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Posts published in “Thailand”

In Thailand, more than 100,000 people have registered to produce cannabis at home

More than 100,000 would-be cannabis producers have registered through the ‘Plook Ganja’ website and smartphone app, according to Thailand’s FDA. The Thai people wasted little time in registering to cultivate their own cannabis plants at home after cannabis was decriminalized on June 9. Download the ‘Plook Ganja’ (‘Grow Cannabis’) mobile app (available on IOS and Android) to register. The app has already been downloaded by over 50,000 users. Thai citizens do not require authorization to grow cannabis or hemp legally at home. The cannabis planter must specify whether they are producing the plant for personal use, treating someone else’s health concern, for household use, for use in the creation of other therapeutic items, or for commercial use during the registration procedure (this list is not exhaustive). They only need to notify the FDA that they want to grow cannabis in one of two ways. More than 3,000 cannabis inmates will…

Government claims that lighter travel restrictions have resulted in an increase in tourism in Phuket and Samui

Thailand’s tourism is evolving, with visitors arriving in small groups rather than large groups. All of this is down to the government’s decision to relax travel restrictions during the country’s peak season, which runs from March to May. The Thai government is praising itself for easing entry restrictions, which authorities claim has increased tourism in regions like Phuket and Koh Samui. The prime minister also urged Thais to maintain a positive tourism image in order to boost the country’s economy and create income. According to Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a government spokeswoman, up to 10,000 foreign passengers enter the nation each day, albeit the days of large tour groups are past — at least for the time being. He predicts that occupancy rates would rise to 60 to 80 percent, especially in popular areas like Patong Beach and Phuket Old Town. Meanwhile, many tourists flocked to Koh Samui and Koh Phang Ngan…

Disputed land and residences of Doi Suthep have been returned to the Treasury Department

Residents of Chiang Mai hailed yesterday’s event as a success. The land and residences were returned to the Treasury Department by the Region 5 Appeal Court. Yesterday, the Department’s Director-General, Prapas Kong-Ied, received papers and house keys and paid a visit to the property. The Court had handed the contested property and housing project at the foot of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai to the Treasury Department after nearly four years of waiting, demonstrations, and negotiations. 45 homes will be razed and land will be transformed for the “benefit of the occupants,” according to the Department’s Director-General. According to the cabinet meeting, moving officers from the remaining 9 condominiums in the vicinity to the new housing complex in Chiang Rai will take four months. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wanted to build new bungalows for court officials on the disputed 33-acre property, which was originally supposed to be a forest for…

Last Friday’s Thai Airways aircraft check-in chaos

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has encouraged airlines and airports to make rapid improvements after witnessing long lineups for Thai Airways flights at Suvarnabhumi airport. Early morning check-in delays at Thai Airways counters in Suvarnabhumi According to tourism experts, inbound travel is projected to increase in the following weeks. Thailand received 293,350 international visitors in April, up 39% from March. Tourists account for 60-70 percent of all travels, according to estimates. The airport was closed due to a scarcity of check-in staff at Thai Airways stations, according to Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority. Airlines executives were on the scene, attempting to resolve the issues and issuing consumer warnings. They further claim that no one was delayed or missed a flight as a result of the turmoil at check-in. As Thailand’s borders reopen and travel restrictions continue to be loosened, international travel is beginning to pick up, albeit slowly. Since…

In Singapore, dengue disease has spread

Dengue fever epidemics have also been reported in other Southeast Asian nations. In the first month of 2022, 193 persons in Thailand were afflicted with the disease. Two people, one 37 and the other 40, died after becoming infected. Thailand should expect an uptick in new cases this year as the coronavirus declines, according to Thai health experts. Dengue season normally starts on June 1 in the city-heavy state. As of May 28, according to a spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Health, the country has 11,670 cases. There were only 5,258 dengue cases throughout the entire year of 2021. Dengue fever incidences in Singapore have already surpassed the total for the entire year of 2021. According to the Singapore Meteorological Service, Singapore is warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the world. In May, temperatures reached a new high of 36.7 degrees Celsius. Singapore’s largest dengue outbreak in history…

