STUDENTS WHO are the next best performers will be offered seats given up by higher-education institutes’ most successful candidates, the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) decided yesterday.

The move was confirmed at the CUPT meeting yesterday, which was urgently called to respond to an outcry from thousands of students.

During the past few days, students have vented their frustration via the Internet because they feel the Thai University Central Admission System (TCAS) has unfairly deprived them of opportunities to get into their favourite higher-education programme.

The outcry grew after the results of the TCAS third round showed the smartest students had been offered four seats for four different programmes while many good students got no offers.

Solution after outcry

“The CUPT has now presented a solution. After highly successful candidates pick one of their choices, the empty seats will be given to the next best candidates,” Coordinating Centre for the Public Higher Education Staff (CHES) secretary-general Assoc Prof Weerachai Phutdhawong said.

Used for the first time this year, the TCAS features five rounds and each one has different criteria. The first two rounds have already taken place without problems. But the third round, which is now ongoing, has drawn intense criticism.

The third round gives every candidate the right to choose up to four higher-education programmes. The scores of the candidate in exams held jointly by the TCAS-participating universities then determine whether they can get a seat for those programmes.

Given that many top-scorers get offers from more than one of their chosen programmes, the TCAS will require them to make just one choice by June 3.

Had the CUPT stuck to the initial plan, the TCAS would have then immediately proceeded to the fourth round irrespective of how many seats were given up by highly successful candidates.

However, because of the outcry from many students, the CUPT has now resolved to add the 3/2 round.

“After the successful candidates choose their programme by June 3, we will check the empty seats and allocate them to the next best candidates,” the CUPT said.

Weerachai said the 3/2 round was the solution reached at yesterday’s CUPT meeting.

CUPT secretary-general Prasert Kanthamanon said students joining the 3/2 round need not do anything for now.

“Universities will handle everything.

“Seats given up by successful candidates from the previous round will go to next-best candidates in the 3/2 round,” he said.

On June 5, the 3/2 round will show who are the successful candidates.

Over the following two days, successful candidates from the 3/2 round then will have to choose the programme in which they want to enrol in the event that they get more than one offer.

Of the 19 suspects in this mega-fraud case, four failed to show up at yesterday’s scheduled reading of the top court’s verdict, which was postponed for the second time.

The four suspects who were absent were: Roy-isaraporn Chutapha, director of the Gateway Development Co; Charlee Chutapha, director of Klong Dan Marine Co; Chayanat Osathanugrah, director of Klong Dan Marine Co; and Wattana Asavahem, a former deputy interior minister who fled the country in 2009 while the case was still in the Court of Appeals.

Dating back to the mid-1990s, all 19 suspects were charged with conspiring to cheat the state by using land plots totalling 1,900 rai in Samut Prakan province for construction of a massive waste-water treatment facility under a fraudulent contract signed with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The other suspects include Vichitphun Construction Co, Pitsanu Chavanun, Prayoonvit Kanchang Co, Sangworn Lipatapanlop, Sisaeng Yotha Co, Siroj Wongsirojkul, Krungthon Engineering Co, and Niphon Kosaipholkul. A daughter of Siroj told the court that her father was in hospital due to a heart condition so the court was requested to postpone the reading of its verdict to a new date.

Previously, Wattana, the former deputy interior minister, was sentenced to a 10-year jail term for abuse of authority while in office with regard to the issuing of illegal land documents to facilitate the Klong Dan waste water treatment project.

Previously known as Phra Phromsitti (Thongchai Sukhayano), the former abbot had absconded for nearly one week before he contacted police.

“He claims he did not report himself to police earlier because he wanted to mark the Visakha Bucha Day,” an informed source said yesterday.

Visakha Bucha celebrated the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha on Tuesday.

A police source revealed that the monk’s surrender took place after the Crimes Suppression Division (CSD) circulated a letter instructing immigration officials to detain three people close to the former abbot on sight.

According to the source, the CSD believes the trio – which includes a Laotian – might have helped the former abbot elude police last week.

On May 24, Phra Phromsitti was the only monk from Sa Ket Temple to elude capture during the police raid. The other monk who is on the run, Phra Phrommedhi (Chamnong Dhammajari), is the abbot of Samphanthawongsaram Temple. As of press time, the whereabouts of Phra Phrommedhi is still unknown.

Five other monks implicated in the same scandal were arrested, denied bail and defrocked that day.

