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From National Public Radio The Cost Of Thailand's Coronavirus Success: Despair ... And Suicide One of Bangkok's street vendors and his bicycle worker. So-called "informal workers" have suffered the loss of income in the wake of coronavirus lockdown measures. Patrick Brown for NPR From a small corner storefront in Bangkok, Suchart Prasomsu, 53, a rice dealer, leads a rescue team of 30 volunteers. They rush to car crashes or crime scenes. They also retrieve the bodies of those who died in their homes, and since the start of the pandemic, part of their job has become trying to prevent people from killing themselves. Sacks of rice are stacked among disinfectant tanks (used to clean the apartment of a neighbor who contracted COVID-19), Prasomsu's rescue diving suit (for when someone has jumped into the river), a Buddhist shrine, a cage of songbirds and his poodle, Lion. Parked outside is the Harley he uses to weave through Bangkok's traffic. His shortwave radios — one that picks up police reports in his riverside district and the other for the entire central region of Thailand — crackle in the background. Prasomsu has been a rescue volunteer for nearly 30 years. He says the reports of suicide have ticked up since the country announced a lockdown on March 26 in the effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. He and his team have responded to at least 10 police reports of people who are publicly suicidal in his area. He talked to one young woman who nearly killed herself after losing her job at a factory. He remembers her because she backed away from the edge. Sometimes, he responds to a call and there's nothing left but a pair of flip-flops. It becomes a job for the divers to recover the body, Prasomsu said. "Then we can help by giving them a proper burial." The case and death rates from COVID-19 in Thailand are among the world's lowest, with about 3,100 confirmed cases and 58 deaths, as of Thursday. Thai epidemiologists say their health care system — one of the finest in the world — had a major role to play. So did a strict lockdown. But like many other countries, the measures to contain the virus have also caused mass disruptions as the economy came to a sudden stop. Shops, offices, malls, markets, factories, gyms, restaurants and bars were ordered to close. Domestic and international flights were grounded. People were ordered to stay home, and if they went outside, they were required to wear a mask. The few businesses that stayed open, like grocery stores, were required to do temperature checks at the door and squirted alcohol hand sanitizer into the hands of their customers. In May, the government began easing the restrictions, and as of mid-June, most businesses have been allowed to reopen. Dr. Varoth Chotpitayasunondh, a psychiatrist and spokesperson for the mental health department of Thailand's Ministry of Public Health, says that now the threat of COVID-19 is under control, the government is faced with a different public health challenge: "The next wave of the problem will be mental health." Continues with photos https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/16/874198026/the-cost-of-thailands-coronavirus-success-despair-and-suicide

From Bangkok Post Chinese tourists still hindered The Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) China office is tempering enthusiasm that many Chinese tourists will visit in the second half this year as travel restrictions ease, as low Chinese purchasing power for outbound trips persists and an uptick in new infections emerges in Beijing. The surging unemployment rate of 6% or 27 million on the mainland remains a challenge as Thailand eagerly awaits its No.1 source market. Lerdchai Wangtrakoondee, director of TAT's Shanghai office, said after temporarily adopting new hygienic practices for months, the situation in China is returning to normal, although outbound tour operators are still on ice. He said the actual unemployment rate is expected to be more severe as the figures only count urban areas. "Spending power is weak and the cost of travel will be higher because of lower capacity in tourism services, such in fewer flight seats, so Thai tourism operators should be aware the market will be hobbled for some time," said Mr Lerdchai. He said Thailand will face tough competition from rivals eager to lure Chinese tourists back, led by the Maldives, which plans to lift travel restrictions to all nationalities in July. Singapore already opened its border to Chinese business travellers early this month. The TAT predicts two scenarios for the Chinese market. The best case is tourists will return to Thailand during Golden Week or the national holiday in October. In the worst case, Thailand has to wait until Chinese New Year in 2021, which will fall in February.

From Viet Nam News HCM City Party chief calls for announcing ‘end’ of Việt Nam pandemic, reviving economy HCM CITY — Việt Nam should announce “the end” of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and “develop a roadmap to gradually resume trade relations with 17 partners,” HCM City Party Committee secretary Nguyễn Thiện Nhân has said. Speaking on Monday at a National Assembly meeting in Hà Nội on the socio-economic situation in the first half, he said Việt Nam has been able to contain the outbreak without any community infection for two months. “The rate of people infected per million in Việt Nam is very low, only 3.4. No more than one person per million (the current rate is 0.2 people) is being treated. Việt Nam has not reported any deaths due to the outbreak.” As soon as the first cases were detected, the country took more precautionary measures than recommended by the World Health Organisation, he pointed out. Based on these and recent developments in other countries, he suggested that the Government should consider resuming trade with 17 economic partners. “These are Việt Nam’s most important partners, accounting for 90 per cent of foreign investment, 80 per cent of international trade and 80 per cent of tourists.” The country should first develop a specific roadmap to revive trade with 10 partners, which are Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Germany, Australia, and the Virgin Islands (UK), he said. Other partners include India, the US, Russia, Singapore, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and Malaysia, he said. “We need to monitor further to see when it is safe to reopen trade relations with these partners because ‘these partners are not completely safe yet’.” According to official statistics, foreign investment in Việt Nam this year could fall by 30 per cent, tourism by 50 per cent and international trade by 18 per cent, Nhân added. Concurring with Nhân, NA deputy Lưu Bình Nhưỡng called on the NA to issue a resolution on economic recovery. “The most important is to revive the economy, which has been seriously impacted in recent months.” But Nguyễn Lân Hiếu, another deputy and director of Hà Nội’s Medical University Hospital, warned: “We need to be very careful about [linking up with] foreign economies because the risk of a second wave of infection is still high in many countries. For example, China is now showing signs of a second wave in some localities.” He added: "It is vital to do more scientific studies to ensure there is no second wave of the infection in Việt Nam.

