The Unesco executive board, in Paris yesterday, endorsed 13 new sites from around the world that showed distinctive geological, ecological, archaeological and cultural values as new Unesco Global Geoparks.

Satun Geopark in the South of Thailand was among seven other geoparks in the Asia-Pacific. The others are: Cao Bang, Vietnam; Ciletuh -Palabuhanratu and Rinjani-Lombok, Indonesia; Guangwushan-Nuoshuihe and Huanggang Dabieshan, China; Izu Peninsula, Japan; and Mudeungsan Area, South Korea.

According to Unesco’s statement, the Satun Geopark, which covers an area of 2,597.21 square kilometres in four districts of Satun province, was recognised as the new Unesco Global Geopark for both its diverse geological and cultural heritage as well as efforts at the site to promote conservation, education and tourism best practices in a holistic manner.

Unesco said the Satun Geopark consisted of more than 500 million years of geological and natural history, as abundant fossils of early organisms such as trilobites, brachiopods, and stromatolites from the Paleozoic Era as well as diversified Karst topography can be found at this park.

Besides the park’s significance for geology and natural science, Unesco also pointed out that the Satun Geopark is home to many ethnic groups with rich cultural traditions, such as the Maniq and Urak Lawoi, which signify humanity’s strong bonds to the land.

Currently, Unesco Global Geoparks Network covers 140 geoparks in 38 countries, including 58 geoparks in the Asia-Pacific region.

Somboon Khamhang, a local environmentalist in Satun, stated that this was a great achievement for all stakeholders who have been campaigning for the Unesco Global Geopark nomination since 2011.

Somboon stressed that the geopark still faces a threat from the development of the Pakbara Seaport, planned within the area of the geopark, which may cause severe environmental impacts.

“The government has to decide which path of development they want: to proceed with the deepwater seaport project or sustainable development of the Satun Geopark to meet global standards?” he said.

So far owners of 6,598 houses had returned from vacation and taken back charge of their houses from the police. He said the number of participating houses this Songkran was a 40.8 per cent increase, or 2,421 houses more than those that participated in the scheme last Songkran.

Chalermkiat also reported that the 191 Patrol and Special Operation Division had received 6,489 emergency calls in Bangkok during April 11-17 – a majority (5,196 calls) of them were complaints or crime report. The number of calls made in the other 76 provinces were being gathered as of press time, he added.

The police smartphone application “Police I lert U” was downloaded 29,576 times during April 4-15, bringing the total app download to 354,566 times, he said although only 134 users actually alerted police of emergency/crimes using the app.

During April 11-17, a total of 213 crimes to life or bodily injury took place and suspects were apprehended in 125 cases. Of these crimes, 100 cases were about physical assault and 72 suspects were apprehended for 47 such physical assault cases, while there were nine murder cases. In all these cases police had already arrested the suspects, he added. A total of 422 crimes targeting assets took place – in 227 cases police nabbed the suspects.

Most road carnage this Songkran stemmed from drink-driving (40 per cent) and speeding (26 per cent) and 80 per cent of accidents involved motorcycles and 65 per cent took place on straight roads, Deputy Interior Minister Suthee Makboon told the media.

During the seven-day monitoring period for Songkran (April 11-17), Nakhon Ratchasima, the “gateway to the northeast”, reported the highest accumulated death toll (20) while the northern province of Chiang Mai had the highest total injuries (142) and crashes (133), he said. Only four provinces of Ranong, Samut Songkhram, Nong Khai and Nong Bua Lamphu reported no road accident deaths during Songkran, he added.

On Tuesday, the last day of the crash-monitoring period, 307 accidents took place killing 26 people and wounding 336 others and with speeding blamed for 28 per cent of accidents, drink-driving for 26 per cent and suddenly cutting in front of other vehicle for 19 per cent. On Tuesday, officers manning 2,029 checkpoints nationwide arrested 146,589 motorists, most of whom were motorcyclists and their passengers not wearing crash helmets (39,572 cases) and those not in possession of their driver’s licence (37,779).

The NCPO and related authorities, from April 11-17, had identified 490,512 cases of drunk driving (280,631 motorcyclists and 208,881 motorists), down 38 per cent from the previous year, she said.

As many violators were slapped with fines and their driving licences confiscated, the officers also resorted to impounding 16,288 vehicles (11,768 motorcycles and 4,520 cars/trucks) from such drunk drivers. During the previous Songkran, 8,128 vehicles were impounded, she said.

