Thailand
Corruption in Phuket: Is there now hope for a cure?

PHUKET: Loosely in formed in 2010, the Anti-Corruption Network this year has become a key organisation that has shed unprecedented light on corruption in Thailand. This group, comprising entities from the public and private sectors, is pushing hard in its campaign against corruption at the corporate and national levels, with the ultimate goal of ensuring fairness to all Thais and raising the country’s image globally.
The group’s actions are still far from “ultimate success” and a lot more needs to be done. But the network has been successful in sparking hope, and its real and daring actions earn all the members our vote as The Nation’s “Person of the Year”.
Corruption is a blight on Thailand and nowhere in the country is it more in evidence, or more crippling, than in Phuket. At a glance, this country is not the worst in terms of corrupt practices, ranked 88th in 2012 among 176 countries in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
However, the perceived level of public-sector corruption puts the Kingdom on the same level as Malawi, Morocco, Suriname, Swaziland and Zambia. Worse, in the past 10 years, Thailand’s ranking has been sliding, with its chances of ever catching up with the top 20 slim at best, let alone reaching the top spot alongside Finland.
Corruption is a serious and systemic problem in Thailand. A recent Abac Poll reported that most (63.4 per cent) Thai people believe that corruption in government is acceptable provided it is beneficial to them personally – a view that is also shared by many young people. This explains why corrupt politicians keep returning, sparking grave concerns about the country’s political and economic sustainability.
Among the most concerned is a group of businessmen, which was previously led by the late Dusit Nontanakorn. In his capacity as chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Dusit started steering the alliance of public and private sectors towards seriously combating corruption in 2010. His words: “Corruption is common and acceptable in Thai values. If this continues, Thailand will see its demise” became the slogan of the Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), which was officially launched on June 1, 2011.
Under the leadership of his successor, Pramon Sutivong, the network has doubled the number of members, rising from 23 organisations at the start to 46 at present. It is a major private-sector group led by a consortium of Thai businesspeople and more than 30 industry associations, which include the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Thai Bankers’ Association, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) became the first international member.
The network won huge support when it pressured BEC World, the public-listed operator of television Channel 3, to take action against its media personality Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, who faces legal action by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for alleged embezzlement. At the national level, the ACN is pushing for transparency in government-procurement processes, particularly in relation to bidding for the Bt350-billion water-management project.
— The Nation / Phuket Gazette
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
When can we travel again? World Covid Travel Update | VIDEO

Today we’ll look at the larger world travel picture in this Covid era, and then we’ll check the latest opportunities if you want to come back to Thailand for travel.
So when can we pack the bags and travel again? Well, in theory, right now. But in practice, depending where you’re coming from and where you want to go, that may still be very complicated… and remain so for at least the rest of this year. But some of the world’s travel so-called experts are now speaking in terms of months and not years. Whilst some of that might be optimistic travel industry spin, there may be some greater certainty on re-openings of some sectors of the world travel industry in the next few months.
But first, consider all the variables that need to fall into place for things to go smoothly..
Despite the roll out of various vaccines, and more on the way, some countries are more advanced in that process than others. The appearance of virus mutations could send all the best guesses for an improvement in travel opportunities into disarray. Whilst it seems the vaccines will be a great benefit for victims to avoid the worst ravages of Covid-19, there is still a long way to go to measure the longer term effects on the changes in transmission and community immunity.
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Thailand
Thailand tourism sector seeks to reopen the country by July

