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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403817

AstraZeneca approves Thai vaccine plant; 800,000 Sinovac doses due this week

NationalMar 17. 2021File Photo

By The Nation

AstraZeneca has approved safety standards at Thailand’s vaccine factory and will send the first batch of raw materials in June, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, another 800,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine will arrive this week from China, Anutin told press at Government House. Thai health officials are also in talks with the Chinese firm for an additional 5 million doses, he added.

The Sinovac vaccine is currently being used to inoculate frontline healthcare staff and at-risk groups.

Addressing progress on Thailand’s domestic vaccine production, Anutin said an AstraZeneca representative had visited the Thai plant and was satisfied with the manufacturing standards. AstraZeneca is confident the material for vaccine production will arrive by June, he said.

Siam Bioscience is upgrading its plant in Pathum Thani to produce millions of AstraZeneca doses for Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia.

Asked about Songkran (April 10-15), Anutin said the decision on restrictions lies with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome said yesterday that water-splashing parties were off the menu this year due to the emergence of a new cluster of infections.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403812

Electrocuted squirrel brought back to life

NationalMar 17. 2021

By The Nation

Video of a police officer in Udon Thani successfully performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on an electrocuted albino squirrel went viral on Wednesday.

The clip, posted on Kumphawapi Police Station‘s Facebook page, shows Pol Sub-Lt Yongyut Thitanon using a small stick to massage the chest of the lifeless squirrel as he holds its tail. After about 30 seconds, the squirrel regains consciousness and Yongyut flips the creature onto its feet to help it recover.

Netizens praised the police officer’s ingenuity in saving the small creature’s life.

Photo Credit: Kumphawapi Police Station

Yongyut explained that albino squirrels climb electric wires to eat bananas and other fruits at a residence near the police station every morning.

Photo Credit: Kumphawapi Police Station

He said he had also successfully used CPR to revive an electrocuted monkey.

“I decided to use a small stick to perform CPR because the squirrel may have bitten my fingers when it woke up,” he said.

Photo Credit: Kumphawapi Police Station

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403813

Police swoop in on shady loan-sharking operation in Samut Sakhon

NationalMar 17. 2021

By The Nation

Police arrested eight people on Wednesday for allegedly running a loan shark business in Samut Sakhon’s Mahachai sub-district and have launched a manhunt for those behind the set-up.

Also confiscated were assets including 35 laptops, 30 smartphones and a list of debtors.

Police said they had received complaints about unreasonably high-interest rates demanded under the Yoo Card smartphone application.

“While investigating, we learned that Am [not her real name] is working with a Chinese businessperson to grant loans via smartphone apps,” police said.

“Hence, we requested a search warrant to check on a building from where the operators were running a debt collection agency.”

Police said the suspects were caught on the second and third floor, adding that the first floor was being turned into a coffee shop to disguise the operation.

The suspects said they were responsible for collecting debt from people who borrowed money via the Uwallet, Ant Loan, Yoo Yoo Card, Majic Card and Bee Bath smartphone apps.

“The suspects also explained that they granted loans of up to Bt5,000 at a daily interest rate of 0.05 per cent as well as a 39 per cent service charge. Borrowers are given just seven days to repay their debt,” police said.

Investigators found that more than 15,000 people had fallen victim to the scam, with funds of several million in circulation.

“The Centre for the Investigation of Transnational Environmental Crimes will continue hunting for those behind the scam,” police added.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403810

80% of motorcycle accidents caused by cars cutting in: study

NationalMar 17. 2021

The most common cause of fatal motorcycle accidents in Thailand is cars cutting in front of traffic, according to a study by the Thailand Accident Research Centre (TARC), Honda and Yamaha.

The “In-depth Accident Investigation in Thailand” studied 1,000 road accidents between 2016 and 2020. It found that motorcycle riders’ perceptual failure is the major cause of accidents, while the majority of victims are young riders.

The study aimed to identify the root cause of motorcycle accidents to seek solutions to the problem.

About 20,000 people die each year on Thai roads, which are among the deadliest in the world. Around three-quarters of those fatalities are people riding two- or three-wheeled vehicles.

Of the 1,000 motorcycle accidents in the study, 53 per cent were caused by motorcyclists, 41 per cent by car drivers, 4 per cent by road and environment, and 2 per cent by other factors.

