The service is aimed at helping to curb traffic jams and help travellers.

It is available from 4am-9am and 4pm-8pm on Sunday.

The order, signed by Kalasin police chief Pol Maj-General Montri Charanpong, required Pol Colonel Ratchapol Sermsaran to report himself to duty at the Kalasin Police Operation Centre on Sunday before 4pm.

Montri confirmed on Sunday that the transfer order was because Ratchapol had violated the supervisor’s instruction to remain in his jurisdiction and direct police duties overseeing the Songkran event.

There is a reason why Assoc Professor Woralun Boonyasurat says the controversial court housing project at the foot of Doi Suthep Mountain should not go ahead  despite repeated claims of being legally on solid ground made by concerned parties, including the Justice Court representatives and premier General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

She is not as concerned about the environment as she is about the city’s spirituality and culture that she pays particular attention to. And that’s why she wants the project called off.

“What we are trying to protect, in this case, is not just the environment, but the city’s spirituality,” said Woralun. “In Thailand, we have a number of similar places, which possess some spiritual characteristics – something that people holds on to spiritually, and it’s something to be taken into account when we develop our towns or cities,” said the dean of Chiang Mai University’s Fine Arts Faculty, and a member of the Chiang Mai World Heritage Initiative Project which is pushing for Chiang Mai to be listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Haunting begins

The court housing project, which apparently ran smoothly at first, has become controversial as it moves into the final stage.

As explained by the Office’s secretary-general, SarawutBenjakul, the project first began in mid-1997. The Justice Ministry at that time assigned the Court Judge chief Region 5 Office to ask for permission to use a plot of land around 106 rai (17 hectares) held under the military’s authority on the mountain for the ministry’s office and housing needs.

About two years later, the Military Circle 33, responsible for Chiang Mai and nearby provinces sent a letter asking the office’s chief to confirm the purpose. It was confirmed by the office.

A year later, the Court of Justice was separated from the ministry, and the Office of the Court Judge chief Region 5 in 2003 then resubmitted the letter to the Military Circle 33, asking for use of the plot, this time for construction of the justice court office and housing units. In March that year, it also reported to the Court of Justice Office that the Military Circle 33 had asked for the project’s land plot and plans  to submit its report to the Army for consideration.

The Military Circle 33, as quoted by Sarawut, informed the regional office three months later that it had checked the legality of the land plot and found no encroachment of the DoiSuthep-Pui National Park, or on other agency land.

In March 2001, the Military Circle 33 then submitted a letter informing the Court of Justice Office that it had no problem if the court used about 147 rai of the land for the purpose, but it must also comply with the Treasury Department’s domain public land, or Ratchaphatsadu, regulations.

With such checks and approval, the Office in September 2002 submitted a letter to Chiang Mai’s governor asking for use of the plot of land, before receiving approval from the governor and the Treasury Department a year later.

Sarawut said after the Office was granted permission to use the land, it proceeded with procurements following the law, with a construction firm and a construction consultant being hired, and a total budget of around Bt955 million.

According to Sarawut, the project was divided into three phases. The first was construction of the Court of Appeals Region 5 building, for which a contract worth Bt290.49 million was signed in September 2014 alongside a completion date set in August 2016, with provision for 242 days of extension.

The firm delivered the work in April last year, Sarawut said.

The second phase consisted of 10 building units for judiciary officials, 38 houses for judges and one house for a director.

That contract worth Bt321.67 million was signed in February 2014, with the completion date set for August 2015, plus 1,048 days of extension. As of March this year, the project was 86 per cent complete, with completion and delivery expected by this June.

The last phase, according to Sarawut, consisted of another 64 building units for judiciary officials, plus another nine houses.

Its contract, worth Bt342.9 million, was signed in July 2013, and the completion date set in July 2015, with 1,066 days of extension.

As of March this year, the project is 84.5 per cent completed.

Sarawut pointed that the project is on the same topography as other notable places of the city – Kaset Reservior, Chiang Mai Night Safari, Chiang Mai University and other local hilly communities at the foot of Doi Suthep.