The following was submitted by Open Thailand Safely, a campaign pushing the Thai government to reopen Thailand to international tourism by July 2021.
Leading international tourism companies in Thailand have launched a campaign to reopen the country’s borders from 1 July 2021.
The #OpenThailandSafely campaign was launched 2 March with the support of over 15 major companies including YAANA Ventures, Minor Group, Asian Trails, Capella Hotels and Resorts, EXO and many others. (The full launch list is here)
The Open Thailand Safely campaign has laid out its arguments in a petition which will underpin a formal request to the Royal Thai Government to respond favourably to the rollout of Covid-19 vaccination programmes underway in Europe, USA and other Thailand tourism source markets.
The petition is open to anyone in Thailand or around the world who would like to see the country reopen.
The campaign argues that 1 July is an appropriate date for five reasons: the majority of citizens in many source markets will have been vaccinated by then; it gives time to Thai medical authorities to vaccinate both front line staff in hospitality settings in Thailand and/or vulnerable citizens around the country; it gives international travellers time to make travel plans and bookings; the date gives time to airlines, hotels, tour operators and others to start marketing and sales and get ready for tourism operations to commence; and it will take Thailand at least a year, and maybe longer, to return to the large numbers of international visitors that it had before the Covid-19 crisis.
To ensure the safe reopening of Thailand, the petition argues that “international tourists can be asked to satisfy any safeguards the Thai Government may require. This may, for example, include showing officially recognised proof of a Covid-19 vaccination from their home country, purchasing health insurance, showing proof of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of departure, and so on.”
#OpenThailandSafely was the initiative of leading Bangkok-based private sector travel companies YAANA Ventures, Minor Group and Asian Trails.
The CEO of YAANA Ventures, Willem Niemeijer [pictured right], said: “The 1 July reopening would be a strategic opportunity for Thailand to show a leadership role among Asian countries and prepare the way for a solid recovery of the Thai economy in 2022.”
In the coming days, the Open Thailand Safely campaign will also send the 1st July request to Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, and the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mr Yuthasak Supasorn.
According to the Bank of Thailand and official sources in Thailand, tourism, pre-Covid, was worth about 2.9 trillion baht (US$96.5 billion). Some 39.7 million international visitors in 2019 helped sustain up to 8.3 million jobs. However, arrivals fell to 6.7 million in 2020 making between two and four million people unemployed.
Meanwhile, destinations such as Seychelles, Maldives, Greece and Sri Lanka have either opened borders already or are in discussions to do so in light of successful Covid vaccine rollouts in their key source markets.
People can sign the petition for Thailand to reopen on 1 July at www.OpenThailandSafely.org.
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Thailand
Thailand News Today | Dodgy vaccine doctor nabbed,Pattaya club raided for ‘explicit’ shows | March 3

The Bangkok Military Court has issued an arrest warrant for a Royal Thai Army medic who is accused of injecting troops with a fake Covid-19 vaccine. He reportedly made more than 100,000 baht by charging troops, who were on a UN mission, 500 baht each for a tetanus vaccine and a fake Covid-19 vaccine, which an internal army investigation determined was simple saline solution…. Harmless but not very effective.
The Thai Army held a press conference after the medic’s fake vaccine scam made headlines, saying the incident had tarnished the army’s image. The field medic, who was also a lieutenant, injected more than 250 Thai troops stationed in South Sudan on a UN peacekeeping mission with the fake vaccine, claiming it was the head doctor’s order. An Army spokesperson says the medic was in the Thai-South Sudan Horizontal Military Engineering Company and “is a serious disciplinary offence and also violates ethical standards as the wrongdoer is a doctor.”
The governor of the central province of Samut Sakhon is slowly recovering after more than 2 months battling Covid-19. Weerasak Wichitsangsri tested positive for the virus in late December and subsequently ended up on a ventilator for over 40 days. It’s understood Weerasak’s time on the ventilator was a record for the hospital and, at times, medics were unsure if he would recover.
Pattaya City Police inspected a nightclub after reports that the venue was hosting pornographic shows over the weekends. Although the nightclub, named as Dragon Man Club in Thai media, wasn’t presenting a sexually explicit show when officers dropped in, the owner was arrested for operating an entertainment business and selling alcohol without the proper permit.
The Thai government has approved a budget of over 6 billion baht to procure an additional 35 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The budget was approved at a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The Covid-free gulf islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao are offering special discounts and privileges to tourists until the end of April. Over 80 tourism operators are taking part in the program.
In an act of good will, navy officials have rescued 4 cats from a ship that had caught fire and began to sink about 13 kilometres off Koh Adang in the southern province of Satun. The ship’s 8 member crew had jumped off the sinking vessel and were rescued by a passing fishing ship, but the cats were left onboard.
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