Category Archives: The Nation

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40024438

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

Five tennis stars participated in a range of cultural activities in the resort town of Hua Hin on Saturday ahead of the upcoming 2023 Thailand Open tournament.

The activities at Bluport mall included painting eco-friendly clothing, a gallery visit, and Muay Thai lessons.

Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska joined Anna Karolína Schmiedlová from Slovakia and Katie Boulter from the United Kingdom in an event to promote environmentally friendly clothing. The three painted attire to encourage consumers to pay more attention to the environmental impact of their fashion choices.

They also visited The Gallery Hua Hin museum on the mall’s second floor.

Tamara Zidanšek from Slovenia and Japan`s Nao Hibino studied Muay Thai at The Legend Arena Hua Hin.

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

All five will participate in the 2023 Thailand Open at True Arena Hua Hin Sports Club in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. The tournament starts on January 30 and runs till February 5.

Related stories:

Tennis player wanted over fatal road accident quits Thai national team

Federer’s emotional grand finale ends in defeat

Federer to retire from the sport after next week’s Laver Cup

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

Along with giving fans the opportunity to watch live tennis matches, the tournament is also an opportunity to promote tourism in Thailand, said Suwat Liptapanlop, honorary president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand.

The tournament’s organisers are using the event to promote Thai art, culture, sport and music, Suwat said.

Hua Hin district is well-known among Muay Thai fans because Thailand’s first world boxing champion, Pone Kingpetch, was born there, he added.

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

“Celebrities, such as actors, singers or athletes, can help promote Thailand’s soft power because they have fans worldwide,” Suwat said.

He said he hoped Thailand would attract 25 million foreign visitors this year, compared to 12 million last year.

“If we promote Thailand as a host country for international events, such as sports competitions and concerts, it will help attract visitors from around the world to visit here,” Suwat said.

Tennis stars explore Thai culture ahead of tournament

Fewer smokers, surging taxes hitting Thai tobacco industry hard

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024454

Fewer smokers, surging taxes hitting Thai tobacco industry hard

Fewer smokers, surging taxes hitting Thai tobacco industry hard

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2023

The Tobacco Curers Development Association is calling on the Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TOAT) and the Finance Ministry to review the current tax structure as the dual cigarette tax rates is affecting them financially.

TOAT recently announced that it was earmarking 56.16 billion baht to provide a 50% subsidy for production to tobacco farmers and independent tobacco curers.

Arun Pothita, secretary-general of Chiang Mai’s TOAT branch and a representative of an alliance of tobacco farmers in Thailand, said farmers under contract with TOAT are aware that the agency’s earnings are also affected by the tax structure.

Since TOAT’s profits have taken a downturn, it has been buying 50 to 60% less tobacco from farmers for the past five years, which has dropped farmers’ income by 900 million baht annually. Hence, Arun said, farmers have had to depend on support from the government’s central budget.

The new tax structure has limited TOAT to just covering half of the increased production cost for tobacco farmers, while the farmers are hoping that the other half of the subsidy will be allocated from the central budget, Arun added.

“But we are not sure when the farmers will get this other half of the subsidy,” he said.

He added that over the past five years, the government has implemented dual rates to cigarette tax and increased the rate twice, resulting a dramatic surge in cigarette prices.

“There is a price competition between imported cigarettes and TOAT cigarettes. They are priced at between 66 and 70 baht per pack.”

TOAT said the sale of cigarettes has been dropping now that people are kicking the habit, which has resulted in a large stockpile of tobacco. This is also forcing TOAT to cut down on the amount it purchases from farmers.

“If the government reviewed the cigarette tax structure based on the August 2021 Cabinet resolution to not increase the tax, the TOAT would have been able to resume stable sales and profits, as well as supported farmers without interfering with or burdening the central budget,” he said.

The tobacco industry has contracted significantly since the restructuring of the tobacco excise tax in 2017, during which the dual tobacco tax rate, which includes a 10% domestic tax, was adopted.

Tobacco tax revenue collected by the government dropped from 6.8 billion baht in 2019 to 5.9 billion baht in 2022.

This brought TOAT’s profits down by more than 98%, from 9 billion baht in 2017 to about 100 million baht in 2022.

