peeled of the paint to reveal the old name.

Declaring it a case of counterfeit registration, Surachart said police would round up suspects and investigate whether government officials were involved.

Thailand dropped into the Tier 2 Watchlist of the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report last year, adding pressure to efforts to clear up IUU abuses in the fishing industry.
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has appointed the Subcommittee on Solving Illegal Fishing to tackle the problem.

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The police urged citizens to report any suspected human trafficking via the 1599 hotline 1599 or https://www.facebook.com/antihumantraffickingpolice.

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011094

Four Kanchanaburi locals have confessed to hunting, butchering and cooking two tigers in Thong Pha Phum National Park, police said on Thursday.

Park rangers on patrol discovered two tiger carcasses being prepared for grilling at a campsite in the park on January 10. The suspects fled into the forest. The patrol also found two tiger pelts hung out to dry, four weapons and 29 other personal items at the campsite.

On Thursday the four men turned themselves in at Thong Pha Phum police station. Investigators said Kukeu Yindee (37), Johaeng Phanarak (38), Suphachai Jaroensub (34), Ratchanon Jaroensub (30) had confessed to killing the endangered big cats. All the suspects are residents of Pilok subdistrict in Kanchanaburi’s Thong Pha Phum. Suphachai and Ratchanon are Thai nationals and brothers while Kukeu and Johaeng are members of a local hilltribe.

The four said they were cow herders and that 20 of their cows had been killed by tigers in the past two months. They decided to set up camp in the forest and use cow carcasses as bait to lure the tigers. They confessed to then shooting the big cats with shotguns borrowed from local civil defence volunteer staff.

On Friday a fifth suspect, 66-year-old cow herder So-Eh (no last name), turned himself in at the police station. He told police that he spent one night with the gang at the campsite but returned home the next day and did not participate in the poaching operation.

Police collected DNA samples from the five suspects and will compare them with evidence gathered from the campsite to determine whether to prosecute the suspects.

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Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011090

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has been urged to seek immediate funding so the construction of the second bridge over the Mekong River can be speeded up.

The bridge aims to link Thailand’s railway system to the China-Laos high-speed railway so goods can be more easily transported.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said on Friday that the SRT had received this order at a meeting chaired by Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul on Thursday. The meeting was with the committee in charge of integrating agencies’ work on implementing the Thai-Lao-Chinese railway project.

At the meeting, Anutin told SRT to immediately seek funding from the central budget so the designing and building of the bridge in Nong Khai can be accelerated.

Separately, the meeting also agreed to include representatives of the Public Health Ministry and Council of State in the Anutin-led committee.

Saksayam added that the officials also approved a framework for holding more talks with Laos and China about extending the high-speed railway to Thailand. If negotiations are successful, the framework will be upgraded into a memorandum of understanding with a binding effect on the three nations, Saksayam added.

The meeting also resolved to set up a sub-committee to follow up on the progress of all relevant agencies regarding the implementation of the railway project, Saksayam added.

The China-Laos railway, or the Boten-Vientiane railway, began operating in early December and Thailand’s exports via Nong Khai began surging almost immediately, Saksayam said.

He said the volume of goods crossing the Nong Khai border last month came in at 304,119 tonnes worth Bt6.91 billion compared to 116,552 tonnes valued at Bt4.64 billion in December 2020.

He added that the value of imports via Nong Khai also rose substantially because the railway is 25 per cent cheaper and takes far less time.

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011089

Bangkok’s public and private hospitals are preparing up to 30,000 beds for Covid-19 patients amid an expected surge in cases of Omicron variant. On Thursday the capital’s daily caseload jumped to 937 new infections.

The city is also speeding up search-and-trace operations, said a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) spokesperson. Vaccination points have opened at 11 more hospitals and 69 public health centres. Free jabs can now be booked via the QueQ app at more than 100 vaccination centres across all 50 districts of the city.

For treatment of new cases, Bangkok has prepared 41 waiting centres with 5,116 beds. Patients with no or mild symptoms will be advised to enter home isolation (HI).

People unable to enter HI will be admitted to community isolation (CI) via waiting centres. Those whose conditions improve will return to home isolation, but if their symptoms worsen they will be sent to hospital.

As of Wednesday, 239 of Bangkok’s 4,877 beds were occupied by coronavirus cases. The city also has eight Covid field hospitals with 1,660 beds.

