Rice farmers will receive subsidies of Bt500 per rai, up to a maximum Bt10,000, on December 1 this year, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) said on Thursday.
The measure was approved by the Cabinet during its mobile meeting in Phuket on November 3. More than 4.5 million farmers applied for the subsidy.
“According to the Department of Agriculture Extension information, 4,576,586 rice farmers with 60,817,850.83 rai of cultivated areas registered for benefits under the measure,” the bank said.
Rice farmers can check their subsidy transfer status at the website chongkho.inbaac.com by using their ID card number.
Army chief Narongphan Jitkaewtae has denied that the military hired a private company to spread pro-government propaganda through hundreds of Twitter accounts. He was responding to a leak of documents that apparently show details of the contract between the Army and the company.
On October 8, Twitter announced it had removed 926 accounts that had concealed links to the Army. Members of the opposition said they had already been collecting information on the Army’s information operation (“IO”) activities. Pannika Wanich, former spokeswoman for the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, said they planned to sue the Army for “using tax money to cause divisions and hatred among Thais”.
Meanwhile, the Army chief refused to say whether martial law would be imposed if ongoing pro-democracy protests escalate.
Human-rights lawyer and protest leader Arnon Nampa said in a Facebook post on Thursday morning that two summonses have been issued against him over the alleged violation of the lese majeste law.
One summons was issued by Bangkok’s Chanasongkram Police Station for Arnon allegedly violating Article 112 (lese majeste law) when he participated in the September 19-20 rally in Sanam Luang. The second summons was issued by the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) for participating in the November 8 rally near Democracy Monument.
Arnon, who is scheduled to visit Chanasongkram Police Station and TCSD on November 30 and December 2, respectively, said he is not bothered by the charges.
Apart from Arnon, other prominent activists, namely Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, Patsaravalee “Mind” Tanakitvibulpon, Juthathip Sirikhan, Piyarat Jongthep, Thatthep Ruangprapaikijseree, Atthaphol Buaphat, Chukiat Saengwong and Sombat Thongyoi, also reportedly face summons over the alleged violation of Article 112.
Article 112 of the Criminal Code states that “whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the heir-apparent or the regent, will be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years”.
The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) has announced that eight provinces in the South of Thailand may suffer severe flooding and landslides between Thursday and Sunday.
The Northeast monsoon is expected to cross the Gulf of Thailand along with a depression from the South China Sea and will hit eight provinces in the South with heavy rain.
The provinces to be affected are Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Trang, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
ONWR has called on all relevant agencies to strictly monitor the situation and urge residents to move to higher ground.
Water management systems will be adjusted likewise, ONWR said, adding that levels in small sources will be maintained at 95 per cent to avoid an effect on reservoirs.
The Ratsadon group’s “duck” currency violates the Currency Act BE 2501 (1958) and Criminal Code, Srisuwan Janya, an activist and secretary-general of the Society for Defence of the Thai Constitution, said on Thursday.
He explained that pro-democracy protesters under the group handed out 3,000 duck banknotes for use in about 10 stores during the protest at Siam Commercial Bank headquarters on Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek Road on Wednesday.
Srisuwan also said the banknotes feature a picture of the Democracy Monument, fried meatballs, a white pigeon, Ratsadon’s 2020 coup memorial plaque and inflatable rubber ducks with a value equal to Bt10.
He said persons who produce, deliver, use or receive the duck currency face a jail sentence of up to three years or up to Bt50,000 in fine or both under Section 9 of the Currency Act BE 2501, which says that “no person should make, issue, use or put into circulation any material or token for money except by authority of the Finance Minister”.
“Besides, they would be punished under Section 240 and 244 of the Criminal Code,” Srisuwan said.
