India’s famous festival of lights, Diwali, will be celebrated in Bangkok’s Pahurat area from October 21 to 23 this year.
The Diwali Festival 2022 is being jointly organised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and related agencies, like the Indian Association of Thailand and Destination Siam.
Bangkok deputy governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said the festival aims to shed light on Indian culture as well as attract more Indian tourists to Thailand.
He pointed out that Thailand has never marked any Indian festivals, adding that only Chinese New Year, Christmas and Songkran are celebrated in the capital.
Sanon Wangsrangboon
“This is a good opportunity to organise a major Indian festival in Bangkok for a change,” he said, adding that the fest also aims to promote Pahurat or “little India” among tourists.
Sanon said that Diwali celebrations will also mark 75 years of diplomatic ties between India and Thailand.
Diwali, also known as Deepawali, is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. The festival usually lasts five days and falls between mid-October and mid-November based on the Hindu lunisolar calendar.
The festival is particularly associated with the Hindu goddess of prosperity Lakshmi and marks the beginning of the fiscal year in India.
On August 22, 2022, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, by Department of Groundwater Resources, in collaboration with Groundwater Development Fund, hosted the “1st THAILAND INTERNATIONAL GROUNDWATER SYMPOSIUM: KEY TO WATER SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY”.
The event will be held in Bangkok from August 22-24 at the Ballroom, Amari Watergate Hotel, followed by a study trip in Kanchanaburi province on August 25-26, in order to discuss and share knowledge, experiences, research findings including innovations and technology on groundwater issues, as well as to emphasize the significance of groundwater on the international stages.
HE. Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, presided over the opening ceremony.
During the “1st THAILAND INTERNATIONAL GROUNDWATER SYMPOSIUM: KEY TO WATER SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY”, the international academic symposium on groundwater is organized in Thailand for the first time, with presence of experts from more than 23 countries around the world, such as:
• Mr. Péter Kovács, Head of River Basin Management and Water Protection Department, Ministry of Interior, Hungary.
• Dr. Peter Dillion, Head of CSIRO Australian Research Teams.
• Prof. Dr. Makoto Taniguchi, Deputy Director-General of Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan.
• Prof. Dr. Kyoung-Woong Kim, Director of International Environmental Research Institute (IERI), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.
• Dr. Jim LaMoreaux, Chairman of PELA GeoEnvironmental, IAH US National Chapter.
This event marks an important occasion for the gathering of experts in the field of groundwater and includes the executives of the Department of Groundwater Resources, the executives of associated departments, academic work presenters, and more than 350 people interested in attending the event.
Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said during the opening ceremony: “On behalf of the Thai government and Thai people, it is our great pleasure to welcome you all to this international symposium. I believe that you are already aware that water is essential to our lives. Even though water is a renewable resource, it is also a limited resource, and we can still face water shortages in the future. A technical data has revealed that there is an abundance of groundwater throughout different regions of the world, and compared to the surface water, its volume is up to 30 times more. It will bring great benefits if we can develop groundwater sources to provide clean water that can be used in consumption or for industries.
“This academic symposium on groundwater is a fantastic opportunity for all of us to exchange ideas, knowledge, and experiences regarding groundwater management. By doing so, it will lead us to collaboration for a wiser use and further conservation of groundwater, as well as making the benefits of groundwater to become more visible by the public.”
Mr. Sakda Vicheansil, Director-General of the Department of Groundwater Resources, said “The Department of Groundwater Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, as an official agency with the main mission of managing groundwater resources, realizes the benefits of upcoming developments and therefore organizes the 1st International Groundwater Symposium on the topic of Groundwater: The Key to Security and Sustainability.
“The objectives are to promote the academic progress on groundwater in Thailand through learning and sharing of experiences, research findings, and technological innovations, in order to raise the quality of the research to international level. In addition, we aim to build relationships between academic networks in Thailand and both national and international networks of other groundwater organizations, to lead to cooperation in integrated groundwater management and elevate groundwater management to meet the international standards.”
The symposium includes 2 activities:
1. The academic seminars on the topic ‘Key to Water Security and Sustainability’; featuring oral and poster presentations on August 22-24, at Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok.
2. Study trip on the topic ‘Key to Water Security and Sustainability’, on August 25-26, in Kanchanaburi province.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt visited the Hydro-Informatics Institute (HII) on Monday to seek advice on preventing floods in the capital and agreed to improve the flow of Bangkok canals.
Joining Chadchart in the visit to HII chairman Dr Royol Chitradon were deputy governor Wissanu Subsomphon, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) inspector-general Surat Charoenchaisakul and Asa Sukkhang, director of BMA’s Drainage Information Division.
