That includes a requirement for an applicant to show a Thai ID card, the swiping of card information with a smart card reader to match the data with that appearing on the card, and checking whether the person opening an account was the same person as the card owner.

The banks also display signs warning of criminal-code punishments for those opening bank accounts on the behalf of others.

The association’s comments referred to a recent case involving Nicha Kiatthanapaiboon, a 24-year-old private company worker whose stolen Thai ID card was allegedly used by fraudsters. Nicha, who faced a fraud charge and three-days’ detention before being bailed on Monday, has insisted that she was an innocent victim in the case.

The association said the banks cited in this case would co-operate with the police inquiry and would find appropriate solutions for all sides.

In the meantime, the member banks had instructed their staff to strictly follow regulations and be more careful while asking for co-operation from customers and explaining to them the necessity for strict identification checking when opening accounts or using bank services.

After reportedly cutting each other off on New Phetchburi Road, the 29-year-old actor entered into a dispute on Monday with taxi driver Udon Sitthipol, 37, who then fired a stone from a slingshot and damaged Maurer’s Porsche near the Pratunam Intersection.

Nitiwan said the charge was filed against both parties involved in the reported incident in order to discourage other people from displaying similar behaviour.

The taxi driver earlier had paid a total fine of Bt1,200, including Bt200 for the assault and Bt1,000 for reckless driving, while Mario declined to file a police complaint against him on a charge of property damage.

Udon was also punished by the Land Transport Department with a one-month suspension of his driver’s licence and required to undergo a three-hour driver training session.

According to Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) had since 2015 recovered more than 100 stolen Malaysian vehicles in the kingdom and handed them over to their Malaysian counterparts.

“Thailand is a transit country for Malaysia’s car-jacking syndicates,” he told reporters after receiving 20 stolen cars, mostly luxury vehicles, from RTP adviser Gen Witaya Prayongpan during a ceremony here yesterday.

He said police forces from both nations would step up their cooperation to bust vehicle theft syndicates currently operating in both countries.

Wan Ahmad Najmuddin said efforts were under way to track down the Malaysian lea­der of the syndicate.

Meanwhile, the RTP, in a statement issued after the handing-over ceremony, said stolen vehicles had been a long-standing issue and had impacted the economies of both countries adversely.

“Thai Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy Gen Prawit Wongsuwan have always stressed the importance of tac­kling the issue as it has the potential to lead to other criminal activities.

“This is not merely about stolen motor vehicles but could potentially finance other activities of criminal nature such as terrorism,” it said.

Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday that the PM just felt he should be “sufficient” and not create any problems, as the Michelin Guide team is promoting Thai food to attract more foreign tourists to visit the Kingdom.

“In my opinion, I think he [Prayut] may not want the public to feel he is an example of a leader who eats expensive food,” Sansern said.

Famous street-food eatery Jay Fai, which is known for its Thai-style crabmeat omelette – priced from Bt800 to Bt2,000 – is one of 14 Bangkok restaurants that earned one star in the debut edition of the “Michelin Guide Bangkok”, which was launched last month.

One day after she picked up the Michelin-star certification, Jay Fai owner and chef Supinya Junsuta said the Michelin Guide team would arrange for her to cook up some dishes for the prime minister.

According to the government’s database, there are about 11 million Thais whose annual per capita income is less than Bt30,000. Instead of just handing out subsidy money to this target group, the second-stage programme aims to offer them jobs, provide skill-training, financial help and other pre-requisites to alleviate their poverty in a more sustainable style.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the second stage, which follows last year’s spending of nearly Bt20 billion for low-income earners, would be implemented jointly by the Finance, Agriculture, Interior, Environment and related ministries.

It is based on China’s poverty-reduction model in which both public and private sector organisations work together to tackle poverty.

According to Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong, the second stage is driven by data gathered from low-income people |earlier registered with the government so that measures can be personalised to suit their needs, and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the poverty-reduction efforts.

There are a total of 34 projects under the second-stage programme involving six ministries, three state-owned banks, two funds and two other state agencies, whose overall objective is to improve the quality of life of low-income earners. Local-level committees will be appointed to supervise personalised efforts in order to achieve the targets.

