Thailand News Today, March 2, 2020

New coronavirus case pushes Thai total to 43

Thailand’s reported coronavirus cases has now reached 43. The new case is a 22 year old Thai woman who had been working as a driver for foreign tourists with another Thai patient.

Health officials had located the woman for testing. She was already admitted for treatment at a hospital.

Meanwhile another woman has been discharged raising the number of fully recovered Thai patients to 31.

Thailand announces first death from coronavirus

Sadly, Thailand yesterday confirmed its first death from complications related to the COVID-19 virus. The victim was described as a 35 year old. The man is identified as a sales consultant working at a duty-free store operated by King Power in Samut Prakan.

The man had been first treated for dengue fever at a private hospital in late January before contracting the coronavirus early February.

Health Ministry announces new precautions

Over the weekend the Health Ministry announced a new range of precautionary measures.

The national committee on communicable diseases says they’ve agreed to list Covid-19 as a “dangerous communicable disease” to give health authorities opportunities to respond more quickly to any outbreaks.

The Ministry will hand out 100,000 free face masks per day, from today. Face masks and hand-sanitising gel have also been categorised as price-controlled goods after demand skyrocketed in recent weeks.

Thai Moto GP in Buriram postponed over outbreak fears

Another casualty of the current coronavirus precautions, one of the biggest sporting events in Thailand – the MotoGP 2020 in Buriram. The event was scheduled for March 20-22 in Buri Ram province, north east Thailand, where it has started to gather a huge local and international following. Yesterday the international motorcycling federation announced it had cancelled the season-opening Qatar MotoGP which had been scheduled for March 8.

1 dead after monk rear-ends pickup in Nakhon Ratchasima

A woman is dead after a monk rear-ended the pickup truck in which she was riding in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say he incident occurred about 1:15 pm yesterday on a road along an irrigation canal.

A pickup, carrying nine people was struck from behind by the Nissan Sunny, driven by a 51 year old monk.

The pickup was forced off the road and into the dried up canal. A 46 year old woman passenger was tossed from the back of the truck and crushed. Other passengers in the pickup were injured.

Precautionary warnings for weather in the north and north east

Some warmer, pre-summer weather is heading to the north of Thailand for the rest of this week. On the plus side, a bit of extra wind may blow away some of the offending smoke and haze that has beset the northern areas of the country over the past month.

A high pressure system from China will effect the weather over upper Thailand. Early summer-style thunderstorms are forecast from tomorrow for the next few days.