News
Updates related to COVID-19:
- Deputy PM Wissanu said the PM will elaborate more on the details of Emergency Decree which will be enacted on Thursday. In a national broadcast yesterday, the PM has warned people not to spread fake news. The emergency decree will be effective for one month.
- As of today, there are 107 newly confirmed cases, a total of 934 confirmed cases.
- The PM announced after the cabinet meeting that he will enact Emergency Decree on Thursday. The PM said he will set up the Emergency Administrative Centre.
- According to the regulation, only the Minister of Defence, Interior, and Justice are entitled to the committee of the centre.
- Thai Airlines has cancelled all of its regional flights and most of the European routes. According to the PR section:
- Starting today (March 25th), all THAI flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Yangon, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar, Kunming, Xiamen, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Dhaka, Islamabad and Colombo are suspended.
- Domestically, flights to Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi will be operated by Thai Smile, a subsidiary of THAI.
- Starting March 27th, THAI flights to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth will be suspended.
- From April 1st, THAI will cease all flights to Europe, which includes London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow and Stockholm.–Thai PBS World
- The bodies of patients who die from Covid-19 are not contagious, the Department of Medical Services (DMS) claimed in a move to dispel fears.
- The governor of Phuket has ordered a weeklong lockdown of the tourist destination in a bid to control the spread of Covid-19
- Airport authorities have blocked almost 100 travellers from entering Thailand, with 73 of them being deported for not having enough special documents to meet special immigration measures to combat the Covid-19 disease.
Politics
- Move Forward Party, the de facto successor of the dissolved Future Forward Party, issued a statement asking the government to restrain the use of power under the Emergency Decree, including not exploiting the decree to restraining the freedom of the press. The decree allows the PM as the director of the Emergency Administrative Centre to take down information which might jeopardise the order in the society.–all media outlet
- The Royal Gazette has announced that HM the King has given names to two big military camps in the central province of Lopburi, the army military stronghold province in central Thailand. The two camps, which were formerly named after two former Prime Ministers and leaders of the People Party’s who led the revolution to ended absolute monarchy in Thailand in 1932, will be named after the late King Bhumibol and the Queen Dowager Sirikit.– all media outlet
Business
- Thailand’s cabinet approved on Tuesday a package of stimulus measures worth at least 117 billion baht ($3.56 billion) to try and mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. In a move to ease the suffering of Thailand’s 3 million informal workers, the government is set to hand them 5,000 baht per month in cash.—
