Sarayut Tanthien said since he became the park chief in 2015, the park had had collected Bt1 billion in collection fees – Bt84 million in 2015, Bt561 million in 2016 and Bt356 million so far this year.

He said Bt47 million has been collected so far this month. The park chief said Bt128 million has been allocated to improve the park.

The man, 44, from Penang, was nabbed at 7pm local time following surveillance by Thai authorities over his alleged role in two failed attempts to smuggle drugs into Malaysia earlier this year and late last year.

“The Malaysian man arrived in Bangkok about two weeks ago and has been under constant surveillance by the police ever since,” said the Thai narcotics suppression bureau deputy head Maj Gen Pornchai Charoenwong at the airport on Monday.

According to him, the man is believed to be the key figure behind the discovery of 87kg of “ice” in a rented house in Hatyai January this year and the seizure of 52.4kg of heroin and 41.9kg of “ice” from a car driven by two Malaysian men in Chumphon in December last year.

During investigation, the two Malaysian men had disclosed to authorities about the involvement of the Penang man in the drug smuggling cases.

Pornchai said the man had travelled into Thailand many times before this to order the drugs. He added that once a deal was brokered, he would go back to Malaysia and wait for the delivery.

The arrest of the Penang man follows another high profile arrest of a Malaysian who is also accused of being a senior figure in an international drug syndicate, at Hatyai airport last Wednesday.

The man, dubbed “Mr T”, from Johor, is alleged to be responsible for several attempts to smuggle hundreds of kilogrammes of “ice” into Malaysia and running business operations to launder money gained from the drug activities.

Piyathas Parpthiensuwan, 30, said she long ago stopped being involved in prostitution and was now a divorcee with a sick child.

Piyathas said an acquaintance once asked her if she knew any girl who would have sex with a senior official.

She said she then contacted a girl, who took the job.

After Piyathas was arrested in tambon Pang Moo on November 6 last year, she was brought to meet a former police informant, who claimed that her teenage daughter was missing after being lured into prostitution by a girl nicknamed May.

Piyathas claimed she was told she would be released if she provided information implicating May in the operation.

She said she and others were subsequently charged with procuring an underage girl to work in prostitution.

She said Senior Sergeant Major Yutthachai Thongchat’s name was also in the case report, despite Pang Moo not being in his jurisdiction.

Piyathas said she received a two-year suspended jail term and was fined Bt15,000 fine for that offence.

“Now my name is linked to Senior Sergeant Major Yutthachai’s alleged network? I have nothing to do with him. I don’t even have his personal phone number,” she said.

“If I were one of his people, why would he arrest me for prostitution procurement? I think this case has more than what meets the eye.

“I’m just a villager, so I want the media to help restore my tarnished name.”

Arrest warrants were issued for Piyathas, Yutthachai and another woman, Piyawan “May” Sukma, for allegedly luring girls aged under 18 into prostitution.

The project was launched in honor of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit.

“We have placed artificial coral, army vehicles (for coral to grow on) and a statue of a sea turtle in order to revive tourism and marine life in areas that were destroyed in the 2004 Tsunami,” said Rak Khaolak Foundation Chief Sompong Daopiset.

“Our plan is to add more statues in the coming years. These will tell the story of the culture of Phang Nga,” he added.

Fourth Army commander Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich presided over the official handover of the vehicles.

“The purpose of this project is to build habitats for local marine life and map the area out as a new snorkeling attraction. I would like to invite the public to visit and help maintain it,” said Gen Piyawat.

Chief Sompong added that the ultimate goal was to make this “museum” one of the “best underwater tourist attractions on earth.”

In recent months, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has led initiatives to plant pieces of live natural coral on artificial (concrete) reefs at Koh Mai Thon and Koh Racha Yai

Rescue workers and police received reports of the incident from lifeguards at Karon Beach at about noon.

The victim, Timur Gadylshin, received first aid on the spot and was then taken to Patong Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.

“The parasail operator, Noppadon Nakeepet, explained that while the captain was driving the boat, the propeller got stuck in a plastic bag which caused the boat to stop moving,” said Capt Weerayuth Thansirisukhaworakul of Karon Police.