During the 20th academic conference on tobacco and its impact on national health held recently, a senior official said the Finance Ministry has been encouraging tobacco farmers to grow alternative crops to boost their earnings.

The conference covered the hazardous impact of e-cigarettes and was jointly held by the Medical Association of Thailand, the Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre (TRC) and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

Damrongsak Wan-aeloh, director of the Excise Standard and Collection Division 2, told the conference that the Finance Ministry has measures for compensating for the reduction in income for tobacco farmers due to the new tax structure, which resulted in a lower purchasing quota by the TOAT.

He said the ministry has been helping farmers and has set up a committee to launch campaigns urging tobacco farmers to switch to other plants like corn, onion or fruit.

Damrongsak said the committee also encouraged tobacco farmers to plant potatoes that can generate the same amount of money as tobacco.

“But some farmers harbour a die-hard belief that the tobacco purchase quota will return to the same as in the past, so they refuse to find alternative ways of earning income,” Damrongsak explained.

He added that tobacco was not on the list of cash crops, so the government agencies in charge of agricultural promotion often ignore tobacco farmers and do not seek funds to help them.

Damrongsak called on agencies in charge of agricultural promotion to start playing a bigger role in changing tobacco farmers’ attitude and getting them to grow other cash crops.

Conflict over battery-plant incentive ‘threatens’ Thailand’s EV competitiveness

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024451

Conflict over battery-plant incentive 'threatens' Thailand’s EV competitiveness

Conflict over battery-plant incentive ‘threatens’ Thailand’s EV competitiveness

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2023

A measure to support production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in Thailand has been delayed by a conflict between the finance and industry ministries, the EV board complained on Monday.

It said the measure – which features incentives for setting up EV battery plants – is as important in building Thailand’s EV industry as tax privileges and subsidies for EV imports.

“The measure to promote EV battery manufacturers to set up factories in Thailand should have been launched in October last year, but no progress has been made,” the EV board said.

The delay came after the Industry Ministry insisted EV battery manufacturers set up factories in Thailand before receiving support from the government.

The Finance Ministry wants the measure to be similar to other EV incentives, such as tax discounts and subsidies on importing EV batteries.

“The Finance Ministry’s idea aims to reduce the battery price and boost demand for EVs in Thailand since the battery price accounts for 50% of the whole EV,” the EV board said.

However, it said the Finance Ministry’s idea was that EV battery manufacturers who set up factories in Thailand must produce double the amount of imported batteries within two years, and three times the number within four years.

The EV board said more than 37,000 EVs were booked as of January this year.

It warned that Thailand could lose the opportunity to penetrate the EV market if the country is slower in gearing up production than rivals such as Indonesia.

Thailand’s unemployment rate drops to 1.2% as of November, statistics show

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024435

Thailand’s unemployment rate drops to 1.2% as of November, statistics show

Thailand’s unemployment rate drops to 1.2% as of November, statistics show

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

A new census conducted by the National Statistical Office shows that the number of unemployed persons in Thailand has dropped by 95,000, with 620,000 new people entering the workforce.

Traisulee Traisoranakul, deputy government spokesperson, said on Sunday that statistics show that 39.82 million Thais were gainfully employed as of November last year, up by 620,000 from October.

She said the census found that Thailand has 58.73 million nationals who are at least 15 years old, and 40.36 million are at employment age. Of them 39.82 million are employed and 460,000 are not. She said 18.37 million are outside the workforce, including housewives, students, and seniors.

According to statistics, of the 39.82 million Thais employed, 12.34 million are in the agricultural sector and 27.48 million in non-agricultural sectors, including industry, commerce and service.

The figures can be further broken down based on work hours per week:

• At least 50 hours per week: 6.67 million people (5.95 million in October)

• 35-49 hours per week: 26.90 million (26.69 million in October)

• Fewer than 35 hours per week: 6.25 million (6.53 million in October)

Traisulee said the increase in people employed for more than 35 hours a week shows that there is more employment security and income.

She added that the number of unemployed people in November dropped by 95,000 persons in October to 4.65 million in November, while the unemployment rate dropped from 1.4% to 1.2%.

