ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS believe that the junta’s order on Tuesday to suspend gold mining operations is not final and there is room to reverse the decision or amend the order, even as Akara Resources pledged to comply with the diktat and stop mining operations.

About 1,000 workers at the Chatree gold mine in Phichit province will likely to lose their jobs due to the order, according to a source at the company.

The order issued under Article 44 on Tuesday by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) called for the cessation of all gold mining operations with effect from January 1. The NCPO ordered relevant state agencies not to issue or renew gold mine exploration or mining concessions or metallurgy permits, because of conflicts over gold-mining operations in the country.

However, experts urged the public to closely monitor implementation of the order.

Currently there are two gold-mining operators in Thailand: Akara Resources, which owns the Chatree gold mine in Phichit, and Thung Kham, which owns a gold mine in Loei province. However, Akara’s mine is the only one in operation currently. and this NCPO order mainly intended to tackle the problems and conflict according to Chatree gold mine.

The secretary-general of the environmental law watchdog EnLAW Thai Foundation, Surachai Throngngam, said yesterday the order to suspend gold mining after the New Year was not aimed at permanently shutting gold mines. He said the order left space for amendment and changes in policy.

“Section 8 of the order clear states that in the right situation, the prime minister or relevant agencies could ask the NCPO to revise the order. We have to monitor the implementation of the order in the long term,” Surachai said. “This includes the environmental rehabilitation programme because, while the order requires the mining companies to restore the mining areas, the penalties for not doing so are too little – only a fine of up to Bt20,000 – which cannot compare with the rehabilitation costs of millions of baht.”

Contamination of environment

Akara Resources was accused of contaminating the nearby environment with heavy metals and cyanide from its gold mining operations. Protesters said many people in the vicinity of the gold mine were getting sick and some had died due to continuous exposure to dangerous substances leaking from the gold mine. A conflict ensued between protesters and supporters of the mine.

Maha Sarakham University lecturer Chainarong Sretthachau expressed concerns that the mining operators might not properly rehabilitate the environment because it would be a costly and complicated task.

“I am worried that the gold-mine restoration operation carried out by the mining company will not be enough to restore the healthy environment. This mission needs close supervision by academics and it will be very expensive, especially if there is heavy metal contamination to deal with,” Chainarong said.

He added that an investigation on heavy metal contamination was still under way.

Commenting on the NCPO action, Surachai said he dis-|agreed with issuing the order using the NCPO’s absolute power because the exercise of such power was unjust and could not be checked.

“Public participation was excluded from monitoring the mine restoration. Instead of using this special power to solve the problem case by case, the government should draft a law to protect the environment and set a proper mine-restoration procedure, as |it will become a legal tool for |everyone to use to protect the environment and people’s rights,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akara Resources said in a statement yesterday that company executives were extremely surprised by the NCPO order and as a result would have to lay off all of the company’s employees.

A source at Akara Resources said about 1,000 workers at Chatree gold mine would lose their jobs. The company statement said that dismissed employees who had worked at the company for more than 10 years would receive a compensation package of 300 days’ salary.

The Labour Ministry has already set up a plan to train workers affected by the mine closure, give them advice and find them new jobs.

In the announcement via Facebook Live, Ongart said he had not intended to make public statements that incited disaffection in a manner likely to cause a disturbance, as specified by Section 116. He added that he was ready to prove his innocence in the judicial process.

Ongart said his statement on Sunday, which precipitated the DSI complaint, simply conveyed facts to the media and stated principles to enable authorities to understand how temple supporters thought and felt so they could resolve the problem peacefully.

He said the DSI should listen to public opinion about how the agency could improve rather than fight with people such as his group, which had expressed opinions and suggestions to the DSI.

The temple’s founder and former abbot, Phra Dhammachayo, faces arrest warrants relating to the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement case and a separate allegation of land encroachment.

The fugitive monk is believed to be at the Pathum Thani-based Dhammakaya Temple, while the DSI and police are planning an operation to arrest him.

The DSI cancelled an operation that was scheduled for last Tuesday, which was backed by a warrant that expires tomorrow. It was aborted due to a “lack of preparedness”, authorities said, adding that a new search warrant was being sought to allow a continuous search for four days.

Dhammakaya Temple yesterday cleared containers and foundation pillars that had blocked the temple’s fourth gate and removed CCTV cameras from a bridge over a canal leading to the temple. Plastic net sheeting was still in place on the bridge, from where temple monks have been seen observing police checkpoints.

Police had set up seven checkpoints around the temple to prevent the possibility of trouble caused by unidentified third parties, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the former deputy director-general for the Forestry Department and expert court witness on aerial photography, Withoon Chalaiyonnawin, has filed a libel complaint against Ongart at Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang Police Station.

