Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will order legal action against anyone who “distorts information” about the government’s Covid-19 vaccination plan after the banned opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit had raised the topic of “Royal Vaccine: Who Benefits and Who Doesn’t?” on his Facebook Live feed on Monday.

On the Facebook Live, Thanathorn criticised the government’s vaccine procurement and production, commenting that the government is too slow in securing sufficient inoculations.

“Thailand pinned its hopes only on AstraZeneca which allowed local pharmaceutical manufacturer, Siam Bioscience, to produce its vaccine. The government had not held talks with other countries until Jan 3 when it announced it will buy 2 million doses of vaccines from Sinovac which is a very small quantity… enough for only 1.5% of the population.”

Siam Bioscience is a royally-sponsored company that has partnered AstraZeneca to produce the vaccines for Thailand and other countries in the region.

According to Dr Nakorn Premsiri, director of the National Vaccine Institute, Siam Bioscience invited the British-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca to visit its plant to see whether it met the criteria required to produce the vaccine at a minimum of 200 million doses per year. The government approved 600 million baht to improve the plant’s facilities to produce the Covid-19 vaccine according to the requirements of AstraZeneca.

Responding to Thanathorn’s comment, the PM says he will order prosecution for anything “that is distorted and not factual” that gets published, whether in media or on social media and that he has to protect the government’s credibility from those who are “irresponsible” with their remarks.

SOURCE:Bangkok Post

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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. Actually, almost closed down.

One of the Covid-19 hot spots, Chonburi is classified as a “high risk” area where maximum restrictions are imposed. Businesses and tourist destinations are ordered to close when infections consistently increase in the province. Koh Larn, the province’s popular tourists’ destination off the coast of Pattaya, is also 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 get back to operation again. They also revealed that each venue has the rights to do its business. However, accommodations must seek approval from the committee to make sure that they have well-managed measures. They also say most accommodations on the island are not ready to open and reopening may take some times to bounce back.

SOURCE: NNT

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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 in the Mueang district. The locks on the door had been changed and police had to break the locks to enter the warehouse. Inside, canvases covered 418 slot machines. Police say the machines were “plug and play” ready.

Officers say they believe the warehouse was linked to an illegal gambling den in the province. No arrests have been made and police are still investigating.

There have been numerous gambling-related busts and raids in recent weeks. A nationwide crackdown on gambling was launched after a cluster of Covid-19 cases was reported at a Rayong gambling den.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

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