Many Samut Prakan residents were hit by flash floods early on Wednesday when sea levels rose. Chonburi province also reportedly faced the same problem.
Many vehicles were stranded under knee-high water in areas close to the Chao Phraya River.
Residents also complained that their belongings were damaged as the water rushed in too quickly. Many houses on Sukhumvit Road were also flooded.
Chonburi province suffered the same problem as many residential and commercial areas suddenly found themselves under 30-centimetres of water.
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) issued a public statement on Wednesday demanding that international, non-violent standards be used to deal with protesters.
NHRC expressed this concern after police cracked down on pro-democracy protesters on Tuesday night, attacking them with tear gas and water cannon. The water was reportedly mixed with chemicals, which injured several people.
The NHRC said this type of action is a clear violation of human rights, and called on each side to respect the others’ views, liberty and freedom.
The government was also asked to employ peaceful means to solve problems that do not put protesters’ lives at risk, and also to compensate the injured fairly.
The commission said a hunt should be launched for those who incited the violence leading to injuries on Tuesday night, while MPs should prevent tension from escalating by voting on charter amendments.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Wednesday resolved to extend the emergency decree nationwide from December 1 to January 15, 2021, in a bid to curb infections.
However, CCSA has yet to decide whether the quarantine period for those entering Thailand should be reduced from 14 days to 10 days.
Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, CCSA spokesman, said further discussion is needed and the centre should make a final decision on the matter in the next three to four weeks.
The Cabinet has agreed to amend the Criminal Code making it possible for women to terminate their pregnancy of up to 12 weeks, government deputy spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said.
This decision has been made based on recommendations offered by the Medical Council and the Royal College of Obstetricians of Thailand.
Before this, women were legally allowed to abort pregnancies of up to three months, but had to seek a doctor’s approval for foetuses any older than that.
Now, however, it has been determined that it is safe to abort foetuses of up to 12 weeks without the risk of complications or risk to life.
Meanwhile, the penalty on illegal abortions has also been reduced because the mother suffers both physical and emotional pain when undergoing an abortion.
The amended law reads as follows:
Section 301: A woman who aborts a foetus that is older than 12 weeks shall be liable to no more than six months in prison and/or a fine of Bt10,000.
The penalty for this originally was up to three years in prison and/or a fine of Bt60,000.
Section 305: The offender is not guilty if:
• The pregnancy puts the mother at risk physically or psychologically.
• The baby faces a significant risk of developing physical or mental disorder or disability.
• The woman has been impregnated due to rape.
• The mother-to-be is convinced there is no other option.
The amendments will be submitted to the Coordinating Committee of the House of Representatives before being proposed to the Parliament for urgent consideration, so it can go into effect before February 12, 2021.
A truck carrying rice landed in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Phimai district on Tuesday night because the driver was not able to see the road clearly.
Police rescued the driver from the canal and sent him to Phimai hospital for treatment.
Initial investigation showed that the truck was transporting newly harvested rice to a mill.
Even though the vehicle was dragged out of the water safely, more than one tonne of rice ended up falling into the canal. The driver has apparently made a compensation deal with the farmer.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Wednesday reported two new cases in quarantine over a 24-hour period
A 25-year-old Thai draftswoman, who returned from the United Arab Emirates on November 13, was found positive in alternative state quarantine in Bangkok the next day.
A 42-year-old Belgian accountant, who arrived on November 16 via a connecting flight from Frankfurt, Germany, and went into alternative state quarantine at a Bangkok hotel, tested positive the same day. His health history shows he had a previous infection on October 28.
Meanwhile, five patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has increased to 3,880 (921 in state quarantine). Of these, 91 are in hospital and 3,729 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains at 60.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am the number of confirmed global cases has increased to 55.93 million (rising by 546,662 in 24 hours). Of these, 38.96 million have recovered, 15.63 million are active cases (100,987 in severe condition) and 1.34 million have died (an increase of 10,502).
Thailand ranks a safe 151st for most cases in the world.
