New glass sky bridge in Si Racha is big domestic tourism hit
Si Racha, Chonburi
A brand new glass sky bridge in Si Racha is a huge hit drawing many domestic tourists and curious local residents at its grand opening this past weekend.
The bridge, located at Khao Tabaek Temple, Moo 4, in the Nong Kham sub-district in e Si Racha district was built and designed by Phra Kruanyanprayut the Bowin District Abbot and Abbot of Wat Khao Tabaek. It had soft opened in prior weeks and had already proven a huge hit on viral social media videos.
The glass bridge is part of an overall sky bridge, which is 226 meters long and connects Luang Pho Sothon Mountain with the Luang Pho Sothon Brass statue building site.
The temple has set a donation fee for the bridge and asked for 40 baht per person. This is for both Thai Nationals and foreigners and is used to help maintain the bridge as well as future temple projects.
The glass section of the bridge allows for up to a hundred visitors at a time said the temple Abott.
Emergency health centres to open nationwide ahead of possible COVID-19 spread
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Thailand's Public Health Ministry has instructed all provincial administrations to open emergency health centres, as a precautionary measure in case COVID-19 begins to spread, following the outbreak in Chiang Rai after infected Thais returned illegally from Myanmar.
Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiatipoom Wongrachit said that the pandemic is still spreading in Myanmar and several Thai people who worked there, and have returned to Thailand, have been found to be infected.
Under the precautionary measures, all provincial hospitals must put medical personnel, medical supplies and labs on standby, to cope with any emergency.
Call centres are to be opened in every province to allow people at risk to call for advice.
Meanwhile, four pub-restaurants in the northern province of Chiang Rai have been ordered to close for 1-2 weeks for disinfection and cleanup, by the provincial administration, after they were visited by COVID-infected returnees from Myanmar's Thachilek township.
The closure of Tawandang Saadsaengduen Chiang Rai, Unseen Chiang Rai, 8080 and the Library Chiang Rai is an effort to convince customers that they will be safe when they reopen for business.
In Chiang Mai province, the Provincial Communicable Diseases Committee reported this evening that a 26-year old Thai woman, who worked at the 1G1 Hotel in Thachilek, snuck back to Thailand and arrived in Chiang Mai on November 30th, thenentering local quarantine.
On December 3rd, she had a fever and cough and tested positive for the virus.
New Virus Outbreak Deals Body Blow to Northern Tourism With Thousands Canceling Trips
Coronavirus cases linked to bar workers who illegally crossed the Myanmar border have dealt a body blow to northern tourism, with thousands of panicked Thais canceling travel plans during December's holidays.
More than 1,700 room-night reservations at Chiang Mai hotels have been canceled since ten bar workers from the now-infamous 1G1-7 Hotel in Tachilek Province in Myanmar smuggled into the country, skipped quarantine and went on a travel and party blitz, said La-iad Bungsrithong, president of Thai Hotels Association (Upper Northern Chapter).
In addition, she said, numerous government and state-enterprise junkets have canceled their trips, costing more bookings.
Before Nov 26, Chaing Mai tourism had been on the upswing with almost 70-percent occupancy rates increase as cooler weather set in, said Pallop Sae Jew, chairman of the Chiang Mai Tourism Industry Council. La-iad said hotel occupancy for December was expected to top 80 percent.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Sunday reiterated that no lockdown for the northern provicnes was being planned and not even bans on public events like concerts is being contemplated.
Chiang Mai's governor met with hotel operators and travel organizations on Dec. 1 and told them the same thing, La-iad said.
Then came the new outbreak.
Pallop said 5 percent of all bookings were canceled after Nov. 26. About 10 percent of group tours also backed out.
Nongyao Nateprasit, president of the Association of Northern Tourism Federation in Chiang Rai, said the outbreak came as a shock, tourism companies had just rolled out a plan to recover from the the pandemic when the new cases surfaced.
Occupancy rates in the province had hit 80-90 percent in the past two months.
Nongyao said, however, he's confident the crisis will be short-lived. If it is, the negative impact on northern tourism should be minimal.
Chiang Mai tourism groups also responded quickly to the new threat, launching a campaign to pay anyone who contracts Covid-19 in the city 100,000 baht if they get sick or a million baht if they die.
Phakkhanan Winitchai, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Chiang Mai Office, said he said Chiang Mai's tourism business is solid enough to survive the crisis, but only if there is no lockdown and if other provinces don't impose quarantines on returning travelers, as Udon Thani did last week.
It's not only hotels that are feeling the brunt of the new cluser, however. Four Chiang Rai pub-restaurants were ordered closed for up to two weeks for disinfection and cleaning after the infected returnees visited there.
