Bangkok motorists, therefore, were advised by city police to avoid 24 roads that will be closed from noon on December 2.

It includes 11 roads on the Bangkok side of the Chao Phraya River: Samsen, Rama V, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ratvithi, Sri Ayutthaya, Phra Sumen, Lan Luang, Bumrung Muang, Charoen Krung, Yaowarat and Rama III. Thirteen roads on the Thon Buri side were: Charan Sanidwong, Arun Amarin, Issaraparp, Rajapreuk, Phetchkasem, Charoen Nakhon, Krung Thon Buri, Terdthai, Chom Thong, Ekkachai, Rat Burana, Pracha Uthit and Buddha Bucha.

Riders, wearing yellow or blue shirts, are to register for the rehearsal ride from noon for a 3pm start. The nine registration points are the Royal Plaza, the Khon Muang Plaza in front of new City Hall, Nang Loeng Racecourse, Sanam Luang, Phra Pin Klao Hospital, Taksin Intersection, Intharapitak Road, Phrapradaeng Arcade and Supanawa Group Warehouse.

First Army Region deputy chief Maj-General Narongpan Jitkaewthae said the bike route had 14 traffic risks which will be marked by signs. The speed will be limited to 15km/h.

The main ride on December 9 will open the second annual palace winter festival held at the Royal Plaza of Dusit Palace and Sanam Suea Pa until January 19. The event will be shown on television and distributed to 170 countries, said the director of the Public Relations Development Office, Aranya Ketkaew.

Acting Bangkok Mass Transit Authority director-general Prayoon Chuaikaeo said city buses on 15 routes would provide free rides for participants on December 9.

Fares on the skytrain, subway and expressways would also be waived for participants.

A deadline of November 29 was set by the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry which began the registration campaign on September 1, Huai Yot Fisheries Office head Thaweewat Longkhao said.

Items from the large fish, which is on the Wildlife Protection List, require a permit or the owner risks a Bt40,000 fine.

Thaweewat said Trang pawnshops had sought advice over their stock and were told they must register all their items and pass the certification on to people who acquire the goods later. Customers can then register the pawned items with their provincial fisheries office later.

After decades of impressive reductions in the numbers of undernourished people, hunger is again on the march. According to the latest report published jointly by FAO and four other UN agencies, 820 million people are malnourished.

“This is the third consecutive year that progress in ending hunger has stalled and now has actually increased,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. “Child stunting is a major problem and nearly two billion still suffer from hidden hunger or a deficiency of important nutrients. This also includes people who are overweight or obese.”

While there are big challenges in reaching Zero Hunger, FAO and IFPRI are stressing that the goal is still achievable, said Shenggen Fan, IFPRI Director General.

“Many countries – from China, to Ethiopia, to Bangladesh to Brazil – have achieved remarkable reductions in hunger and malnutrition, and those successes hold important lessons for the places currently struggling to make significant progress.”

The conference, attracting delegates primarily from Africa and Asia is providing a platform to accelerate the sharing of existing knowledge and tools.

While Africa continues to be the hungriest continent per capita, the Asia-Pacific region has the highest total number of undernourished – more than 500 million by FAO estimates.

The region is home to more than 60 per cent of the world’s undernourished, and in order for it to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030, countries need to collectively lift more than 110 000 people out of hunger each and every day for the next 12 years.

Good public policy and knowledge are essential. At the conference, which continues through November 30, strides made in many countries, rapidly and sustainably, will be highlighted.

Bangladesh, for example, has achieved one of the fastest reductions in child underweight and stunting in history, largely by using innovative public policies to improve agriculture and nutrition. Policies supporting agricultural growth helped increase production, while other policies supported family planning, stronger health services, growing school attendance, greater access to drinking water and sanitation, and women’s empowerment.

Economic growth in China lifted millions out of both hunger and poverty, while Brazil and Ethiopia transformed their food systems and diminished the threat of hunger through targeted investments in agricultural research and development and social protection programmes.

Starting in the mid-1980s and continuing over two decades, crop production in Brazil grew by 77 per cent and that – combined with the country’s Fome Zero programme, established in 2003 to provide beneficiaries a wide range of social services – saw hunger and undernutrition nearly eradicated in just 10 years.