The two sides discussed cooperation in water management and flood prevention efforts. They also discussed how the information provided by HII’s National Hydroinformatics Data Centre and its Hydrogence platform can be used to analyse potential flooding.
The BMA executives also learned how data and advice from HII had helped Nakhon Si Thammarat tackle floods and water shortages.
The two sides also agreed to jointly create a development model for the capital.
During the discussion, Royol warned Chadchart that there will be lots of rain next month, which will coincide with upstream runoffs, so the BMA should be ready to mitigate the impact of possible flooding.
Royol said the BMA team was shown a development model for Bangkok canals, which showed broken bridges being dropped to the bottom after the canals are dredged. He said this action and the raising of fish to get rid of waterweeds will improve water quality.
Chadchart said he had turned to Royol for advice because he is a leading expert on water resource management. Also, he said, HII has a wealth of data collected from more than 50 other government agencies.
The governor said BMA will use HII data to develop the city’s 2,000-kilometre canal network, which will speed up the flood drainage.
Besides, he said, improving existing canals will cost less than building new drainage tunnels.
Chadchart said the BMA and HII will initially try out the development model on specific canals. He added that Royol has also advised the BMA to hand the job of managing canals to district offices, so the development work can speed up.
The governor said Royol has also advised the BMA to increase more green spaces to cool down the capital. The expert noted that rain amount is often high in Bangkok because its skyscrapers create a heat trap and do not allow the storms to just pass through.
A laundromat in Chiang Mai shared a CCTV clip of two teenage boys stepping into washing machines for the sake of social media content.
The laundromat “Shiba Inu Wash&Dry” posted four CCTV clips on its Facebook page on Monday with the caption: “This behaviour was not nice. Our property was damaged and our store is not anybody’s place to create content.”
The laundromat’s owner said he checked CCTV footage when he realised that two washing machines were broken, and the CCTV showed two teenage boys had come into the shop at around dawn on Monday.
The boys took turns in filming each other getting into washing machines. Both were heard gleefully describing the adventure in the clip.
The owner posted the CCTV content on Facebook and demanded that the teens take responsibility for their actions because two washing machines had to be repaired after the incident. He said this action was taken to prevent a repeat of such behaviour.
The owner also warned that the washing machines are industrial types and that such pranks can result in death if the washing machine is turned on.
The owner later informed the reporter that he has removed the clips after the two boys apologised and paid for damages.
Minority shareholders of True Corporation (True) are suing the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) for causing a delay in the merger of two telecom giants.
The lawyer Phetai Wattanasiri said on Monday that the shareholders also want compensation for losing the chance of purchasing the shares of Citrine Global Co Ltd and Citrine Venture SG Pte Ltd under the True and Total Access Communication (Dtac) merger deal.
He added that other people affected by NBTC’s move can also become part of this class-action lawsuit.
“As of March 14, more than 80,000 True minority shareholders have suffered over 160 billion baht in damages due to a delay in the merger deal consideration,” he said.
Phetai Wattanasiri
He also claimed that no progress has been made after True and Dtac submitted a merger request to NBTC on January 25, even though the commission can set up specific measures for the merger.
He added that nine companies have submitted merger requests to NBTC between 2019 and 2021.
“This proves that people can file class-action lawsuits against government agencies if these agencies cause them damage,” he said.
He said that other victims can call him at (096) 061 7563, so he can add their names to the list before it is submitted to the court.
Thailand’s second monkeypox patient has recovered and was discharged from Bangkok’s Vajira Hospital on Monday.
Hospital director Chakrawut Maneerit said the 47-year-old Thai man, who was diagnosed with monkeypox on July 28, has recovered fully and did not put anyone else at risk.
The patient was treated in isolation and under international standards, the hospital said.
The patient, who was the first monkeypox case in the capital, was admitted to the hospital after developing a fever, muscle main and rashes.
It is believed he was infected after engaging in physical contact with a European man.
So far, five monkeypox cases have been discovered in Thailand, including a 27-year-old Nigerian man and a 25-year-old German man in Phuket, and two Thai women aged 22 and 25 in Bangkok.
The Nigerian man, who was the first to be diagnosed in the country, skipped across the border to Cambodia on July 20, where he was arrested before being admitted to the hospital for treatment.
The National Water Command Centre has warned people living on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok to beware of rising water levels from Wednesday to next Monday.
The centre said on Monday that rising sea levels will increase the river’s level at Samut Prakan’s Chulachomklao Fort and nearby areas from 5pm to 8.30pm during this period.
