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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403579

Cambodia confirms first Covid death

Mar 11. 2021The Ministry of Health announced on March 11 that a 50-year-old Covid-19 patient whose case was linked to the February 20 community transmission had died. Press Release

By Phnom Penh Post

The Ministry of Health announced on March 11 that a 50-year-old Covid-19 patient whose case was linked to the February 20 community transmission had died.

In a press release, the ministry said this was the first Covid-19-related death ever confirmed in the country.

“On March 11, at 10:40am, a 50-year-old Cambodian man died from Covid-19 at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital,” it said.

The deceased patient resided in Chak Angre commune of Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. He was a driver for a Chinese business owner in Preah Sihanouk province whose case was also linked to the community outbreak.

Health ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine was not immediately available for comment.

The death came just a day after Prime Minister Hun Sen instructed Phnom Penh municipal and provincial governors to prepare places for the cremation or burial according to the deceased’s traditions.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403573

Thailand initiated “solution” to Myanmar Crisis

Mar 11. 2021File Photo

By Asia News Network

BANGKOK – Thailand has proposed the importance of dialogues and trust to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said.

“There must still be attempts from the international community especially its neighbours to find a solution. Our solution is to find a way to establish working relations (between the two sides),” Don said in an interview with Asia News Network in Bangkok.

“It’s best for them to walk forward together, as it had proven throughout recent years that by sticking together, trying to depend on one another, or even with sporadic conflicts at times, it is the optimum option for their country,” the Thai foreign minister, said.

These point were conveyed to Myanmar Foreign Ministry’s representative U Wanna Maung Lwin by Don during a tete-a-tete discussion before they were joined by Indonesian Foreign MinisterRetno Marsudi at Bangkok Don Muang Airport on Feb 24.

Asked whether there has been progress, Don said the Tatmadaw, which the Myanmar armed forces are called, would have to assess the situation. “Everyone wants it to end quickly. But they should remember that it has only been a month and many incidents and issues in the past – none ended quickly.”

Thailand has been subject to widespread criticisms especially in social media of its relative silence on the Myanmar crisis. Its and Asean’s intervention is unprecedented in the history of the regional bloc which has since its inception adhere to the principle of “non-intervention” in the domestic affairs of member states.

The Thai proposed solution to the Myanmar crisis which sprang from the military coup on Feb 1 differs from those made by the international community and Asean and has been conveyed to other Asean members and the superpowers including the US and Japan, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry source.

“Ours is not the only option which Myanmar has…we know they have others (channel). But the progress depends what happen on the streets with the protests,” said the source.

Protests through the Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) including strikes by workers and civil servants is now in the 38th day with more than 60 people have been killed due to violent and arbitrary crackdowns and more than 2,000 arrests, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The source said the escalation of violence the streets, or more sanctions will only prolong the path towards the effort to establish dialogue among all the conflicting parties. The Thai side believes that the solution will have to be based on the appreciation and respect for the long history of Myanmar and its political realities.

Although many NLD senior members including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi are under arrest, the Thai side believed that the Tatmadaw can establish communication with other members to inch themselves towards a workable resolution to return to normalcy at earliest opportunity.

The Thai Foreign Ministry source said issue on the official recognition of the Tatmadaw-appointed government or others are in the peripheral with the effort to have both sides establishing a dialogue a priority.

Don said it was paramount that “trust” between all parties concerned. “We have to understand them, and to convey that Myanmar can return to normalcy. “We don’t want to see bloodshed on the streets. It has to be a win-win situation”

Thailand has also made known to the Tatmadaw that there should be restraint on violence, de-escalate and not escalate, and find way to negotiate a settlement, he said.

But Thailand conceded that the escalation of violence is worrisome as it will lead to strong reactions from the international community especially western nations resulting in more sanctions and more step-up reactions which may result in the spiraling and unending crisis. And this will lead to more external interventions whether it be moral, financing to support the protests but could also lead to arms and weapons or other unknowns, said a Thai source.

Such could lead to more violent protests and even rising armed ethnic activities which would eventually affect Thailand as a neighbour and Asean as whole. “So our view is that all the conflicting parties must establish a dialogue because we don’t think any one party would gain from chaos nor the threat of instability where it might lead to, and to what unpredictable level ,” he said.