The National Buddhism Office has accused several senior monks of embezzling state funds for temples. The Sangha Supreme Council (SSC) – the country’s highest body for monastic affairs – dismissed Phra Phromsitti, Phra Phrommedhi and Sam Phraya Temple abbot Phra Phromdilok (Euan Hasadhammo) as |its members last week.

Yesterday, the Royal Gazette promulgated the King’s royal command to strip the monks of their monastic ranks. Under this royal command, the four other implicated monks also lost their monastic titles.

Even though the former abbot of Sa Ket Temple has already lost his monastic rank and left monkhood, he is still revered by many people. A number of his followers gathered at the CSD yesterday to support him. The former Phra Phromsitti surrendered at Sa Ket Temple.

Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak headed the team to the monastery to take the monk into custody. The monk was brought to the CSD where he was interrogated for three hours. He was expressionless as he left the CSD.

Police asked for permission from the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases to detain him at a prison.

The court granted the permission and decided to not grant bail to Phra Phromsitti.

His lawyer had brought Bt1 million in cash for his bail plea.

Phra Phromsitti, 62, was ordained in 1976 and had been in monkhood until his defrockment yesterday.

At the height of his monastic days, he was not just the abbot of Sa Ket Temple but also held several other important monastic positions.

He was an SSC member, the chief of the Monastic Region 10, and the chairman of Dhammaduta Office.

Following his defrockment, Phra Phromsitti is now known only as Thongchai Sukho.

A source said Thongchai plans to hold a press conference on the allegations against him in the near future.

The ongoing police investigation suggested that Thongchai must have played a role in illegitimately funnelling more than Bt79 million from the Sa Ket Temple in recent years.

Some of the money reportedly went to a company that existed only on paper and was controlled by a woman who was close to a senior monk at the Sa Ket Temple.

OVERNIGHT STAYS will no longer be allowed in the Mu Ko Similan Marine National Park off Phang Nga province starting from October, while the number of visitors to its pristine islands will also be limited as part of efforts to protect the fragile marine ecosystem from tourism and pollution.

Deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Chongklai Voraphongston, revealed yesterday that the national park was suffering problems caused by tourist overcrowding and environmental impacts of visitors’ activities. He said the department had decided to take strong measures to tackle these problems by not allowing visitors to stay overnight on the islands, starting from the opening of the tourism season on October 15.

Mu Ko Similan suffers among the most serious overcrowding of any Thai national park, with some 5,000 to 6,000 visiting its Andaman Sea island chain each day to enjoy the famous scenery and colourful and diverse coral reefs.

According to department statistics, since the start of the current fiscal year in October 2017 the national park has welcomed 883,436 visitors, making it the third-busiest marine national park behind Had Nopparat Thara-Phi Phi Island National Park (1.3 million) and Ao Phang-Nga Marine National Park (1.1 million).

Chongklai said the park is the first to take the bold step of forbidding tourists from staying overnight on the islands. He said if the measure were successful in reducing tourist congestion as well as the environmental impact, the DNP would enforce it at other marine national parks, too.

“By allowing tourists to stay overnight on the islands, which have a fragile ecosystem like Mu Ko Similan, the islands’ ecosystem and natural resources unavoidably suffer from serious environmental impacts,” he said. “This is because providing accommodation and facilities for tourists to stay generates pollution in many forms, including consumption of electricity and freshwater, which pollutes the air and water.”

The longer the period tourists stay on the islands, the more garbage and wastewater they generate, which is very hard to manage on small remote islands like Similan Islands, he added.

There are 35 bungalows and two camping grounds, consisting of 40 tents, for tourists on the islands, which can accommodate up to 190 tourists per night. All the accommodation for the tourists is operated by the national park.

“We will not just stop at overnight stays on the islands, we are also planning to cap the number of visitors to ensure the islands will not receive more tourists than their capacity, as overcrowding harms the environment and the ecosystem of the national park,” Chongklai said.

“The department’s team of experts is now studying the appropriate number of visitors per day for Mu Ko Similan, in order to set a limit.”

He said the DNP would produce a clear plan to control the number of tourists around the time of the national park’s reopening on October 15.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a member of the national reform committee and leading marine biologist, praised the DNP’s move as brave, and said this policy aligns with the marine national park reform plan under the national strategy.

“At ordinary tourist attractions, overnight stay does not have a huge impact on the area, but offshore islands have a far more fragile ecosystem and the consequences and pollution from tourism activities will have more serious damaging effects,” Thon said.

