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”.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Thursday reported 16 new cases in state quarantine over a 24-hour period.
The latest cases are:
> An 11-year-old Thai female student, who returned from the United States and Hong Kong (using a connecting flight) on November 12 and went into Chon Buri state quarantine. She tested positive on November 24.
> A 43-year-old Thai male welder, who flew back from the United Arab Emirates on November 13 and entered Chon Buri state quarantine. He tested positive on November 24.
> A 44-year-old Thai male farmer, who returned from Kuwait and Qatar (connecting flight) on November 17 and went into Chon Buri state quarantine. He was found positive on November 20.
> A 48-year-old Thai male freelancer, who travelled back from Qatar on November 17 and entered Chon Buri state quarantine. He tested positive on November 20.
> A 31-year-old female freelancer, who came home from Sweden and Germany (connecting flight) on November 19 and went into hotel quarantine in Bangkok. She was found positive on November 23.
> Nine Thais – a 33-year-old woman, a 51-year-old male businessman, three masseuses (aged 42, 43 and 52), a 43-year-old female freelancer, a 43-year-old man, a 51-year-old and a 34-year-old housewife – who travelled back from Turkey on November 20 and went into Chon Buri state quarantine. They were all found positive on November 23-24, with three of them showing symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, sore throat, fever and fatigue.
> A 62-year-old Thai woman who returned from Switzerland on November 25 and was detected at a screening checkpoint in Suvarnabhumi Airport. She had a headache and phlegm.
> A 23-year-old Kuwaiti woman, who arrived on November 16 after taking a connecting flight from the UAE. She was found positive on November 23 while receiving treatment in hospital quarantine in Bangkok. Her health record shows she was infected once before, on September 21.
Meanwhile, eight patients have recovered and been discharged.
As of Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has increased to 3,942 (981 in state quarantine). Of these, 94 are in hospital and 3,788 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains at 60.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am the number of confirmed cases has broken the 60-million record (increasing by 609,204 in 24 hours). Of these, 42.02 million have recovered, 17.26 million are active cases (103,933 in severe condition) and 1.43 million have died (an increase of 12,007).
Thailand ranks a safe 151st for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number, with 13.14 million, followed by India (9.27 million), Brazil (6.16 million), France (2.17 million) and Russia (2.16 million).
After the success of the “Kon La Khreung” (Let’s Go Halves) economic stimulus scheme. which gained good response, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed that phase two would roll out soon.
The first phase of the campaign has witnessed spending of Bt25.13 billion since it was launched on October 16.
Prayut said phase two is now under consideration, with an initial budget of Bt30 billion.
A committee is considering the criteria for a second round of registrations, stating that low-income workers and retail shops must be a priority.
Deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said the Finance Ministry revealed that phase two would launch at the beginning of January, with details of the scheme being concluded by December.
Those who were allowed to register for phase 1 will automatically join phase 2 under condition that they spend all the Bt3,000 under phase 1 by December 31.
The Pid Thong Lang Phra Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting the sufficiency economy vision of King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great, organised a seminar “Rethinking to Push Thailand Forward” in collaboration with seven organisations on Wednesday.
Representatives from the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, the Bank of Thailand, the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Mahidol University, the National Institute of Development Administration, the Institute of Public Policy and Development and ThaiPublica exchanged research and ideas on improving Thailand after the Covid-19 fallout, a situation that has amplified the country’s social and economic problems from the impact of megatrends, or the driving forces that define the world today and that of tomorrow in major aspects such as an ageing society, climate change and digitalisation.
A foundation study revealed that the Covid-19 crisis has put more than 18 million Thai labourers in 258 occupations at risk of losing their jobs.
“We divided labourers at risk into three groups,” said a foundation representative. “The first group includes those in 166 occupations who are directly affected by change in trading/marketing brought about by the outbreak, like cooks, mechanics, teachers and animal farmers. They account for 32.2 per cent of Thai labourers, or 12.2 million people.”
The second group, consisting of 81 occupations, are technicians, clerks, and craftsmen. They make up 12.6 per cent of labourers, or 4.78 million people.
“The third group, consisting of 11 occupations, are at risk of being replaced by robots or automated systems, like receptionists and warehouse staff,” said the representative. “They are at higher risk of unemployment compared to the first two groups due to lower education and can therefore hardly adapt to future career trends. This group consists of 1.27 million people, or 3.35 per cent of total domestic labourers.”
The foundation proposed that the government and related agencies help these labourers in two ways.
