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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020786

Death toll in Nong Bua Lamphu shooting rampage rises to 36

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

The death toll in the deadly shooting spree, allegedly by a sacked policeman, in the Northeast province of Nong Bua Lamphu rose in the afternoon to 36.

As of 3pm, the Royal Thai Police said that the killing spree at the Uthai Sawan Tambon Administrative Organisation and its nursery in Na Klang district had gone up to 36, which included 24 children.

The Royal Thai Police said six men, six women, 21 boys and three girls were killed, allegedly by Panya Khamrab, 34, a former police corporal of the Na Wang Police Station in the province’s Na Wang district. The death toll included Panay, his wife and son. He allegedly killed his family and then himself after the shooting spree.

The Royal Thai Police said 12 people were injured.

[read earlier report here]

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020784

Stop sharing pictures, clips of shooting-spree victims, police spokesman pleads

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

The Royal Thai Police spokesman issued a plea for netizens to stop sharing photos and video clips on social media of victims of a horrifying shooting spree in Nong Bua Lamphu.

Spokesman Pol Maj-General Achayon Kraithong said the Royal Thai Police felt sorry for the loss of lives and injuries after a sacked policeman went on the rampage, allegedly gunning down 32 people including 23 children before turning the gun on himself. He reportedly did not spare even his wife and young daughter in the shooting spree in Na Klong district.

[Here’s the report of the shooting spree:]

Achayon said no one would like to see such violence.

“Please understand the feelings of the families of people affected by the incident,” the spokesman pleaded.

“Such violence always leads to grudges, sadness, fear and worry by people in the area and others who have been informed. Sharing the pictures of violence will not help society in any way but affect the mental health of the public.”

Achayon added that the pictures of the violence would put added tension on the locals, while sharing such photos and video clips would violate personal rights and affect the morality of the families.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020780

Fired policeman ‘guns down’ 32 people, including 23 children in Nong Bua Lamphu

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

A former policeman went on a shooting spree in a tambon administration organisation (TAO) and a nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu province in Northeast Thailand on Thursday afternoon before killing his family and himself. Police said 23 of the 32 people gunned down were children.

The Nong Bua Lamphu Police head office alerted local reporters that the shooting spree took place at around 1pm.

The alleged killer, Panya Khamrab, 34, was a former police corporal at Na Wang Police Station in the province’s Na Wang district. He was recently fired from duty for allegedly abusing drug.

Police said Panya entered the office of the Uthai Sawan TAO in Na Klong district and started shooting indiscriminately before he entered the nursery of the TAO and continued shooting.

Initially, police reported 24 people were killed but later raised the death toll to 32.

Police had issued a warning to the public to beware of a dangerous gunman fleeing in a white pickup truck.

Police who were in pursuit of the suspect found the pickup had been completely burned near his house. When police entered the house, they found Panya’s wife and young son had been killed and Panya is suspected of also turning the gun on himself.

Police Commissioner-General Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapha flew to the crime scene in a helicopter to oversee the investigation.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020782

Rayong tourism businesses demand over THB240m from SRPC for Jan oil spill

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

Tourism businesses in Rayong sued Star Petroleum Refining (SRPC) for more than 240 million baht, saying the oil pipe leak incident in January had greatly affected business.

Fourteen hotel and restaurant operators, accompanied by a lawyer, visited the Rayong Provincial Court on Wednesday to file a case seeking compensation of 240,864,541 baht from the SRPC due to the incident.

The group said the spill on January 28 significantly affected their operations along beaches in Rayong and Koh Samet.

Moreover, it occurred during the high season, so they lost the opportunity to generate income as tourists abruptly cancelled their travel plans.

The group also claimed that SRPC ignored the effect and damages of the leak as the company had claimed the businesses were out of the area of the spill, but in reality the incident widely affected tourism in Rayong.

Therefore, they believe the SRPC has been irresponsible and they had failed to get justice through compensation, so they had no option but to team up to seek fair compensation.

The court accepted the case and scheduled a mediation appointment for November 10.

Previously, the provincial administration had set up a committee to accept applications for compensation. Almost 7,000 people applied, while the SRPC reportedly negotiated with only some of them for a part of the compensation.

Besides the 14 tourism businesses, around 1,000 street vendors also gathered on Tuesday after the SRPC “disqualified” them from getting any compensation.

Almost a year has gone since the spill but the SRPC is yet to provide the exact amount of oil that leaked.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020777

Singer-actor Pakin hit by tide of criticism for planned Mekong charity swim event

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

Singer-actor Pakin “Tono” Kamwilaisak came under rapid fire from netizens due to his controversial “One Man & The River” charity project.

The hashtag #Tono became a trending topic on Twitter with more than 100,000 tweets as of Thursday afternoon.

Pakin plans a grand swim across the Mekong River from Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom province to Laos’ Khammouane province and then back again – a total distance of 15 kilometres.

