Month: April 2021

The Prime Minister has decided to step up remedying issues to do with the Green Line rail extension between Bearing and Samut Prakan and from Mo Chit to Saphan Mai to Khu Khot, which have been pending operation and maintenance payments by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for 3 years and 9 months.

Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said his approach to the issue has placed consideration of the public at the forefront. He indicated he will discuss the matter with the Cabinet before proceeding with negotiations, saying he wishes to avoid any impact on the public. He urged all relevant sides to work together to resolve the complex issue.

The PM also asked that public and private agencies work together to avoid leaving the matter to a future administration and saddling citizens with high costs.

“I understand the trouble and I’ve placed public hardship at the center of my consideration of how to proceed. What we have to do now is bring this matter up in the Cabinet for discussion so that we can continue with negotiations we previously began. I have to think of the effect all this will have on the citizens and what they need, we need a remedy. Everyone involved must work together to find a resolution because sometimes these matters become complicated and need a concerted effort. Sometimes solutions result in more issues so it is important the government chooses the right course of action, so that it is not saddling its successor with more problems. I ask that the public and private sectors and businesses to come together to move this along as soon as possible at a cost that is not too high for the public”

September 1st of this year will mark the end of a 60-day period provided by the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC) to the BMA to make its operation and maintenance payments for Extension 1 of the Saphan Taksin-Bangwa Green Line’s On Nut-Bearing section and Extension 2, Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot and Bearing-Samut Prakan. The payment has been pending for 3 years and 9 months since April of 2017 and is currently worth 9.602 billion baht. The BMA also owes 20.768 billion baht for the procurement of electrical and machinery systems. Together, the two payments equal about 30 billion baht. BTSC is ready to take legal action but will not suspend service of its trains at this time.

The Royal Thai Police Office will set up at least 1,200 road checkpoints to curb drink-driving, while local police will control Covid-19 spreaders, during the Songkran festival next week.

National police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk said the goal was to reduce traffic accidents during the holiday by at least 5% from figures recorded over the last three years.

He said In addition to traffic safety, measures will be implemented to prevent and contain the spread of Covid-19 during the holiday. This is because there might be infected people trying to enter the country illegally to work in tourist destinations or night entertainment venues.

Pol Gen Suwat reiterated previous warnings that a ban on water splashing and foam parties would be enforced for the sake of public health. However, the traditional rod nam dam hua (seeking blessings from the elderly) ceremonies are exempt, although participants must strictly follow health safety measures.

Thai veterinarians have successfully removed one big gallstone weighing 1.7kg gallstone from an elephant, a unique world record for veterinarians.

The Faculty of Veterinary at Kasetsart University (Kamphaengsaen Campus) has announced the successful surgery of Sai Thong, a 50-year-old female elephant, which is only the second instance in the world of a gallstone being removed from an elephant.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Nikorn Thongthip said the faculty had performed a similar surgery for the first time on Kham Moon, a 45-year-old male elephant. However, the case of Sai Thong is different, as In the case of Kham Moon, the faculty removed over 162 small gallstones weighing a total of 8kg.

He said the success of this operation is not only a big step for Thailand’s veterinary circles, but is also an important milestone in elephant treatment among the global veterinarian community, adding that many foreign institutes have asked the faculty to share the knowledge on treating large animals with other veterinarians around the world.

The Transport Ministry has launched the “Near to Home and Far from Home” campaign to reduce traffic congestion during this year’s Songkran Festival, targeting people living within 300 kilometres from Bangkok

Minister Saksayam Chidchob said the idea is to have motorists manage their travelling days, instead of all travelling on the same day, which leads to heavy traffic congestion.

The campaign asks for the cooperation of outbound travellers, who will travel within 300 kilometres from Bangkok, to start outbound travelling on April 11-12 and travelling back on April 15-16.

Mr Saksayam said the measure aims to mitigate the capital’s traffic volume during peak periods by hoping to reduce outbound travellers by 75,800 cars each day and inbound travellers by 48,300 cars each day.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is pleased to announce that the Royal Thai Government has endorsed issuing a COVID-19 vaccination certificate in the kingdom, while approving shorter quarantine periods for international arrivals. Both measures take effect from today until further notice.

Published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 31 March, 2021, Thailand’s National Communicable Disease Committee has announced terms and conditions on issuing a COVID-19 vaccination certificate, in paper or electronic form, for people who have received two required doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand. However, the vaccine must be approved and registered with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Thailand, or approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be eligible for issuance of the vaccination certificate.

Also, published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 31 March, 2021, Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has announced the latest guidelines on COVID-19 prevention measures and quarantine requirements for international arrivals involving the *11 groups of people currently permitted to enter Thailand.

