Naruemon Chuaysombat, an official of the Provincial Electricity Authority, also gave alleged killer Ronnachai Panchart, 26, a ride to the home of his fiancee, Nontiya Kruajatturat, to kill her in cold blood, and waited at an arranged place to pick him up after the murder.

Sonthichai said that when all of that was done, Naruemon then helped find a place to throw away the weapon. She was accused of three charges, including premeditated murder.

The commander was speaking at a press conference in which both suspects were also present. Ronnachai, who was scheduled to wed Nontiya tomorrow, had earlier tried to convince his bride-to-be to cancel the wedding as he had already made Naruemon his new girlfriend.

Nontiya repeatedly refused, leading to a heated argument. Police said that at about 1am on Tuesday, Naruemon dropped off Ronnachai near Nontiya’s home in Salui community hospital, where she worked.

The suspect then quietly broke into his fiancee’s room and found her sleeping with the television on. The victim, police said, woke up and asked who was there in the dark and Ronnachai fired the gun at her chest, instantly killing her.

He fled the scene, met up with Naruemon and left in her car. They then threw away the weapon, which has since been recovered by the police.

Ronnachai earlier told police that he was drunk on the night of the murder and did not intend to kill Nontiya, who he said had followed him and his new girlfriend and repeatedly made threats against both of them.

Family of the victims claimed that cash of Bt700,000 and Bt10-worth of gold went missing from her room.

“The government assigned the Culture Ministry to deconstruct the Royal Crematorium of HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej by next March,” Vira said at the Royal Crematorium in Sanam Luang.

The process will begin around mid-January.

“Some pavilions will be rebuilt permanently at the new museum and Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Pathom’s Salaya, while sculptures and other decorative art will also be housed at the new museum and Fine Arts Department for research,” he added. More than 3.3 million visitors have attended the Royal Crematorium Exhibition since it opened almost two months ago. The exhibition will run until December 31.

The ministry will present special Khon performances on December 30 and 31.

“As the Royal Crematorium is a temporary structure, audiences should visit soon. We hope the new museum devoted to the Royal Cremation of the late King Rama IX will be a new learning centre,” Vira said.

He said wood and metal from the Royal Crematorium would be reused in the new museum. “The new museum will cost about Bt80 million. It is located on a four-rai plot of land in Pathum Thani’s Klong 5. The exhibition space is around 10,000 square metres, including the Anodard Pond at the Royal Crematorium,” said Anan Choochote, director-general of the Fine Arts Department.

Anan said that the new museum would be located in a 200-rai compound, including the Supreme Artist Museum and the King Rama IX Archive. The new museum is expected to open in 2020.

Vira added other valuable decorative arts would also be on display at Klai Kangwon Palace, the primary summer royal residence of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and other museums.

Suan Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Chon Buri, which provided landscaping, will use some of the plants to decorate the Winter Festival at Dusit’s Sanam Sue Pha in February.

ACADEMICS expressed concern over an increasing trend of Thais seeking illegal ways to work abroad, which made them vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking and exploitation by their employer.

They urged the government to implement concrete measures to protect and help Thai workers in other countries.

The Thailand Research Fund yesterday hosted a seminar on transboundary migration and protection of Thai people overseas. The seminar heard that many Thai people are seeking easier but illegal ways to work in other countries, mostly South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia, and in the process are putting themselves at risk. While the earnings of Thai migrant workers can make a substantial contribution to the local economy, the families of these workers often have large debts because of the costs incurred in getting the overseas opportunity.

Kritaya Archavanitkul, a professor at Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research, said that migration and transboundary labour movement were a longstanding and understandable phenomenon of human society, as people travel to seek better opportunities. Kritaya said that working abroad can bring in higher income than in Thailand and it is the right of people to reside and work in another country. However, as working overseas is becoming increasingly popular among Thai people, human traffickers are taking advantage of those working abroad. “The problems of deception, tricking people to work as forced labour or in the sex industry are more prominent. Every year, an increasing number of people are becoming victims of such crimes, while there are still no concrete measures to protect or support Thai workers in other countries,” she said.

