The plight of Sanruethai Wansiri, 41, of Udon Thani, was publicised on Facebook by user “Edd Zafeero Sriyotha”, who posted photos of her lying in bed.

She reportedly fell into a coma after a dental operation and has been on a respiratory system in intensive care since May 17 at great expense.

Chak Samutklin, a provincial labour official, visited her 68-year-old mother, Suwanmalai Wansiri, in Kudjab district. She purportedly said her daughter entered South Korea on a tourist visa and had since been working illegally.

She said she heard the news from her daughter’s South Korean boss.

“Wansiri’s husband is a taxi driver in Bangkok and they have two children, aged 11 and nine. She sent some money back home to help me pay the debts from her flight to Korea,” her mother said.

Suwanmalai expressed her sadness that her daughter was sick overseas and she could not visit.

Chak said he would ask his superiors to see if help could be provided.

“Everybody who wants to work in South Korea should go through the Labour Ministry’s project so that if they fall sick, their expenses can be covered,” he added.

Citing an intent to create market diversity, the ministry recently issued new criteria for the school-milk scheme, which now welcomes anyone to supply 1,300 tonnes of milk per day for schools.

The Milk Board has also joined dairy cooperatives to object to the new approach.

The group, led by Dairy Cooperatives Federation of Thailand executives Nairit Jamlay, Subin Pom-o-cha and Winna Srisongkhram, voiced their opposition yesterday, saying previous governments had applied fair criteria to the scheme, leaving no unsold leftovers. They said local dairy farmers were also allowed to export their produce to other Asean countries.

They noted that milk production was divided into three batches daily: the first batch of 1,300 tonnes went to schools, the second batch of 700 tonnes was sold commercially and the third batch of 1,400 tonnes was processed into powdered milk.

The new criteria, however, is causing problems because it allows anybody to supply for the batch meant for schools, which is resulting in some people who are either not producers or have an insufficient capacity to cover the batch by purchasing from other sources. Hence, this is adversely affecting the 30,000 dairy farmers, who now end up with 110 tonnes of surplus milk daily, which they cannot sell and are forced to dump it.

In a move to protest against this “unprecedented sabotage of dairy farmers’ stability”, the group said it will organise a milk-dumping event to raise awareness of their plight.

The Milk Board, meanwhile, has called for the ministry or authorised agency to review the controversial regulation and consider implementing three criteria:

– Allowing small cooperatives to join the school milk scheme, so pre-existing suppliers providing less than 60,000 bags of milk daily will not need to reduce their capacity;

– Prioritising the use of raw milk produced locally in order to prevent people from bringing substandard milk from elsewhere;

– Helping affected farmers as they do not have access to other markets to sell the excess raw milk.

The ministry had previously spent Bt118 million on building three temporary shelters in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen to provide housing for 698 homeless persons.

This time, the ministry along with Community Organisations Development Institute, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and nine related agencies dispatched survey teams between April 1 and May 15. The aim was to count the number of homeless persons in 60 provinces, which will be combined with a number of persons living in shelters. This data will then be analysed to formulate guidelines to sustainably improve the quality of life for the homeless.

The survey, dubbed the country’s largest census of homeless persons, reported that that were 686 people without a roof over their head in 60 provinces. It also found that homeless people usually travelled from Bangkok to other provinces by train.

Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen were previously surveyed in 2015.

A team of officials was dispatched on May 16 to conduct a survey in another 16 provinces, including Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan.

So far, 112 homeless persons have been reported in Chiang Mai, a slight increase from the previous year. Though some have died in the interim, others have arrived from the Northeast and Central region looking for jobs. The areas with the highest number of homeless persons in Chiang Mai are the Three Kings Monument, Thapae Gate and Chang Pheuk Road.

The Khon Kaen team, meanwhile, split into six smaller teams to survey 71 locations in the Nakhon Khon Kaen municipal area and found 67 homeless persons, which when combined with results from the 19 provinces in the Northeast, brings the region’s total to 512.

Suchin Aimin, president of the Homeless Association, said many factors contributed to the growing number of homeless people, namely family disputes, chronic ailments or disabilities. Most of these people make a living by scavenging garbage and selling recycled items, he said, adding that many have health issues and cannot access the healthcare system as they either don’t have Thai ID cards or have lost them.

He welcomed the attempt to conduct a census on the number of homeless persons nationwide, so they can be provided with help.

“I believe that by now, there must be 10,000 homeless people across the nation as the slump in economy has left many jobless,” he added.

The census stemmed from a Cabinet resolution on March 8, 2016 over protests by the People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move). The resolution covered three main points: allocation of Bt118 million to buy land for temporarily shelters in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen; quality of life development for the homeless; and a nationwide census to judge the actual scale of the problem so solutions can be found.