Thailand’s unemployment rate drops to 1.2% as of November, statistics showShe quoted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as saying that this was a clear sign of economic recovery, especially since the rate of unemployment had dropped to 1.2%, close to the pre-pandemic level of 0.9%.

HCM City’s Chilli Thai offers spicy kick that’s hard to beat

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/lifestyle/food/40024429

HCM City’s Chilli Thai offers spicy kick that's hard to beat

HCM City’s Chilli Thai offers spicy kick that’s hard to beat

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

For someone like me who loves Thai food and good old fried pork, Chilli Thai in HCM City’s District 1 was a delightful dining experience.

I wanted to try out its branch on Ly Tu Trong Street along with a friend, who also fancies Thai. Having gone there once before, she raved about the restaurant’s delicious tom yum soup and pad thai (stir-fried rice noodle), and also couldn’t wait to try more dishes.

When we arrived at the small restaurant, we were surprised to see a crowd of people waiting outside to be seated on a Tuesday evening, not exactly a peak day. The inside was also packed with customers, always a reliable indicator of quality.

But despite the crowd, it had a laidback vibe with some unobtrusive music playing in the background, groups of diners chatting and all the traditional statues and decorations you would expect in a Thai restaurant.

The Chili Thai branch in District 1’s Ly Tu Trọng Street. – VNS Photo Viet DungThe Chili Thai branch in District 1’s Ly Tu Trọng Street. – VNS Photo Viet Dung

Chilli Thai has a variety of traditional dishes, including salads and street food, such as skewered meat and fried fish cakes. There are also “Chinatown-style” seafood dishes such as stir-fried squid and fish.

Once we ordered we did not have to wait too long to be served either (only around 15-20 minutes), which was a good thing since the menu with its colourful and mouth-watering pictures had us excited.

Our first dish was a soft-shell crab with salted egg yolk, which is rather popular. The crab, as we had expected, was delightfully soft inside and crispy on the outside and the rich, creamy salty egg yolk paired beautifully with the fried crab. While I would have personally preferred the crab to be a bit crispier, there was absolutely no reason to complain.

A plate of soft-shell crab with salted egg yolk. The creamy egg yolk pairs very well with the fried crab. – VNS Photo Viet DungA plate of soft-shell crab with salted egg yolk. The creamy egg yolk pairs very well with the fried crab. – VNS Photo Viet Dung

While we were still scooping up the remaining egg yolk, our next dish arrived: Thai-style crispy deep-fried pork belly.

The first bite is with the eye, as the saying goes, and the juicy pork belly slices fried to an irresistible golden colour along with crispy pork skin and sprinkled with sesame certainly made an impression.

It was everything we had hoped for: delightfully crispy outer layer and tender and flavourful meat with tasty fat inside, dipped in savoury Thai sauce with a hint of sweet and sour taste. We gobbled up the dish in a flash, relishing every piece.

Our final dish was “moo ping”, or grilled pork skewer, one of Thailand’s many street foods that are adored by locals and tourists alike.

The soft and tender sliced pork was marinated well to get that sweet and savoury goodness, and, much like the deep-fried pork dish, it was impossible to put down once we started eating.

One cannot go wrong with a plate of Thai-style grilled pork skewer, a popular street food. – VNS Photo Viet DungOne cannot go wrong with a plate of Thai-style grilled pork skewer, a popular street food. – VNS Photo Viet Dung

Our bill came to just 400,000 dong (US$17), a reasonable price for a filling and satisfying meal. The soft shell crab cost 190,000 dong, and the pork belly and skewer cost 130,000 and 70,000 dong, respectively.

Chilli Thai has two other branches in the city: one at Vincom Dong Khoi in District 1 and another at Vincom Mega Mall Thao Dien in Thu Duc City.

Considering the popularity of Thai food among Vietnamese, HCM City has no shortage of excellent Thai restaurants, and you certainly cannot go wrong with Chilli Thai, though you may want to consider making a reservation in advance.