From Coconuts Bangkok ‘Garden bridge’ across Bangkok’s Chao Phraya opens soon A rail bridge abandoned almost 30 years will get a new lease on life as an elevated garden overlooking the Chao Phraya River when it opens to the public later this month. Under construction for just over a year with a budget of THB122 million (US$3.9 million), the green pedestrian bridge dubbed Chao Phraya Sky Park will welcome visitors and pedestrians between the capital’s Samphanthawong and Thonburi districts. On Thursday, City Hall staffers and volunteers placed some plants at what’s marketed as the world’s first garden bridge. The mid-river garden and observation deck spans 8.5 meters by 280 meters atop the Phra Pok Klao Bridge. A short distance from the Memorial Bridge, aka Saphan Phut, the former rail bridge was never used. Its tracks were for the unfinished Lavalin Skytrain project, which began in 1984 and was abandoned in 1992 due to funding problems. The project is a collaboration between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Chulalongkorn University’s Urban Design and Development Center. Elevated greenway projects have become en vogue in cities around the world, such as New York City’s High Line, which opened atop former railway land in 2009. London last year abandoned a similar Garden Bridge project over the Thames River after spending GBP53 million (THB 2 billion).

From Khaosod English Makkasan Museum Honors Laborers Forgotten by Official History BANGKOK — A museum located in the old trainyard area of Makkasan is one of the best kept secrets for those wanting to learn more about the very people who built Thailand – not kings and the elite, but the working class. The Thai Labour Museum leads visitors through the stories of the suffering, exploitation, and struggles of Thailand’s workers and laborers, from a crackdown on labor activists in the past to the present days safety issues. “The Labor Museum enables people to recognize the values of workers,” museum curator and former factory worker Wasana Lamdee said. It’s a low-budget museum with no air conditioner and entrance fees. The museum was built with the seed money from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a German political foundation supporting labor movements worldwide. Its land is loanded by the union of the State Railway of Thailand. Consisting of seven small exhibition rooms, the museum starts with reminding visitors that laborers in Siam, as it was known in the early days of Bangkok, were tattooed on their wrists so others can identify their masters. The identification also made it easy to catch fugitive workers and bring them back to their “employers.” Slaves were also a common source of labor. Displayed at the museum is a slave contract signed during the early reign of King Rama V. The monarch eventually abolished slavery in 1900. In Room 4, we are told of Thawat Rittidet, a little-known figure from the working class whose role in the 1932 democratic revolt outsizes his reputation. Recognized by the museum as Thailand’s first “labor hero,” Thawat founded a newspaper for workers and formed groups to protect laborers’ rights, years before modern labor unions were introduced. Room 5 is dedicated to Allied prisoners of war forced by the Japanese to build the Death Railway across River Kwai during the Second World War. The harsh conditions and abuses by Japanese soldiers led to at least 180,000 deaths among the captives. Other exhibitions show the labor movement evolving through the Cold War military dictatorship and modern autocrats. We learned of labor leader Thanong Pho-an, who stood against the military coup of February 1991. He was abducted in June that year and never seen again . But perhaps the most poignant display in the museum is a pile of scorched dolls recovered from a toy factory fire in 1993 that killed 188 workers, most of them women. Investigators said many victims perished in the flame because doors were chained to prevent theft, and no alarm system was installed. “The factory owner fled back home to Hong Kong and was never prosecuted,” Wasana said. “Only the architect ends up in prison.” With so many issues left unresolved that still haunt Thai workers today, from union rights to fire hazard, the museum is truly a window to the past and present. Additional writing Teeranai Charuvastra Thai Labour Museum is located on Makkasan Road, close to Makkasan Railway Station. It is open from 10am to 4pm from Wednesday to Sunday. The museum is temporarily closed due to coronavirus infections but will re-open in mid-July. Entry is free but donation is appreciated. Call 02-251-3173 for details.

From The Nation Thailand will be very choosy about who can visit, insists Anutin Only countries that have not had a severe outbreak of Covid-19 will be made part of Thailand’s “travel bubble” and the Kingdom will restrict the type of travellers allowed into the country, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday (June 15). He added that guidelines on the situation will be released by the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration and clarified to the public. “I have spoken with the ambassadors of Singapore, New Zealand, China and South Korea. We have to see which nationalities Thais are happy to welcome, as well as consider the state of the economy and people’s livelihoods,” the minister said.

The current Stickman Bangkok column is dedicated to an interview with the curator of the Patpong Museum. it includes a few bombshells: an imminent, Twlight-like destiny for Soi 4 along with Silom sois 1 and 2. https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/weekly-column/2020/06/the-curator-talks-patpong/

