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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402960

Police tell motorists to avoid Ratchaprasong intersection on Tuesday

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

Bangkok police have advised commuters to avoid routes around Ratchaprasong intersection from 3pm onward on Tuesday (February 23) as Ratsadon pro-democracy protesters plan to rally there at 7pm.

The Ratsadon group said Tuesday evening’s protest will focus on alleged corruption in the promotion system for senior police officers.

“To avoid being caught in jams, please avoid Rajdamri Road (Rajdamri-Pratunam intersections), Rama I Road (Chaloem Phao-Ratchaprasong intersections) and Ploenchit Road (Ratchaprasong-Chidlom intersections),” said deputy metropolitan police chief Pol. Maj-General Piya Tawichai.

Police advised motorists to use the following routes to bypass the rally venue: Ratchaprarop Road, Phetchaburi Road, Phya Thai Road, Rama IV Road, Henri Dunant Road, Sarasin Road, Silom Road, Sathon Road, Wireless Road, Sukhumvit Road, Soi Tonson and Lang Suan Road.

Piya added that traffic police will be stationed in the area to help traffic flow and ease the impact on the public.

Motorists can call the Traffic Control and Command Centre’s 1197 hotline, use the M-Help Me smartphone application, or visit the www.trafficpolice.go.th.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402959

Nearly 100 suspects nabbed over online casinos this year: DES Ministry

NationalFeb 23. 2021Buddhipongse Punnakanta

By The Nation

As many as 98 people have been arrested so far this year for allegedly running online casinos, Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said on Tuesday.

The ministry and the Police Cyber Taskforce have been collaborating on the crackdown since the start of the year.

Buddhipongse said gambling websites have been circulating more than Bt1.9 billion and that most of the suspects had been arrested in Phitsanulok, Chonburi and Chachoengsao.

“The most recent case was that of Apirak ‘Sia Po’ Chatanon, a former celebrity boxer and net idol who was arrested over allegations of money laundering and running the online casino Galaxy Online,” he said.

He said officials have been instructed to continue forwarding complaints filed at the @DESMonitor Facebook page to police, so the scourge of online gambling can be brought to an end as soon as possible.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402958

AirAsia CEO expects world to open up soon as Covid-19 vaccines roll out

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

Now that Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out in many countries, Malaysian-based budget carrier AirAsia sees this as a clear indicator of a global travel reboot soon.

The airline’s key international market, namely Indonesia, Singapore, China and Australia, have kicked off inoculation programmes, while other regional countries like Thailand and the Philippines are expected to start vaccinating people within the first quarter of this year.

“AirAsia has spent the travel downtime to put in place rigorous digital initiatives and innovative technologies that would make air travel even safer and more seamless post-COVID-19. Better testing, leisure travel bubbles, anti-veil medicines and importantly, digital health passports providing a single tool for health records across Asean and beyond, are also coming soon, to support the global travel recovery,” AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said.

“I am confident AirAsia will recover faster than many due to our low-cost model, position in the market and the fast-tracking of our digital transformation to become Asia’s leading travel and lifestyle super-app, which has helped to mitigate adverse effects from the pandemic.

“We have been through our fair share of crises in the past including starting out just after 9/11, bird-flu epidemics, tsunamis and earthquakes to name a few, but Covid-19 has by far, posed the most challenging situation we have ever experienced.

“I remain optimistic we will achieve our fundraising target of 2.5 billion ringgit. The first tranche of the private placement of up to 20 per cent of the total issued shares of AirAsia Group was completed last week, with 11.07 per cent placed out, raising a total of 250 million ringgit. This reflects the solid market and investors’ confidence in the company.

“We are working towards obtaining approval for a loan within next month. Concurrently, we have positive ongoing discussions for other fundraising support measures in many of our key markets such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines which we will announce in due course. Other capital raising and financial support measures are being considered, including capital raising for our digital entities. We expect further clarity to be reached on all funding efforts by the end of March,” Fernandes said.

AirAsia has recently introduced several new products that provide new revenue streams including the Airasia super app, logistics, e-commerce, fintech, as well as new procedures and innovations such as biometric facial recognition to make flying more hygienic and contactless.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402957

THAI denies rumour of plans to buy 30 planes in 2025

NationalFeb 23. 2021Chansin Treenuchagron

By THE NATION

Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) has no plan to buy 30 planes within 2025, acting president Chansin Treenuchagron said on Tuesday, adding that if flight demand increases the company would look into a rental option first.

A news source had said last week that THAI is planning to buy 20 to 30 planes in 2025 to strengthen its fleet and replace sold/decommissioned planes, adding that the company expected the airline industry to recover from the fallout of Covid-19 by then.

“There is a rumour that THAI would submit a plan to buy new planes along with the company’s business rehabilitation plan to the Central Bankruptcy Court on March 2, but this is not true,” said Chansin.

“Before entering the rehabilitation process, THAI already had a plan to decommission old planes that required high maintenance cost and had low fuel efficiency,” he added.

“In the next five years, the company aims to downsize its air fleet as well as reduce maintenance cost to only necessary level, as well as find new revenue sources and increase administration efficiency in accordance with the current market demand.

