Thailand News Today – Friday, April 10

50 new coronavirus cases nationwide (Friday), 1 death

50 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases were confirmed around Thailand, a slight drop from yesterday’s 54.

There was also one new death. The total number of infections since the outbreak began now stands at 2,473. 33 patients have died. The cases span 68 of Thailand’s 76 provinces.

1,013 people have completely recovered and been released from hospital, 73 of them in the past 24 hours.

Today’s single death was described as a 43 year old Thai Woman who also suffered from systemic lupus.

Illegal Chinese casino in Pattaya operating after curfew

Pattaya police have led a raid last night on an illegal casino where nearly a dozen people were gambling in a karaoke bar above a Chinese restaurant.

Police went to the Fu Manow Chinese Restaurant at about 10:15pm after a tip off. Such a meeting violates the current national curfew and gatherings of people.

There were 7 Chinese men, 2 Thai women and a Russian woman were gambling with about 100,000 baht, playing several different Chinese style gambling games on a custom table.

Thai army puts off military purchases until coronavirus outbreak passes

The Royal Thai Army says Thailand “needs to heal” after the Coronavirus pandemic is over in the country so plans to delay purchases of military equipment in the 2020 defence budget.

A Defence Ministry spokesman says cuts to the 2020 budget for military hardware and projects are being considered. Speaking about the upcoming controversial purchase of Chinese made submarines under the 2021 budget, the spokesperson said that the Royal Thai Navy is considering the matter and “related legal consequences.

Facebook sues Bangkok man for ‘cloaking’ software

Facebook is suing a Bangkok resident for developing and marketing software that ‘cheats’ the social network’s advertising review process to enable users to post dangerous ads to other users.

Facebook says that Mr Basant Gajjar, an Indian-American software architect living in the Thai capital, developed a “cloaking” technique in software that hides the real content of advertisements, while showing the user something else, essentially tricking Facebook’s review process from identifying inappropriate ads. His business, apparently thriving, is called ‘LeadCloak’.

The lawsuit outlined how Gajjars cloaking software allowed links to ads promoting the sale of sensationalised diet pills, cryptocurrency scams, even fake news relating to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Village elder stomped and gored to death by wild elephant

A village elder in the central Thailand Chachoengsao Province was stomped and gored to death by a wild elephant while collecting mangoes last night.

Relatives told police that the 53 year old Chalermphol Sukthawee, the elder of the village, was last seen leaving his home around 3pm yesterday. He was later found at 7:45 pm with a fractured skull and indications signs of goring and stomping, injuries consistent with an elephant attack. Elephant tracks were discovered 10 metres away.