Chilli Thai

93 Ly Tu Trong Street, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, HCM City

Tel: 028 3823 7727

Opening hours: 10am to 10pm

By Viet Dung

Viet Nam News

Asia News Network

After West pledges tanks, Zelenskiy says Ukraine also needs long-range missiles

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/world/europe/40024434

After West pledges tanks, Zelenskiy says Ukraine also needs long-range missiles

After West pledges tanks, Zelenskiy says Ukraine also needs long-range missiles

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said Ukraine wanted to preempt Russian attacks on Ukrainian urban areas and civilians with more firepower.

“Ukraine needs long-range missiles … to deprive the occupier of the opportunity to place its missile launchers somewhere far from the front line and destroy Ukrainian cities,” he said in an evening video address.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed the US-made ATACMS missile, which has a range of 185 miles (297km). Washington has so far declined to provide the weapon.

Ukraine has secured promises for hundreds of Western battle tanks and is seeking fighter jets to push back against Russian and pro-Moscow forces, which are slowly advancing along part of the front line.

Zelenskiy also said Kyiv would redouble its efforts to stop Russian athletes from participating in the 2024 Olympics, which will be held in Paris.

Ukraine, he said, had written to major international sports federations asking them to clarify their position on what he called the International Olympic Committee’s desire to “open up sports to the propaganda influence of the terrorist state”.

The IOC said on Wednesday (January 25) the Olympic Council of Asia had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia, giving them a qualification pathway for the 2024 Olympics. Ukraine says it could boycott the Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes take part.

Reuters

Returning workers crowd China train stations, play down Covid concerns

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/world/china/40024433

Returning workers crowd China train stations, play down Covid concerns

Returning workers crowd China train stations, play down Covid concerns

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

The railway station in China’s financial hub Shanghai was bustling with migrant workers and travellers on Sunday as they returned from their hometowns where they had spent the Lunar New Year holiday.

China abandoned its strict “zero Covid” policy in early December and many workers who had not been able to see family since the pandemic started, rushed to leave cities taking advantage of restriction-free travel.

After a week, many are returning to go back to work and concerns of a Covid-19 resurgence seem far from their minds.

“Personally I am not worried about the epidemic. I think it is over,” said Li Hongwei, who works as a welder in Shanghai.

Lunar New Year holiday trips inside China surged 74% from last year after authorities scrapped Covid-19 travel curbs, state media reported on Saturday, though the number of journeys was still only half of pre-pandemic levels.

According to official data, the number of Covid deaths a showed weekly decline, however. Between January 20-26, a week that overlapped with six days of the holiday period, China registered 6,364 Covid-linked deaths, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday, compared to 12,658 a week earlier.

Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year in China, when huge numbers of people working in prosperous coastal cities head to their hometowns and villages for family reunions.

Reuters

New Zealand roiled by flash floods, landslides for third day

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/world/asia-pacific/40024430

New Zealand roiled by flash floods, landslides for third day

New Zealand roiled by flash floods, landslides for third day

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

Heavy rainfall hit New Zealand’s north island again on Sunday, causing landslides, flash floods and knocking out roads, with the death toll rising to four after a person who had been missing was confirmed dead.

Thousands of properties remained without power, while hundreds were without water, authorities said on Sunday and some families were housed in evacuation facilities to ride out the bad weather.

Auckland, New Zealand‘s largest city of 1.6 million people, remained under a state of emergency after it experienced its wettest ever day on Friday (January 27). The nation’s weather forecaster, MetService, warned of more severe weather on Sunday and Monday for the north island. Intense rainfall could also cause surface and flash flooding, it said.

New Zealand roiled by flash floods, landslides for third day

The focus of the emergency has since moved south, with Waitomo District – located about 220 kms (137 miles) from Auckland – declaring a state of emergency late on Saturday.

Reuters

The system is ‘murdering us’ – Memphis residents protest killing of Tyre Nichols

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/world/us-canada/40024424

The system is 'murdering us' - Memphis residents protest killing of Tyre Nichols

The system is ‘murdering us’ – Memphis residents protest killing of Tyre Nichols

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

Protesters marched through Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday to demand justice for Tyre Nichols, the Black motorist who died after being beaten by police following a traffic stop on January 7th.

Nichols repeatedly cried, “Mom! Mom!” as the five Memphis police officers now charged with his murder pummeled him with kicks, punches and baton blows, a video released by the city on Friday (January 27) showed.