I've placed these two items in the same post because I believe they represent two different views about what may actually happen over the next six months or less. One describes two polls of public opinion while the other reflects on the position in which the Bank of Thailand finds itself. I'm inclined to think the latter may be more predictive of how things progress on the ground than the former. From The Examiner Thai public says No to foreign tourism and also predicts 1 to 2 years for travel to return to normal The Civil Aviation Authority is to begin talks this week to open outbound flights limited to business people while the Thai public gives the thumbs down to foreign tourism with 74% saying it will be at least one year before international travel into Thailand returns to normal. Another poll shows over 82% wanting to see pubs remaining closed at this time. The news and negative sentiment is rattling news for foreigners who regularly travel to Thailand or have links with the kingdom. Opinion polls published on Sunday in Thailand will make dismaying reading for foreigners interested in travelling to the country over the next few months. The first was a Suan Dusit poll which showed 76% saying No to foreign tourism at this time. The same poll showed that a combined figure of 74% of respondents saw external tourism only returning to normal in Thailand in the next one to two years. The Thai government made it clear this week as it announced the end of the curfew, that tough restrictions will remain on inbound travel into the kingdom. This comes even as the Civil Aviation Authority next week enters into talks with airlines in Thailand on the opening up of international outbound flights. This all comes as opinion polls published on Sunday show that the Thai public is decidedly against letting foreigners gain access to the kingdom again for tourism. A commanding three out of four majority or nearly 76% answered ‘No’ when asked if Thailand’s borders should be open again to incoming foreigners. The survey was conducted in the three days up to Friday the 12th of June as the Thai government floated proposals on travel bubbles with safe countries and began to consider the reopening of pubs and wet massage parlour venues as part of its fourth and final stage of the current domestic reopening process. Only 24% of those who responded in the poll said the government should open the kingdom to foreigners to allow the country’s hard-pressed and suffering tourism economy to return to normality and begin generating much-needed income. The Suan Dusit poll had a sample of 1,116 adults from across the country and was conducted by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University in Bangkok. Acombined total of 74% said it would take at least one year for tourism to return to normal after the virus emergency with 32.7% suggesting it would be two years or even more. A combined total of 67.3%, however, saw tourism activity returning to normal in the next six months to a year. The biggest block of respondents comprised 41.3% of those polled who said that it would take one year for this to happen while 25.9% envisaged 6 months. A full 32.7% of people said the return to tourism normality may take two years or more with 20.52 % suggesting two years and 12.18% plumping for over two years. Another poll on Sunday did seem to indicate that the public was less in fear of the virus with nearly 52% responding that they did not now worry about the threat. Only 33.29% of people surveyed had some concerns with a further 12.91% expressing real fear of the threat. This opinion poll was carried out by NIDA or the National Institute of Development Administration on June 8th and June 9th with a sample size of 1,270 made up of Thai people over 15 from a range of educational backgrounds and socio-economic levels. The poll showed a sharp level of opposition to the reopening of public bars or entertainment venues with 82.2% opposed alongside nearly 79% of who wanted to see massage parlours remaining shuttered. The opinion polls and recent government pronouncements suggest strongly that the Covid 19 virus has resulted in a shift or change in conditions for many western foreigners who travel regularly to Thailand which will extend at least into the next six months and possibly longer. ======================================================================================================== From The Nation BOT insists its Bt6 trillion liability will not turn into public debt, but history says otherwise The Bank of Thailand (BOT)’s obligation worth Bt6 trillion will not translate into public debt as feared by many, the central bank insists, though the explanation it has offered is far from clear. Chantawan Sutcharitkul, BOT’s assistant governor, said on Friday (June 12) that many people misunderstood the central bank’s balance sheet, which shows it has liabilities worth Bt6 trillion. The central bank’s debts come from its normal market operations – when there is liquidity flooding into the market, the central bank issues bonds to manage the financial market and when the market faces tight liquidity, the central bank reduces the issuing of bonds in order to inject liquidity back into the market, she said. “The central bank also buys foreign currency when there is a large capital inflow into the Kingdom, so while the bank has obligations, it also has large assets in the form of foreign currencies,” she added. “Debts that appear in the central bank’s financial statement cannot be counted as public debts. It is standard practice by central banks across the world,” she said reassuringly. However, she did not explain how things are different this time compared to the past, when the central bank wrongly defended the baht, resulting in a financial crisis and a currency debacle in 1997-1998. At that time, the central bank depleted international reserves as part of a currency war, when speculators began selling out the baht heavily, forcing the central bank to abandon its fixed exchange rate and the country to borrow emergency funds from the International Monetary Fund. The consequence of the huge damages stemming from the central bank’s foreign exchange fiasco and subsequent efforts to rescue financial institutions later turned into public debts.

From Bangkok Post Ban on overseas entry to stay From Monday, there will be no night curfew, but strict controls under the emergency decree will continue to be enforced especially on entry into Thailand because Covid-19 is still present in other countries, a senior government spokesman announced on Friday. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said the curfew would be lifted on June 15 to allow local people to travel, because there had been no cases of local coronavirus infection for some time now. However, the emergency decree remains in effect and the government would maintain controls on all entry -- by land, water and air -- because all new Covid-19 patients were people returning from other countries, he said. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that when the fourth stage of relaxation takes effect from Monday, he hoped that it will reinvigorate the economy and more people will go back to work. "I have sympathy for people on low incomes. I believe they will earn more money after the lockdown easing on June 15. The government cannot afford to find money to look after people forever," the prime minister said.

