#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

SET to open digital-asset investment platform next year

NationalOct 06. 2020

By THE NATION

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has joined hands with Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG) to develop a digital asset platform for investors by next year.

A SET subsidiary company will run the entire digital-assets operation in the future, said SET president Pakorn Peetathawatchai on Monday.

The service will cover everything from an initial coin offering (ICO) portal for all investment products on the market, to digital asset wallets.

The SET and KBTG have designed the service as an open platform, allowing all kinds of investors to trade equally.

The two organisations are studying the project’s potential before applying to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a licence to run the digital asset business.

The SET plans to launch digital token funding in 2021.

Yarnvith Raksri, KBTG senior visionary architect, said the new digital asset platform would use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to ensure secure smart contracts.

Yarnvith said that the digital assets including digital currencies carried high investment risks, so his company and the SET decided to develop digital currencies backed by real assets.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Energy Ministry re-enters talks with Chevron over gas-field dispute

NationalOct 06. 2020

By The Nation

The Energy Ministry said its decision to restart talks with Chevron over who should remove offshore gas platforms in the Gulf of Thailand will not affect the country’s energy security.

Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Ltd decided to re-enter the arbitration process a year after breaking off talks to resolve a dispute over decommissioning of its assets in the Erawan gas field.

The company said it was seeking more transparency on the responsibility for removing platforms in the field before it is handed back to the government.

Last year, Thailand asked Chevron to pay decommissioning costs of around $1.5 billion before the field is handed back to PTT Group when Chevron’s concession comes to an end in April 2022.

PTT is planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in the field to handle 19 million tonnes of LNG per year.

Auttapol Rerkpiboon, CEO of PTT, said Thailand’s efficient energy management would ensure there were no shortages as the government, Chevron and PTT sought the best solution to the dispute.

Chevron lost out in the bidding for the new Erawan field concession to PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), won is planning to operate eight processing platforms by the middle of 2021.

The platforms will produce 800 million cubic metres of gas per day under a contract capped at a total Bt1.2 billion cu/m. The dispute concerns the decommissioning of 142 platforms.

The Energy Ministry has reduced its initial Bt1.5 billion estimate for decommissioning since some of the platforms will be useful to PTTEP’s operations.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Wanchalearm’s family demand answers from Cambodia, 4 months after activist’s disappearance

NationalOct 05. 2020

By THE NATION

Four months after Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit was abducted from a street in Phnom Penh, Cambodian authorities have made no progress investigating the case, Amnesty International announced on Monday.

His family are desperate for news about his fate and whereabouts, said the rights group. They still long to know the truth about his disappearance and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

“We urge Cambodia to set up an investigation team to carry out a prompt, effective, thorough and transparent investigation and to ensure justice is served for the victim and his family,” Piyanut Kotsan, director of Amnesty International Thailand, said. “Four months on, there is still no progress in the investigation.”

Piyanut also urged Thai authorities to provide assistance to enable Wanchalearm’s older sister, Sitanan Satsaksit, to travel to Cambodia to give evidence to public prosecutors there. Cambodia has suspended tourist visas as part of Covid-19 containment measures.

“If Cambodian authorities do not issue an official invitation to Wanchalearm’s sister, she will not be able to travel there to give her information concerning the case, even though she has already appointed a local lawyer to act on the family’s behalf,” said Piyanut.

Wanchalearm is among at least nine government critics to have disappeared abroad since Prayut Chan-o-cha came to power in a military coup in 2014. Two of those activists later turned up dead in the Mekong River on the Laos border, their bellies disembowelled and stuffed with concrete.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Man shocked to find hairy bedfellow after drunken night out

NationalOct 05. 2020

By The Nation

A man who abducted a stray dog outside a restaurant after a drunken night out was shocked to find the animal in his bed when he woke up the next morning.

Yutthaphum Kaewekhem’s antics were caught on video by his friend, in a clip that had netizens across the country giggling on Sunday.

After videoing the drunken dog-napping on his phone, his friend hit record next morning to capture Yutthaphum’s reaction as he woke to discover the “new guest” he had invited into his home.

On Monday, the hilarious story got a happy ending. Yutthaphum announced on Facebook that he had decided to adopt the soi dog, putting a smile on the face of netizens all around Thailand.

He explained that the animal was the perfect guest, “leaving no poop or pee in the house”.

“And most importantly, ‘Boom’ [the dog’s new name] knows how to turn on an electric fan all by itself.”

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Rowing teens allegedly destroy water mains in Nakhon Ratchasima village

NationalOct 05. 2020

By The Nation

Residents of Ban Nam Aom village in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Bua Yai district woke up on Monday to find they had no tap water as their water mains had been destroyed in a row between teenagers.

