The average price of beer costs more in Bangkok than in Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin, a new study has revealed.
According to the World Beer Index 2021, the average price of a 330ml bottle of beer in Bangkok is USD$4.82,approximately 149 THB.
The World Beer Index from Expensivity calculated the average price of a bottle of beer in 58 countries bought from either a supermarket or a hotel bar.
Thailand-particularly Bangkok- was ranked in 37th place overall with beer prices ranging from $0.94 (29 THB) in supermarkets to $8.70 (269 THB) in hotel bars.
Out of the other ASEAN countries to feature in the study, only Singapore was found to be more expensive than Thailand, with the average price of a beer costing $5.17.
This was followed by Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur-$4.74), the Philippines (Manilla-$4.82) and Indonesia (Jakarta-$3.17).
South Africa's capital cities Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town have the cheapest beer with an average price of $1.68. The study said the culture of bulk buying beer in South Africa contributed to its low average price.
Following South Africa is Ukraine (Kyiv), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Saravejo), Ghana (Acra), Tunisia (Tunis), Georgia (Tbilisi), Chile (Santiago), and Czech Republic (Prague).
Meanwhile, Qatar (Doha) emerged as the city with the most expensive beer price tag with a whopping average of $11.26 per bottle. Football fans take note.
"A beer in Qatar is expensive. The mostly Muslim country introduced a 100% tax on alcohol imports ahead of the 2022 World Cup, and visitors need a special permit to drink alcohol," the report stated.
It is also worthing pointing out that there were a few notable exceptions to the study, such as Australia, New Zealand and Ireland (yes, Ireland!). How can you have a study on beer consumption without including the Irish?
Thai Airways disputes $7.4bn of aircraft lessor claims
Thai Airways planes parked at Suvarnabhumi airport (Reuters file photo)
Thai Airways International Plc is challenging some US$7.4 billion in claims from dozens of aircraft lessors and engine service provider Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, saying it is not liable for the monies because they concern future expenses and were incurred after the airline received bankruptcy protection from a Bangkok court.
Thailand's flag carrier, which is undergoing a court-supervised restructuring to trim debt and return to profit by raising fresh capital, is disputing around 192 billion baht ($6.3 billion) claimed by 48 lessors including BOC Aviation Ltd and SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, and another 33 billion baht that Rolls-Royce says it is owed for maintenance services, according to a copy of the debt rehabilitation plan seen by Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for Thai Airways declined to comment. Representatives from BOC Aviation, and Rolls-Royce and SMBC Aviation in Europe also declined to comment.
The disputed amount is more than half of Thai Airways' total liabilities of 410 billion baht. Yet an amicable settlement with creditors is key for the airline to stave off bankruptcy.
The carrier will require 30 billion baht by the middle of this year to resume its scheduled commercial services and pay for one-time employee separation costs, Acting President Chansin Treenuchagron said earlier this month.
Some 50 billion baht of fresh capital in total will be sought over the next two years, either through new shares or borrowings.
The Finance Ministry, Thai Airways' largest shareholder, has already backed the proposed restructuring, which also seeks to impose a three-year freeze on debt repayments, a waiver of unpaid interest on loans and the deferment of bond repayments for six years.
Thai Airways posted a record loss of $4.7 billion (144.6 billion baht) last year after most of its services were halted by border closures due to Covid-19. Accumulated losses and mounting debt turned the airline's equity negative prompting the Thai bourse to suspend its shares from trading last month. The stock fell 54% in 2020.
The carrier submitted the debt recast plan to the bankruptcy court on March 2 and expects creditors to vote on it on May 12.
Bondholders, although their repayments will be deferred, have not been asked to take any haircut on their principal. They are owed about 70 billion baht in total.
"Bondholders are very happy even though the repayment period will be extended for some time," said Somboon Sangrungjang, a senior lawyer at Kudun & Partners Ltd, which represents the bondholders.
But he added there will be "some disputes between Thai Air and other creditors".
Thai government to turn off tourism aid after cases of fraud
Industry calls for further help while lobbying to open up to vaccinated foreigners
BANGKOK -- Thailand's tourism industry faces another blow after the government shut the door on more domestic travel subsidies following revelations that many hotel operators had abused the system.
The Thai cabinet earlier this week turned down a proposal by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to extend the subsidy scheme called "We Travel Together" after many hotels and guesthouses were found to have defrauded authorities.
"We badly need the subsidy and the government should extend it as soon as possible, otherwise the tourism sector cannot be revived," Wassana Srikanchana, president of Hua Hin-Cha am Tourist Association told Nikkei Asia.