The closure of Tawandang Saadsaengduen Chiang Rai, Unseen Chiang Rai, 8080 and the Library Chiang Rai is an effort to convince tourists they are safe when they reopen.
Even flower gardens are wilting a bit, said Sombun Chaipanya, owner of a garden in Mae Rim District, who added that the popular garden might not survive another lockdown.
Tour guides also have been affected, said Manop Sae Chia, president of the Chiang Mai Tourist Guide Association. Guides had finally seen their incomes rebound after adjusting their offerings to cater to Thai – not foreign – tourists. But Thais are more skittish than farangs when a small crisis hits.
The arrival of vaccination won't immediately revive Pattaya and Phuket businesses.
Business hopes in Thai tourist destinations, such as Pattaya and Phuket, that a soon-to-be-available vaccine will bring about a quick international recovery by mid-2021 are sadly premature. The logistics of vaccinating the necessary 70 percent of the Thailand's population of around 67 million people any time soon are overwhelming as they are throughout the world with its total population of 7.8 billion. Nothing on this scale has ever been tried in human history.
Firstly, the vaccines and vials to house them have to be manufactured in huge quantities and placed in cold storage. They then have to be transported to health centres which will need to be freeze-farms capable of having facilities to deal with temperatures of minus-70C. Then there's a list of roll-out priority groups: firstly front-line health workers, then vulnerable groups such as the elderly. And most vaccines currently on trial require a booster jab some weeks after the first. We could be looking at a time scale of at least two years to achieve even a modest herd immunity.
Although the available vaccines are perceived to have a 90 percent success rate in trials, that figure could drop over time or outside of clinical conditions. Nobody knows. Moreover, some people – for example many cancer patients – are unsuitable for vaccination and there is a growing anti-vax movement worldwide which is discouraging the whole notion of technology solving the problem. The fact that several US presidents feel the need to be on TV receiving their jabs tells you a great deal.
Thus, the mere availability of a vaccine does not automatically translate into life returning to normal. In Thailand, many victims of the pandemic – mostly found on airport arrival or in quarantine – are capable of community transmission but are also asymptomatic with uncertain consequences for the general population that could be with us for years. Previous experience suggests caution too. Millions died in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, but its descendant "seasonal flu" still kills every year. According to the United Nations, HIV has killed 12 million people worldwide including 600,000 as late as the calendar year 2019. Vaccination is a weapon but not a total solution.
Tracing and testing will remain anti-Covid defences for years to come.
Some optimistic commentators are predicting that travel to Thailand by mid-2021 will require only a passport and a certificate of Covid-19 vaccination. This is most unlikely as the virus will still be capable to being passed to the general population on a huge scale. By that time, the total number of Thais to have been vaccinated is likely to be no higher than 25 percent. Nobody is even guessing about foreign expats, mostly vulnerable through age, who doubtless will need to pay through the nose to be jabbed. Indeed, vaccination proof could be one more document to add to your documentary list to obtain the one year extension of stay from your local immigration bureau. Not now but later.
In reality, most immigration policy has already been set for the whole of 2021 and probably longer. Those wishing to enter Thailand seek the approval of Thai embassies abroad, provide a portmanteau of documents and possess coronavirus insurance. Some may also require general medical cover beyond Covid-19. However, it is possible that possession of a vaccination certificate might avoid compulsory quarantine on entry as already tentatively mooted by health ministry officials.
What is clear is that everyone needs to stock up on masks, not throw them away, observe social distancing and frequently wash hands. Tracing and testing still have a long future in Thailand with its leaky borders and the ever-present danger of migrants slipping into the country unobserved and untested. The numbers of foreign visitors to Thailand will rise modestly as more potential tourists learn about the mechanics of dealing with their local Thai embassy. But Pattaya's bars, massage parlours and fun palaces won't suddenly fill up because a vaccine has been found. This life-saving development is perhaps the end of the beginning. But sadly it's not the beginning of the end.
"Vaccines will be no magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis as nations gear up for a massive rollout to tackle surging infections."
Credit: PA
The warning of caution comes from the World Health Organisation on the day the US United States recorded a record number of Covid-19 cases for a second day in a row.
Presidential pretender Joe Biden is already describing the time ahead as a 'dark winter.'
The US recorded 235,272 new infections on Friday, the second daily record in a row for the world's worst-hit nation. That's if you believe their reporting, which we don't.
Large-scale public vaccinations are expected to roll out within weeks. But the WHO is predictably warning against 'vaccine complacency' saying that exists an erroneous belief that the Covid-19 crisis will be over after people are vaccinated.
