Domestic travel in Thailand is in for a good July, with two long weekends and airlines starting to add to their schedules, resuming flights and frequencies that have been otherwise subdued.
Thailand’s Aeronautical and Air Transport Associations are reporting an increased pace of domestic flights in Thailand, matching with the general global trend.
Aerothai president Nopasit Chakpitak told reporters that since July 1, the average daily domestic flight went up from around 1374 to 1437.
With this month’s list of public holidays, Thais are expected to travel more during July. There is this week’s Asanha Bucha Day and the start of Buddhist Lent, which will span into a long weekend encompassing July 13 – 17, and the long weekend for His Majesty the King’s birthday which will span July 28 – 31.
With local airlines dusting off their fleets, Nopasit says up to 430,000 flights are predicted for take off in 2022, up 41% when compared to last year’s figures.
Meanwhile IATA has indicated passenger data from May is showing a steady increase in global air travel. Despite the problems with European and US carriers with flight delays and cancellations during the summer holiday surge, global flight bookings have increased as the year progresses.
IATA claims that global passenger traffic is now at 68.7% of pre-pandemic levels (2019).
In last month’s travel trends report, Exploding Topics noted that the number one concern of travellers is Covid-19 Safety And Cleanliness.
Likely in response to this, Dubai-based airline Emirates says they will now cover medical expenses of up to 183,000 us dollars and any quarantine costs of 122 dollars per day for 14 days for passengers who are diagnosed with Covid during their trip.
Booking.com is reporting a 17% increase in solo travel, when compared to 2019. Statistics show that the number of people travelling solo was already on the rise before the pandemic and that this trend is expected to grow.
Travelling closer to home is also a noticeable trend as the world’s travel market starts to get back on its feet this year, with an increase in remote workers and business travel contributing to passenger numbers.
—————–
Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences has issued a report about the spread of BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, saying that most of the detected cases have so far been in Bangkok, but like any proper Zombie movie, the virus is expected to spread out to the rest of the country.
Director-general Dr Supakit Sirilak, says in Bangkok testing, 72% of cases were the two latest sub-variants, in the provinces it was only 34.7% of cases at the moment.
Speaking about the possibilities of the sub-variants causing more severe illness, Dr Supakit noted that 72% of cases, of those that had been properly examined, had mild symptoms.
In the US, the sub-variant BA.5 is now accounting for nearly 54% of the country’s Covid cases as of last Saturday. A similar subvariant, BA.4, makes up 17% more. David Montefiori, a professor at the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University Medical Center, says that the two subvariants “also appear to evade protection from vaccines and previous infections more easily than most of their predecessors”.
Health authorities, in many countries currently watching the rising new infection numbers, are warning that new variants can reinfect even those with some form of antibody immunity “in a matter of weeks”.
Western Australia’s chief health officer Andrew Robertson says… “The new variants seem to be able to evade the protection from either having had a previous infection with BA2 or having had a vaccine.
The latest UK Government figures show that coronavirus cases in England had risen by 26% in the past 7 days, prompting the UK Health Security Agency to remind people to follow Covid-safe practices such as regular hand washing.
Back in Bangkok, Dr Supakit says… “it had not been concluded that BA.4 and BA.5 caused severe symptoms.”
Meanwhile, in Cyprus, the island is reintroducing mandatory face mask rules as a new wave of Covid sweeps the country.
—————–
Electricity bills in Thailand could become more expensive than ever by September, according to a source at the Office of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
In the last 4 months of the year, the cost of electricity in Thailand could break the 5 baht per unit barrier for the first time, rising by 90 to 100 satang per unit. The official fee will be announced at the end of July.
The ERC said the rising cost of imported gas used to generate electricity is the cause behind the steep rise in prices. Thailand is importing expensive Liquified Natural Gas in replacement of low-cost natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand.
The ERC’s main concern in ensuring energy security, said the source. Before thinking of the impact on the cost of living in Thailand, the ERC must ensure that electricity in Thailand doesn’t run out.
The uncertainty of natural gas production from the Gulf of Thailand is another huge concern of the ERC. The Erawan gas field is a low cost source of natural gas, but it is monopolised and has recently been taken over by a new concessionaire.
Previously, 1 billion cubic litres of gas from the Erawan gas field was produced for use in Thailand every day. However, since the Erawan gas field was taken over, much less gas from Erawan is being used to generate Thailand’s electricity.
The new concessionaire has not clearly stated exactly how much gas from Erawan will be produced for Thailand in future, which makes planning and management for the ERC even more difficult, said the source.
————
Governor Chadchart Sittipunt’s dream of Bangkok being a lean, green, sustainable machine picked up more momentum at the weekend when promoting his “15 Minute Pocket Parks” policy.
The governor last month invited the public to plant 1 million trees in the metropolis as part of his campaign to make the city greener. Now, the 56 year old intends on expanding his flagship project, creating green spaces and improving and expanding small public parks.
The scheme will be a challenging one in a city, with a population of over 10.5 million people, which gives way to an average of 7.6 square metres of nearby green space – a figure much lower than the WHO’s recommended 9 square metres.
The Urban Design and Development Center, at Chulalongkorn University, found one has to travel 4.5 kilometres on average to find a green space. But Chadchart insists the city can make more green space available with help of private landowners, administrators, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, who, at the moment, reckons the capital has 8,922 public green spaces, consisting of a total land area of 26,329 rai.
He revealed he’s discussed the plan to use the empty lots in the communities owned by the National Housing Authority to develop communal public green spaces. If an agreement is reached, the BMA can turn much of the unused land dotted around many communities into neighbourhood parks.
Chadchart revealed the BMA has sounded out the private business sector to discuss developing public green spaces on privately owned land in exchange for tax incentives.
Yossapon Boonsom, a Thai landscape architect, said the success of BMA’s mission hinges on key stakeholders.
“The business sector has plenty of resources to assist, but each company has different interests, so the BMA needs to be clear on which areas members can best contribute to the project and what is the most suitable incentive it can give them in return.
“The BMA also needs to work closely with local communities on a proper management system, otherwise the parks may be left unused and unmaintained.”
Subscribe or Join our YouTube channel today and become a Thaiger Legend or a Thaiger Cub for behind the scenes footage and other member-only perks.