onsdag 19 januari 2022

🔴 #COVID19 update on Wednesday: ⬆️ 7,122 new cases ⬇️ 12 deaths ⬇️ 81,602 in care. Richard Barrow

tisdag 18 januari 2022

Cabinet approves visa changes to woo wealthy foreigners. The cabinet on Tuesday approved visa changes intended to attract affluent foreigners for lengthy stays, targeting the rich, retirees, remote workers and skilled professionals. Bangkok Post

Cabinet approves visa changes to woo wealthy foreigners

Travellers arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan. (File photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

The cabinet on Tuesday approved visa changes intended to attract affluent foreigners for lengthy stays, targeting the rich, retirees, remote workers and skilled professionals.

The purpose is to increase investment in the country and boost the economy.

Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the new regulations were in two draft ministerial announcements submitted by the Interior Ministry and the Labour Ministry.

They target foreigners with enormous wealth, wealthy pensioners, foreigners who want to work remotely from Thailand, and highly skilled professionals.

The Interior Ministry proposals provide for long-term residence (LTR) visas, each for up to four family members including children up to 20 years old. The Board of Investment will set the qualifications of the applicants.

The visas will be valid for five years and renewable for up to five years. The total validity period is capped at 10 years. Visa holders will pay an annual fee of 10,000 baht and will report their residential address once a year.

After receiving the visa, the foreigners can apply for work permits.

They can request a change in the type of visa afterwards, in compliance with the rules of the Immigration Bureau.

The other change is from the Labour Ministry, Ms Rachada said.

It will allow foreigners to start working right away after filing their work permit requests, without having to wait for their work permits.

If they have employers, their work permits will be valid as long as their employment contracts last, but not more than five years. The work permits can be extended to meet their employment contracts, for up to five years at a time.

Foreigners who have their own business can seek work permits for up to five years and the permits can be renewed for up to five years each time.

Violation of any regulations under the ministerial announcements will result in cancellation of the visas and work permits.

Ms Rachada said the new visa regulations need to be formally announced by the two cabinet ministers. The prime minister wanted that to be soon.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his ministry would also propose to the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration on Jan 20 to ease disease controls for relaxed lifestyles and resume registration for visitors through the Test & Go entry scheme next month if local and overseas situations were promising. สำนักข่าวไทย อสมท / TNA

Health Ministry Plans to Lower COVID Alert to Level 3

18 January 2022 16:33

BANGKOK, Jan 18 (TNA) – The Public Health Ministry will propose lowering COVID-19 alert from Level 4 to Level 3 and relaxed restrictions as the disease's situation is stable.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his ministry would also propose to the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration on Jan 20 to ease disease controls for relaxed lifestyles and resume registration for visitors through the Test & Go entry scheme next month if local and overseas situations were promising.

Besides, the Public Health Ministry was considering introducing Sandbox provinces in all regions but would postpone the reopening of entertainment venues including pubs and bars because they would otherwise pose risks of COVID-19 transmissions, he said.

Meanwhile, Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University, said that the Omicron variant caused about 90% of COVID-19 infections in the country over the past month. The variant spread fast and would replace all other variants within this month, he said. (TNA)

An assistant minister at the Prime Minister’s Office said his royalist group was successful in gathering one million names for a petition calling for Amnesty International to leave Thailand. He said his royalist group had already gathered one million “names”, he did not specify how they were gathered, and they are in the process of checking these names for validity. Thai Enquirer

Royalists say they've gathered one million signatures to call for Amnesty International to leave

January 18, 2022

An assistant minister at the Prime Minister's Office said his royalist group was successful in gathering one million names for a petition calling for Amnesty International to leave Thailand.

He said his royalist group had already gathered one million "names", he did not specify how they were gathered, and they are in the process of checking these names for validity.

He said they would hand in the names to related agencies, such as the interior ministry's Department of Provincial Administration, to begin an official investigation on Amnesty International Thailand.

The group wanted the NGO's license to be lifted if the organisation was found guilty of supporting the pro-democracy movement.

"NGOs that are supporting the three-hoof mob to destroy the country's stability and abolish the royal institution are extremely dangerous," Seksakol Atthawong, better known as Rambo Isaan, told reporters on Tuesday.

The "three-hoof mob" is what royalists and pro-government supporters call the latest student-led pro-democracy movement which began in 2020.

The movement uses the three-finger salute, representing freedom, equality and solidarity, as one of their symbols to call for the reformation of the royal institution, amendment of the junta-drafted charter and the resignation of Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha.

"The majority of the people in this country that are willing to protect the country and the institution, they will never allow these organisation to have a foothold on this land because they will use it to create unrest within the society," he said.

Omicron takes over from Delta as dominant strain in Thailand. Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan, vice-chair of the Public Health Commission, agreed that Omicron was taking over as it has infected 97.1 per cent of patients in the country. Only 2.8 per cent have been infected with Delta, he said, citing a study conducted by Ramathibodi Hospital's Centre for Medical Genomics from January 3 to 16. He added that the number of Omicron patients would continue to rise gradually in Thailand and hit a peak in three months before falling. The Nation

Omicron takes over from Delta as dominant strain in Thailand

Omicron is fast becoming the dominant Covid-19 variant in Thailand instead of Delta, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

He pointed out that it took Delta two to three months to replace Alpha as the dominant strain, but it took only a month for Omicron to take over from Delta.

Omicron takes over from Delta as dominant strain in Thailand

He explained that most Omicron cases were found among foreigners in December before it spread among locals in January. He was citing a study conducted by Chulalongkorn University's Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology.

Omicron takes over from Delta as dominant strain in Thailand

"Omicron will become the dominant strain in Thailand this month based on the principles of evolution," he said.

Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan

Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan, vice-chair of the Public Health Commission, agreed that Omicron was taking over as it has infected 97.1 per cent of patients in the country. Only 2.8 per cent have been infected with Delta, he said, citing a study conducted by Ramathibodi Hospital's Centre for Medical Genomics from January 3 to 16.

He added that the number of Omicron patients would continue to rise gradually in Thailand and hit a peak in three months before falling.

"I hope there is no new Covid-19 variant that spreads faster than Omicron in the future," he said

Thailand News - Corona - By Ola J. - Palmtree

onsdag 19 januari 2022

🔴 #COVID19 update on Wednesday: ⬆️ 7,122 new cases ⬇️ 12 deaths ⬇️ 81,602 in care. Richard Barrow

tisdag 18 januari 2022

Cabinet approves visa changes to woo wealthy foreigners. The cabinet on Tuesday approved visa changes intended to attract affluent foreigners for lengthy stays, targeting the rich, retirees, remote workers and skilled professionals. Bangkok Post

Royalists say they've gathered one million signatures to call for Amnesty International to leave

Omicron is fast becoming the dominant Covid-19 variant in Thailand instead of Delta, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Top 10 Covid19 provinces. The Thaiger / CCSA

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