Bangkok
Officials carry out spot-checks on silly-season gift baskets

PHOTO: 77jowo.com
You’re only weeks away from receiving a few of those plastic-wrapped and ribboned baskets of unwanted goodies for the silly season – but do you wonder what’s inside most of them?
Now officials are making a list and checking it twice… Officials in Bangkok are out and about checking those prized Christmas and New Year gift baskets to make sure nobody ends up feeling a bit cheated.
The Nation reports that officials from Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, accompanied by Deputy Bangkok Governor Sophon Pisuthiwong, visited a selection of shops around the capital this week to make sure their Christmas and New Year’s gift baskets are legally compliant.
Sophon says their intention in carrying out the checks is to ensure people don’t end up receiving inferior or even out-of-date products and that retailers are transparent about the cost of items in the baskets. The gist of the suspicions is that retailers put one or two items of value at the top of the basket, pack it full of surplus and out-of-date stock, and then scrunched up paper at the bottom to make it look full.
“The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is committed to protecting consumers against low quality or expired products that some retailers may try to bundle in the gift baskets. Retailers are also required to display the list of each item in the basket along with their prices to let customers know what they are buying and that each of them is priced correctly.”
Deputy Bangkok Governor Sophon also stresses the importance of supplying products with more longevity, saying they must display an expiration or best before date and that fruit and vegetable baskets should not be prepared more than 3 days in advance of sale.
“According to Food Act BE 2522, packages of all food products must display expiration or best before date, or manufacturers will be fined a maximum of 30,000 baht. To apply this law to gift baskets, we require the sellers to put only products that expire after January 31 in the baskets and must allow consumers to return the products until February 29 in case they are not satisfied with product’s quality.”
“As for fruit and vegetable baskets, we advise retailers to prepare the baskets not more than 3 days in advance of the selling date to ensure freshness of the produce.”
Finally, Sophon reminds retailers that gift baskets containing alcohol cannot be displayed in store or even in brochures. He says doing so would contravene Article 30 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act and could lead to an 11,000 baht fine and/or up to six years in prison.
The checking of New Year gift baskets is part of a wider campaign being run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in conjunction with 32 department stores and retailers, focusing on price and quality control of the baskets. The campaign also seeks to promote the use of more environmentally-friendly materials, such as leaves and paper instead of the usual foam and plastic.
SOURCE: The Nation
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Celebrity’s birthday “Covid-19 cluster” organisers and partygoers may face charges

With more infections linked to the “birthday party Covid-19 cluster” and some concealing their timeline, the Disease Control Department is urging the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to take legal action against people involved.
Thai media are calling it a “super spreader” party. So far, 26 cases are linked to the birthday event for the 33 year old Thai actor Techin Ploypetch, aka DJ Matoom, at a Bangkok hotel. 113 people are at risk and another 53 are considered low risk, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
The event organisers could face charges for violating the ban on crowded gatherings. Partygoers could face charges for violating the Emergency Decree. Covid-19 patients who attended the party and concealed their timeline from health officials could also be charged under various laws.
A singer, a government official, and a PR manager, who all went to the party and later tested positive Covid-19, hid crucial parts of their timelines from health authorities, according to Thai PBS.
The department says those people could face charges under the Communicable Disease Act for allegedly concealing personal information and may be fined up to 20,000 baht. They could also be charged under the Criminal Code for allegedly giving false information to government officials.
The department’s director-general Opas Karnkawinpong says concealing or delaying the provision of information increases the spread of the virus and makes it harder for authorities to control the pandemic.
SOURCES: Thai PBS World| Bangkok Post
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Bangkok
Norwegian man arrested at Bangkok airport for allegedly faking Certificate of Entry

Thai immigration police arrested a Norwegian man at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport for allegedly faking his Certificate of Entry, a document issued by the Thai Embassy to allow foreigners to enter Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The man presented the document to immigration officers at the Bangkok airport. Officers were suspicious and contacted the Royal Thai Embassy in Oslo, Norway who then confirmed the document is fake.
The man told immigration officials he travelled from Norway to Thailand to see his girlfriend and that he planned to undergo the mandatory quarantine period at an ASQ hotel off Sukhumvit Soi 57.
To enter Thailand, travellers need to provide a Certificate of Entry issued by the Thai Embassy, health insurance, a Covid-free medical certificate issued 72 hours before departure and a Fit to Fly medical certificate issued 72 hours before departure.
SOURCE: Thai Visa
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Thailand
27 migrants allegedly disguised as monks arrested on illegal entry charges, Bangkok abbot under investigation

Immigration police arrested 27 Cambodians for allegedly entering Thailand illegally and impersonating Buddhist monks. Police say the migrants allegedly disguised themselves as Buddhist monks at Wat Talom in Bangkok’s Phasi Charoen district. The temple’s abbot is also under investigation for allegedly assisting and hiding illegal migrants.
Police searched the temple after receiving a tip that hundreds of monks lived in crowded rooms, conditions that officials worry could lead to a cluster of Covid-19 infections.
“We received a tip-off that the temple had several hundred monks living in a crowded space that could become a hotspot for Covid-19… People also reported that some monks from this temple were selling food they received from the public in the morning to merchants at nearby markets for reselling.”
Police asked for identification documents from the more than 200 migrants at the temple. 181 monks from Myanmar, India, Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh had proper documents, but police say 27 Cambodians had no identification documents. The 27 Cambodians were arrested and charged with illegally entering the country and impersonating Buddhist monks.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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