Restaurants in Pattaya and Chonburi excited and ready to reopen to customers
Restaurants in Pattaya and Chonburi are preparing to reopen for dine-in customers tomorrow (September 1st) after the Thai government eased some disease control restrictions in the highest Covid-19 controlled provinces, which includes Chonburi.
Chonburi –
First, some related articles, the video version of this news, and background:
On August 28th the Royal Gazette officially announced the relaxation of Covid-19 preventive measures including the reopening of restaurant businesses for dining in the 29 dark-red zone provinces from September.
The Chonburi Governor and provincial disease committee released last night, August 30th, 2021, rules and restrictions around easing of Covid-19 rules for the province.
Restaurants in the Pattaya and Chonburi area are allowed to open for dine-in until 8:00 P.M., but with no alcohol, up to 50% dine-in capacity with air-con, up to 75% outside/no air con.
There was no mention of controversial vaccination requirements/Covid-19 testing as proposed in a trial by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration earlier last week.
Many restaurants are ready to reopen tomorrow. They are cleaning their restaurant and preparing food delivery orders as well as stocking their supply closets and fridges. They are also making sure to provide alcohol gel and temperature checking in front of the restaurant. Visitors will also be required to "check-in" either manually or through the "Thai Chana" platform for possible contact tracing if needed.
BANGKOK (NNT) - Thailand's Public Health Ministry has provided a guide for travelers planning to visit Thailand under the pilot reopening schemes, like "Phuket Sandbox", "Samui Plus" and "Phuket Sandbox 7+7 Extension".
Under the program, eligible Thai returnees or foreigners must be 18 years old and above and should have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which have been approved by Thailand or the World Health Organization, at least 14 days before arrival. COVID-19 vaccines approved in Thailand are CoronaVac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sputnik V.
Travelers to Thailand should also have all made advance arrangements, which include a Certificate of Entry (COE) issued by a Thai embassy or consulate, a COVID-19 health insurance policy with a minimum coverage of US$100,000, confirmation of an "SHA Plus" hotel booking and a medical certificate with a negative RT-PCR test result issued no more than 72 hours before departure.
Under the 7+7 Extension scheme, tourists arriving under the "Phuket Sandbox" program can travel to specific destinations after spending their first seven days on Phuket. These destinations are Koh Samui, Koh Pha-Ngan and Koh Tao in Surat Thani, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Ngai and Railay Beach in Krabi, Khao Lak, Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai in Phang Nga.
THE Thammasat field hospital today (Aug. 31) issued a warning to brace for the fifth coronavirus wave which will likely emerge after control measures are eased from tomorrow amid steady decline in the number of cases with today's tally being 14,666, TV Channel 7 said.
In a post published at its web page, the field hospital said that the fourth wave is clearly on a downtrend and relaxation of control measures from tomorrow is unavoidable for economic and social reasons.
The Public Health Ministry said early this morning that aside from the 14,666 new Covid cases there were 190 deaths. This takes the cumulative confirmed total since April to 1,175,866 with 994,346 people having recovered from then on.
However, the easing of control would bring people in closer contact with each other and cause the spread of infection by those who are asymptomatic.
Moreover the number of people who have been vaccinated is not high with 7.36 million having received two Covid jabs so far.
To go by what occurred in other countries, a fifth wave is inevitable and the whole medical system including personnel management have to be well prepared with drugs and medical supplies arranged, the field hospital said.
It also pointed out that in other countries when a new wave kicks in the number of patients is four to five times higher.
"It depends on when #Wave 5 will come, which is clearly unpredictable. Soonest would be October and the latest by yearend. The whole system has to be well-prepared including Thammasat itself," the post said.
Consistent with the rest of the country this field hospital does not now get many new patients with 13 being admitted on the day this post was written while 20 were discharged, leaving altogether 291 under the team's care.
The medical team here is hopeful that by the end of September it would be able to reduce the number of hospital beds to 100 to 200 while still continuing to admit patients.
