The recent survey by the DCD showed mosquito larvae had been found at 85.71 per cent of religious sites.
“These larvae are mostly found in largely overlooked stuff that can contain water such as tree pots or unused tyres,” DCD director-general Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk said yesterday.
He said 63.64 per cent of schools had hosted mosquito breeding grounds. Larvae had also been found in a quarter of hotels and about 18 per cent of factories.
DCD deputy director-general Dr Panumard Yarnwaidsakul said Zika had already become an endemic disease in Thailand with new cases being reported on a daily basis. He said the department is currently monitoring one case of microcephaly.
Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon said that in order to fight against such communicable diseases, it was necessary to crack down on mosquito breeding grounds.
“If we can launch a complete crackdown, we can prevent the spread of not just Zika virus but other [mosquito-borne] diseases such as dengue fever and Chikungunya fever,” he said.
Sopon said 33 new Zika virus patients were reported during the past week in 12 provinces.
He said about 80 per cent of Zika-infected people do not know that they have caught the disease because in healthy adults the virus hardly causes any symptoms.
Thailand has reported more than 680 cases of Zika since January.

Muang Pattaya Marine Office director Ekkarat Khantharo said on Saturday the swimming pool had been the subject of public complaints for a while and their officials inspected it two weeks ago.

The probe found that the pool, in the Golden Cliff House Hotel compound, had a concrete structure and 770-square-metres of pool area that extruded into the sea, he said.

Officials learned that the pool was built in 1995 and the hotel had obtained permission to build it from Pattaya City and had paid tax on it from then until now, he added.

However, he said that according to Article 117 of the 1913 Navigation in Thai Waters Act, it was prohibited to build a building or structure into, above or under the surface of a river, canal, lake, or the sea and its beachfront – unless permission to do so was obtained from the Marine Department.

Accordingly, Ekkarat said the hotel was notified that it had infringed on the Act and a complaint had been filed with Muang Pattaya Police Station on Wednesday. So, police were now investigating the matter.

He said the case could be headed for court as the hotel operator claimed the long-standing structure was there when it took over the property from the previous owner.

“An investigating committee of the Army’s Calvary Centre is looking into this case. Further action is pending completion of the investigation. However, a harsh, physical penalty against the trainee is not in line with the Army’s guidelines,” Winthai said.
His remark came after a 1.26-minute video clip, which featured the trainee being hit with a wooden stick and shoved away by two trainers, went viral after being released on Thursday – stirring controversy and mixed opinions from netizens.
The spokesman said that according to Army guidelines, punishment varies according to the severity of disciplinary offences and ranges from probation to other penalties such as confinement, detention, or imprisonment. No penalty was imposed that involved “touching bodies of offenders” like in the clip, he explained.
The programme, Winthai said, was for Army Rangers, a programme for a special operations unit, featuring a joint SEAL, underwater demolition, and frogmen courses.
“The training is widely known for its intensity and brutality in order to intensively prepare the trainees for special military missions,” he said.
Trainees eligible for the course have to be full-time military or police who voluntarily apply for the “brutal” training and pass physical and mental tests.
He said each class in the training lasted around 2-3 months and has seen many trainees drop out before they complete it due to the tough conditions. However, he believed, only a few torture cases had occurred, thanks to the limited numbers of trainees.
Major Veeratyut Vurtsiip, commander of the Cavalry Centre, which organises the training course, said the injured trainee, Lance Corporal Pratchya Wattanasundhi, sneaked out during a training on long-distance talk to buy cigarettes and then smoked in the presence of trainers, according to a news report.
The major said Pratchya had violated discipline several other times. He said the centre’s investigation committee had questioned the involved parties, and the trainee was not angry with his trainers because he accepted his offence and he had recently been ruled ineligible for the training as his marks for discipline had been cut to zero after three different offences.
Pratchya’s father, Second Lieutenant Surachet, the 58-year-old retired military officer, said he was shocked by the video. He said the horrendous disciplining of his son took place on Monday and his son’s training was terminated that evening. The scene occurred at the Cavalry’s training centre in Saraburi province, it said.
“If my son violates the disciplines, please proportionately punish him following the guidelines. Don’t do this for all the training courses. I don’t want to take legal action against the trainers, but I have to say that my son is treated unfairly by arbitrary actions from the trainers who have no right to do such a thing,” the father said.
Curiously, the clip drew a mixed response from viewers on social media. Some backed the punishment, given that training for the special force is voluntary and requires harsh and tough discipline to ensure the trainees’ mental and physical strength.

