Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Chiang Rai governor leads clean-up operation amid Covid fears

Chiang Rai governor, Prajon Prachsakul, has led a clean-up operation across public areas and tourist attractions such as shopping malls, Chiang Rai Airport, Singha Park and the border checkpoint at Mae Sai. It follows the recent discovery of a number of infected Thai nationals who had illegally crossed from Myanmar, bypassing health checks and quarantine. At least 34 illegal returnees have tested positive for the virus.
According to a Nation Thailand report, Prajon says he’s focused on restoring confidence in visitors to Chiang Rai, including those coming for the flower festivals and the New Year festivities. He describes the clean-up effort, aimed at preventing the spread of the virus in the northern province, as the best New Year’s gift for residents.
“It also aims to create awareness on how people can protect themselves against Covid-19, such as by wearing facemasks, washing hands and cleaning their houses regularly.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Thailand
Thailand non-profit offers Zoom calls with Santa and his elephant friends

Santa Claus isn’t at the North Pole this year. He’s in Northern Thailand. And he’s not with elves. He’s mixing in with some of Thailand’s beloved elephants. Don’t believe it? Give him a Zoom call.
Zoom calls on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with “Santa & his Elves” are offered by the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation.
Zoom calls with Santa and his elephant friends are limited, and pricey! The effort is intended to raise money for the program which ethically cares for elephants that were formerly in the entertainment business. The reservation for a 20 minute call requires a $2,500 USD donation.
Those interested in supporting the elephant program can make a donation. “Elephant trunk calls” are also available during the coming year, but Santa won’t be around after Christmas.
The resort’s director of sustainability and conservation, John Roberts, says it costs $18,000 USD a year to feed just 1 elephant. A $20 donation feeds an elephant for one day.
“Since the start of the national lockdown in Thailand in March, we have taken in three elephants and their mahouts. The COVID-19 elephant refugees, whose camps were unable to care for them and would ultimately have left them unfriended and unfed, are now matched with friendship groups and, of course, have their own diet plan.”
To make a donation to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, click HERE.
SOURCE: Travel and Leisure
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai officials insist province is now safe to visit

Officials in the northern province of Chiang Rai are assuring potential tourists from the rest of the Kingdom that it is safe to visit, saying the Covid-19 situation is under control. Chiang Rai hit the headlines in recent weeks, when a number of Thai nationals entered the province illegally from Myanmar. After bypassing health checks and quarantine, several subsequently tested positive for the virus, resulting in a handful of local infections.
Now deputy provincial governor, Worawit Chaisawat, is anxious to assure the rest of the country that the situation has been brought under control. He says the province has recorded no new local cases since the beginning of December. The only new infections in the province are imported cases brought in by those returning through the proper channels and entering state quarantine.
Around 180 Thai nationals are thought to have been employed at the 1G1-7 Hotel in the Burmese border town of Tachileik. Some media reports and claims from local residents say the 100 room, 4 storey hotel was used as a centre for prostitution. It became a hotbed of Covid-19 infections, causing much of its Thai workforce to flee, crossing back into Thailand illegally. Worawit says the resulting mini-outbreak of infections has now been brought under control and those who visit the province are not required to quarantine on their return home.
“We need to spread the word that there are no new infections in Chiang Rai. Visitors do not need to quarantine, and they are welcome to travel here. A flora festival is coming.”
The Bangkok Post reports that yesterday, the province recorded 6 new cases of the virus, all in state quarantine. All are believed to have arrived from Tachileik. Thailand recorded a total of 28 new cases yesterday, including 1 case of local transmission in a Bangkok nurse who had close contact with a Covid-19 patient.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Thailand
Returnees from Myanmar account for 9 of 17 new Covid infections today

Today, Thailand has reported 17 new cases of the novel coronavirus found in people entering Thailand from other countries, with 9 infected returnees coming from Myanmar through the Mae Sai district in northern Chiang Rai.
All 9 were women who had worked at nightspots in Tachilek, the Burmese border town, featuring the now infamous 1G1-7 Hotel, which was the site of a Covid-19 breakout. They returned to Thailand on Friday and tested positive on arrival. All returnees were sent to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital for treatment, as it has been designated as the go-to hospital for returnees from the area.
Meanwhile, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai authorities are axing the idea for a mandatory 14 day quarantine for touristswho have returned from those areas back to other parts of Thailand, after the spike in cases from the border town Tachilek in Myanmar brought 38 local cases of Covid.
Dr. Prasit Watanapa from the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital says the coronavirus currently circulating in Myanmaris a different strain and is being transmitted 20% faster than the one detected in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
- Politics3 days ago
US Ambassador to Thailand quits after Biden inaugurated
- Bangkok3 days ago
13 Bangkok businesses allowed to reopen tomorrow
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)3 days ago
Pattaya hotels take food to the streets in bid to survive
- Pattaya3 days ago
Pattaya cleaning up its Walking Street act in time for Chinese New Year
- Air Pollution3 days ago
Air pollution in Bangkok expected to get worse due to “cold spell”
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)3 days ago
50,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to arrive in Thailand in early February, more ahead
- Crime3 days ago
Banned politician says government silencing him by invoking Lese Majeste law
- World3 days ago
US President Biden reverses Trump’s policies on first day of presidency
Issan John
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Why do so many in this administration see simply doing their job as being a “gift” to others?
it’s their job, at its most basic, FFS!
Issan John
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 1:07 pm
… and what’s with all this sweeping the streets, again?
It’s Covid-19, for crying out loud, not cholera!!!
14cycles
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 4:01 pm
if it gets them to keep the streets really clean i won’t bother to inform them of the truth either.
Malc Thai
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 4:03 pm
So what virus can live in the road surface in this heat! I’ve questioned this many times here in phuket when they washed a road 1 month after they closed access to it saying locally they were treating the road with antibiotics!
Peter N
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 6:07 pm
Just goes to show how dumb they are, antibiotics don’t kill viruses. a virus will only live around 2 days on a hard surface.
Mr cynic
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 8:28 pm
Seems to be making a good job of it though.
Could be a good second career for him and his pals there when they retire from gov service.
Leo Z
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 10:27 pm
They’re cleaning the streets off the virus? That’s nice. Because as we all know the typical method of transmission is “touch street/pavement” –> “touch mouth/nose/eyes”.
How about if they do their real job: “clean up” border checkpoints; “clean up” judicial prosecution of violators; “clean up” public messaging campaigns by certain Ministers (i.e. “Farangs bring the virus to Thailand”).
Toby Andrews
Friday, December 11, 2020 at 10:28 pm
The picture shows it all. Polished shoes.
him leaning back do he does not have his expensive trousers splashed.
a political stunt to suggest he is a caring politician.
A fraud . . .
Ian
Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 6:58 pm
I’m lost for words but maybe they could get the water canons out and use them instead of aiming them at thais