Chonburi Governor releases set of universal prevention "guidelines" for residents to stop Covid-19
Chonburi, Thailand-
The Chonburi Communicable Disease Committee, led by Governor Phakkhrathon Thianchai, released a set of guidelines last night around universal prevention to stop Covid-19.
TPN media notes that these are "guidelines" and "requests for cooperation" and NOT firm enforced rules or orders. However, we have provided them as they show that despite the easing of rules that Chonburi officials remain concerned about the Covid-19 situation in the province which is still recording hundreds of cases a day, with 745 new cases recorded today alone.
Guidelines:
1. Even with the easing of restrictions, one should leave the house only when necessary.
2. Those over 60-years-old or with chronic illnesses, especially if not yet vaccinated against Covid-19, should avoid going out at all unless it is an absolutely necessary reason.
3. Maintain a distance of 1-2 meters from people in public places if going out.
4. Wear two masks at all times when going out or when inside the house with more than two people.
5. Avoid touching your mask or face.
6. Wash your hands often with soap or alcohol gel every time before eating, after using the bathroom, coughing, sneezing, or touching shared objects
7. Clean and disinfect frequently used shared equipment in your home environment.
8. Separate personal belongings of all kinds, should not be shared with others.
9. Choose hot or freshly prepared food, should still avoid eating with others despite easing of restaurants, if eating with others do not share utensils.
10. If you had close contact with a previously confirmed patient either conduct a rapid antigen test or have an RT-PCR test completed at a hospital.
This "request" is until further notice. The notice, in Thai, is below.
Chonburi reports 745 new Covid-19 cases with 4 deaths
Chonburi, Thailand –
Highlights:
745 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Chonburi today
1,196 people recovered and were released from medical care
4 new deaths
The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 745 new and confirmed cases of Covid-19 today with 4 new deaths, August 31st. This is the lowest number of new Covid-19 cases in the province in five weeks roughly, since June 24th, with cases dropping each day now for several days.
This makes a total of 62,427 cases of Covid-19 in the current round of infections, with 15,911 people still under medical care/supervision, and with a total of 388 recorded deaths in Chonburi since the start of this recent round of infections in early April. The details on yesterday's 4 new deaths were not given, which is standard for the health department.
Additionally, 1,196 people were also released and recovered yesterday in Chonburi. 46,128 people in total have now been released from medical care and recovered in Chonburi since this current wave of Covid-19 began.
The district-level new cases were as follows today:
Mueang Chonburi 211, Si Racha 171, Banglamung (Pattaya) 115, Panat Nikhom 60, Sattahip 27, Ban Bueang 39, Pan Thong 64, Bor Thong 1, Ko Chan 4, Nong Yai 3, and 50 new cases transferred from other provinces for medical care.
Cluster, Kaset Plastic Industrial in Panat Nikhom District, 11 cases
Cluster, Hansol Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in Ban Bueng District, 6 cases
Cluster, Panjawattana Plastic Public Co., Ltd. in Si Racha District, 5 cases
A risky occupation, meeting a lot of people, 25 cases (Customer facing occupations like taxi drivers, market workers, etc.)
44 cases from enterprises in Rayong province
Close contacts of confirmed patients – 192 in familes, 155 in workplaces, 7 close people/friends and 5 joined an illegal party
Close contact of confirmed patients (under investigation), 78 cases
209 cases are under investigation in general as to the cause of the disease.
A total of 1,010 close contact searches were received today, and 339 proactive search reports are pending.
There are currently clusters of outbreaks in 61 establishments and five markets, 10 construction worker camps, and four communities.
The Chonburi Governor and provincial disease committee released last night, August 30th, 2021, rules and restrictions around easing of Covid-19 rules for the province.
However the Chonburi governor has also issued a 'REQUEST' in order to control the spread of the Covid -19 virus. People should stay at their homes and go out only when needed.
