A female teenager was found dead inside a car in Chiang Mai province on Thursday night (September 10) in what police suspect is a case of suicide by charcoal-burning.
Police from Doi Saket station and medical staff from Doi Saket Hospital went to investigate the body that was found near Wat Ban Rong Khilek.
The body was lying in the driver’s seat of a black Toyota Soluna with registration from Lamphun province. A clay fire pot with ashes was also found next to the body.
Her identification showed that she was a 19-year-old Chiang Mai local from Saraphi district. She was reported missing from her house since September 9.
The baht opened at 31.31 to the US dollar on Friday, unchanged from Thursday’s close.
The Thai currency would move between 31.20 and 31.40 today, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, head of markets strategy at SCB Securities.
On Thursday night, the S&P 500 fell by 1.8 per cent, due to tech stocks coming under pressure. Also, the WTI crude oil increased by 2.6 per cent, pressuring the energy stocks.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 moved in narrow range and closed negatively at 0.6 per cent, after the European Central Bank (ECB) resolved to freeze all of its monetary policies.
ECB president Christine Lagarde said that the strengthening of the euro lately was not a problem. She said that the EU economy this year would shrink by 8 per cent, and would recover 5 and 3.2 per cent respectively in 2021 and 2022.
In the financial market, the US Ten-Year Treasury yield decreased by 1.5 basis points to 0.68 per cent, while the German Treasury stayed at minus 0.44 per cent. The dollar strengthened, compared to the pound.
In Thailand, the baht moved in a narrow range, similar to other Asian currencies, and was supported by the bond trade of foreign investors. In addition, Thai investors have reduced investment in foreign countries, pressuring the Thai Ten-Year Treasury yield to 1.37 per cent.
Thirty suspected illegal migrants from Myanmar and a Thai man who allegedly helped hide and transport them after they had crossed the border in Tak province via Mei River have been arrested.
Announcing the arrests, Immigration Police chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang on Thursday (August 10) said:
“Immigration Police in Tak province stopped a suspicious pickup truck at 10.15pm on Wednesday on Tha Song Yang
– Mae Sariang Road in Tha Song Yang district. There were 16 Myanmar migrants on board, and none of them had proper documentation,” he said. “The driver, Chinathip [last name withheld], aged 25 years, a local of Tak province, reportedly confessed that he was paid by an agency to pick up the migrants who had crossed Mei River and were hiding in a house near the river bank and then drop them off in inner Tak.”
Police went to the house and reportedly found 14 more undocumented Myanmar migrants hiding and waiting for transportation.
Chinathip was charged with facilitating illegal migrants to enter the country and hiding them from authorities, while the 30 migrants were charged with entering the country without proper documentation and violating the announcement of Tak’s Disease Control Committee regarding the prevention of Covid-19.
Police are also tracking down the agency that hired Chinathip to uncover the people behind this operation.
“If you have information about illegal migrants, please contact Immigration Police hotline at 1178 or via http://www.immigration.go.th/,” Somphong added.
State enterprise remittances to Finance Ministry exceed expectations
NationalSep 11. 2020SEPO director Praphas Khong-Iad
By THE NATION
State enterprises remitted Bt182.2 billion to the Finance Ministry in the first 11 months of the fiscal year ending in August, Bt10.6 billion higher than estimated, the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) reported on Thursday (September 10).
The remittances made up 97 per cent of the Bt188.8 billion target set for fiscal year 2020.
SEPO director Praphas Khong-Iad said that August alone brought in Bt11.51 billion, mainly from CAT Telecom, Government Lottery Office and Port Authority of Thailand.
The top 10 contributing enterprises in the past 11 months were:
Government Lottery Office (Bt42.5 billion), PTT Pcl (Bt29.1 billion), Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Bt 28.6 billion), Government Savings Bank (Bt18 billion), Airports of Thailand Pcl (Bt10.5 billion), CAT Telecom (Bt8.8 billion), Provincial Electricity Authority (Bt6.7 billion), Port Authority of Thailand (Bt6.2 billion), Government Housing Bank (Bt5.9 billion), Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (Bt5.6 billion).
Five suspects allegedly involved in manufacturing and selling unregistered drugs were arrested, while the resale of used medical gloves worth over Bt10 million was foiled by the authorities.
The Consumer Protection Police Division in cooperation with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday (September 10) announced the results of its crackdown on unregistered drugs in five provinces: Maha Sarakham, Kamphaengphet, Khon Kaen, Phitsanulok and Lopburi.
Authorities arrested and seized over 40,000 packages of drugs with fake FDA registration number, that could have been sold for Bt100,000.