Officials had initially tried to pass off the man’s severe leg injury as being a gash from sharp rocks, but Jatuporn Buruphat, deputy director general of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, acknowledged at a press conference at Bangkok Hua Hin Hospital on Wednesday morning that the wound was caused by a shark, most likely a bull shark.

The story changed after the abbot of Wat Tham Khao Tao released video showing four sharks swimming off the beach near his temple. The abbot warned that if no action was taken, someone could be killed.

Jatuporn said a marine veterinarian had visited the hospital to inspect the tourist’s injury along with Dr Thassapol Krachangmala, a shark expert from his department.

The hospital’s deputy director, Dr Pongsak Boonleephan, told them the wound was caused by a toothed marine creature. Photos indicated the animal was a shark, most likely a bull shark.

Prachuap Khiri Khan’s deputy governor promptly dispatched officials to watch over the beach and erect signs warning people not to swim out further than 20 metres.

Officials also spoke to the abbot who recorded the video of lurking sharks.

Jatuporn said camera drones operated from an Army base in Hua Hin spotted two sharks, each 1.5 metres long, swimming near the same beach.

On Tuesday, the Royal Gazette published a directive of the Agriculture Ministry with details on the quality of plara.

The directive was issued based on Article 5, 15 and 16 of the act on agricultural products’ quality standards of 2008. The directive was issued by the agriculture minister following a meeting of the committee on the quality standards of agricultural products on January 8.

The directive says that plara fermented fish must be properly mixed with water and must not be too dry or too dissolved. It adds the fish meat must be soft and skin must be intact. The smell of the fermented fish must be good, without emitting a foul or fishy odour.

The directive says the amount of salt used for fermenting must not be higher than 18 per cent of the weight of the fish. The fish must be hygienic without insects and worms and other contamination.

Use of colours and preservative chemicals are prohibited.

Plara is widely used by northeastern people to add flavour and taste to their dishes. It is often used in somtam or crushed papaya salad in Isaan style. In the past, Isaan households made their own plara but of late it has become a big business.

Nakhon Ratchasima, the “Gateway to the Northeast”, had the highest death toll (19) and Chiang Mai had both the highest total injuries (136 people) and crashes (126), the Road Safety Centre announced yesterday.

The total number of deaths and injuries in 3,418 road accidents from April 11 to 16 were slightly higher than the same period last year, when 335 people died and 3,506 were injured in 3,388 traffic accidents, the Army’s civil affairs office head Lt-General Thanes Kalapruek said.

On Monday alone, 425 accidents left 49 people dead and 464 injured. Speeding and drunk driving were the most-cited factors at 28.47 per cent and 27.29 per cent respectively, while 82 per cent of accidents involved motorcycles, he said.

Officers manning 2,031 checkpoints nationwide arrested 176,415 law-violating motorists, most of whom were motorcyclists and their passengers not wearing crash helmets (49,866 cases) and those not in possession of their driver’s licence (46,067 cases).

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and related authorities have seized a total of 13,964 vehicles (10,139 motorcycles and 3,825 cars/trucks) from drunk drivers during April 11-16, said NCPO and Army deputy spokeswoman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.

Meanwhile, Royal Thai Police deputy chief and spokesman Pol General Weerachai Songmetta said in Bangkok that from April 11 to 16, police had arrested 231,334 motorcyclists for failing to wear crash helmets and 21,829 drunk drivers – the latter number was 5,301 more than during the same period last Songkran.

Noting there were generally less crimes during Songkran in comparison with previous years, Weerachai also reported that 8,213 houses nationwide had joined the police Songkran vacation home-watch scheme – a 43.7 per cent increase, or 2,489 houses – compared to 5,715 homes during the last Songkran. None of those houses were victims of theft.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said the high fatality and casualty rate during Songkran, despite officers’ hard work to implement road safety measures, was because of ignorance among the Thai public.

“Many accidents stemmed from drunk driving even while the authorities were implementing strict measures, including arrests and vehicle seizure. This shows that strict law enforcement must go hand in hand with creating public awareness. The media should also cooperate and provide the channel/stage for state agencies to talk about this,” he said.

One of the four suspects sought by Malaysia – Awae Wae-Eya – is a Thai national living in Narathiwat.