Under the "We Travel Together" scheme due to expire at the end of April, the government will pay for up to 40% of a hotel's room rate, to a maximum of 3,000 baht ($98), per night for six million Thais who have registered for the discount. The scheme was aimed at spurring domestic tourism to help offset the loss of foreign arrivals.
However, Thai authorities have found more than 500 cases of fraud. Some hotel operators and workers registered themselves on the scheme to get government funds for their property, without actual stays. Other hotels marked up their room rates to get the maximum subsidy. Some registered more rooms than they actually had -- in one case, a guesthouse with only 12 rooms registered itself as having 100 rooms.
"Such cheating tactics forced the government to not extend the project and order the TAT to instead come up with other strategies to help the tourism sector and close any loopholes that can be exploited," Anucha Burapachaisri, the government spokesperson, told reporters.
The tourism industry accounts for around 20% of the country's gross domestic product and generated around 3 trillion baht of revenue in 2019. Two-thirds of that total came from foreign tourists. However, the pandemic led countries to close their borders, causing a sharp drop in the number of foreign tourists in 2020 and forcing businesses to turn to domestic travelers.
But even the government's subsidies failed to inspire domestic tourists.
In the first 11 months of 2020, data from TAT showed that domestic tourists generated 428 billion baht in revenue, down 56% from the same period a year ago.
Wassana of the Hua Hin-Cha am Tourist Association said the government should focus on reducing the economic impact of the pandemic and seek ways to prevent fraud. "If there are cheating people, the government should find a way to tackle them and punish them. But do not slash a program that can benefit all of us," Wassana said.
Vorasit Pongkumpunt, a former president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, a popular island in the south, said the cabinet's decision to not extend the project made the situation even harder for hoteliers.
"It is around the time that hoteliers are planning to offer promotions to attract tourists," said Vorasit. "But the decision not to extend the scheme has thrown everyone, as tourists would rethink if they should travel now that prices are higher with no subsidy."
The industry is also calling for the country to reopen its doors to foreign tourists. Tourism and hospitality leaders, including chief executives of major hotel chains, have sent a petition to the government asking for the country to open up from July 1 to vaccinated travelers without quarantine requirements.
"As Thailand is starting to vaccinate its most vulnerable and its health care workers, we believe that now is the time to announce a firm and irreversible date to reopen its borders. This will give confidence to international travelers and encourage them to book a trip to Thailand," said the open letter.
The government plans to achieve economic growth of 4% this year, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said yesterday.
However, he said the outcome depended on several factors, including local investments, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development project, the economic stimulus schemes and the reopening of the country.
Mr Arkhom said the US government's US$1.9-trillion (58.3 trillion baht) coronavirus relief package should also benefit the Thai economy.
The minister said the economy appeared to be on the road to recovery since plumbing the depths last year, but economic activity was still curtailed following the second virus outbreak in December.
He said external factors would largely determine when the economy fully recovers because the country was still missing revenue from tourism and exports were only slowly picking up.
"By the fourth quarter of next year, income from tourism will flow in, both inbound and outbound," said Mr Arkhom. "We need to promote outbound tourism too because it is related to the aviation industry.
"I think tourism will increase later this year as there will be a rollout of vaccine passports."
The minister said there were no plans to cut the 20% corporate tax ceiling as tax revenue was the government's main source of income and the tax ceiling was low compared with neighbouring countries.
He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had praised Thailand's economic stimulus schemes and thought they would remain until the country was fully over the pandemic, which is expected to take two years.
The IMF projects Thailand's economic growth at 2.6%, slightly below the ministry's own forecast of 2.8%.
Meanwhile, the ministry is finalising the details of the "Rao Phook Pun" (We're all connected) scheme to help one million low-income civil servants.
IATA Travel Pass consists of a mobile application that helps travelers to store and manage their verified certifications for COVID-19 tests or COVID-19 vaccines. This will be important for governments that are likely to require either verified testing or vaccination proof as a condition of international travel during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The IATA Travel Pass will be more secure and efficient than current paper processes used to manage health requirements. This will be important given the potentially enormous scale of testing or vaccine verifications that will need to be securely managed.
The trials of IATA Travel Pass by THAI and THAI Smile aim to increase passenger confidence to travel, enabling a quick recovery for global aviation and the tourism industry around the world.
An overwhelming number of people agree with harsher punishments for drunk drivers who repeat the offence, a survey carried out by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University found.
