Car models without face masks signals return to ‘normalcy’
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Models hired to promote vehicles displayed by global automakers at the 39th Thailand International Motor Expo 2022 are not wearing face masks this year, signalling a return to normalcy.
The annual expo continued during the pandemic, but models – and everyone else – were required to wear face masks. This year’s show is the first since the onset of the pandemic to showcase young models in tight dresses without face masks.
The expo of cars and motorcycles, including electric vehicles, has returned to its typical style.
The expo at Impact Arena’s Challenger Hall 1-3 began last Thursday and will run until December 12. It is open to the public from noon to 1pm on weekdays and from 11am to 10pm on weekends. Tickets cost 100 baht per person. Children below 120 centimetres in height can enter for free.
Bangkokians mostly happy with Chadchart in first 6 months: survey
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
A recent opinion survey has found that Bangkokians are generally happy with Chadchart Sittipunt’s handling of major issues and his performance as city governor.
The National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) conducted phone interviews with a sample of 1,500 residents in Bangkok’s 50 districts between November 25 and 30 to mark Chadchart’s first six months in office. The respondents came from all walks of life with different educational backgrounds and income levels. The results were released on Sunday.
The respondents were asked 17 questions about Chadchart’s performance and most responses were positive with the exception of the last two on economic woes, which won more “bad” and “rather bad” votes.
When asked to directly rate their level of satisfaction with Chadchart’s performance:
• 42.60% said they were pleased with the hard work the governor has done to improve the capital;
• 38.93% said they were pleased because Chadchart has had tangible achievements and has devoted himself to solving people’s problems;
• 10.54% are rather not pleased with Chadchart because he failed to tackle the root of problems and did not see any tangible improvements;
• 7.93% are very dissatisfied with Chadchart’s performance because he has failed to deliver his promised policies and failed to tackle old issues like floods and Bangkok’s long-standing traffic woes.
The 17 questions the respondents were asked are:
• Increase in green spaces
39.07%: Very good
36.40%: Rather good
13.33%: Rather bad
9.13%: Very bad
2.07%: No comment
• Tourism promotion of Bangkok
40.54%: Rather good
38.13%: Very good
11.33%: Rather bad
7.53%: Very bad
2.47%: No comment
• Support for sports activities
38.40%: Rather good
34.84%: Very good
14.60%: Rather bad
9%: Very bad
3.16%: No comment
• Control of garbage, dust and wastewater
39.73%: Rather good
33.13%: Very good
16.40%: Rather bad
9.87%: Very bad
0.87%: No comment
• Tackling floods
34.87%: Rather good
31.80%: Very good
18.93%: Rather bad
13.40%: Very bad
1%: No comment
• Improvement of BMA services
40.40%: Rather good
29.53%: Very good
16%: Rather bad
9.67%: Very bad
4.4%: No comment
• Keeping pavements in order
41.13%: Rather good
29.27%: Very good
16.07%: Rather bad
10.53%: Very bad
3%: No comment
• Improvement in the overall environment of streets and alleyways
41.33%: Rather good
29.20%: Very good
18.07%: Rather bad
10.27%: Very bad
1.13%: No comment
• Improvement of health services
42.67%: Rather good
25.33%: Very good
17.93%: Rather bad
10.54%: Very bad
3.53%: No comment
• Ensuring law and order at protest sites
37.80%: Rather good
24.53%: Very good
17.33% Very bad
16.54%: Rather bad
3.8%: No comment
• Maintaining security via street lights and CCTVs
Myanmar airline to launch Yangon-Chiang Mai flights from Dec 9
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) has announced it will start flying from Yangon to Chiang Mai every Friday and Sunday from December 9 onwards.
The airline is also offering special discounts for the New Year period on its Yangon-Bangkok flights, with one-way trips costing US$40 (1,390 baht) and round trips costing $74.
“The flight to Bangkok, which is popular among Myanmar nationals, is being offered at a special price as a New Year’s Eve present,” an airline official said.
The airline flies to Bangkok daily and round-trip tickets generally cost $135. Passengers are also eligible for a 15% discount on specific products at all King Power outlets. The promotion runs until December 31.
Kites rise and swoop in sea breeze at Trat province festival
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Trat province’s scenic Laem Ngop lighthouse became more animated yesterday with the launch of a nine-day kite festival that saw scores of kites from Thailand and abroad rise and swoop in the breeze from the sea.