Contradictory views

Some intellectuals in the city, however, see it differently and eventually decided to set up the Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network to oppose the project.

Bunnaroth Buaklee, a political and social columnist and a member of the 16 civil organisations network, said the issue had been simmering locally since the start of the project.

During those years, Chiang Mai residents, himself included, were shocked when they saw the forest at the foot of the mountain being slowly eaten up by the project.

Some posted on their Facebook accounts, while others posted on online public forums, raising questions about whether the project was eating up Doi Suthep.

The mainstream media quickly grasped the issue, but the court – almost at the same time – doused the rumour with its affirmation that the plot of land was legally held, as it was under the Treasury Department.

Bunnaroth, who helped popularise the issue, had until then viewed the issue as purely non-political. But he decided the weighty silence since the controversy first broke out indeed had something to do with politics.

The country was under a coup government at the time, Bunnaroth said, and freedom of expression was extensively suppressed, prompting few people to dare challenge the government.

It was not until last month that the locals felt they had to raise their voice, he said.

“When those buildings first appeared, we could not yet see clearly what they were. But now, we see well what they are, and that has really hurt the locals’ feelings,” said Bunnaroth.

Question after question was directed to those concerned online, and with the help of social media, along with a more open political atmosphere. As the country is heading towards the planned election, the issue has received a lot of publicity, and dragged in all concerned parties – including the prime minister.

No end in sight

With no end to the controversy in sight, the network last week organised a forest ordaining campaign in a bid to protect the forest of Doi Suthep. Some peaceful walks to Bangkok were organised to petition against the project.

Committed to a peaceful outcome, the network chose to issue to authorities a statement outlining a proposed compromise. Bunnaroth said the network no longer wanted removal of all the buildings from the site, but only demolition of those that could damage the environment.

Their survey of the site found that some construction units obstructed or altered waterways, and could soon cause water pollution if they remained. Nobody is certain whether such impacts have been properly assessed and ameliorated, said Bunnaroth.

To reach a compromise, a joint meeting between project opponents and army representatives was held. They resolved to set up a joint committee to survey the site for units that could threaten the environment and mark them for demolition, find new locations to compensate the court and rehabilitate the deforested area.

The Third Army Area chief Lt-General Wijak Siribansop told the meeting participants that he would report the resolutions to the Army for consideration.

The Court of Justice’s executive board, meanwhile, also held a meeting before reaching a resolution to hear all sides of the argument and report on the issue to the Prime Minister.

Sarawut said the Court of Justice Office was well aware of the need for environmental sensitivity, and during the construction it had tried its best to ensure there would be no environmental damage by removing the fully-grown trees, up to 240 of them, and replanting them elsewhere.

It also planned to grow new trees to harmonise the area to its environment, he said.

Sarawut said the Office could neither nullify the contracts nor remove the properties, as demanded by the local groups because such actions would be illegal. But the Office was willing to accept whatever solution the government chose to apply to the stand-off, he said.

During the press briefing on Tuesday, PM Prayut hinted that the properties would not be removed, but be used for other purposes and the court would no longer be able  to use them.

The opponents just felt that their peaceful calls had not been heard.

From what Prayut said, “I no longer believe negotiations are on the table any more. Folks, let’s fight!,” Bunnaroth posted on Facebook shortly after the premier’s brief.

Spiritual possession

As an expert on fine art and culture, Woralun said Doi Suthep plays a spiritual and cultural role in the ancient city of Chiang Mai. The need now is to educate all concerned that issues such as this should be considered in their various dimensions.

An attentive dialogue would be critical in getting that deeper understanding, she said.

Since being was placed in 2015 on a list of potential Unescoworld heritage sites, Chiang Mai has gained increasing attention from art and cultural experts who want to help it over the last step to designation, which requires it meet certain creteria.

