Thailand
Two demolition workers killed in Sukhumvit building collapse

BANGKOK: Two construction workers were killed in Bangkok yesterday when an eight-storey building under demolition on Sukhumvit Soi 87 collapsed.
Rescue workers, police and fire-fighters continue their search for the workers this morning, as they are believed to be trapped under the debris.
It was initially reported that four workers were in the building, said Noppadol Chaipanya, head of the BMA Public Works Control Division.
Backhoe driver Phichit Pasada told police that he and another nine workers were preparing to demolish the building. As he was refilling the backhoe and other workers were checking the building, he heard something like a sling snap before the building collapsed and the workers ran for safety.
The contractor got permission to demolish the building on November 22. However, the Phra Khanong district office ordered a temporary suspension of the demolition on December 2 after officials found hazardous problems at the site.
The authorities have launched a probe into the cause of the collapse, he added.
Students were evacuated yesterday from the nearby Wells International School as a precaution.
The District Office posted a sign ‘Danger: Building collapse’ at the site while the search for the two workers continues, says Deputy Bangkok Governor Jakkaphan Phiew-ngarm.
Jakkaphan said he had spoken with officials from the Engineering Institute and related agencies about parts of the building being cut out to get the workers, feared dead, out of the debris by last night.
Today, engineers and officials will discuss the best method to demolish the building, while the district office will consider declaring the area a disaster zone as a safety precaution for nearby residents’ lives and property.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lt-General Sanit Mahathavorn, who inspected the scene yesterday, said a committee had been set up to probe those involved in the demolition and some arrest warrants would be issued accordingly.
He said the incident was within the frame of three offences – recklessness causing the death of others, violating the Building Act 1979, and resisting an official order, because the demolition had been suspended by the district office.
— The Nation
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Samut Sakhon shrimp market, recent Covid-19 wave’s epicentre, is back open and bustling

The Samut Sakhon seafood market, the epicentre of the recent wave of Covid-19 infections, has reopened. The Central Shrimp Market had been shut down, sealed off and sprayed down after hundreds of vendors, migrant workers and visitors were infected with the coronavirus. Now, 10 weeks later, the market at a fishing hub just southwest of Bangkok, is not only back open, it’s bustling.
A waiting area now has rows sectioned off by plastic dividers to ensure social distancing. Those bringing fish to the market to sell must take a queue card and sit in the proper seat. The seafood will also be now sorted on a raised platform.
Market operators, vendors and customers are required to follow disease control measures. Screening points are set to check all vehicles entering the area including trucks delivering seafood as well as vendors and customers.
Workers are required to wear face masks, gloves, rubber boots and rubber aprons. Members of the market must have documents from a recent health screening.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
CCSA Update: 80 new Covid-19 cases, active infections on a downward slope

80 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing while 142 new cases were reported on Saturday and Sunday. Since the start of the pandemic, Thailand has reported 26,031 coronavirus infections and 83 deaths.
There are currently 624 active Covid-19 infections, a record low for Thailand since the December outbreak at a Samut Sakhon seafood market. The number of active Covid-19 over the past month drastically dropped after health officials slowed down mass testing efforts in high risk areas.
Out of the 80 new cases reported today, 28 were exposed to the virus in areas considered to be at “high risk,” including 19 in Samut Sakhon, 3 in Tak, 2 in Nakhon Pathom, 2 in Bangkok, 1 in Chon Buri and 1 in Ratchaburi.
36 cases were detected through proactive testing, including 35 cases in Pathum Thani and 1 in Nonthaburi.
The other 16 cases were detected in quarantine for those arriving to Thailand from overseas.

Active Covid-19 cases in Thailand as of February 28, according to Worldometers.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Drugs
Police seize 920 kilograms of cannabis smuggled across the Mekong River

In a major bust on the Mekong River, notorious for drug smuggling, border patrol police seized 920 kilograms of dried, compacted cannabis from a boat along the Nakhon Pathom riverbank, bordering Laos.
Police were tipped off about a large shipment of drugs being trafficked across the Thai-Laos border. Police spotted a boat around 4am yesterday. When police moved in, men onboard the boat jumped onto a smaller boat and sped off. Police found 23 sacks filled with 1-kilogram packages of compressed cannabis.

PHOTO: MGR Online
In the recent months, police have seized more than 5 tonnes of cannabis. While the Thai government has been loosening measures on cannabis, allowing parts of the plant with low traces of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to be used in food and medicinal products, trafficking cannabis is still illegal. Cannabis with high amounts of THC is still classified as a Category 5 narcotic.
SOURCE:Bangkok Post
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