A total of 3,005,206 visitors reportedly visited the site from its opening until Tuesday. Visitors to the site, which will remain open for public viewing until the end of this month, will also be able to take away a new souvenir.

“As the huge crowds have been so interested in the exhibition, the Culture Ministry is printing a second collection of postcards as well as exhibition brochures in Thai, English and Chinese, which will be released on Friday,” Vira said.

“Before wrapping up the exhibition, we will also present a special 90-minute khon performance in front of the Songtham Pavilion at 7pm on December 30 and 31.”

The second set of souvenir postcards, created in nine different patterns, will be handed out to people visiting the Royal Crematorium and exhibition at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang ceremonial ground. A different card will be handed out each day on rotation until December 31.

The first postcard depicts a portrait of the late King Rama IX during a train trip to visit his subjects.

The second postcard shows the Royal Cremation’s second procession.

The third postcard features a bird’s-eye view of the Royal Crematorium’s demonstration rice field, in the shape of the Thai number 9.

The first postcard depicts a portrait of the late King Rama IX during a train trip to visit his subjects across the country. The second features the Royal Cremation’s second procession, and the third a bird’s-eye view of the Royal Crematorium’s demonstration rice field, which is in the shape of the Thai number 9.

The fourth postcard displays the elaborate Royal Crematorium fire screens, or “Chak Bang Phloeng”, and the fifth depicts sculptures of mythical Himapan Forest creatures and the scaled-down Anodard Pond at the crematorium. The sixth features sculptures of Himapan Forest creatures that decorate the east side of the Royal Crematorium, and the seventh shows a live khon performance in front of Songtham Pavilion.

The sculpture of the late King’s favourite pet dogs, Khun Thong Daeng and Khun Jocho, in front of Songtham Pavilion will feature on the eighth postcard, while the last depicts the Royal Crematorium by night.

The postcards will be handed out to each visitor. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, khon performances will be held from 7pm to 7.30pm in front of Songtham Pavilion.

The former street pup nearly lost his life last year after a Bangkok man hacked off his front legs with a sword in revenge for chewing up his boots.

A quick trip to the vet saved Cola but left him with two amputated, kangaroo-like stumps for front paws.

Today, his tongue is lolling about and his tail is wagging wildly as he bounds across the sand on carbon-fibre blades, similar to those made famous by Paralympian runner Oscar Pistorius.

The lightweight legs were tailor made for the high-energy hound, who loves to run and was encumbered by previous, heavier prosthetics.

“(These legs) give him a lot more balance, a lot more spread,” said Cola’s owner John Dalley, who founded the Thailand-based ‘Soi Dog’ foundation that helps strays.

He and his late wife rescued Cola after the attack and brought the dog down to the beaches of Phuket.

“It’s actually quite amazing how adaptable dogs are and how forgiving they are,” he added as Cola — who shows no fear of humans despite his trauma — curled up around his feet.

While other dogs have been fitted with a variety of prosthetics, Cola is believed to be the first to receive the pricey ‘suspended’ blades.

The blades curl up in an ‘C’ shape, while the amputated limbs rest in a silicon socket.

Cola’s prosthetics were developed by orthopaedist Bendt Soderberg, who works at a hospital in Phuket, and are still being fine-tuned to fit the mutt.

“What we wanted to achieve was…something that was not so heavy, that could be a bit flexible in the feet so that when he jumps and bounces they would not be completely stiff,” said Teddy Fagerstrom, director of the orthopaedic lab.

His team, who until now has only worked with humans, is also hoping Cola will raise awareness among Thais about the benefits of higher-tech prosthetics.

The winsome dog, grinning and panting as he laps up attention, is a fitting poster-child for taking the use of artificial limbs in stride.

“(Cola) is not embarrassed being an amputee. He just acts as he always does,” said Fagerstrom.

“I think he will show that having a good pair of legs will make it possible for you to continue to run and have fun.”//AFP

His wife received a 25-year jail term while his two sons were given death sentences.

Laota, his wife and two sons were arrested at a petrol station in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district late last year in sting operation, in which 500,000 “yaba” amphetamine pills and 31.8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine were seized.

Laota, 77, his wife, Asama Seanlee, 67, and their two sons, Wicharn Seanlee, 41, and Baramee Barameekuakoolsup, 38, were taken to the court at 9am accompanied by another suspect who was arrested with them, Rapikarn Pophetchalak, 57.

Asama was initially given a life sentence but the court commuted the sentence to 25 years because she pleaded guilty. The court also ordered Laota and his wife to pay Bt2.5-million fines each.

The court convicted Rapikarn of distributing drugs and sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fine of Bt5 million.

The couple’s two sons, Wicharn, and Baramee, who were both carrying guns when they were arrested, were sentenced to death.

After hearing the sentences, all of the defendants filed appeals.

Laota is a former village headman who was reportedly close to the deceased Khun Sa. He was previously arrest for allegedly possessing heroin with the intent to sell, but he was acquitted by a court. He was later tried by the Fang provincial court on a murder charge but was again acquitted.

