She received the award on August 27, 2015.

The commemorative set consists of a Bt16,000 gold coin that can be purchased for Bt30,000, a Bt800 silver coin costing Bt1,600 and a Bt20 copper nickel coin that can be exchanged.

Interested collectors can make reservations for the coins at all post offices nationwide from March 31 to April 30 or via the Treasury Department’s official website from July 1.

The man was identified as Samran Muangkhiew, or “Ake Lok Nueng”, who had been wanted under an arrest warrant since March 15.

He was found by police at the Thanyaburi Men Aid Centre, Pathum Thani province.

After a two-hour interrogation, Samran confessed that he dropped a cigarette on a bunch of leaves near garbage bins under the bridge after he went to the toilet. The cigarette caused the fire, he said.

The 31-year-old said he was scared so he ran away.

He said he was then rounded up by police as a homeless person and sent to the Thanyaburi Men Aid Centre on March 13.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General Sanit Mahathavorn, who interrogated Samran, said the homeless man had no political motivation for starting the fire – it was an act of negligence.

The fire, which started in a garbage bin underneath the bridge, caused traffic to come to a standstill on February 28 and resulted in months of repairs.

Sanit said police from Thung Mahamek Police Station would interview Samran again on Friday, followed by a re-enactment of the incident that afternoon.

According to police, Samran was the leader of a group of homeless people who cleaned car windows and windscreens for a living at the Henri Dunant and Wireless Road intersections. Samran has previously been arrested for drug dealing and murder.

CCTV recordings show a Lahu student resisting soldiers’ operations at a checkpoint where he was shot dead in an extrajudicial killing last Friday, Army officials have said.

“We have now forwarded the recordings to the Army chief General Chalermchai Sittisart,” Third Army Area 3 chief Lt-General Wijak Banpasop said yesterday. “I personally think the soldier involved did not use excessive force. He just fired one shot at an arm but the bullet happened to be fatal.”

Wijak was referring to the shooting of Chaiyapoom Pasae, a prominent teenage Lahu activist, which has attracted massive attention from the Thai public and international organisations.

Several non-governmental organisations have already issued statements demanding justice for Chaiyapoom while Preeda Nakpiew, a lawyer of the Cross Cultural Foundation, has stepped forward to defend his name.

Police have labelled Chaiyapoom as a drug suspect after Third Army Area officers said a soldier shot Chaiyapoom in self-defence because he had pulled out a knife and then a hand grenade. Soldiers manning the checkpoint in Chiang Mai’s Chiang Dao district said they later found 2,800 methamphetamine tablets in Chaiyapoom’s car.

“He’s gone and cannot speak for himself anymore. So before you raise allegations against him, produce evidence,” Preeda said yesterday.

The information provided by officials was very different than the accounts of people who were close to Chaiyapoom, he added.

Preeda said his team would check Chaiyapoom’s bank account to verify police claims that anti-narcotics police had detected unusual financial transactions in his account.

“As far as we know, Chaiyapoom had just small savings in an account he opened with his school,” Preeda said. “The amount is not huge.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source said Chaiyapoom was a diligent boy who performed various activities in his free time to earn income.

“He was a speaker at various functions and got paid. He also collected forest produce for sale. Little by little, he had deposited money in his school account. Then he withdrew Bt40,000 to buy a car,” the source said.

On March 17, Chaiyapoom went out with a friend, Phongsanai Saengtala, when their car was stopped for a search at the checkpoint. Preeda said Phongsanai would be a key witness in the case.

The source said he rushed to the scene when he heard about the fatal shooting and saw Phongsanai handcuffed and crying while in the soldiers’ custody.

“I didn’t see methamphetamine tablets, a hand grenade or knife,” the source said.

Apart from the ongoing police investigation, the Third Army Area has also launched a probe in response to Chalermchai’s order.

Just as Third Army Area deputy commander Maj-General Sompong Chaengchamras, head of the probe, Wijak said he had instructed the unit overseeing the checkpoint to maintain the morale of the soldier who pulled the trigger.

“In my eyes, he just carried out his duty. If he is blamed as a villain, probably no soldiers will have the courage to take action in the future,” Wijak said, ““If I were the soldier at the scene, I might have fired several shots”.

Applications can be submitted from March 29 to April 4.