“And In this tech era, threats endangering a state could come from anywhere. It must not happen. This is one of the reasons why we hasten to find a way for all sides to talk,” said the source.

The source said Thailand is not acting alone in its endeavour to bring an end to the Myanmar crisis but to “bring our friends, Asean, on board to help to speak and act as a base for Asean to begin a channel of communication and other countries to join in.

China is known to be trying to find a solution to the crisis as Myanmar is also it’s neighbour. An effort which Bangkok welcomes.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403568

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia agree to boost border gate cooperation

Mar 11. 2021Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hold talks with his Lao and Cambodian counterparts Thongloun Sisoulith and Samdech Techo Hun Sen, respectively, via videoconference on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

By Viet Nam News/ANN

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his Lao and Cambodian counterparts Thongloun Sisoulith and Samdech Techo Hun Sen agreed to create favourable conditions for customs clearance via border gates during talks held via a videoconference on Wednesday.

These were the first online discussions held between the three PMs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They agreed to continue maintaining and promoting the efficiency of cooperation mechanisms, speed up cooperation and exchanges between 13 border localities and boost the construction of border markets and distribution centres between the three countries.

They agreed to continue effectively implementing agreements on border management, enhance cooperation in ensuring border security and in transnational crime prevention and control; speed up the implementation of the plan to connect the three economies by 2030, focusing on cooperation and tapping resources from development partners to develop Hà Nội-Vientiane expressway, Vientiane-Vũng Áng railway and HCM City-Phnom Penh railway.

The three PMs said they highly appreciated the talks which were initiated by Cambodian PM Hun Sen, saying that the event would help to enhance the traditional friendship between Việt Nam, Cambodia and Laos.

They stressed the special friendship between the three countries was a motivation to stand together in the fights for independence in the past and the current national construction and development cause.

They appreciated the achievements of cooperation in politics, security, national defence, border management, economy, trade, investment and education and training.

They also agreed to continue boosting cooperation and mutual support in COVID-19 prevention and control, creating conditions for customs clearance for people and goods via border gates as well as investment cooperation activities.

They agreed to coordinate to promote gaining access to vaccine sources for developing countries and effectively implement initiatives adopted within the framework of the ASEAN 2020, including the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies and ASEAN travel corridor.

They appreciated effective cooperation at sub-regional, regional and international forums in the past and confirmed their commitment to working with other member countries to speed up the construction of the ASEAN Community, boost sub-regional cooperation in ASEAN as well as connect Mekong cooperation with cooperation strategies and plans of ASEAN.

They discussed regional and international issues of common concern and shared their wish for Myanmar to soon stabilise and deal with disputes via peaceful dialogues for Myanmar’s interests and for peace and stability in the region; and agreed to continue supporting the role and efforts of ASEAN.

They stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea; agreed to coordinate to build a practical and effective Code of Conduct in line with international laws.

The three PMs also agreed to continue enhancing cooperation in managing and sustainably using water sources of the Mekong river and coordinate to handle issues relating to the development of hydropower on the mainstream and promote research cooperation to develop clean and renewable energies.

PM Phúc congratulated achievements the people and governments of Laos and Cambodia have made in the fight against COVID-19 and in socio-economic development.

He said Việt Nam supported Cambodia to successfully host the Seventh Greater Mekong Sub-region summit scheduled for this month as well as fulfil its role as Chairman of the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit slated for the end of 2021 and supported Laos to successfully hold the position as Chairman of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit in 2021-22.

Lao and Cambodian PMs appreciated the socio-economic development of Việt Nam as well as its success in controlling COVID-19.

They congratulated Việt Nam for successfully fulfilling its role as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and continuing successfully holding the position as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council during the 2020-21 term. — VNS

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403567

China strengthens penalties for false-litigation crimes

Mar 11. 2021

By China Daily/ANN

BEIJING — China’s law-enforcement and related authorities have vowed crack down on false-litigation, with a view to upholding judicial justice and authority while promoting social ethics.

The nation’s top court, the top procuratorate, and the ministries of public security and justice released a set of guidelines Wednesday on further strengthening punishments in criminal cases of false litigation.