Chiang Mai is “a living city”, Woralun said, unlike some other World Heritage historical sites such as Ayutthaya. It’s also unlike the living town of Luang Prabang, although they both possess “living” culture and lifestyle. Chiang Mai is where cultural preservation meets with urban development, the drivers making the city so “alive”.

But more importantly, it is the way that the city was built, Woralun said. That reflects the ancient wisdom of the city’s design and planning, which was based on auspicious and spiritual elements that Woralun calls “Chai Mongkol” or the auspicious elements for victory.

This has prompted it to meet the Unesco’s second criteria for designation, which states that the nominating site must exhibit an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, through developments in architecture, or technology, monumental arts, town-planning, or landscape design.

Built over 700 years ago by King Meng Rai, the city planning shows a distinctive selection and use of Chai Mongkol lanscapes involving the plains land, water and forest on Doi Suthep, which were annexed and connected to one another from the East to the West.

Doi Suthep in the West of the city, presents a good fortress against the city’s enemies, and has long generated and provided water sources for the city to the east below, while the city was built in response to natural landscapes.

Ancient canals and reservoirs at the foot of the mountain are still vividly evident nowadays, Woralun noted.

The top of Doi is, very importantly, where another King had invited and placed the auspicious Buddha’s bones in the stupa inside Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, signifying the most sacred place in the city.

For years, the entire mountain of Doi Suthep was taken as a deeply spiritual location tightly embraced by Chiang Mai residents and local people nearby. That personal spiritual connection is the reason why local people have deep feelings for Doi Suthep, Woralun said.

“If you notice, Chiang Mai people do not sleep with their feet pointed to the West where Doi Suthep is located.

“Time passes, but some stories and beliefs are still always in people’s minds. This includes the stories of the city of Chiang Mai and DoiSuthep,” said Woralun.

“I think this aspect – of spirituality and people’s beliefs – needs to also be taken into account when we talk about development of cities and towns. There are places that people, indeed, spiritually value.”

The likely leak, including individuals’ ID cards and passport numbers, was first reported by Blognone, an online technology news service, when Niall Merrigan, a cyber-security researcher, said he had found the data under the folder name of Truemoveh/idcard with unrestricted access on the cloud storage facility of Amazon Web Service.

The 32-gigabyte folder contained multiple years of personal data of TrueMove H’s customers in Thailand, including those from 2016 (14.5 gigabytes), 2017 (8.3 gigabytes) and 2018 (2.2 gigabytes).

The folder shows a large quantity of personal ID card data, including photos and 13-digit numbers that were apparently used when customers first signed up with TrueMove H. The passport details of foreign customers in Thailand was in the folder, too. Due to its unrestricted access on the cloud-based data storage facility, such a massive data could be abused by unscrupulous people, affecting a large number of people in Thailand.

TrueMove responded to Merrigan’s alert on the possible data leak on Tuesday and managed to restrict access to the folder which stored its customers’ private data.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of NBTC, said TrueMove H must explain during the April 17 meeting with the regulatory agency what happened to its customers’ personal data. There was a risk that a large number of individuals’ private ID card data could have been compromised due to it being stored in an unsecured way, he said.

According to Takorn, violators of the data privacy and related laws are subject to punishment and the regulatory agency is empowered to revoke the licenses of mobile phone operators if they are found to be guilty of intentionally leaking personal data.

However, NBTC will hear from TrueMove H before making its decision on this issue. Takorn said the security of personal data was very important to NBTC, which had a duty to protect the public interest in relation to mobile phone services.

This latest incident was reported to have occurred some time ago and it took the Thai firm more than a month to respond to Merrigan’s alert, which was posted on social media in early March, according to Blognone.

TrueMove H said it was investigating the issue and its causes but the access to the folder containing customers’ personal data was no longer accessible to unauthorised people.

The Road Safety Centre (RSC) yesterday reported that after the first three of the seven days, the number of road fatalities, injuries and accidents were all higher than during the same period of last year.