The research found that 80 per cent of motorcycle accidents were caused by a car cutting into traffic. Most of the motorcycle victims were riding at normal speeds (20-60kph) and not under the influence of alcohol or sleepiness.

More than 40 per cent of those killed suffered severe head injuries. Of this number, over 62 per cent were not wearing a helmet.

From the findings, TARC came up with six recommendations to reduce accidents:

1. Review safety driving courses and focus more on increasing riders and drivers’ perception skills, decision making, and reaction skills to avoid potential accidents.

2. Redesign motorcyclists’ training and licence tests to focus on accident-prediction skills and accurately simulating real-life road conditions.

3. Impose motorcycle speed limit of 80kph and tighten law enforcement on helmetless riding and motorbike modifications that threaten safety.

4. Introduce a road design policy that prioritises safe motorcycle riding, with reduced mixing of motorcycles and cars at U-turns, intersections, entrances and exits, speed reduction on community roads and improved visibility at junctions and intersections.

5. Promote awareness of the need for regular vehicle maintenance and check-ups, especially for safety equipment such as headlights, taillights, braking, and tyres.

6. Establish a national institute for traffic accident research to collect and analyse data from accident investigations to find practical ways of reducing accidents.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403807

Charter court dismisses earlier verdict on Hopewell saga, kills order to pay Bt24-bn compensation

NationalMar 17. 2021

By THE NATION

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that the Supreme Administrative Court’s verdict in 2002 stipulating that the statute of limitations of the Hopewell case began from March 9, 2001 – the date the Administrative Court was established – is unconstitutional.

The Transport Ministry and State Railway of Thailand (SRT) submitted a petition in November 2020 seeking a Constitutional Court ruling on whether the earlier verdict was in breach of the charter.

The Transport Ministry and SRT claim that the arbitration committee in the case had failed to forward the court resolution to Parliament for inspection and did not publish it in the Royal Gazette.

The charter court ruled that the earlier resolution was in violation of the Constitution’s Article 3 (second paragraph) and Article 197 (fourth paragraph).

The charter court also found that the resolution goes against the 1999 Establishment and Proceedings of Administrative Cases Act, which says the statute of limitations of a case commences from the day the dispute is declared.

The Constitutional Court’s decision to order revocation of the earlier verdict will consequently nullify the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling in April 2019, which stipulated that the ministry and SRT pay about Bt24 billion in compensation to Hopewell for contract termination.

Hong Kong-based Hopewell Holding’s contract to build an elevated road and train system to ease traffic in the capital was terminated in 1997 when the country was hit by the “tom yam kung” financial crisis. About 10 per cent of the project had been completed at that point.

This long-running saga began in 1990 when the Chatichai Choonhavan government signed a 30-year concession with the private firm to build the Bt80-billion project.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403805

Ministry seeks to amend narcotics law so it can ‘plug’ drug rings’ financial pipeline

NationalMar 17. 2021Somsak Thepsuthin, Justice Minister (middle)

By The Nation

More than Bt135 million has been seized from a drug network after an anti-narcotics team tracked suspicious financial transactions worth up to Bt6 billion.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told the press that the “Phali Prab Ya” anti-narcotics team was created to track down suspicious financial transactions that may possibly be linked to drug agents.

Over the past two months, the team tracked down Kamchan Khawthung, who is suspected of having a hand in drug operations in nearly every part of the country.

Her financial history from 2017 to 2019 shows up to Bt1.39 billion circulated between 1,623 accounts. These transactions raised a red flag and the team seized Bt135 million from her so far.

Somsak said the law presents obstacles in hunting down drug agents, and his suggested changes to the Narcotics Act and the Money Laundering Act will be considered in Parliament on Thursday.

Over the past decade, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) has given the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) cases worth Bt129 million, but only Bt56 million has been seized so far.

Somsak said the only way to choke drug dealing networks is to plug the Bt6 billion that is being circulated, and this can only be done if the law is amended.

“The first operation resulted in the seizure of Bt135 million. We have another 15 teams working on the issue. If the law is updated and enforced, then getting our hands on the Bt6 billion will not be a problem,” he said.