The first is to promote the use and education of modern technology, such as e-commerce, e-learning and working from home via online platforms. This will require the government to invest in digital infrastructure as well as personnel training.
The second way is to promote the development of rural areas so that labourers who leave their jobs in big cities can return to their home province and start a new career there. The development should cover the building of water reserves for agricultural purposes, promotion of local tourism and provision of financial aid to local entrepreneurs, who will in return create jobs in the communities.
Meanwhile, Phubet Samutjak, a professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, said the Covid-19 situation has reduced income for labourers from 54 to 90 per cent.
“Our research shows that occupations that have been severely affected by the outbreak are street merchants, public vehicle drivers, and construction contractors, while those who have been mildly affected are civil servants,” he said.
“Some of the labourers who have lost their jobs or been forced to work fewer hours decided to return to their homes upcountry, which is a promising trend as it could lead to distribution of revenue and development in rural areas,” Phubet said.
“These labourers will go home with their knowledge and expertise in modern technology that they have accumulated from years of working in big cities. To make the fullest use of this, the government must design appropriate supporting measures, such as building the necessary infrastructure, promoting a digital economy at the community level and securing markets for locally manufactured products,” he added.
The baht opened at 30.29 to the US dollar on Thursday, strengthening from 30.34 at close on Wednesday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.20 and 30.40, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Wednesday night, the S&P 500 and Stoxx 600 decreased by 0.1 and 0.2 per cent, respectively. This came amid investor concern that the US economy would recover slowly. Another factor was several EU countries deciding to lock down until the end of the year.
The US announced that its gross domestic product in the third quarter grew by 33.1 per cent from the previous quarter. At the same time, there were 778,000 US initial jobless claims this week, Jitipol noted.
Meanwhile, the US Ten-Year Treasury yield decreased by 1 basis point to 0.88 per cent, while the dollar continued to weaken, hitting the lowest level since April 2018. This came on the heels of the Federal Reserve stating that it would purchase more assets in the near future.
Jitipol said an obvious change will not take place in Thailand in the short term due to the weakened dollar and selling power of risk assets in the market.
He said foreign investors had recently sold the bonds they held to buy stocks in Thailand. He advised investors to monitor the stock market direction, which could weaken the baht. The baht would move within the frame of 30.70 per US dollar this quarter, he added.
In a suspected suicide, a woman fell to her death from a six-storey apartment building in Bangkok’s Bang Khae district.
Phetkasem station police were alerted to the suspected suicide in Soi Phetkasem at 11.30am on Wednesday.
At the scene officers found the body of Kwannapha (last name withheld), aged 29, lying face down on the ground with a cracked skull. They also found a handwritten note on her body saying: “I’m so tired and want to leave this place. It is too painful”. A telephone number of her relative was included in the note.
The building manager reportedly told police that the deceased had rented a room on the 4th storey on Tuesday.
Police called the number of her relative and was told the woman currently had no job and suffered from depression.
“The relative said she had been living with them in Bang Khae district before she suddenly left, and believed that she rented the room to commit suicide,” the police said.
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is ready to deal with a strengthened baht to support exporters, Finance Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith said on Wednesday.
“The baht has strengthened at a high rate and the BOT will take more steps to control this,” he said at the Bangkok Post International Forum 2020.
Arkom said financial policies next year will focus on investment to prepare Thailand for the time when its economy recovers fully from the Covid-19 crisis.
Digital technology, environment and health will help economic recovery, he said.
Arkom promised that the government would be careful when borrowing money.
He also said his ministry would reform the tax system.
The minister said the second phase of the “Khon La Krueng” campaign will launch from January 1 and is expected to stimulate domestic consumption in Thailand, increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 3.5 per cent next year.
He mentioned that Thai GDP in 2020 will contract around 6 per cent, while the International Monetary Fund predicted it would contract by 7.1 per cent.
A man wielding a handgun made off with more than Bt500,000 from the Government Housing Bank’s Bangbon branch at Soi Ekachai 86 in Bangkok on Wednesday at 2.20pm.
The bank’s security guard, Yeunyong Boonmoh, reportedly told Bang Khun Thian police that the gunman hopped over a teller window, grabbed the money and quickly fled.
There were no reports of any injury.
A preliminary investigation from CCTV footage showed a male suspect wearing a grey long-sleeves shirt and a face mask. He was seen fleeing the scene towards Ekachai Road (outbound), but the vehicle he used is still unknown.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn 
Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep, Left, Parit “Penguin”Chiwarak , Right 