From Khaosod English Officials Say Temples Can Deny Entry to Foreigners, Because Virus BANGKOK — A popular temple in Bangkok shut its doors to foreigners, including expats who have been residing in Thailand for years, citing anti-coronavirus precaution. “ONLY THAI PEOPLE, NOW NOT OPEN FOR FOREIGNERS,” announced a sign in front of Wat Pho, known internationally as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The temple reopened on June 5 yet reserved entry to Thai nationals only, a gesture criticized as racial discrimination. “We aren’t ready for foreign visitors yet,” said a temple caretaker answering the phone Thursday. “We don’t know how long this will last.” When asked why Thais were allowed and not foreigners, he said that these were “the temple regulations.” Officials reached for comment said they considered the policy as legal. “COVID-19 is not stable yet. The temple can do it if they’re scared,” Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s deputy clerk Sompong Wiengkaew said. “It’s up to each temple what measures they want to implement.” Tourism ministry spokesman Narit Kanjanopas said that tourist destinations should wait for further clarification on allowing foreigners in. “Some temples smay allow but some may not; each temple can manage their own rules,” Narit said. But the rule left the expat community in Thailand seething with outrage since not every foreigner in Thailand is a tourist. Many also protested the measure treating non-Thais as potential virus carriers, since a significant number of foreigners have been inside the country and never left since the outbreak began. “Are you serious? Banning foreigners is extremely discriminatory and everyone is saying you are racist,” Facebook user Jason R. Hofer wrote in a comment to the temple’s announcement. “You cannot just assume someone has a disease because of their nationality.” British blogger and longtime expat Richard Barrow posted on Thursday that he had gone to Wat Pho to pay his respects, but was not allowed in despite having residence in Thailand. The temple also said that Thai visitors must wear masks before entering and have a temperature lower than 37.5. Only 30 visitors are allowed in at a time. But photos posted by the temple show dozens of monks seated together inside Wat Pho on June 3, when they held a ceremony celebrating Queen Suthida’s birthday. The historic temple wasn’t alone in maintaining a no-foreigner policy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Buses operated by The Transport Co., which resumed their inter-provincial services, also announced that they would not allow foreigners to board. The company said passengers must show their Thai ID cards for tracking virus purposes, and passports are not acceptable. Many other businesses and landmarks that reopened under “Phase 3” of coronavirus lockdown easing do not have problems with admitting foreigners, however. The Grand Palace, for instance, has been open to both Thais and foreigners since June 7, though the site still practices the “double pricing,” which charges non-Thai 500 baht for entry. Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn, another landmark temple across the river, is also open to everyone regardless of their nationality. A temple caretaker who picked up the phone today said the temple has hygiene and social distancing measures in place, but group tours are not permitted at the moment due to overcrowding concerns. ==================================================================================================================================== From The Thaiger Transport Company resumes service, bans foreigners The wheels on the bus go round and round. But not for foreigners living in Thailand. It’s now official. If you’re a foreigner you won’t be allowed on intercity buses operated by the state owned Transport Company, under the auspices of the Thai Ministry of Transport. They announced today that foreigners are banned from its services due to the Emergency Decree. Although services have resumed on most of their routes across the country, foreign travellers are not allowed to board because they do not have Thai national ID cards. Well that’s the official excuse according to a service agent. Asked whether passports can be used instead, the agent said “no”. “It’s the company policy, sorry for any inconvenience.” The company also announced on its website that it reserves the right to book tickets for Thai nationals only, citing an unspecified clause of the Emergency Decree. Private operators Nakhonchai Air and Sombat Tour say foreigners are welcome on board. But Thaiger has had four messages in the past week saying they were unable to buy tickets or board Sombat Tour buses. This message from a New Zealand expat who tried to board a Sombat Tour bus last week. “I wanted to go and visit my friend in Bangkok and she went ahead and booked a ticket from Chiangmai to Bangkok. The next morning I got a call from the company saying foreigners are not allowed on the bus. I am deeply offended by this discrimination. I have been in Thailand well before Covid arrived. Does this mean I can’t travel on planes also?” The State Railway of Thailand says foreigners are also welcome to board long distance trains.

From South China Morning Post Which parts of Asia are easing coronavirus travel curbs? Most tourist hotspots in Asia remain out of bounds this summer as international travel remains restricted, but some countries including China are making special arrangements for business travellers. Even once mass travel does return, however, tourists won’t accept long coronavirus quarantines – but testing is likely to be part of the deal, on both ends of the trip. Here are the latest developments as of June 11: Continues with information on Australia/New Zealand, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3088575/which-parts-asia-are-easing-coronavirus-travel-curbs

From Channel News Asia Thailand's real estate market has been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For developers who relied heavily on Chinese buyers, Thailand's international flight ban means investors from China are almost non-existent. Meanwhile, developers are making their deals more attractive to entice local buyers. Our CNA correspondent May Wong reports from Bangkok. Continues with video https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/videos/thailand-s-property-market-hurt-by-covid-19-pandemic-video-12816658

From Taiwan News Taiwan to require all foreign visitors take PCR test TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After Taiwan opens its borders to travelers, they will be required to pass a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) before they will be allowed to enter the country, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced on Monday (June 8). During a press conference on Monday, Minister of Health and Welfare and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that when Taiwan eases its border controls, foreign visitors will be required to test negative in a PCR test before they can enter the country. In addition, after entering Taiwan, Chen said that they will also be subject to follow-up testing and self-health management measures, depending on the activities that they engage in while in the country. Some question the CECC's claim that the key to borders reopening is the wearing of masks by Taiwanese and argue that the key should be a better border testing system. Chen responded by saying that airport testing has its effectiveness, but cannot guarantee that 100 percent of people carrying the virus will be detected. Chen said whether looking at the experience of other countries or Taiwan, both are the same. Taiwan's quarantine staff spotted about 100 confirmed cases, but another 100 were discovered during home isolation, while others tested positive after completing their 14-day quarantine. The CECC head said that successful detection requires several layers of screening, and there is no way to succeed in epidemic prevention with a single method. Only careful inspection at all stages will ensure the prevention of the spread of the disease. "When foreigners want to open up [Taiwan's borders], they must test negative with the PCR test," said Chen, according to ETtoday. He said that CECC will not implement mass testing on Taiwanese entering the country from abroad because the government is obligated to treat them if they are infected. However, Chen said the government is not obligated to treat infected foreign travelers. He said that if sick foreign passengers are allowed to enter without screening, they could quickly start a local outbreak. In order to prevent foreign nationals from spreading the disease in Taiwan, Chen said that testing is a key line of defense that must be maintained at airports.