Protesters chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!”, “Say his name! Tyre Nichols”, and, at one point, surrounded and catcalled a police car that was monitoring the march.

Nineteen-year-old Memphis resident Trinity Williams said abuses by police made her feel unsafe in her own city.

“It’s supposed to be a system that protects us, that provides safety for us. But instead, it’s killing us, murdering us, innocent lives who just began their adulthood. So this isn’t fair,” she said. “I go around Memphis, scared, every single night, and I shouldn’t be scared.”

Protesters also hailed as a small victory the disbanding announced by the police department on Saturday of the SCORPION unit, the specialized police unit that included at least some of the Memphis officers involved in the fatal beating of Nichols.

But protest organizer Amber Sherman said that is only a first step and other, similar specialized units also need to be eliminated.

“Just by ending that unit, that’s a good move. But then you still have these same task forces that are doing that same terrorism, assaulting people, over criminalizing… the poor and low-income neighbourhoods,” she said.

The video from police body-worn cameras and a camera mounted on a utility pole were posted online a day after the officers were charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression in Nichols’ death.

The officers, all Black, were dismissed from the police department last week. Nichols, 29, was hospitalized and died of his injuries three days after the confrontation in the city where he lived with his mother and stepfather and worked at FedEx.

Towanna Murphy said Tyre Nichols’ killing has resonated with her because she has a son around the same age.

“It’s hard because I have a 29-year-old and to hear a 29-year-old call for his mama. That changes the whole narrative. He didn’t do anything,” she said, holding back tears.

The four video clips released on Friday chronicle an aggressive escalation of violence directed at a motorist who police had initially said they pulled over for reckless driving. The police chief has since said the cause for the stop has not been substantiated.

The beatings appeared to continue far beyond a point where Nichols could pose any threat to police. At one stage, two officers hold him upright as another punches him repeatedly in the face, while other officers on the scene stand by without intervening.

The ordeal captured in the video has transformed Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old, into the latest face of a US racial justice movement galvanized by the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Nichols’ death marked the latest high-profile instance of police officers accused of using excessive force in the deaths of Black people and other minorities in recent years.

President Joe Biden said he was “outraged” and “deeply pained” after watching the video.

Nichols’ family and Biden appealed for calm in Memphis, a city of 628,000 where nearly 65% of residents are Black.

Protests under the banner of the “Black Lives Matter” movement against racial injustice erupted globally following the May 2020 murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Reuters

Funeral held for married couple killed in Jerusalem synagogue shooting

Posted on by
Reply

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/world/middle-east-africa/40024423

Funeral held for married couple killed in Jerusalem synagogue shooting

Funeral held for married couple killed in Jerusalem synagogue shooting

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023

A funeral was held for an Israeli husband and wife on Saturday after they were killed in a synagogue attack in Jerusalem.

Eli, 48, and Natali Mizrahi, 45, were among seven Israelis killed by a Palestinian gunman in a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday (January 27) in an attack that heightened fears of a spiral in bloodshed, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years.

Police said the gunman arrived at around 8.15 p.m. and opened fire, hitting a number of people before he was killed by police. TV footage showed several victims lying in the road outside the synagogue being tended to by emergency workers.

Friday’s attack outside a synagogue was the deadliest in the Jerusalem area since 2008. The gunman, Khaire Alkam, was a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem. Among the dead was a 14-year-old boy, police said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting and Alkam’s father told Reuters his son had no links to militants. He struck in an area that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognised internationally.

Shimon Israel, 56, who lives nearby, said his family were starting their Sabbath dinner when they heard shooting and screaming. He opened the window and saw his neighbour running along the street to get the police.

“I told him ‘Eli, don’t go there. Eli don’t go.’ He got married only a year ago. A good neighbour, like a brother. He ran. I saw him fall there,” Israel told Reuters.

“Natali, his wife, ran after him. She saw someone here and was trying to resuscitate him. The terrorist came and shot her from behind and got her too,” he said.

According to Israeli Media, Eli and Natali were married just two years ago.

Friday’s shooting, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, was condemned by the White House and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who urged “utmost restraint”. It came days before a planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank.

Reuters