The meeting was held by the United Nations on Drug and Crime under the topic of the UNODC Regional Conference on Cross-Border Criminal Justice Cooperation.

It followed recent commitments made by Member States in the region to address transnational issues within the framework of the ASEAN Vision 2025 and other regional mechanisms, such as the Mekong Memorandum of Understand on Drug Control.

The conference was opened by UNODC’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand, whose presence demonstrated the importance this issue has for stability and sustainable development in the region.

It said law enforcement agents frequently need to request foreign government assistance to obtain evidence. For example, access to a foreign-based email account would require a relationship with and an action by a foreign government.

“The importance of international legal assistance to combat risks and threats that result from increased political and economic integration in ASEAN and the greater region cannot be understated,” said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The traditional form of mutual legal assistance (MLA) required for joint investigations of major transnational crime cases has been well understood by most Member States of ASEAN, as exemplified by the ASEAN Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Treaty (MLAT), which was signed in 2004 and subsequently ratified by all ASEAN Members. Despite the MLAT and other major UN conventions that require or refer to different forms of international legal assistance, such as the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), cooperation during investigations of criminal networks has largely taken place on an ad-hoc and informal basis. This is the same for cases involving extradition and asset recovery.

The ASEAN Vision 2025 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in particular SDG 16 which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, highlight the need to strengthen institutions and their capacity to address transnational crime and security challenges effectively. As the ASEAN region continues to integrate, the issues associated with regional criminal and terrorist networks will increase. Member States need to be prepared to combat these issues and their potential to undermine sustainable growth and stability effectively. International legal cooperation is one way to do so.

“I believe the awareness and respect for the norms such as equality, non-discrimination and the protection of fundamental human rights will be crucial in bringing us closer towards the common goals,” stated Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha.

“In this regard, our mutual effort in combatting transnational organized crimes and terrorism would therefore strengthen the foundation for the rule of law to thrive, and thus support sustainable development which is our ultimate goal. As the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador on the Rule of Law for Southeast Asia, I look forward to working with you to build a resilient community for ASEAN, as envisioned in the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Order No 14/2560 (2017) of the National Council for Peace and Order was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday and amends and add measures to the Land Traffic Act 1979.

It states that traffic police officers of the inspector rank and above are authorised to notify law-violating motorists that they have to pay a fine within 15 days. The notifications will be done by post.

Police will pass on the names of those who fail to do so to the Land Transport Office and they will be ordered to pay the fine within 30 days.

During that period a temporary 30-day document indicating a pending car-tax renewal will be issued for motorists to carry.

If a motorist pays the fine within 30 days, they can present the payment receipt for officials to renew their car tax and registration.

Those who fail to meet the deadline will not be allowed to renew their car tax and registration for that year.

Under the order, the Transport Department will deduct 5 per cent of each traffic fine and provide police with the rest.

The order also authorises traffic police to tow away or lock the wheels of vehicles parked in prohibited spots and the vehicle owners must pay the cost of such actions as well as the vehicle storage cost if applicable.

The order also requires all occupants of a vehicle to wear seatbelts.

Lt-General Weerachai Intusophon said the country’s laws applied to everyone and any officer found to have bullied a conscript would be punished.

Weerachai Intusophon said anti-junta student activists Netiwit Chotiphatpaisal and Siriwith Serithiwat must go through the drafting process as they had been enlisted this year. Failure to do so would result in legal consequences, he added.

“The case will be brought to court [if they fail to show for the drafting process]. After the ruling, next year they will be liable for conscription immediately without having to draw a card,” he said.

The activists would not be able to avoid conscription, he said.

It is the responsibility of all medically fit Thai men of a certain age to go through the process and fail to do so would result in a criminal conviction, he said, adding that a conviction would bar a person from travelling abroad or working at a state agency.

However, Weerachai said the activists could be exempted from military training if they were still in school and be drafted after graduation.

He said the activists might find military training advantageous to them in the future and they might be proud of the fact they served their country.

Weerachai said Siriwith, charged several time in violation of junta orders, could still be conscripted despite the charges.

Although he did not know the exact nature of charges against Siriwith, he said the activist was still liable for conscription even after serving a jail term.

According to the law, failing to report to the military when enlisted is a crime punishable by a fine of up to Bt300 or imprisonment of up to three months. Failing to go through the drafting process after reporting to the military is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The warning comes as the regulator, the Industrial Works Department, insisted it has done its best to control and monitor wastewater discharge.

The UN’s World Water Day was marked on Wednesday under this year’s theme of “water and wastewater”.

Thailand faces several problems related to wastewater – a fact highlighted in October by a massive die-off of giant freshwater stingrays in the Mae Klong River because of poor water quality due to upstream wastewater discharge.

The executive director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (Earth), Penchom Saetang, said the wastewater problem in Thailand remains severe and immediate legal solutions are needed to tackle this chronic environmental problem.

“The Pollution Control Department [PCD] disclosed in the annual pollution report for Thailand for 2016 earlier this year that for the overview of water pollution in Thailand last year, the situation was slightly improved. But from my view as a public sector watchdog, I argue that our water pollution problem still remains unacceptable,” Penchom said.

“This is because we still face severe water pollution problems in many river basins especially the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, and Rayong River basins, which are the main industrial bases of the country.”

She said that according to the PCD report, the agricultural sector is the largest pollutant as the country’s farms discharged up to 39 million cubic metres of wastewater per day last year, while the industrial sector ranked second after discharging 17.8 million cubic metres per day. The residential sector ranked third with 9.6 million cubic metres per day.

She said the efficiency of wastewater treatment processes in the residential sector were only 18 per cent effective, while only 52 per cent of wastewater was treated.