“We need more research into the labour movement and to have an official policy to oversee the export of Thai labour, especially when Thailand is part of the AEC [Asean Economic Community] which encourages free movement of labour.”

Samarn Laodumrongchai, a senior researcher at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies, said that his studies into Thai labour communities in South Korea and Taiwan, found that many Thai people prefer to seek easier, but illegal, ways to work in those countries. That makes them easy targets for traffickers, and vulnerable to being taken advantage of by bad employers. Samarn said the incentive of earning higher income than working domestically has led many Thais to seek employment in South Korea.

Thailand has a state-to-state employment permit system with South Korea that provides a legal path for Thai labour to work there. And South Korea has a very tough approach to discourage illegal immigration. Still, many people still choose to unlawfully enter and work in the country via illegal agencies.

“The illegal workers in South Korea are facing many problems,” said Samarn. “For instance, they are not protected by the laws, most employers take their documents away and do not provide them proper welfare and salary. Many people are also becoming victims of human trafficking and are forced to work in the sex industry.”

The unnamed school director was accused of taking a Bt30,000 bribe from each teacher in exchange for approving special promotions.

He has been transferred from the school in Kuchi Narai district to an inactive post at the Primary Educational Service Area Office 3 indefinitely pending the results of a fact-finding investigation, which is expected within 15 days.

The six teachers, led by Wassana Pongratchata, had filed a complaint with the Kalasin Dhamrongtham Center and the provincial education office chief and submitted evidence that included documents and video clips last month. They called for the school director to be punished for such a serious ethical breach.

Wassana said her group wanted Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to have related agencies investigate the director’s alleged bribe-taking. The teachers also want officials to provide them security as they claimed to have received death threats after their accusations.

Primary Educational Service Area Office 3 chief Panrat Poltua also went to meet Kalasin Dhamrongtham Centre director Chuleeporn Phusomsri. He said his office had assigned a fact-finding panel to investigate the case and had transferred the accused on Thursday.

Cherng Talay’s Orbortor, President, Ma-Ann Samran, visited Laypang with about 30 military officers and local police to follow up on the progress of the demolition of encroached restaurants and found that 70% of the restaurants had left.

After the Supreme Court ruled on November 1 that 178 rai of land on Laypang and Layan Beaches was public land, the OrBorTor ordered that nine restaurants along the foreshore precinct move out and demolish their buildings.

Although the majority have complied, a few remain and are still claiming they occupy the land as of right.

“Our visit today is to check if they have moved out already or not. We found that some of them remain on the land and some are also new people attempting to run businesses on public land. We need to crackdown on these remaining cases for which we will look into the law to see what we can do,” said Ma-Ann.

“We will visit the land again on January 2 which is the day specified by law enforcement.

“We found that the new people occupying the land started before the court judgement and claim that they have nothing to do with the nine businesses that the court ruled should move out.

“If they’re still there on January 2, however, we will file the case with the DSI [Department of Special Investigation] and will oppose their bail. Four or five of the new businesses have already been reported to the police, and have also been bailed. I believe they are not the real owners but sent by the old ones to occupy the land.”

Source: https://www.phuketgazette.net/news/70-illegal-businesses-laypang-beach-cleared-remain

National police deputy commissioner Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan, put out the invitation on Friday while inspecting the project’s area in Bangkok’s Min Buri district, including actress Khemanit “Pancake” Jamikorn’s home.

People can register for joining the project, now under the banner “Pracha Rath Ruamjai Dulae Kwamplodpai Ban Prachachon” (which translates as state-public collaboration to take care and guard people’s homes) at a local precinct.

Participants in the project, which runs from December 25 to January 3, 2018, can download a smartphone app, “Police I Lert U” that allows participants to receive alerts and updates.

Chalermkiat said the project would not just provide security for people’s homes during the key festivals, but also help police in their efforts to prevent drugs use and other holiday-related issues.

He said police would patrol all areas to prevent crimes with an emphasis on those houses enrolled in the project.