The US has the most number, with 11.69 million, followed by India (8.91 million), Brazil (5.91 million), France (2 million) and Russia (1.97 million).
Two men were found dead inside a toilet at a market in Samut Prakan’s Samrong Nuea sub-district on Tuesday night with syringes in their hands.
As the toilet was locked from inside, police investigators climbed the wall to find one man sitting on the toilet seat and another lying on the floor.
The man on the floor was holding a syringe in his left hand, while the other looked as if he were about to inject his right arm.
A sachet of illegal substance was also found near the bodies.
A cleaner called the police after she realised that the door had been closed for too long. When she got no response from knocking on the door, she peeked inside and saw the two unconscious men.
Police believe the men may have died from a drug overdose, and had been dead for more than four hours before being discovered. The bodies have been sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsy.
The petition to rewrite the charter began in August while the Ratsadon group was established in October, revealed iLaw manager Yingcheep Atchanont, while calling on MPs and senators not to be suspicious about the intention to have a “normal political system”.
Constitution amendment flaws, he said, could be fixed in a second parliamentary motion.
Yingcheep said legal terms were used to cover up the flaws. For instance, no one opposed the principles of the amendment to elect a prime minister without interference from outside powers.
He also said it would be nearly impossible to separate each point in the amendment as it would require about a million documents, so it made more sense to merge them.
Responding to some senators questioning where the problem lies with the Constitution, Yingcheep explained that the government’s reform plan under a reform panel had not succeeded.
In addition, there were 3,000 pages of principles and the National Strategy Committee, led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, was the one that interpreted them, the iLaw manager said.
He said reform requires the participation of the people and the amendment suggested that Section 16 be scrapped to see whether it actually affects government policy, or are they just afraid of change?
He said senators appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order have to quit, while new members of the Election Commission and the Constitutional Court have to be promptly selected according to Constitution Act BE 2540 to elect new senators.
The amendment does not intend to create a void, Yingcheep said, adding that he would like it to be accepted, while problems could be solved during the second motion.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai MP Wisarn Techathirawat said he supported the iLaw draft to amend the Constitution.
Wisarn said Parliament should listen to the voice of the people as 50,000 are allowed to propose a law change while about 100,000 people have already signed their names supporting the draft.
He also accused Prayut of not being sincere on Constitutional amendment as government MPs have demanded that the Constitutional Court decide whether a charter amendment is in line with the law.
Winter has brought some amazing sights to Nong Khai province such as a sea of fog over the Mekong River, which can be enjoyed from the hilltop temple Wat Pha Tak Sue’s 16-metre-long glass skywalk.
The temperature in some parts of the province had dropped to a pleasant 18 degrees Celsius, and views of the mist-covered mountains can be quite spellbinding.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has said that 3.02 million people are expected to travel around Thailand during the November 19-22 long weekend. Also, the most popular destinations will be in the North and South thanks to the cool weather.
The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has warned its customers of several fake Line accounts under the bank’s name attempting to scam customers into inputting their personal data.
“The bank is in the process of disbursing the subsidy under the government’s price guarantee scheme to rice farmers for crop year 2020/2021, which has prompted imposters to create fake Line accounts to scam the bank’s customers,” the BAAC warned.
Under the scheme, the price per tonne of rice is guaranteed at Bt15,000 for jasmine, Bt14,000 for off-season jasmine, Bt10,000 for ordinary rice, Bt11,000 for Pathum Thani rice and Bt12,000 for sticky rice.
“The bank has no policy to contact customers via Line to transfer the subsidy,” the BAAC said. “The bank’s official Line account is called ‘BAAC Family’, which is used to introduce new products and post important announcements. All response via this account will be automatic messaging and never from human staff.”
The BAAC also advised customers to look for the bank’s logo and a green shield icon in front of the name “BAAC Family” in Line’s information page, which signifies an official account.
“Also, our Line account must have more than 7 million friends and features a banner that you can click to apply for the BAAC Connect service. Falsified accounts cannot fake these,” it added.
Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin 
Yingcheep Atchanont 
