The penalty for putting it in a product will be a jail term of 5-20 years and a fine of Bt500,000-Bt2 million, while those manufacturing, importing or exporting sibutramine-laced products for commercial gain will face a jail term of 7-20 years and a fine of Bt700,000-Bt2 million.

Sale of sibutramine products to the public will attract a jail term of 4-20 years and/or a fine of Bt400,000-Bt2 million. Criminal charges could be brought in cases of death by sibutramine poisoning.

The chemical’s previous status as a dangerous drug came with punishment of two years in prison and/or up to Bt20,000 in fine for violators.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s proposal to upgrade sibutramine was approved by the Psychotropic Substances Committee yesterday, said deputy permanent secretary for public health Dr Thares Karasnairaviwong. The FDA would pass the decision on to the Public Health Minister for signing by July.

Earlier this year, police and FDA officials cracked down on food supplement products that allegedly contained sibutramine – including Lyn weight-loss pills that police alleged had led to the deaths of four users. One of those victims was a 31-year-old Kanchanaburi woman whose March 28 death was confirmed by autopsy last month as stemming from sibutramine poisoning.

FDA deputy chief Dr Surachoke Tangwiwat said the agency didn’t allow the use of sibutramine in any medicinal formula, hence such status upgrading would not affect any medicine. The Psychotropic Substances Committee also assigned legal experts to study the feasibility of punishing those who added medicine to food supplement products under the Medicine Act 1968, which would yield harsher punishments than the Food Act 1979 that is currently applied in such cases.

The monk has been charged with illegal association for his role in the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protests and the unauthorised use of the initials of the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit in amulets.

Phra Buddha Isara has denied the charges.

The Criminal Court rejected his bail request out of concerns that he might tamper with evidence. By monastic rules, Phra Buddha Isara had to disrobe because he was being sent to jail.

Policemen were armed during the operation to arrest the monk amid reports that some of the security guards at Onoi Temple had guns.

Police have pressed the illegal-association charge against Phra Buddha Isara as he allegedly mobilised some demonstrators to attack two special-branch policemen and snatched their guns during the PDRC rally in 2014. The PDRC was trying to oust the Yingluck Shinawatra-led government.

Born in 1956, Phra Buddha Isara first entered monkhood at the age of 20 at a temple in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district. He later left monkhood to enter military service.

However, in 1983, he again attended the ordination ceremony.

In 1989, he established the Onoi Temple on a donated plot of land in Tambon Huai Khwang, Kamphaeng Saen district, Nakhon Pathom province. Six years later, he was named its abbot. In 1999, he was appointed the monastic chief of Tambon Huai Kwang. The appointment generated some controversy regarding the number of his years in monkhood. So Phra Buddha Isara gave up the post.

Between 2013 and 2014, he joined the PDRC rallies. In 2016, he petitioned the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to seize the assets of Phra Dhammachayo, the controversial then-abbot of Dhammakaya Temple.

The monk has been charged with illegal association for his role in the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protests and the unauthorised use of the initials of the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit in amulets.

Phra Buddha Isara has denied the charges.The Criminal Court rejected his bail request out of concerns that he might tamper with evidence.

By monastic rules, Phra Buddha Isara had to disrobe because he was detained in jail.

“Customers that have a Sladda bicycle are urged to stop using it and to return it to any Ikea store for a full refund,” read Ikea Thailand company in its online statement.

The company has sold some 6,000 Sladda bicycles for a starting price of 500 euros ($585) in 26 countries since launch in August 2016 — with about a third sold in Sweden.

IKEA has been informed and advised by a well-established component supplier to recall the SLADDA bicycle, due to safety issues with the drive belt.

The drive belt can suddenly snap, which in turn can lead to falls. For this reason IKEA precautionary recalls all SLADDA bicycles and urges customers to stop using the bike. IKEA has received eleven reports of such incidents, with two minor injuries. “No incidents of injury reported in Thailand,” according to the statement.

SLADDA bicycle has been awarded a “Red dot award” for its design and has been sold in 26 markets since sales start, August 2016.

We are proud of the beauty of SLADDA and the intentions to create a sustainable urban transportation solution. We also know that many IKEA customers love their SLADDA bike, but for IKEA safety always comes first.

Accessories specifically designed to fit with SLADDA; front rack and rear rack will also be refunded to any IKEA stores or Pick up and order point for a full refund.

“According to the Revenue department of Thailand (tax office), a receipt number should be stated in the credit note when issuing a refund, so we would appreciate if you can present the receipt.”

In case of no receipt, we will have to return in the form of an IKEA gift card. For more information, please visit http://www.IKEA.co.th or contact IKEA Customer Relations at +66 2 708 7999

Nine agencies involved in studying rice collaborated on the conference themes focused on strengthening the rice sector in Thailand, by improving productivity and processing from upstream to downstream to add value to the nation’s foremost crop and its position as the world’s foremost rice trader.

Presenters from government and private agencies discussed their research and shared new knowledge, joined by specialists in local communities throughout the Kingdom, said Agriculture Minister Krisada Boonraj.

The Agricultural Research Development Agency (ARDA) was this year’s major conference host, and its director, Phanpimol Chanyanuwat explained the agricultural research funding agency’s role, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives – improving the quality of life of farmers, especially Thai rice farmers, through earning a stable income.

