Extra payout for health volunteers
welfare: An extra 1,000-baht monthly allowance for public health volunteers will be proposed for approval by the cabinet at its weekly meeting today, according to Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha.
Volunteers around the country currently receive a 1,000-baht allowance per month, and the ministry is pushing to double the amount, pending a green light from the cabinet.
If approved, the extra allowance would also cover the 35,000 volunteers who have not been granted the allowance at all so far. They would be given the 1,000-baht baseline allowance and the extra allowance.
Mr Sathit denied the extra allowance was being pushed as a populist measure ahead of the next polls. He said the government has been considering the issue for a long time.
Sathit: ‘Not a populist policy’
Bivalent Covid jabs available
CORONAVIRUS: Bivalent Covid-19 vaccines will be available free of charge for the general public starting this week, according to the Department of Medical Sciences yesterday.
The jabs, which give better protection against mutated strains of the coronavirus, will be administered at the Institute of Dermatology, Thailand, near Victory Monument, starting today until March 14, or until stocks run out. Those who are at least 12 years old and had their last shot more than four months ago can register to get bivalent booster. A vaccination appointment can be made online via https://covid19.iod.go.th/vaccine, but walk-ins are also available.
Policeman dies in paragliding crash
KHON KAEN: A police officer was killed in a paragliding accident at Ubol Ratana Dam in Ubol Ratana district on Sunday afternoon, local police said yesterday.
He was named Pol Col Natdej Nam-amat, 54, of the legal execution office of Provincial Police Region 4. Witnesses said Pol Col Natdej, who was holidaying in the area with his family, flew a motorised paraglider from a campsite near Phu Khao Wong village. After taking off about 4pm, the paraglider suddenly banked right and crashed after only reaching an altitude of 10 metres.
Pol Col Natdej was seriously injured and rushed to Ubol Ratana Hospital, where he later died, police said.