The swim, scheduled for October 22, is aimed at raising funds to buy medical equipment for two provincial hospitals on both sides of the river.

On Thursday, however, netizens took to social media to voice their concerns that Pakin’s project is reckless, especially during a season of heavy rains and rising tides in the Mekong. “Swimming across the river would be dangerous to himself and local officials, who have to supervise the event,” one netizen commented. “There are many better ways to raise funds for hospitals that do not involve this kind of risk.”

He will only end up increasing the workload for the doctors and nurses, another netizen said.

Others, meanwhile, questioned the Public Health Ministry as to how a Nakhon Phanom hospital had become so underfunded that it needed to raise funds through a celebrity event, while yet others urged an inspection of the budget distribution.

In an interview, Pakin said he visited the hospital earlier and was told by the doctors there that it lacked the necessary equipment to treat an overwhelming number of patients.

He added that if the weather or river conditions became too risky, he would call off the ambitious swim.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020774

British CEO of shuttered company arrested for allegedly defrauding Thai investors of THB40m

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECSD) on Thursday arrested the British chief executive officer of a closed-down company for allegedly defrauding Thai investors of 40 million baht.

Mark Edward Kirkham, 57, was arrested on his arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport from Singapore.

The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court had issued a warrant for Kirkham’s arrest after a group of Thai investors filed a complaint against him with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which in turn filed a complaint with the ECSD.

According to the complaint filed by the SEC, Kirkham, who was the CEO of PFS International Consultant Co Ltd, previously known as Barkley Spencer International Co Ltd, invited Thai investors to invest in his firm’s foreign fund with a promise of 7-11 per cent yields.

But the Thai investors could not withdraw their money when the deposits reached their due date, allegedly causing damage of over 40 million baht. The company later shut down.

The SEC said that PFS International Consultant and Kirkham did not seek permission from the SEC to operate a securities firm, so the SEC has accused the two of violating the law.

Kirkham was charged with violating the SEC law for running a securities company without permission. He denied all charges and was handed over to ESCD subdivision 3 for prosecution.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020772

Health Ministry to start vaccinating babies, toddlers against Covid next week

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

The Public Health Ministry will start administering anti-Covid vaccines to babies aged six months and all children up to four years old next Wednesday, its permanent secretary said on Thursday.

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will chair a ceremony on Wednesday to inoculate this youngest group.

Disease Control Department (DCD) director-general Dr Tharet Krutnairawiwong said the ministry had so far administered 143 million doses of Covid vaccines to children aged five years and above as well as adults.

To cover all of the population, the ministry had decided to administer vaccines to the youngest group who have not being inoculated.

Tharet said this group would be given red-cap Pfizer vaccines suitable for kids aged six months to four years old.

The first lot of Pfizer vaccines for young kids will arrive on Friday and the Medical Sciences Department will randomly check the vaccines’ quality before they are distributed to provincial health offices, he said.

According to earlier registrations by parents, the ministry expects about 300,000 kids to be vaccinated, Tharet added.

Sopon Iamsirithaworn, director of the CDC’s General Communicable Diseases Bureau, said children from six months to four years old are the only group that has not being vaccinated against Covid so far.

During the height of the Omicron spread, kids in this group had a rate of illness and death three times higher than older children, Sopon said.

The youngest group would be administered three shots with intervals. Each would be a 0.2-millilitre dose. The first and second jabs will be given one month apart, while the third will be administered two months after the second, he said.

The ministry has been monitoring the side effects of mRNA Covid vaccines since last year and found that the chances of recipients developing myocarditis were very low, Sopon said.

He noted that in foreign countries, the rate of young kids developing myocarditis was much lower than that of older children.

Meanwhile, the chance of the kids developing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, was also very low as it was found in only one per million abroad, Sopon added.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020762

Flood situation will not be as severe as in 2011, Chadchart assures Bangkokians

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has assured Bangkok’s residents that although the capital will face a two-pronged battle of rising sea tides and floodwaters from upstream Friday to Sunday, the situation will not be as severe as in 2011.

Chadchart gave the assurance while he and his deputy, Wisanu Subsompon, inspected a community on the Chao Phraya River bank in Dusit district on Wednesday night.

His team was accompanied by the director of the district office on a visit to the Wat Thewa Ratkunchorn community, which is located outside the boundary of flood levees.

About 45 of 100 houses in the community have been flooded after heavy rains and a rise in the level of Bangkok’s main river.

Chadchart made the visit after the community chief urged the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to build a levee to protect the community from the overflowing river.

The governor told reporters there were three types of communities on the Chao Phraya’s banks that are being affected by the overflowing river.

One is 16 communities located outside flood levees, with Wat Thewa Ratkunchorn residents being among them.

The other type is situated around 24 spots with no embankments due to certain reasons. The areas that lack the levees stretch to a distance of 3.2 kilometres. Officials have used sandbags to build temporary levees, Chadchart said.