The crime of false litigation refers to concocting civil disputes based on fake evidence and fabricated facts and initiating civil litigation in the people’s courts, leading to disruption of the justicial order or serious infringement of others’ legitimate rights and interests.

The guidelines provide a list of civil cases prone to false litigation crimes, including disputes over private lending, property and contracts, and require people’s courts and procuratorates to pay special attention to such cases.

The document also clarifies the punishments that judicial personnel and lawyers should face for taking part in false litigation.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403566

Tokyo Games to be held without fans from abroad

Mar 11. 2021The Olympic rings are seen in Odaiba, Tokyo, in August 2020. (Yomiuri Shimbun file photo)

By The Japan News/ANN

The organizing committee for the Tokyo Games and the central and metropolitan governments have agreed that fans from abroad will not be allowed to enter Japan for the Olympics and Paralympics due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The organizing committee and the central and metropolitan governments will hold a meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and make a formal announcement by the start of the torch relay on March 25.

“It’s very difficult to predict what the situation will be like in the future, so a cautious decision is needed,” Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa said to IOC President Thomas Bach and IPC President Andrew Parsons at a meeting on March 3. According to Games officials, the IOC and IPC indicated they would respect Japan’s decision.

About 900,000 tickets have already been sold overseas. Without fans from abroad, the organizing committee expects ticket revenue to decrease by about ¥90 billion. It will also make it difficult for people from around the world to deepen their interactions with each other. The refund procedure is also expected to involve large costs.

However, coronavirus variants are spreading around the world. If a large number of foreigners enter the country, there is a risk of variants becoming prevalent in Japan.

The government has decided not to host fans from abroad to dispel the public’s concerns, even though the number of coronavirus cases in Japan has decreased compared to January, when a state of emergency was issued.

The organizing committee will make a decision by the end of April on whether to set a limit on the number of domestic spectators at competition venues, using professional baseball and other sports as a reference.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403565

Cambodia stands ready to assist Myanmar

Mar 11. 2021Geopolitical analyst ean-Francois Tain. (FACEBOOK)

By Niem Chheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia regrets the escalation of violence in Myanmar and is closely monitoring the situation while standing ready to join other ASEAN member states in helping the country return to normalcy.

The Kingdom’s stance was reaffirmed in a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on March 9.

“As a friend and a member of the ASEAN Community, Cambodia . . . is saddened by the ongoing escalation of violence that has caused loss of lives.

“While respecting the core principle of non-interference into internal affairs of member states, Cambodia . . . supports a peaceful solution to the current crisis in Myanmar.

“Cambodia . . . is ready to join other ASEAN member states to assist Myanmar on her path to normalcy in any role and in any format that are in line with ASEAN principles and that are agreeable to all,” said the statement.

The ministry’s press release followed two separate statements issued by the ASEAN Chair on February 1 and March 2.

The February 1 statement encouraged the pursuance of dialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar. The second statement called on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence and for all sides to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility.

At least 54 people have been killed and over 1,700 others, including children, have been detained by the Myanmar government after protests erupted in response to Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest by the military on February 1, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical analyst, said ASEAN’s core principle was non-interference in the internal affairs of its members including non-interference between the ASEAN member states.

But he said Myanmar’s internal conflict is now so critical that it could lead to wider instability in Southeast Asia. If an actual civil war erupted in Myanmar it could spread, leading to declarations of secession by ethnic groups seeking to form their own states. This could eventually turn Myanmar into a shattered country like the former Yugoslavia.

“Therefore, whether Myanmar wants it or not, their [internal strife] becomes a concern of ASEAN as a whole. The purpose here is to prevent civil war in Myanmar. That is why ASEAN should try to intervene as quietly as possible in order to persuade the military to stop their crackdown and agree to negotiate with Aung San Suu Kyi to find a win-win solution in the national interests.

“Overall the goal must be to avoid having Myanmar fall into a prolonged internal conflict or the trap of a long-term deadlock,” he said.

Kin Phea, director of the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s International Relations Institute, said Cambodia has always adhered to the ASEAN principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN members and also adhered to the principle of consensus.

