Residential electricity prices will remain stable for 4 months, regulator says
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
Home electricity rates will not rise in the first four months of next year, after the Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said it would maintain the current price from January to April to help offset rising expenses faced by consumers.
The commission approved the National Energy Policy Council’s proposal to keep the fuel tariff at 93.43 satang per unit for residential users and 190.44 satang per unit for other users.
“As a result, electricity charges for residential users will remain at 4.72 baht per unit, while other users will be charged 5.69 baht per unit,” said commission secretary-general Komkrit Tantravanich.
He said factors affecting the fuel tariff calculation include fuel costs and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s debt repayment potential.
“Thailand has to import natural gas to compensate for a decline in [domestically produced] gas,” Komkrit added.
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has announced 15 public holidays in 2023 for financial institutions.
The 15 public holidays are:
• January 2: Substitution for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (December 31 and January 1)
• March 6: Makha Bucha Day
• April 6: Chakri Memorial Day
• April 13-14: Songkran Festival
• May 1: National Labour Day
• May 4: Coronation Day
• June 5: Substitution for HM the Queen’s Birthday and Visakha Bucha Day (June 3)
• July 28: HM the King’s Birthday
• August 1: Asarnha Bucha Day
• August 14: Substitution for HM the Queen Mother’s Birthday and National Mother’s Day (August 12)
• October 13: HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Day
• October 23: Chulalongkorn Memorial Day
• December 5: HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Birthday, National Day and National Father’s Day
• December 11: Substitution for Constitution Day (December 10)
Financial institutions in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla provinces can use Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Chinese New Year’s Day as additional public holidays.
OAG and national police chief to oversee Tuhao triad case
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
The Attorney General has appointed a special committee to investigate the case of Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant, an alleged narcotics kingpin who surrendered to police on November 23 following an arrest warrant. Tuhao is suspected of links to Chinese triad operations in Thailand.
Wednesday’s order signed by Attorney-General Naree Tantasathien classified Chaiyanat’s operation as an international crime organisation and named him as a threat to national security.
It therefore ordered a special committee led by the attorney-general and the national police chief to oversee the case. The team also includes the Metropolitan Police Bureau chief and high-ranking officials from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
It is tasked with ensuring a speedy and accurate investigation to allow prosecutors enough time to prepare court cases.
Chaiyanat is a Chinese businessman who gained Thai citizenship after marrying a senior Thai police officer. Police said they suspect he is behind drug and other crime networks being operated by Chinese triads in Thailand.
Since his surrender last month, officials have raided several locations in Bangkok and other provinces suspected of being bases for Chaiyanat’s alleged crime network. They include 50 houses in two luxury residential projects in Bangkok, eight companies in Phuket, and a non-profit organisation in Chiang Mai.
More than 100 Chinese nationals have been arrested and are being questioned as part of the investigation, said deputy national police chief General Surachet Hakparn. Meanwhile 27 immigration police were found to have been aiding Chinese triads to stay illegally in Thailand.
Thailand-approved Paxlovid cuts Covid death rate by 70%: medic
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
Paxlovid antiviral drug reduces risk of death among Covid-19 patients by 70%, and hospitalisation by 40%, Chulalongkorn University medical expert Dr Thira Woratanarat said on Thursday.
Writing on Facebook, Thira cited a study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“The study on 44,551 Covid-19 patients from January to July this year found that Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir, marketed under the commercial name of Paxlovid, was able to cut deaths by 70% and reduce the need for hospitalisation by 40%,” he said.
Patients in at-risk groups should take the antiviral drug to reduce dangers of severe symptoms, Thira advised.
“Covid-19 will be with us for a long time,” he said. “The best strategy is to prevent the infection or reinfection by avoiding risky behaviours and places, getting a booster shot at suitable intervals, and wearing a face mask whenever you can.”
Developed by Pfizer, Paxlovid is among several antiviral drugs – namely Favipiravir, Remdesivir and Molnupiravir. – approved by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration. These drugs can be bought at any hospital or clinic under the Health Facility Act with a prescription from a physician.
Assets worth THB2.5bn seized from Northeast drug gang posing as truckers
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
Narcotics suppression police (NSP) have seized assets worth over 2.48 billion baht during raids across the Northeast.
The crackdown followed the discovery of nearly 2 million amphetamine tablets in a vehicle at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima on June 14, said NSP chief Lt General Sarayut Sanguanphokai on Wednesday.
The resulting investigation found that a drug-trafficking ring was posing as a trucking company to ship narcotics across the country.
Police said the vehicle’s driver, Watthana Sriwilai, confessed to transporting methamphetamine over Northeast borders into Thailand and delivering it to customers in southern provinces.