Additionally, the Chonburi government has requested that people aged more than 60 and people with chronic health problems should still avoid going out.
House Speaker Chuan Leekpai, left, receives the censure motion from opposition leader Sompong Amornwiwat at the parliament on Aug 16. (Parliament photo)
A four-day no-confidence debate, the third of its kind against the government, kicks off on Tuesday with a long list of allegations ranging from flawed management to corruption.
The grilling will revolve around the government's handling of Covid-19 and related issues such as the national vaccine rollout and economic fallout from the crisis.
However, academics believe the censure debate is unlikely to topple the government and more or less aims to seek support from anti-government protesters who are taking to the streets to call for Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down from his position.
Yutthaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, said Gen Prayut and the five ministers will survive the censure debate no matter how intense the grilling is. He said the coalition parties remain on good terms and the no-confidence debate will not make government MPs cross the floor or prompt coalition parties to withdraw support.
Despite this, the censure debate is deemed necessary in the wake of demonstrations and public questions surrounding the handling of the pandemic, the vaccination programme, and the associated economic fallout, he said. Moreover, the no-confidence debate is likely to keep the opposition connected with protest groups who have intensified pressure for the prime minister's resignation, he said.
"The chance of coalition partners pulling out anytime soon is highly unlikely. The budget spending and the reshuffle of state officials aren't complete. And I don't think there is a knock-out punch," he said. "The unity in the opposition is as loose as that in the coalition government. What to watch is how this will connect with street politics."
Mr Yutthaporn said the debate is likely to focus on two sets of problems: political problems related to street demonstrations and the handling of Covid-19 and related issues.
Stithorn Thananithichote, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at King Prajadhipok's Institute, said the debate is unlikely to topple the government because the ministers from the three coalition parties are also targeted.
By targeting the coalition parties, the government MPs will band together and vote for each other, he said, adding that the opposition would have had a better chance had it singled out Gen Prayut.
Mr Stithorn also said the Pheu Thai Party does not go for make-or-break tactics and is intending to instead show the public that the opposition is doing its job and keeping the government in check. The academic said he believes that the main opposition party would be ready to switch camps and join the government if Gen Prayut happened to step down from the post.
Opposition leader and Pheu Thai MP Sompong Amornvivat promised to lay bare flawed government management and hoped that such information would prompt coalition parties to pull away and cease supporting Prayut's regime. He admitted that the opposition which has only 212 votes in the House cannot bring down the government on its own and called on government MPs to put people's interest first.
"I'd like to ask government MPs to think about their voters. There are elections ahead of us," he said.
Seksakol Atthawong, an assistant minister at the Prime Minister's Office, said on Monday the prime minister and the five ministers were ready to address questions posed by the opposition. He said three support teams were set up to help the targeted ministers in the debate and threatened to take legal action against opposition MPs who crossed the line.
Mr Seksakol also accused the Pheu Thai Party of not playing by the rules, saying it was engaged in a campaign to oust the government and involved "someone overseas" in it. However, he insisted on unity in the coalition government.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said Gen Prayut would respond with facts because any decisions involving Covid-19 were based on information available and discussions from all parties concerned. The government had no concern about the vote which would take place on Sept 4, he said.
The opposition has been allocated 40 hours to grill its targets while cabinet ministers and government MPs were given 18.5 hours to address questions.
A special electronic service (e-service) tax will be collected from online platforms from Wednesday (September 1) onwards.
The 7-per-cent value-added tax will apply to businesses that earn more than 1.8 million baht in online sales annually. The government expects to earn some 5 billion baht from this tax in the first year.
The authorities have been mulling this e-service tax for two years now before it was implemented at the beginning of this year. Businesses required to pay the tax include:
För någon vecka sedan drog man åt tumskruvarna ytterligare och införde parkeringsförbud utefter hela Beach Road. Dessutom förbud att gå ner på stranden och spatsera på strandpromenaden. Vi får se nu i morgon vad som händer i samband med de lättnader i restriktionerna som aviserats !