From MSN WHO official: Asymptomatic spread of coronavirus 'very rare' A top World Health Organization official on Monday said that it appears "very rare," for an asymptomatic person with coronavirus to transmit the virus to another person, a potential bit of good news in the fight against the virus. "From the data we have it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual," said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, when asked about the issue at a press briefing. She noted the answer is not definitive. "We are constantly looking at this data and we're trying to get more information from countries to truly answer this question," she said. "It still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual actually transmits onward." She said the WHO has information reported by countries that have not been published in studies, finding that detailed contact tracing has not found significant spread from asymptomatic people. "We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing, they're following asymptomatic cases, they're following contacts, and they're not finding secondary transmission onward," Van Kerkhove said. "It's very rare. Much of that is not published in the literature." However, Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, expressed some skepticism of the WHO's claim and said he thinks asymptomatic transmission is, in fact, an important source of spread, and that some modeling shows as much as 40 to 60 percent of transmission is from people without symptoms. Jha said it's possible the WHO is making a distinction between asymptomatic spread and presymptomatic spread when someone eventually develops symptoms but spreads the virus before they do. If it is indeed true that asymptomatic spread of the virus is very rare, it would make it easier to contain the transmission, because there would be less worry about people unwittingly spreading the virus as they went about their lives without any symptoms. "If this turns out to be true it would be a game-changer, but I think it would be really important for us to know whether CDC concurs?" tweeted Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert at Baylor University, in response to the WHO statement on Monday. Van Kerkhove said the focus should be on tracking the symptomatic cases. "If we actually followed all of the symptomatic cases, isolated those cases, followed the contacts, and quarantined those contacts, we would drastically reduce [transmission]," she said.

From Bangkok Post Bang Sue Central Station set to open next year More than 90% of work on Bang Sue Central Station is now complete. Once finished, it will be the largest and most modern railway station in Asean. After several decades of dormancy, Thailand's rail transport sector is entering a renaissance. In the capital city, 10 mass transit projects are under construction. Across the nation, major railway projects are also underway, including the 308-kilometre dual-track railway from Nakhon Ratchasima to Ubon Ratchathani. Many municipalities -- from Chiang Mai in the North to Phuket in the South -- are also pushing plans to build their own rail systems. However, none of these projects reflect Thailand's rail renaissance like Bang Sue Central Station, a "mega-station" that will replace the century-old Hua Lamphong Station as Bangkok's main rail hub. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) says Bang Sue Central Station will open in January 2021, along with the Red Line commuter rail. "Once completed, Bang Sue Central Station will be the largest railway station in Asean. All diesel train services which terminate at Hua Lamphong will eventually be moved here, and the old train station will be converted into a museum," SRT deputy director Worawut Mala told the Bangkok Post. Mr Worawut said the station will serve as a hub for rail transport, with platforms to accommodate diesel trains, electric commuter trains, as well as high-speed regional trains and the airport link between Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports. The 15-billion-baht station is being built on 2,325 rai of land owned by the SRT. As it is envisioned as a hub, the station will be equipped with maintenance depots for both diesel and electric trains. Public utilities will be located there, while an elevated walkway will connect the station to the new Mo Chit Bus Terminal. One of the highlights is a 186,030-square-metre (m²) memorial dedicated to King Rama V, known as the Father of Thai railroads. The king's statue will be surrounded by a 14,000m² pond with fountains. While the station itself is nearing completion, work on the memorial has yet to begin as it has to be approved by the Bureau of the Royal Household first. As such, it is unlikely the memorial will be completed in time for the station's opening. The station's main structure consists of a three-storey building, not including the underground car park and the mezzanine level. Once completed, the building will be over 596 metres long and 244 metres wide. With a total usable floor area of 274,192m², the station will have a total of 26 platforms. It will also have enough parking space for 1,624 cars -- which is important to commuters as the station will be connected to the MRT's Blue Line. "Ticketing windows, retail and food shops, waiting areas and the connection to the Blue Line will be located on the first floor," Mr Worawut said. Bang Sue Central Station will be a part of the SRT's Red Line suburban railways system. It will serve as the terminus of the 26km "Dark Red" service between Bang Sue and Rangsit, from which passengers can switch to the 15km "Light Red" service that runs to Taling Chan. By the end of the year, the government plans to find contractors to work on three extensions for the Red Line -- the 8.4km Rangsit-Thammasat Rangsit section, the 14km Taling Chan-Salaya section and the 8km section between Taling Chan and Siriraj Hospital. Combined, the contracts are estimated to be worth around 23.2 billion baht. Once operational, the Dark Red service on the Red Line will provide a rail link between the northern and southern parts of Bangkok, while the Light Red service will link the city's eastern outskirts with the west.