The agency was ready to work with research agencies, and other agencies, to create knowledge, enhance Thai rice competitiveness through technology and innovation, while also helping Thai farmers reduce production cost, and ensure quality production, she added.

Thai farmers should not only be able to sell their paddy rice or milled rice, but also process rice into other high value-added products and create more effective distribution channels for farmers, Phanpimol said.

Farmers should be able to grow rice without destroying the environment, so that producers and consumers have high quality lives, while also helping Thailand maintain its position as the world’s major exporter of sustainably harvested rice, she added.

The May 23-24 conference also featured two major exhibitions at a hotel in the government complex, in Chaengwattana, Bangkok. The first exhibition honoured the Royal Institute to commemorate the resolutions of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

The second exhibition featured the nine allied agencies under the major theme of presenting research and innovation on rice. It highlighted research that was consistent with goals of national development.

The Online Travel Agent (OTA) system is the root of the problem, said Udom Srimahachota, vice-president of the Thai Hotels Association. Only 197 hotels in Hua Hin have proper licences while some OTA websites have posted 699 Hua Hin hotels for people to book daily-rented accommodation, said Udom.

Authorities should require the OTA post the hotels’ licence numbers in their ads, so that consumers could feel confident of the facilities’ safety standards, said Udom. His group has urged Tourist Police Bureau deputy chief Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn to crack down on illegal hotels in Hua Hin to prevent problems for tourists.

Following a May 15 complaint from provincial administrators accusing 10 hotels of forging state-issued documents, using the forged papers and illegally operating hotel businesses, the hotels have continued operating.

As bureaucratic red tape has posed a challenge in quickly shuttering the hotels, Panlop said he has set up a committee to look for a way to close them. He said the authorities had not issued licences as the hotels have claimed and was confident the investigation would bring the truth to light.

“Hua Hin Municipality and Tambon Hin Lek Fai Administrative Organisation can order a ban for hotels to use these buildings, if the buildings were modified illegally or used for purposes other than for personal residences as stated in the building permits,” Panlop said.

He conceded that this has been a longstanding issue in the province.

Panlop said he instructed all municipalities and tambon administrative organisations to check on buildings in their jurisdictions to discover if any had been turned into a hotel without proper permission, and to suspend such building use pending an investigation.

A source said the province’s fact-finding panel had reported to the Interior Ministry about 10 hotels that used fake hotel licences with forged signature of a deputy provincial governor who had retired in 2015, resulting in a serious disciplinary probe against four accused officials.

The four unnamed persons, who served at Hua Hin during 2014-2015, also faced a police complaint over charges related to state-document forgery. Those officials are a former district chief officer who now serves in another province, a district clerk, a former district chief officer in charge of administrative affairs who now serves at the Anti-Money Laundering Office and a district office typist – the latter of whom had implicated the others.

Reached by phone, Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt-General Sutthipong Wongpin said there was no indication the abbot had left the country, but his office would place him on a blacklist if shown the arrest warrant.

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) commander Pol Maj General Maitree Chimcherd, who led the temple raid, said 10 bank passbooks belonging to Phra Phromsitti had been found, the accounts containing a combined Bt132 million.

He said that money had been frozen on the orders of the Anti-Money Laundering Office secretary-general.

Police had determined that the abbot was at the temple on Wednesday and officers were stationed at all entrances, Maitree said, but on Thursday they discovered another exit near the monks’ residences that afforded stealthy access to main road.

“I’m not worried about [the abbot’s disappearance],” he said. “No matter where he goes, we will find and arrest him eventually.”

Police also removed a computer and documents regarding the temple budget from Phra Phromsitti’s residence and arrested three of four civilians accused of aiding in the embezzlement.

Also arrested were two monks wanted in the case, whose names were not released.

Police were meanwhile guarding assistant abbot Phra Wijitdhammaporn, who is undergoing treatment at Samitivej Hospital.

The Wat Saket operation coincided with police raids at Wat Sam Phraya and Wat Samphanthawong in Bangkok and Wat Omnoi in Nakhon Pathom.

Phra Promdilok, abbot of Wat Sam Phraya and Bangkok monastic chief, and Phra Buddhaisara, abbot of Wat Omnoi, were taken to CSD headquarters for questioning.

All of the senior monks are suspects in the embezzlement of state funds meant for dharma schools, an affair exposed last year with the discovery that senior officials of the National Buddhism Office (NBO) might have embezzled funds.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission has indicted several officials, including former NBO chief Phanom Sornsilp and Pranom Kongpikul, its former deputy director.

Phattarawadee Klomcharoon, chairwoman of the association of BMTA bus concessionaires, said the association has sent a letter to Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, seeking the fare increase.

She said operators of non-air-conditioned buses want to increase the flat rate fare from Bt9 to Bt13.

The operators of blue air-conditioned buses want to increase the distance-based fare from the starting price of Bt12 and maximum of Bt24 to Bt16 and Bt28 respectively.

And the yellow bus operators want to increase the distance-based fare from Bt13-Bt25 to Bt17-Bt29.

The association chairwoman said there about 4,000 concession buses in Bangkok whose operators have been shouldering the rising cost of oil prices and gas as the Transport Ministry has not approved any fare increase for four years.

She said the ministry should allow the buses to adjust fares based on the current oil and gas prices as they have for shuttle passenger boat operations.