THE MOTHERS of Lahu tribesmen Abe Saemu and Chaiyaphum Pasae are suing the Royal Thai Army for Bt11 million in compensation, as their lawyer is urging the authorities to ensure justice for these Lahu families before the killings begin fostering deep conflicts between the minority group and the state.

Ratsada Manuratsada, representing the families of Abe and Chaiyaphum, went to Civil Court in Bangkok yesterday with Amema Saemu and Napoi Pasae, the mothers of two Lahu villagers slain by military officers in 2017, to file a civil lawsuit against the Army.

Ratsada said his clients have the right to seek compensation as per the Liability for Wrongful Act of Officials Act, under which official agencies have to make reparations for the wrongdoings of their officers. The Chiang Mai Provincial Court had ruled last year that Abe and Chaiyaphum had indeed been shot dead by military officers.

He pointed out that Abe and Chaiyaphum had been killed one month apart from each other and that the circumstances in both cases were very similar, in that they had both been killed after being stopped by military officers at Chiang Mai’s Dan Rinluang checkpoint.

Hence, he said, their families had decided to file this case against the Army together.

Abe’s family is seeking Bt7 million, while Chaiyaphum’s family wants Bt4 million.

“We have to take this case to court, because the acts of military officers in both cases are a clear discriminatory action and directly violates their rights,” Ratsada said.

“If the officers are truly guilty, the authorities have the responsibility of compensating for their officers’ crimes, otherwise the affected citizens will feel they are being unjustly treated by the authorities and will start distrusting the state, which will lead to more conflicts.”

He added that the case has been accepted by the Civil Court and that it will forward a copy of the case docket to the Army to notify it. He said the Army had the right to litigate on their officers’ behalf if it is confident of their innocence.

However, he said, if the officers are guilty, it will be better for everybody if the Army complied with the request and pays compensation instead of prolonging the court fight.

After filing the lawsuit, Napoi said that though nothing can compensate for her son’s life, she still hopes the Army will make reparations for their officers’ crime, so at least her family can get justice.

Amema voiced similar hopes, saying the compensation will relieve the financial sufferings of her family, as her son had been the sole breadwinner.

Meanwhile, Ratsada has also called on relevant officers to disclose the latest update on the process of filing a criminal case against the officers behind the slayings.

He also asked whether the police had already submitted the case docket with a Military Court attorney, as civilians are not allowed to file a case with the Military Court directly.

He called for the release of a CCTV recording of the incident involving Chaiyaphum at the checkpoint, which has been missing so far.

“Though the social stream is still popular rather than the science stream, Mass Communications and Education have clearly lost their appeal. The former could stem from the fact that many media companies have closed down,” Suchatvee Suwansawat, chair of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT), said yesterday. Hence, the agency will apply artificial intelligence (AI) next year to analyse why students prefer one faculty over another, he said.

Suchatvee said that there were about 200,000 vacant seats left in the TCAS 2019 after the first three rounds, so students who have not been admitted yet still have a chance.

“This is also the first time that ‘Big Data’ analysis has been applied to the Thai university admission system, showing the public clear details in department and faculty levels. It also revealed the need for Thai universities to adjust themselves to become more competitive as the available seats at universities are significantly larger than the students enrolled,” he said.

Five rounds were held this year to fill 445,364 seats in 91,340 study programmes. The first round (based on student portfolios) filled 130,140 seats in 67 institutes, the second round (based on a quota system) filled 99,033 seats, the third round (based on direct admission) is for 95,124 seats, the fourth (based on a central admission) for 91,340 seats in 70 institutes and the fifth (based on independent direct admission) for 29,727 seats. The first three rounds together attained 151,806 successful and confirmed candidates this year.

The fourth round – which took applications from May 9-19 and will announce results on May 29 – got 76,408 applications for 91,340 seats.

The fifth round – which will be open for applications from May 30 to June 10 – will still have plenty of seats for those who did not get admitted in the first four rounds, while seats are also available at many universities that did not join the TCAS process, Suchatvee said.

He said the Top 5 most popular programmes in the third round were: Department of Finance in Kasetsart University (KU)’s Business Administration Faculty (3,151 applicants vying for 30 seats), followed by Department of Marketing at the same faculty (2,723 vying for 30 seats), KU Humanities Faculty’s Department of English Language (2,620 vying for 25 seats), Thammasat’s Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economics (2,599 vying for 240 seats) and the nursing programme at Srinakharinwirot University’s Faculty of Nursing (2,179 applicants for 65 seats).

Peerapong Triyacharoen, CUPT’s assistant secretary-general, said the Top 3 most popular subjects in the fourth round were nursing at Prince of Songkhla University’s Faculty of Nursing (1,188 fighting for 96 seats), nursing at Burapha University’s Faculty of Nursing (1,128 applicants for 35 seats) and medical technology at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (1,178 applicants for 110 seats).

