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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402947

Rescued bottlenose dolphin released into the sea

NationalFeb 23. 2021Photo credit: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

By THE NATION

A bottlenose dolphin which had been rescued from a Samut Prakarn canal on Sunday was released back into the sea, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources posted on its Facebook page on Monday.

The dolphin was released about 18km off the mouth of Bangpakong River in Chachoengsao province on Sunday evening.

The department on Sunday morning had rescued the bottlenose dolphin floating in the Klongdan irrigation canal in Samut Prakarn province.

Read More: Bottlenose dolphin rescued from Samut Prakarn canal

The dolphin was then taken to the Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre in Tha Sa-An subdistrict of Chachoengsao province for a health examination.

Photo credit: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

On Sunday afternoon, the department reported that the dolphin had become stronger and could swim on its own, so they transported it on a pickup truck and then a speed boat to the mouth of Bangpakong River and released it back into the sea at around 6.30pm.

Photo credit: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide, being found everywhere except the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions. A bottlenose dolphin weighs on average around 300kg and can reach a length of just over four metres.

Photo credit: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402940

Upper Thailand gets warmer with morning fog

NationalFeb 23. 2021

By THE NATION

The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Tuesday that the high-pressure system covering upper Thailand is weakening.

Morning fog and a 1-3 degrees Celsius rise in temperature are forecast for upper Thailand.

Meanwhile, the moderate easterly winds prevailing over the Gulf and the South are weakening. Wind waves in the lower Gulf are expected to rise 1-2 metres high, the department said.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:

North: Cool weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 17-20 degrees Celsius, highs of 33-37°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 6-14°C.

Northeast: Cool weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 19-21°C, highs of 34-36°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 9-14°C.

Central: Cool weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 21-23°C, highs of 35-37°C.

East: Cool weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 23-24°C, highs of 33-36°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres offshore.

South (east coast): Partly cloudy with isolated thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 21-24°C, highs of 32-34°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.

South (west coast): Partly cloudy; temperature lows of 21-24°C, highs of 34-36°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres offshore.

Bangkok and surrounding areas: Fog in the morning; temperature lows of 24-25°C, highs of 34-36°C.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402927

Thailand’s nightlife reopens from March 1 as alcohol restrictions eased

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

Restaurants, pubs and bars will be allowed to serve alcohol until at least 11pm from March 1, except in Samut Sakhon, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced on Monday.

A CCSA committee meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha relaxed the restrictions on Monday, but opening hours will differ in the red, orange and yellow Covid-19 control zones.

The CCSA also extended the emergency decree for disease control for another month until March 31.

Eased restrictions in each controlled zone from March 1:

Red-zone province (maximum control): Samut Sakhon

– Restaurants can open until 9pm but alcohol must not be served.

– Entertainment venues, pubs and bars cannot open for business.

– Shopping centres or department stores can open until 9pm, no promotions.

– All educational institutions including tutoring schools closed except for online classes.

– Gyms, fitness centres and outdoor exercise facilities remain closed.

Orange-zone provinces (controlled): Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Tak, Ratchaburi

– Restaurants can serve food and alcohol until 11pm.

– Entertainment venues, pubs and bars can serve alcohol until 11pm (live music performances permitted, but no dancing).

– Department stores and malls can open as usual (no promotions).

– Educational institutions at all levels can open normally.

– Gyms, fitness centres and outdoor exercise facilities can open as normal.

– Stadiums can admit a limited number of spectators.

Yellow-zone provinces (high surveillance): Kanchanaburi, Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya, Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Chachoengsao, Phetchaburi, Ranong, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chumphon, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat

– Restaurants can serve food and alcohol until midnight.

– Entertainment venues, pubs, and bars can serve alcohol until midnight ((live music performances but no dancing).

– Department stores and malls can open as usual (no promotions).

– Educational institutions can open normally.

– Outdoor exercise facilities, gyms and fitness centres can open normally.

– Stadiums can admit a limited number of spectators.

In green-zone provinces, restaurants, pubs, bars and entertainment venue can open as normal, along with educational institutions and all type of gyms. Stadiums can admit a limited number of spectators.

The CCSA said the easing of restrictions would boost economic activity, but it urged people to keep wearing masks, maintain social distancing, wash their hands and check their temperature regularly, and check in to venues with the ThaiChana or MorChana applications.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402924

Myanmar workers in Thailand protest against coup in their homeland

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

Myanmar workers in Thailand protest against coup in front of Bangkok’s UN office on Monday, appealing global community to not turn blind eye to what happen in their homeland.

