Thai economy sees stunted growth despite tourists' return

BANGKOK - Thailand's economy grew 2.5 percent in the second quarter as returning foreign tourists failed to offset high inflation and concerns over regional tensions, the country's main economic agency said Monday.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy was hit hard during the pandemic, though visitor numbers are slowly improving with the relaxation of travel rules since May.

But the Ukraine war and now tension over Taiwan could put any economic recovery at risk, Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) warned.

"We have to continue monitoring to see how long counteraction from China over Taiwan will last," NESDC Secretary General Danucha Pichayanan said.

"The relaxing of our Covid controls, the recovery of tourism are factors that support the growth."

The agency said that gross domestic product rose 2.5 percent in April-June compared to the same period a year ago -- well below the anticipated growth of three percent.

The NESDC also revised the expected full-year growth rate from 2.5-3.5 percent to 2.7-3.2 percent.

Economist Charl Kengchon, from the Kasikorn Research Centre, characterized the results as a "mixed bag", with the tourism boost failing to lift growth.

"I think that is because inflation hit a 14-year high in June, so it is a drag on spending both (in the) household sector and business," he said.

Inflation in the month of June hit 7.7 percent and was at 6.5 percent for the quarter, according to the NESDC.

The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and Taiwan tensions were also a worry, Charl said, affecting supply chains.

"We expect Thailand exports to cool in tandem with the global economic growth next year, so we have to rely so much on tourism," he said.

Thailand welcomed roughly 40 million people annually pre-pandemic, and has set ambitious targets on arrivals for the coming year in the hope of coaxing life back into the damaged tourist sector.

Agence France-Presse

Thailand's economy rebounds in fourth quarter

BANGKOK - Thailand's economy rebounded in the fourth quarter of last year on the back of rising exports and the easing of coronavirus restrictions that allowed tourists to return, senior officials said Monday.

The 1.9 percent on-year expansion was more than double what was forecast and marked a strong bounce after a 0.2 percent contraction in the previous three months.

For the whole year the economy grew 1.6 percent, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council, and also beat expectations. 

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy was hit with a 6.1 percent contraction in 2020 -- its worst economic performance since the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis.

The NESDC said it saw growth of 3.5 to 4.5 percent this year as tourism picks up and government spending kicks in.

Council secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan said reopening the border to fully vaccinated foreign tourists in November had made some impact. 

Nearly 500,000 tourists have visited since November, well short of the country's target of 5 million, but the arrivals provided much-needed support to the economy.

The reopening was dealt a blow in December by the fast-spreading Omicron Covid variant.

The NESDC said it expected inflation of 1.5 to 2.5 percent for 2022. 

Agence France-Presse

Thailand bans entry from 8 African countries over COVID Omicron variant

BANGKOK—Thailand said on Saturday it would ban the entry of people traveling from 8 African countries it designated as high risk for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Starting in December, travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, will be prohibited, senior health official Opas Karnkawinpong told a news conference.

Thailand will not allow travelers from these countries to register to travel to Thailand starting on Saturday, he said.

The announcement came as other countries in Asia tighten borders over worries about the B 1.1.529 variant. The World Health Organization designated it the latest "variant of concern," saying it may spread more quickly than other forms.

"We have notified airlines and these countries," Opas said adding that travelers from other African countries will not be allowed to use the country's quarantine-free travel scheme for vaccinated travelers. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and William Mallard)

-reuters-

Thailand develops robotic system to squeeze out more vaccine doses

BANGKOK— As Thailand struggles with its worst coronavirus outbreak yet, researchers in the country have developed a machine to draw out COVID-19 vaccine doses more efficiently and optimize lower-than-expected supplies.

Using a robotic arm, the "AutoVacc" system can draw 12 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in 4 minutes from a vial, according to researchers at Chulalongkorn University, who made the machine that has been used at the university's vaccination center since Monday.