ONCB has seized Bt2.5 billion from drug agents since the government issued a new policy to snip the financial pipeline in 2019.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403802

Swamp challenge proves fatal for Kalasin boy scout

NationalMar 17. 2021

By THE NATION

A 15-year-old boy scout allegedly died from drowning while trying to meet challenges presented by his teacher on Tuesday.

Police in Kalasin province received reports of a child that had gone missing at around 8pm near a swamp next to Wat Na Ban Kor School.

The swamp is about three metres deep and it took divers four hours to find the boy’s body. The student was identified as Noppakao Sita.

Initial investigation showed that the school had sent the students out on scout activities on Tuesday. Noppakao was noticed missing at around 2pm when he did not return home.

The boy scouts were participating in a pretend war, with students having to jump in the swamp to avoid the “bombs”, stones in this case, aimed at them by their teachers.

Officers believe Noppakao was forced to jump into the swamp even though he did not know how to swim.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403803

Covid shots rollout kicks off in Bang Khae market

NationalMar 17. 2021

By The Nation

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Public Health Ministry began rolling out Covid-19 vaccinations at the main market in Bang Khae on Wednesday.

Bangkok governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang was also present to oversee the operation.

The BMA has readied 6,000 doses to deal with the Bang Khae cluster and aims to vaccinate up to 600 on the first day.

Meanwhile, a few people also showed up to take free Covid-19 tests at mobile testing units stationed at a public park near The Mall Bang Khae on Wednesday. Officials handed out queue cards to prevent crowds.

According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), 53,840 people have received their first Covid-19 jab between February 28 and March 16.

Of them, 30,853 are medical personnel, 6,036 are officials who came in contact with Covid-19 patients, 2,814 are patients with chronic diseases and 14,137 are people living in high-risk areas.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403800

Ministry defends dubious late-night moves in Bangkok Remand Prison

NationalMar 17. 2021

By THE NATION

The Justice Ministry on Wednesday defended the so-called suspicious activity of prison officials described in key anti-establishment figure Arnon Nampa’s letter.

In his letter, Arnon said prison officials visited the cell at 9pm on Monday and tried to usher fellow Ratsadon group members – Panupong “Mike” Jadnok and Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa – out for a Covid-19 test.

However, Arnon said he and other people in the cell stopped the two from following the prison guards as it was suspicious and was at night.

The officials then left their cell and returned in larger numbers three times, at 11.45pm, 12.15am and 2.30am. Arnon said all officials were armed with batons, adding that there were also some men in blue uniforms with no name tags.

The letter said they were afraid for their lives.

The missive was later handed to Arnon’s friend who posted it on Facebook, and it almost immediately went viral.

On Wednesday, Thanakrit Chit-areerat, secretary to Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, said in the “Inside Thailand” TV show that the officials only wanted to test Panupong and Jatupat for Covid-19.

He said the two prisoners had been brought to the Bangkok Remand Prison from Thonburi Prison, which is a high-risk area for Covid-19. Hence, he said, the two needed to undergo swab tests, even though they are quarantined.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court summoned Arnon and the prison commander to testify on Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday that he told prison authorities to install more CCTVs to monitor activities.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30403801

Milk of human kindness: singer-actor Saharat buys goat milk for rescued baby serow

NationalMar 17. 2021

By The Nation

Popular singer-actor Saharat “Kong” Sangkapricha has bought 47 boxes of goat milk for a baby serow named “Petch” (Diamond) that was earlier rescued by Tham Chao Ram Wildlife Sanctuary officials after it was separated from its mother in a fox attack, actress Daraneenute “Top” Pasutanavin said on her Facebook page on Wednesday.

Saharat “Kong” Sangkapricha

Petch reportedly ran towards the sanctuary officials when they were carrying out a survey in Sukhothai’s Thung Saleng district last Friday as its mother came under attack by the fox pack.

When the mother didn’t turn up a day after the attack, park officials decided to take the baby serow to the sanctuary premises on Saturday evening.

Saharat has now given the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation 47 boxes (564 cans) of goat milk for Petch so the baby serow will get more than enough nutrition.

Actress Daraneenute also praised sanctuary officials for taking good care of Petch.

“Petch followed the officials because it could feel their kindness and their intention to protect all lives in the forest,” she wrote.