Headline summary as of 31st March 2020

News

• Updates related to COVID-19:
  • Deputy spokesperson of the Office of the Attorney General warned people not to post fake news and information on April’s Fool Day, citing that Thailand is under the emergency decree. The violator might face a jail term for no more than 2 years and no more than 40,000 THB fine.–Thai News Agency
  • Yesterday’s evening Kom Chad Leuk quoted a source saying that the Bangkok governor was discussing a full lock-down plan with related officials
  • Yesterday, Thailand reported 136 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections to 1,524. And reported that 3 more people have died on Monday from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 10. The three deaths included a 54-year-old Thai man in the southern province of Yala who had recently returned from Malaysia, a 56-year-old Thai woman in Bangkok and a  48-year-old singer from Burirum who performed in different pubs in Bangkok.–all media outlet
  • There was a report that the Ministry of Public Heath’s official working in the Government House contacted COVID-19. 
  • Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu said a total of 2.3 million surgical masks are currently being produced daily and distributed to healthcare personnel and other people needing them for their work. Of the total, 1.3 million masks are being distributed by the Public Health Ministry to healthcare personnel at state-run hospitals nationwide and the other 1 million by the Interior Ministry to the provinces.–all media outlet
  •  Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu asked TV operators to cancel boxing match broadcasts throughout April to curb the spread of Covid-19. Boxing organisers may argue that no spectators are allowed, but the virus can be transmitted among TV audiences too.–all media outlet
  • Four border passes in the South have been reopened to allow Thai workers stranded in Malaysia to return, but authorities warned that those who fail to produce the required documents will be turned away.
  • Army chief Apirat proposed the government to come up with a goal to cut public journeys by as much as 90% in order to “flatten the curve” of new coronavirus infections. Compared to March 21, the number of journeys made by the public one week later on Saturday had decreased by 46% after the government began implementing measures to encourage members of the public not to take unnecessary trips.

Politics

• Nation group reported that an agenda, which is on the weekly cabinet meeting, is the proposal by the Royal Thai Navy to sort out landing cruise to accompany the operation of submarine sorted from China.–Kom Chad Leuk, Nation Weekend
• Prachachart ran an article about the emergency decree which PM Prayuth has seized the power from other ministries under coalition parties to be his own. The article quoted Dr Panitarn Wattanayakorn who was the spokesperson in the Abhisit government’s Emergency Administrative Centre in 2010. Dr Panitarn said that normally PM has no need to chair the centre and saying that anyone who is urging PM Prayuth to chair the centre may have vicious intention.–https://www.prachachat.net/politics/news-440334   
• Business Today ran an editorial dubbing the government’s emergency decree as an ‘ad hoc coup d’etat’ from coalition parties. The editorial viewed that the emergency decree is not necessary since the government has been effective in administrating all agencies. The editorial regards that the more prolonged the decree, the less faithful people will be towards democratic polity.– https://businesstoday.co/bt-news/30/03/2020/foreword-copy30/ 

Business

• At the weekly cabinet meeting today, the Labour Minister is aiming to propose that the Social Security Office will amend its regulations to give out social security member who loses income 5,000 per month. This amount of money is the same as the Finance Ministry’s economic stimulus package.–Kom Chad Leuk, Nation Weekend.
• Later today, the director of the budget office is going to inform the cabinet that the central budget set up at 96 billion THB is very close to being depleted and that the government should try to find other sources of budget; or else, there will be no more budget to pour into curbing the effects of COVID-19 and drought.–TNNThailand, Thai Rath, Krungthep Turakij
• Finance Minister said Thailand’s new stimulus package to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus crisis will be worth more than 500 billion baht ($15.3 billion). Earlier, the government has already introduced two packages, the first to inject 400 billion baht into the economy and the second, worth 117 billion baht, to include cash handouts. The minister said the new package will be larger than the two former package combined.–Reuters
• Thai Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) held a survey of internet usage in Thailand. The survey showed that Gen Y (19-38) was the most active internet users for the sixth year in a row with an average of 10.36 hours a day spent on the internet, followed by Gen Z (below 19) at 10.35 hours, baby boomers (55-73) at 10 hours and Gen X (39-54) at 9.49 hours. And, The survey showed the LGBT segment spent an average of 11.20 hours per day on the internet, more than the 10.25 hours spent by males and 10.17 hours by females in the overall sample population.–Bangkok Post

