The Transport Ministry today allowed all public transport, including buses, trains and planes to resume, to meet the people’s demand for travel, with the exception of some provinces that have not ended lockdown measures. The ministry’s deputy permanent secretary says the move is in line with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s third phase of relaxation of Emergency Decree restrictions.

“However, the service methods depend on authorities that supervise each public transport, such as the Department of Land Transport, State Railway of Thailand, and Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.”

He says that of 19 provinces which remain locked down, up to 12 have begun allowing people to enter, but they might have to undergo additional Covid-19 preventive measures.

“The ministry is requesting information about Covid-19 preventive measures from another 8 provinces, and expects to receive the information soon.”

He added that all public transport operators are required to enforce the ministry’s Covid-19 preventive measures, such as maintaining social distancing, wearing facemasks, providing sanitising gels, and using the Thai Chana app to monitor public movement.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

Thailand’s House of Representatives kicked off a debate this morning on a bill that would transfer about 88 billion baht from the budgets of each government ministry to a central fund, to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and rehabilitate the nation’s economy. The first reading was approved with 264 votes. 4 MPs rejected it, 185 abstained and 1 MP failed to vote.

The Opposition called on fellow MPs to reject the bill, saying it gives no detail about how the money will be spent and approving it would be like “issuing a blank cheque to the PM.” A Sereeruamthai party-list MP criticised PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for revising rules to increase the spending limit from the central fund and urged the House not to allow it, pointing out that the budget transfer would be capped at 16 billion baht under the old rules. He argued it’s improper for the PM to raise the spending amount of funds that he would himself manage, saying it would invite corruption.

A Pheu Thai Party MP for the northern Nan province says the PM revised the regulation to accommodate himself, pointing out the central fund is to be be managed by the PM, and it’s the fourth time the administration has sought budget transfers.

The PM defended the reallocation of budgets, saying the government needs money to implement programs to help cushion the pandemic’s economic blow. He says the central fund will be used for Covid-19 mitigation efforts or the money will be returned.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

At this morning’s daily press conference, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced a single new case of Covid-19.

The case is a 45 year old Thai man who recently returned from Kuwait. He’s reportedly a factory worker and arrived in Bangkok on May 24. he was diagnosed with the virus after a second test on June 3.

Today marks the 11th day in a row in the country with no cases transmitted locally.

Thailand now has a total of 3,102 cases in total since the start of the outbreak. 2,971 of those cases have fully recovered and been released, 3 of them in the 24 hours before the briefing. The recovery rate is 96%

73 people remain in hospital under treatment in Thailand and the death toll remains at 58.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News