In other words they are attempting to set up and prepare us for long-term restrictions and repression.
How long are you going to put up with this nonsense for?
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, says that not everyone will be able to receive the medicine early next year.
"Vaccination will add a major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job. Vaccines do not equal zero Covid."
The WHO also announced yesterday that 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested on humans… 13 have reached Phase 3 mass testing and headed towards approval.
Meanwhile in the US, the Centres for Disease Control is now recommending "universal face mask use" indoors for the first time and President-elect says he will "ask all Americans to wear a mask for 100 days".
Britain became the first Western country to approve a vaccine from the Pfizer/BioNTech candidate, for general use, adding additional pressure for other countries and pharmaceutical giants to swiftly follow suit.
Businesses and logistics companies specialising in cold storage and insulating containers are preparing for the Pfizer and BioNTech injection as their vaccine needs to be stored and transported at -70 degrees Celsius.
In the US, Belgium, France and Spain inoculations will begin later this month and January for the most vulnerable, then broader community groups.
In south east Asia, Singapore Airlines will prioritise freight capacity to ship the new vaccines and will conduct test flights soon to trial the transport into south east Asian hubs.
The airline says that Boeing 747-400 freighters, and some specially-purposed passenger aircraft, will be ready to boost capacity where needed.
And so now we can start to see where the money is being made out of all this BS.
Protests to continue or increase after Prayut's clearance: poll
Thais think politics will remain contentious and protests will continue at the same level or intensify after Prayut's clearance by Court, says Nida Poll. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Although Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been cleared by the Constitutional Court over his continued occupancy of a military residence after retirement, the country's politics will remain contentious, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on Dec 3-4 on 1,315 people aged 18 and above of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to compile their opinions on the country's politics after the Constitutional Court on Dec 2 found Gen Prayut not guilty of conflict of interest for continuing to live in a military residence after his retirement.
Asked what they thought the political situation would be like after the court's ruling, which enables Gen Prayut to remain as prime minister, the responses varied as follows:
- 27.38% said the situation would be more contentious and a cause for concern;
- 22.89% believed it would continue to be as contentious as before, but no great cause for concern;
- 17.64% said it would be even more contentious, but no great cause for concer;
- 17.49% believed it would be as contentious as before and a cause for concern;
- 6.85% thought the situation would become more calm;
- 6.46% said there was nothing to worry about;
- 1.29% had no answer or were not interested.
Asked whether they thought the People's Group would step up its protests since the court's ruling means its demands for Gen Prayut to resign have been stymied, the responses varied as follows:
- 35.13% believed the group would step up the protests, but would not be able to pressure the government to yield to its demands;
- 29.36% thought the protests would not be escalated and the group would not be able put pressure on the government;
- 12.17% said the group would step up its protests and the government would yield to its demands;
- 8.21% said the group would scale down its protests and would not be able to pressure the government to yield to its demands;
- 7.45% believed the group would not step up its protests, but would be able to make the government yield to its demands;
- 2.43% thought the group would scale down its protests but would be able to make the government yield to its demands;
Thailand to remain closed to mass tourism until March, travel bubble discussions ongoing
Image: FILE PHOTO: Empty chairs are seen on a beach in Phuket, Thailand March 11, 2020.
Thailand will remain closed to the vast majority of foreign tourists until at least the second quarter of 2021.
Last week, Pipat Ratchakitprakan, Minister for Tourism and Sports told Thai media that Thailand's borders are likely to remain closed to foreign tourists until March next year.
Currently only a relatively small number of foreigners are eligible to enter Thailand.
These include business people such as technical experts, high level workers and those in the medical field, foreigners who are married to or a parent of a Thai national, property owners, retiree visa holders, Elite Card holders and those who enter Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa scheme - all of which have to undergo mandatory 14 day quarantine.
Minister Pipat also added that talks with so called 'low-risk' countries regarding the creation of travel bubbles remain ongoing.
Countries including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan had previously been mooted as possible travel bubble partners.
This week, the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce urged the Thai government to set up a travel bubble with China.
Narongsak Phutthaphrommongkhon, chief of the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said a pilot scheme should be introduced that would allow Chinese tourists from Guangzhou to travel to Phuket. Once the scheme would be proved successful, Thailand could then establish further travel bubbles with as many as 19 other Chinese provinces.
The prospect of Thailand's borders remaining closed to most foreigners until March will come as a further blow to Thailand's beleaguered tourism industry which this week was told not to expect the pre-coronavirus pandemic level of 40 million visitors to return to Thailand until 2024.
