His Majesty granted an audience to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha at Dusit Palace to receive the Bt40 million cheque.

The money was raised from the selling four greeting cards drawn by the King and sold in Bt90 sets. The diary was sold for Bt199.

The cards and diaries were sold at the Grand Palace, the Golden Place, 904 welfare shops, the Suksamran bicycle shop and Nai In bookstores.

His Majesty earlier expressed concern for the people affected by severe flooding in southern provinces in December and January and granted his own money for buying necessities to help flood victims.

The prime minister will use the Bt40 million to rehabilitate villages damaged by floods and to provide scholarships to the children of parents killed in the floods.

His Majesty also granted money to help 267 schools damaged in the floods.

Of all households in the country, 37 per cent are now extended families with members of three generations living together under the same roof, according to a 2015 report.

“This means extended families is the biggest group in the country – not nuclear families,” Nattaya Boonpakdee of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Thailand said yesterday.

In the face of growing urban development and Westernisation, nuclear families were once poised to replace extended families in Thai society.

But the 2015 report, which analyses information from Thailand’s National Statistical Office (NSO), showed nuclear families accounted for just 27 per cent of Thai families.

Nattaya emphasised that relevant organisations would need to stay abreast of the situation regarding families so as to formulate effective policies. “It should be noted that 16 per cent of Thai families are now childless couples. About 14 per cent are one-person families while seven per cent others are families with children plus single mums or dads,” Nattaya said.

She added that about one per cent of families comprise people who had remained together even though they were neither married nor blood-related.

Rural couples having more kids

“Modern-day definitions of families in Thailand are not the same as before. Laws and welfare provision therefore should be adjusted accordingly,” she said.

Nattaya urged all relevant organisations to conduct qualitative – not just quantitative – research to determine Thai families’ needs and to respond to them efficiently.

Even in rural zones, the number of childless couples has already jumped threefold – a much higher rate than in towns.

She was speaking at an event on Thai Families 4.0, which highlighted family issues ahead of Thai Family Day on Friday.

A recent survey among Thai youths reflected that Thailand’s family situation is good, with young members cherishing family warmth, love and quality time.

The survey was conducted among 824 youths aged between 15 and 24.

“Up to 41 per cent of respondents defined family with love and attachment, while 29 per cent others defined it with living together,” Penpan Chittasenee of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation said at the event.

Up to 83 per cent of those surveyed said they were very happy spending time with their families, while 92 per cent felt secure in the arms of family members.

NSO records have also shown that Thais now spend more time with their families – an average of nearly three hours a day, up by about one hour.

The survey found Thai youths were most worried about health problems, quarrels and debts when asked about their family concerns.

Ittipong Thongdaeng, who chairs the Ubon Ratchathani Youth Council, said that a recent workshop showed children were also uncomfortable with “silent treatment” in the family.

The committee, which is under the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), also insisted on having two permanent secretaries sitting on the proposed media professional council, despite strong opposition by media groups, which said this could lead to interference from the state.

Police Major-General Pisit Pao-in, the committee’s vice chairperson, said that the panel would convene tomorrow to go through its various resolutions after the NRSA whip had requested that it get them |in order following opposition by major media groups, including the Thai Journalists Association. The committee started to draft the new media regulation bill last year, under which media personnel would be regulated via a proposed licensing system and there would be supervision by a new media professional council.

Fear of state interference

However, media groups considered that these regulatory proposals could lead to state control and |interference in the media’s work.

Pisit said the new licensing |system would require all members |of the media to register after |being certified by the council and failure to conform would result in penalties.

The licensing system is intended to follow the formation of the |professional council two years after the law is enacted.

Pisit also said the committee insisted on having two permanent secretaries sitting on the media council, halving the number that had been proposed previously.

Another four committee members would come from independent as well as civil organisations, while the remaining seven would be from media professional organisations.

However, there is still a debate as to whether two of the seven media seats should be given to media professionals from upcountry provinces, the vice chair added.

A finalised draft law, which has been delayed from last month’s deadline, is now expected to be |presented to the NRSA’s whip first, before proceeding to an NRSA meeting for endorsement. It will then be forwarded to the Cabinet, which will submit it to the National Legislative Assembly for deliberation before it comes into effect.

Centre director Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who headed the expert team that carried out the survey from March 24 to 30, said if the authorities could keep the dugong fatality rate at under five deaths a year the population would grow to at least 200 dugongs in four years.