He said small countries like Cambodia – with its own troubled history of interventions by foreign powers – also want to uphold the principle of non-interference in their own internal affairs by other countries.

“Therefore, Cambodia is obligated to refrain from interference in the internal affairs of other countries to avoid that risk for itself in the future. We know that democracy and human rights are often cynically utilised as a pretext to justify interference in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.

However, Phea stressed that the non-interference principle observed by ASEAN member states does not translate into support for violence. Rather, it calls for a peaceful solution and avoidance of any escalations of the conflict that can lead to declarations of secession in Myanmar.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403564

[Singapore] Personal travel will return from 2nd half of 2021: Iata chief

Mar 11. 2021Iata director Alexandre de Juniac said that the crisis brought an important lesson – that the aviation industry needs to strengthen its financial management. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

By Ven Sreenivasan
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Personal and leisure travel will return from the second half of this year as borders reopen to tourists hungry to be free again and to reunite with families and friends, the director of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said in an interview with The Straits Times.

Mr Alexandre de Juniac said the recovery in business travel will be slower, and the actual volume of travel by the year end will still be low compared with the pre-Covid-19 period in 2019.

“We will likely start seeing a change in the air travel landscape after May or June this year,” he added. “We at Iata are already working with states to design and plan protocols and road maps for the reopening of borders.”

Key among these protocols is Iata’s Travel Pass, a mobile health verification app which electronically captures a traveller’s vaccination history and Covid-19 test results for cross-border safety checks.

Singapore Airlines has been the first to officially announce that it will begin testing the Iata Travel Pass on flights from Singapore to London.

Beginning Monday, passengers on that route using Apple iOS-enabled phones will be able to download the Travel Pass app and create a digital identification with their photo and passport information.

They can submit flight information and book a Covid-19 test at one of seven participating clinics in Singapore, after which the test results can be viewed directly on the app. Check-in staff at Changi Airport can then verify their status via the app, which will speed up the check-in process, according to the carrier.

But due to current regulations, travellers will still need to carry a physical copy of their health certificate issued by the testing clinic.

China has just announced the roll-out of its vaccine passport, while Germany and the United States are poised to introduce their own soon.

Mr de Juniac, who retires from his five-year tenure next month and hands the reins to Mr Willie Walsh of IAG (which owns British Airways), said Iata is targeting to work with 33 states and territories around the world on border reopening and international flights.

There is a huge pent-up demand for air travel, he added. “You never appreciate what you had until you lose it. People are hungry to be free again, to travel again.”

He sees leisure and personal travel coming back more quickly than business travel.

“Personal travel will definitely bounce back, but business travel will take another 12 to 18 months to recover,” he said, alluding to the fact that many companies have adopted digitalisation technologies over the past year to connect and continue business.

But even with gradual border openings, Mr de Juniac said air passenger traffic volume by the end of this year will remain relatively weak compared with pre-Covid-19 2019, though better than in mid-2020.

“Governments in many countries are cautious and remain in emergency mode amid the emergence of new Covid variants,” he added. “They have to manage their domestic circumstances first.”

But Iata, whose 290 global carrier members represent 82 per cent of global traffic, and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will accelerate protocols for safe air travel. “We are working with our partners on vaccination, testing and safe air travel measures,” Mr de Juniac said.

Meanwhile, ICAO, which last year rolled out various guidelines such as masks, health declarations and empty middle seats in planes, is expected to announce its latest protocols for health and safety guidelines within the next few weeks.

What will the new normal look like in aviation?

“In the short and medium terms, there will be fewer actors (airlines) and smaller planes. Airlines which survived the crisis will be more competitive, having dramatically cut costs and scaled down.

“We will still have full-service and low-cost segments, but full-service carriers will not see business and long haul coming back for a while.”

But Mr de Juniac does not see much consolidation in the industry, either. “Given the acute cash shortage in the industry, airlines will not be able to simply go out and buy competitors. More so when states have doled out taxpayers’ money into bailouts of airlines. They are unlikely to simply sell off.”

He added that the crisis brought an important lesson – that the industry needs to strengthen its financial management.