Similarly, Ethiopia’s large-scale investments in agricultural have led to substantial growth in the production of cereals and the availability of food, while the creation of the Productive Safety Net Programme provides food and/or cash to needy households, which are direct for the most needy and conditional on a work requirement for others.

The proliferation of new communications technologies, and ability to harness big data, also offer opportunities to scale up successes significantly to even greater impact.

But innovation extends far beyond apps, drones or farm machinery. Innovation in agriculture can involve using new social, organizational and institutional processes to support farmers and sustainably intensify production.

These can range from building stronger producer self-help groups and extension services, to improving access to markets and credit in pioneering ways, to developing new ways of processing, storage, transport and marketing food.

Innovation can be decidedly “low tech” – for example leaving stands of trees on farms intact to promote soil health and enhance agroecosystem productivity. Innovations in intervention design can boost their potential impact, like when behaviour change communications that encourage the adoption of ideal nutrition and child feeding practices are integrated into social protection programmes to improve household nutrition as well as food consumption.

“We have the tools, and we have the knowledge to eliminate hunger in the next 12 years,” said Fan. “By empowering key actors in policymaking, research, and program implementation with those tools and knowledge, we can reach this goal and help millions of people achieve their full potential.”

“We need to work closely together more than ever, sharing with each other those successful experiences,” Graziano da Silva said.

“If we can accelerate this knowledge exchange, then we can accelerate its implementation and take actions that are more concrete. Hunger and obesity are not simply an individual’s problem. They are public issues. But we also need stronger political will and greater financial commitment to get the job done. Political will is fundamental.”

The Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces and the governors of 76 provinces were given the shirts on Wednesday morning at the Royal Household Bureau in Bangkok.

Bicycle rallies will be held simultaneously around the country, with His Majesty leading the main 39-kilometre ride from the Royal Plaza in Bangkok to Lat Pho Park in Samut Prakan’s Phra Pradaeng district and back again.

The rallies officially open the second annual winter festival being hosted in the Royal Plaza of Dusit Palace and Sanam Suea Pa through January 19.

The bike rally participants can collect their shirts – which bear a cartoon family drawn by the King – on December 1 and 2 from 8am to 4pm at Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok and city halls upcountry.

According to the Interior Ministry, Nakhon Ratchasima in the Northeast has the most participants registered so far, with 25,517, followed by Udon Thani (21,058) and Sakhon Nakhon (18,751).

The number of participants in the three southern border provinces has already exceeded the target of 5,000. Narathiwat has signed up 7,306 riders, Yala 9,946 and Pattani 6,180.

Researchers there studied the blowfly’s life cycle, realised the knowledge could help determine how long a human has been dead, and developed the “iParasites” app for investigators.

It can accurately detect the life-cycle stage of blowflies found feeding on corpses.

Forensic entomology has relatively few practitioners in the world, so Nophawan Bunchu, a lecturer in microbiology and parasitology at the school’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, collaborated with Zenith Medi Touch executive Parinya Boonchai to develop the application, which represents the fruit of a 20-year study of various fly species.

The app has already been patented and will be ready for general use early next year, Parinya said.

It contains a glossary of terms and a 3D QR-code scanner to determine a cadaver’s time of death based on the blowfly’s stage of life.

Noppawan said she had been studying flies since she was an undergraduate and knew there were benefits to be gained from the knowledge, in spite of a general dislike of flies among the public.

She said that, of the 96 species of flies found in Thailand, Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya rufifacies were most commonly linked to cadavers.

The use of arthropods like flies in forensic investigation to determine time of death has been done in the past. The parasite’s stage of life is useful in tracing time of death especially more than 24 hours, Noppawan said.

In murder cases, the killer invariably overlooks such potential indicators when destroying evidence to cover up the crime, but arthropods present in the corpse can also indicate whether the body was moved from the scene of the murder and identify toxins in the body, she said.

Care must be taken, however, since flies also can contaminate the scene with traces of unrelated blood.

China wants to eliminate the rapids in the river to accommodate boat movement from Jinghing to Luang Prabang in Laos.

Thai citizens fear the project would affect the fragile river ecosystem and their livelihoods.

Some blasting has been done in the past, and in 2016 the Thai government approved a feasibility study and design for more such work.