Govt allays lockdown fears despite new infections in northern provinces
A woman receives a Covid-19 swab test at a mobile test site in Muang district, Chiang Rai on Saturday. The province provided free tests for at-risk people who attended the same concert as an infected person who illegally entered the kingdom through natural channels.
The tourism and hospitality sector in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai continues to be one of the hardest hit by the latest surge of Covid-19 cases, making the outlook for economic recovery more precarious and difficult.
The Bangkok Post talks to people in these two northern provinces as they demand that authorities bring back their businesses during the imminent peak tourist season. The operators are doing so despite the resurgence of local infections brought upon by Thai returnees who were infected in Myanmar.
The World Health Organization (WHO) hailed Thailand as a success story for the way it handled the pandemic, which resulted in zero local transmissions during the first six months but on Nov 26, the long "clean sheet" ended when a 29-year-old Thai woman who had spent time in Myanmar illegally entered Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai through natural channels. After going shopping and visiting a bar and a cinema in the province, she later tested positive for Covid-19. On Friday, media outlets reported 17 new cases stemming from her -- three in Chiang Mai, nine in Chiang Rai and one each in Phayao, Phichit, Ratchaburi, Sing Buri and Bangkok.
ECONOMIC HICCUP IN CHIANG MAI
The resurgence of the virus is causing an economic recovery hiccup in Chiang Mai's rebounding tourism sector.
Before Nov 26, Chaing Mai had witnessed a 60–70% increase in tourists, according to Pallop Sae Jew, chairman of the Chiang Mai Tourism Industry Council. But it all began to change after the patient was discovered.
"About 5% of tourists have cancelled their trips to the province since the news about the infected 29-year-old," Mr Pallop said. "Luckily, over 90% of group tourists have not cancelled their trips."
He said most of the tourists who had cancelled were older people and employees who thought that visiting Chiang Rai would affect their work.
The province feared the cancellations would lead to a panic, so its tourism sector promptly rolled out a campaign to allay fears among visitors. The campaign pledged to offer 100,000 baht to anyone who contracted the virus in Chiang Mai, Mr Panlop said, adding it was also offering one million baht to relatives of those who died from the disease.
FEAR OF LOCKDOWN
Phakkhanan Winitchai, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Chiang Mai Office, said the situation in Chiang Mai province remained sound.
"The tourism [industry] in Chiang Mai will not be affected even if lockdowns are not implemented," Ms Phakkhanan said, adding that the tourism industry could be hurt by mandatory quarantine measures.
Ms Phakkhanan said it was too early to conclude how significant the impact of lockdown measures would be because the number of travel cancellations was less than 10%.
Regarding the province's monitoring and response measures, there are about 600–700 SHA-certified tourism outlets in Chiang Mai, second only to Bangkok and Phuket.
Businesses severely affected by the pandemic had recovered by 50–60% with tourism growth in November being higher than the same month last year, Ms Phakkhanan said.
La-iad Bungsrithong, president of the Northern Thai Hotels Association, admitted she was alarmed after the first local case was reported.
Nevertheless, Ms La-iad said hotel reservations in the central area of the province were higher than 80% and she was confident tourists would not panic over the situation.
A timeline of the infected woman's travel history and government response would help shore up tourist confidence, Ms La-iad said.
The government's "We Travel Together" initiative, which is a tourism stimulus programme, combined with tourists coming during the peak season, contributed to an increase of 25–30% in hotel reservations in Chiang Mai in November compared to the same month last year, she said, noting also that some hotels were fully booked until next year.
RISK OF CLOSURES
Hotel cancellations may seem like a minor problem but other businesses that rely on tourists have also felt the impact of the discovery of the new cases.
"The first Covid-19 local spread was a shock to us," said Siriphong Phatthanakittikul, an executive of a karaoke pub near Chiang Mai Airport.
"We had to close for two to three months with zero revenue until the situation improved.
"However, the last two days were quiet again with less than 10% of [expected] customers coming."
Mr Siriphong said people in Chiang Mai were anxious not to return to a lockdown so he urged everyone not to be complacent over the pandemic.
After the 29-year-old woman tested positive for Covid-19 in Chiang Mai, there were obviously fewer tourists in the province, he said.
The booming flower garden business also suffered from the cancellations, said Sombun Chaipanya, owner of a garden in Mae Rim district.
Flower gardens are a new popular attraction for tourists in Chiang Mai and Mr Sombun admitted he had seen many customers recently.
"I hope the situation does not get worse," he said. "If we have another lockdown, our businesses might not survive."