Tomorrow, over 3,000 ‘cannabis criminals’ will be released from Thai prisons

Starting tomorrow, Thailand will allow home production of cannabis and hemp, with public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul promising to distribute one million free cannabis plants. Farmers do not require permission to grow cannabis; instead, they must download the ‘Plook Ganja’ mobile app. 3,071 people who were imprisoned in Thailand for cannabis-related drug offenses will be released tomorrow. The detainees will be released on June 9, when cannabis will no longer be classified as a Category 5 narcotic, according to Thailand’s Justice Minister, Somsak Thepsuthin. Extracts containing higher than 0.2 percent THC, on the other hand, will remain a Category 5 narcotic. Meanwhile, the cannabis sector in the United States is growing, with the plant now legal in 19 states. However, an estimated 40,000 people are currently incarcerated in the United States for non-violent marijuana-related offenses. Thailand’s government discourages recreational usage of the plant, despite the fact that it is no…

The Thai stock market is a favorite among international investors

Inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, a food shortage, and a global economic downturn brought on by the spread of Covid-19 and global conflicts such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have pushed up oil and manufacturing prices, putting the global economy on the verge of a recession. Foreign investor confidence in Thai stocks remained high last month, with net inflows of about 140 billion baht to the kingdom’s stock exchange for the sixth month in a row. Many countries, including the United States, have already seen at least one quarter of negative growth. A technical rescission is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Many financial analysts believe that many of the world’s major economies are already in a state of recession. According to Stock Exchange of Thailand president Pakorn Peetathawatchai, international investors expect that any food shortages will have a little impact on the Thai economy and…

With a new 5-year digital nomad visa, Indonesia leapfrogs Thailand

As the world begins to reopen following the Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia has expanded efforts to woo higher-spending visitors, particularly remote workers. According to Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno, Indonesia is launching a five-year “digital nomad” visa and focusing on “spiritual holidays, sporting activities, and ecological tourism.” With the world’s employment and work habits experiencing such radical changes in the post-Covid era, a digital nomad visa that allowed remote employees to work from a tropical resort in Southeast Asia rather than a stuffy office would be immensely enticing.These programs, he says, will draw 3.6 million international visitors to the country’s islands now that the world is re-opening. Increased flights and more fast visa procedures, according to Indonesian officials, could entice more remote workers to the archipelago, with global corporations such as Twitter and Airbnb allowing its employees to work from anywhere in the world. A recent poll of digital nomads found that…

Covid is kicked out of hotels, and hotels reopen for business as usual

Patients with mild to moderate Covid symptoms could remain in hotels. Hotels that relied on Chinese tourists for revenue faced the brunt of the fallout. Staff shortages are another issue as the hotel business tries to get back on its feet, as many experienced workers have departed. They assisted in relieving the burden on the kingdom’s hospitals during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. As Covid-19 is scheduled to be declared endemic next month, hotels and alternate quarantine areas have resumed normal operations. The service, according to Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, vice-president of the Thai Hotels Association, is no longer available. Following the May 1 relaxation of several Covid requirements, the number of people requiring AQ housing at Suvarnabhumi Airport decreased to around 30 per day, down from 600-700 per day in the second half of 2021. During the final months of the AQ program, 128 Thai businesses chose to use alternative…

Decommissioned oil rigs are being used to build an underwater utopia

According to Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment Department, disused oil rigs are being repurposed to construct a new diving destination for visitors 7.5 nautical miles north east of Koh Pha Ngan island. According to Varawut, the metal structures will serve to create a new coral reef tourist sector by attracting diving tour operators and divers, and the artificial coral reef area may be expanded if it proves to be successful. Steel rigs that have been turned into artificial coral reefs as part of a marine ecosystem have three benefits: they attract divers, improve the environment for marine life, and help the fishing industry. Artificial coral reefs attract fish and a variety of other marine species as they spread, according to Supichai Tangjaitrong, managing director of Chula Unisearch, which is part of Chulalongkorn University. The project’s progress, which began in April 2019 and is being carried out in collaboration with Chevron,…