These local bodies will conduct interviews with each of the people and households currently registered in the government’s database so that personalised advice and measures can be tailor-made to suit their needs, with state officials functioning like account officers in the private sector.

Regarding job offers, the Labour Ministry is responsible for recommending both domestic and overseas jobs to prospective low-income people while the Commerce Ministry is implementing a mini-franchise system for those keen on doing small franchised businesses in their areas.

On vocational training, the Labour Ministry will hold courses to introduce new skills to qualified farmers and other low-income groups, while the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will be responsible for increasing financial literacy among participants.

Regarding financial assistance, state-owned banks will provide small loans to street food vendors and those wanting to do other franchised businesses, among others.

In addition, education and housing loans will be offered as well as retirement saving programmes to ensure a reasonable quality of life for the registered participants. They will also be able to buy necessities at a subsidised price at government-designated stores nationwide.

Those whose annual income is still Bt30,000 or less towards the end of this year will also get an additional subsidy of Bt200 per month on top of the previous Bt300, while those whose annual income is Bt100,000 or less, will get an additional subsidy of Bt100 per month on top of the previous Bt200.

Employers are also entitled to financial incentives to provide vocational training to registered participants and will get an extra tax deduction on these expenses for the period January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019.

The alleged forgery involves more than Bt300million worth of shares belonging to construction tycoon Chuwong Saetang, who was found dead in a car driven by former Cabinet member, Pol Lt-Colonel Banyin Tangpakorn, in 2015.

Banyin, who initially claimed that Chuwong died in a car accident, is now a key murder suspect in an ongoing inquiry into the death. The share transfers took place before his death.

For now, Banyin, will have to go to court to face document forgery charges along with the two people into whose names Chuwong’s shares were transferred: Kantana Siwathanapon and former stockbroker Uracha Wachirakulton.

File photo: Uracha Wachirakulton (R)

Chuwong’s elder sister, Wanpen Tanathamsiri, said yesterday that her family had been fighting for justice for two and a half years. “Damage has been done and, as we are the damaged parties, we should be compensated and the wrongdoers should face the legal consequences of their actions,” she said.

Although Wanpen said she was satisfied with Khemchai’s decision to an extent, her family still believed that the three suspects should also face charges of theft and acceptance of ill-gotten gains.

Some police share Wanpen’s opinion but, so far, Khemchai has had the final say in the matter. Public prosecutors have told police to bring Banyin, Uracha and Kantana to court over the charges of faking and using the documents to take Chuwong’s shares. The shares have been deposited in two securities firms, one of which was Uracha’s former employer.

“Rotavirus-related diarrhoea cases happen every year,” Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan, a virologist at Chulalongkorn University, said yesterday.

Yong said infants and young children were most likely to get rotavirus, while adults were more likely to come down with diarrhoea because of norovirus.

“If you want absolutely accurate test results as to which virus has caused the symptoms, you have to submit samples to a molecular biology lab, not just rely on test kits,” he said.

Rotavirus has become a big issue on social media since actress Nusba Punnakanta posted a picture of herself in a hospital bed to warn people about it.

“There’s no medicine to cure this … so, it’s best to prevent the risk by frequently washing your hands,” the caption read.

Yong said although there are no medicines to cure diarrhoea caused by the virus, it usually lasted three to five days.

“I don’t understand why the public gets panicked,” he said.

The Disease Control Department (DCD) yesterday released guidelines on how to avoid rotavirus-related diarrhoea.

It recommended three measures: washing hands frequently; cleaning children’s utensils often; and not taking children to crowded places.

According to the DCD, rotavirus-related symptoms can be more serious among children and the elderly.

DCD deputy director-general Dr Asadang Ruay-ajin said that, in the past, rotavirus was found only among young children. “But in recent years, we have noticed that more adults have caught the virus,” he said.

Asadang insisted that the recent development was not a cause for panic. “It’s just that you should know how to protect yourself from rotavirus risks. For example, it’s best to use a serving spoon and eat just-cooked hot food,” he said.

Asadang said weather changes were also a factor behind the spread of the virus.

He said some people could not adjust themselves to weather changes and thus became quite vulnerable to diseases.

“To stay healthy, take enough rest and eat nutritious food. Avoid alcohol and smoking,” Asadang said.