Headline summary as of 30th March 2020

News

• Updates related to COVID-19:
  • The Phuket Governor has ordered the closure of all entry and exit points in the province, except for air travel, effective from midnight on Monday until April 30 or further notice.–all media outlet
  • Officials in Thailand say a riot at a prison in a northeastern province of Buriram was set off when inmates plotting to escape spread false rumours that several prisoners were infected with the coronavirus. Authority said all the escapees were captured. It is unclear whether there are still any other inmates still at large.–all media outlet, including Reuters and AP
  • The number of new infections among health personnel in Thailand has risen sharply amid calls for better protection for doctors, nurses and other staff on the frontline of the battle against the coronavirus.
  • Yesterday, the COVID information centre has reported 143 new cases, total of 1,388 cases. The 7th reported death is one of the boxing gurus. 
  • Army chief Apirat has set up an investigating committee to probe the army involvement into a boxing match which was held despite the government warning not to hold any public gathering. The boxing stadium has been widely juxtaposed with a massive COVID-19 transmission from a single source (religious cult) in South Korea which many media dubbed as super-spreader. The head of the army welfare division, as the stadium manager, has been transferred to be the army ombudsman. The army welfare division head is currently hospitalized from contacting COVID-19.–All media outletKrungthep Turakij ran a short article, claiming that the boxing stadium has been a source of wealth for the Thai army: https://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/872956 
  • Air pollution across the upper North remains at critical levels with authorities monitoring almost 400 active hotspots in Chiang Mai alone on Sunday.–all media outlet

Politics

• Last Tuesday, the cabinet has approved a resolution on the revised 2021 budget, On 17 March, the PM has ordered all ministries and agencies to revise the budget allocation to be focused on curbing COVID-19 and drought. The newly drafted budget showed that some ministries have amended their budget accordingly: Interior up by 4.9 %; Finance up by 8.1%; Education down by 1.8%; and Defence down by 0.1 %.–Issara  https://www.isranews.org/article/isranews-news/86960-gov-5-2.html 
• Super Poll, whose director is in close affiliation with the ruling government, said that the study between 26-28 March has shown that the popularity of the government has increased from 9.6 (before the declaration of emergency decree) to 29.1 points; meanwhile, the popularity of the opposition has decreased from 47.7 to 26.1 points.–all media outlet 
• With the serious scarcity of eggs in the market, the price has been spiked dramatically. Minister of Commerce has signed an order banning the export of eggs at this critical time. Meanwhile, the main ruling Palang Pracharat Party had earlier announced that they will sell eggs at a low price in front of the party headquarter to help the people. After facing criticism on where they have sought the eggs, the party later cancelled the selling.–All media outlet 

Business

• The Ministry of Finance seeks to issue an emergency loan for 200 billion THB in an attempt to keep the economic pendulum going.–all media outlet
• More than 17.2 million people have applied for the 5,000-baht financial aid granted by the government to ease the impact of the Covid-19. The government has rolled out a series of stimulus packages to ease the impact of Covid-19 on workers. Among them is a 50-billion-baht government fund that provides 5,000 baht per month for three months to three million virus-affected temporary employees and self-employed workers.–all media outlet

ASEN/World

• Four Chinese nationals were arrested on Saturday trying to sneak across the border from Mae Sot district to Myanmar.–Bangkok

Australia

• Hundreds of cruise ship passengers on The Artania were due to board flights for Germany via Phuket on Sunday, after spending days stranded at sea off the West Australian coast in a stand-off with authorities.–Bangkok Post, Channel New Asia Please note that as of 8.30 am 30 March there have been no Thai media reported about the transit in Phuket, only reported on the possible COVID-19 positive passengers on board.

Important Update for Passengers Arriving to Australia

On 27 March the Prime Minister of Australia announced that from 23.59 on 28 March 2020, all passengers arriving in Australia will be subject to the Australian Government’s mandatory quarantine period of 14 days at their first Australian destination. Travellers will be provided with suitable accommodation to stay in during this period and will not be permitted to travel domestically (including to their home residence) or continue on any domestic connections until the 14 day mandatory quarantine period has been completed. Please see below for further information.