Manop Sae Chia, president of the Chiang Mai Tourist Guide Association, said tour guides were also affected by the crisis. He said the situation had improved as many travel agencies adapted to the Covid-19 situation and began catering to domestic tour arrangements. But they too are now affected by cancellations following the discovery of the new transmission.
He called on the authorities to quickly close border security loopholes, noting the tour guide business would not survive if the virus were allowed to spread again.
CHIANG RAI FEELS THE IMPACT
Nongyao Nateprasit, president of the Association of Northern Tourism Federation in Chiang Rai, said the province's tourism businesses had just started to roll out a plan to recover from the crisis when the new cases were reported.
"The new round of local cases was a shock but we still believe [the fear] will be short-lived," Ms Nongyao said.
"We are very concerned since Chaing Rai is adjacent to a country with a precarious Covid-19 situation."
Wirote Chaya, president of the Chiang Rai Hotels Association, called for a quick response from the government to stop the spread of Covid-19 and soothe concerns.
Before the 29-year-old woman was found to be infected, hotel reservations from local visitors were at 80–90% due to the start of the peak tourism season, he said.
"All hotels in the province have measures against Covid-19," Mr Wirote said. "There is currently no lockdown or 14-day quarantine [required] in Chiang Rai."
COMPLICIT OFFICIALS
Prachon Pratsakul, governor of Chiang Rai, said the province had stepped up measures along the border and threatened to take legal action against officers found guilty of being involved in aiding illegal entries into the kingdom.
He admitted that the discovery of the recent cases had worried local people but said: "I believe the government's Covid-19 measures can still sustain confidence in the country."
Police order tighter border controls; set to prosecute illegal returnees
Tanakorn Sangiam
BANGKOK (NNT) - A deputy national police chief has ordered related police units to impose more stringent border control measures to prevent illegal entry during the holidays, while urging officers to prosecute persons who have illegally returned from Myanmar, and brought the coronavirus with them.
A Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner General, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas has signed a directive to the Immigration Police Bureau and the Border Patrol Police to enhance their regulations against illegal entry into the country across national borders.
The directive calls for more personnel to be mobilized at checkpoints, with more attention given to natural border crossings, especially in areas of concern in the northern and southern regions.
The deputy police chief has ordered officers to be on high alert during the New Year holidays, where the volume of people traveling may help facilitate illegal entry.
He has instructed police officers to prosecute persons with COVID-19 who have illegally returned to the country via natural borders, with charges ranging from violation of the Emergency Decree, violation of the Disease Control Act, and violation of the Immigration Act, through to concealment of information.
Provincial Police Region 5 will be pursuing cases against Thai women who illegally crossed the Thailand-Myanmar border to work despite the border closure, once they are fully recovered from the virus or have completed their quarantine with negative tests.
Police officers will be informing these women of the charges of illegal entry into the kingdom, and failure to comply with disease control protocols from the provincial communicable diseases committee.
Among the women, three of them have been admitted for treatment at Nakornping Hospital in Chiang Mai, with others in hospitals in Chiang Rai and Phayao.
Extra information concerning alleged irregularities inside Thai Airways International (THAI) will be given to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Dec 14.
The information will be provided by a panel headed by Pol Gen Chanthep Sesavej, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, to examine factors that played a major part in landing the airline deep in debt.
The panel,set up by the Transport Ministry, has been divided into six sub-panels to look into various aspects of the alleged irregularities.
Pol Lt Gen Sarote Nimcharoen, the panel's deputy head, said it had submitted its findings to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Finance Ministry and the NACC.
The NACC then replied asking for additional information, Pol Lt Gen Sarote said, so the panel will duly testify before the anti-graft agency tomorrow week.
The additional information will cover details of alleged irregularities, plus the names and positions of those involved. Pol Lt Gen Sarote said the NACC would also ask whether the panel ever took the case to the Criminal Court or filed complaints to other state agencies.
Khomkrit Wongsomboon, head of a sub-panel under the investigation team, submitted its findings to the Finance Ministry on Sept 1.
According to Mr Khomkrit, alleged major irregularities were found in various items, including air ticket sales, overtime payments to technicians and the purchase of Airbus A340 planes in 2003-2004.
THAI lost its status as a state-owned enterprise when the Finance Ministry reduced its stake in the airline to below 50%. The airline finally sought help after haemorrhaging money for years.
The Central Bankruptcy Court approved a recovery plan this year after the coronavirus pandemic grounded most of its fleet, adding to its woes. The airline is in debt to the tune of 332 billion baht, according to figures posted on the Stock Exchange of Thailand website.