Previously Ongart had said that Withoon was an “unreliable witness” in the case against Phra Dhammachayo involving forest encroachment.

Withoon said he had given his opinion in the land encroachment case in line with his professional expertise and that his status as a court expert was still valid.

He added that he was in the process of appealing his recent dismissal from the Forestry Department, which he claimed stemmed from internal conflicts within the organisation.

The suspect is believed to have been released from jail two months ago after serving a sentence for a similar crime, police deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Krisana Pattanacharoen said yesterday.

The warrant was issued by Taling Chan Court after the suspect was shown in CCTV footage. Rape is punishable by between four and 20 years in jail, and a fine of between Bt4,000 and Bt40,000, Krisana said.

Krisana said national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda was very concerned about the case which had caused damage not just to the victim but to the country’s reputation.

A source said the warrant was issued for motorcycle taxi driver Ekburut Ritrakkhapan, 32, who disappeared three days ago. The source said police were looking to clarify why the victim was seen riding pillion on the suspect’s motorcycle in the CCTV footage.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lt-General Sanit Mahathavorn yesterday urged the suspect to surrender to police to tell his side of the story. Sanit said the case was being treated as rape following tests on samples taken from the woman during a physical examination.

The 23-year-old woman, who was due to return to Australia next week, initially told police she flagged a tuk-tuk for a ride back to her lodgings after drinking heavily but was taken to the secluded spot in front of a deserted building and attacked by the driver and his friend.

But Sanit later said the tourist was mistaken, as CCTV footage showed a suspect riding a motorcycle.

The PM said his administration would comply with the new monarch’s intention to follow in his father’s footsteps in developing the country.

“His Majesty the King talked to certain Cabinet members and suggested that the government should do their duty to make the people happy as much as possible under his reign. He said that the guidelines suggested by the King Father over the 70 years of his reign must be fully followed,” Prayut said.

He added that the new monarch’s particular areas of concern were education, human-resource development, public health, job creation and quality of life, in addition to ensuring peace in society.

“We all would like to meet the intention of His Majesty the new King, with the use of the King’s science suggested by King Rama IX. This is a great royal kindness for the people,” the prime minister said.

Prayut also said that King Bhumibol had advocated sufficiency-economy principles and development based on both Western and oriental ways, in order to ensure sustainability.

“Development in the oriental style may be slow, but we can be sure of sustainability and stability,” he added.

The premier was speaking at a meeting of state agency chiefs, state enterprise executives and provincial governors on government policies regarding state budgeting for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years.

At the event, which was held at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi province, participants were encouraged to prepare their projects in line with the government’s 20-year master plan for strategic development.

Meanwhile, prominent social critic Prawase Wasi yesterday said members of the public needed to make use of King Bhumibol’s teachings and guidelines, which were based on his experiences during a seven-decade reign.

Prawase said that thanks to his actual experiences with problems in rural areas, the late King had a good understanding of development in a balanced and integrated manner. He said the sufficiency-economy philosophy was just one example of King Bhumibol’s teachings that had been put into practice and yielded actual results.

Prawase, who serves as a board member of Mahidol University, made the comments during a speech at an event to mark the 47th anniversary of the establishment of the university’s Faculty of Social Science and Humanities.

Regarding the government policy of handing out money to the poor, he said he did not think this would help ease the problem of inequality.

“It’s like giving paracetamol to patients to treat their severe pain,” he suggested.

Tanapon Pareesen, 43, has denied wrongdoing in the gruesome killing but his neighbour, Niran Kaewtecha, has confessed to his own involvement and implicated Tanapon.

The murder is believed to have taken place on Friday before the victim Janjira Kerdlaew, a 50-year-old nurse working in Chiang Mai province, was reported missing by Tanapon.

“We have found convincing evidence against the husband,” Chiang Mai police chief Pol Colonel Piyaphan Pattarapongsin said yesterday.

Niran told police Tanapon had hired him to kill Janjira out of anger because she had verbally abused him for having extramarital affairs. They had split twice because of his womanising but got back together in February, he said.

Niran said Tanapon initially offered him Bt100,000 to dispose of Janjira’s body but eventually told him to take possession of her car instead. Police found the car in Niran’s possession.

“Tanapon squeezed her throat until she lost consciousness and put her body in her own car and told me to get rid of her body,” Niran reportedly said in his confession to police.

He added that he thought Janjira was dead when he decided to set her body on fire but she suddenly showed signs of struggle. “Anyway, I continued the burning,” he said.