From South China Morning Post Coronavirus turns Teflon Thailand’s wealth gap into a economic chasm As Covid-19 eats into exports and tourism, the gap between rich and poor in one of the world’s most unequal countries is only getting wider With both the lower and middle classes now facing ruin, ‘Teflon’ Thailand’s reputation for weathering financial crises is feeling the heat like never before On a roadside in a mixed Bangkok neighbourhood stands a shiny metal box – a “Pantry of Sharing” – where the haves in one of the world’s least equal countries can leave food for the have-nots, the ranks of whom are bulging as the coronavirus lays waste to the Thai economy. Each day, maids from the grand mansions nearby drop off an inventory of essentials – eggs, noodles, milk, sugar and water, sometimes a bag of mangosteens or rambutans – charity for those suddenly jobless. Opposite the pantry, Sumarin Boonmee says her life has been pitched into uncertainty since she was put on unpaid leave from her job at a supermarket three months ago. “I have no idea when I can go back, so I am selling meat skewers here for a little income,” she says, tending to a tabletop grill. She is a member of the Leelanut community, a slum of day workers and stallholders living under corrugated roofs amid cluttered walkways beside a mucky canal. The community is flanked by wealth – gated villas, wood-panelled cafes, condos and high-end salons. It is a hangover from old Bangkok, before money poured in and breakneck development airbrushed most of the poor from prime areas of the city. There are millions of newly unemployed like Sumarin, according to the Thai government, which last Sunday secured a near-US$60 billion stimulus package – the largest in Thai history – to resuscitate an economy flatlined by the virus. Bangkok locked down in late March. It is stuttering back to life. But jobs have been shredded, especially for those who depend on daily wages or low-paid jobs as cleaners, motorbike drivers and security guards. At the pantries, most are embarrassed for being forced to turn to handouts. “I’m just taking enough for now, so that others have something too,” says Suthep, a 49-year-old truck driver, taking a red-bean bun and a carton of milk for his granddaughter. Thailand’s economy leans heavily on exports and tourism and has been cruelly exposed by the impact of the virus, which has closed international travel and shrunk global demand. Now the “Teflon Thailand” tag, earned for resilience through financial crises, disasters and cycles of political turmoil, is being tested like never before. There are now scores of pantries across Bangkok, lifelines for those in need but also rare connection points between the rich and the poor. The pantry at the Leelanut community is filled twice daily by an heir to a large sock company, who lives 100 metres along the road in a grand house. “My business has been hit hard by Covid. But I’m very lucky,” says Pinnarat Sethaporn, 51. “I really feel for those living hand-to-mouth at times like this.” But it is not just the poor who are facing ruin. Middle-class workers are losing their office jobs, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are bleeding cash, with knock-on effects on mortgage, car and school payments. Between six and seven per cent will be hacked off annual growth, according to an IMF estimate. The damage is already worse than the “Tom Yum Goong” crisis of 1997, when Thai banks overly leveraged with foreign debt collapsed, leading to a slump in the baht, white-collar redundancies and capital flight – problems that spread across the region and led to the Asian financial crisis. “This time, those who will be hit the hardest are the low and middle classes,” says Pavida Pananond, an academic at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok. “This crisis will further widen Thailand’s inequality.”

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From South China Morning Post How Cambodia’s floating hospitals are saving the lives of its poorest communities The Lake Clinic takes medical care offshore to 10,000 of those who make a meagre living on Tonlé Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia Tonlé Sap, in northern Cambodia, is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. During the May to October rainy season, it swells to six times its dry-season size, extending over 16,000 sq km – an area 200 times that of Hong Kong Island. Tonlé Sap has also long been one of the planet’s most produc­tive inland fisheries. More than a million people depend on the lake for their livelihood, and about 100,000 live in its vicinity. While many dwell in stilted villages on the lake’s flood­plain, the poorest huddle in floating communities on Tonlé Sap itself, sometimes hours from dry land. Their homes are often fragile, rain-leaking shacks cobbled together from woven reeds, scraps of plywood, tin sheets and tarpaulins, all lashed to wooden or bamboo rafts kept afloat on air-filled oil drums. They are among the most isolated communities in Cambodia, the vast majority relying on subsistence fishing for their survival. According to the World Health Organisation, Cambodia has just 1.7 doctors for every 10,000 people (Hong Kong has close to 20, according to government figures released last year). Floating communities on the lake have long had access to zero. American Jon Morgan first became troubled by the lack of health care on Tonlé Sap in the 1990s, after completing his master’s in public health at the University of Hawaii. Morgan, who went on to co-found the Angkor Hospital for Children, in nearby Siem Reap, noted the lake dwellers’ poverty, lack of education, poor nutrition and hygiene. Add to that the high fees for treatment, available only far from home, and it was a perfect storm of preventable diseases and treatable injuries that could ruin or end lives. “I thought, my God, this is a nightmare,” says Morgan, now 67. “Somebody has to do something.” His solution was The Lake Clinic – Cambodia (going, aptly, by the acronym TLC), which became a reality in 2007 and has grown in scope and ambition ever since. Through the years, TLC has provided more than 240,000 individual medical services to people living on Tonlé Sap, and today operates five “floating clinics” – four on the lake and one on the adjoining Stung Sen River – catering to more than 10,000 inhabitants in nine of the most underserved floating communities. With five doctors, two nurses, four midwives, a dental nurse and support staff, funded purely by private donations, TLC’s two home-grown medical teams each make a three-day trip into the field every week. They live and work on offshore facilities, providing free medical care and health education to the most forgotten people in one of Asia’s poorest countries. Continues with photos https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3087394/how-cambodias-floating-hospitals-are-saving

From Khaosod English Government says Cambodian workers should remain in Thailand during Covid-19 The director general of Thailand’s Employment Department, Suchart Phonchaiwisetkun, says Cambodian labourers should remain in Thailand while the fight against the Covid-19 goes on in the region. He was speaking following a meeting with the the Cambodian Ambassador, Ouk Sorphorn, where they discussed how Thailand would deal with its migrant workforce during the pandemic. According to a report in Nation Thailand, Suchart claims Cambodian workers wish to remain in Thailand and continue working, rather than returning to their home country. He says having them travel across the border now would not only cost money but could increase the risk of virus transmission. He adds that having them remain in Thailand provides reassurance to Thai business owners that they won’t have to deal with a shortage of workers, adding that the Cambodians themselves are in agreement. “The Cambodians agreed to the preliminary principles and want relevant agencies in Thailand and Cambodia to meet in a video conference later.”

