In a bid to steer Thailand’s elderly inhabitants, and people with persistent sicknesses, to get a Covid booster, well being officers have accredited using half the standard dose.
Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit says the half-dose shall be an mRNA vaccine, similar to Pfizer, including that officers are acknowledging the fear of unwanted aspect effects among the many elderly.
According to a Nation Thailand report, Kiattiphum says 97% of the Covid deaths reported yesterday have been in individuals in high-risk groups such as the aged, these with underlying health conditions, and pregnant girls. Out of the 70 deaths reported, 47 had been over the age of 70, and 52 had only acquired a single vaccine dose or none in any respect.
Kiattiphum was quoted as, saying “Studies found that 30% of the senior Covid patients did not have lung irritation. So, if this group was given higher protection, we should have the power to cut back the variety of deaths. If as much as 60% of the aged population gets the third shot, deaths could be more than halved.”
The health ministry is launching 2 campaigns forward of the Songkran vacation next month. The first shall be to influence the elderly population to get vaccinated or boosted prior to receiving relations over the holiday. The second marketing campaign is aimed toward those who plan to go to their elderly relatives. The marketing campaign will encourage them to keep away from mass gatherings and enormous social occasions for at least every week before visiting their house provinces and to take an antigen check before travelling.
———-
The Thai man who murdered a Swiss tourist at a Phuket waterfall final yr has been sentenced to life in jail by the Phuket Court.
28-year-old Teerawat was initially sentenced to death, but it was then decreased to life imprisonment provided that Teerawat confessed to investigators. The physique of 57-year-old victim Nicole Sauvain Weisskopf, the deputy protocol chief of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, was found at a creek close to the Ao Yon waterfall in August 2021. A black sheet lined her body and she or he was only sporting a T-shirt and jacket. Her shorts and underwear have been discovered nearby.
Teerawat was in the forest amassing wild orchids and plants when he saw the Swiss girl sitting on a rock by a stream with her feet within the water. At first, he meant to rape her. Reports say he attacked her from the again and grabbed her neck in a chokehold. She reportedly fought again and they each fell into the water.
Teerawat strangled her until she was unconscious after which took off her pants and underwear. According to reports in Thai media, Teerawat did not have sexual feelings after turning the woman around and seeing that she was useless. He then lined the physique with a black plastic sheet, took 300 baht from the body, and fled.
Yesterday, the Phuket Provincial Court announced the judgment and invited the victim’s family in Switzerland to join by way of video convention. The court discovered Teerawat responsible of murder and sentenced him to demise, but provided that Teerawat confessed to the crimes throughout the questioning, the penalty was commuted to life imprisonment.
Weisskopf had entered Thailand underneath the Phuket Sandbox reopening scheme, which had simply launched a month prior and was the primary entry programme permitting an various alternative to quarantine since the begin of the pandemic.
—
Officers discovered a camp at a mountain within the southern province Songkhla where they suspect an alleged hitman on Thailand’s most wished list was hiding.
The 45-year-old who is wanted on multiple charges involving homicide allegedly shot an M16 rifle throughout a police chase, killing an officer. Following the gunfire trade, the alleged hitman Jumrat, together with two other suspects, managed to flee. Officers later discovered a car parked by a mountain and launched a search to find the suspects.
More than one hundred police, troopers, and forest rangers searched Songkhla’s Khao Khao Mountain and found a camp set up with a temporary shelter, garments, and first help tools. Police say they believe the suspects fled the camp shortly before officers arrived.
—-
In one other search…
Officers in the Isaan province Buriram are nonetheless looking for the senior forest ranger who allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife’s son Sunday evening.
The victim’s household says the ranger known as them after the shooting, saying he threatened to murder the entire household. He is believed to be hiding in a forest close to the Dongyai Wildlife Sanctuary.
The 45-year-old forest ranger, Pitpirun, allegedly fired photographs at his estranged wife’s home using a shotgun from the sanctuary. His ex-wife, her new partner, and her sons tried to flee the house, but the 20-year-old son was shot in the neck and killed.
The forest ranger is believed to have fled into Dong Yai forest with a shotgun and pickup truck that both belong to the Dong Yai sanctuary. ผลไม้แช่อิ่ม was found yesterday, but the gun has not been recovered. More than a hundred and fifty police, along with other forest rangers and reinforcements from different police workplaces, have been enclosing and searching the forest to hunt for the suspect.
After the capturing, he called back to his ex-wife, saying he would murder the whole household quickly. Police officers have been on standby and are carefully monitoring the entire household, both day and evening, to make sure their security until the suspect is arrested.
—
Travellers from Thailand and Cambodia, who are vaccinated towards Covid, can now enter Malaysia by air with out undergoing a prolonged quarantine by way of the country’s Vaccinated Travel Lane, or VTL, scheme, which was first launched with Singapore.
Malaysian PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob just lately introduced that the nation will fully reopen borders to vaccinated travellers on April 1. Similar to Thailand’s Test & Go entry scheme, Malaysia’s VTL scheme requires those travelling from Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia to self-isolate at their accommodation whereas they anticipate outcomes from an on-arrival Covid-19 test to return again.
Under Malaysia’s so-called “test and release” coverage, travellers will undergo a Covid swab take a look at upon arrival and will then must self-isolate at their respective lodging whereas they anticipate test results to return again, which can take as a lot as a day.
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong released a statement yesterday saying the arrival well being protocols for Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia might be “uniform” and all abide by the check and launch measures. VTL travellers from Singapore have wanted to wait within the airport terminal till their on-arrival test results are again, which can take three hours, and then go through immigration if their results are unfavorable. Starting tomorrow, the travellers will be capable of isolate themselves at their accommodation till their exams come back unfavorable.
Travellers might be free to end their self-isolation if the outcomes come again adverse, but shall be required to follow the Health Ministry’s present well being standards if the results are optimistic.
—
Marine officials in Thailand are wanting into constructing a cruise ship terminal on Koh Samui, a well-liked Gulf of Thailand island off the Surat Thani coast.
A terminal is considered to be more convenient and protected for travellers as, in the meanwhile, cruise ships must anchor by the island and smaller boats switch travellers to the island and again to the ship.
A feasibility research is being launched by the Marine Department. The department has chosen a potential location of Leam Hin Kom in ตลิ่งงาม subdistrict which is on the southwest tip of Koh Samui, which has waters deep enough for the large ships. It’s about 10 kilometres south of the ลิปะน้อย Pier which runs ferries from Surat Thani’s Don Suk Pier.
Two cruise ships might be allowed to dock at the terminal on the identical time, underneath the current plan. It would additionally have the ability to accommodate as much as eighty yachts and six ferries.
Officials are looking into a public-private partnership mannequin to fund the development, with the federal government masking costs for land expropriation and terminal development, whereas a personal sector partner pays for the equipment and port maintenance.
Thailand’s Transport Ministry has also been pushing for the construction of extra cruise ship terminals to attract in vacationers. Koh Samui was chosen for its recognition amongst tourists and its pure beauty..