“There is a shortage of teachers in some fields. So there is no point complaining. You had better recommend solutions,” Teerakiat said yesterday.

He spoke up after several academics attacked the plan, arguing that teachers should only be recruited from teaching institutes that conduct five-year programmes, including one year of training.

The plan, which was introduced by the Office of Teachers and Education Personnel Commission and supported by Teerakiat, has offered successful applicants without teaching licences to teach first and take training courses to seek teaching licences later.

It is designed to attract capable people to the teaching profession, regardless of whether they are trained teachers.

Dr Amornwich Nakornthap, a prominent educator, complained yesterday that the plan was far from being a solution – but would be the cause of big problems that would soon emerge. “This plan would affect children across the country,” Amornwich said.

Asst Prof Athapol Anunthavo-rasakul, who teaches at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education, said at a seminar that Thailand was going to be the first country in the world to allow people without teaching training to teach first and get training later.

“In other countries, where there is shortage of teachers in a particular field, capable people from the field may get teaching training and then apply for a teaching job. But what Thailand is going to do will be the other way around,” he said.

Dr Pavinee Sothayapetch, also a lecturer at the CU Faculty of Education, said it was not right to send persons without basic teaching background to walk into classrooms and conduct classes.

The faculty hosted the seminar to discuss the new rule, which was introduced earlier this month, and its possible ramifications.

“I can’t agree with the move,” Prof Sompong Jitradub said, “Graduates from the fiveyear education course are instilled with ethics and teaching philosophies,” Sompong said. “These qualities are not something anyone has and are important to teachers.”

If impeached, Surapong, who is known to be close to Thaksin Shinawatra, would face a lifetime ban from politics under the new constitution.

The NLA agreed on Thursday to hear the closing statements next Wednesday and would decide the fate of Surapong the next day over allegations of malfeasance.

The former foreign minister has been accused of illegally returning two Thai passports to Thaksin, once a powerful leader of Pheu Thai and an ousted prime minister, who has been living in exile after being convicted in a land case.

His two passports – diplomatic and normal – had been revoked by the Abhisit Vejjajiva government shortly after the court’s verdict.

Surapong, who was present on Thursday during the hearing in parliament, had objected to the resolution by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) bringing the case against him. He said former NACC member Phakdee Pothsiri was disqualified, as he had not resigned from a private company 15 days before taking up his post at the NACC and hence his vote in the case should be considered invalid.

The NLA hearing committee on Thursday posed 24 questions to both the NACC and Surapong.

NACC representative Supa Piyachiti insisted that Phakdee was not disqualified, as Parliament had not impeached him on the question of his qualification.

Supa said returning the passports to the former PM breached the Foreign Ministry’s regulations prohibiting the issuance to terrorism suspects.

Supa said Thaksin was on the list of the banned people. She accused the ministry of not checking this fact, and instead expediting the issuance of the passports to Thaksin in one day.

She said the NACC saw the former minister as behind the move, making it impossible for concerned officials to object to such an illegal process.

Surapong refuted the allegations. He said the issuance of the passports was a political decision, which could differ with different ministers, and it was not from a legal perspective. He said in his view Thaksin was not a threat to the country.

He also said the ministry had tried to contact the Royal Thai Police as well as the court regarding the blacklist, but had received no response.

He insisted that the issuance followed the due process and it was possible to issue passports in one day as electronic data is easily accessible.

“The accident occurred in the southbound lanes of Thepkrasattri Road in front of the Makamdeekwai restaurant. According to witnesses, an Isuzu pick-up, driven by Amorn Det-Aran, 29, was making a U-turn at high speed. The road there was under construction and he crashed into the median,” said Lt Patcharathorn Jan-eid of Thalang Police.

“Amorn then crashed into a Toyota Vigo pick-up truck and a Honda Freed, both parked on the side of the road, before hitting two passing motorbikes and finally crashing into the front of the restaurant,” he added.

All vehicles were cleared from the scene and taken to Thalang Police station.

“Both motorcyclists were injured. A 16-year-old sustained injuries to his head and a 25-year old woman, Wassana Kaewsathorn, suffered fractures to both of her legs as well as an injured forehead,” said Lt Patcharathorn.

Both victims were rushed to Thalang Hospital.

Amorn, who received minor injuries, was taken to Thalang Police Station for alcohol testing and further questioning.

He was charged with reckless driving causing injury and property damage.