That is up 20 percent from the standard 10 doses drawn manually, they said. The machine only works on AstraZeneca multi-dose vials currently and labels show each vial can provide 10 to 11 doses.

"The machine guarantees with accuracy that we can gain an extra 20 percent from each vaccine vial- from 10 to 12 doses," said Juthamas Ratanavaraporn, the lead researcher of the team at the university's Biomedical Engineering Research Center.

"The extra 20 percent that we get means that if we have AstraZeneca for 1 million people, this machine can increase the number of doses to 1.2 million people," said Juthamas.

While some health workers using low dead space syringes (LDSS) that aim to reduce wastage can draw up to 12 doses per vial, it requires manpower and a high level of skill, she said.

"This could drain a lot of the health workers' energy. They would have to do this every day for many months," Juthamas said.

Thailand had kept COVID-19 largely under control for much of the pandemic, but more virulent variants like Delta have sent cases and deaths soaring since April, ramping up pressure on authorities to increase the pace of vaccinations.

So far, around 9 percent of Thailand's population of more than 66 million have been fully vaccinated, with the rollout hindered by lower-than-anticipated vaccine supplies.

The research team say they should be able to produce 20 more AutoVacc units within 3 or 4 months, but that government funds and support would be needed to expand across the country.

The prototype machine costs 2.5 million baht ($76,243), including other materials like syringes, said Juthamas, adding that while they were open to export opportunities, that was something for the future.

They also plan to make similar machines to use with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, she added.

Juthamas said the machine was aimed at removing burdens on health workers. Thailand has reported around 1.1 million COVID-19 infections and 10,085 deaths in total, pushing parts of the health system to the brink.

"When the health workers are too tired, there are also chances of human error, so we should let the machines work on this," she said.

-reuters-

Thailand expands lockdown areas as COVID-19 cases surge

BANGKOK - The Thai government on Sunday announced plans for a tighter lockdown in Bangkok and high-risk provinces next week, suspending most domestic flights and expanding curfew areas after the country reported a third straight day of record COVID-19 case numbers.

Thailand reported 11,397 infections and 101 deaths on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 403,386 cases and 3,341 fatalities, the vast majority from an outbreak since early April that is being fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta COVID-19 variants.

Domestic flights to and from Bangkok and other provinces classified by the Thai government as at high risk from COVID-19 will be suspended from Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said in an announcement.

Exceptions are being made for medical flights, emergency landing aircraft and flights in connection with the government's tourism reopening programs, while other local flights can only fly at 50% capacity, the announcement said.

Tougher measures designed to keep people in high risk areas mostly at home will be introduced from Tuesday, said General Nattapon Nakpanich, the chief of National Security Council, but supermarkets, banks, hospitals and medical clinics will still be allowed to open.

Shopping malls will be closed and a 9 p.m.-4 a.m. curfew will be imposed from Tuesday onwards in Chonburi, Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao provinces, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette on Sunday showed.

Bangkok and nine other provinces have already been under these restrictions, the toughest in more than a year, since last Monday, as the country battles its longest-running and most severe outbreak so far.

Thai health authorities said they were stepping up efforts to secure more vaccines to fight the latest outbreak, with a deal for 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccines to be concluded on Monday and an order for 50 million more doses under consideration, said the director-general of the Department of Disease Control Opas Karnkawinpong.

Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also plans to seek approval from the country's COVID-19 task force to temporarily regulate the export amount of locally manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines as a way to shore up COVID-19 vaccine supplies, but he gave no details about quotas, several local media reported.

Thailand has been producing the AstraZeneca vaccine since June and is slated to export it to several other countries in Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan.

When the idea was earlier raised by the government, AstraZeneca said the Thai production facility "is of critical importance" to the region and the company is working with the Thai and other governments to "continue to deliver equitable vaccine access to the region."

Thailand's vaccine rollout, which has depended on the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, began in June. So far about 5% of the 66 million population have been doubly vaccinated. 