Phase 1 of the project, begun in 2015 and continuing into 2020, involves blasting 600 kilometres of rapids from Jinghing in China to the Myanmar border. Phase 2 would continue the work another 260km to Luang Prang from 2020-2025.

The group Raksa Chiang Khong, representing Chiang Rai residents, said opposition to the project was made clear at public hearings last year and there was no need to hold more hearings next month.

“For the Mekong residents, this project was over long time ago,” a group spokesperson said. “So what are these hearings aimed at? Our government told the public the project was suspended, but do the hearings mean you want to finish the process and will go ahead?”

THERE WILL be enough water for consumption for everybody this dry season, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) assured, despite the fact that water reserves in many dams are running low.

Thongplew Kongjun, RID director-general, assured the public yesterday that the country will have enough water for domestic consumption and businesses during this dry season, though farmers in some parts of the country cannot plant a dry-season crop, due to insufficient water for irrigation.

He said that water levels in Mae Mok Dam in Sukhothai and the Ubonrat Dam in Khon Kaen were low, holding 28 per cent and 10 per cent of their capacity respectively.

Farmers in the irrigation zone of these dams will not have water for farming, but there was enough water to feed household taps and to retain the ecosystem, he said.

“We are certain that there were be enough water for consumption for the rest of this dry season until the rains come in May,” he said.

“Nevertheless, we encourage people to use water wisely, while we also encourage farmers to grow crops that consume less water such as maize instead of rice.”

According to the RID, the authorities have earmarked 23.1 billion cubic metres of water for the entire country during the dry season, which runs from November 1 to April 30. Reservoirs now have 36.5 billion cubic metres available nationwide.

Water allocated to the Chao Phraya River Basin for all purposes will be 8 billion cubic metres, the RID reported, while the currently available water in the basin sits at 12.4 billion cubic metres.

Low water levels in reservoirs

However, the Smart Water Operation Centre has reported that many of the reservoirs have very low levels.

According to the water situation report, five large dams, namely Mae Mok Dam (28 per cent), Sirindhorn Dam (25 per cent), Thab Salao Dam (21 per cent), Kraseaw Dam (13 per cent) and Ubonrat Dam (10 per cent), were less than 30-per-cent full.

In addition, 36 medium-sized reservoirs are also less than 30-per-cent full.

Given the low level of water available, the RID has released water-management procedures, saying dams that are less than 60 per cent full should be very careful about discharging water so as to avoid the risk of drought. Dams in the Northeast, which regularly suffers drought, should be particularly careful.

The RID also calls for reservoirs with levels under 30 per cent, to discharge water for domestic consumption and ecosystem retention only.

Thongplew also revealed that the RID has already planned many new large-scale irrigation projects in every region to cope with upcoming drought issues.

He said many projects had already passed the Environmental Impact Assessment process and were ready to begin construction within the next year, including the Sri Songrak Watergate in Loei and Lam Saphung Reservoir in Chaiyaphum.

The victim, 38-year-old Chorladda Tharawan, succumbed to injuries on November 9 shortly after seeking services from the hospital.

The complaint was filed with the Tha Kham Police Station.

HSSD official Chatree Pinnai said his office had officially charged the Praram 2 Medical Group of failing to comply with legally-prescribed standards for medical facilities and not properly referring a patient to another medical service provider.

Its licence holder, Dr Phira Kananuwat, is accused of two similar charges plus the additional charge of failing to ensure that his medical staff complied with professional standards.

Most of these offences are punishable by a jail term of up to two years, and a maximum fine of Bt40,000.

“HSSD is of the opinion that Praram 2 Hospital violated the law by not treating Chorladda as an emergency patient,” Chatree said.

Chorladda came to the Praram 2 Hospital in a taxi at dawn for treatment, but left soon after in another taxi to seek help at Bang Mod Hospital, where she was entitled to free treatment, and where she was pronounced dead. Several questions emerged as to whether Praram 2 should be held responsible for Chorladda’s death.

Praram 2 Hospital chose not to treat her as an emergency patient – who is entitled to free treatments for 72 hours no matter which hospital he or she is registered with.

Police say they will investigate.

The move is in response to complaints from doctors, nurses and other health professionals that they are required to work too many hours each month.

Calls for a lighter workload from public-sector healthcare workers grew louder last year after three doctors reportedly succumbed to infections in hospitals. It is believed their immunity was weak due to their heavy workload.

