VIDEO: This Week's Top Stories October 21
published : 21 Oct 2022 at 10:52
writer: Gary Boyle
This week: Phuket pounded, new variants arrive, monk causes accident and rollerblader fined
Phuket flooding
The southern tourist province of Phuket bore the brunt of local storms this week, with flooding, blackouts and landslides.
The old neighbourhood in downtown Phuket was one of the worst affected.
Kathu district was hit by mudslides which toppled power poles, and strongly flowing flood water destroyed a bridge in tambon Sri Sunthorn.
Phuket international airport advised passengers to leave 3-4 hours earlier than their scheduled departures as roads around the airport were inundated.
Phuket's governor has asked for financial assistance from the government for those affected.
First BQ.1 case
Thailand's first case of Omicron's highly transmissible descendant BQ.1 has been detected in a 40-year-old foreign man who arrived from China.
BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are reported to be resistant to current antibody medications used to treat Covid-19 patients, and both variants are highly contagious.
Additionally, two people who recently arrived from abroad tested positive for yet another sub-variant, XBB.
However, there is no clinical proof that the new variants cause more severe infections and more fatalities than previous sub-variants.
Monk causes deadly road accident
A car driven by a monk struck a motorcycle on Sunday, killing a woman and injuring her younger brother.
The car driver was the 74-year-old abbot of a nearby temple.
The monk drove from a soi onto a main road and collided with the oncoming motorcycle.
Police said the abbot would be charged with reckless driving causing death and damage to property.
Canadian fined for rollerblading
A 37-year-old Canadian man seen rollerblading on Bangkok roads was charged by police with a misdemeanour.
The TikTok video of Jordan McIver rollerblading from Nana to On Nut on Sukhumvit road went viral, causing concern that he could have been hit by a vehicle or caused a road accident.
Officers pressed a charge related to traffic obstruction and road safety.
He was fined 1,000 baht.
Mr McIver said he was unaware he was violating Thai law and only wanted to see the city while exercising.
Vocabulary
- abbot (noun): the head monk at a temple - เจ้าอาวาส
- antibody (noun): a substance that the body produces in the blood to fight disease, or as a reaction when certain substances are put into the body - สารภูมิต้านทาน
- assistance: help; aid - ความช่วยเหลือ
- brunt (noun): the main force of something unpleasant ส่วนหนักที่สุดที่ได้รับหรือกระทบ, ผลกระทบที่รุนแรง - ส่วนหนักที่สุดที่ได้รับหรือกระทบ, ผลกระทบที่รุนแรง
- contagious: of a disease that can be caught by touching someone with the disease or a piece of infected clothing - ซึ่งแพร่กระจายได้ง่าย
- descendant: a relative of a person who lived in the past - ทายาท, ผู้สืบสายเลือด
- inundated: flooded - ถูกน้ำท่วม, จมลงใต้น้ำ
- misdemeanour (noun): a crime that is not considered to be very serious; an action that is bad or unacceptable, but not very serious - ความผิดอาญาประเภทลหุโทษ, การทำความผิดเล็กๆ น้อยๆ
- mudslide: a large amount of mud sliding down a mountain, often destroying buildings and injuring or killing people below - ทะเลโคลนที่มาจากภูเขาทำลายบ้านเรือนและผู้คน
- obstruction: something that blocks a road, an entrance, etc - สิ่งกีดขวาง
- pole: a long thin stick, or piece of wood or concrete, often used for holding or supporting something - เสา, หลัก, คาน
- proof: information, documents, etc. that show that something is true - การพิสูจน์
- reckless: not thinking about the possible bad effects of your actions - สะเพร่า
- resistant (adj): not harmed or affected by something - ต้าน,ต่อต้าน, ต้านทาน
- violate: to do something that is against the law - ละเมิดกฏหมาย