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kim Coghill, Edmund Klamann and Hugh Lawson)

-reuters-

Thailand approves self-tests, self-isolation as COVID-19 cases climb

BANGKOK - Thailand has given the go-ahead for home isolation of coronavirus patients with mild symptoms and use of home self-test kits, as a stubborn coronavirus outbreak puts pressure on its capital's health-care and testing capacity.

Thailand has so far been predominantly using RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests but long queues at testing facilities in Bangkok, the epicenter, have caused a rethink of measures to track infections.

The rapid antigen test kits, the approval of which was announced in the official Royal Gazette on Tuesday, should be available in stores next week.

A Food and Drug Administration official said efforts were being made to keep the price of the kits, which are less accurate than RT-PCR tests, at around 100 baht ($3.06).

Authorities also approved home and community isolation for asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic coronavirus cases, as daily infections of more than 9,000 stretch resources.

Thailand recorded 8,685 infections and 56 deaths on Tuesday, among the 353,712 cases and 2,847 fatalities overall, most of which have been since early April.

The outbreak was initially fueled by the Alpha variant but 57 percent of recent cases in Bangkok have been the highly contagious Delta variant, officials say.

Thailand has also reported 7 cases of suspected mixed infection with the 2 variants at a Bangkok construction site. 

-reuters-

Thailand braced for infections spike after detecting UK COVID-19 variant

BANGKOK—Thailand has detected at least 24 cases of the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first identified in Britain, a government health expert said on Wednesday, its first known domestic transmission of the highly contagious variant.

The SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.7 has been found in more than 100 countries and has been blamed for fueling new waves of infections in record numbers.

The UK variant was found in a cluster of 24 visitors to entertainment venues in Bangkok, which were detected at the weekend. Nearly 200 such venues have been closed for two weeks.

"We did everything to block it, and it still gets through," Yong Poovorawan, a government expert and virologist at Chulalongkorn University, told a health ministry briefing.

"This variant is very viral and can spread 1.7 times faster than the usual strain," he said.

Thailand has seen infections jump in the past week, although numbers are still low compared to some of its regional neighbors.

It recorded 334 new infections on Wednesday, with no new deaths, bringing its case total to 29,905 and 95 fatalities.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha instructed authorities to prepare field hospitals in anticipation of a spike in infections.

Ten of his ministers and dozens of lawmakers were self-isolating on Wednesday due to exposure to positive cases.

"We can handle things right now and I have instructed the preparation for field hospitals in Bangkok area," Prayuth said of the rise in cases.

"We could need these field hospitals in case the pandemic worsens," he added.

Confirmation of the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant will be a setback for Thailand, which is just a week away from one of its biggest holiday periods.

B.1.1.7 is as much as 70% more transmissible than existing variants, and far deadlier, according to British scientists. 

Yong said he was puzzled at how community transmission had occurred given Thailand's strict border controls, quarantine and testing protocols, which in January had detected the variant in a family traveling from Britain, who were isolated.

Opas Karnkawinpong of the Department of Disease Control warned of thousands of new daily infections if restrictions are not followed during the holiday period.

Thailand is aiming to start is mass immunisation campaign from June but has been vaccinating health workers or people deemed vulnerable, with more than 300,000 recipients so far, according to the Health Ministry.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thempgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty)

-reuters-

Thailand to test over 10,000 people after record COVID-19 surge

BANGKOK - Thailand plans to test more than 10,000 people after a record daily surge in coronavirus cases to over 500, most of which were among migrant workers linked to a shrimp market near the capital, an official said on Sunday.

By Wednesday the authorities aim to conduct 10,300 tests in the southwest province of Samut Sakhon, where the outbreak appeared, and such nearby provinces as Samut Songkhram and Nakhon Pathom, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for Thailand's COVID-19 taskforce, told a news conference.

"Active case findings will continue in several provinces, actually across the country," he said.

Thailand, the first country outside China to report coronavirus infections, has largely kept the outbreak under control with 4,907 cases and 60 deaths.