In addition to this, there is rain in the upper and eastern parts of the river.
Meanwhile, water is flowing at the speed of 1,500 to 1,800 cubic metres per second through the Chao Phraya Dam and 400-500 cubic metres per second through the Rama VI Dam.
The centre expects the river’s level from Wednesday to next Monday to be around 1.9 to 2.2 metres higher than sea level. This increase is expected to affect riverside communities in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan.
The centre has also called on related agencies to take the following steps:
Monitor the situation closely, inspect flood protection structures and provide updates to people living in risky areas
Prepare tools to help people and take action to ease the situation immediately
Monitor rising sea levels during this period and adjust the water-management plan for reservoirs, dams and floodgates.
Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) under Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host the “2022 TICA Scholarships” event and launch a new website http://www.tica-scholarships.com on Saturday (August 27) from 13.30-15.00 hrs. (GMT+7).
The event will also be live streamed via this website.
The ministry said the new website is created as a useful source of information on scholarships and training awards offered by TICA, as well as on Thailand’s international development cooperation through human resource development cooperation by sharing its knowledge and experiences with other developing countries to support their sustainable development.
At the event, the current TICA scholarship awardees will share their experiences in Thailand. The participants will also enjoy enchanting Thai cultural performances and win special prizes from TICA.
TICA is offering participants the opportunity to register in advance for the conference through this link https://metag.pro/tica/.
For more information, please e-mail to aitc@mfa.go.th or tipp@mfa.go.th.
Nation Group CEO Shine Bunnag congratulated NationTV for winning two Mani Mekhala awards this year – one each in the “best news channel” and “best news show” categories.
The event, organised annually by the Association Reporter of Entertainment Thailand, was held on Saturday at Bangkok’s Show DC department store.
“As group CEO, I’m honoured and rejoice that NationTV has received these prestigious awards,” Shine said. “In its 52 years of operation, Nation Group has always been committed to its ideology of ethics and responsibility to society. We aim to present news impartially, monitor corruption and take care of national and public interests.
“These awards are like gifts and offer moral support to all employees of Nation Group to continue their duty for the sake of the country and society. Even though the path of true journalists will never be filled with rose petals and they will always have pressure from all sides,” he added.
The Mani Mekhala award ceremony has been held yearly since 1980 to encourage staff in the entertainment and mass media business to continue producing top-notch work.
NationTV, Thailand’s first 24-hour news channel, was launched 22 years ago and prides itself in providing high-quality, unbiased reports to the general public.
This year has also been promising for Nation Group business-wise, as the company recorded profits of 519.73 million baht in the first six months, compared with a loss of 99.87 million baht in the same period last year.
The Engineering Institute of Thailand has been told to check the shophouses at the top of Sukhumvit Soi 101/1 to find out why they are tilting at an alarming angle.
Photos of a row of the tilting shophouses were posted on Facebook on Sunday by Bangkokian Patai Padungtin sparking concern that the buildings could collapse at any time.
“Initial investigation showed no cracks in the buildings, though we believe there may be a problem with the foundation,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Monday. “The city has therefore asked the institute, an impartial party, to find the cause, any structural weaknesses, whether the tilting of the buildings has stopped as well as estimate the danger to the public.”
The governor added that this is a serious issue as it involves the safety of residents and passers-by, while insisting that Bangkok officials will work with related parties to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.
The governor admitted that he did not visit this neighbourhood often, and thanked people for alerting the city to the problem via social media and the Traffy Fondue application.
On Monday, he also tasked deputy governor Wissanu Subsomphon to personally notify the families living in the buildings about the investigation by engineers and ease their safety concerns.
Weerawit Triprasitthiphol, chief of Phra Khanong district’s civil engineering division, said the row of shophouses had been checked by the Thai Asset Management Corporation in 2017, which concluded that the tilting has stopped and posed no danger to surrounding buildings. Meanwhile, residents in the area have only ever lodged complaints about water drainage, never about the tilting, he said.
Sanon Wangsrangboon
During the discussion, Royol warned Chadchart that there will be lots of rain next month, which will coincide with upstream runoffs, so the BMA should be ready to mitigate the impact of possible flooding.
Chadchart said he had turned to Royol for advice because he is a leading expert on water resource management. Also, he said, HII has a wealth of data collected from more than 50 other government agencies.
Chadchart said the BMA and HII will initially try out the development model on specific canals. He added that Royol has also advised the BMA to hand the job of managing canals to district offices, so the development work can speed up.
Phetai Wattanasiri
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