Med vänlig hälsning,
Ola
PHUKET: The latest Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) daily COVID situation report has marked a record 256 new local infections across the island yesterday (Aug 29) ‒ up from 162 new cases reported 24 hours earlier ‒ bringing the total number of people recognised as infected with COVID-19 in Phuket since Apr 3 to 4,074.
The PPHO report, marked as accurate as of 10:50pm last night, also marked two new cases of Phuket Sandbox tourists being confirmed as infected.
The report also marked zero new deaths attributed to COVID-19 for yesterday, leaving the total number of deaths in Phuket attributed to COVID-19 since Apr 3 at 19.
The new local infections bring the total number of new local infections on the island to a new record of 1,351 in the past seven days, as follows:
Aug 24 - 156 new cases
Aug 25 - 189 new cases
Aug 26 - 169 new cases
Aug 27 - 209 new cases
Aug 28 - 210 new cases
Aug 29 - 162 new cases
Aug 30 - 256 new cases
The current total of 4,074 people infected in Phuket since Apr 3 does not include 10 infected with COVID-19 in other provinces and 23 returning from other countries and testing positive.
The current Phuket tally also does not include 42 COVID patients brought back to Phuket under the "Bring Phuket people home" policy, or the 82 Phuket Sandbox arrivals who have tested positive for the virus after landing on the island since the Sandbox scheme began on July 1.
According to the PPHO COVID report for yesterday, 1,830 people were under medical care or supervision, an increase of 187 from the 1,643 reported the day before.
The report also marked 2,429 people in total being discharged from medical care for COVID infection since Apr 3 ‒ 71 more patients than the 2,358 reported yesterday.
The report posted last night recorded just 10 new cases of people suspected of being infected with COVID-19 after testing positive by antigen test kits (ATKs).
While recording 10 new suspected cases, which have yet to be confirmed by RT-PCR tests, the total number of people reported as currently being held at 'COVID-19 Care Centers' across the island fell by 85, from 850 on Sunday to 765 yesterday.
The report did not confirm how many people who tested positive by ATKs were confirmed infected by RT-PCR tests or how many people had been released from ATK detention at 'COVID-19 Care Centers' and allowed to go home.
The PPHO daily COVID situation report posted last night also reported that Phuket currently has in total 1,640 beds available for COVID patients (zero change from yesterday).
The total number of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients in Phuket now stands at 1,300 (+53), or 79.27% of the total number of beds, with 340 (-53) hospital beds in Phuket still available.
The report also marked that of the COVID patients in care 34 were designated as 'Red patients' (zero change); 316 were designated 'Yellow' patients (zero change) and 411 were 'Green' patients (+23).
The latest map released by the PPHO showing the locations of the new infections across the island was released yesterday (Aug 30), but marked as accurate as of 6pm Sunday (Aug 29), as follows:
With a floundering Phuket Sandbox which followed the now-forgotten Special Tourist Visa, the message for the Thai government on recovering the foreign tourism industry is crystal clear. It hinges, to some extent, on abolishing emergency controls on entry to the kingdom and allowing full and unfettered passenger traffic to resume without the Certificate of Entry process and any form of state quarantine. However, it also hinges on the worldwide resumption of international passenger traffic and tourism which international experts say is already down by up to 88% in 2021 based on figures for the first 6 months.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, over the weekend, confirmed that Thailand will be maintaining its controls on entry into the country including the state quarantine system after its planned reopening to foreign tourism in mid-October. This is despite mounting evidence that the cumbersome Certificate of Entry system and the bureaucratic control of entry into the kingdom is a key barrier and reason for the 99% wipeout of foreign tourism which has seen the kingdom lose at least ฿3.6 trillion in revenue since it closed its skies to incoming foreign tourists on the 5th April 2020 under emergency powers granted to the Thai government.