Section 240 of the Criminal Code says that “whoever counterfeits currency, irrespective of whether to make as a coin, banknote or any other that is used or authorised to be used by the government or to counterfeit government bonds or interest coupons attached to such bonds, such a person is said to commit the offence of counterfeiting currency and shall be punished with life imprisonment or 10 to 20 years imprisonment and fined Bt200,000 to Bt400,000”.
Section 244 says that “whoever possesses anything obtained by him, which he knows to be counterfeited according to Section 240 or altered according to Section 241, shall be punished with imprisonment of 1 to 15 years and fined Bt20,000 to Bt300,000”.
“Therefore, police officers can take legal action against protesters and stores for using such currency,” Srisuwan added.
Meanwhile, Phaholyothin police have threatened to charge protesters with lese majeste and violating the Currency Act for using mocked-up currency carrying a picture of a duck wearing a crown at Wednesday’s rally.
The lese majeste law (Section 112) carries prison terms of three to 15 years.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a Kao Klai (Move Forward) Party MP, has called out the government for its double standards in dealing with different groups of people and accused it of worsening the situation by launching “lawfare” against those fighting for democracy.
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had announced that “all laws and all articles” will be used against protesters. Protest leaders have since been charged with violating the draconian lese majeste law, which carries a 15-year jail sentence.
Wiroj said the government is applying violence and stringent measures against peaceful protesters claiming they do not follow the law.
He also said intelligence reports say that some people had been recruited to spark conflicts between two sides, and slammed the government for not accepting the fact that its existence is the cause of the problem.
The Kao Klai Party is calling on the government to truly follow international standards and drop this lawfare against protesters, adding that its double standards will only exacerbate the situation.
Wiroj said the party wants to understand the government’s method of dealing with the protesters, adding that its main goal is not to inspect the government because people in the country have already inspected and judged them.
After the anti-establishment protesters ended their rally outside
Siam Commercial Bank headquarters at 9.17pm on Wednesday, about an hour later an explosion occurred and gunshots were heard near the rally site. Erawan Emergency Medical Centre reported at 11.10pm that a man had been shot and was rushed to hospital.
A so-called animal lover in Krabi decided to kill two pet dogs out of pity for them and for his old mother.
Watchdog Thailand filed a police report on Wednesday saying a witness claimed two dogs had been shot dead by a man living in Tubprik sub-district of Krabi’s Muang district.
When police arrived at the man’s house, they began negotiating for entry, for fear he may turn the gun on them. However, the man, identified as 39-year-old Surasak Kongduang, put up no resistance and allowed the police to enter freely.
Inside police found three guns and a bow, but they had all been registered legally.
Surasak admitted that he killed the dogs – a Pomeranian and a local breed – and had buried them within his home’s compound. He said both were shot in the head on the same day and inside his house.
The man explained that he and his wife had quarrelled a few days ago, after which she walked out, leaving the dogs for his mother to look after.
Surasak said he felt sorry for his old mother because she had to take care of the dogs for his wife. Besides, he said, one dog was lame and the other was ill, so he felt sorry for them too, which is why he decided to end their suffering.
He was charged with animal abuse and for firing his gun without good reason.
Piyarat thanks supporters, Parit voices concern about country
NationalNov 26. 2020Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep, Left, Parit “Penguin”Chiwarak , Right
By The Nation
Two pro-democracy protest leaders, Parit “Penguin”Chiwarak and Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep, gave statements to their supporters after facing police charges.
Piyarat, a member of the WeVo security team, wrote a letter to his supporters prior to his arrest on Tuesday saying, “Thank you for your support and care. I have already planned everything for WeVo and without me they can keep moving because our soul and ideology is bonded and immutable to any person or symbol.”
Meanwhile, Ratsadon leader Parit said on his Facebook page that he faced two lese-majesty charges due to his speeches on September 19-20 and November 14.
He explained that he was not concerned about the charges but he was worried that “our country will degenerate because of such laws”.
Narongphan Jitkaewtae 
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn 
Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep, Left, Parit “Penguin”Chiwarak , Right 