Headline summary as of 26th March 2020

News

Updates on COVID-19:

Politics.

• The structure of Emergency Administrative Centre which the PM gives more power to the permanent-secretaries over ministers is seen as a silent coup.–Prachachart
• Adviser to House Speaker said the House will reopen for its session on May 22 as scheduled despite the Covid-19 outbreak as the constitution does not allow House meetings to be deferred. The opposition has been calling for a special session to discuss government’s measures on curbing COVID-19.—Bangkok Post, Naew Na

Business

• Economic stimulus package in an attempt to curb the economic effects of COVID-19:–Bangkok Post, Krungthep Turakij
  • The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee voted by 4:2 to keep the policy rate at 0.75 percent.  The central bank noted that while Thailand’s financial system is sound, the prolonged outbreak means the market would take some time to recover.
  • The Bank of Thailand expects Thailand’s GDP to contract by 5.3 percent in 2020 before rebounding to a 3 percent growth in 2021.  The main factors contributing to Thailand’s GDP contraction this year are the decline in export and tourism – the latter of which is expected to drop by 60 percent. o   The Social Security Board decided to defer the monthly contributions of the employers and self-employed individuals to the Social Security Office for the months of March, April and May by 3 months (ie: the deadline for the March contribution would be postponed to July 15.)

• Consumers have been assured their power will not be cut off immediately if they fail to pay their bills on time. Electricity authorities also said there was no need for a cash deposit and would return money to people who had already paid deposits.—Bangkok Post

ASEAN/World

• British Prince Charles is tested COVID-19 positive.—All media outlet

Headline summary as of 25th March 2020

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.—

Bureau Update of 25 March

Ministry of Labour

Today cabinet approves urgent measures to help employers and employees.

• Special residence permit extensions for migrant workers in Thailand, up to 30th June 2020
• Employees enrolled in the Social Security system who have been laid off or asked to take leave without pay will receive compensation from Social Security at half their salary for up to 180 days. Employees affected by official orders to shut down certain businesses will receive Social Security compensation at half their salary for up to 60 days. Effective on 1 March – 31 August 2020.

Ministry of Finance

A package of stimulus measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

• Loans up to 3 million baht for SMEs at 3% interest rate in the first two years while the government will also delay business tax payments for companies. Filing of other taxes for affected operators extended by three months, Filing of excise tax by service businesses extended by one month, Filing of excise tax for oil products operators extended to the 15th of the following month for three months, Exemption of import duty for products related to the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, Exemption of taxes and fee cuts for debt restructuring with non-financial institution creditors

• The measures include 5,000-baht cash handouts a month for three months for some 3 million workers not covered by the Social Security Fund and freelance workers, who will also be offered soft loans worth 60 billion baht as well as tax breaks.  To receive the 5,000-baht handout, workers must register at the website www.เราไม่ทิ้งกัน.com from 28 March onwards, with the cash handout set to begin on 1 April.
• Loans up to 3 million baht for SMEs at 3% interest rate in the first two years while the government will also delay business tax payments for companies. Filing of other taxes for affected operators extended by three months, Filing of excise tax by service businesses extended by one month, Filing of excise tax for oil products operators extended to the 15th of the following month for three months, Exemption of import duty for products related to the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, Exemption of taxes and fee cuts for debt restructuring with non-financial institution creditors.  The state-run/ SOE banks, various ministries  and government foundations will also conduct occupational training to the informal workers and new graduates.
• The Social Security Board decided to defer the monthly contributions of the employers and self-employed individuals to the Social Security Office for the months of March, April and May by 3 months (ie: the deadline for the March contribution would be postponed to July 15.)
• The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee voted by 4:2 to keep the policy rate at 0.75 percent.  The central bank noted that while Thailand’s financial system is sound, the prolonged outbreak means the market would take some time to recover.
• The Bank of Thailand expects Thailand’s GDP to contract by 5.3 percent in 2020 before rebounding to a 3 percent growth in 2021. The main factors contributing to Thailand’s GDP contraction this year are the decline in export and tourism – the latter of which is expected to drop by 60 percent.