This week, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, Rungrueng Kitphati (centre right) confirmed that the government would be retaining its current controls on entry into Thailand including the state quarantine apparatus after October 15th, the date which Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha signalled in June would be the point, after which, the kingdom would be reopening up to foreign tourism. However, with worldwide tourism and air passenger traffic down and stiff resistance to the entry requirements currently demanded of prospective visitors to Thailand, the reopening of foreign tourism hotspots on similar terms to the Phuket Sandbox scheme is unlikely to see Thailand achieving anything like the numbers it achieved before April 2020 with foreign tourism currently projected to be off by over 99% by the end of the year.
There is also a growing concern for the strategically important Phuket Sandbox which has been heralded as the blueprint for reopening Thailand to foreign tourism but is currently languishing with declining arrival numbers, a new outbreak of infection on the island originating in Phuket's fishing industry and international restrictions on the kingdom.
Commenting on growing fears for the economy this week, the Secretary-general of the newly formed New Kla Party, established by former Minister of Finance Korn Chatikavanij, who served in the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva from 2008 to 2011, Mr Atavit Suwannapakdee, has warned that the government in October will be faced with little choice but to reopen.
Thailand's proposed reopening must mean restricted access as there is still a real public health threat
However, he criticised its approach to managing the pandemic as being too centralised.
'We've reached a point where we can't keep shutting our door. We must also face the fact that the government's centralised approach to handling the pandemic is out of place,' he explained. 'The reopening plan must go ahead. If we delay it, what the country has planned will be ruined and the country as a whole will lose its credibility. Many won't die from the disease but from being unable to make a living.'
Despite this rhetoric, there is considerable doubt about whether the government will be in a position to properly reopen and still keep the country safe.
There is also the question of whether shuttered or closed business ventures or services for foreign tourists can be relaunched or indeed if anything like prior tourist volumes can again be achieved in the medium term.
Vaccines finally coming but a 25% vaccination rate in October appears likely with 9.5% currently inoculated
This week, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong of the Department of Disease Control suggested that the kingdom will be receiving over 120 million doses of different brands of COVID-19 vaccines between now and the end of the year while on Sunday, government spokesman, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana told reporters that 140 million doses will be secured by the government before the year is out.
He said that this would allow vaccinations to occur throughout the kingdom at a rate of 600,000 doses per month from September when 17 million doses are due to be shipped into Thailand followed by 24 million doses in October.
Assuming this rate, it would only leave the country with a 25% vaccination rate given the data to Wednesday the 25th August showing only 9.5% fully vaccinated with 28.8 million doses administered and 31.1% who had received a first dose.
Reopening of former tourist hotspots will not automatically mean a full restart of foreign tourism as the Phuket Sandbox scheme now shows clearly
What appears to be proposed is that tourist hotspots such as Chonburi province and Pattaya as well as Bangkok, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chiang Mai which are being prioritised for vaccination, would be reopened to vaccinated tourists entering through nearby airports under the controlled Certificate of Entry process.
This has been the reasoning behind the strategic importance of the Phuket Sandbox which is itself now facing a particularly challenging situation in September.
The scheme is slowing down and will only record 12,000 visitors in August but, of greater significance, is a rising COVID-19 outbreak on the island with a daily record of 210 infections set on Saturday with over 75% of hospital beds on Phuket occupied by COVID-19 patients.
In addition, the virus on the island is widespread.
Announcing new measures in recent days to control the outbreak, the Governor of Phuket explained that the virus was entering the island through its ports which serve the island's fishing fleet and worker camps which service the fishing industry.
Thailand is now on the UK's red list of countries with cancellations already reported by hotels in Phuket
The listing of Thailand by UK authorities as a red list country, which came into force on Monday, has come as another blow to the scheme.
The United Kingdom is among five western countries including the United States, France, Germany and Israel which have supplied the vast majority of visitors through the scheme since July 1st.
