Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned each ministry to prepare various plans as New Year “gifts” for the people, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Wednesday, citing the results of a cabinet meeting.
Each ministry has to submit their plan by December 21 for it to take effect during the New Year, Thanakorn added.
Precisely 95,879,742 doses of vaccination have been administered – 49,398,383 first doses, 42,655,042 second doses and 3,826,317 third doses – the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported on Wednesday.
The provinces with the lowest vaccination rate for first doses are Nong Bua Lamphu (35.9 per cent of the population), Surin (42.5), Bueng Kan (36), Nakhon Phanom (37), Sakon Nakhon (38.7), Kalasin (39.3), Roi Et (41), Samut Songkhram (46.4), Phitsanulok (44.3) and Sisaket (42).
Meanwhile, a Department of Disease Control survey found that 80.9 per cent of people in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Chonburi and Songkhla have received two doses while 20.6 per cent have already got a booster shot and 8.5 per cent have not been vaccinated.
The top five fears cited as reasons for not getting vaccinated are: 75.38 per cent fear weakness which could affected work, 74.6 per cent fear paralysis, 72.3 per cent fear side effects such as fever, vomiting, headache, body pain, 64.62 per cent are unsure of the efficacy of the vaccine, and 53.08 per cent think they are at no risk of infection.
The food delivery market value for the year is expected to grow 46.4 per cent from 2020 thanks to the work-from-home culture and the government’s co-payment Khon La Khrueng scheme, Kasikorn Research Centre said on Wednesday.
The centre, in cooperation with LineMan Wongnai Co and market data, expects food deliveries via applications to increase in 2022, driven by customer demand amid a hybrid work pattern (partly working at home and also at the office).
Food delivery companies also continue to organise promotions to stimulate the market while expanding services to more provincial areas to meet rising consumer demand.
With operators expanding their marketing areas and continuously offering promotions, this is likely to drive up the Consumer Order Number Index in 2022 to 477, an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2021.
Each order in 2022 is expected to average around THB193, up from THB190 baht, mainly due to an increase in restaurant expenses, the cost of food raw materials, labour costs and the price of managing risk in this Covid-19 situation.
Kasikorn Research Centre estimates that the food delivery market value in 2022 will be worth about THB79 billion, with a growth of 4.5 per cent.
And in the event of a severe outbreak from the new Omicron variant, the food
The Supreme Court sentenced Italian-Thai Development CEO Premchai Kanasutra to “two years and 14 months” in prison without parole for poaching and hunting in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in February 2018, in line with the Appeal Courts verdict.
The latest sentence was announced due to the prosecutor’s misunderstanding earlier in the day that the Appeal Court had revoked the charge for allegedly concealing a wildlife carcass, which could have resulted in an eight-month reduction in the sentence handed down to Premchai and his two accomplices.
“The Appeal Court had revoked the abovementioned charge in line with Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act BE 2562 (2019), but it handed down the highest sentence for possessing wildlife carcass to Premchai and his two accomplices instead,” the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court said.
The two accomplices, Yong Dodkrua and Thanee Thummat, were given “two years and 17 months” in jail and “two years and 21 months” in jail, both without parole, respectively.
The court also ordered Premchai to pay a compensation of THB2 million.
A well-known “pleasure” massage parlour in Pinklao was bought up within 24 hours after being put up for sale for THB470 million on Tuesday.
The announcement that the complex was for sale went viral on social media immediately after it was posted in a business acquisition group on Facebook.
The post stated the THB470-million establishment is on a three-rai plot on Arun Amarin Road in Bangkok Noi district and consists of three fully equipped five-storey buildings.
The post added that the business generates a monthly net profit of up to THB6 million, while the licences for the massage parlour and café have been “legally obtained”.
The owner told reporters on Wednesday that the establishment was sold only one day after the announcement was posted. The sale will be completed shortly after specific details are worked out.
He said he decided to sell the money-spinning business as there was no family heir to take over from him.