Drug enforcement authorities had been keeping a close watch on him until they arrested him in Chiang Mai late last year.

Immigration officials detained 34-year-old Luke Joshua Cook and his Thai wife Kanyarat Wedphitak at Bangkok’s main airport on Saturday for attempting to smuggle half a tonne of crystal meth into Thailand in 2015.

Cook is accused of trying to bring the drugs to land from a boat moored in the Gulf of Thailand. He was spooked by a patrol boat and threw a large amount of the “ice” overboard. Around 50 kilogrammes of the drug later washed up on Thailand’s southern coast.

Cook’s arrest comes amid a widening crackdown against the Hells Angels, who have chapters based in Bangkok and Pattaya, a Thai resort notorious for its seedy nightlife and criminal networks.

Police conducted raids on the motorcycle gang’s residences and businesses in Pattaya last week and on Sunday, seizing money, property, vehicles and guns.

“It is a big transnational crime organisation which is just escalating its operations in Thailand,” Major General Apichat Sirisith told reporters on Tuesday as police revealed Cook’s arrest.

With roots in the US, the Hells Angels spread to other countries, establishing chapters around the world.

The Australian Hells Angels are notorious for prostitution, racketeering, drugs and arms trafficking, and have expanded operations into Southeast Asia as authorities catch up with them on home soil.

Their Pattaya chapter grabbed headlines in early 2015 when an Australian Hells Angel leader was found dead after being kidnapped by masked men.

Earlier this year, Australian national Antonio Bagnato, 28, was convicted of the murder of a Wayne Schneider earlier this year and sentenced to death, a verdict rarely carried out in Thailand.

Schneider was once on an Australian “most wanted” list for shooting a bouncer in the knee outside a Sydney nightclub.

Bagnato was also a suspect in a 2014 Sydney murder.

Both moved to Thailand and chose to live in Pattaya.

Cook is believed to have helped the Bagnato escape to Cambodia where he was later arrested, Thai police said.//AFP

The court also set conditions that Wanna is not allowed to travel outside the country and is forbidden from tampering with witnesses or evidence in the case. She also has to report to probation officials on appointed dates, her lawyer said.

The pregnant 29-year-old Phang Nga native, who returned to Thailand on November 22 with her two young children, was taken into court-ordered detention a day after her arrival.

She is charged with many counts in connection with the blast that struck the world-famous Erawan Shrine in the heart of Bangkok on August 17, 2015, which killed 20 people and injured many more.

She allegedly rented rooms for suspected bombers Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mierali, who were friends of her Turkish husband Emrah Davutoglu.

Karadag and Mierali have been held at a special detention facility at the 11th Army Circle headquarters pending court interviews of 100 prosecution witnesses.

Wanna had been living under house arrest in Turkey with Davutoglu, who is also a suspect in the case, for the past few years.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) last Friday unveiled the robot as part of the company’s collaboration with Prince of Songkla University’s Faculty of Engineering under the “PTTEP Love Sea Love Beach” project.

According a demonstration at Songkhla’s Samila Beach, the key advantages of the beach cleaning robot, which has been under development since last year, are:

+ Its ability to effectively scoop up and quickly separate rubbish from sand through a vibrating sieve;

+ Its small size, which enables collection of garbage around trees, wich is usually for tractor-pulled beach cleaners; and

+ Its use of a rechargeable battery.

Importantly, the robot can be built locally, saving import costs from having to import.

PTTEP also announced it would continue to support improvements to the robot’s capabilities before it enters full operation.

Vinit Hansamuit, senior vice president, technology and knowledge management division, PTTEP, said “The beach-cleaning robot is one of many green innovations that reflect PTTEP’s commitment to environmental sustainability through research and development collaborations with education institutions, supporting the education sector to create new technologies for practical application.”

Prince of Songkla University mechanical engineering lecterer Pruittikorn Smithmaitrie said: “Collaboration with PTTEP gives us the opportunity to develop innovation that address local problems and to augment the skills and practical experience of our students.”

In the wake of a report that 66 Thais had died in South Korea this year, mainly from illnesses related to extreme cold – such as stroke, heart failure, pneumonia and sudden “nocturnal death syndrome” – the embassy posted on Facebook this week that people need to keep warm, eat nutritious food, avoid alcohol, get enough sleep and be mindful of their surroundings.

Rungrangsri Park, who works as a Korean-Thai interpreter, posted on Facebook last week that a 46-year-old Thai woman had on December 3 suffered a stroke induced by exposure to extreme cold, just over a week after she arrived in South Korea.

Paralysed and in critical condition, she is being treated in hospital, Rungransri said. Her medical bill to date is 25 million won (about Bt750,000).

The embassy said 29 Thais in South Korea died in 2012 and 72 in 2016.

It said Thais working illegally in South Korea were particularly at risk because they were not covered by state welfare and could be forced to work in difficult conditions.