From Reuters Thailand's one million health volunteers hailed as coronavirus heroes SALADANG, Thailand (Reuters) - Nearly every day, 77-year-old Surin Makradee goes door-to-door in her village in Thailand, visiting every home to check people’s temperatures in a routine repeated in communities across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. He said volunteers helped create greater participation in the health systems in subsequent decades and won praise during previous epidemics like the H5N1 bird flu in the mid-2000s. Their role, however, had become less prominent over the past 10 years - at least until the coronavirus emerged. “I consider people in the village my family. If I don’t educate them, they will not understand the risk of getting infected,” Surin said in her village of Saladang in Ang Thong province, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Bangkok She is a member of the Village Health Volunteers, a long-overlooked network of more than 1 million community workers dating back to a Cold War-era hearts-and-minds programme. The volunteers have been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “unsung heroes” in Thailand’s relatively successful efforts to fight the novel coronavirus. “Thailand’s village health volunteers are unsung heroes working to support the prevention, detection and reporting of COVID-19,” said Daniel Kertesz, WHO representative for Thailand, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus. Apart from the temperature checks, the front-line health volunteers help the government collect daily health information and watch for flare-ups in infections. Surin, who has been a volunteer for 38 years and does her rounds by motorcycle, said she is also responsible for monitoring people who have returned from other provinces and need to be in quarantine for 14 days. Created in 1977, the Village Health Volunteers were set up as part of government efforts to help rural communities at a time when communists insurgents roamed through many parts of the country. With basic health training, the volunteers help provide rudimentary care and initial diagnoses in areas that are often a long way from a clinic or hospital. “They were gatekeepers for people in the community to get to medical treatment, and this was important considering the limited resources of our health system,” said Chatichai Muksong, a historian at Srinakharinwirot University. ======================================================================================================== From Khaosod English Doctor Who Founded Rural Health Volunteer Network Dies at 92 BANGKOK — The doctor who pioneered a nationwide volunteer network that looks after local communities’s health well-being died on Tuesday at 92. Amorn Nonthasoot, a former health ministry perm-sec who established the program, known by Thai acronym Aor Sor Mor, died of gastrointestinal bleeding, Nakornping Hospital director Worachet Teacharak said. The network he founded is widely credited for containing the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. Amorn dedicated much of his career to the development of the primary health care system in the country. Current health minister Anutin Charnvirakul posted a message of condolences for Amorn on Wednesday. After his graduation from Harvard University in 1962, Amorn piloted a network of health reporters to communicate healthy practices to rural communities. The idea was expanded into the Aor Sor Mor in 1977. The project has since grown to all regions nationwide. A total of 1.04 million volunteers have signed up to act as a middleman between rural residents and health officials, carrying out basic health outreach duties and more recently serving in the frontline against the coronavirus at community level.

From Thai Examiner Thailand begins herd immunity study Herd immunity study by Chulalongkorn University on a village in the Thung Yang Daeng district of southern Pattani. It comes, as around the world, people are beginning to question the response of governments and the huge economic loss caused by lockdown measures. Sweden’s singular approach has emerged as a source of increasing controversy while the role of the media and society itself is also in the spotlight. Thailand’s authorities have fared well in protecting the country against the Covid 19 virus but it is not yet clear how the kingdom will return to complete normality. The answer will be herd immunity whether this is achieved through a vaccine or by natural means. On Monday, it was revealed that Chulalongkorn University has commenced a herd immunity study centred on a small village in Pattani. This comes as the controversial approach taken by Sweden, which did not shut down its economy, begins to draw more strident critics and supporters as the world begins to weigh up whether it got it right or wrong in its reaction to this global pandemic. Even as Thailand is making impressive strides towards the development of the kingdom’s own vaccine against the Covid 19 virus with testing currently underway on monkeys, it is also pursuing another initiative based on the herd immunity theory. Details emerged on Monday of a small community-based study in a Pattani village located in the Thung Yang Daeng district in the southern part of the Muslim majority province. The important research is being led by Dr Wiput Phoolcharaen of Chulalongkorn University and is being called the ‘Pattani Model’ among those familiar with the project. The village being tested has a population of 1,070 people. Dr Wiput, on Monday, described it as the perfect sample site for his scientific study.

From Coconuts Bangkok COVID not spreading undetected, task force says, vowing vigilance Health officials today denied that the failure to detect new locally transmitted coronavirus infections means they aren’t trying hard enough. While announcing that the day’s only new case came from overseas, the outbreak task force said its limited testing that targets “likely” populations; such as medical workers, state officials and new prisoners; had come back negative in the last 32,500 people tested. “The ministry is on task to test 100,000 people classified in risky groups and areas, which began two weeks ago. So far over 32,000 people, or 32.56%, have been tested, and we haven’t found a positive case,” spokesperson Taweesilp Wisanuyothin said. Testing has never been widespread and officials have balked at the expense of expanding it outside of the narrow approach which they have given the muscular name “active case finding.” As segments of society reopen and public spaces fill again, “second wave” anxieties persist. That led to some skepticism after all of the new cases logged in the past couple weeks were only found in Thais returning from abroad. Today, it was a 32-year-old student back from Saudi Arabia, along with the report of one additional death. The student was diagnosed with the virus yesterday at a government quarantine facility in the southern province of Songkhla. She brought the number of known infections to 3,083 since January. The outbreak’s 58th domestic victim was an 80-year-old Thai Muslim infected along with hundreds of others at a religious gathering three months ago in Kuala Lumpur. Asked whether Songkran will happen in July after being postponed from April due to the outbreak, the spokesman played down expectations and said nothing would be official until at least Friday. “When I was asked yesterday if the Songkran holidays would be this July, what I said was if we do good today, it will predict our future,” Taweesilp said. “It will depend on the prime minister, so I can’t answer that”