Watthana’s arrest led to the arrests of two other suspected gang members in Sakon Nakhon and Nonthaburi, who police said provided information on the gang’s bases in seven Northeast provinces.
On November 15, police launched raids at over 30 locations and confiscated 200 million baht in cash, 16 trailer trucks, six houses, 17 land deeds, a sawmill, shares of two logistic companies, several guns and ammunition, and 15 bank accounts with over 550 million baht in them.
Sarayut said the seizures helped to block the financial network of the drug gang and would lead to the arrests of more accomplices.
Bangchak in joint venture to buy used cooking oil at 44 petrol stations
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
Thailand’s leading petroleum and energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation and its joint venture will launch a campaign to recycle used cooking for making plane fuel.
Bangchak’s chief marketing officer & senior executive vice president Somchai Tejavanija, acting executive vice president of the refinery and logistics business, Kanthamat Kritayanukul, and executive vice president of BBGI Plc, Kittima Wongsaen, as well as directors of Bangchak and BSGF encouraged people to sell their used cooking oil at 44 Bangchak petrol stations as they launched the “Tod-Mai-Ting”(recycling used cooking oil) campaign, which opens on December 21.
Used cooking oil will be converted into Sustainable Aviation Fuel(SAF), in response to the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) economic model. It emphasises the use of biotechnology to create value addition to the economy and aligns with the circular economy and green economy, together with social development to create stability and sustainability, according to Bangchak.
It added that the aim of “Tod-Mai-Ting” is to stop the disposal of used cooking oil in public areas so as to prevent harmful impact on the environment. It is also a warning against using oil for refrying, as the deterioration of cooking oil can cause diseases and illnesses.
BSGF company, a joint venture between Bangchak Corporation and Thanachok Oil Light company, will be the first buyer of used cooking oil in the country.
Recently, the company received 200 million baht — 98 million baht from its board committee and 102 baht from Bangchak — to set up an SAF production facility to prepare for soaring demand in the aviation industry.
The plant is scheduled to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2024 as SAF is now gaining a lot of domestic and international interest.
Those who are interested in selling used cooking oil can find the list of stations Here
Thailand Post, police join forces to deliver cyber-vaccines nationwide
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022
Thailand Post has teamed up with the Royal Thai Police to tackle online scams and other cyber crimes. The state agency is now helping distribute cyber-vaccine pamphlets.
The pamphlets provide clear information about a range of digital scams, and tips about what to do when encountering them. The goal of the pamphlets is to build awareness so that members of the public will be less likely to fall for a scam.
Dhanant Subhadrabandhu, Chief Executive Officer, Thailand Post Co., Ltd., noted that over the last year, the statistics of crimes involving high-tech have increased continuously. Scammer gangs have become more sophisticated in deceiving the public with a variety of different scams that have caused untold damage and loss of property among businesses and the general public.
To combat this, Thailand Post has prepared material alerting the public, distributed through both online and offline channels. People are encouraged to be aware of the tricks used by scammers faking Thailand Post’s name and branding to trick people out of their money.
For instance, people have been induced to provide personal information, including credit card numbers, or asked to transfer cash to pay for an undelivered package or redeem points for a prize.
Many other entities from both the state and private sectors have been the target of scammers. Cyber-criminals constantly think up new and sophisticated ways to con people, while major groups of the Thai population are still vulnerable. It is, therefore, necessary to greatly publicise these issues to reach every sector, so that people both know about online threats and how to deal with them, so they do not become victims.
To more efficiently suppress cybercrime, Thailand Post has joined forces with the Royal Thai Police in a program to foster immunity against high-tech crime.
The most frequently encountered techniques, modus operandi and criminal conspiracies have been compiled together along with methods to prevent them and ways of checking information to detect scams. The material is then distributed among the public for them to be aware of the latest scams. Thailand Post, as the national carrier of mails, will distribute 1.5 million leaflets to households around the country to ensure that people are aware and do not fall victim to scammers.
Another 500,000 leaflets will be sent to police stations nationwide, for the relevant police officers to bring this knowledge to the people.
National Police Chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said that statistics of cybercrime were steadily increasing with about 600 to 700 cases per day on average.
Despite the police’s best efforts to suppress and clamp down on tech crime, with a continuous series of arrests, the scammers have improved their scams to deceive the public in a number of different ways.
As a result, the public has been affected by the damage to property, which has impacted the national economy. The police alone cannot solve this problem. There must be a united front of parties joining together to prevent such crimes.
People must be made aware of these high-tech criminal techniques. The general public, in particular, is on the front lines of preventing cybercrime, and an important part of dealing with it successfully. It is therefore necessary to provide the public with more cyber-vaccines as quickly as possible.