“This is the result of weak law enforcement and poor monitoring systems, as our environmental laws require only a few water pollution indicators to be monitored, while many dangerous substances, such as heavy metals, are left largely unnoticed in many water consumption sources,” she said.

“Therefore, Thailand should have the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers law, which requires the operators to identify all pollutants that they release to the outside environment. With this law we can pinpoint who is the big pollution makers and we can deal with them properly.”

The Earth director said there should also be financial measures imposed, such as collecting more tax from big polluters.

She said authorities should also collect a wastewater treatment fee from everyone to promote the whole of society getting involved in tackling the problem because everyone contributed to the issue.

Industrial Works Department (DIW) director-general Mongkol Pruekwatana insisted that the department has worked hard with related agencies to properly monitor and control wastewater discharge in the industrial sector.

“Around 35,000 factories across the country are regularly monitored for their wastewater management, as we usually conduct surprise inspections on their wastewater treatment and disposal systems three to four times a year,” Mongkol said.

“If they are found discharging more polluted water than the safe average, the plants will get a warning to improve their wastewater management systems. But if they do not comply, the factories will be shut down.”

He said only a few factories that the department inspected did not pass the pollution standard, and almost all big factories generating more than 7,500 cubic metres of wastewater were under a real-time monitoring system and did not cause a pollution problem.

“We have the monitoring centre at our department that can monitor the wastewater quality of 291 big factories all the time, which makes sure that their wastewater discharge will not affect the environment,” he said.

“It’s not only the wastewater discharge monitoring and control. We are also encourage the industrial operators to reuse, reduce, and recycle water so we can cut down the wastewater discharge at the first place.”

The DIW director-general said most water pollution was caused by small factories and households, which did not have proper wastewater management systems.

“We are trying to build awareness among the operators to save the environment, and I can see that we have made a lot of progress,” he added.

He said the Uber app is a good transportation choice but the service needs laws to regulate it.

The premier responded to a call from registered taxi drivers to use the absolute power afforded him under Article 44 to solve the problem.

“The [Uber] ride-sharing service is a good alternative for public transportation but an applicable law is needed to be issued in order to avoid creating a new problem,” he said after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

He said while there are no directly applicable laws to regulate Uber, the country’s taxi drivers must be protected and public services must be regulated through the issuance of licences.

Prayut said any violation of the law concerning the matter must be dealt with using existing laws and regulations.

The premier said he had ordered the Ministry of Transport to solve the problem.

Department of Land Transport (DLT) director-general Sanit Promwong said that if there is any complaint against Uber drivers, the committee tasked with keeping order in the public transport sector, comprising military officers, police and DLT officials, will arrest and fine drivers who operate without a public transport licence.

He said to crackdown Uber is one of the National Council for Peace and Order’s policies in an attempt to keep order in the public transport sector.

The warning came after a meeting between the Ministry of Transport, the DLT and representative of Uber on Monday resulted in the decision to look at the possibility of legalising Uber through the study. The study is expected to take between six and 12 months.

In the meeting, authorities requested that Uber suspend its service nationwide until the result of the study is known but the California-based company rejected the request.

Transport deputy permanent secretary Somsak Hommoung said if Uber refused to suspend its service while the study was being conducted it would make further talks between Uber and authorities, set for the next one or two months, more complicated.

At the meeting on Monday, Uber urged the government to amend the existing Motor Vehicle Act to allow ridesharing in Thailand.

Somsak said an amendment to the existing law will be made if the study shows that Uber taxi is suitable or beneficial to society.

Amy Kunrojpanya, director of policy and communications for Uber in Asia Pacific, said the study is a good start to solving the problem, as Uber currently takes care of hundreds of thousands of passengers.

“Uber is pleased that the government agreed to conducting independent third party research into ridesharing regulations and the benefits they bring to Thailand, as they have in so many other countries in the region,” Amy said.

“We remain committed to our mission of providing reliable transportation for everyone and will continue to serve Thai riders, drivers and cities.”

Monday’s meeting was held after the DLT stepped up the crackdown on Uber drivers on the grounds that they were violating the law by using non-registered vehicles as taxis.

The last auction was held Monday at Phuket City Municipality, where the company’s last 15 buses were sold off.

Pawornan Thamanyatanan of the AMLO led the auction, and was joined by other relevant officers.

The buses were valued at about Bt15 million, but sold for a profit at Bt18.47 million.

“All the company’s assets sold out within six months and brought in a combined ‘profit’ of about Bt30mn,” said Pawornan. However, the definition of ‘profit’ remains unclear.

Tranlee was an established, full-function tour service provider in Phuket until July last year when police arrested a senior director and shareholder for allegedly faking two Thai national ID cards used to register the business. The company was also found guilty of offering zero baht tours.

In the list of celebrity registrants, Netiwit, a first-year political science student at Chulalongkorn University, was described in the accompanying remarks as “a leader in the movement that called for the abolition of military conscription”.

Siriwith, aka ‘Ja New’, was described as “a leader of student political activists”.

Netiwit said on Tuesday that he had submitted documents to delay his registration and had been told by the university that he was already on the list of those being granted permission to be excluded from military training this year.

On April 4, he said he would submit the documents to the military to complete the process.

Netiwit also said that if he were to be conscripted, he was certain he would be discriminated against and assaulted.

The young activist added that he would also seek to postpone his conscription next year.

“I am never going to join the Army. Like I’ve said, I disagree with those serving in the Army. I disagree with violence,” he said. “We are not at war. Conscription is another thing that supports the dictatorial regime. It is part of the reason why the military can still stage a coup. I disagree with it.”

Siriwith, meanwhile, posted on Facebook that he would follow the process of postponing his military service, but expressed concern that the military might not treat him fairly.

He threatened to rebuke all those concerned if he were to be mistreated during the crucial stage of the process, set to take place early April.