Police will tomorrow extradite 15 Japanese men suspected of being members of a call-centre gang, according to acting immigration police chief Lt-General Sompong Chingduang.

Sompong said the 15 suspects were arrested on March 29 at a rented house in the Siam Royal Ville housing estate in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district after the landlord reported the tenants’ suspicious activity to police.

Police found business phones, computers, documents relating to fraud victims and transcripts of phone calls.

Maj-General Archayon Kraithong, divisional commander of the Immigration Police, said officers coordinated with their Japanese counterparts and found that a Tokyo court had issued a warrant for their arrest after the gang intimidated or deceived more than 200 people in Japan into paying more than 200 million yen (Bt58 million).

Archayon said the gang would intimidate their Japanese targets, who had bought illegal software through underground websites, to buy e-money cards in Japan and transfer the funds.

The gang also forged fake arrest warrants in order to intimidate some of their victims and that if the gang learned that any of them lived alone, they would send their colleagues in Japan to rob them and, in some cases, even kill them.

Archayon said the 15 men rented the house after entering Thailand in February and March.

He said the 15 had now served jail terms for working in Thailand without a permit and had been blacklisted from re-entering the country.

Meanwhile a Chinese fugitive wanted by Interpol has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Lu Dayang, 48, was arrested on Sunday while trying to fly to Macao.

Acting Immigration Police chief Lt-General Sompong Chingduang said the Chinese Embassy informed his staff that Lu was wanted for allegedly smuggling illegal goods into China.

He said Lu entered Thailand on May 8 on a 15-day tourist visa. The bureau revoked his visa on May 17 and had officers waiting for him at Suvarnabhumi after identifying the flight he was due to leave on.

Thai national security agencies have acted tough on foreign criminals and transnational criminal network members, especially those who have disguised themselves as tourists, following the discovery last year that nearly 100,000 foreigners were overstaying their visas in Thailand and some of these were committing crimes and damaging Thailand’s image.

Immigration Police Bureau deputy chief Pol Maj-General Itthipol Itthisarnronnachai spoke on April 5 about the latest immigration crackdown at 227 locations nationwide, which netted 417 foreigners and 79 Thais allegedly involved in immigration offences.

Those raids brought the total number of locations searched to 7,366 nationwide and resulted in a total of 8,873 arrests.

The idea was to curb shortages of personnel in key areas and to support the country’s upcoming “fully-fledged ageing society” status, said a source.

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved in principle an amendment to an Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) regulation that usually requires employees to retire at 60.

A first-stage extension would allow the officials in question to continue working for an extra four years and a second extension for a further three years. The maximum extension period must not exceed 10 years or allow for people over 70 to still be working, according to the OCSC’s proposal.

The Cabinet gave its approval in principle to the amendment, meaning it might require further changes and a final approval before being implemented.

It also ordered that the amendment only apply to those fields at risk of personnel shortages and must be academic experts of Level 9-10 or be in the “senior” “special skill” officials who have served in those rare fields for at least one year.

The positions the over-60s are allowed to work in could be their old jobs or other existing positions – but their new work cannot be in new jobs that have just specially created for them, the cabinet stipulated.

Sompong said the 15 suspects were arrested on March 29 at a rented house in the Siam Royal Ville housing estate in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district after the landlord notified the police about the suspicious activity of the Japanese tenants.

Police found business phones, computers and documents about fraud victims. Phone call scripts were also found.

Maj Gen Archayon Kraithong, divisional commander of the Immigration Police, said officers coordinated with their Japanese counterparts and found the gang had intimidated or deceived over 200 victims in Japan into paying more than 200 million yen (Bt58 million). A Tokyo court issued a warrant for their arrest.

Archayon said the gang would intimidate Japanese targets, who had bought illegal software through underground websites, to buy e-money cards in Japan and transfer the funds.

The gang also made fake arrest warrants to intimidate some victims.

He said if the gang learned that victims lived alone, they would send their colleagues in Japan to rob them and, in some cases, commit murder.

Archayon said the 15 men entered Thailand in February and March and rented the house.

He said the 15 had served their jail terms for working in Thailand without a permit and had been blacklisted from re-entering the country.

Acting Immigration Police chief Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang announced the arrest of Chaisilp Mekpho, 42, and his wife, Ratanaporn Khampit, 36.

Sompong said the couple were arrested at Don Mueang International Airport on May 4.

Acting on a tipoff, police performed colonic searches and found 200 grammes of ice inside the husband and 400 grammes inside his wife.

The couple said they were hired by a Filipino woman, whose name was unknown, to deliver the drugs to Indonesia and they would only be paid after delivery.