On Sunday, Thailand confirmed 576 new infections, including 516 migrant worker cases announced locally the day before.

The new cases include 19 locally transmitted cases in Bangkok and in Samut Sakhon province, where the 516 infections were also found. All of them were linked to the shrimp market in Samut Sakhon. There were also 41 imported cases.

Most of the migrant workers in Samut Sakhon are from Myanmar, which has suffered a far worse outbreak than Thailand, where health authorities credit early action with limiting the spread of the virus.

Other Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, have also reported thousands of cases among migrant workers.

The surge in cases in Thailand comes just as it is seeking to revive a tourist industry devastated by the pandemic. On Thursday, it eased restrictions to allow more foreign tourists to return.

-reuters-

Thai police fire water cannon, tear gas at latest democracy rally

BANGKOK - Thai police on Tuesday fired water cannon and tear gas on pro-democracy protesters attempting to get close to parliament, where lawmakers were debating possible changes to the military-scripted constitution.

Thailand has seen months of student-led demonstrations demanding reform to the constitution and monarchy, and for the current prime minister to quit.

Several thousand took to the streets around the parliament building Tuesday, where riot police had blocked off roads with concrete and barbed wire.

Police fired water cannon at protesters trying to dismantle a barricade, and later used water laced with irritant, sending demonstrators scrambling to wash their eyes.

Some sheltered behind giant inflatable rubber ducks which protesters had planned to float along the river behind parliament as lawmakers debated inside.

"What are police thinking by firing water cannon at people? The police are serving a dictator," one protest leader said over a loudspeaker. 

At one point police were forced to retreat when protesters threw tear gas canisters back into their lines. Five people were taken to hospital for treatment, medical officials said.

Student-led rallies have rocked Thailand since July, demanding the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- who took power in a 2014 coup -- and reform of the military-scripted constitution.

Some in the movement have also called for reforms to the monarchy -- a once-taboo subject -- sending shockwaves through the Thai establishment.

As police and protesters clashed, lawmakers were considering whether to debate seven possible constitutional amendments.

They include a proposal to replace the present military appointments in the Senate with directly elected representatives.

But any constitutional change in Thailand is expected to take a long time and the junta-appointed Senate is unlikely to vote itself out of power.

Protesters insisted they just wanted to listen to the parliamentary debate.

Several opposition lawmakers came out of parliament to observe the protest and try to urge the police not to crack down hard on demonstrators.

Taopipop Limjittrakorn, an MP from the pro-reform Move Forward Party said police were ignoring pleas to de-escalate the situation.

"Police should not be overly violent and threaten them," he told reporters.

One group of protesters confronted several hundred ultra-royalist supporters who were staging their own rally, with the two sides throwing bottles and other objects at each other.

The royalists are against all proposals to change Thailand's 2017 constitution, saying they would undermine the monarchy.

Parliament is expected to vote on Wednesday on which constitutional amendments bills will be debated.

Agence France-Presse

Heavily indebted Thai Airways gets court nod for restructuring

BANGKOK - A Thailand court on Monday approved the restructuring of Thai Airways, which is billions of dollars in debt and struggling to survive the coronavirus tourism crash.

The global aviation sector was plunged into crisis by the pandemic as countries severely restricted travel, forcing airlines to ground vast numbers of planes and seek government help as they haemorrhaged cash.

The kingdom, once a majority shareholder in Thai, reduced its stake in May and went to the insolvency court to resolve the airline's debt -- which totalled 332.2 billion baht ($10.6 billion) by the end of June, according to local media.

"The problem that caused debtor's financial situation is not from its business but from the rapid change in aviation, particularly the impact from Covid-19," Bangkok's Central Bankruptcy Court said Monday.

It approved Thai's request for a rehabilitation plan, which would see its debt and company organization restructured.

Thai said after the ruling that it would propose that plan by the end of the year.