There is a minute pray in silence to remember the victims who were reportedly gunned down by the officer over last few days during the various demonstrations against military coup in Myanmar.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402923

New institute set up to provide correct info on medical marijuana in Thailand

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

The Public Health Ministry unveiled Thailand’s Medical Marijuana Institute on Monday. The institute’s focus will be to provide knowledge and correct information on marijuana and its medical uses to the public, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

Now that cannabis has been removed from Thailand’s list of Category 5 narcotics, more than 50,000 patients have been prescribed medical marijuana.

Meanwhile, over 300 community groups are collaborating with the ministry to grow cannabis and produce cannabis oil and other traditional medicines to treat several diseases, including epilepsy, muscle spasms, cancer, insomnia, chronic pain, etc.

A system has also been set up to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of cannabis to create academic evidence supporting the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration is also seeking to add cannabis to the national list of major drugs. This will not only create a sustainable demand, production system and research, but will also support the medicine, food, cosmetics, and herbal products industries, to name a few.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402922

Emergency law extended but restaurants, pubs allowed to serve alcohol until 11pm

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

Restaurants and pubs will be allowed to serve alcohol until 11pm, under a relaxation of restrictions ordered at a Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meeting chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today.

Update: Thailand’s nightlife reopens from March 1 as alcohol restrictions eased

The new rule applies to all provinces except for Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of Thailand’s latest Covid-19 outbreak.

The CCSA also resolved to extend the emergency decree for disease control for another month until March 31.

The outcome of today’s CCSA meeting will be announced officially on Tuesday.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402921

Phuket gets tourism industry up and rolling

NationalFeb 22. 2021Photo credit : Phuket X Treme@Facebook

By The Nation

Phuket got the wheels rolling again on its tourism industry at the weekend by launching a new attraction – the “Amazing Thailand Phuket Surfskate Series 2021”.

Local businesses have teamed up with the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) to introduce surfskating as a trendy new way for visitors to experience the Andaman resort city.

Launching the series on Saturday evening was the event “Tai Nai Lad” or Surfing in the Market, where participants rode through Phuket’s old quarter accompanied by the thumping rhythms of a DJ. Many skaters took advantage of the quiet, traffic-free streets to ride three or four times around the circuit.

“Surfskate is trendy with the new generation,” Phuket’s TAT chief Nanthasiri Ronnasiri explained, adding that the series would continue throughout the year as the city welcomed back tourists.

The first group of foreign visitors this year landed in Phuket on Sunday and are completing 14-quarantine at Sri Panwa Hotel in a pilot scheme to reopen the city’s tourism business.

Phuket will host three more surfskating events this year – at Karon Beach on May 23, at Patong Beach on August 14, and at Surin Beach on November 13.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402919

50 per cent of Covid-19 vaccines reserved by rich countries, ministry research shows

NationalFeb 22. 2021Graph shows vaccine reservation compared to the population. Canada leads the group with orders 9.2 times its population size.

By The Nation

Over 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been injected so far, with the United States having the most — 55.2 million doses — followed by China with 40.5 million doses, according to an analysis by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) on the global vaccination situation and the economic status of countries.

Sirirurg Songsivilai, permanent secretary for higher education, science, research and innovation, said that considering its small population size Israel had made the most progress with 80 per cent of the population vaccinated.

MHESI researcher summarised six key points on the global vaccine situation:

1. Rich countries got more vaccines than poor countries. There are inequalities in access to vaccines. The number of vaccine reservations for each country differs between high-income countries and low-income countries. More than 50 per cent of the Covid-19 vaccine is reserved by high-income countries, which account for only 16 per cent of the global population.

2. Many high-income countries are reserving more vaccines than their population because they are unsure of which vaccines would be most effective or safe. For example, Canada has reserved 9.2 times the vaccine requirement for its population, UK 6.1 times, Australia 4.9 times, New Zealand 4.4 times, and the United States 4.3 times, etc.

Graph shows vaccine reservation figure according to national income. Dark red represents high-income countries, red – the European Union, orange – middle-to-high income countries, yellow – low-to-middle income countries, blue – low-income countries, green – African Union, and grey – unspecified.

3. Low and middle-income countries have access to vaccines though the Covax programme, which aims to provide and distribute vaccines equally among high-income, middle-income and low-income countries. It aims to deliver more than two billion doses of the vaccine by 2021, with at least 1,800 million doses to be delivered to more than 92 low and middle-income countries, within the first half of 2021. Some 145 countries will be vaccinated, covering approximately 3.3 per cent of the population.