Three Myanmar migrants were killed on the spot and 15 injured when their pickup truck overturned while trying to escape highway police on Asia Road at the Sing Buri-Ayutthaya border on Wednesday.
Highway Police Senior Sgt-Major Chaiwichit Saensub said he signalled the suspected vehicle to stop at a Sing Buri border checkpoint but the driver drove past him at high speed.
Chaiwichit soon followed the grey Toyota Vigo pickup into Ayutthaya, where it overturned near Khlong Ban Na Village in Maharat district. Several passengers were thrown overboard in the crash.
Three male passengers were killed by the impact, while 15 others were injured, 11 of whom were taken to Maharat Hospital and four to Ang Thong Hospital.
All the passengers are Myanmar nationals.
The truck was severely damaged but there was no sign of the driver. Police speculated he might have escaped after the accident.
One of the injured migrants reportedly said the truck belonged to a gang that had been smuggling migrant workers from Myanmar into Thailand.
Police are collecting evidence to track down the driver and the gang behind the operation.
Three Patthalung elephants were roped in to help officials and locals clear the waterway at Pak Rang Waterfall after flash floods caused huge rocks to block the important stream.
It took officials, monks and locals four days with help from the elephants to dig, drag and lift rocks blocking the Pak Rang canal, which is a water source for nearby villages and agriculture.
Besides causing the rock blockage, the flash floods on December 1 wreaked havoc in nine districts across the province.
A local team that included the three elephants named “Chok”, “Tokyo” and “Tukta” spent four consecutive days clearing the waterway. The mission ended successfully on Tuesday, while the flood situation in the area has begun to ease after rains stopped three days ago.
The provincial Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said heavy rain on December 1 caused damage to 9,411 households and 22,299 rai of agricultural land. Meanwhile, four districts have been announced as disaster zones – Mueang, Khuan Khanun, Kong Ra and Srinakarin.
Thailand has found two more Omicron Covid-19 cases, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration confirmed on Wednesday, taking total Omicron cases to three as of now.
The two new cases are Thai female translators who arrived in the kingdom after attending meetings in Nigeria on November 28. They have been receiving medical treatment while in quarantine for a week.
Thailand’s first Omicron case is a 35-year-old American businessman, who was found on December 3 to be infected. He had travelled from Spain on November 30 after living there for a year.
The Crime Suppression Division arrested Arnas Oo-ma, 29, on Tuesday in Narathiwat’s Su-ngai Kolok district for allegedly transferring wages or paying a human trafficking gang involved in smuggling Myanmar workers into Thailand.
On September 6, Ban Map Ammarit Police in Chumphon arrested a group of human trafficking suspects who were smuggling Myanmar workers into the country. After an investigation, police found that the traffickers were an international crime organisation, so officers gathered evidence and arrested a number of the traffickers for alleged money laundering or financial assistance.
The investigation also found that Arnas was allegedly one of the members of the human trafficking ring. He allegedly transferred wages or payments to members who were smuggling the workers.
The police tracked him down to his hideout in Narathiwat and promptly nabbed him.
Arnas insisted that he had nothing to do with the human trafficking ring but admitted that he transferred money to the group of suspects.
He said he was hired by a Thai agent who lived in Malaysia for THB1,200 to transfer THB40,000 to the group of suspects. He claimed he did not know that the money was related to human trafficking.
The Supreme Court sentenced Italian-Thai Development CEO Premchai Kanasutra to two years and six months in prison without parole for poaching and hunting in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in February 2018, the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court reported on Wednesday.
The court also ordered Premchai to pay a compensation of THB2 million.
Premchai’s penalty has been reduced slightly from the previous verdict of two years and 14 months imprisonment.
Two of Premchai’s accomplices, Yong Dodkrua and Thanee Thummat, were given two years and nine months in jail and two years and 13 months in jail, both without parole, respectively.
Many were closely watching the verdict as it would affect equality in Thai society.
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