Niran was released from jail three months ago after completing a separate sentence for rape.

Tanapon, who is now in custody as a witness, went to police on Sunday to report that his wife been missing since Friday. Police later found the burned body in the plantation.

DNA tests are being carried out to confirm it is Janjira’s corpse, as Niran has confessed.

Documents found in Janjira’s locker at work suggested she had feared for her life for some time, police said, adding that Tanapon had financial troubles.

“The husband also contacted a lawyer even before he contacted police,” Piyaphan said.

“My mindset is to deliver now,” Aswin said at a press conference on the new city administration’s policies yesterday.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as head of the National Council for Peace and Order, exercised his power under Article 44 of the interim constitution to remove MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra as Bangkok governor in mid-October and replace him with Aswin.

“I’ve come to power through a special process and will use that special process to solve Bangkok’s problems and make improvements,” Aswin said.

He said he would not stay in the post for long so he would deliver solutions as fast as possible.

Aswin announced one “special mission”, five immediately implemented policies and 19 “urgent missions”.

The special mission is to take care of mourners who queue at Sanam Luang to pay respects before the body of the late monarch HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“We ensure safety and orderliness in the area. Food and medical services are provided,” Aswin said.

Since the king died on October 13, more than 1 million people have made the pilgrimage to the Grand Palace to pay their respects.

Immediately implemented policies came under five headings – clean, convenient, safe, good quality of life and sufficiency – the governor said.

“Clean” referred to clean public areas and transparency in the city administration, he said. Convenient meant providing public convenience such as ensuring city residents can avoid the inconvenience of floods or vehicles on their footpaths. Safe covered various aspects of safety including efforts to combat harmful pollution, prevent fires, and reduce secluded and dangerous spots, Aswin said.

“Regarding quality of life, we will for example grow more trees, particularly the tree associated with King Rama X,” he said.

He said shantytowns would be improved and developed as strong communities whereby residents would have areas for exercise and constructive activities.

“Sufficiency is about following King Rama IX’s philosophy,” Aswin said.

Asked how he could stop motorcycles using footpaths, the new governor said: “Starting from today, motorcyclists found on footpaths in Bangkok will immediately be fined Bt5,000.”

The amendment has triggered concern that rights and liberties will be further restricted at a time when the country is under a military-led government. Critics fear that authorities will take advantage of the revised law to control the flow of news and information. They also worry that the cybercrime law may be used against political opponents of the government, restricting their freedom of expression.

The amendments will make it easier for authorities to block access to websites with content they deem threatening to national security, public order or moral standards. New bodies called Computer Data Filtering Committees will be given the power to petition courts to prevent dissemination of such material.

Article 4 of the amended law prohibits sending computer data or electronic mail to others in a manner that causes disturbance to them or their computer system, without allowing the recipients to opt out. Offenders will be subject to a fine of up to Bt100,000.

Article 5 makes illegal any act deemed to damage computer data or systems related to the country’s public or economic security or public services. This also targets any act against computer data or system available for public use. Penalties for violation are imprisonment for between one and seven years and a fine of Bt20,000 to Bt140,000.

Article 8 prohibits importation to a computer system of information that is false, dishonest, deceiving or pornographic. It also bans the importing of false information deemed damaging to national security, public safety, public services and infrastructure, or that which could cause public panic.

The new offences are wide-ranging and thus could allow authorities to take blanket legal action against alleged offenders.

Article 14 empowers authorities, with approval from the minister of digital economy and society, to petition the court for an order to restrain the dissemination of offending computer data. The court may order deletion of that data from the computer system. In case of emergency, ministerial approval can be dispensed with.

This clause also enshrines the formation of so-called Computer Data Filtering Committees, appointed by the minister of digital economy and society. These panels of five members (two drawn from the private sector) will act as cyber-censors, judging what and what is not permitted in the online world. They will have the power to seek court orders to block access or even close down websites. The panel members will act as “big brothers”, keeping an eye on netizens to check who is doing what online and in the social media. Those powers certainly constitute an invasion of privacy.

The freedom of social media users and other netizens and will be badly compromised when the new law takes effect. We must ask whether such draconian restrictions on freedom of expression could be issued under an elected administration.

NCPO chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha exercised the special power under Article 44 of Interim Charter to issue order 72/2559 to tackle problems allegedly linked to gold mines. The order will suspend the operation of mines and restrict related agencies from issuing or renewing gold exploration concessions, mining concessions, and metallurgy permits from January 1, till a national mining commission is set up and able to make other decisions.