According to the road accident report on April 13 – the third day of the monitoring period – there were a total of 820 accidents, 86 deaths and 852 injured people – with increases in all numbers except the death toll.

When added to the statistics of the previous two days of the campaign, the totals for the first three days were all higher than the same period last year.

RFSC statistics reported that from Wednesday until yesterday, there were 1,846 road accidents that injured 1,934 persons, killed 183 people, while during the same period last year there were 1,741 accidents, 1,778 injured, and 183 deaths.

Meanwhile, police have been monitoring about 300 surveillance TV cameras in Bangkok’s Silom Road area around the clock as part of precautionary measures for tourist safety during Songkran, while also checking revellers for the modesty of their dress and actions.

In addition, in an attempt to avoid violence, police have issued warnings to revellers over alcohol consumption in prohibited areas.

On the tourism front, the Songkran Festival has attracted millions of Thai and foreign tourists to popular destinations nationwide, generating significant revenue for local economies.

Chuchat on-charern, the Tourism Authority of Thailand chief for the southern province of Phang-nga, said an estimated 155,000 tourists visited the province, with each Thai tourist spending an average of Bt4,000 per day and each foreign tourist spending an average of Bt6,586 per day.

The province’s 11,000 hotel rooms have an occupancy rate of over 80 per cent this year, he said, adding that the tourism revenue during Songkran is estimated to top Bt1.1 billion, up 5 per cent from the previous year. The province is popular among German, Scandinavian and Asian tourists due to its proximity to popular islands.

On the second day of the three days of the long traditional Thai New Year yesterday, Thailand was still soaked in a festive mood, even as the Meteorological Department reported a midday temperature above 32 degrees Celsius in every part of the country. Some provinces in the upper part of Thailand reeled in heat exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

For the remainder of the holidays, the Weather Forecast Bureau yesterday said every region would face very hot weather. Temperature in the northern, northeastern, central and eastern regions would range from 34 to 40 degrees Celsius, while the average temperature in Bangkok and the South would be slightly cooler, averaging 32 to 38 degrees Celsius.

The highest temperature yesterday was recorded at 40.2 degrees Celsius in Nong Khai, Si Saket, Chaiyaphum and Surin provinces in the Northeast.

People planning to participate in outdoor Songkran water fights were advised to stay cool to prevent heat stroke and avoid long exposure to the midday sun without skin protection, or they could suffer sunburns.

Songkran celebration venues in major cities across the country reported an unexpectedly high turnout as people played in the water to cool off during the hot day.

Wanchai Sakudomchai, director of the Meteorological Department, forecast that today – the final day of the Songkran Festival – an approaching cold front from southern China would affect the weather in the eastern and northeastern regions, with risk of summer storms from today until next Wednesday.

As summer storms often bring intense downpours, thunder, gusty winds and hail, Wanchai urged all people residing in affected regions to be cautious. Local people and farmers have also been told to remain prepared, as the summer storms could damage crops and properties.

In the northern region, large crowds of Chinese tourists were seen celebrating Songkran and joyfully splashing water on each other with colourful water guns. There also were tourists from Western countries and Thais at Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate and along the moat in Chiang Mai’s old town.

The forum addressed child marriage, early unions and teen pregnancy in Southeast Asia.

At the forum were representatives from 10 countries, including Thailand, and international organisations such as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“A striking number of young girls become pregnant without having planned to – or without having had control of their pregnancy,” Wivina Belmonte, Unicef deputy regional director, East Asia and the Pacific, told the forum.

“When an adolescent girl becomes pregnant, her life changes forever.

“Her schooling often gets disrupted, or ends altogether and her prospects of a job dim. The health hazards due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth are huge, and often fatal,” said Belmonte.

Maki Hayashikawa, director at Unesco Bangkok, said it is essential that comprehensive sexuality education that goes well beyond the basic facts of biological reproduction starts at an early age for girls and boys. They need to learn about sexuality both in and out of school in order to ensure that young people were equipped with a solid foundation for life and love.