The Suan Dusit Poll survey, which was conducted on 2,152 participants last month, found that 93.96% of all respondents said there is a need to apply tougher penalties against repeat offenders, said the manager for the Academic Centre for Road Safety, Tanapong Jinwong, on Monday.
Dr Tanapong was speaking at a seminar titled "Drunk-driving Accidents and Repeated Offences", which was co-hosted by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth).
The poll also found that 87.45% of the respondents believe repeat offenders should be jailed without the possibility of probation.
Out of the 2,152 respondents surveyed, 56.73% said they had seen drunk-driving accidents.
"That's why they asked state agencies to work with the private sector to come up with urgent measures to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving," Dr Tanapong said.
Rungarun Limlahaphan, director of Social Risk Factor Control of ThaiHealth, said her organisation has been campaigning to prevent drunk-driving accidents since 2003.
According to figures obtained from the Justice Ministry's Department of Probation, 17,584 drunk drivers were placed on court-ordered probation in April 2019, but the numbers dropped to 550 in April last year, as the Covid-19 pandemic brought about strict curbs which included a night-time curfew, a ban of alcohol distribution and consumption, and closure of entertainment venues.
Ms Rungarun said roadside breath testing is also key to reducing road accidents.
At the event, Songkran Pakchokdee, director of the Stopdrink Network Office, took note of campaigns promoting responsible drinking.
Citing foreign research, he said such campaigns won't help mitigate excessive drinking, as they are mostly marketing ploys designed by alcoholic beverage producers to hike sales volume. – Bangkok Post
The Thai new year of Songkran is being extended to 6 days of water fights according to the Cabinet after approving the holiday to run from April 10 to 15.
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Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome says details of the holiday will be sent to the Centre For Covid-19 Situation Administration for approval as he says Songkran participants will probably be allowed to take part in the water fight activities after daily reported Covid cases in the Kingdom have dropped to double-digits.
The culture minister says there is talk of setting up so-called "water play" areas that would allow the water fights and splashes to go on with a Covid-19 check-in at the entrance.
The Pattaya News says face shields, goggles and raincoats could be required in the splash zones, but the idea is still being discussed.
The "water play" zones are likely to be set up in areas with major events with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha noting that people will need to abide by social distancing rules during the festival.
Itthiphol said the government is paying more attention to the number of people at event venues, and will find a balance between helping the economy and the prevention of new clusters of Covid-19 which could spread the disease in communities.
Late last year, the Thai Cabinet added 8 holidays to the 2021 calendar, including an extra day for Songkran. The move was part of an effort to promote domestic tourism and stimulate the economy which was battered by the pandemic.
A government spokesperson confirmed the additional holidays with the Associated Press. The Cabinet set 4 national holidays and 4 regional holidays detailed below:
Friday, February 12 for the Chinese New Year
Monday, April 12, adding a day to Songkran holiday from April 13-15
Tuesday, July 27 for substitution day for Buddhist Lent
Friday, September 24 to celebrate Mahidol Day which is in remembrance of Prince of Songkhla, Mahidol Adulyadej
Regional holidays
Friday, March 26 for Wai Phra That (Northern Thailand)
Monday, May 10 for Bun Bang Fai, known as the Rocket Festival (Northeastern Thailand)
Wednesday, October 6 for Sart Thai, a festival held on the 10th lunar month (Southern Thailand)
Thursday, October 21 for the End of Buddhist Lent (Central Thailand) – The Phuket News
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Thana Boonlert
May I see your vaccine passport? You will be asked to demonstrate proof of shots everywhere -- be it airports, shops or events -- until the coronavirus outbreak is kept at bay. If you leaf through history, you will find their predecessors. In the past, travellers carried international certificates of vaccination to show at the port of entry when they visited yellow fever risk areas such as Africa and Latin America.
No sooner had the Covid vaccination campaign begun at the end of last month than Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered officials to look into the future use of vaccine passports. Last week, the national committee on communicable diseases gave the green light to the proposal for travel permits that show vaccination status. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said those who get two doses of Sinovac's jab will be the first to receive vaccine certificates. In case they want to go abroad, they can use them to apply for one-year vaccine passports or yellow cards in print or digital format at a cost of 50 baht. However, whether authorities in other countries will accept them is another matter.
This came on the same day as China rolled out its own vaccine passport for its citizens to travel within and outside the country. It is being launched to promote economic recovery and cross-border travel, but there is no indication that authorities in other countries will accept the passports. The US, the UK and those in the European Union are considering similar permits.