Although airlines which were the strongest before the crisis have survived, much of the industry is struggling along on thin margins and “unbalanced” balance sheets, he said.

“Ironically, having dealt with previous health scares like Sars and Ebola, airlines were best prepared for this crisis. We had the tools.

“But the unprecedented global nature of the crisis showed that we were not prepared enough. We need more cooperation and collaboration amongst various partners, including governments and regulators,” said Mr de Juniac.

Geographically, Asia-Pacific will emerge as the most robust region for global air traffic, he predicted.

“We already saw this upswing prior to Covid, and the Chinese market was already No. 1, and ahead of the US. This trend will simply accelerate.”

But the growth could be uneven, he said. “The key will be how individual states and territories open up their borders as the vaccine roll-out and test regime accelerate.”

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403525

China set to dominate the global 5G landscape: report

Mar 10. 2021Photo taken on Nov 26, 2020 shows a 5G-themed exhibition held during the World 5G Convention in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

By Zhao Shiyue
China Daily/ANN

China took the lead in terms of the 5G market in 2020, with 200 million new 5G connections, accounting for 87 percent of the global total, and the number is expected to hit 822 million by 2025, according to a report released by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association on Feb 22.

Rapid growth of 5G application in China is backed by the country’s continuous network construction and expanding end device ecosystem.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese operators have deployed about 600,000 5G base stations in 2020, and the cumulative total has reached 718,000, ranking first in the world, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The report estimated telecom operators’ capital expenditures will reach $210 billion between 2020 and 2025, with 90 percent to be injected into 5G development.

“China set to dominate the global 5G landscape,” the report read.

Although 4G is currently the leading mobile technology in China, it has reached its peak while 5G take-up continues apace. By 2025, 4G is expected to account for 53 percent of total connections in China, compared to 47 percent for 5G.

Chinese consumers are more eager to upgrade to 5G than those in any other countries in the world, according to the GSMA Intelligence Consumers in Focus Survey 2020.

About 62 percent of Chinese expressed enthusiasm for 5G last year, and over 85 percent of 5G users in China believe their telecom service has met or exceeded expectations.

In 2020, 163 million 5G smartphones were sold across the Chinese mainland, accounting for nearly 53 percent of total smartphone shipments.

GMSA also analyzed positive developments in China’s massive mobile market.

By the end of 2020, 1.22 billion people subscribed to mobile services in China, equivalent to 83 percent of the country’s population.

“This places China among the world’s most developed mobile markets, given global average penetration is 66 percent,” the report read.

More than 990 million people in China now use mobile internet services, and this figure is expected to increase by a further 200 million by 2025.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403524

[Japan] Prefectural govts juggling short supply of coronavirus vaccines

Mar 10. 2021A medical worker at Chiba University Hospital receives the coronavirus vaccine in Chuo Ward, Chiba, on March 3rd. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)

By The Japan News/ANN

Prefectural governments are conducting a delicate balancing act as they try to efficiently vaccinate the health care workers given top priority for getting a jab to combat the novel coronavirus, despite being allocated only a limited supply of vaccine by the central government.

Delays in rolling out the program will unavoidably result in an overlap with the April start of vaccinations for elderly people, which has raised concerns the entire process could become muddled.

The first priority is to vaccinate about 40,000 medical care workers at about 100 hospitals under the National Hospital Organization that frequently come into contact with coronavirus patients. Second on the vaccination priority list will be about 4.7 million other health workers including ambulance personnel, rescue team members and public health center workers. After this, elderly people aged 65 or older, who have a high risk of suffering severe health problems if they contract the virus, will get a jab. Prefectural governments are mostly in charge of administering the top-priority vaccinations that got into full swing Wednesday.

As of Thursday, coronavirus patients occupied 25.2% of beds in Ishikawa Prefecture, which placed the prefecture at stage three on the government’s four-stage scale. Although Ishikawa has about 44,000 people in the high-priority vaccination groups, the prefecture will in the first and second weeks of March receive enough doses to give about 10,000 people only the first of their two COVID-19 shots. As a result, the prefecture will start vaccinating workers at five key hospitals that treat seriously ill coronavirus patients, including Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa Medical University Hospital and Kanazawa Municipal Hospital. “We took this step because we couldn’t secure enough vaccine to fully inoculate everybody at once,” a prefectural government official said. “After vaccinating medical workers at these five hospitals, we will consider doing other large hospitals.”