According to her, global evidence clearly showed that providing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) does not increase sexual activity, but rather empowers young people to take charge of their own lives with healthier and happier outcomes. “Abstinence-only approaches are not effective in delaying sexual initiation, reducing frequency of sex or reducing the number of sexual partners,” she explained. Comprehensive sexuality education “is the core to addressing early unions and teen pregnancy”.

Forum participants suggested age-appropriate CSE should commence in early primary school (at age 5), providing skills in communication, decision-making, negotiation, gender equality and respect.

In Thailand, the Prevention and Solution of Adolescent Pregnancy Problem Act was launched in 2016 to address the country’s fast-rising teen pregnancy rate through the involvement of multiple ministries and civil-society partners.

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry shared the opportunities created by the Act, especially through enshrining the rights of young people to sexual and reproductive health information and services. Young people themselves were consulted in drafting and implementing the legislation, setting a strong example for other countries in the region and globally.

While adolescent birth rates have declined globally, they have remained generally stagnant or even increased in Southeast Asia, with wide-ranging variations between countries. The average adolescent birth rate in the region is 47 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19, higher than the average of 35 in South Asia and close to the global average of 50.

The highest adolescent birth rates at the country level are seen in Lao (94), Cambodia (57), Thailand (50), Indonesia (48) and Philippines (47).

@Hong Kong Smart Airport

In an effort to make Hong Kong International Airport friendly to visitors, the facility has developed the “HKG My Flight” mobile application to track your luggage in real time. Time spent standing at the luggage belt can now be reduced by the app alerting you when the suitcases are coming.

Tourists could also use the app to translate text signs written in English and Mandarin languages into other languages, including Thai and Indonesian, said an airport official.

@Smart City

To reduce air pollution from traffic on the Island, the Hong Kong government is promoting the use of electric vehicles (EV), and that has led to variety of new products and services aimed at creating a “smart city”.

For example, the Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre (APAS) funded by the Hong Kong Administration, has developed a portable charger kit for EV. The handheld EV charger with a proprietary AC power socket through wireless authentication.

The driver could simply plug the charger into a nearby PCK socket and get medium-fast charge for the vehicle after parking.

It replaces the traditional bulky wall mounted AC chargers, resulting in low-cost and easy installation and maintenance .

APAS has also developed a smart streetlamp project that uses a wireless network to control and monitor streetlamps. Its key features include remote on/off control of streetlamps; voltage, current and power measurement of individual street lamps; dimming control and automatic detection of malfunctioning streetlamps and report alerts.

Hong Kong companies are also developing many new products and services, which were demonstrated at the event.

@Smart Eyeshade

A smart eyeshade designed to enhance quality of sleep is being developed by the Hong Kong Enter Trade Technology Co. Named “Luuna”, the shade is equipped with special sensors that could capture the user’s brainwave activity with electroencephalography (EEG) technology in real time. The data is then transferred to an application embedded with an AI algorithm and machine learning ability. The app will determine and play music tailored to the user to help them relax and get better sleep.

The company is now raising funds through the Kickstarter platform with a target retail price of US$127 (Bt3,953). The company has already launched an eyeshade product for naptime at a $149 price tag.

@DIY tool for creating animation

GoAnimate Hong Kong Ltd has developed an animation tool for DIY video. It is very simple as it is designed for non-technical users. No coding is needed – users just use a mouse and the drag-and-drop tool to create video, said Billy Chung, director of business development.

He said his company is now focused on business clients after a previous effort to reach individual consumers. The monthly subscription fee is $39 (Bt1214) and annual fees are $300 for the basic version. Free trails are available.

The tool would allow simple production of animated videos that could be posted on popular social media and other channels. Animation can be an effective tool to communicate complicated issues more easily than using text alone, said Chung.

Users could use their own language as the company employs text-to-speech technology owned by Amazon.

Customers have used the tool to create 22 million videos since the company launched in 2007. “Most of our customers are in North American and Europe, accounting for 80 per cent,” said Chung.