The kites were emblazoned with colourful symbols and came in a multitude of sizes and shapes, including a long string of Thai flags, a football kite and another shaped like a wheel with spikes protruding from it.
The festival is being held by the Thailand Kitefliers Association in the coastal province’s Laem Ngop district until December 12.
Association chairman Panya Charoenlarp said the festival was designed for both domestic and foreign tourists and that kite flying was not the only draw.
The festival also includes a king mackerel fishing competition, a Thai ridgeback dog show, performances by artists, and a buffet of local cuisine and community-produced products.
Train travel suspended between Thailand and Malaysia after Saturday’s bomb blast
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Train travel on the railway linking Thailand and Malaysia has been suspended as officials investigate a bomb blast that derailed a cargo train early yesterday afternoon, officials from the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) said on Sunday.
The blast derailed 11 of the cargo train’s 20 cars and severely damaged rail tracks in Songkhla province’s Sadao district, police said. The blast occurred at 12.50pm yesterday and was caused by an improvised explosive device, they said.
No one was injured by the blast or derailment.
The SRT has already suspended three trains from using the route: two from Hat Yai to Padang Besar, Malaysia and one from Padang Besar to Bangkok, said SRT Region 4 operation centre director Royumi Maroze.
He said that the SRT would continue to investigate the scene of the blast and evaluate safety on the route.
Panumat Phromchot, a chief engineer at SRT’s rail maintenance division in Hat Yai, confirmed that a team of engineers would investigate the derailed cars and the badly damaged tracks today.
Songkhla Provincial Police chief Maj Gen Wara Vechapinan led officers, including bomb disposal experts, in an investigation of the scene on Saturday.
Police speculated that insurgents were behind the blast and that their goal was to deter tourism and damage economic growth, explaining that the governments of Thailand and Malaysia were planning to open the route on weekends for tourists to travel between Hat Yai and Kuala Lumpur.
A trial run on the route on September 16 was well received by tourists.
Over 25 tonnes of meat, formaldehyde-spiked offal seized from unlicensed factory in Chonburi
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Livestock officials seized 25 tonnes of pork, beef and offal from an unauthorised food-processing plant in Chonburi last week. The plant is believed to have supplied fresh meat and offal to more than 60 restaurants in the eastern province.
The officials from the Chonburi branch of the Livestock Development Department also found that the plant processed offal by preserving it in formaldehyde solution.
Somchuan Ratanamungklanon, the department’s director-general, said on Saturday that the plant in Sri Racha district was raided on Thursday in response to complaints from local residents that the factory may be operating without a licence.
Somchuan said the factory did not have the licences required for processing food, transporting or trading animal carcasses and meat.
Hence, he said, the plant’s owner will be charged with violating the Animal Disease Control Act, the Food Act and the Animal Slaughtering Act.
He said the plant used dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde, which is usually used to preserve corpses, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide to make the offal look fresh.
He said officials had also seized 50 containers, each of 25-litre capacity, filled with formaldehyde solution and 2,300 receipts showing the factory supplied meat and offal to 66 Thai-style shabu and Isaan food shops in the province.
Somchuan said samples from the factory will be sent for a lab test to check for disease and dangerous chemicals.
He added that the owner has 15 days to provide the required documents if he wants his stock back, otherwise the seized goods will be destroyed and the owner prosecuted.
Bangkok pollution: BMA to survey factories, building sites on Tuesday
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has announced that it will check sites emitting fine dust particles in a bid to bring down PM2.5 levels in the capital.
BMA said it will check dust levels in 146 factories, including 13 that manufacture cement, and 66 construction sites on Tuesday. City officials will also check vehicles that emit black smoke.
The survey will be conducted in the districts of Khlong San, Chom Thong, Din Daeng, Dusit, Taling Chan, Thung Khru, Thonburi, Bangkok Yai, Bang Kapi, Phasi Charoen, Ratchathewi, Huai Khwang, Sai Mai, Sathorn, Wang Thong Lang, Lat Krabang, Rat Burana and Bang Khen.
“PM2.5 puts people in the capital at risk of many diseases like pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer,” the BMA said.
On Sunday, PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter) readings were in the range of 12-31 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3). Thailand’s safe levels are 50μg/m3 or lower, while the World Health Organisation puts them at 25 μg/m3.