The villagers had witnessed teenagers fighting at 2am and chose not to intervene thinking it was an argument between young lovers.

However, when they woke up to find there was no running water, they got together to connect the dots and were led into believing the fighting teenagers may have been behind the dry taps.

They arrived at the water mains to find pipes and several nearby objects destroyed.

The villagers have decided to take legal action against the teens to prevent a similar event from happening.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Prachuap Khiri Khan blocks all natural borders after Myanmar town reports 41 new Covid cases

NationalOct 05. 2020

By The Nation

Officials and community leaders in Prachuap Khiri Khan province got together on Monday to check the barbed wire fences placed in all natural borders to ensure Covid-19 is not brought into the country from Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Myeik province, which borders eight districts of Prachuap Khiri Khan and is just three hours away, has been hit by 41 new Covid-19 cases.

Of the 41 patients, 39 are monks, one layman and one nurse. The province has had 66 total cases so far.

Myanmar’s Covid-19 prevention committee has also set up a screening point in Myeik province’s Tanintharyi district. Travellers, especially those coming from Arakan state or Yangon, will be required to have a passport and certificate of examination.

Meanwhile, Prachuap Khiri Khan governor Panlop Singhaseni said officials in all districts have been told to work on keeping the borders secure. More than 20 screening checkpoints have been set up and more than 40 natural borders have been closed.

So far, 400 locals have undergone a Covid-19 test and nobody has come up positive.

At present, only basic necessities can be brought across the border and the truck driver and companion must both be Thai nationals

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Prayut expects Oct 14 rally to be small, peaceful

NationalOct 05. 2020Prayut Chan-o-cha 

By THE NATION

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Monday that he expects the October 14 student-led protest to be less aggressive, adding that such rallies are not beneficial for the country at this time.

He also said that some of the protesters’ demands have already been taken into Parliament for consideration.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General Pakkapong Pongpetra said on Sunday that police are putting together an estimate of the number of protesters expected to join the October 14 rally.

This rally is being held to mark the October 14, 1973 uprising, which overthrew the military dictatorship of Field Marshall Thanom Kittikachorn and introduced changes to Thailand’s political system. The uprising also marked the influence of Thai university students in politics.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Ministry earmarks about Bt3 billion for Covid-19 vaccines

NationalOct 05. 2020

By THE NATION

The National Vaccine Committee is planning to set aside Bt2.93 billion to purchase 66 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines within next year, Public Health Ministry spokesperson Dr Phanprapha Yongtrakul said on Monday.

The 66 million doses will cover 33 million Thais or roughly 50 per cent of the population.

“The committee, chaired by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, has decided to reserve the vaccines via two methods,” she said.

“The first will be to reserve a lot via the Covax campaign overseen by the World Health Organisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Vaccine Alliance, which should cover 20 per cent of Thais. The second will be to reserve doses with 10 manufacturers in the US, China, UK and Russia that are conducting third-phase human trials,” she added.

“We expect the vaccine to be ready next year, and each person will require two doses. The deal for reserving vaccines for Thai people will be discussed later this month,” said Dr Nakhon Premsri, director of National Vaccine Institute.

“Our proposed budget is subject to approval by the Cabinet, which will decide if it should come from the national budget or government loans. The vaccines will be supplied in lots, so payments can also be made in instalments.”

Nakhon added that the vaccine will be provided to priority groups first, such as medical staff who are at the frontline of the battle against Covid-19 as they face the highest risk and are vital to the country’s public health system.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Beung Kan’s Naga Cave reopens, but to limited visitors

NationalOct 05. 2020

By The Nation

The environment minister announced on Monday that the Naga Cave in Beung Kan province is open to visitors again, though no more than 10 people will be allowed to enter the caves at any given time.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said the number of daily visitors will also be limited to 350 people.

The caves in Bung Khong Long district had to be closed after visitors had gouged rude graffiti into the rock. People have also damaged the rock formations by rubbing the surface to find lottery numbers.

The minister said tour guides must ensure that the cave and its surrounding areas are not damaged, adding that the area will be immediately closed if any sign of destruction is spotted.

Related Story:

Naka Cave restored to its original glory

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Mentally disabled woman hangs herself in Lampang bus station

NationalOct 05. 2020

By The Nation

Lampang police were notified on Monday morning of a woman hanging from a nylon rope at a bus station.

The woman was identified as Kingkaew Duangthai, 68, by her brother, who said she had escaped from home and suffered from a mental condition.

Finding no evidence of physical assault, police put the case down as a suicide.

The family also does not find the death suspicious and wants the body back to conduct funeral rites.