In Narathiwat’s Muang district, Chalermchai – accompanied by Army deputy chief of staff Lt-General Nattapon Nakpanich and the Navy’s Marine Division chief Rear Admiral Sangkorn Pongsiri – attended a meeting with Narathiwat Task Force commander Maj-General Vicharn Suksong and 100 related unit chiefs from 13 districts.
He was told that newly deployed officers to the region had adjusted to the environment and had managed to get the local people to participate in the problem-solving to a certain degree while officers in some areas were still doing community relations work to try and gain residents’ trust.
Chalermchai urged officers to apply mass psychology before military force and said they could request more manpower and weapons if needed.
He emphasised the importance of military participation in propelling the government’s project to develop Nong Chik in Pattani, Betong in Yala and Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat into model cities. He also spoke of the need to boost public and investor confidence so the project could proceed to the second phase.
Chalermchai expressed sorrow for the Pattani car-bomb attack last week that wounded five and damaged property. He said he told officers to take care of the wounded and improve intelligence work.
Meanwhile, security officers inspected suspicious vehicles parked in Betong’s economic zone to prevent a car-bomb attack.

Such images and clips could be submitted to the department’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/prdofficial) so that the agency could select, edit and broadcast them via the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand, said acting department chief and Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd yesterday.

The Cabinet-approved activities are divided into three types: performing good deeds by conducting public services; organising ceremonies in which people will pledge to do good for the nation, the religion, and the monarchy in front of a portrait of the late King, as well as join in the mass singing of the Royal Anthem and other songs as appropriate; and, show intent to perform good deeds in people’s hearts and minds through meditation and spreading loving kindness.

Government House will organise this ceremony with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha leading officials and private sector representatives in reciting the pledge of allegiance, while such a pledge of allegiance will also be held at district offices, educational institutions, and other designated areas.

Sanit said Metropolitan Police Area 3 acting chief Colonel Somneuk Noikhong ordered the transfer of Lat Krabang superintendent Colonel Sarawuth Siri along with four Lt-Colonels – Phuwanai Senawuthi, Sayan Phetchyeunyong, Suchat Mongkonpipat and Thatpong Jitbanjong – to the Metropolitan Police Area 3 operation centre.
Sanit said Somneuk’s deputy would served as Lat Krabang Police Station’s caretaker superintendent while a fact-finding committee investigated whether the officers had neglected their duties by not closing down the gambling den.
The arrested punters were brought to Min Buri Court yesterday.
A judge sentenced Cambodian man Koi Son, who admitted to running the den, to two months in prison and fined the 72 Thai punters Bt1,000 each and the foreign punters Bt5,000 each.

In Narathiwat’s Muang district, Chalermchai – accompanied by Army deputy chief of staff Lt-General Nattapon Nakpanich and the Navy’s Marine Division chief Rear Admiral Sangkorn Pongsiri – attended a meeting with Narathiwat Task Force commander Maj-General Vicharn Suksong and 100 related unit chiefs from 13 districts.

He was told that newly deployed officers to the region had adjusted to the environment and had managed to get the local people to participate in the problem-solving to a certain degree while officers in some areas were still doing community relations work to try and gain residents’ trust.

Chalermchai urged officers to apply mass psychology before military force and said they could request more manpower and weapons if needed.

He emphasised the importance of military participation in propelling the government’s project to develop Nong Chik in Pattani, Betong in Yala and Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat into model cities. He also spoke of the need to boost public and investor confidence so the project could proceed to the second phase.

Chalermchai expressed sorrow for the Pattani car-bomb attack last week that wounded five and damaged property. He said he told officers to take care of the wounded and improve intelligence work.

Meanwhile, security officers inspected suspicious vehicles parked in Betong’s economic zone to prevent a car-bomb attack.