The experts took gyroplane trips and used a drone to count and determine the approximate number of dugongs in an effort to conserve thes rare mammals. This year’s tally of 169 is a gradual increase from 160 dugongs in 2016, 145 in 2015, and 135 in 2014.

The latest aerial survey found more than 10 pairs of dugong mothers and calves – a positive sign that joint efforts to conserve them have made progress.

Kongkiat thanked local fishing communities for helping by not using dangerous fishing gear. However, the team still found one dugong with its tail entangled in a seine fishing net – the same one spotted last year – near Koh Libong, he said.

The dugongs’ habitat also seemed to shrink; a large number of them were found further into Koh Libong’s dugong sanctuary zone, as the Koh Mook and Haad Chaomai National Park areas now see higher volumes of fishing boats and tourist boats, |he said.

Thailand’s last and largest dugong herd was in the seagrass fields around Koh Libong, which have shrunk sharply, from 12,173 square rai in 2006 to 7,306 square rai in 2011. These fields have been decimated by large cargo ships that ply the main shipping route near the island as well as increased sediment levels.

The drop in seagrass meadows, plus fishermen’s use of dangerous tools, have contributed to the dugong herd’s decline.

From 1998-2010, the number of dugongs off Trang was up to 200 but that declined to 150 in 2011, then 135 in 2012 and the lowest total of 125 in 2013.

Earlier this year, the Public Health Ministry vowed to ensure that all emergency patients would receive free medical services within 72 hours of developing life-threatening symptoms, from April 1 onwards.

But 527 of 912 people whose families believed they were in life-or-death situations were declared ineligible for free medical treatment.

According to hospital staff, conditions were not life-threatening, even without immediate help. Their families were told there was still time to transfer them to other hospitals, particularly those where they would have the right to free medical services.

“I was at a loss when hospital staff told me that my husband could not receive free emergency medical services,” Achara Saravari said yesterday.

Her 47-year-old husband Natree Saravari, secretary-general of the Issarachon Foundation that protects homeless people, was found unconscious in the bathroom of their Bangkok home on Sunday.

She took him straight to Synphaet Hospital, where she initially asked for free treatment under an accident case and then the 72 hours of free emergency treatment. But both requests were rejected.

“I was told he had not sustained head injuries, so his case did not qualify as an accident. As for free emergency treatment, his case did not qualify either. But doctors also told me that his condition was serious and that he might die without surgery,” Achara said. She said the hospital demanded Bt450,000 for the treatment, more than the family’s savings.

“In the end, I had to turn to social media to raise the funds,” she said.

After Natee’s case drew widespread public attention, the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (NIEM), the Health Service Support Department and Synphaet Hospital officials met for discussions. They eventually agreed to count Natee as an emergency patient and that his surgery, as well as other medical services he had already received at Synphaet, would be free.

Yesterday, Natee’s condition had improved. He was conscious and could move his arms. He will be transferred to another hospital where he is entitled to receive free treatment via the universal coverage healthcare scheme.

NIEM deputy secretary-general Dr Phumin Silaphan said the Synphaet Hospital had declared Natee as unqualified at first because it had not fully understood the process.

“The policy has just been introduced,” Phumin explained.

He vowed to increase hospitals’ understanding of the process, which offered a pre-authorisation function to make things clearer.

NIEM secretary-general Atchariya Pangma separately advised people to contact the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) if they thought they needed free treatment related to medical emergencies.

“We will try to increase public understanding as to what defines medical emergencies,” he said.

Atchariya said emergency patients must have serious health conditions such as sudden and serious chest pains and persistent seizures to qualify for the free emergency treatment.

He said people could contact UCEP by phone on 02- 872- 1669 or email ucepservices@niems.go.th.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a doctor said families and doctors usually had different things in mind when they thought of “serious medical emergency cases”.

Achara said had her husband’s case not made the news, she might have had to shoulder the huge medical expenses herself.

The arrest followed an investigation that found the women had allegedly sold drugs to local young people. The two women reportedly confessed to having been convicted for drug crimes before, adding that after they were released they resumed their criminal activities.

They reportedly said they had been supplied by a Chon Buri-based dealer identified only as a woman named “Nok” whom they knew from prison.

Officials planned to send the pet monkeys to an animal rehabilitation centre before returning them to the wild while the same-sex couple were accused of possessing narcotics with the intent to sell.