Khemanit said she had previously registered for the police’s house-sitting scheme over two previous long holiday periods and found it easy to sign up.

She said the need to visit Cambodia during the New Year’s holiday period led her to join again. Bangkok had 1,600 homes, including Min Buri’s 41 houses, registered in the police project during the last New Year’s holiday period.

Police will this year also be equipped with a portable camera that records images at various spots while officers were on patrol and send them to each area’s command centre.

The agency is checking the credibility of the clue before doing anything that might waste the state budget, DSI deputy chief Pol Major Suriya Singhakamon said on Friday.

Suriya also said that DSI officials, along with Pathum Thani senior monks and National Office of Buddhism representatives, had conducted an unannounced search of the temple on Wednesday night.

They found that the ex-abbot’s room in Daowadeung Building had no sign of anyone using it. He said the search was arranged in secret with unidentified monks who cooperated with the DSI request to check on the premises and to check on a report that some migrants were camping there.

A source from the DSI search operation said the agency had not previously conducted a search at the temple at night and needed to do so in order to compare what they found to the temple’s condition during the last daytime search.

The ex-abbot’s room appeared clean and unused, he said, although some items were reportedly moved.

The source said all evidence collected during the search was submitted for forensic tests.

The source added that investigators noticed that many monks had set up tents around the temple ground but would not commend as to why they would not sleep in the monks’ buildings.

DSI would now investigate the temple’s monks and close disciples who had records of travelling overseas, the source said.

    The 72-year-old’s crab-stuffed omelettes have always been popular among local gourmands, but her eponymous restaurant shot to global fame overnight after it was awarded a Michelin star this month at the launch of Bangkok’s first guide.

While she is proud of the achievement, former dressmaker Jay Fai is still adjusting to the media frenzy that has seized her open-air kitchen in Bangkok’s old quarter.

“There are advantages and disadvantages,” she told AFP as she flung ingredients into a wok, explaining she did not have time for a formal interview.

“The downside is being exhausted … Also, the government wants me to promote Thailand. I feel like I don’t have a choice,” she added.

She has been asked to appear at the seaside town of Hua Hin for an international tennis tournament this weekend, where she will teach top-ranked players to make her signature crab omelette and the Thai soup dish Tom Yum Kung.

“I will not be selling for two days,” she said ruefully, adding that she would even consider handing back the coveted star if it meant returning to her normal routine.

Any distraction from work means a loss of business for Jay Fai, whose spirited cooking style — a flurry of activity from grabbing handfuls of raw seafood to dishing out plates of the finished product — is one of the main attractions.

Her supersized portions of crab and jumbo prawns are also part of the draw, though the dishes are far pricier than the city’s average street vendor at upwards of $20 a pop.

The unflashy eatery, which has partial indoor seating, was the only streetside venue among the 17 Bangkok restaurants awarded stars on December 6, when Michelin unveiled its first guide for the Thai capital.

Michelin only awards stars to establishments with fixed addresses, leaving many of Bangkok’s famous roadside stalls out of the running at a time when the city is attempting to move them off the pavements and into organised markets.

Jay Fai had heard of the brand name Michelin but was not aware that the French tyre company had anything to do with cooking.

She is not the first chef to feel the heat over the flood of attention that comes with a Michelin star.

In September a chef in southern France with three stars said he wanted to be stripped of the award because of the “huge pressure” to meet its standards on a daily basis.

But Jay Fai’s colleagues are not worried about her.

“She’s quite strong. She never gets ill,” said Kung, an assistant who has worked there for 10 years.//AFP

The measures gifted under the banner “Kao Cheunban, Raeng Ngan Cheunjai” (nine refreshing things to please workers) are:

– “Cheunchop Chang Raeng Ngan”: A total of 77 service points will be set up nationwide to repair and maintain cars and motorcycles from December 29, 2017 to January 4

– “Cheunchom Chang Pracha Rath”: A total of 1,000 “Pracha Rath” repairmen nationwide whose skills are up to the ministry’s standard will repair appliances for a low-cost fee