Although mines have to suspend operating, they still have a duty to rehabilitate mining areas as per Environmental Impact Assessments. If gold mines do not comply with this order, their bosses could face up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to Bt20,000.

The order called on the Industry and Natural Resources and Environment ministries to oversee responsibility for environmental restoration.

On display at these facilities will be 28 exhibitions and 24 activities that pay tribute to the late king, who passed away on October 13.

Under the special “Night at the Museum” project, 16 museums will operate from 8am to 10pm between December 16 and 18 in his honour.

Participating museums include Museum Siam, Rajdamnoen Contemporary Art Centre, the Queen’s Gallery, Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, King Prajadhipok’s Museum, Bangkok Planetarium, and Art in Paradise Bangkok.

Meanwhile, the Culture Ministry has completed three sets of photo collections on the royal funeral of the late monarch.

“Each set has three volumes – one featuring events in Bangkok, another featuring events in provinces, and the other featuring events overseas,” Culture Minister Vira Rojpojanarat said yesterday.

He said 480 photographers had contributed to the compilations, a quarter of them professionals who volunteered their services for the task.

This combined with many people and organisations that submitted photos to the National Archives of Thailand.

Vira said many of these photos had already been selected for exhibitions in honour of the late king.

Mobile exhibitions will be staged at venues across the country. For example, one exhibition will be held in Lop Buri province from December 19 to 27.

“A photo exhibition has also been held in Bhutan between December 8 and 10,” the minister said.

Nantaka Phonlachai, acting chief of the National Archives of Thailand, said this was the first time her agency had gathered such complete information and photos through collaboration from all sectors.

“Volunteers from the people’s sector, in particular, have helped record all the events that happened in their areas and sent their recordings to us,” she said.

The archives agency had expected to receive contributions from all sectors till the royal funeral ceremonies ended.

“We believe the process will be year-long but everyone is willing to support our work,” she said.

Nantaka advised contributors to not heavily edit their photos, particularly by using black-and-white or sepia mode.

“We will put in our archives the photos that can tell stories,” she said.

Thailand Research Fund (TRF) discussed the bad performance at a press conference after research exposed problems in the current curriculum as well as considerable disparity driven by financial status.

The 2015 PISA academic evaluation scores, disclosed earlier this month, showed the academic performance of Thai students was far behind their peers from neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Vietnam. Thai students only ranked 54th in science and maths and 57th in reading out of 70 countries.

Pattamawadee Pochanukul, TRF deputy director and lecturer from Thammasat University’s Faculty of Economics, said research revealed that schools failed to foster critical thinking, analytical skills and logic among students. It also showed that financial disparity also affected students from developing these skills.

“TRF researchers focused on 2,901 Grade 6 students, 2,305 Grade 10 students and 1,029 vocational students from 10 provinces by testing them on an exam similar to the one at PISA. The test evaluated logical thinking and analytical skills, and learned that the average score was just 36.5 per cent, with just 2.09 per cent of all students passing the exam,” Pattamawadee said.

“Our research results were in line with the PISA score and showed that Thai students lack proper analytical ability and logical thinking skills. We need to do something to improve this situation.”

She added that the researchers also explored the factors that affected students’ analytical abilities and learned that school records, monthly income of the students’ family and additional tuition played a big part.

“We found that students whose families have a monthly income of Bt40,000 or more and can pay for extra tuition classes did better on our test. This shows that disparity in financial status plays a big part in students’ abilities,” she said.

“However, the finding that most stood out was that students with a high grade in school tended to have lower analytical and logical thinking skills.”

Sutheera Prasertsan, a lecturer from the Prince of Songkla University’s Engineering Faculty, noted that a curriculum that only focuses on learning by rote discourages the development of critical and logical thinking. In other words, students who get a high grade in school are only good at memorising, but perform poorly on solving problems on the basis of logic and analysis.

Sutheera, who has helped develop young researchers with TRF, said the country’s education system required reform at all levels as teaching methods had to be modernised, authoritarianism in classrooms abolished and students’ logic skills sharpened. Students should also focus more on reading and writing skills, he said.

“The problem with our education system is that there is no room for creativity and critical thinking, though this can be changed by changing the teacher-student relationship so students feel safe enough to express their ideas and exercise their abilities,” he said.

“Teachers will have to change their role and become a coach who helps students maximise their abilities and encourages their learning based on logical research.”

Pattamawadee agreed, adding that problems in Thailand’s education system, including disparity, could be resolved by reforming teaching methods and getting teachers to play a significant role.

“Disparity is obviously the key problem in our education system, but good teachers can greatly improve the situation even if they are in a small rural school. The government, however, also needs to step in and provide these teachers with sufficient resources,” she said.