The company has research and development facilities in Hong Kong and a sales office in the Silicon Valley of the United States.

The ceremony kicked off at 9.09am with a water-pouring blessing ceremony to the Buddha Relics Reliquary and a Brahman Puja ceremony of the “Navagrahas” or nine planetary gods of Hinduism.

“Buddhists believe that beginning the Thai New Year with blessing the Buddha statue will bring good deeds to their life,” said Nitaya Kanokmongkol, director of the National Museum Bangkok.

The three-day festival ending today (March 14) presented a rare change to worship, study, and get close-up views of the museum’s treasures dated back in the 19th Century.

The jewelled golden Buddha Relics Reliquary is one of the museum’s most sacred treasures. The Buddha Relics were once secretly kept on the top of the head of Phra Buddha Sihing located in the museum’s Puttaisawan Throne Hall.

In the early Rattanakosin period, the relics were moved to inside the jewelled golden reliquary. For this year’s New Year exhibition, the museum has put it on display at the Samran Mukhamat Pavilion. Built in the reign of King Rama V, the pavilion was used for royal water-pouring ceremonies. Nowadays, the museum uses this pavilion for hosting special blessing occasions including the Songkran and New Year’s festivals.

The “Navagrahas” (“nine planets” in Sanskrit) are nine astronomical bodies along with mythical deities from Hinduism and Hindu astrology. These are the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, and the ascending and descending lunar nodes, respectively known as Rahu and Ketu.

“The collection of brass sculptures of Navagrahas were built in the reign of King Rama IV,” Nitaya explained. “As most of Navagrahas often are seen on murals or in paintings, this brass sculpture collection is one of the Kingdom’s rare antiques.”

The 200-year-old brass sculpture collection was created by HRH Prince Issaraphong, son of Prince Maha Sakdipholsep who was King Rama IV’s regent.

These sculptures were inspired by the murals depicting Navagrahas in the main chapel of Wat Boreorsatharnsuthvas or Wat Phra Kaew Wang Naa, which the Princes also designed. Each deity has a different vehicle.

The Sun rides a lion. The Moon rides a horse. Mars rides a buffalo, Mercury an elephant, Jupiter a deer, Venus a cow, and Saturn a tiger. Rahu rides Garuda, while Ketu rides naga.

To promote Thai culture as a match for the Bt100-billion “Thai Niyom Yangyuen” (“Sustainable Thainess”) programme, the museum invited audiences wearing traditional national dress to join the three-day event.

Admission to the event is free. The museum is closed during the Songkran festival and opens its door again on April 18.

Ratchapon Sirithaworn, a legal expert and owner of the Facebook fanpage “LawByRachaponsLawyer”, which provides knowledge on law, cautioned people to celebrate Songkran within the limit of laws.

He said offences such as drinking alcohol in prohibited areas or splashing water randomly can lead to high fines or even being jailed.

Ratchapon revealed on his Facebook fanpage that many minor offences in the eyes of the public have very severe punishments and urged the people to celebrate Songkran with discretion or they might find themselves in prison for their ‘minor’ crimes.

“Even though splashing water on other people is culturally accepted during Songkran Festival, as it is seen as an enjoyable celebration, this enjoyment can turn into a criminal offence if we soak someone who does not intend to get into a water fight, or causes them damage,” he said.

He explained that splashing water on random people and causing damage to their valuables such as mobile phones is a criminal offence under Article 358 of the Criminal Code. Offenders are subjected to punishments of up to three years in jail or Bt60,000 fine.

He also warned that even though no damage may have been done to another’s belongings, the act of splashing water can be considered physical harmful and offenders can be charged with battery and given a month’s imprisonment or Bt10,000 fine.

Ratchapon gave examples of five other criminal offences regularly committed during Songkran: up to 10 years imprisonment for celebratory shooting; 10 years in jail for sexual harassment; six months jail for drinking alcohol inside a driving vehicle or at a petrol station; and Bt5,000 fine for indecent behaviour in public.