“We have been monitoring the cells for the last few months. We are asking the public to share with us any information they have on the whereabouts of these four suspects. They should approach the police if they know anything,” Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told The Straits Times.

Malaysian intelligence sources say they believe Awae is the group’s mastermind, based on interrogation of six men arrested recently, and that he is trying to establish an IS cell in southern Thailand.

Militants have orchestrated violence in the predominantly Muslim southern region since early 2004, claiming more than 7,000 lives since then.

Authorities in Bangkok have consistently maintained that the situation in the deep South was purely an internal affair of Thailand and no international terrorists were involved.

Prayut yesterday said that he expected the newly created safety zone to bring about “more trust among all parties”, following the ongoing peace process.

“If people, despite differences, are honest and do not create any incidents, then officers will not use force. Incidents of clashes and violence will consequently drop,” Prayut said at his weekly press briefing.

“But I don’t know if any group outside the dialogue would create any scene [in the area]. We won’t be able to control that much,” he added. “So what’s important is that we need cooperation from all sides, especially in the designated areas.”

Thailand’s negotiating team, led by Aksara Kerdphol, has been pursuing dialogue with MARA Patani, an umbrella organisation of six insurgent groups in Thailand’s three southernmost border provinces.

Thailand has said the safety zone will be set up by this month, beginning with Joh I Rong district in Narathiwat, one of the violence hotspots.

MARA Patani began talks with the Thai government three years ago but the dialogue has progressed at a snail’s pace, as the umbrella organisation does not have control over combatants on the ground.

An observer described Thailand’s engagement with MARA Patani as “just buying time” until the leadership of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the one group that controls virtually all the militants, decides to join the peace process.

Malaysia, as a facilitator of the peace talks, tried to make a deal with BRN leaders that their militants would not sabotage the safety-zone initiative, according to a source close to the peace process.

There was a rift within agencies as the 4th Army Region Commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich initiated 14 safe zones, which was rejected by MARA Patani last month.

Piyawat has claimed success with his “Bring People Home” project, which aims to facilitate the return of former militants to normal lives as well as those fleeing overseas, but MARA Patani has refused to recognise it.

Although the rumour has yet to be confirmed, the Marine and Coastal Resources Department will dispatch officers, in a bid to allay people’s fears.

Reports of the shark attack have gone viral on social media since Sunday, when photos were posted showing the tourist being carried out of the water having suffered multiple injuries to one of his feet.

The incident was said to have taken place at Sai Noi beach, in southern Hua Hin, with the unnamed foreigner being rushed to hospital for treatment.

Many people suspected that the man was attacked by a shark as his injuries appeared to clearly be bite marks but others questioned it and said the injuries could have been caused by sharp rocks on the sea bed.

Hua Hin Mayor Nopporn Wutthikul said the injured man was a tourist from Norway and was still being treated at Bangkok Hospital in the resort town.

However, it was not been possible to state conclusively what had caused his injuries.

“Even though we currently cannot confirm the rumour of a shark attack, as a precaution I have ordered the officers from all related agencies to warn tourists and closely monitor for any dangers in the sea,” Nopporn said.

“Also, I would like to ask tourists to avoid swimming in deep areas or in the sea beyond 20 metres from the coast.”

Sopol Thongdee, deputy director of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, yesterday revealed that his office and other relevant agencies would send a team today to investigate the report and look for evidence of sharks in the area.

Sopol stressed that even though they were still unable to confirm that the tourist was really bitten by the shark and there had been no confirmed shark attacks in the Gulf of Thailand for many years, the department was concerned about the matter, so he had ordered the team of experts to find out whether there were dangerous sharks in the seas around Hua Hin.

He said the team would also meet with local fishermen to ask if they had sighted sharks in the area and would seek an in-depth report about marine life in the area.

Meanwhile, Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a lecturer from the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, said there had been no sightings of dangerous shark species, such as the great white shark or tiger shark, in Thai waters and the sharks seen in another video clip, claimed to have been taken from Hua Hin, were actually juvenile bull sharks, which were harmless.

“There has been no fatal attack by a shark in Thailand for many decades and most of the shark attacks were bites at the feet by small sharks because it mistook our feet for small fish,” Thon said.

He added that sharks were a vital part of the marine ecosystem and said that the threat of a shark attack in Thailand was very small by international standards, so people should not be alarmed.