“If the demand for air travel increases due to recovering global economy, the company’s strategic committee would carefully estimate market trends both in mid- and long-term, and procure additional planes based on cost-effectiveness to make sure that the company does not lose its competitive advantage in the industry,” added Chansin.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402956

FDA okays use of non-narcotic parts of hemp, cannabis plants in food

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By The Nation

Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of non-addictive parts of cannabis and hemp plants, hemp seed oil and protein from hemp seed in food products, under certain conditions.

Supattra Boonserm, FDA’s deputy secretary-general, said hemp seeds, oil and protein can be used in food products like cereal, baked goods, dietary supplements, beverages, snacks, etc.

Hemp oil can also be used as cooking oil or be turned into spreads.

The amount of hemp or cannabis products that can be used in each type of food will be specified and proposed by the FDA later, she said.

Guidelines on the usage will also be issued, while food manufacturers will be required to provide details on where they source their cannabis and hemp raw materials via http://cannabis.fda.moph.go.th

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402955

95 new Covid-19 cases, two-thirds in Samut Sakhon

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By The Nation

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Tuesday reported 95 new cases.

Of the 52 exposed to the disease while visiting high-risk areas, 40 were in Samut Sakhon, followed by three cases in Pathum Thani, two each in Bangkok, Tak, and Ang Thong, one each in Nakhon Pathum, Nonthaburi, and Ayutthaya.

Meanwhile, proactive testing led to the discovery of 41 cases, most in Pathum Thani (25), followed by Samut Sakhon (25) and Nonthaburi (2)

A British male and a Thai man who flew in from the United Kingdom were the two cases of overseas travellers in quarantine facilities.

Meanwhile, 76 patients have recovered and been discharged.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 25,599. Of these, 22,885 had been contracted locally, including 14,448 who were found via proactive testing, while 2,714 were returnees. So far, 24,446 have recovered and been discharged, 1,070 patients are still in hospitals, and 83 have died.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 112.26 million (up by 286,116), 87.78 million have recovered, 22.98 million are active cases (93,916 in severe condition) and 2.49 million have died (up by 6,522).

Thailand ranks 114th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 28.82 million, followed by India 11.01 million, Brazil 10.2 million, Russia 4.18 million and the United Kingdom 4.13 million.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402954

Thai exports upbeat for two months thanks to recovery of some economies

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By The Nation

Thailand’s export sector has been in positive territory for two months running, Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), said on Tuesday.

In January, Thailand’s exports were valued at US$19.70 billion, up 0.35 per cent, while import was $19.90 billion, down 5.24 per cent. The country has a trade deficit of $202 million.

“The country’s exports last year was $231.46 billion, down 6.01 per cent, while import was $206.99 billion, down 12.39 per cent. The country had a trade surplus of $24.47 billion,” he said.

He said exports entered positive territory thanks to global trade recovery, as the economy of many countries has recovered, especially in Asia.

“Export of products related to agriculture, working from home and Covid-19 have all expanded,” he said.

However, he warned that Thailand’s export sector will face pressure if there is a new round of Covid-19 infections.

“However, the Commerce Ministry expects the country’s exports this year to expand by 4 per cent,” he added.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402952

PM ‘has no time for Clubhouse’

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the press on Tuesday morning that he did not use the famous mobile application “Clubhouse”, adding he had no time for it.

Clubhouse, an exclusive social networking app, has become increasingly popular among Thai netizens. The application gained popularity during the Covid-19 outbreak when most people were forced to stay at home.

On Monday night, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had run a chat room on this application, drawing several persons to have conversation with.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402950

Police complaint filed in Surin against teacher for alleged sexual abuse of students

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

Eight parents of students of a school in Surin on Monday filed a police complaint claiming that a Prathom 3 (grade 3) teacher of a school in Phanom Dongrak district had been molesting 13 of his students.

The complaint filed at Phanom Dongrak Police Station said some children had been molested for over a year since they were in Prathom 2 level.

Dam (last name withheld), aged 50 years, the grandmother of a student, said her granddaughter told her last Friday that the teacher had asked her to give him a massage at his house after school. “The girl said the man grabbed her breasts and genitals, and she came home crying,” she said. “She also said 13 of her classmates were abused in a similar way, as a result some of them were afraid of going to school.”

The group of parents also told police that they had discussed with the school principal, who had promised to take care of the issue, but they later decided to file a police complaint to pursue legal action.

Investigation officers said they would schedule a meeting between all 13 victims and their parents, attorneys and social service workers to get the details of the case and will later summon the teacher for questioning.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402949

Baht makes slight gains, but limited room for further appreciation

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

The baht appreciated to 30.00 to the US dollar on Tuesday, up from Monday’s close of 30.03.

The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.90 and 30.05, Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.

He said that the baht will not strengthen much, despite the dollar weakening and gold price rising.

He added that importers would purchase the dollar when the baht is over 30 to the greenback. At the end of this month, the purchasing power of importers will tend to return.

Poon advised investors to monitor foreign funds flows in the short term, which could affect the Thai currency. The value of stocks and bonds sold by foreign investors recently was over Bt3 billion.