Month: June 2021

The Thai-directed film “Memoria” has been selected for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2021, the first time in 11 years that a Thai filmmaker will be featured in the top tier of the prestigious festival.

Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton, was directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a Thai director whose previous inclusion in the Cannes competition was in 2010, at which he won the Palme d’Or for “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”.

His latest film is set entirely in Bogota, Colombia, in the mountains and archaeological sites of the Latin American country. This international co-production is funded by more than 10 production companies and artistic grants, including from Colombia, Thailand, France, England and China.

British actress Swinton plays Jessica, a woman who is startled by a loud bang at daybreak and sets out to locate the origin of the sonic mystery that haunts her soul. The film, in Spanish and English, also stars French actress Jeanne Balibar.

The 74th Cannes Film Festival will take place from July 6 to 17, having been moved from its usual slot in May due to the COVID-19 situation in France. Last year’s festival was cancelled.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) will import 11 million Sinovac doses from June to August, to support the government’s plan to procure at least 100 million vaccine doses for the country.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said, so far, the ministry has received 6 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, 5.5 million purchased and 500,000 donated by the Chinese government.

He said Sinovac will complement the main vaccine from AstraZeneca, which will be used in Thailand to fulfill the goal of obtaining at least 100 million doses.

The minister said the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that Sinovac be used for people aged 18 and older in a two-dose regimen, with two to four weeks between shots. Although it has an efficacy rate of only 51%, reported from clinical trials, Sinovac offers nearly 100% protection against symptomatic infection and hospitalization.

The Prime Minister is set to decide whether or not plans to welcome back foreign tourists will proceed as scheduled, when he heads a meeting of the economic committee set up to address the impact of the COVID-19 virus, tomorrow (June 4, 2021).

Prime Minister’s Office Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri outlined that the meeting will take place on Friday from 1:30pm as a video conference. It will be the second meeting of 2021 and will focus on progress made under the various economic aid programs, implemented to help citizens and businesses, with Rao Chana and soft loan programs to support operations. It will also review the current circumstances to decide if policies should be altered.

A key matter will be measures to stimulate investment by attracting high net worth foreign visitors to the country and reopening certain provinces to tourism.

Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew and Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Yuthasak Supasorn have already spoken to the Tourism Council of Thailand along with business operators and citizens in Phuket to hear their views on reopening to vaccinated tourists and not requiring quarantine. The plan has been dubbed the “Phuket Sandbox” and is slated to begin on July 1.

Yuthasak stated that all sides are ready to again open Phuket to fully vaccinated visitors to reinvigorate the province’s economy as it is nearing its vaccination target. The information is to be presented to the economic committee to inform its consideration of plans made back in March. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is to play a marketing role in the plan, targeting 129,000 tourists to Phuket over the three-month period from July to September; it also has medium and long term targets.

The Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) expects Thailand’s exports to rise by 10%-15% this year, following an export boom in April.

TNSC president Chaichan Chareonsuk said export prospects have improved, due to the global economic recovery, economic growth in major trading partners and healthy export demand for industrial products, such as automobiles, electrical appliances, equipment and parts and oil-related products.

He said, more importantly, vaccination rates keep climbing across much of the world, and urged the government to speed up inoculations among workers in the logistics and manufacturing sectors, especially those working at ports, airports or vulnerable gateways to the country.

Mr. Chaichan added that the government also needs to manage appropriate freight rates and supply labor to the manufacturing sector, as well as expedite its efforts to lower import costs for raw materials, such as steel, and limit logistics costs for raw material imports and exports.

The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has warned large factories that they must complete preventative measure self-assessments by June 15.

The CCSA needs these assessments to support its work to contain the spread of the virus and companies will be punished if they refuse to cooperate. So far, only 650 of the 3,300 large factories across the country have completed a required self-assessment of sanitation at their premises.

CCSA assistant spokeswoman Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan said, over the past two months, many hundreds of workers in large factories across 10 provinces have caught the virus, due to overcrowding, poor ventilation and insufficient sanitizer points.

She said the disease is spreading through factories, adding that infections among Cambodian workers are 3.9 times higher than among Thai nationals at the same plant. Cambodian workers live in dormitories at their workplace, while their Thai colleagues live at home or in nearby dorms. The Cambodians’ living quarters are overcrowded, with 3-6 workers in each room.

The government has assured that all foreign nationals living in the kingdom, who have registered for vaccination, will be inoculated starting on June 7.

Disease Control Department deputy director general Dr. Sophon Iamsirsithavorn said vaccinations for all foreign diplomats in the country will be carried out on the same day as the government’s mass vaccination program starts, based upon an advanced reservation system.

He said all diplomatic staff, consular representatives and staff from international organizations in Thailand should register by June 6 via https://aigenesis.biz/intervac/. The inoculations will take place at the MedPark and Vimut hospitals.

Dr. Sophon said other non-Thai citizens can get their jabs starting June 7, adding that priority should be given to the over 60s and those who have any of seven underlying diseases. Foreigners who want to get vaccinated are also required to register via www.ThailandIntervac.com. Those who have booked via the Mor Prom Application will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience announced on Wednesday that they are ready to start supplying the government with COVID-19 vaccine produced in Thailand. The first locally produced doses will be supplied to the Thai Public Health Ministry, to support their mass vaccination program.

AstraZeneca (Thailand) president James Teague said ramping up the production of vaccine in Thailand in only a few months is a tremendous achievement, which is due to outstanding collaboration with the company’s manufacturing partner, Siam Bioscience.

He said, now that AstraZeneca is ready to deliver a high-quality vaccine, the company can help the Thai government achieve its goal of ensuring the effective vaccination of people in the country as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the Department of Disease Control said the first lot of 240,000 AstraZeneca doses will be sent to 58 provinces, with around 3,600 doses for each province by June 2. The next lot of 350,000 doses will be sent to the other 19 provinces in the next two weeks, while another 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will also be distributed to vaccination units nationwide in June.

Film productions by international companies in Thailand have gained the country 1.2 billion baht in income despite the pandemic this year. The Department of Tourism anticipates this source of revenue will contribute 3 billion by the end of year, hoping the government will further promote this business for the next year.

The Department of Tourism has reported 1.212 billion baht revenue from international film shoots in Thailand from January to April this year, thanks to more relaxed COVID-19 restrictions applicable at the time by the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.

During the four-month period, 31 production crews came to Thailand to shoot films, generating 1.212 billion baht revenue for Thailand. The number of productions may be lower than 123 the previous year, but the revenue is almost double the 2020 figure of 589 million.

Despite the pandemic, the Tourism Department says there is still demand for international production companies to shoot on-location in Thailand.

In the 2019 fiscal year, 740 international productions came to Thailand to film, generating 4.86 billion baht in revenue. This figure declined the following year, with the number of productions reduced to 163, and the annual revenue down to 1.75 billion baht.

The department received requests from four productions to film in the country in May, generating some 261 million baht in revenue. It anticipates revenue from filming of international productions will be around 2.5-3 billion baht this year, while hoping the government will further promote the business through annual budget funding.