Central World rebuts reports that its alarm system failed during Saturday’s fire
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
The emergency alert system in Bangkok’s Central World was fully operating when a fire broke out in a dining and beverage section of the megamall late yesterday afternoon, the department store said.
The statement followed comments from shoppers who fled the mall saying they did not hear an alarm during the fire but were told to leave by staff instead. Subsequent online comments said the alarm system failed. “Who will be esponsible for loss in lives if the department store does not notify [shoppers] when there is a fire,” one tweet read.
Central World explained, however, that because the mall is so large, alarms are used separately in each zone to avoid mass panic and accidents that could be triggered if alarms went off simultaneously in every zone.
The fire broke out near an escalator on the first floor of the mall’s Groove zone, a public relations executive at the mall confirmed Sunday morning.
Central World said the fire was “brought under control in 10 minutes without injury or damage to the [nearby] shops.”
It said its preliminary investigation indicated that “easily flammable items” that quickly caught fire were to blame for the fire. A review of CCTV footage found that the sprinkler and fire alarm systems at the scene functioned properly, it said.
The megamall, one of the region’s largest, is open but the zone near the scene of the fire is partially closed, it said, adding that its investigation is continuing.
Thailand can expect THB300 billion in Saudi investment next year
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Saudi Arabian companies are expected to invest up to 300 billion baht in Thailand next year, especially in targeted industries in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Sunday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been informed of these projected figures.
Prayut led a delegation to Saudi Arabia earlier this year to rebuild bilateral relations after they were downgraded over the Blue Diamond Affair in 1989.
On November 18, Prayut also held talks with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on the sidelines of the Apec Summit in Bangkok and signed pacts to expand diplomatic ties.
The spokesman said after the Saudi delegation visited the EEC during the Apec Summit last month, they showed interest in investing in digital innovations, medical tourism, precision medical equipment, food processing, clean energy and electric vehicles.
Anucha added that the EEC Office has expressed confidence that Thailand will become an EV manufacturing hub in Asean after many automakers decided to set up their manufacturing bases here.
“The prime minister is pleased that all relevant sectors have cooperated to help make Thailand’s manufacturing sector outstanding in the eyes of foreign investors,” he added.
China still Thailand’s largest market, but trade value slumping
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Though China remained Thailand’s biggest bilateral trade partner in the first 10 months of this year, the Kingdom suffered a 1.07 trillion baht deficit during the period.
The Commerce Ministry’s Permanent Secretariat said bilateral trade between the two countries during the first 10 months came in at 3.06 trillion baht, up by 14.07% compared to the same period last year.
According to the centre, Thailand’s exports to China during the period were valued at 996 billion baht, up 2.82%, while imports rose by 20.40% to 2.07 trillion baht.
The top five products exported to China in terms of baht value were:
• Fresh, frozen and dried foods: 146 billion (+2.20%)
• Rubber products: 95.4 billion (+31.38%)
• Plastic pellets: 91 billion (+5.05%)
• Tapioca: 81.9 billion (+18.66%)
• Computers and parts, +5.31%.
The top five imports from China in baht value were:
• Electronics and parts: 266 billion (+25.50%)
• Chemical products: 119 billion (+35.95%)
• Machines and parts: 185 billion (+11.48%)
• Household appliances: 178 billion (+6.08%)
• Computers and parts: 126 billion (-2.62%)
However, Assoc Prof Dr Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Centre for International Trade Studies of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said trade between the two countries is expected to contract compared to last year.
He said the contraction was inevitable as China keeps locking down its cities again and again in line with its zero-Covid policy, which is affecting its factories and import of raw materials.
Separately, the United States came in second in the list of Thailand’s top trading partners, with a trade value of 1.9 trillion baht, up 32.18% compared to the same period last year.
Thailand’s exports to the US were valued at 1.36 trillion baht, up 28.18%, while imports stood at 531 billion baht, up 43.71%. With this trade connection, Thailand achieved a surplus of 838 billion baht.
Anucha added that the EEC Office has expressed confidence that Thailand will become an EV manufacturing hub in Asean after many automakers decided to set up their manufacturing bases here.
However, Assoc Prof Dr Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Centre for International Trade Studies of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said trade between the two countries is expected to contract compared to last year.
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