The World Health Organization (WHO), however, warned that countries should not adopt them for international travel due to numerous concerns at present, including the fact that coronavirus vaccines are not available on an equitable basis. It previously issued a caution because there are unknowns about the efficacy of vaccination. In light of this, Life sat down to talk with researchers about its repercussions.
Into the unknown
Assoc Prof Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, director of the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Programme (Hitap), the semi-autonomous research unit under the Ministry of Public Health, and lecturer at the University of Toronto's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, said that while passports are official travel documents, certificates are much broader in that they may or may not have legal effects. They must be verified by relevant authorities before being accepted for travel arrangements.
"When people talk about passports, they should recognise the level of agreement among all the countries that need to be put in place. A certain type of agreement -- be it bilateral or multilateral -- is needed to operationalise them," she said.
Hitap has received funding from the National Research Council of Thailand to work on the project "Establishing Covid-19 Vaccination Policy Research and Decision Support Initiative in Asia (Coresia) and Regional Study on Immunity Passports".
At the time, people started asking questions about the benchmark for vaccine passports due to differences between vaccines in efficacy and changes in efficacy against new variants. Will we accept only some types of vaccines? Will other countries approve ours? Earlier this month, Gen Prayut said no conclusion has been reached that would guarantee the vaccine passport system would be effective when implemented at the international level.
Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, director of the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Programme (Hitap). Thana Boonlert
Wanrudee said these are questions for the entire community. She avoided using the term "benchmark" because there are many uncertainties about the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, vaccine research is a work in progress. However, she cited target product profiles published by the WHO in April last year. They highlight minimum and preferred requirements for Covid-19 vaccines. For example, the vaccine's duration of protection should be at least six months, but preferably a lifetime.
"At any given point in time, we can only make the decision based on the amount of information we have. We are working with our partner countries to propose the minimum data set for what passports should contain, for example, vaccine name, number of doses, and date of inoculation. It may not be the final decision. Everything is changing really quickly. If the vaccine is approved by the FDA, I can see why that [criterion] is very helpful," she said.
Sarin KC, the project associate of Hitap, explained that vaccine efficacy breaks down into three parts -- reducing susceptibility, severity and transmission. However, at this stage, researchers need more information, especially on transmission.
"We can't say that having a vaccine passport will actually prevent someone from transmitting Covid-19. Moreover, it is not the job of the vaccine passport, but the vaccine," he said.
Sarin also drew attention to legal and ethical issues because vaccine passports can discriminate against those who are not currently on the priority list of vaccination, including a large proportion of the working population, migrants and informal workers. Moreover, the WHO does not recommend children under 16, pregnant women or those with certain medical conditions for inoculation until further evidence is gathered. It may lead to social stratification between the haves and have-nots.
"If vaccine passports are implemented within each country, will some [unvaccinated] people be denied access to sporting events or temples? These are hypothetical situations. We don't want people to be handicapped or disabled, not in a literal sense, in terms of freedom," he said.
However, the adoption of vaccine passports at the domestic level is now under way. With the world's highest Covid-19 vaccination rate, Israel has been launching green passes for those who have had two doses of vaccine or recovered from coronavirus infection since the country eased restrictions on Feb 21. Shops welcome the general public, but leisure facilities like concerts, gyms, swimming pools and theatres are only open to those who have green passes.
Wanrudee added that despite concerns, we should not dismiss vaccine passports, but the point is the public should be informed of unintended consequences. It comes down to how much risk they are willing to take on the condition that they are informed. She said vaccine and vaccine passports are the "light at the end of the tunnel", but "we don't know how long it [the tunnel] is and nobody knows what is going to jump in before you arrive at the end".
Sarin KC, project associate of Hitap. Thana Boonlert
Vaccine rollout is key
Meanwhile, Somchai Jitsuchon, research director for inclusive development at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said inequalities in vaccine passports are not worrying if the mass vaccination campaign goes according to plan. It will build up 70% of herd immunity in people aged over 18 by the first quarter of next year. Young children will be vaccinated later because they are at lower risk.
"We will see the private sector import vaccines in the next two months, but they will be costly. Those who can't afford private jabs will raise questions. The point is how fast the government can distribute vaccines because private hospitals can import them in small numbers," he said.
The government has sought at least 63 million doses to cover half of Thailand's population by the end of this year. While Sinovac began shipping 2 million doses in February that will conclude in April, AstraZeneca will deliver 26 million doses from June to August and 35 million doses from September to December. The FDA is reviewing applications from Johnson & Johnson and Bharat Biotech Technology. The Ministry of Public Health plans to inject 10 million doses per month from June onwards. A total of 44,409 people in 13 provinces were vaccinated from Feb 28 to March 12.
