Thailand
Anti-fracking protesters rally at US Embassy

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community
PHUKET: About 20 members of the ‘Stop Fracking Thailand Network’ rallied outside the US Embassy in Bangkok yesterday to protest against chemical fracking in this country.
Two network representatives, Rangsit University professor Dr Smith Tungkasmit and Pipat Samanchuen, were allowed to enter the premises to hand a letter to Eric Frater, first secretary of the economic section of the embassy.
The letter demanded that US authorities encourage an investigation into companies Apico (Khorat), Apico LLC, Hess Corporation, Chevron and CEC and stop them using the chemical hydraulic fracturing system.
The group also asked the embassy to pass the request on to the US Congress.
Chemical fracking is a petroleum drilling process that pumps a solution of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure underground to crack the rock layers and allow natural gas to flow out.
The network claimed this process would leave a huge amount of chemicals under the surface, which could contaminate the groundwater and weaken the bedrock – possibly causing an earthquake and releasing flammable methane gas into groundwater and the atmosphere.
“We are demanding that the US companies and also other companies that have concessions to drill for petroleum stop using the chemical fracking process.
“This is because we are concerned about the impact to health of the |people in local communities,” Smith said.
“Our observation of the Namoon site in Khon Kaen province found that a company used the toxic chemical zinc oxide, which is not shown in the environmental impact assessment report.
Packages of this chemical, which should be disposed of by a hazardous-waste-management company, were instead donated to a nearby school,” he said.
After handing in the letter, Smith said the embassy promised to investigate this matter and would discuss it with the US companies within seven days. He also stated that the embassy claimed it would take definite action against the companies if they were found guilty of lawbreaking.
Outside the embassy, members of the Stop Fracking Thailand Network displayed banners as police guarded the area.
There were some arguments between protesters and police but the campaign ended peacefully.
Apico has denied it used the fracking process at the Namoon site in Khon Kaen, and also that it had used zinc oxide in its operations there.
Pisutth Nilasinthop, public and community relations director of Apico (Khorat), said in an e-mail to The Nation late yesterday: “The government’s Department of Mineral Fuels confirmed no fracking at the DM-5 site [in Khon Kaen], and we also confirmed no zinc oxide on drilling operations at this site.”
On the issue of packages of zinc oxide found at a nearby school, the company explained that Waste Management Siam (WMS), a contractor to Apico, had used an improper bag to donate plastic bottles to the school and a recycler, but the company insisted it did not use zinc oxide in its operation.
The company gave assurance that the use of improper bags had been prohibited and measures were put in place so it could not happen in the future.
— Phuket Gazette Editors
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Thailand
Thailand News Today | Week In Review | February 26

Thailand News Today usually covers five days of the news week. This week only four days as today (Friday) is a public holiday. Now we have a weekend edition which goes over the biggest, or best stories, from the past week. Out every Saturday afternoon, catch up with Jett and Tim’s major Thai news stories. Welcome to the Thailand News Today Week in Review. Tim and Jett give you a quick recap of the main news stories.
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Thailand
45 new cases today, 37 local‐Covid‐19‐Update

Thailand reports 45 new cases of Covid-19cases today, with 37 infections being locally-transmitted. 8 of those infections were imported, raising the total amount of infections since the pandemic began to 25,809.
The Department of Disease Control reports that 32 cases were confirmed at hospitals with 5 confirmed through active case finding in communities.
Samut Sakhon province, the 2nd wave epicentre, reported over half of the new cases at 19. 14 of those cases were confirmed at hospitals and 5 were detected in Myanmar communities. Bangkok has reported 3 new cases, Nakhon Nayok reported 5, Chai Nat 3, Nakhon Pathom 3, Saraburi 2, Prachuap Khiri Khan 1, and Samut Prakan 1.
The 8 imported cases were those under quarantine arriving from Pakistan, Bangladesh, the UK, Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Kuwait. The case from the UK was that of a 6 year old Thai schoolgirl.
Globally, Covid-19 cases rose by 444,466 over the past day to 113.54 million. The worldwide death toll increased by 10,552 to 2.52 million. The United States still has the most cases at 29.5 million, with the most deaths at 520,785.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Tourism
Surveys show Thailand still one of the top holiday choices post-pandemic

The Stockholm office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand has conducted a survey in which 62% of respondents say they want to spend winter in Thailand provided restrictions are lifted. The top destinations are Phuket, Krabi and Khao Lak, followed by Koh Samui, Koh Pha-ngan, Koh Tao, Bangkok, and Hua Hin.
68% say they would cancel bookings if the 14-day quarantine remains in place. 26% say they would still go ahead, and 13% said they’d be in favour of quarantine being cut to 10 days. 99% of participants say they would be worried about testing positive for Covid-19 after travel plans have been made.
Meanwhile, the TAT’s London office has also been busy, carrying out a survey in conjunction with market research firm, YouGov. The idea behind the survey was to get an idea of the future of tourism once the pandemic is over.
4,127 people took part, with 75% of them saying they’re prepared to be vaccinated if it’s required for travel. 41% are against mandatory quarantine, although 52% would accept a 5-day quarantine. 62% of those planning holidays are over the age of 50 and interested in countries with low infection rates.
According to a Nation Thailand report, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot from the TAT says the findings of the survey indicate that up to 6 million people are interested in travelling to Thailand at some point this year.
Meanwhile, a number of online travel agency platforms in France have also carried out a survey. The poll, conducted by companies such as Go Voy, Opodo, and eDreams, showed that the number of hits to tourism-related websites rose by 15% once the success of Covid-19 vaccines was announced. The top destinations searched for were Dubai at 49%, Marrakesh at 27%, and Bangkok at 25%.
Another travel survey in the Americas found that most holidaymakers have chosen to postpone their trips by 7 months to a year, rather than cancelling completely. Siripakorn says that booking flexibility is a priority for Americans.
“Flexibility to reschedule is the top priority for American tourists, followed by safety. These tourists are looking for safety, no quarantine, flexibility, and no deposit.”
Meanwhile, a report issued by Skift Research shows that travel will not recover until 2023 and will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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