– “Cheunmeun Mee Ngan Tham”: A total of 70,000 job positions would be available for disabled elderly people – the latter of whom would have 2,500 positions

– “Cheunban Ban Pracha Rath”: People insured under the Social Security Office (SSO) will be eligible for 5,000 house purchase loans, each worth up to Bt1 million, with a low annual interest rate of 3 per cent for three years from the Government Housing Bank, Government Savings Bank and Krungthai Bank

– “Cheunjai Kha Liangdo Butr”: About 1.2 million SSO insured persons will benefit from a recent hike to Bt600 per head per month in the child support allowance – compared to the previous rate of Bt400. The allowance is provided for up to three children and coverage from birth until six years of age.

– “Cheunjit Sitthi Phuprakanton”: About 2.4 million insured persons under the SSO Act’s Section 40 (including off-system workers, freelancers) will benefit from the recent hike of Bt300 per day in [temporary sickness or injury-induced inability to earn] income compensation, up from the previous Bt200 a day, and from a hike in death compensation to Bt40,000 from the previous Bt20,000

– “Cheunsook Riakrak Sitthi”: Convenient channels for SSO insured people’s inquiries about their entitled benefits and welfare via http://www.labour.go.th and the hotline 1506

– “Cheun Chiva Rairok Najor”: A smartphone application for office workers to download and learn to prevent and treat “sick office syndromes” and ensure a safe working environment

– “Cheunta Asa Raeng Ngan”: An addition of 253 volunteers in Bangkok to promote labour-related news and benefits . They join 7,200 such volunteers already enrolled nationwide.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday presided over a ceremony to mark the commencement of the project in partnership with China at a historical site in Pakchong district’s Tambon Klangdong in Nakhon Ratchasima province, where King Rama V initiated construction of the country’s first Northeast-bound railroad more than a century ago.

The ceremony was also attended by a senior representative from the Chinese government, which signed a bilateral agreement with Thailand to provide high-speed train technology in late 2014.

Prayut said the project was the first phase of the Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed train system, which would connect Thailand with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, as well as with China and India in subsequent stages.

Once completed, the route is meant to position Thailand as a transport and logistics hub for Asean and Southeast Asia.

The project is also meant to be connected with China’s high-speed train system as part of the One Belt, One Road cross-border development programme recently launched by China based on the ancient Silk Road, covering more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe and other continents. The premier said the project would boost Thailand’s economic potential and create new trade, investment and tourism opportunities for the benefit of towns and cities along the route from Bangkok to the northeastern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima and Nong Khai, which border Laos.

Those benefits were aimed at helping reduce economic inequality and redistribute wealth, while saving commuting time and expenses between Bangkok and the Northeast.

In addition, it would reduce |pollution and the number of accidents caused by congested |highway traffic.

The premier also urged government agencies to reform city planning and related laws to take advantage of new urban development resulting from the high-speed train project.

Arkhom said a total of 13 construction contracts for the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima route would be open for bidding in 2018 so that construction could be completed and the system become operational in 2021.

Subsidiary firms to be set up

Arkhom said Deputy Transport Minister Pairin Chuchotetaworn would be responsible for setting up subsidiary companies under the State Railway of Thailand to ensure the project was economically viable with a break-even point achieved in 30 years.

Separate business units will be established to take care of commercial and related operations so that they have flexibility to run the service and compete with low-cost airlines for passengers, since the project requires a massive investment of nearly Bt180 billion in the first phase.

Fares will start at Bt195 from Bangkok’s Bang Sue station to Ayutthaya and increase to Bt278 to Sara Buri, Bt393 to Pak Chong and Bt535 to Nakhon Ratchasima.

In the following stage, the route will be extended to Nong Khai, where the system will be connected with the high-speed train system in Laos, where China has also worked with Vientiane to create a linkage with its own high-speed train system in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

Besides Thailand and Laos, the cross-border system could be further extended into other Asean countries including Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar.

In addition to the Thai-Chinese railway project, the Thai government has also worked with Japan to develop the Bangkok-Chiang Mai bullet train project with an investment estimated to be more than Bt400 billion.