Thailand News Today | Gambling crackdown, Seafood market to reopen, Vlogger challenge | Jan 21

In a nationwide crackdown on gambling, police in the Isaan province Khon Kaen raided a warehouse and seized more than 400 slot machines.

Acting on a court warrant, police searched the warehouse. The locks on the door had been changed and police had to break into the warehouse. Inside, canvases covered 418 slot machines. Police say the machines were “plug and play” ready to go.

Officers say they believe the warehouse was linked to an illegal gambling den in the province… surely, not another one. No arrests have been made and police are still investigating.

After nearly recovering from Covid-19, Samut Sakhon’s governor is back on a ventilator after nearly a month receiving artificial creating support. Doctors are currently monitoring the Governor’s condition hourly.

While the 58 year old governor’s Covid-19 infection had subsided, the virus negatively affected his lung function, according to doctors. They reported today that a bacterial infection is now destroying some of his lung tissue.

They also said that the governor’s brain function has been affected by the Covid-19 virus, but the spokesperson didn’t go into specific details.

Last week, doctors announced Verasak’s condition was improving and he would be taken off the ventilator.

Speaking of Samut Sakhon, the province’s Central Shrimp Market, the original epicentre of the latest wave of Covid-19 that kicked off on December 20 last year, is ready to reopen by the end of January after a big clean up.

The reopening is considered “important” to the provincial economy, according to the province’s deputy governor. It will also be a new beginning for the workers, mostly migrant workers, who have been so profoundly affected by the cluster.

The Market has been shut since December 20 after more than 500 cases of Covid-19 were detected, following nearly 7 months of single digit daily infection reports.

Since then, nearly 5,000 accumulative cases have been detected as a result of the cluster… mostly migrant workers, and most from Myanmar. Some 331 are still in hospital.

The Koh Larn community committee is asking the Chon Buri provincial communicable disease committee to consider reopening the island after being affected by the restriction measures from January 5. The island is currently almost cut off from traffic from the mainland.

Koh Larn, one of the province’s popular tourist destinations off the coast of Pattaya, has been massively affected by the restrictions.

The Koh Larn community committee says all stringent control measures are in place now, so there wouldn’t be a problem if they can get back to operation again.

Air pollution in Bangkok is expected to get worse over the next few days as pollutants are getting trapped in the atmosphere thanks to a recent cold spell and a lack of wind to blow the haze away from the city. In response to the unhealthy air pollution, The PM’s Office permanent secretary says he has asked several ministries to step up efforts in combatting the PM2.5 micron ‘dust’ particulate that has blanketed the city.

He says…. vehicle exhaust fumes, construction sites and burning garbage in open areas is not helping.”

“To add to the problem, the cold spell is creating an “inversion layer” which stops air below it from rising and trapping pollutants.”

As usual, Bangkok officials are looking to some of the smaller, localised traffic issues to blame, although the annual “smoke from the north” problem remains the key and overriding issue regarding Bangkok’s smog problem months. The local traffic pollutants, whilst ever-present, don’t cause the skyline smog and haze for the rest of the year.

And when the Thais refer to a “cold spell” it usually means the ambient morning temperature has dropped to the low 20s. In other parts of the world that would be considered a heat wave!