It has long been accused of mismanagement, and Thailand's transport ministry found in August that some of its financial damage was due to corruption, including "bribes" paid for the acquisition of 10 aircraft.

The government was previously mulling a 54 billion baht bailout for the airline, which was met with a public outcry.

Thai has restructured multiple times over the last several years but it never "went deep enough to resolve many of the longstanding systemic issues", aviation expert Brendan Sobie told AFP.

Thailand's tourism-reliant economy has been battered by the pandemic, and is expected to shrink by more than seven percent this year according to government estimates. 

Agence France-Presse

Supercars and champagne: Bangkok's rich purr through pandemic

BANGKOK - As the coronavirus brought the global economy to its knees, Thai businessman Yod decided to buy himself an $872,000 treat -- a lime-green Lamborghini.

Yod picked up the customised Huracan EVO supercar in Bangkok, a city of billionaires with a luxury economy unbroken by the crisis ripping through Thailand's wider economy.

With tourism and exports in freefall, Thailand's growth could shrivel by as much as 10 percent this year, dumping millions into unemployment.

But in a split-screen economy, there are plenty with immunity to the economic scourge caused by COVID-19.

Thailand is home to the ninth most billionaires anywhere, according to the China-based Hurun Report's Global Rich List 2020.

Among those with deep pockets is Yod -- full name Thanakorn Mahanontharit -- who was undeterred by Thailand's "crazy" supercar import taxes of up to 80 percent when he made his March purchase.

"This car makes me feel like David Beckham," the genial Bangkok-based petro-chemicals businessman told AFP.

"When you open your door everyone looks at you like you're a superstar."

Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini have all launched top-end models in Bangkok over the pandemic period, cars with price tags of between $750,000 and $1.2 million.

It is a bet on the wealth sloshing around Bangkok.

Millions of dollars of that cash were on proud display in the capital last week as an eye-catching 40-car convoy from the Thailand Lamborghini Club cut through the city's knotted traffic for a day trip to a nearby resort.

Lamborghinis "appeal to a very niche audience of high net-worth individuals", said Matteo Ortenzi, chief executive for Automobili Lamborghini in the Asia-Pacific region.

There has been "continued interest and demand (from Thailand), one of our most important markets in Southeast Asia," he added.

Yod said his supercar purchase was the completion of a lifelong dream.

"It is a reflection of your success, it doesn't mean I am better than you," he told AFP.

"It's just that I work hard and play harder."

ECONOMY IN REVERSE GEAR

But most Thais are in a different game.

The kingdom is one of Asia's least equal countries.

Thailand is headed by a super-rich monarchy and buttressed by a handful of family dynasties with monopolies covering everything from beer and duty-free to convenience stores.

Their fortunes have surged under six years of military-aligned government which has parcelled out major contracts to them, while the wider economy has backslid.

"One percent of the population owns pretty much two-thirds of the country," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, warning that inequality is kindling a political crisis.

Meanwhile many more are sinking.

Farmers are reeling as demand struggles to return to pre-virus levels and remittances from migrants to the cities are drying up, while the urban middle class are facing a cash crunch playing out in unpaid loans and school fees.

As a result, household debt is forecast to surge to 88-90 percent of GDP by the end of this year, according to a Kasikornbank research note.

Government figures predict the pandemic could leave 8.4 million jobless, over a quarter of them employed in the cash-cow tourism sector.

That would eviscerate the gains of the last two decades, which saw millions lifted from poverty by Thailand's export, manufacturing and tourism boom.

Even before the pandemic hit, the number of people living in poverty had risen by nearly two million to 6.7 million, according to a March report by the World Bank.

Now, as the pandemic strips back the economy, the middle and working classes "are not well-cushioned," said Pavida Pananond, an academic at the Thammasat Business School.

Yet the rich enjoy a level of "financial immunity" from the crisis.

YACHTS AND CHAMPAGNE

Signs of the resilience of wealth are dotted across Bangkok.