Some doctors at state hospitals said they have put in over 320 hours a month due to the huge number of patients.

Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary Sukhum Karnchanapimai yesterday invited representatives of different healthcare professions to discuss how best to improve medical staff’s work schedule. “We hope the revised schedule will ensure appropriate working hours for staff and quality services for patients,” he said.

Present at the meeting were representatives of doctors, pharmacists, dentists, nurses, physical therapists, medical technologists, practitioners of Thai traditional medicine, public-health academics and radiology technologists.

“Medical staff from all fields are important. We hope they are happy working and can forge good teamwork,” Sukhum said. According to him, members of these professions have different workloads. In some professions, people work 40 hours a week normally and another 40 hours as overtime.

Sukhum said representatives of these professions were asked to specify appropriate work hours and prepare information to back their points in the next meeting.

“We will meet again in two weeks,” he said, adding that mutual discussions will clarify how many people are necessary in the workforce.

He downplayed comments that an inefficient distribution of medical workers had forced some to work long hours. “We have allocated human resources based on the workload,” he said. “We also need to focus on specific missions that they or their organisations undertake.” Asked whether the new work schedule will affect the delivery of medical services, Sukhum said the improved schedule should benefit patients.

“Patient safety and service standards should increase when the work schedule is improved,” the permanent secretary for Public Health said.

Last year, the Medical Council announced that interns’ overtime hours should not exceed 40 a week. Their shifts in the emergency ward also should not exceed 16 consecutive hours each time and doctors above the age of 55 should not have to work beyond normal working hours.

Sukhum said he was aware that the Medical Council had already set such criteria.

“But what we are now working with will also apply to other doctors, not just interns,” he said.

As for nurses’ heavy workloads, Sukhum said he planned to ensure that nurses did not have to shoulder duties that are not related to their profession.

“For non-nursing work, other state officials should be able to help,” he said.

Srivara was the first witness to testify before the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court yesterday.

He declined to reveal details of his testimony, as that would be a contempt of court, but said public prosecutors had performed their duties fully and would be able to prosecute the defendants.

He said people “should follow the developments in the case” in the coming weeks.

The second witness to take the stand in the afternoon was the chief of the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Wichien Chinnawong, who had led officials in making the high-profile arrest of Italian-Thai Development president Premchai.

Wichien disclosed that the interrogation of witnesses in the court went smoothly and he had given the judge full details of the arrest.

“I just recalled the details of what really happened on the day we found Premchai and his companions at the campsite inside the wildlife sanctuary alongside the wild animal carcasses, the procedure of the arrest, and other important details that will be useful for the court,” Wichien said.

He said he had also provided key evidence to the court, but he could not reveal it to the public at this stage as the case was still being heard.

“Today, Deputy Police chief Pol General Srivara and I presented ourselves to the court as the first two witnesses for the plaintiffs. We still have 14 other witnesses on our side, who will be testifying to the court,” he said.

Wichien revealed that the first defendant in the case, Premchai, was also present at Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court yesterday, while the atmosphere in the court room was calm and quiet.

Premchai and three other persons – Yong Dodkrua, Thanee Thummat and Nathee Riamsaen – were arrested in early February at the campsite within the sanctuary in Kanchanaburi province for allegedly entering the area without permission, allegedly possessing guns and ammunition, and for allegedly poaching a number of wild animals, including a black leopard, a Kalij pheasant, and a barking deer.

They were initially charged with nine offences, but three charges were later dropped by police.

It was announced in court that the four defendants faced six charges: carrying firearms in public without permission; hunting wildlife inside a sanctuary without permission; killing protected wildlife without permission; possessing a protected wild animal’s carcass without permission; hiding or receiving an illegally hunted wild animal’s carcass; and harvesting products from a protected forest without permission.

The Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court has scheduled 10 sessions for the hearing of evidence, with 32 witness testimonies from the prosecutors’ side from yesterday until Friday, from December 6-7, December 11-13 and on December 18.

These will be followed by 17 witness testimonies from the defendants’ side, who are scheduled to take the stand over six sessions from December 19-21 and from December 25-27.

The four defendants also face a civil lawsuit filed by the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, which is demanding that they pay Bt12.75 million in damages to the sanctuary. The defendants were told to submit their written testimonies in the civil case by December 11.