In recent days, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, of the Thai Hotels Association has confirmed that the change announced last week has seen a flood of hotel bookings on the island being cancelled.
Ms Marisa also explained that many of the UK visitors, now holidaying in Phuket, have been left facing a bill of over ฿71,000 for a 10 days hotel stay in government-appointed state quarantine hotels in the United Kingdom whenever they fly back to their home country.
Business leaders trapped between the priority of public health and an urgent economic imperative
Sanan Angubolkul is the Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
He still thinks it is too early to predict just what will happen come October but agrees that it will all depend on getting the public vaccinated.
'It would be helpful if the reopening can be launched as planned,' he said on Sunday.
He strongly advocated going ahead with the reopening mindful of the hundreds of billions lost this year which he estimated could run as high as ฿1 trillion.
This must surely exclude the trillions in foreign tourism earnings that have gone missing since 2019 and an estimate, from an exports boss, Mr Chaichan Chareonsuk, the Chairman of the Thai National Shippers' Council who in August, estimated that ฿600 billion in export sales may be lost because of COVID-19 disruptions to factories.
Trillions of baht lost in the foreign tourism sector with the government still governed by external factors outside its control including a global tourism slump
From foreign tourism alone, based on 2019's figures, Thailand has lost ฿3.6 trillion in earnings because of the effective closure of the kingdom to foreign tourism since its closed its airspace to commercial passenger traffic overnight on the 5th April 2020 under the wide-ranging emergency decree powers earlier granted to the government.
The country has never seen anything like the same level of incoming foreign tourism volume again and it is unlikely to do so under the current regulatory regime.
Of course, the government, like every government worldwide, must balance its public health policy with that of protecting the economy but has always vowed to put the former first.
As the red list status in the United Kingdom demonstrates, the kingdom is also governed by many external factors with worldwide international flights and passenger traffic already down significantly.
In the first two months of 2021 International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that passenger traffic was down by over 86%.
There are some signs of a rebound, in recent months, in European, African and Caribbean tourism but with countries like Australia and New Zealand now in midst of new outbreaks, long haul, international tourist destinations such as Thailand will be the last to see the market recovering, a situation that can only happen with the virus threat receding across the world through mass vaccination.
State quarantine and controlled entry regime remains
A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, over the weekend, made it clear that any reopening of Thailand to the world from mid-October will still include the operations of the state quarantine system and emergency restrictions to control entry into the kingdom.
A large number of foreigners who, in the past, regularly visited the kingdom have repeatedly said that they will not return because of the cumbersome and demanding Certificate of Entry process which, despite government promotions and initiatives, has seen tourist traffic wiped out by over 99% compared to 2019 in both the latter months of 2020 and 2021 ever since the kingdom restricted entry into the country in April 2020.
'Reopening the country will be done step-by-step by suitable measures. State quarantine is still needed. Visitors should be fully vaccinated with papers to confirm they are Covid-free,' explained spokesman Rungrueng Kitphati on Saturday.
Last week's talk of ' Living with Covid-19'
Last week, the Department of Disease Control boss, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, indicated that a more relaxed approach to dealing with COVID-19 was being looked at by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). He referred to a document entitled: 'Smart Control and Living with Covid-19'.
It followed signals from the government that the Prime Minister's commitment to reopening Thailand by mid-October would be kept.
The news came at the same time as Moodys, the rating agency, retained its stable outlook on Thailand and its Baa1 rating. This saw the baht rally strongly by over 1% from a low point against the dollar after the Thai currency had lost over 11% in 2021.
Pandemic's severe effect on the Thai economy
It is a similar pattern of hope followed by renewed uncertainty since early last year which has been the signature of this pandemic as it continues to have economic repercussions.
For Thailand, given that it is still a developing economy with a high level of social inequality dependent on exports and tourism to drive GDP, these have been and will continue to be, extremely pronounced.