Houses worth between $1-5 million are selling well, according to real estate agency CBRE Thailand, while condos at the super-plush Mandarin Oriental are being snapped up despite the $14,200-a-square-metre price tag -- pricier than the swankiest west London postcodes.

A trawl through the Instagram accounts of Thailand's 'Hi-So' (High Society) set also reveals a glamour scene unruffled by the new normal -- yoga sessions on pristine beaches, yacht parties and champagne receptions.

"They've got the money and they can spend it any time," says Naphalai Areesorn, editor-in-chief of fashion and society magazine Tatler Thailand.

The allure of being "Hi-So" runs through Thai society, she said, explaining that money -- especially the show of having it -- is a shortcut into Thailand's elite, which was once defined by having the right "breeding" and education. 

"There's still very much a class system here... maybe it comes from a feudalistic history," she said.

Entering High Society -- and staying there --- is very much "an aspiration" for many in Bangkok "whether you can afford it or not".

Agence France-Presse

Thinking inside the box

Students of Sam Khok school wearing face masks and face shields are seen inside old ballot boxes repurposed into partitions as they attend a class in Pathum Thani province, Thailand on Wednesday. The Thai government eased isolation measures and introduced physical distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as schools nationwide reopened. 

-reuters-

Thailand targets narco millions hidden in gold, steel and crypto

BANGKOK, Thailand - The downfall of a meth syndicate laundering tens of millions of dollars of drug money through Thai gold shops, oil and construction firms has cast rare light on the staggering scale of Asia's narco profits -- and the ruses used to hide them.

Thailand is Southeast Asia's meth "superhighway", with drugs from remote Myanmar labs pouring through the border destined for the local market or overseas as far as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Prices have dropped as the drug labs ramp up production of yaba -- the tiny caffeinated pink or green pills guzzled by Southeast Asian truck drivers to clubbers -- and the more expensive and highly addictive crystal meth known as "ice".

Millions are hooked on drugs in Thailand, where prisons are stuffed with petty dealers and addicts.

But the drug lords remain beyond reach, hidden behind a web of middlemen and complex money laundering schemes.

Authorities say they are finally ready to change the game by going after drug money sloshing through Thai banks, construction businesses and cryptocurrency accounts.

"We have found an irregular flow in the banks of 170 billion baht ($5.4 billion) -- it may not all be drugs," Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters this week.

"But we are confident there is at least 12 billion baht ($388 million) in drug-related assets -- drug money is being turned into gold, zinc (panels), steel rods and oil." 

Thailand's get-tough message follows the recent unspooling of several networks, who bought oil with drug profits and traded it on international markets as well as transforming dirty money into construction materials for sale such as steel pipes, roofing and machinery.

The main group was allegedly controlled by Daoreung Somseang, a Thai woman already in custody in a Bangkok prison on trafficking offences.

Police allege she still ran a drug empire which spanned the country using gold shops and construction companies to clean at least $100 million cash through 113 accounts to move the money.

It is a cycle of drug production, trafficking and laundering that generates untold billions and turns a secondary economy of cryptocurrency, supercars and plush overseas properties.

"It's impossible to guess the real amount these drug networks are making," Lieutenant-General Wissanu Prasarttong-Osoth, assistant to Thailand's police chief, told AFP.

FILTHY RICH BUT LOW-KEY

But the Daoreung's dexterity in laundering shows the "scale and sophistication of the networks", according to Jeremy Douglas of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

"This one is not even a super-syndicate... it's mid-sized but is still moving a massive volume of money." 

On Friday, Thai authorities were set to burn seized drugs worth $1.7 billion -- another batch worth $800 million was incinerated in Myanmar -- during an annual parade of law enforcement successes across the region.

But the record amounts are just a sliver of the money on the table for Asia's meth lords, who emerge from drug crackdowns by raising production and piercing borders with corruption.

The UNODC estimates they are making between $30-$60 billion a year and are the biggest meth producers in the world.