Complimenting the policy, he said forbidding overnight stays would not only relieve stress caused by prolonged excessive tourism, but would also serve as an example for preserving Thailand’s rich marine ecosystem with sustainable tourism.

The trend is about running while collecting litter. “Plogging” is coined from “jogging” and the Swedish term plocka upp, which means “to pick up”.

Last week, the Blue Carbon Society (BCS) promoted plogging in Thailand by mobilising hundreds of volunteers to collect trash on Samut Prakan’s Bang Kachao, an artificial island formed by a bend in the Chao Phraya River.

Participants came to the event titled “Blue Plogging” with plastic trash bags and water bottles to avoid creating waste.

They scooped up trash along the running route and received a medal for their good deeds when they reached the finish line.

Bang Kachao is an island in Samut Prakan’s Phra Pradaeng district. Formed by a bend in the Chao Phraya River and a canal, the island is often described as “Bangkok’s green lung” for its mangrove forests and rich biological diversity. The area was picked by Time magazine in 2006 as Asia’s “Best Urban Oasis”.

But Bang Kachao has suffered increasingly from garbage accumulation since the Bang Nam Phueng floating market became a famous tourist spot. Litter left on the island each day has risen has nearly doubled to 8,000 kilograms from around 4,500kg in 2004.

A study by the Bang Kachao Sub-district Administrative Organisation found that plastic bags made up a major portion of this rubbish (40 per cent), followed by organic waste (26 per cent), recyclable items such as glass bottles and milk cartons (24 per cent), general garbage (8 per cent), and toxic waste (2 per cent).

BCS staged the “Blue Plogging” event in collaboration with DT Group of Companies and Shellhut Entertainment to clean up litter and highlight how rubbish – especially plastic items – can damage coastal and marine ecosystems.

Established by Dr Jwanwat and Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp earlier this year, BCS is a non-profit association dedicated to pushing for action to protect and restore ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass meadows and salt marshes.

“Imagine that one person can collect 2kg of trash in half a day … If 60 million Thais rolled up their sleeves and start plogging together, then 120 million kg of trash would be eliminated,” Jwanwat said.

He said “Blue Plogging” was in line with BSC strategies to protect the seas and conserving biological diversity of marine and coastal ecosystems.

“Rescuing these marine creatures from plastic debris ensures the balance of marine ecosystems and their function as a ‘blue carbon’ sink,” Thippaporn said.

“Police have already started action against some suspects. So the NACC has resolved that the police should go ahead with the case to ensure continuous, fast flow of work and efficiency,” NACC secretary-general Warawit Sukboon said on Wednesday.

He said the NACC would officially inform National Police Commissioner Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda of its resolution.

Senior monks, including Sa Ket Temple’s abbot Phra Phromsitti (Thongchai Sukhayano) and Samphanthawongsaram Temple abbot Phra Phrommedhi (Chamnong Dhammajari), have already lost all their monastic status in the wake of the police action.

Phra Phromsitti, who surrendered on Wednesday morning, was defrocked too.

Also implicated in the cases are two former directors of the National Buddhism Office (NBO), Phanom Sornsilp and Nopparat Benjawatananan.

The NACC will meet on Wednesday to discuss the third batch of temple-related corruption cases.

NACC secretary-general Warawit Sukboon revealed on Tuesday that fellow anti-graft commissioner Surasak Keereevichien, who chairs a subcommittee investigating the cases, had presented the matter as an urgent priority.

Warawit declined to comment on whether the NACC would also be discussing the corruption cases involving senior monks, such as Thongchai and Chamnong.

The two senior monks were dismissed from the Sangha Supreme Council last Thursday over allegations that they embezzled state funds for temples and promotions.

The monk, who was wanted in connection with a case of corruption and had been on the run for nearly one week, contacted police and offered to surrender.

Last Thursday, police had raided his temple in search of several monks, including Phra Phromsitti, amid allegations of embezzlement of state funds meant for temples.

Phra Phromsitti was the only monk from Sa Ket Temple who managed to elude capture during the raid.

The Sangha Supreme Council, the country’s highest body for monastic affairs, dismissed Phra Phromsitti as its member last Thursday. He has also lost all monastic ranks following the King’s command.

Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak headed the team that went on Wednesday to Sa Ket Temple to arrest the monk.

As of press time, he was sent to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases after police sought his detention for investigation into his alleged wrongdoing.