4. Many countries are adopting diplomatic policies on vaccines. Countries with large vaccine-producing capacities, such as China, the United Kingdom and Russia, have adopted donation and aid mechanisms to vaccinate countries in diplomatic, international relations and humanitarian terms, such as China has announced guidelines that provide assistance. This has helped donate vaccines made in China to 53 developing countries, including export to 22 countries, and Beijing has announced that it would donate 10 million doses to the Covax project.

5. In the last week, studies on the Covid-19 vaccine shows the efficacy of the vaccine to stimulate the immune system as well as reduce the severity. The number of patients and deaths was clearly reduced. The used vaccines have had relatively few side effects. The vaccine can boost immunity quite well after the first shot. It should also be able to increase the time between the first and second injections. This reduces the burden of accelerating the second injection. This makes it possible to distribute the existing vaccines to cover a larger population instead of speeding up a second dose. However, there is some concern about the protective effect against mutated strains. The vaccine has been found to have decreased effectiveness against some species of Covid-19, especially from South Africa.

6. Countries whose vaccine stocks exceed the need will distribute the reserved vaccine to other countries after seeing effective use of the vaccine. Many countries feel relieved that they may be able to hand out excess stocks. This will change the international inoculation situation by bringing vaccines that are not urgently needed or overbooked to other countries.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402918

Thai economy faces 10% permanent loss if Covid recovery delayed: S&P Global Ratings

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

Southeast Asia now risks a delayed economic recovery that will steepen permanent economic losses, says a new report by S&P Global Ratings. Thailand and other major Asean markets are living with the effects of new Covid-19 waves that appear to have peaked only recently, according to the report, “Delay Risk on the Rise for Southeast Asia’s Recovery”.

“Our baseline estimates still assume emerging Southeast Asia will return to its pre-pandemic level of GDP around August of this year,” said S&P Global Ratings economist Vishrut Rana. “However, delay risks are rising, and a prolonged recovery would drag on the region’s growth rate and lead to higher permanent economic costs.”

As hospitals filled up with Covid-19 patients in recent months, governments again restricted mobility and households voluntarily stayed home more often. Since late 2020, mobility has stalled and then fallen across Southeast Asia. While this has not led to a return to the harsh lockdowns, it could drag on first-quarter economic performance, the ratings agency said.

The biggest threat to speedy economic recovery is individual consumer behaviour, as people stay home more and spend less, it added.

A two-month delay in the recovery could cut S&P Ratings’ 2021 growth forecasts by about 1 percentage point, to 5.2 per cent, said the agency. About two-thirds of this decline would likely come from weaker-than-expected activity in the first quarter, which would have carry-over effects into the second half. It would also mean higher growth rates in 2022, off a lower base.

The longer an economy is stuck with unemployed resources, the larger the damage to balance sheets and workers. More businesses would close, and more workers would lose jobs, skills, and motivation. Together, this would hold back the level of activity once the economy reaches its new normal. S&P Ratings calls the gap between its estimate of the achievable new normal and the pre-Covid trend “permanent damage”.

It currently estimates the permanent loss at about 7.4 per cent. This would rise to 8.1 per cent with a two-month delay in the recovery timeline. Thailand and the Philippines would likely see the largest permanent losses at about 10 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. For Thailand, the issue is structural and related to the tourism sector which is expected to be among the last industries to recover from the pandemic.

However, external demand may boost growth more than expected this year, especially if the US adds more stimulus soon, said the agency. China’s recovery may also rebalance faster than expected, lifting consumer spending and imports, including from the rest of Asia.

Southeast Asia’s emerging economies have secured enough vaccine doses for 40-50 per cent of their populations on average, and the ratings agency assumes inoculation will be in place by the second half of 2021.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30402917

Contract for Pink Line monorail to Muang Thong Thani inked on Tuesday

NationalFeb 22. 2021

By The Nation

Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) and Northern Bangkok Monorail Co Ltd (NBM) will sign the construction contract for the Bt4.23-billion MRTA Pink Line spur between Si Rat and Muang Thong Thani stations on Tuesday.

The 3-kilometre spur will take 37 months to build before operations launch in September 2024. The spur is expected to see 13,785 passengers per day. Its economic internal rate of return (EIRR) is 12.9 per cent, while its financial internal rate of return (FIRR) is 7.1 per cent.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob and MRTA Governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas will attend the signing ceremony for the Pink Line spur tomorrow.