Quarantine will be reduced to 7 days for international arrivals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a vaccine, approved, and registered with the MoPH or approved by the WHO, no less than 14 days before the travelling date. However, they must be from countries with no mutated strain of SAR-CoV-2 virus as announced and constantly updated by the MoPH.

The following vaccines are accepted (as of 31 March, 2021): ARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (CoronaVac) by Sinovac (2 doses needed); AZD1222 by AstraZeneca/Oxford (2 doses needed); AZD1222 by SK BIOSCIENCE – AstraZeneca/Oxford (2 doses needed); BNT162b2/CORMIRNATY – Tozinameran (INN) by Pfizer/BioNTech (2 doses needed); Covishield (ChAdOx1_nCoV19) by the Serum Institute of India (2 doses needed); Ad26.COV2.S by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (1 dose needed), and mRNA-1273 by Moderna (2 doses needed).

Vaccinated international arrivals who are unable to present a valid vaccine certificate, an original paper or a print-out of an online vaccine certificate, to the International Port Health Control at the port of arrival, will be subjected to no less than a 10-day quarantine.

The quarantine period will be reduced from 14 days (15 nights) to 10 days (11 nights) for international arrivals from countries with no mutated strain of SAR-CoV-2 virus who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have not completed the full vaccination.

The current 14-day quarantine period remains in place for people arriving from the 11 countries with SAR-CoV-2 virus mutations and variants as announced by the MoPH (as of 31 March, 2021); namely, Botswana; Cameroon; Congo; Ghana; Kenya; Mozambique; Rwanda; South Africa; Tanzania; Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In order to be eligible to enter in Thailand, international arrivals still need to have all of their advance arrangements in good order for arrival and entry. These include a Certificate of Entry (COE) issued by the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate; a COVID-19 health insurance policy with a minimum coverage of US$100,000; confirmation of Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) hotel booking, and a medical certificate with a RT-PCR laboratory result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before departure. Travellers are recommended to enquire at the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate in their home country for more details.

During quarantine in Thailand, foreigners are required to undergo an RT-PCR test on Days 5-6 for those under a 7-day quarantine. For a 10-day quarantine, two tests are required on Days 3-5 and Days 9-10. For a 14-day quarantine, three tests are required on the day of arrival, Days 6-7, and Days 12-13.

All arrivals are subject to be traced by a tracking system for a specified period.

*The *11 groups of people currently permitted to enter Thailand.

(1) Thai nationals.

(2) Persons with exemption or persons being considered, permitted or invited by the Prime Minister, or the head of responsible persons accountable for resolving state of emergency issues to enter the Kingdom, pertaining to necessity. Such consideration, permission, or invitation may be subject to specific conditions and time limits.

(3) Persons on diplomatic or consular missions or under International organisations, or representatives of foreign governments performing their duties in the Kingdom, or persons of other international agencies as permitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pertaining to necessity, including their spouse, parents, or children.

(4) Carriers of necessary goods, subject to immediate return after completion.

(5) Crew members who are required to travel into the Kingdom on a mission, and have a specific date and time for return.

(6) Non-Thai nationals who are spouses, parents, or children of Thai nationals.

(7) Non-Thai nationals who hold a Certificate of Residence, including their spouses and children.

(8) Non-Thai nationals who have a work permit or have been granted permission to work in the Kingdom in accordance with the Thai laws, including their spouses and children, or foreign workers who have been granted exemption from the government to temporarily stay in the Kingdom and permitted to work through their employers or licensees who are permitted to bring in foreign workers to work in the Kingdom.

(9) Non-Thai nationals who are students of educational institutions approved by Thai authorities, including their parents or guardians, excluding students of non-formal educational institutions in accordance with the law on private schools, and of other similar private educational institutions.

(10) Non-Thai nationals who are in need of medical treatment in Thailand, and their accompanying persons. However, this shall not include medical treatment for COVID–19.

(11) Non-Thai nationals who have been granted permission to enter into the Kingdom under special arrangements between Thai government agencies and other countries, or persons or groups of persons who have been granted permission by the Prime Minister upon the submission for consider after the examination and review by the Ad Hoc Committee for the Consideration of the Relaxation of the Enforcement of Measures to Present and Suppress the Spread of the Communicable Disease Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), and shall comply with disease prevention measures determined by the Ad Hoc Committee.

TAT is constantly providing updates on the tourism-related COVID-19 situation in Thailand at the TAT Newsroom (www.tatnews.org); Facebook (tatnews.org); and Twitter (Tatnews_Org).

For additional information and assistance relating to Thailand’s tourism, contact the TAT Contact Centre 1672 or Tourist Police 1155.