The Police have compiled a list of the most common scams, criminal conspiracies, and modus operandi of the cyber-criminals, alongside measures of protection and techniques to verify wrongdoing. This has been publicized to alert people of the dangers and build a cyber-vaccine for the people, so that they are aware of the 18 principal scams.
Thailand Post will be in charge of delivering this guide to cyber scams, which has been prepared as an A4-sized document, to 20 million households nationwide, alongside A3 posters delivered to police stations around the country. The effort kicks off this month.
Democrat-sponsored debate focuses on legalising football betting in Thailand
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022
Speakers at a Democrat Party forum on Tuesday provided cautious support for legalising football betting, saying it can be done – but only after the necessary policing and legal reforms are implemented.
Football betting happens everywhere around the globe, so it should be made transparent to make it easier to control, forum moderator Watanya Bunnag said at the beginning of the “Listen, Think, Act” forum yesterday evening, which was broadcast live on the Democrat Party’s Facebook page.
She pointed out that it has been legal in England since 1960. In Thailand it is estimated that football betting was worth 180 billion baht in 2021 – equivalent to 1.12% of the country’s GDP, she added.
Watanya chairs the Democrat Party’s Bangkok Innovations committee. She is also the wife of Nation Group CEO Shine Bunnag.
At Tuesday’s forum she was joined by Assoc Prof Nualnoi Treera, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Economics, Nuttakorn Vititanon, lecturer of Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Thanis Piriyaphokanon, managing director of Promes Co Ltd, and a football guru who goes by the name “Bell Field Edge”.
Chulalongkorn’s Nualnoi said the reason some countries have not legalised gambling is that it is not a conventional good or service. Moreover, the activity has a wide impact, from the individual gambler to society as a whole. Legalising gambling requires comprehensive rules to control it, she said.
Both Nualnoi and Watanya used England as an example. Watanya noted that football betting has been legal there since the enactment of the country’s football gambling law in 1960. The law was updated in 2005 to include measures to prevent gambling adverts from reaching youths and to require youths to receive education about gambling, she added.
Nualnoi said England did more than enact a law to legalise gambling: it also reformed its police force. Police reforms are necessary to efficiently crack down on illegal gambling, she said. If Thailand can reform its police force the way England did, then football betting can be legalised here, she added.
If a law is passed allowing football betting without police reform, Thailand will have both legal and illegal gambling, Nualnoi said, adding that this could cause an increase in violence and crime.
“If we legalise gambling without solving the current problems, we will face both legal and underground gambling. The legal ones will not be able to compete against the illegal ones because the legal ones will have to pay taxes, while the illegal ones pay only bribes [to police],” Nualnoi explained.
Nuttakorn said countries that legalised gambling did so because they wanted new sources of income. He said such countries cracked down on illegal gambling so that they would not compete against the sources of income of the state.
Nuttakorn said Thailand needed to reform its gambling law first because the existing law was outdated.
He said the new law must categorise gambling into types based on the level of their social impact. For example, he said, if the government considered that online gambling caused the greatest social impact, the law must be enforced against it strictly, while the government might be lenient on traditional games, such as betting on cockfighting.
“We have had 20 constitutions, but we have had only two pieces of gambling law since the change of the ruling system. So, I think this gambling law is very outdated and it’s about time to overhaul it,” Nuttakorn said.
He said the countries that legalised gambling saw that the state could protect the interest of players instead of letting them gamble on illegal websites. The government could also control access to gambling by age and regulate bookmakers, he said.
If Thailand wants to legalise gambling, a draft law must first be approved in a public referendum to win legitimacy.
Thanis told the forum that about 180 billion baht circulated in football gambling alone a year, while the government’s lottery tickets generated revenue of only 130 billion baht a year. The amount rises to 740 billion a year after combining all types of illegal gambling in Thailand, Thanis added, noting that this total comes close to annual revenues from the tourism industry, which totaled 800 billion baht in 2020.
Tourism is a high-cost activity, but gambling requires little cost so it could be a positive source of revenue for the country.
He said Thailand could build a platform for online gambling that can block access by children and youths by using blockchain. For example, the platform could alert parents with an SMS if their children attempt to use it.
The football guru, “Bell Field Edge”, said gambling on football matches was actually like buying stocks because betters would have to study football teams to attain the knowledge necessary to pick winners.
If football gambling is legalised, an effective system to prevent access by children and youths must be put in place.
Watanya concluded the forum by saying that revenue from football gambling would be significant but there must be a system in place to find a balance between increasing state revenues and minimising social impacts.
