Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Health officials worry about potential spread of Covid-19 during Chinese New Year

With families across Thailand likely to get together to celebrate the Chinese New Year this weekend, health officials are concerned the gatherings could potentially spread Covid-19. In Bangkok, Friday’s festivities celebrating the year of the ox in Yaowarat, known as Chinatown, have been cancelled by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration due to Covid-19 concerns.
Health officials are urging the public to practice disease prevention measures like social distancing when reuniting with family and friends. The director of the emergency disease and health hazards control division under the Department of Disease Control, Chawetsan Namwat, says strict social distancing is important at family get-togethers and suggested reuniting virtually instead, using video calls to make sure there is no risk of infection, especially with elderly family members who are the most at risk.
“People are advised to wear face masks when talking, or use chat applications with video call features to reduce physical contact.”
Recently, a number of coronavirus infections in Bangkok have been linked to social gatherings. 4 separate parties in Bangkok are behind nearly 40 cases of the Covid-19 virus, according to spokesperson from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. They say alcohol was a main factor in people letting their guard down when it comes to practicing disease control measures.
In Tak’s Mae Sot district, bordering Myanmar, 11 people from 7 families tested positive for Covid-19. The infections are all linked to the same person. Following the recent cases, provincial officials declared the district a maximum control zone, banning large gatherings and imposing a mandatory 14 day quarantine for all arrivals.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Tourism
Day trip to Bangkok’s closest island – Koh Si Chang | VIDEO

Ko Si Chang (or Koh Sichang) is a district of Chon Buri Province, Thailand. It consists of the island of Ko Si Chang and its adjoining islands. Ko Si Chang is in the Gulf of Thailand, 12 kilometres off the shore of the Si Racha District coastline. It’s the closest island to Bangkok and a popular weekend away for Bangkokians. Pangrum takes us on a quick visit to the island with today’s latest Thaiger Vlog.
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Thailand acknowledges wildlife markets could be dangerous to humans

The Thai Ministry of Public Health is being praised after seemingly doing an about face over whether Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market could be the source of Covid‐19. After health officials denied that the World Health Organisation was investigating the market, a recent Facebook live press conference saw the Ministry acknowledging that wildlife trades may endanger public health.
The recent investigation by the WHO of Wuhan, the province in China where Covid19 is thought to have originated, has concluded that the virus most likely did not come from a laboratory, and instead, came from animals supplied by Chinese wildlife breeding farms, or from infected animals traded somewhere in Southeast Asia. As Chatuchak Market is arguably the region’s largest illegal wildlife trade market, a Danish virologist on the WHO investigation team pointed towards the Bangkok market as a potential source of the Covid19 virus.
Now, the Thai Ministry of Public Health is going to collaborate with the Ministry of Environment and its Department of National Parks to closely inspect Chatuchak market, and roll out a joint plan to increase wildlife protection and stop the wild animal trade in markets.
Southeast Asia has historically supplied most of China’s wildlife trade, which the virologist sees as worrisome. As commercially traded animals can carry pathogens that could compromise a human’s immune system. For example, in 2019, zebras that were legally imported into Thailand, carried a small fly species that jumped to local horses, causing African Horse Sickness. The mortality rate was over 90%, causing over 600 horse deaths.
Some animals are especially susceptible to viruses hosted by bats, such as the SARS virus. That virus jumped from a civet cat that was infected by a bat. Other viruses that are thought to have jumped from bats to other animals include rabies and Ebola. Minks and Pangolins have also been discovered to carry a coronavirus and are still being commercially traded in Southeast Asia today.
In a spotcheck carried out by Freeland, a global nonprofit organisation, Chatuchak Market is still selling ferrets, coati, civets, polecats, mongoose, raccoons, meerkats, scarlet macaws, capybara, african gray parrots, cougars, multiple species of turtles, snakes, rodents and lizards from Latin America, Africa and Australia.
SOURCE: Freeland
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Health officials deny WHO investigation into Bangkok’s Chatuchak market as potential origin of Covid

Health officials in Thailand are denying reports that the World Health Organisation is investigating Chatuchak market in Bangkok in ongoing efforts to establish the origin of Covid-19. The reports have surfaced in Danish media, following a WHO visit to Wuhan last month, with doubt hanging over the theory that the pandemic started in the central Chinese city.
Nation Thailand reports that the Department of Disease Control has held a press briefing in which it refutes suggestions the virus could have come from wildlife traded at Chatuchak market. The market has previously come under fire from animal welfare and wildlife protection organisations. In 2016, research by wildlife protection group Traffic pointed to the market’s ongoing illegal trade in protected bird species, while an earlier report highlighted the market’s role in the illegal trade of freshwater turtles and tortoises.
Despite several conservation experts pointing to the risks associated with the wildlife trade, Chawetsan Namwat from the DDC denies the suggestion the WHO is investigating the market for potential links to Covid-19. He says the media reports are based on evidence that the Thai horseshow bat carries another SARS virus that shares over 91% of its genetic code with the Covid-19 virus. He adds that this virus cannot be transmitted to humans, saying the DDC’s advice continues to be that humans should not consume wild animals.
“This is just an academic assumption, not absolute truth. We are constantly monitoring the animal-trading zone in Chatuchak weekend market. Even if there is no clear evidence on the origin of this virus, we still need to be vigilant and maintain strong disease-prevention measures.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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James Pate
Monday, February 8, 2021 at 7:39 am
Well, they should have thought about this before declaring it a special holiday!
CJ Hinke
Monday, February 8, 2021 at 12:14 pm
Domestic tourism is just a drop in the bucket. Looking at daily Covid+ numbers, proactive testing has stopped in Bangkok & is slowing even in Samut Sakhon. We need MASS TESTING NOW!
Ian
Monday, February 8, 2021 at 11:57 pm
Think and thai government they don’t go together ,to think is to plan is to assess is to check the risks then act well yes they can act comedy of errors comes to mind