The state of emergency declared due to the pandemic was recently lifted in Osaka Prefecture, which has about 310,000 medical workers in the priority groups. In the first half of March, Osaka will receive enough vaccine for only about 70,000 people. About 140 medical institutions in Osaka treat coronavirus patients, but there will not be enough vaccine to cover all of their workers. The prefectural government has decided to start vaccinating medical staff at 78 hospitals that accept many coronavirus patients.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, vaccines were shipped Thursday to nine medical facilities, including municipal hospitals. Doctors and other personnel at three facilities were vaccinated that day. “The schedule given to us will deliver enough vaccine for about one-sixth of the 600,000 people in line to get it,” a Tokyo government official said. “I want the central government to tell us as soon as possible when they expect to provide more doses.”

■ Balanced approach

Kumamoto Prefecture has adopted a balanced approach to distributing vaccine to its various regions. Vaccine will be provided to hospitals that treat coronavirus patients and also to medical facilities in regions that do not accept these patients. “We want to be prepared to respond in case there is a sudden surge of coronavirus patients in a rural region,” a Kumamoto prefectural government official explained.

Hyogo Prefecture plans to prioritize medical facilities that treat coronavirus patients when distributing vaccines, but the prefecture reportedly also will attempt to ensure every region receives at least some doses.

Hokkaido decided to deliver vaccine arriving in the first half of March to medical facilities that treat coronavirus patients. The Hokkaido government will share out any additional doses that arrive, so it is calling on the central government to indicate an order of priority for these vaccines. “There could be confusion over vaccinations if there isn’t enough to go around. We need set standards to help gain the understanding of local residents,” a Hokkaido government official said.

Kanagawa Prefecture, which will receive only 54,600 doses for about 300,000 people on priority lists, plans to start vaccinations as the vaccines arrive. However, it has not yet decided the order of vaccine recipients.

■ Elderly jabs could muddy waters

As the inoculation of medical workers ramps up, the vaccination of elderly people will start in stages from April 12 and spread to all municipalities in late April. However, there is no prospect of securing enough vaccine for the 36 million elderly people across Japan by then. There are concerns local governments will find it even harder to arrange vaccinations for elderly people than they did for medical workers.

“If the vaccinations for health care workers and elderly people are administered at the same time, it will become harder for unvaccinated medical staffers to look after senior citizens,” a Shizuoka prefectural government official said. Some vaccination schedules might get pushed back, the official added.

Kagoshima Prefecture will vaccinate its priority medical workers at 24 core vaccination facilities capable of treating large numbers of people. The prefecture also has increased the number of satellite facilities that receive doses from these core facilities to 804, a step taken to quickly secure sufficient venues in preparation for launching vaccinations of elderly people.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/ann/30403523

[Myanmar] Banks could not reopen despite Central Bank instruction

Mar 10. 2021Central Bank of Myanmar (Yangon branch) (Photo-Sithu Aung)

By Eleven Media/ANN

Although the Central Bank of Myanmar has instructed all banks to reopen on March 8, those in some regions could not have opened. 

Private banks in Yangon Region such as KBZ, CB and AYA as well as the military-owned Myawady Bank did not reopen on March 8. 

Moreover, private banks in Mandalay city and Nay Pyi Taw did not open either. 

The ongoing civil disobedience movement (CDM) in opposition to the military takeover is also being joined by bank employees. 

The Central Bank announced on March 5 that the banks were to reopen as of March 8 and asked for reports about the number of bank branches to open and progress in daily transactions. 

It sent emails to the banks saying that they were to send names of their branches to re-operate in major cities and provide banking services for border trade and personal details of those in charge so as to normalize commodity flow and prevent delays in local and foreign trade. The Central Bank pointed out difficulties with banking services as the banks could not reopen to full capacity. 

In its instruction, the Central Bank quoted the resolution of the meeting (3/2021) of the State Administration Council as saying that it was to urge re-operation of banks, provide security for private banks and take action against failure to reopen.