September 9, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary COVID-19 News
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September 9, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary COVID-19 News Infection data for today are as follows Total New Infections = 16,031 Community Infection = 15,400 Prison Infection = 631 Total positive cases (ATK/Antigen) = 1,904 Total New Death = 220 Total New Recovery = 15,417 Total Infection including ATK = 18,205 Total infections so far since outbreak = 1,338,820 Total deaths so far since outbreak = 13,731 Total in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) = 4,364 Total number on life support (ventilator) 940 Details of data for each day can be found @ https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ For the 1st time the government has come out to accept the ‘Positive testing’ numbers as a percentage of the tests it undertakes The positive testing number as of September 7th - 17.94% Inoculation Drive Thailand’s inoculation drive continues to pick up and the data released that just over 50% of the population was inoculated with 1st dose was taken down after an online fury of it being ‘fake news’. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) came out to say that the real figure was just about 35% of the entire population. Meanwhile the CCSA’s fate is also to be decided tomorrow on whether it will continue or be disbanded. The data for the inoculation for the country from the 1st shot on February 28th until now is as follows The country has seen 22.6% of the population getting 2 doses Another 38.69 million still are yet to get their 2nd dose All this needs to be done withing 114 days before the end of the year. The average needed to achieve this is to inoculate 339,457 doses per day Yesterday saw 349,973 doses administered, well above the 339,457 that is required. The plans to inoculate the 12-18 years of age continues to remain for the privileged few who managed to register. The inoculation is to start on September 21st and those eligible are kids who are obese, handicapped or have some of the severe diseases. Meanwhile the Chulaborn Research Institute plans for 50,000 doses of Sinopharm for 12- 18 years of age was fully booked in hours yesterday. The ‘Vacc 2 doses School’ campaign was part of the effort to inoculate the young. Public Service Announcement Listed below are the numbers to call in case there is a need for those infected Political News The planned voting of the 3rd reading of the amendment to the 2016 constitution that is set to take place tomorrow (September 10th) is still in a limbo as many senators continue to give conflicting signals on which way they will vote. The charter amendment that has passed 2 readings needs 1 more reading to pass as a law. The amendments switch the country’s voting back to 2 ballot system that benefits big parties that have nationwide network, a move that has been bitterly opposed by the smaller parties and parties that benefited from the 2016 constitution such as ‘Move Forward’. The passage requires at least 84 of the 250 appointed senators to be a law but the positive thing is that the new amendments is supported by the Phalang Pracharat and Pheu Thai parties. Sutin Klangsang, a Pheu Thai MP for Maha Sarakham came out to say this morning that He was still hopeful that the bill would be passed but with the outbreak of Covid- 19 and the infighting in the Phalang Pracharat party (PPRP) there seems to be some change of mind in PPRP. “Earlier they were thinking that they were going to wear the size ‘L’ shirt but now it seems that they are wearing the size ‘S’ shirt”. “I still feel that it is 50:50 for the passage of the bill as there are people in the party who are still looking to pass both in PPRP and also the senate.” To complicate things, the Phalang Pracharat party (PPRP), the 2nd largest party after Pheu Thai, but the leader of the coalition party in power, came out to say, that its MPs can vote as per their will and that there is no party line to vote this time around. Wirat Ratanaset, the head of the government whip, said the PPRP would allow MPs to vote for free because it was the privilege of MPs to vote, but was confident that the two-ballot constitutional amendment will be considered by members of the Parliament. Bhumjai Thai party has already made it clear that it would give free hand to its MPs to vote which way they want to from the 2nd reading and this is likely to be the case going forward for the 3rd reading as well. Rawee Maschamadol, leader of a small New Phalang Dharma party, led representatives of 7 smaller parties to join the government by announcing the position of not voting for 3rd reading by all 7 smaller parties. Dr Rawee said that the new draft constitution would not allow people to have the opportunity to work in the House of Representatives and topple the parliamentary system that is the most fair system. This new charter amendment would make the smaller parties be extinct and medium parties will be impacted as well. Dr Rawee said that on September 10 the smaller parties would ask the senators to vote together to overturn this charter but warned that if the charter amendment is voted to pass then the 7 smaller parties would submit the issue to the Constitutional Court for interpretation on whether such an amendment is allowed or not and whether a referendum is needed before amending the charter or not. Sutin Klangsang, a Pheu Thai MP for Maha Sarakham, as head of the Coordinating Committee of the Joint Opposition Party (Opposition whip) revealed that at the meeting of the 6 opposition parties, the preliminary conclusions will be filed for prosecution, consisting of Regarding the purchase of Sinovac The Prime Minister's use of power to intervene or failing the process of purchasing an antigen test kit (ATK), which is a misconduct according to the Criminal Code, Section 157 Corruption in the rubber project Corruption in the procurement of weapons in the armed forces Apart from this the issue of money distribution on the 3rd floor of the parliament was also a big issue that needs to be discussed. This issue was raised by Wisarn Techatirawat, MP for Chiang Rai, Pheu Thai Party, who made the statement in the parliament. Sutin said that the party would collect more evidence and submit it to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of the House of Representatives. representative and the Constitutional Court Today at 13.00, the Office of the Election Commission (EC) will hold a meeting to consider the election of local council members or local administrators of local government organizations. Mr. Wissanu Krea-ngam, Deputy Prime Minister Expected to be able to hold elections for the Sub-District Administrative Organization (SAO) from late November to mid-December, the Pattaya and Bangkok elections. may hold elections together which do not know when, must wait for the Election Commission to determine the date. Nuttawut Saikua, the leader of the Lai Prayut (kick out Prayut) network has posted a message on his personal Facebook that an arrest warrant will be issued for him and subsequently, the Southern Bangkok District Court dismissed the petition in the case where investigators at the Thonglor Police Station filed for arrest warrants for Nattawut and Sombat Boonngaamanong, who held rallies at the Asoke intersection. He said that an arrest warrant can be issued that is the reason why they had to cancel their planned gathering yesterday at Asoke intersection. The court reasoned that such cases carry a penalty of not more than 3-years but expects that a summon should be issued before requesting an arrest warrant being issued. Nuttawut posted a Facebook post announcing a rally on September 19th at 14:00 hrs would now be a ‘Car Mob’ in the middle of Bangkok with the main stage being at Asoke intersection and the tail being all the way up until Ratchadaphisek road. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Economic News A source from the Ministry of Finance revealed that Ministry of Finance was preparing to propose a new round of state welfare card registration. Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith came out to say that this new round of program would be for all those who have been impacted. This new program will also include those who have never held a state welfare card before, as they can apply and adjust the minimum income threshold from the original set for no more than 100,000 baht per person per year as a basis for household income and assets such as land, houses or various savings lottery tickets. As for the opening of the new registration round, it may be within this year or next as a decision would be made on this in the near future as it will depend on the appropriate time and the spread of Covid-19 as large gathering can push the number of infections to rise. Currently, there are 13.6 million people receiving these welfare rights. 2014 coup leader and incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha came out to hold a meeting about the possibility of raising the ceiling of the public debt to beyond 60% and this discussion is due to the fact that the government has had to spend up to 1.5 trillion baht to stimulate the economy. Dechapiwat Na Songkhla, director of the budget bureau, said that usually the country's public debt framework would normally be around 40-42% of the GDP, but during the covid crisis, the government issued an emergency loan decree of 1.5 trillion baht, causing the public debt level to rise by 15% to rise to 58%, which is close to the 60% ceiling.