Somchai, who serves on the board of directors at the National Vaccine Institute, said the import of vaccines by the private sector will speed up herd immunity and free up state-sponsored quotas for others. Even those who are not priority groups because they don't live in at-risk provinces and tourist destinations will enjoy benefits from an overall improvement in economic outlook. Vaccine passports will ease restrictions and help resume normal activities -- especially international travel -- because it will waive or shorten quarantine or remove some requirements for foreign visitors.
"Thailand will benefit tremendously because it is betting on tourism. For instance, Phuket insisted that quarantine should be scrapped, but the government may not agree to its demand for now. If there is no accident, vaccine passports will likely be in use," he said.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Thailand Situation Report – 15 March 2021
• 78 new cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were announced by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand bringing the total number of cases to date to 27,005. One new death was reported today.
• Of the cases reported in Thailand, 97.2% (26,234) have recovered, 0.3% (87) have died, and 2.5% (684) are receiving treatment or are in isolation (484 are in conventional hospitals and 200 in field hospitals).
• The 78 laboratory-confirmed cases reported today include 4 individuals who arrived recently in Thailand and were diagnosed in quarantine facilities.
15 cases detected through the routine surveillance system linked to occupational risk, visiting crowded places or contact with confirmed cases in Tak (5 Thais, 4 Myanmar nationals), Samut Sakhon (2 Thais, 1 Myanmar national), Bangkok (1 Thai), Samut Prakan (1 Thai), and Suphan Buri (1 Thai).
59 cases identified through active case finding, in Pathum Thani (1 Lao national), Samut Sakhon (4 Thais, 32 Myanmar nationals) and Bangkok (22 under case investigation). This brings the cumulative total in this group to 15,024 cases.
• Of 74 cases acquired in Thailand, 39 were detected in Samut Sakhon, 23 in Bangkok and 12 in other provinces.
• During the new wave (between 15 December 2020 and 15 March 2021), 22,768 confirmed cases have been reported, of which 6,587 were detected through the routine surveillance system, 15,024 through active case finding, and 1,157 are individuals who entered Thailand from other countries. At present, 22,057 have recovered, 684 are receiving treatment, and 27 have died.
No new cases have been reported in 63 provinces in the past week.
• The 14 provinces reporting more than 50 cumulative cases in the new wave are Samut Sakhon (16,727), Bangkok (1,140), Pathum Thani (714), Chonburi (657), Rayong (584), Samut Prakan (367), Chanthaburi (221), Nonthaburi (195), Tak (183), Ang Thong (125), Nakhon Pathom (123), Samut Songkhram (71), Ayutthaya (58), and Phetchaburi (53).
PM and 15 ministers get vaccinated before Cabinet meeting
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and 15 ministers received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Santi Maitree Building in the Government House complex before a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The 15 ministers are:
- Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Deputy PM and Energy Minister
- General Anupong Paochinda, Interior Minister
- Songsak Thongsri, Deputy Interior Minister
- Nipon Boonyamanee, Deputy Interior Minister
- Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Finance Minister
- Santi Promphat, Deputy Finance Minister
- Saksayam Chidchob, Transport Minister
- Athirath Rattanaseth, Deputy Transport Minister
- Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, Tourism and Sports Minister
- Suchart Chomklin, Labour Minister
- Varavuth Silpa-archa, Natural Resources and Environment Minister
- Anucha Nakasai, Minister at Office of the Prime Minister
- General Chaicharn Changmongkol, Deputy Defence Minister
- Mananya Thaiseth, Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister
- Veerasak Wangsuppakitkoson, Deputy Commerce Minister
To avoid overcrowding, no media were allowed in the Santi Maitree Building during the inoculation, but people can watch it live via Facebook @ThaigovSpokesman from 8.30am.
Thailand to start using AstraZeneca vaccine Tuesday after delay over safety
FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "Astra Zeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo, in this illustration photo taken March 14, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will start using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday after a brief delaydue to concerns over its safety, officials said, with the prime minister and his cabinet due to be the first to receive it.
Natreeya Thaweewong, director of the spokesperson's office of government house, made the announcement about the inoculations, which were delayed from Friday, in a chat group with media on Monday.
Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had earlier on Monday said the AstraZeneca vaccine, over which there have been reports in Europe of sporadic blood clots, would be given to the cabinet on Tuesday if cleared by local health experts.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Orathai Sriring; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Ed Davies)