The meth is produced in the "Golden Triangle" -- cutting across northern Thailand, Laos, China and Myanmar -- where armed rebels are the law and drug lords lease jungle labs under their protection.

The market-leading syndicate is believed to be the "Sam Gor" group, dominated by Chinese gangsters who control at least 40 percent of Asia's meth -- sending their signature tea packets stuffed with "ice" across the Asia-Pacific region.

Asian organized crime is more stealthy than its violent and showy Latin American peers, operating in anonymity across countries with long, porous borders, corruptible police, and large domestic markets of drug users. 

To unwind the money trail, Thailand has been working with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), whose skills were honed in the fight with the Latin American cartels.

But crime experts warn police must be ready to follow the money wherever it leads if they are to get close to the heads of the criminal chain.

The UNODC's Douglas added: "The message is you can't just stop at the drug seizure."

Agence France-Presse

Thailand marks 28 days without local transmission, aims to ease travel

BANGKOK — Thailand hopes to ease some coronavirus restrictions on foreigners entering the country after going for 28 days without recording any domestic transmissions, a senior official said on Monday.

Those who will benefit from the easing of restrictions will include business executives, skilled workers and foreigners who live in Thailand.

"The first 3 groups will be able to return to Thailand and stay in 14-day state quarantine," said the spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Taweesin Wisanuyothin.

Medical tourists will also be allowed back for treatment in hospital, he said.

Short-term business travelers and tourists from China, Japan and South Korea might be allowed back without having to spend 14 days in quarantine, he said, adding that the guidelines were still being worked out.

The proposed easing of restrictions will be put to the government's coronavirus task force on Friday.

Thailand, which has banned international commercial flights up to the end of June, has recorded 3,151 cases and 58 deaths related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

On Friday, Myanmar reported 23 coronavirus cases among Myanmar migrant workers deported from Thailand, raising questions about the possibility of transmission in Thailand.

Both Thailand and Myanmar are investigating. 

-reuters-

Thailand ends curfew, marks 21 days with no local coronavirus cases

BANGKOK - Thailand on Monday lifted a nationwide curfew after more than two months and allowed restaurants to resume selling alcohol as the coronavirus crisis eased, with 21 days since a recorded case of local transmission.

The Southeast Asian nation of about 70 million people was the first country outside China to report a case of coronavirus, on Jan. 13, and has been a relative success story in containing it, with just 3,135 confirmed cases and 58 fatalities. Some 2,987 patients have recovered.

Officials have credited Thais' early adoption of wearing masks - ubiquitous in public since January - as well as its border closure, shuttering of many business and the curfew for the retreat of the new virus that has infected 7.9 million worldwide and killed more than 430,000.

Other establishments allowed to reopen on Monday were schools with less than 120 students, exhibition halls, music concerts, film productions, playgrounds, amusement parks and sports competitions without spectators.

Pubs, bars and karaoke outlets will remain closed, but restaurants that reopened two weeks ago with social distancing will now be able to serve alcohol.

Monday was the second time in five days that Thailand reported no new cases.

All new cases in the past three weeks have been found in quarantine among Thais returning from abroad, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's COVID-19 task force. 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty)

-reuters-

Thai mom's face shields protect against virus and villains

BANGKOK - A single mother in Thailand is doing brisk business out of face shields with characters from cartoons, games and sci-fi movies, hoping to cash in and promote safety for children as her country emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

From her small studio room, Maysa Talerd, 31, has been designing patterns and carefully pressing stickers of famous fictional superheroes and villains onto the face shields, aiming to blend safety and style and expand her new business. 

"Normally, a face shield is transparent, so people might get bored. With these fun designs, they'll encourage people to wear them," she said.

"At least with the cartoon characters, kids will want to wear them and show off to their friends at school."

Orders are pouring in for shields with the faces from Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers from Star Wars films to Japanese superhero Mobile Suit Gundam and the heroes, villains and figures of Thai folklore.