The boy and the operator, who also sustained minor injuries, were thrown onto the sand.

The victim has already been discharged from hospital. Police have yet to charge anyone as they are waiting to question the injured boy first.

The 21-year-old father, whose name was withheld in accordance with the law on family violence, broadcast the tragic incident at about 5.45pm in the live clip that was about four minutes long.

The Facebook Live clip drew a lot of viewers and went viral, catching the attention of the mother who rushed to seek help from police, but it was too late.

In the clip, the man was seen sitting with the baby girl on the rooftop of the multi-floor deserted building. He was seen tying a knot around the neck of the girl and dropping her down from the rooftop. She was heard crying briefly.

The man then pulled the baby up and untied the knot. She briefly cried for the last time.

The 21-year-old mother went to Thalang Police Station at about 6.30pm after learning about the clip.

Police searched for a deserted building as seen in the clip and eventually found it located near a five-star hotel at Naithon Beach in tambon Choeng Thalay of Thalang district.

Police found that the man had hanged himself from a beam in the building and the body of the girl was on the rooftop. He did not broadcast his suicide.

The mother said she had a quarrel with the man because he suspected she had a relationship with another man. The woman said she left their house after he checked her phone and threatened to kill her at about 3am on Monday.

Facebook has admitted that broadcasts of murders and suicides have been an issue that it has taken steps to prevent.

“We have a lot of work, and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening,” Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said on stage at F8, Facebook’s annual developers conference last week, in reference to a video of a murder in Cleveland that was uploaded to Facebook. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr,” Zuckerberg added in reference to the victim.

On April 16, a Cleveland man uploaded the video of him shooting and killing Godwin, a 74-year-old grandfather who was on his way home from an Easter meal with family.

A TV station was strongly criticized on Facebook for replaying the clip of the baby’s murder. A popular Facebook page, “Drama-Addict”, said although the station blurred the faces, the baby was heard crying.

A local environmental group confirmed that members had heard of a verbal order to that effect, adding that people had the right to stage peaceful protests against the project. The group maintained that the project would have a tremendous effect on people’s livelihoods and the river ecosystem.

Jirasak Inthayot, coordinator of local environmental group Rak Chiang Khong (Love Chiang Khong), said yesterday there was an urgent order from the Chiang Rai governor to provincial district chiefs telling local administrators to deter people from participating in protests against the Chinese operation to |survey the Mekong River channel.

“I have heard from local community leaders that there was a verbal order from the governor to stop people from protesting against the survey operation on the Mekong River, and I see this as a serious and unjust order. People have the right to peacefully protest and protect local resources,” Jirasak said.

Huai Luek village head Thongsuk Inthawong also said he had heard of the order, adding that people had the right to demonstrate against the project that will affect them.

“The people in my village disagree with the plan to blast the rapids in the Mekong River, because their livelihoods, which are heavily dependent on the river, will change. They insist that they can demonstrate their disagreement to those who are responsible for this project,” Thongsuk said.

However, Chiang Rai provincial governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said there no such order existed and insisted that the province did not have a policy to prohibit peaceful protests.

“I confirm that there is not an order from the province like that, and it is fine for the people to peacefully demonstrate unless there is a violation of laws,” Narongsak said.

He said that the project was overseen by the Marine Department, which is under the control of the Transport Ministry, and the provincial government was just the local authority that did not have power over the operation.

“We assure that people’s rights to demonstrate is respected, but we also have to keep our promise to the Chinese firm, as our government gave them permission to survey the Mekong River already, so we have to let them do their work,” he said.

The survey operation on the Mekong River is being carried out by China’s CCCC Second Habor Consultant Co Ltd to study the river channel for the Navigation Route Improvement project, which will deepen the channel in some sections to allow cargo ships to travel the river’s length.

The Chinese team arrived in Thailand last week and plans to survey 15 locations along a 96-kilometre stretch of the Mekong River between Thailand and Laos, from the Golden Triangle to the Kaeng Pha Dai rapids for the duration of 55 days.