Thailand News - Corona - By Ola J.

måndag 17 januari 2022

Bangkok Post highlights 17/1

🇹🇭 THAI NEWS SUMMARY: The morning headlines for Monday.

♦️ Japan has announced new restrictions for travellers from Thailand entering the country, who must now undergo a 13-day quarantine on arrival. The new restriction will affect travellers coming from Thailand and 4 other countries.

♦️ The scale of Cobra Gold, an annual joint military exercise conducted by Thailand the United States and set this year for 20 February to 5 March, has been downsized to 1,700 troops to be drawn from the US and other countries.

♦️ Thailand has reported its first death from the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant, a Public Health Ministry official said on Sunday. The woman is a bed-ridden, Alzheimer patient.

♦️ An additional charge has been filed against five men who killed two tigers in Thong Pha Phum National Park, raising the number of charges they face to 11, national park chief Charoen Chaichon revealed on Saturday.

♦️ The House Public Health Affairs committee will have a discussion this Thursday, to clear up the confusion over whether cannabis is still regarded as an illegal narcotic or is now a herbal drug which can be cultivated legally.

♦️ The National Health Security Office (NHSO) has provided 1 billion baht in financial compensation to 9,551 people who have developed undesirable effects from Covid-19 vaccinations.

♦️ The fourth phase of the government's "Khon La Khrueng" co-payment subsidy scheme will be launched in the middle of next month to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and ease the cost of living.

♦️ The National Farmers Council is calling on the government to immediately compensate farmers who were forced to cull their pigs to contain the spread of African Swine Fever.

söndag 16 januari 2022

Japan sets 13-day quarantine for arrivals from Thailand. Japan allows only people with permanent residence in Japan, diplomats and people with humanitarian reasons to enter the country. Tourists are not allowed in. Bangkok Post

Japan sets 13-day quarantine for arrivals from Thailand

Passersby wearing protective face masks walk on a street in Tokyo on Saturday. (Reuters photo)

Air travellers arriving in Japan from Thailand and four other countries must enter quarantine for 13 days starting Monday.

The Thai ambassador to Japan said all arrivals from Thailand will be subject to quarantine for three days at accommodation arranged by Japanese authorities after they enter the country. They have to stay at home or another location for 10 more days, it added.

The measures will come into force on Monday and also apply to arrivals from India, Nepal, Mexico and the Maldives.

Thailand and four other countries have been added to the list of countries experiencing an Omicron outbreak by the Japanese government.

Since Jan 15, entrants from all other countries must undergo 10-day quarantine, instead of the previously-required 14 days.

Japan allows only people with permanent residence in Japan, diplomats and people with humanitarian reasons to enter the country. Tourists are not allowed .

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Thailand’s ‘Tom Yum Goong’ declared one of world’s 20 best soups - Pattaya Mail / CNN / NNT

Thailand's 'Tom Yum Goong' declared one of world's 20 best soups

January 16, 2022

Other soups that made to the list alongside Tom Yum Goong are Japan's Tonkotsu Ramen, Indonesia's Soto Ayam, and Myanmar's Mohinga.

CNN Travel, the website that ranked Thailand's Masaman Curry the most delicious dish in the world in 2021 from 50 best foods around the world, has just named the Land of Smiles' Tom Yum Goong one of twenty best soups in the world based on its global popularity.

Also on the list alongside Tom Yum Goong are Japan's Tonkotsu Ramen, Indonesia's Soto Ayam, and Myanmar's Mohinga. (NNT)

Business leaders continue to push for Pattaya to be designated a tourist “sandbox,” despite little interest in doing so by national health authorities. But the CCSA has shown no indication they will restore Pattaya’s sandbox status, especially since Chonburi continues to lead the nation in new daily Covid-19 cases. Pattaya Mail

Pattaya businesses continue long-shot push for 'sandbox'

Pattaya MJanuary 16, 2022

The CCSA has shown no indication they will restore Pattaya's sandbox status, especially since Chonburi continues to lead the nation in new daily Covid-19 cases.

Business leaders continue to push for Pattaya to be designated a tourist "sandbox," despite little interest in doing so by national health authorities.

Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Boonanan Pattanasin – who also is a Pattaya city councilman – met Jan. 14 with Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome to renew his proposal to allow foreign tourists to arrive in Pattaya for seven days and undergo two coronavirus tests before traveling elsewhere.

Boonanan said the city's hotel industry is gearing up to offer "hotel isolation" services, as is happening in Phuket, which would allow those who test positive for Covid-19 to remain in their hotel rooms if they have only mild symptoms. The current alternative requires them to be either hospitalized or sent to a "hospitel" – converted hotel operating as a quarantine center.

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Dec. 21 canceled 16 of 17 "sandboxes," including Chonburi, as the omicron coronavirus wave hit. This month islands in Surat Thani and Phangna, plus Krabi Province, were added as sandboxes.

PBTA President Boonanan Pattanasin said the city's hotel industry is gearing up to offer "hotel isolation" services, as is happening in Phuket.

But the CCSA has shown no indication they will restore Pattaya's sandbox status, especially since Chonburi continues to lead the nation in new daily Covid-19 cases.

Chonburi on Saturday reported 525 new coronavirus cases, 193 of which were in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya. That total is the lowest reported in two weeks but may be due to slow weekend reporting.

The other hurdle blocking Chonburi's sandbox is the inability to control the movement of sandboxed tourists. They are supposed to remain in the area for a week, but it's virtually impossible to enforce that. Other sandboxes, such as Phuket or Koh Tao, are islands with easy access control.

Boonanan continues to falsely insist that the Mor Chana smartphone app tourists must install will "alert authorities" if a tourist leaves the area. In fact, the app sends no alerts. It simply registers a tourist's phone and tracks their movements. The government can then access the Mor Chana system to tap into the phone's GPS chip to determine the user's current location.

A tourist would not be tracked until they had already left the area, as continues to happen with the other sandboxes, including a Russian tourist who fled Phuket Friday.

🇹🇭 Thai News Reports: In a recent Twitter poll. Richard Barrow

🇹🇭 Thai News Reports: In a recent Twitter poll, 74% of the respondents said that they would keep quiet and self isolate at home if they tested positive with an ATK self-testing kit. 3,404 people voted in the poll.

What about you? For myself, I would inform health authorities and get an RT-PCR test even with mild symptoms. I'm not going to gamble on my health. I know too many people who went from flu-like symptoms to infection in their lungs. I certainly don't want "long covid". Of course, I would prefer to do home isolation if my symptoms remain mild. But I would want to get checked out by the professionals first and not take the advice of some random strangers on social media that said it's only mild and nothing to worry about.

Thailand News - Corona - By Ola J. - Palmtree