Thailand is gradually easing restrictions in an effort to revive its economy, while keeping strict physical distancing measures in place to prevent infections.

It has recorded 58 deaths so far and 3,125 confirmed cases - the majority of whom have recovered - and has not reported a local transmission in 17 days.

A few months ago, Talerd had no income but is on her way to being financially stable, receiving orders of 50 to 100 shields at a time, which she sells for 180 baht ($5.77) each.

"I think this might become the main income for me in the future because toy stores are contacting me to do wholesale," she said. 

-reuters-

Thailand to further ease restrictions, shorten curfew hours

BANGKOK- Thailand will next week shorten curfew hours and ease restrictions on more businesses, the government said on Friday, in response to its low numbers of locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus.

Starting June 1, cinemas and theaters can reopen, but with no more than 200 people at a time and with strict physical distancing measures, said Somsak Roongsita, secretary-general of the National Security Council.

A curfew will be shortened by one hour to last from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. and shopping malls, which reopened earlier this month, will also be allowed to extend their operating hours, he added.

"The reopening will help stimulate the economy and ease some financial burdens," Somsak said.

Zoos, beauty clinics, spas, and traditional Thai massages will be allowed to operate, with physical distancing in place, as will soccer fields and volleyball and basketball courts, but only for training purposes and with limits on spectators.

Fitness clubs can also reopen but with limited users at each time.

Thailand's planning agency on Thursday said the impacts of the coronavirus could cause the loss of up to 2 million jobs this year, particularly in the tourist industry. It predicts the economy will shrink 5 to 6 percent this year.

Thailand confirmed 11 new coronavirus cases on Friday, and no new deaths. All those cases were arrivals from Kuwait and were in state quarantine.

All but one of the cases reported this week were detected in quarantine.

The government has previously said it planned to reopen all businesses within June, although passenger flights remain suspended.

The Southeast Asian country has seen a slowdown in locally transmitted cases, and more recent cases have been found among those in state quarantine after returning from abroad.

The coronavirus has infected 3,076 in Thailand since January and killed 57.

-reuters-

Thailand reports 11 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths

BANGKOK - Thailand on Thursday reported 11 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, bringing its total to 3,065 confirmed cases and 57 fatalities since the outbreak started in January.

The cases were Thai nationals in quarantine who recently returned from overseas, including four from Kuwait, six from Qatar, and one from India, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's coronavirus task force.

There are 2,945 patients who have recovered since the outbreak started. 

-reuters-

Thailand begins coronavirus vaccine trials on monkeys

BANGKOK - Thailand on Saturday began testing a vaccine against the coronavirus on monkeys after positive trials in mice, an official said.

Thailand's minister of higher education, science, and research and innovation, Suvit Maesincee, said researchers had moved testing of the vaccine to monkeys and hoped to have a "clearer outcome" of its effectiveness by September.

"This project is for the human race, not just Thais. The prime minister (Prayuth Chan-ocha) has outlined a policy that we must develop a vaccine and join the world community workforce on this," Suvit told reporters on Saturday.

Thailand announced on Wednesday that it was developing a vaccine - one of at least 100 potential vaccines in the works worldwide - and hoped to have it into production by next year.

Suvit said that Thailand has started reserving two manufacturers for its vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Since the new virus emerged in China late last year, COVID-19 has spread around the world, infecting more than 5 million people and killing more than 300,000.

The Thai vaccine uses messenger RNA, which prompts body cells to produce antigens, molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

The Thai vaccine is being developed by the National Vaccine Institute, the Department of Medical Science and Chulalongkorn University's vaccine research center.

-reuters-

Eating out in Thailand

People eat at a street restaurant implementing social distancing with plastic dividers after the Thai government relaxed measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 disease, in Bangkok's Chinatown on Thursday. Thailand continued easing restrictions related to the novel coronavirus on May 17 by allowing various businesses to reopen, but warned that the stricter measures would be re-imposed should cases increase again.

AFP