Yong said that, in the past, diarrhoea cases in Thailand usually occurred during summer because of bacteria. As sanitary standards in the country improved, bacteria-related diarrhoea cases had reduced overall, but cases had started occurring during winter.

People in Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Sa Kaew provinces have warned about the elephant but said he should be easy to spot because he has no tusk.

The elephant is thought to have strayed from the Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary and intruded on people’s farms, damaging and eating crops and bananas in many areas from Soidao district, Chanthaburi, to Wangsomboon district, Sa Kaew.

People have therefore been warned to be cautious when they tap their rubber trees at night-time and even when they are in and around their homes.

Manote Rattanatrai, an elephant look-out team chief at Khao Soidao wildlife sanctuary, said officials were quite confident the elephant was responsible for the series of intrusions into people’s farms.

Therefore, a team of 50 officials from several wildlife sanctuaries had been assigned by the Sa Kaew governor to look for him and chase him back deep into the forests.

The officials come from several wildlife sanctuaries, including Khao Soidao, Ang Rue Nai and Wang Somboon. Soldiers in those areas are also helping in the search.

Pitak Burana, village headman at Ban Klong Kai Tuen in Klong Hat, said he had already warned his villagers to alert for the animal and that it may be entering the areas.

Lieutenant Sompote Charanya-orn, ranger commander said that it was reported that the elephant had been spotted at a temple in Klong Hat district and was heading to Ban Khaopapueng village.

Therefore the hunt for the animal would be focused on those areas, he said.

Nicha filed the complaint to the CSD head office in Bangkok along with evidence including related documents and a video clip in which a female suspect is shown opening an account with a bank in the Lat Phrao area under her name.

She claimed that she lost a wallet containing her Thai ID card in early October. It was then used by unknown persons to open nine bank accounts at seven banks. Each bank account reportedly had a large amount of money being withdrawn and deposited.

It was reported that a Thai bank had alerted Nicha on December 8 that a bank account opened under her name since October 21 had received Bt360,000 wired from aboard in November.

As she didn’t open the account, she filed a police complaint in Bangkok and secured a search warrant to get information from the bank during December 10-12. She discovered that her ID card had been used by criminals to open accounts at several banks.

In the meantime, an unnamed female victim filed a police complaint that she had been duped out of Bt1.3 million in Tak’s Ban Tak district by a foreign man on Facebook who asked her to wire the money to a bank account under Nicha’s name.

Police sent a summons for Nicha on December 28. They subsequently secured an arrest warrant for fraud when she did not respond to the summons because she was unavailable.

Nicha said she went to see the police on January 6 to express her innocence but was taken into custody and sentenced to court-ordered detention before she was granted bail release on Monday.

Nicha urged banks to be more careful when taking applications for bank accounts by checking if the applicant’s appearance matched the photo on the documents and other information.

Nicha said she had applied for a new ID card after her wallet went missing but the culprit could still use the old card to open bank accounts.

CSD chief Pol Maj General Maitree Chimcherd said his agency would investigate and provide justice for Nicha, who apparently turned out to be a victim.

Maitree said he had instructed his deputy Pol Colonel Chakrit Sawatdee to handle the case and contact Ban Tak police to transfer the case to CSD. He said the agency would also consider if the banks would be accountable for Nicha’s ordeal.

The video clip that Nicha submitted showed a woman in her 30s wearing a facemask opening a bank account using Nicha’s ID card, a police source said.

The ceremony was presided over by Pol General Witthaya Prayongpan, special advisor to the Royal Thai Police and the Malaysian Crime Suppression Commissioner and a Charge d’affairs of the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok.

Witthaya said the transfer was the second batch of stolen luxury vehicles that had been seized in Thailand and returned to Malaysia. The first batch involved 95 vehicles worth about Bt75 million, he said.

“The smuggling of stolen cars from neighbouring Malaysia into Thailand has been a serious problem and impacts both countries’ economy directly and indirectly. They are the kind of transnational crimes that the government has tried to suppress,” he said.

Thai police have assigned their agencies to jointly tackle the problems domestically and internationally, Witthaya said. He described the cooperation with Malaysia as excellent.