Burglar wearing bikini bra was not a man in disguise: police
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022
A burglar caught on CCTV during a failed robbery of a construction-materials shop in Chiang Mai was arrested on Wednesday after police found a suspect who matched the one in the footage.
The suspect was not, however, a man disguised as a woman, as the shop’s owner concluded from the footage. He later shared the footage (along with his assumptions) with the media and police.
It was subsequently reported that a man wearing a wig and a bikini tried to break into the shop after climbing a chain link fence to gain entry to its doors. Iron grills over the doors, however, were enough to deter the would-be thief, who climbed back over the fence and left the scene.
On Wednesday, investigators from Chang Phueak Police Station detained 36-year-old Supannee (surname withheld) in an apartment in Chiang Mai, seizing a red bra and floral skirt from her as evidence.
Police said that Supannee admitted she was the one filmed attempting to rob the shop in Saraphi district. She also said she had done the same before.
Previously, she broke into a house in the Chang Phueak sub-district. Police said the owner of the house had reported a break-in to their station.
Supannee has been charged with theft, police said.
Lipe’s Sea Gypsy pupils battle workers to protect their passage to school
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022
Several young pupils from the local Sea Gipsy community on Koh Lipe in Satun province battled construction workers on Tuesday morning in a desperate attempt to protect the only passage to school which has been used since the days of their ancestors.
The pupils of the Ban Koh Lipe School in Satun gathered in front of the school on Tuesday morning when workers were building an iron fence to block the road they have been using as access to their school.
The kids from the Urak Lawoi community tried to yank the steel pipes away from the workers and several of them were slightly injured during the fight.
Several other students sat down on the road and they raised their hands to show respect to the workers and begged them to stop blocking the school’s entrance.
The tension between the school and a business tycoon, who claimed the right to the land of the passage, started on November 25 when he sent workers to build the iron fence to block the school’s entrance.
The community has earlier sought help from the provincial administration and several agencies, including the National Human Rights Commission, to save the school and community from what they called intrusions by tourism business operators on the island.
The community has even launched a campaign on Facebook, urging tourists to boycott the island as tourism operators have been blocking the sea gipsy community from access to the sea, their graveyard and public utilities and trying to evict sea gipsy families who have been living on the island without land documents since the days of their ancestors.
On Tuesday, the students told local reporters that other access to the school have been blocked so they tried to protect the only remaining passage. They said the workers have already put up an iron fence to block the school entrance so they had to climb over it into and out of the school.
They decided to fight the workers to prevent them from further reinforcing the fence to prevent students from climbing.
“We cried, we begged. We rarely slept because we had to take turns to watch over the passage. If we don’t watch it, they will come to extend the fence,” a student said.
The students said workers also hit their hands when they tried to yank away steep pipes from the workers and students turned to seek help from policemen guarding the spot to no avail.
Sukhon Pa-ah, a resident of the Urak Lawoi community, said the road, which the tycoon claimed to own, has been used by local villagers for over 100 years as a passage to school, to a local hospital and to the beach.
Earlier, the community sent an open letter to the PM’s Office to seek help and Thatchayanut Jiathanakan, secretary to PM’s Office Minister Anucha Nakasai, has visited the island.
Thatchayanut said Anucha would visit Satun to hear the complaints of local people on Wednesday and Thursday during hearings to be held at the Satun provincial administration.
The sea gipsy people in the community said they have been using the road since 1909 so they wondered why the Satun land office could issue a land document to cover the public road.
In their complaint sent to the National Human Rights Commission late last month, the Urak Lawoi people said a woman, Dara Angchotphan, somehow managed to get a NorSor3 document to claim ownership of a plot that also covers the road in 2014.
Dara then sold the land to Komsak Eiewlek, who has been trying to occupy the land and evict Urak Lawoi people, leading to legal lawsuits.
The complaint said Komsak sent his workers to erect an iron fence to block the passage that the community has been using since 1909 as access to the school, a local hospital, a graveyard and access to the sea.
Gen Surin Pikulthong, a former chairman of a committee in charge of solving problems of sea Gypsies, said the Sea Gypsies on Lipe has migrated from Koh Lanta and two other islands to live on Lipe since the reign of King Rama V. Surin said their plight began since 1974 when the government announced the national park zone over their land. Their plights were later aggravated by tycoons who turned up to claim ownership over their land.
On Tuesday, the students told local reporters that other access to the school have been blocked so they tried to protect the only remaining passage. They said the workers have already put up an iron fence to block the school entrance so they had to climb over it into and out of the school.
Earlier, the community sent an open letter to the PM’s Office to seek help and Thatchayanut Jiathanakan, secretary to PM’s Office Minister Anucha Nakasai, has visited the island.
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