Govt drops ball again as Covid deaths mount
Govt drops ball again as Covid deaths mountThe government seems to be pinning its hopes for salvation on big lots of AstraZeneca vaccines scheduled to be rolled out in June. It's not just the death rate that has been accelerating, rising from two on April 17 to more than 30 yesterday, but the number of patients with severe symptoms. Why stop at 100 million doses? It mainly depends on the vaccines' rate of efficacy and the virus's reproduction rate. If these rates change, the government is likely to need more than 100 million doses to achieve its goal.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 22:30 UTC
Can Power help Biden's foreign policy?
Can Power help Biden's foreign policy? There is little doubt that Mr Biden wants to use foreign assistance as a key tool to accomplish the US's broader foreign and strategic objectives. Ms Power is a well-known US policy maker as she has advocated humanitarian intervention in Africa and Syria. These challenges will also test the US leadership in the world under Mr Biden. In the past 100 days, Mr Biden has been able to undo some of Mr Trump's misdirected foreign policies.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 22:30 UTC
Slum cluster was avoidable
Yet, the emerging Klong Toey cluster proves the opposite to be the case. According to the Public Health Ministry, a total of 304 Klong Toey slum members tested Covid-19 positive in April. It should be noted that these worrying numbers contradict the impression projected by the Klong Toey District Office. She was quoted by Thai-language media as saying that Klong Toey cases, as of April 28, were dwindling. The agency admitted that the new surge was linked with the Thong Lor cluster as some entertainment workers live in the slum.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 22:28 UTC
Napoleon and world history: What if...?
Napoleon and world history: What if...? Napoleon Bonaparte doesn't come up much in conversation these days, which is hardly surprising given that he has been dead for two centuries. People often compare Napoleon to Hitler, another dictator who allegedly tried to "conquer the world", but that's just wrong. Hitler never wanted to conquer the world. The plan was abandoned because nobody told Napoleon that those warships could carry enough drinking water for such a large army.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 19:30 UTC
Rising border fears of virus spill
Rising border fears of virus spillAn official checks the temperatures of illegal Myanmar migrants rounded up near the border in Sangkhla Buri district of Kanchanaburi on Sunday. "Authorities are intensifying border checks with Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos," Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Monday. Along the 370 kilometre border in Kanchanaburi, almost 300 people from Myanmar were caught illegally crossing into Thailand last week. On the southern border, Malaysia has reported detecting new coronavirus variants first identified in South Africa and India and regarded as highly contagious. Soldiers patrol the Thai side of the border with #Malaysia in Songkhla's Sadao district to prevent a possible spread of #COVID19 through illegal crossings.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 11:48 UTC
Food delivery sector enjoys hike in orders
Online food delivery operators have seen a substantial growth of orders during the third wave of the pandemic. “We experienced a nearly 26% increase in food orders from March to April, with the largest volumes on weekends and long holidays,” he said. Food delivery continued to experience growth as an increasing number of consumers chose to dine in during the pandemic. Food delivery app Robinhood under Siam Commercial Bank also saw a surge in orders following the third wave of the pandemic. Food merchants took the hardest hit from the fresh outbreak, he said, adding other food delivery platforms should consider reducing gross profit (GP) or commission fee applied for food vendors.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 03, 2021 11:48 UTC
Always spread your bets around
The Department of Medical Sciences reveals that tests show AstraZeneca vaccine samples produced by Siam Bioscience meet all requirements. It has raised the number of infections to over 65,000 and deaths to more than 200, stretching the country's public health system to its limit. I think the government is too complacent about its vaccine management. The government distributed about 1.3 million doses between Feb 28-April 28, accounting for only 1.7% of the entire population. It has now ordered an extra 60 million doses of Pfizer's booster jabs.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 23:37 UTC
Upbeat Patty ready for home challenge
Upbeat Patty ready for home challengePatty Tavatanakit in action at the HSBC Women's World Championship. (HSBC Women's World Championship photo)SINGAPORE: Major winner Patty Tavatanakit is ready to establish herself as a strong contender for this week's Honda LPGA Thailand after enjoying a tied-third finish at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore on Sunday. But if anything, I'm just really happy to be back in Asia and play again," said Patty. Patty is also looking forward to her homecoming, having been away from Thailand for more than a year already. The Honda LPGA Thailand will be held at Siam Country Club in Chon Buri.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 23:26 UTC