From Bangkok Post Indonesia’s Lion Air, which suspended all of its scheduled domestic flights late last month, said it will remain grounded indefinitely -- including international services -- because of the impact coronavirus-related restrictions have had on travel. The carrier, whose slogan is “we make people fly”, is grounding its fleet from Friday, it said in a statement. Lion Air has 138 aircraft, according to a spokesperson, and a route network throughout Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Its units Batik Air and Wings Air, which have a combined fleet of 140 planes, also won’t fly. Indonesia banned air travel from April 24 to try to limit the spread of coronavirus through the archipelago, where confirmed infections are now approaching 28,000 cases. Some exceptions have been made for essential travel for certain businesses and for family emergencies, and after passengers pass tests to show they aren’t infected with the disease. The pandemic has hit the Indonesian airline industry hard, with foreign visitor numbers slumping 87% in April from a year earlier. Flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia said in April that its first-quarter operating revenue could drop 33%, while AirAsia Indonesia warned its net income may plunge more than 75%, hurting its ability to repay debt.

From Washington Post Amid reopening, Singapore to create new housing for 60,000 migrant workers As Singapore took tentative steps to lift lockdown measures Tuesday, with some businesses opening their doors and some students back in the classroom, the country saw its first death among a migrant worker: a 51-year-old Chinese national, who was the 24th person confirmed to have died of covid-19 in Singapore since March. Singapore has confirmed more than 35,000 cases in a population of less than 6 million, a toll driven higher by outbreaks in crowded migrant-worker dormitories. The government pledged Tuesday to create less-dense housing for some 60,000 migrant workers before the end of the year, with more changes to come after that, in an effort to drive down the risk of infection, Reuters reported Tuesday. “The changes will be necessary to better protect the workers from widespread transmission, and to strengthen the resilience of the dormitories against pandemic risks,” Josephine Teo, the county’s manpower minister, told the South China Morning Post. Singapore has come under criticism for its treatment of migrants workers, who often face unequal conditions, advocates say. At any given time, the country is a temporary home to more than 300,000 foreign workers who live in dormitories, frequently with small, shared rooms holding 12 to 20 inhabitants. “[L]ow-wage migrant workers are the hidden backbone of our society,” Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group, wrote on its website.

From CNBC Thai hotels are offering luxury quarantine packages as an alternative to state-funded isolation Thailand is allowing five Bangkok hotels to offer luxury isolation packages as an alternative to the government-funded 14-day quarantine for returning travelers. International passenger flights have been banned from entering Thailand until the end of June, but the government has chartered flights to repatriate citizens who have been stranded abroad amid the coronavirus crisis. Anyone returning to the country is required to spend 14 days in state-designated quarantine facilities, most of which are hotels, with local media reporting that around 80,000 people have been quarantined to date. Now, the Thai government has approved five hotels in the capital to provide packages for anyone wanting to self-fund a more premium isolation period. Ranging from 32,000 Thai baht ($1,016) to 60,000 baht ($1,904) for a two-week stay, the resorts are offering perks like doctors’ consultations and meals to Thai citizens and expat workers who return to the kingdom from overseas. It’s currently unclear whether the offer will be extended to regular tourists when, and if, international passenger flights resume. Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok The 14-day “Health Watch” package offered by the Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort costs 50,000 baht and offers luxury accommodation in a single-occupancy “Wellness Suite.” As well as being provided with three meals a day, guests will receive an initial consultation with a doctor, daily health monitoring under a nurse’s supervision, “immune system enhancing supplements” and a Covid-19 test at the end of their stay. The package was initially only available until June 30, but has been extended until July 31. Qiu Hotel Bangkok’s Qiu Hotel is offering the most wallet-friendly package at 32,000 baht per person, which covers a 16-day, 15-night stay that includes three daily meals and a ride to and from the airport. Qiu’s package also includes two Covid-19 tests and round-the-clock access to ambulance services, hospital visits and video consultations with local doctors. The Idle Residence A two-week quarantine in the Idle Residence ranges from 50,000 baht for a superior room to 60,000 baht for a junior suite. The hotel has drafted in nurses from private health-care chain Samitivej Hospital to provide 24-hour care for guests in quarantine, and is also offering a “virtual hospital” to put them in touch with health-care professionals without going to a clinic. Grand Richmond Hotel The Grand Richmond is offering a 15-night quarantine package for 55,000 baht per person, with nurses from nearby Vibhavadi Hospital on 24-hour standby for guests. Guests will be put up in executive deluxe rooms on the 29th to 34th floors of the hotel, and are provided with three meals a day and a free minibar on their day of arrival. Royal Benja Hotel Quarantining at the Royal Benja comes with a price tag of 45,000 baht per person for a two-week stay. The hotel’s package includes three meals a day, discounted room service and a shuttle from the airport. Nurses will be on hand to care for guests in quarantine at the hotel, and the package also includes two Covid-19 tests as well as an ambulance service and video calls with local doctors.