Thailand
Thailand News Today – Friday, May 15

Maison Saigon7 new cases, all imported, no new deaths
7 new cases of Covid-19 this morning at the daily press briefing. The new cases bring the national total to 3,025 since the beginning of the outbreak.
But today’s new infections are all among Thais returning from Pakistan, 6 men and a woman, aged 17-31. All are now in state quarantine.
No new deaths were reported, leaving the toll at 56.
Meanwhile other changes to the current situation could involve cutting the current curfew by an hour so it would start at 11pm instead and the possible extension of the emergency decree through June, but none of these have been confirmed at this stage.
Yesterday’s Covid-19 case was a Phuket tattoo artist going to Chiang Mai
Thailand’s latest Covid-19 case revealed yesterday was a tattoo artist who had travelled from Phuket Province to Chiang Mai Province last Tuesday.
The 39 year old said his aim was to take his wife and son away from Phuket, which has been a high-risk province, but things didn’t go as planned when he ended up being the one who got infected. Over 200 others have also travelled to the northern city from Phuket, all being tested when they arrive.
He said began experiencing flu-like symptoms during the self-quarantine but didn’t think much of it before they left on their northbound journey.
Now officials are checking on the man’s contacts in Phuket before the family departed, all the places they stopped along the way, and any other people they’ve met up with in Chiang Mai since arriving.
Vongfong, aka. Ambo, barrels into Philippines’ east coast
Typhoon Vongfong (aka. ‘Ambo’ in the Philippines) has made landfall, forcing tens of thousands of people to quickly evacuate whilst in the middle of lockdown amid their local Covid-19 outbreak.
The typhoon struck the Phillipines east coast islands around Samar at around noon yesterday. Around 200,000 people living in the coastal areas near Samar have been affected. Vongfong packed winds of at least 185 kph -around the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane.
Social distancing pandas fill empty seats at Bangkok restaurant
Now one Vietnamese restaurant in Bangkok has found a more fun way to make sure people are sitting apart but still marking the seat spacing.
Big, stuffed panda bear toys are being placed in the vacant seats instead of red crosses.
The restaurant is Maison Saigon, near Lumphini Park in Bangkok, and the owner thought the red crosses left a negative impression so he found something much more cuddly to take place of the seats that need to remain vacant in this era of social distancing.
Not a single publisher has resorted to using the term food panda in their headline.
National parks may remain closed for another 2 months
One positive aspect of the pandemic is the affect park-closures seem to be having on the environment, specifically some of the animals living in the parks.
Looks like Thailand’s national parks might continue to be closed for at least another 2 months. All of the 133 national parks were initially closed to limit tourism and visits to those areas when the coronavirus outbreak started. Now it appears that they’ll remain closed to revitalise wildlife and plants.
Parks might even close once a year from now on after many park officials have seen a surprising increase in animal activity and park regeneration during the lockdown
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Thailand
Disease control measures ease up in Samut Sakhon

Disease control restrictions are easing up in Samut Sakhon. The coastal fishing province that has been under “maximum control” since last month’s Covid-19 outbreak at a major seafood market in the province’s Mahachai area.
Salons and barber shops are now allowed to open from 6am to 9pm in all districts of Samut Sakhon, but services are limited to hair cutting, dressing, and washing. Manicures, pedicures and shaving services are still prohibited. Each customer can only stay in the shop for only 2 hours and no queuing is allowed inside the salon or barber shop.
Restaurants and cafes are allowed to open, except for those in some sub districts of Muang District…
- Thai Sai
- Mahachai
- Krok Krak
- Tha Chalom
- Nadee
- Bang Ya Phraek
- Khok Kham
- Tha Chin
Restaurants and cafes can offer customers the dine-in services from 6am to 9pm. Takeaway services are allowed after 9pm. Other businesses including sports complexes, playgrounds, educational institutions, boxing gyms, internet cafes, fishing ponds, and cinemas are still closed.
SOURCE: NNT
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Thailand
Police say at least 2 people to be arrested in Bangkok bomb attack – UPDATE

Police say they will issue arrest warrants for at least 2 people in connection to yesterday’s bomb attackin Bangkok. According to Thai PBS World, the people are suspected of throwing a ping pong bomb into a group of police officers in front of the Chamchuri shopping centre that injured 3 policemen and 1 reporter. But previous reports by Khaosod English say the bomb attack saw only 2 policemen injured out of a total of 4.
Piya Tawichai, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, says it is believed that the perpetrators threw the bomb from a vehicle on the flyover heading towards Hua Lampong railway station. Police say they found nails, wire and black electrical tape at the scene of the explosion.
The attack occurred at 6pm, during a pro-democracy rally over the government’s enforcement of the lesé majeste law, which has seen over 43 people arrested, including students, since November. Just last week, a Thammsat University student was arrested in his dorm room over lese majeste charges. Ironically, the reason for his arrest was reportedly due to his calling for such a law to be abolished.
Earlier today, a group of pro-democracy protesters and Ratsadon guards rallied in front of the Internal Security Operations Command head office in Dusit district, demanding for the release one of the guards, who has been missing since last night.
ISOC spokesman Thanathip Sawangsaeng responded to the claims by saying that ISOC had nothing to do with Mongkol’s disappearance because it is “not responsible for maintaining peace and order in the city.”
Now, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights have reported that that Mongkol has been released in the Bangpoo area. Mongkol and his lawyer went to notify the police at the Muang district police station and say that Mongkol will be sent for a physical and psychological evaluation.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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Thailand’s PM says he won’t let Thais become vaccine “guinea pigs”

Thailand’s PM is saying he won’t let Thai people become vaccine “guinea pigs” in his Facebook post today as he points to reports of serious negative side effects that some people have suffered after getting jabbed with the Covid-19 vaccine. Instead, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he will wait for more information from the experts about whether such side effects were attributed to the vaccine solely, or other factors.
“For Thai people, I decided not to take the risk and will not rush to inoculate with vaccines which have not been fully tested and will not let Thai people become guinea pigs.”
He says the National Vaccine Committee will advise the government and closely supervise the use of Covid-19 vaccines in the country once they are rolled out. As the vaccines are not yet available, he reiterated the importance of taking precautions such as wearing face masks when leaving home, practising social distancing and abstaining from gatherings, particularly political ones.
The government has reported 374 new cases of Covid-19 in the kingdom today, with all but 10 being locally-transmitted. Now, the total has risen to 12,000 cases since the pandemic began.
A government spokesman is also saying that PM Prayut is worried about people’s health as the weather has taken a turn for the cold. He also affirmed the importance of imposing measures under the Emergency Decree and Thailand’s Communicable Disease Act in order to help curb the recent Covid second wave. He is also reminding the public to download the Thai Chana and Mor Chana apps.
Thailand has ordered 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from a variety of sources, with the first shipment of 200,000 doses to arrive in February. Those vaccines are from China’s Sinovac Biotech. In March, another 800,000 doses are scheduled to arrive and another million by April.
The government has also pre-ordered 26 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, using vaccine technology transfer to allow local production by Thailand’s local company, Siam Bio Science.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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clyde james
Friday, May 15, 2020 at 6:12 pm
Such cute little Chinese Bears, so symbolic of Thailand’s new benefactors. Nice to have such a kind and thoughtful and powerful big brother assisting and guiding Thailand’s leadership. We can all rest peacefully knowing the CCP is doing everything possible to help Thailand make the proper choices.