The third type is situated at old levees which leak. Officials have installed pumps to drain water that is seeping in. They will fix the leaking embankments in the long run, Chadchart promised.

He said the BMA would closely monitor the water situation from Friday to Sunday, when the sea tide will rise and waters released from Pasak Jolasid Dam and Chao Phraya Dam enter Bangkok.

The Chao Phraya is able to handle a flow at the speed of 3,500 cubic metres per second without bursting the flood levees, the governor said.

He noted that in 2011, floodwaters streamed through the Chao Phraya at a speed of 4,500 cubic metres per second.

“The situation is not as serious as in 2011. It is far less severe,” Chadchart assured reporters. “We know our weak points and I believe we can survive it. There are only some communities that may suffer from a little flooding.”

He made it clear that it was not easy to expand the flood levees from the current boundary because it would require a lot of money, so the BMA was considering other measures to help communities at risk.

The BMA “will have time” to be prepared to handle the situation because it is closely monitoring the water flow rate at Bang Sai Station I Ayutthaya, Chadchart said, adding that he could not tell whether the situation would be aggravated by additional rains or not.

“I can’t say whether there will be more rains or not as the world’s climate has changed a lot. Anyway, cold winds have started. Without rains, we’ll focus on coping with floodwaters from upstream provinces,” the governor said.

He and senior BMA officials will on Thursday discuss how to use lessons learned this year to be prepared for coping with the flood/rain situation next year.

“We will make preparations by acquiring water pumps and dredging canals. Most of all, we’ll draft a clear-cut operation plan. We can do it if we have more time to make preparations,” Chadchart added.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020757

Thailand government urged to take long-term plans against severe flood

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

Heavy seasonal rains have already impacted at least 45,000 households in nearly half of Thailand’s provinces. Expert is urging the government to take swift actions and consider long-term plans to deal with the severe flood.

The Thai capital Bangkok and central areas are bracing for heavy flooding this week. Flood waters have turned districts in Ayutthaya province into islands. And rescue workers have received many calls for help.

“If more than five minutes pass, the chance of survival is zero percent. It happens often but we don’t want them to occur at all. For people who live along the river, cases of drowning are high, especially for kids that live with the elderly or kids whose parents go to work. It occurs in a split second,” said Somsak Taweepornmongkol, rescue volunteer of Putthaisawan Foundation Ayutthaya.

Flooding is devastating on so many levels. In a house six people live in, all crammed into their tiny second story. Affected by the flood, parents and kids have suspended all of their work and study as they can’t go to office and school personally.

“My dream is to elevate the house so my parents and my kids can live comfortably. But it might not happen so we will have to live like this. We just have to tolerate living like this,” said Yaowadee Kraiperm, a local resident.

Like a brick resting on top of a cake, Bangkok sits on marshland, becoming spongy and soft. Materials including steel, concrete and humanity are sinking this city into the Earth, around two centimeters per year.

Expert calls on the government to take long-term plans to deal with such terrible situation.

“Climate change is exacerbating the intensity of flooding events in Thailand. It will get more severe. We must have long-term plans. The warning signs have been there since 2011, but we haven’t thought of solutions,” said Thanawat Jarupongsakul, president of Thailand Global Warming Academy.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40020753

Thailand-Laos railway project steams ahead, operations to start in mid-2023

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2022

THE NATION

The Thailand-Laos rail project linking the China-Laos railway is on track, with services expected to commence in mid-2023 and both countries agreeing that Thanaleng station in Vientiane’s Hadxayfong district will be an international one, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) said on Wednesday.

During the latest meeting last month with representatives from the Lao National Railway Authority, the neighbouring nation agreed to send train operators, maintenance staff and related officials for training in Thailand, the SRT said.

The training is expected to be completed by December, after which both countries will discuss train operations and fees, as well as other related issues. The discussions are expected to wrap up before the scheduled opening date in mid-2023.

The project will see the railway linking Nong Khai province to the Laotian capital of Vientiane, where it will connect the China-Laos railway that runs to Kunming. This stretch went into operation in December last year.

The Thailand-Laos-China railway will be a boon for tourists and cross-border trade among the three countries.

Under the first phase, the Thailand-Laos rail line will sport four stations – Na Tha and Nong Khai in Thailand along with Thanaleng and Vientiane Khamsavath in Laos.

Train operations commence in mid-2023 with four return trips per day. The route will also run pass the Thanaleng Dry Port and a container yard.

In the second phase starting from 2024, the SRT will extend the route to Udon Thani and Nakhon Ratchasima stations, with two trains running daily from Nakhon Ratchasima to Vientiane Khamsavath and back.

The last phase, from 2025, will see the route further extended to Bang Sue Grand Station, with two return trips per day between Bangkok and Vientiane Khamsavath.

THE NATION