Such workers must cover their own medical expenses, and treatment can be expensive, it said. Expenses their families incur should they die are unlikely to cover related expenses, it said.

Nong Khai Customs chief Nimit Saeng-ampai said on Wednesday the suspects’ Toyota Land Cruiser had been in and out of Thailand at least nine times.

The same vehicle is believed to have been used to transport cash each time, possibly to avoid detection by Lao authorities, he said.

Tuesday’s stash was allegedly found hidden inside milk boxes and in the engine compartment.

Investigators from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Anti-Money Laundering Office joined Customs agents in examining the case of arrested siblings Suebanh Tiasili, 30, and Khumborn Tiasyly, 24.

The duo applied for bail release, offering to leave all the confiscated cash to the Thai state, Nimit said.

They were released on bail, but the cash and vehicle were seized, along with their passports, pending further investigation.

Nimit said officials were trying to verify the brothers’ claim that their family was in the currency-exchange business and they’d collected US$2.8 million worth of Thai banknotes at various banks in Nong Khai to take into Laos.

He noted that the baht was currently stronger against the US dollar than the Lao kip, so it was unlikely the money exchange was aimed at turning a profit.

Thai law prohibits amounts exceeding Bt450,000 to be carried outside the country without the relevant officials being notified.

Suthep Chitayawong, secretary-general of the Office of the National Vocational Education Commission, said General Sathitpong Sukwimol, the King’s principal private secretary, held a meeting with him and PM’s Office permanent secretary Patcharaporn Inseeyong recently to discuss the problem.

During the meeting, the secretary conveyed the King’s concern about hyacinths, weeds and pollution on Klong Prem Prachakorn and nearby areas.

The King is concerned about people living along the canal and nearby areas and that hyacinths would affect their transportation, Suthep said. The King has assigned a special unit of His Majesty’s officials in charge of organising volunteers to regularly organise collection of hyacinths on the canal, Suthep said.

Suthep said his office had been assigned to work with vocational schools to come up with innovations to get rid of hyacinths on Klong Prem Prachakorn and Klong Rangsit and for collecting garbage and increasing oxygen in the water.

The innovations are expected to be ready by next month, he added.

He said Education Minister Thirakiart Charoensethsilp has been informed of the King’s concern and he has set up a panel to follow up on the issue, Suthep said.

Former Pol Lieutenant Charoon Wimul claimed two senior police officers in Kanchanaburi province had tried to persuade him to say that he found the lottery tickets that won the big prize in the November 1 draw. “But the truth is that I bought those tickets myself,” he said.

Charoon and his lawyer, Sittra Biabangkerd, went to Bangkok yesterday from Kanchanaburi to submit the petition to Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda at the National Police Office.

Pol Colonel Yosawin Hassamon accepted the petition on Chakthip’s behalf.

Sittra said the two senior policemen apparently tried to distort facts during an interview with the media. “They suggested that my client could not remember the vendor as well as the place or time of the lottery purchase,” Sittra said. “That’s not true.”

Charoon said although he could not remember the face of the lottery seller, he remembered where he bought the tickets and when.

Sittra said the actions taken by the local senior officers raised doubts whether they would try to tamper with evidence. The lawyer said the senior policemen also changed information on the case during three different TV interviews.

“I have submitted clips of the interviews for the national police chief to see,” Sittra said.

Charoon is contesting allegations that he does not legitimately own the winning lottery tickets.

The allegations were raised by teacher Preecha Kraikruan, who produced a female lottery vendor as a witness that he was the actual buyer of the winning tickets. Preecha has been a regular customer of the vendor.

Preecha said he lost the tickets after purchasing five that eventually won a combined Bt30 million.

Charoon and Preecha both live in Kanchanaburi, the province where the winning tickets were sold.

Deputy police spokesman Pol Colonel Krisana Pattanacharoen said yesterday that if Charoon was uncomfortable having local police handle the investigation, it was possible that the National Police Office might assign Provincial Police Region 7 to take over the case.

“The national police chief has already made it clear that the investigation must be fair and in line with the proper process,” he said.

He added that forensic tests were being conducted to identify the real winner of the Bt30-million contested lottery prize from the November 1 draw.

Meanwhile, Buri Ram police yesterday announced that latent fingerprint tests had already given police crucial clues about the identity of the real winner of a separate Bt12-million lottery in August.

Nang Rong Police Station superintendent Pol Colonel Sompop Sangkornthong said tests had not found the latent fingerprints of Phansak Suachoomseang on four winning lottery tickets, which he had claimed were stolen from him after his purchase.

Phansak lodged a complaint with police about the theft on August 20 after learning of the lottery results in the August 16 draw.

The four winning lottery tickets are linked to Bt12-million in prizes.

A couple who lives in Roi Et have already claimed the prizes.

“Latent fingerprint tests show the fingerprints of the couple on the tickets,” Sompop said.

He added that the couple had cashed in six tickets for Bt18-million prizes.