“These drugs are often advertised as ‘spirit-revealed remedy’, but in fact they consist of high volume of steroids that could be dangerous to the users, especially the elderly,” said Suphatra Boonserm, FDA’s deputy permanent secretary.
Meanwhile, police seized from a company in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district 900,000 pairs of medical gloves suspected to have been used and allegedly repackaged for resale. Police estimated their valued at over Bt10 million and are tracking down the company owner and related persons.
Kasetsart University Laboratory School Centre for Educational Research and Development, a demonstration school located within Kasetsart University Bangkhen campus in Bangkok, on Thursday (September 10) said the school will not allow the use of its name and logo in any political activities by students.
“Regarding the recent incident where the school’s name and logo appeared on news and social media during some political activities, the school would like to insist that it has always been committed to giving students the freedom to express their opinion,” the school said. “We will not influence the students’ thoughts to lean towards any particular side, and therefore we will not allow the use of the school’s name and logo for any political activities so as to preserve the neutrality of the school.”
The southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea and Thailand while the southeast winds blow over the East and the Northeast, the Thailand Meteorological Department said on Friday (September 11)
Thundershowers are expected in many parts of Thailand with isolated heavy rain in the Northeast, the East, and the South. People in risky areas should beware of heavy rains and accumulated rainfall, the department said.
During September 12-15, the monsoon trough will move down to lie across the North, the upper Central, and the Northeast while the southwest monsoon still prevails over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Continuous rain will remain over Thailand with isolated heavy rains in some areas.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is as follows:
North: Cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 23-26 degrees Celsius and highs of 33-36°C.
Northeast: Cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-25°C and highs of 33-35°C.
Central: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-26°C, highs of 34-36°C.
East: Cloudy, with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 24-26°C, highs of 31-35°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-26°C, highs of 33-35°C; waves a metere high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Cloudy, with thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-24°C, highs of 31-32°C; waves a metre high and 2 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 24-26°C, highs of 33-35°C.
About 56,000 people eligible for the government’s Bt5,000 relief payments have still not applied ahead of the scheme’s expiry on September 30, according to the Finance Ministry.
Ministry spokesman Lavaron Sangsnit said 15.3 million people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic had received the payments but issues with electronic banking, including unactivated PromptPay accounts, meant others had missed out.
The ministry will continue transferring payments until September 30, the deadline approved by the Cabinet on August 18.
People can check whether they are eligible for the payment at the website http://www.เราไม่ทิ้งกัน.com and then contact any bank to help resolve the issue. They are also advised to activate a PromptPay account with their ID numbers before September 28.
The government plans to borrow Bt1 trillion for its Covid-19 economic stimulus scheme. So far it has borrowed Bt330 billion.
By THE NATIONFive students have been summoned by police for their actions at a pro-democracy rally titled “Ratchaburi Kor tee Padetkan” (Ratchaburi wants to hit the dictator) on August 1, according to the Free Youth group’s Facebook page.
Under the summons, the students must report to Ratchaburi police on September 17 to respond to charges of violating the emergency decree’s ban on public gatherings and using amplifiers without permission.
Free Youth said the right to peaceful protest was enshrined in the Constitution drafted by the post-coup regime and asked why protesters were being charged for actions aimed at creating a better future.
The activists also called on authorities to stop making things worse for Thailand by suppressing students’ right to free speech.
Their Facebook post said a bright future for the country was impossible under the current Constitution and a government that does not care about people’s lives.
The student-led protesters are demanding dissolution of Parliament, a charter rewrite, and an end to state intimidation of activists.
Allegations in the Thai media that the United States is supporting anti-government protesters were firmly rejected by the US Embassy in Bangkok on Thursday.
The allegations stem from photographs of student leader Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak meeting then-US ambassador Glyn Davies on a visit to the embassy in 2016.
The photographs were published on an English-language website called The Land Destroyer Report, which poses as a news outlet to disseminate stories alleging US influence in Thailand. Land Destroyer Report and linked pages were banned by Facebook last year for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”.
In its statement, the US Embassy said:
“Ambassadors and Embassy personnel regularly meet with a broad cross section of Thai nationals, not just with students and youth, but also with government, military, business and other leaders. Such meetings do not imply endorsement of any views.”
It went on to reject accusations it was supporting the ongoing protests.
“The United States government is not funding or otherwise providing support to any of the protests in Thailand. The United States does not support any individual or political party; we support the democratic process and the rule of law.
“As friends of Thailand, we encourage all sides to continue to act with respect and restraint and engage in constructive dialogue on how to move the country forward.”
SEPO director Praphas Khong-Iad 
Lavaron Sangsnit 