City residents who test positive with an antigen test kit can call 1330-14 24 hours a day. In case of emergency they should call the Erawan centre hotline at 1669.

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Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011088

The Thai delegation successfully negotiated a peace deal with Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) for the deep South and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is very pleased with the outcome, deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Dhnadirek said on Friday.

Adelegation led by General Wanlop Rugsanoh held talks with the BRN group led by Anas Abdulrahman in Kuala Lumpur on January 11 and 12.

Ratchada said both parties agreed to adhere to three guidelines, including preventing violence, listening to residents in the area and seeking solutions in future talks.

Ratchada Dhnadirek

“The PM also thanked several sectors for making the talks possible amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis,” she said. “The government hopes to create an atmosphere where talks can be held to prevent violence so people in the area can live their lives peacefully.”

Related stories: 

• Thailand footballers meet Prayut and are made millionaires after AFF triumph
• PM instructs agencies to discuss price issue with manufacturers
• Prayut concerned over hospitals turning away Covid-infected children

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011087

No African Swine Fever (ASF) cases were concealed by the Department of Livestock Development, the department’s director-general Sorawit Thaneeto insisted in an interview with Kom Chad Luek on Thursday.

He said the government had made the prevention of ASF part of the national agenda since 2019 and relevant agencies met every month to discuss the situation.

“The department has immediately dealt with swine farms facing the risk of ASF and it is seeking a budget for disease prevention, not compensation payments,” he said.

Photo Credit: Kom Chad Luek

Sorawit also confirmed that he will not resign and will continue working to improve farmers’ quality of life.

“I have always worked with integrity and have successfully contained the spread of several other diseases such as horse plague and lumpy skin,” he said. “My intention is to solve the issue for swine farmers before I retire in eight years.”

To solve the ASF outbreak – one of the reasons why the price of pork is soaring – Sorawit said the department has both short- and long-term plans, with a focus on helping small farms.

“The short-term plan is to contain the spread of ASF as soon as possible. After that we will improve farmers’ pig-raising standards to ensure the spread of disease can be curbed,” he said.

He added that it would take up to a year to tackle the soaring price of pork.

Photo Credit: Kom Chad Luek

As for the viral clip of a pig farmer in Nakhon Pathom’s Sam Phran district showing carcasses of pigs at risk of ASF inside jars, Sorawit said the farmer should inform related agencies as soon as possible.

Related stories:

• Price of pork to remain high for 3 years, says expert
• Thai consumers turn to crocodile as pork price skyrockets
• Weekly pork prices edge down in China

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011086

Thailands Andaman Sea Nature Reserves were recently included in the Unesco World Heritage Centre’s tentative list after their names were submitted on December 18 last year.

Sunee Saksuea, director of the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) foreign affairs division, said on Thursday that the Cabinet had approved the promotion of the natural reserves on November 16.

Sunee Saksuea

“Now that the Andaman Sea Nature Reserves have been included in the centre’s tentative list, the department and related agencies will proceed under the World Heritage Centre’s guidelines and register Thailand’s Andaman Sea Nature Reserves as World Heritage Sites,” she said.

Thailand’s Andaman Sea Nature Reserves cover six national parks in Ranong, Phang Nga and Phuket provinces, namely:

• Mu Ko Ranong

• Laem Son

• Mu Ko Surin

• Mu Ko Similan

• Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang

• Sirinat

Related stories:

• Thailand named 5th best in the world for cultural heritage influence
• Cabinet greenlights proposing Andaman national parks as world heritage sites
• Three world heritage sites expected to generate Bt30 billion tourism income

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40011085

Thousands of Bangkokians flocked to the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) pharmacy in Ratchathewi district on Friday morning to purchase antigen test kits (ATK). A visually impaired person was also spotted in the queue.

The GPO is selling boxes of 20 ATKs at 700 baht or 35 baht per piece at eight of its pharmacies, namely Ratchathewi, Yot-se Road, Charan Sanitwong, Thewet, Rangsit, the Public Health Ministry, Tropical Diseases Hospital and Government Complex until January 19, except for the January 15-16 weekend.

Each pharmacy will attend to 1,000 people daily.

Related stories:

• GPO expected to release new Aids drugs by 2022-end
• 1.38 million doses of Moderna vaccine to arrive this Saturday: GPO
• GPO to sell Covid-19 antigen test kits at Bt40 apiece

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION