One trailblazer in this effort is the College of Innovative Business and Accountancy (Ciba) at Dhurakij Pundit University. The four-decade-old university has reorganised its courses for bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees to fit the paradigm shift demanded by the ambitious Thailand 4.0 programme.

Dr Pattanant Petchchedchoo, dean of Ciba, notes that technology and innovation exemplified by the likes of Uber, Airbnb and Google Pay are key components of the 4.0 programme.

The tech revolution is making inroads even in the mundane sector of accounting, where artificial intelligence software such as Optical Character Recognition is set to take over routine bookkeeping tasks like the scanning of receipts and financial and tax documents for accounting purposes.

Right now we still need humans to verify such important documents, but in the next five years flesh and blood will be overtaken by smarter and more fool-proof machines. Human bookkeepers will become obsolete.

Yet, the job prospects will remain bright for accountants-turned data analysts, along with business partners who play an integral role in internal control and legal compliance.

In other words, bookkeeping will die as a profession but there will still be demand for accountants who can add value to businesses.

In financial services, the role of AI is even more advanced and obvious – exemplified by the rise of so-called financial technology, or fintech, companies around the world.

In retail, the most notable example is Amazon Go, a new generation of automated supermarkets where human cashiers are not required.

All these emerging trends point to a future requiring today’s college students to prepare for a new generation of jobs driven by digital and other technology.

Hence, Ciba has overhauled all its business and related programmes to meet these trends.

The result is a raft of courses focusing on digital marketing, finance/fintech, economics/business analytics, business management/entrepreneurship, innovative logistics, international business and human resources 4.0, among others.

Dhurakij Pundit University has also attracted several hundred foreign students from over 15 countries, including China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and some European nations, to its Bangkok campus.

This will help internationalise the campus’s environment, to the benefit of both Thai and foreign students.

To achieve the goals of Thailand 4.0, Thai universities also need to overhaul their teaching methods so that they focus on project-based learning, not just offering classes and exams by which students build their credits score.

In fact, project-based learning should be the only thing on the curriculum for all first-year students. At Ciba, for example, students are encouraged to team up to create inventions relevant to their study, with credits available in return. Those on the innovative logistics course may consider building a drone for transporting goods. Those in the digital marketing class have the option of using augmented or virtual reality software in their projects.

Such educational efforts point the way forward. Our new generation of college graduates needs hands-on experience and know-how if they and Thailand are to succeed in a world in the grip of a tech revolution.

When a big event was held at an international bullring recently, prize-money of Bt20 million was at stake, which indicates the economic attraction of this ‘sport’.

There are about 28 bullrings where events are staged in the southern region, including 12 in Songkhla province.

Dej-is Khaothong, a bullring owner in Rattaphum district in Songkhla, said: “Bullfighting is our tradition. It’s a sport for men. Lately, it has attracted a growing number of tourists too.”

He pointed out that bullfighting had also generated income for local workers, such as quality-grass providers.

“On average, their income is about Bt10,000 higher than that of local farmers,” he said.

Dej-is believed bullfighting had also played a key role in the conservation of local breeds.

“Without the tradition of bullfighting, some species may have already become extinct,” he said.

With the interest in events growing, bullfight operators have been improving their facilities to ensure they can handle more groups of tourists, he said.

Wanna Kongmuang, who has four fighting bulls, said a strict regime was needed to keep the animals fit. Each bull costs between Bt100,000 and Bt10 million.

At 5am, the animals jog for one or two hours, then are allowed to rest for an hour before being fed a meal of fresh grass. After, they get a bath and are given supplementary food.

During the day, bulls need to be exposed to the sun for set periods. “During the night, we keep them safe inside mosquito nets to prevent them getting bitten by mosquitoes and insects,” she said.

“There’s a common saying that real bullfighting owners take care of their animals even better than their own children,” Wanna said.

SUNDAY should have been the happiest day for a bride and groom in Chon Buri but it turned out to be a tragic one for an innocent couple after wedding guests began firing weapons into the sky – which led to the death of a man in Bang Lamung district.

Five men have surrendered to police over the killing of Thanet Inthawong, 36, in what appears to be a senseless tragedy all-too common in Thailand.

Police said the five suspects may just be some of the wedding guests who endangered the public during the raucous celebrations.

The motive for the barrage of bullets appeared yesterday to be misguided revelry rather than murderous intent. The indiscriminate shooting of firearms is common, although it may seem shockingly inappropriate during celebrations such as weddings and ordination days in many parts of the country. The legal ban on such behaviour seems to have little effect.

In this latest case, the groom, who remains unidentified, is known to be a gun lover. Wedding invitations showed him standing with his bride while holding two assault rifles, with a message that said: “All are welcome to my wedding if you are free.”

The victim, however, did not attend the wedding but was minding his own business at his place of work.

Weerawan Supachon-ayu, 45, Thanet’s girlfriend, told police she was sitting with her boyfriend at a shop where he worked in Banhuay Kainao village when sounds of the celebration were heard from about 50 metres away as the wedding procession approached.

She said she told her boyfriend, who was about to leave the shop, to wait for the procession to pass by. At the same time, she heard several gunshots.

The shooting continued as the procession continued by, Weerawan said, when suddenly she heard Thanet cry out and saw him fall to the ground.

He was unresponsive as she tried to help him, prompting her to call for help to take Thanet to hospital, where he was declared dead with a bullet wound to his chest.

Another man at the scene, Supalert Horphet, said he had shouted at the oblivious wedding guests, telling them to stop firing but they only ceased after he told them a man had been hit by a bullet.

Five men who were guests at the wedding had surrendered to police yesterday and submitted to questioning before being held without bail.

Police yesterday planned to arrest more suspects after it was reported that about 10 guests at the wedding had opened fire during the celebrations.

Four men – Wasin Krongkaew, 21, Arthit Lomrob, 21, Thinapat Charoensiri, 23, and Jirapat Lomrob, 21 – surrendered to police at the same time. They told police they had fired their guns into the sky to celebrate their friend’s marriage. Police took the suspects’ fingerprints and tested their hands for gunpowder residue.

They were charged with recklessness leading to a death, firing guns in a public place without permission, possessing guns without permission, and carrying weapons into a public place without permission.

Another man, Prasert Nopparat, 45, who surrendered separately yesterday, was charged with possessing a gun without permission because Wasin used his pistol in the shooting, said Huai Yai superintendent Colonel Anan Phurahong.

Police also seized four guns including three licensed 9mm pistols and an unlicensed 11mm pistol with plans to test them to determine which gun killed Thanet, said Anan, adding that the test would take about 10 days.

Recklessness resulting in death carries a jail term of not more than 10 years and a fine of up to Bt20,000.

Thailand has a bad history with “celebratory” gunfire. A similar incident occurred in July 2015 in Phetchaburi when a man attending a monk-ordination procession was carrying a gun that accidentally discharged and a bullet killed one of his friends.

On December 29, a mother and child narrowly escaped death after a stray bullet from a New Year celebration struck near them at their home.

In Angthong province, a young man firing a weapon during another monk-ordination celebration killed a 32-year-old female bystander on March 2014.

Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said the Royal Thai Police were working with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to monitor activities by a group of people mobilising demonstrators at the controversial temple in Pathum Thani.

The monitoring would cover people living in neighbouring countries “trying to stir people up”, the police chief said.

“We have found movements on social media, with attempts to provoke people. The authorities are keeping an eye on this,” Chakthip told reporters yesterday.

Authorities have laid siege to the huge 2,100-rai temple for 12 days after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered a search for former abbot Phra Dhammachayo. The 72-year-old monk is wanted for money laundering and accepting stolen assets in connection with a large sum of money embezzled from a credit union.

Prayut, in his capacity as head of the National Council for Peace and Order, had invoked his power under Article 44 of the interim charter in issuing the order. But officials have been unable to conduct a thorough search of the compound due to resistance from monks and followers, which has prompted a stand-off with no end in sight.

Agencies involved in the hunt for Dhammachayo will meet this week to discuss a possible revision of the original plan, Justice Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana said yesterday.

DSI chief Paisit Wongmuang, who is in charge of the operation, will chair the meeting, according to Suwaphan, who said he saw no need to make any change to the personnel involved at the moment.

His comment came after speculation that someone else may be put in charge of the operation.

Suwaphan said he had not suggested the appointment of Pongporn Parmsneh as the new head of the National Office of Buddhism. On Saturday, PM Prayut – invoking his power under Article 44 – appointed Pongporn, director of the DSI’s Bureau of Taxation Crime, to replace Pranom Sonsill.

Suwaphan said Pongporn would work with the monastic community and relevant authorities in dealing with the matter. He also called on Dhammakaya to “change its standpoint” in order to allow the stand-off to end for the benefit of society.

The NCPO yesterday rejected a claim that the junta chief’s order on the temple was “a tool to destroy Buddhism”.

“That allegation is untrue. It is an attempt to distort facts and discredit authorities,” NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari said the junta order was aimed at facilitating the search for a person wanted by the law but religious activities at the temple were not affected.

Meanwhile, a DSI search of an area at the back of the temple yesterday found 12 monks camping there. They had no “Bai Sutthi” identity cards and claimed they were newly ordained.

The search followed a tip-off that a group of monks and laymen were staying in the area where the Klong Luang Youth Centre is located on a 52 rai (8.3 hectare) plot.

Earlier on Sunday night, a 73-year-old retired police general was detained after police searched his car and found bulletproof vests and knives. Pol Maj-General Rungroj Pekanan was held during a search at a checkpoint near the temple. The officer Checkpoints were set up around the temple as authorities were enforcing the junta order.in charge of the checkpoint said Rungroj drove a Lexus and tried to pass, but he looked suspicious so the soldiers stopped him.

Rungroj said he was driving from a market nearby and was on his way home in Bangkok’s Ramkamhaeng area. He was escorted for further questioning at Klong Luang police station.

His vehicle had a temple sticker on the windshield. Also found in his car was a banner that said a man named Anawat Thanacharoennat was a Buddhist hero who sacrificed his life in demanding the junta order to be revoked. The 65-year-old man hanged himself on Saturday night from a high-rise radio antenna in an apparent protest against the ongoing siege of the temple.

The amount of small particulate matter up to 10 microns in diameter (PM10) in 24 hours peaked at 156 micrograms per cubic metre of air, with an average of 138 micrograms, compared to Sunday’s peak of 180. The safe level of PM10 is 120 micrograms, which, if exceeded, can pose health risks.

Bangkok Airways cancelled its two morning flights between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son but the evening ones operated as usual.

All four Kan Air flights were cancelled until today. Kan Air brought a 12-seat aircraft to transport stranded passengers in one trip yesterday.

It is suspected that the haze stemmed from villagers taking the opportunity to do outdoor burning before the 61-day ban is imposed from March 1 – Wednesday – until April 30.

Muang Mae Hong Son district chief Pisit Boonkij-anan urged residents and community leaders to refrain from burning.

Provincial natural resource and environment office head Somsak Sappakosolkul said his office would arrange a helicopter survey of the forest fire situation to assess and find solutions to the problem.

The Pollution Control Department urged related agencies to help prevent outdoor burning and advised small children, elderly people and those suffering from chronic respiratory illness to avoid staying outdoors, and to seek medical attention if they become sick.

Public Health permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon said he had instructed the Northern Region’s public health office to distribute face-masks to affected residents. They were also ordered to send teams to do health checks for at-risk groups in the affected area, and to have district hospitals modify a conference hall or large room as a “clean area” with air-filtered conditioners to support affected patients.

PM10 readings in other northern provinces’ remain normal.

The National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) subcommittee on reconciliation research has floated the idea since its very first meeting. Yet, it was snubbed by key government figures including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy Prawit Wongsuwan, who saw the idea as outdated.

The suggestion is included in a report on a research study conducted by the sub-panel, which is part of the NRSA’s political reform committee.

However, the sub-panel’s secretary and adviser General Ekachai Srivilas reiterated to The Nation yesterday that the idea of adopting a political policy to settle conflicts, despite different contexts, could be applied now.

The junta has a stance opposing amnesty as a part of reconciliation building, but Ekachai said that term was not mentioned in the subpanel’s report. “But we did raise that opponents against any government should be given chances to rebuild democracy altogether,” he said.

Order 66/23 was issued in 1980 by the government of General Prem Tinsulanonda to counter the spread of communist influence in Thailand. It involved amnesty given to defecting students, sympathisers and communist militants.

The idea of adopting a policy like Order 66/23 was backed by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, a coup-maker-turned-politician who conducted a research on reconciliation in 2012, Ekachai said.

Other noteworthy points in the report included a suggestion to draw up a proper law on compensation measures for political victims.

Compensation cases should be considered by the Justice Ministry and also other related agencies, it said, such as the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, who may have databases listing the victims.

Any future mechanism to oversee conflict solving should also work under a “fluid” agency such as the PM’s Office rather than a ministry to ensure that issues do not turn into routine work for minister staff, but solved uniquely in each case.

The report also included monthly and yearly action plans on reconciliation building.

Apart from Sonthi, Ekachai said, the subpanel also reached out to eight other groups and political blocs such as Pheu Thai Party, the Democrat Party and the red shirts, to consider what should be done.

But the political blocs, who were also approached by the government’s separate committee on reconciliation building, said they had already given opinions to the government and did not have any further comments to the subpanel, Ekachai said.

The subpanel’s report would be forwarded to the NRSA political reform committee today, when further details should be concluded, he said.

Meanwhile, the US hopes Thailand will engage the public in achieving its “road map to democracy” and in reconciliation efforts, US Ambassador Glyn Davies told Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday.

During an hour-long meeting at the Defence Ministry, the ambassador also discussed issues such as the Cobra Gold military exercise, public health, law enforcement, and people-to-people relations between the two countries. Davies said after the meeting that the talks had been “in depth”, but did not reveal details.

Prawit said ongoing talks for measures to bring about reconciliation had gone smoothly and all political parties had greed to join the discussions.

“The overall situation is good and I expect progress to continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, key Pheu Thai Party figure Watana Muangsook said that he would not join the government’s reconciliation attempts despite his party’s consensus to do so.

Watana said that his participation would only “ruin the atmosphere”.

“Reconciliation means settling conflicts with a social contract. However, since we are going to have the coming charter draft as a social contract, I don’t think that conflicts will truly be solved,” said Watana, a frequent critic who was detained last year for speaking against the charter draft.

“If public participation was allowed in drafting the charter, it would have been more acceptable,” he said.

He also believed that the junta government, positioning itself as middleman in reconciliation efforts, did not really understand reconciliation. “All sides really need to engage in the talks, including the military,” he said.

Laithongrien Meephan, owner of the elephant palace and president of the Thai Elephant Club, said that if Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha ignored their demands on March 13, they would bring elephants to various sites across the country in protest

Laithongrien presided over a meeting of representatives from various elephant camps from across the country, which resolved to establish a club for “anti-corruption, animal rights protection, promotion for National Parks Department reform and the eradication of evil”.

Most of the participants were dissatisfied with the Phaya Suea team’s work, which included checking the state elephant DNA bank and the seizure of elephants whose characteristics did not match identification documents.

They claimed the department’s DNA checks had flaws, which they believed to have stemmed from a problem within the agency.

State agencies were urged to perform their own internal probes and reveal information about elephant DNA test results for the years 2014 and 2016 as well as data about the agency’s budget.

They also wanted authorities to check the accuracy of elephant identification documents. The group said they would ask Prayut to invoke Article 44 of the interim charter to enforce the demands.

Laithongrien also said that DNA test results for two domesticated male elephants at the Royal Kraal called TG and Koh Phaya Petch, as well as TG’s purported mother Namwan, were accurate but a departmental error in data storage resulted in a mistake.

The Phaya Suea team confiscated TG, Koh Phaya Petch and Namwan and confined them at a Prachuap Khiri Khan-based zoo earlier this year pending further investigation.

The team told the press last Friday there were irregularities in the two male elephants’ identification documents including about their markings. Also, DNA test results in 2014 showed that TG and Namwan were not related, which disagreed with a 2016 test result performed at the Royal Kraal.

The conflict between the elephant camp and Phaya Suea arose as the country plans to register more than 3,440 domesticated elephants – almost 99 per cent of the animals’ total documented population in Thailand – for a fresh round of DNA checks to meet a March deadline.

The DNA checks are meant to verify the animals’ origins to re-evaluate the country’s elephant population and to help to close loopholes involving the illegal smuggling of wild elephants and incorrectly registered domesticated elephants.