Both the elaborate fans and the certificates were handed to Suthep Phurattana-opa, the acting chief of the Pathum Thani Buddhism Office, and Klong Luang assistant district chief Sermwit Sombat on Monday.

Suthep and Sermwit took the fans and certificates after HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn stripped both monks of their monastic ranks.

The monastic fans reflect the rank of monks, if they have a rank.

Neither Phra Dhammachayo nor Phra Thatthacheevo were present at the hand-over, which was carried out by the temple’s current acting abbot, Phra Ratchapawanajarn.

Phra Dhammachayo and Phra Thatthacheevo are both facing several legal charges.

To date, Phra Dhammachayo has still not turned himself in to authorities.

Thanya Netithammakul was responding to an allegation made on Facebook by anti-corruption activist Veera Somkwamkid, who claimed that the new casino was located in an overlapping area and may be sited in the national park.

Veera questioned why the military government had allowed this to happen, and suspected that the previous post that he made on the same issue had led to a warrant being issued for his arrest over a week ago for violation of the Computer Crime Act.

The casino is reported to be situated close to the Sai Takoo border checkpoint in Buri Ram province, in which former politician Newin Chidchob, who is now a football-club sponsor, is known to be influential.

Newin filed a complaint to the police seeking that Veera be charged for posts that he claimed had also implicated him of involvement with the casino, Nation TV reported.

In his latest post yesterday, Veera did not mention Newin, but referred to some close aids to Cambodian leaders.

He also alleged that the National Parks Department had being negligent in carrying out its duty.

This resulted in the agency undertaking an examination of the official map of the national park map to prove that the casino was not located within the park, followed by Thanya’s prompt denial of Veera’s allegation.

“GetVan booking” is an app for booking vans online anywhere and anytime. Some 2,500 van operators have joined the project.

In its initial stage, users can reserve a seat in a van travelling on 30 routes within 300 kilometres of Bangkok.

Another application, which has also proven popular, is the “Police I lert u” created in 2015 by the Metropolitan Police Bureau to get swift service for people who need emergency help. Users can send personal information, photos, plus the location and time of emergency cases to a city police “war room”.

Last week, an expert from the Phuket Marine Biological Center stated that a decades-long coral restoration project at Koh Mai Thon had yielded significant improvements in marine life in the area.

“The coral we used is about a year old. We took it from places where it grew naturally, mainly ports. For instance, this lot is mostly from Ao Po Grand Marina,” said Suchat Rattanaruengsri of the DMCR Region 6.

“We only used those that were ready for breeding, so they can grow more,” Suchat added.

Suchat added that natural coralline algae is becoming rarer, as it sells for a high price and people often cut it off for their own profit.

“It’s illegal to touch or harm coral, which is a protected species. We are asking for the public’s cooperation in this matter – please inform us if you see anyone cutting or damaging coral, so we can all work together to preserve nature,” said Suchat.

The event was chaired by Kasem Sukwaree, chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. More than 150 people attended the ceremony, including the DMCR and Navy officers, tourism operators on Koh Mai Thon, volunteer divers and students.

Krabi has not seen rain for about two months and this particular area has experienced a severe rise in temperature.

“The monkeys climbed down into the pool, close to where tourists had come down for refreshments. Everyone was delighted to be able to enjoy a surprise appearance by the ‘guests’,” Jamras Sornsuvann, the temple keeper, told the Phuket Gazette.

The monkeys playfully splashed around in the water and smiled at tourists as they took pictures.

Jamras warned people to be careful, adding that monkeys become aggressive in hot weather and could end up biting someone.

“Do not feed them, as they are naturally able to procure food for themselves,” he warned.

He also noted that tourists should only take photos, and not touch, play with or provoke the monkeys in any way.

The 25-year-old turtle’s condition deteriorated after an initial operation, forcing vets to carry out another  emergency operation at the weekend.

Dr Nantarika Chansue, of Chulalongkorn University’s veterinary centre, wept as he explained that Ormsin – which means piggy bank in Thai – was now in intensive care and being fed oxygen.

Dr Nantarika, chief surgeon, wept, saying the turtle now in the intensive care and was fed with oxygen. “The turtle is now in coma and her chance of surviving is less than 50 per cent,” she said.

We did not expect any complication to happen as the turtle seemed to recover very well, the doctor said. “It can swim, eat and has so good response that we plan to return it to a Navy sea animal centre in Sattahip this Thursday,” she said.

Her body is weak from high quantity of nickels in her blood stream. The nickels from the coins in her blood is 200 times more than normal, leading to low immunity and negative impacts on muscles and heart, the doctor said.

“Bank’s survival chance is slim, she said referring to Ormsin or piggy bank.

The vet team had operated six-hour operation last week to extract a total of 915 coins from her stomach. She swallowed the coins that were thrown into her pond by passers-by who are believed to have done so in the hope of longevity and good luck.

The vet team on Saturday performed an emergency on Ormsin due to complications from intestinal strangulation. The condition might be because the turtle had more empty space in its torso from the first operation and its body was adjusting itself.

Nantarika also called for people to stop throwing coins or other things into the ponds where animals live for their luck and longevity.

Please let the Ormsin’s case be the last one, she requested. “Ormsin is sacrificing itself to reflect the problems of wrong beliefs in Thai society. Everybody should cease behaviour that have impacts on other lives. We should also help by monitoring such behaviours. Please don’t push the sufferings and pains to the animals,” she said.

The team and she were very upset out of having bonded with the turtle for about a week.

After her surrender, police took Chanpen Chartkulwanit, 30, to re-enact her alleged killing of partner Chanasnon Thongbamrung, 25, in Chiang Mai.

Chanpen told police she was a teacher for temporary hire in Mae Hong Son. She travelled to Chiang Mai on Sunday to take an exam to become a public school teacher and stayed with her long-time partner, Chanasnon.

But she quarrelled with Chanasnon out of suspicion that her partner had a relationship with another woman.

During the quarrel at 10pm, she jumped on Chanasnon and used her hands to strangle her. She said she did not initially know her partner had died when she stopped struggling.

When Chanpen realised that Chanasnon had died, she left the house to consult a friend and turned herself in at midnight.