'Penguin' dares to dream of better things
'Penguin' dares to dream of better thingsParit 'Penguin' Chiwarak along with another 21 political activists are taken into detention last September as they await trial on sedition and lese majeste charges. The second time was last year, when he become a big shot on the Thai political landscape -- a prominent protest leader. Yet his political campaign as well as his upcoming trial may cost him his dream career. "When I look back, it reminds me of the disparity that plagues Thai society. Parit told me that history books also offer lessons and examples -- that the upper echelons do not last long in many countries.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 23:26 UTC
Don't reject private help
Don't reject private helpThe government has announced a new plan to procure 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to cover 50 million people by the end of the year, up from the 65 million doses it had originally planned to procure. From July onwards, the company has committed to produce 10 million doses per month, which brings the total doses available by the end of the year to 61 million doses. Last week, Gen Prayut invited the private sector to discuss ways to involve them in the procurement of additional vaccines. The PM may feel that the private sector's support in vaccine procurement isn't yet necessary. It's a good sign that the private sector is willing to help.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 23:26 UTC
Spaniard first 'but not last' woman to join German blue-chip CEOs
Spaniard first 'but not last' woman to join German blue-chip CEOsBelen Garijo will become the first woman to singlehandedly run a DAX 30-listed company from MayFRANKFURT - Belen Garijo will take over as CEO at German pharmaceuticals giant Merck from May -- the first woman to singlehandedly run a DAX 30-listed company -- as Europe's top economy debates quotas for greater boardroom equality. German software group SAP made the first cracks in the glass ceiling in 2019 when it appointed Jennifer Morgan as co-CEO alongside a male executive. Garijo for her part puts her success down to "hard work" and to having seized her chances "when they arose". - 'It's time' -Under the draft law approved by Merkel's government earlier this year, listed companies with four executives or more must appoint at least one woman to their executive boards. Merkel, in power since 2005, has spoken out at foot-dragging by business leaders, against the resistance of some in her own conservative bloc.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 05:37 UTC
Welcome to the year's merriest month
Welcome to the year's merriest monthWe are already in the merry month of May, not that there's much to be merry about these days. A big influence, especially in Britain, is because the month coincides with the arrival of summer and alleged warmer weather. It is the month when flowers bloom, trees blossom and England indeed resembles "a green and pleasant land". In The Canterbury Tales he refers to the squire being "as fresh as the month of May". For the curious, it is the only British plant that is named after the month in which it flowers.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 00:00 UTC
Thailand must act in Myanmar fiasco
Thailand must act in Myanmar fiascoIn less than a week, any sense of optimism about a possible peace process getting under way in Myanmar seems to have evaporated. Thai security forces and officials in Kanchanaburi province were alerted and preparing to deal with Myanmar villagers fleeing into Thailand. Apparently, Myanmar is on the verge of a civil war as civilians in urban areas and a few ethnic groups in rural and Thai-Myanmar border areas turn against the Myanmar army, known as the Tatmadaw. The Myanmar situation will be the test case for Asean -- and a tough nut to crack. After the coup in Myanmar, the army was reportedly accused by the KNU in Myanmar for supplying food to the Myanmar army.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 02, 2021 00:00 UTC
38 migrants found near local reservoir
38 migrants found near local reservoirKanchanaburi: Thirty-eight Myanmar nationals were arrested on Friday at a reservoir in Sangkhla Buri district for illegally crossing the kingdom's border, local officials said yesterday. The migrants were told to wait there for transport to go further into Thailand before the guide left. The migrants left Bo Yipoon village in Myanmar early on Tuesday, officials said, adding that many of the women looked exhausted. The migrants were taken to an exhibition centre in Sangkhla Buri to await deportation. The officers found a boat near their hideout and seized it as part of a probe.
Source:Bangkok Post
May 01, 2021 23:37 UTC
Jailed activists put justice system to test
To demand justice for the political prisoners, the mothers of six jailed protesters have organised a demonstration in front of the Bangkok prison. For common folk, a number of practices used by the authorities against the jailed protesters are disturbing. But the same right was denied Penguin's and other jailed protesters' mothers and friends. It is an act of defiance but at the same time of desperation in having to face a justice system that they feel is weighed against them in an unjust way. Another way to peace must be found and it could begin by recalibrating the justice system to make it not only appear to be just but actually to truly dispense justice to all.
Source:Bangkok Post
April 30, 2021 23:26 UTC