A FLASH FLOOD in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon provinces on Friday killed two people and stopped much of the traffic between the Southern region and the rest of the country, as the heaviest rain in recent years lashed the southeastern coast since Thursday night.

Heavy downpours of over 200 millimetres within a single night triggered serious flash floods on Friday in Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi districts in Prachuap Khiri Khan and some parts of Chumphon, and forced the evacuation of many people to higher ground amid fears of continuing flooding and broken reservoirs.

Two people had died as of press time on Friday, The Nation Weekend learned. An 85-year-old citizen from Chumphon, Phob Phatchana, drowned in waves from the fast-rising flash flood, as did a two-year-old boy from Bang Saphan district.

Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial governor Panlop Singhasenee said heavy rain since Thursday night inundated the low-lying areas of Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi districts with high and fast-rising water.

With more rain to come, the governor asked people in flood-risk areas to evacuate to high ground or to the official evacuation centre at Bang Saphan Wittaya School.

“Due to the geography of our province, which has the high Tenasserim mountain range to the west and the Gulf of Thailand to the east, we are living in a risky area for flash floods, especially when we receive such intensive rain in a very short period of time,” Panlop said.

The Royal Irrigation Department sent tractors and equipment to widen the delta of Bang Saphan River in order to help drain more of the floodwaters out to sea, while many reservoirs in the district were being closely monitored after the sudden inflows of water from the mountains quickly filled small reservoirs.

With floodwater levels in Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi districts continuing to rise, vehicles on Phetkasem Road, which is the main highway to the south, should be driven carefully and listen for updates from local authorities, warned the governor. Some parts of the road are flooded and impassable.

Highway inundated

According to latest update as of Friday night, Phetkasem Road at Bang Saphan district was closed to all traffic, with the road inundated under 70 centimetres of water, while another section of Phet-kasem Road at Pathom Phon Intersec-tion in Muang Chumphon district was also closed due to 40cm-high floodwaters.

Bang Saphan Hospital was flooded and officials transferred 10 critically ill patients to Hua Hin Hospital and Prachuap Khiri Khan Hospital for safety, while at least five schools in the district were also closed.

According to National Hydroinfor-matics and Climate, Bang Saphan Noi district received 237.2 millimetres of rainfall on Thursday, over the 24 hours, while the three-day accumulated precipitation level for the district spiked as high as 365.8 millimetres.

The precipitation record shows the amount of rain during this flood was higher than in the past two flood events in December 2016 and January 2017. For those floods, the three-day accumulated precipitation level was at 187.6 millimetres and 290.4 millimetres respectively.

“We have resolved to consult the Council of State first,” the committee’s chairman Pisit Sriprasert said on Friday, after emerging from the committee’s meeting.

Until yesterday, it was widely believed that the committee – which is attached to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – would agree to reclassify marijuana into a less-controlled drug category so that it could be used for patients just like morphine.

Various government figures are viewed as keen to legalise medical marijuana. According to several doctors, marijuana can be used to manage pain from nerve damage and cancer, nausea from chemotherapy and loss of appetite among HIV patients. It is also helpful for seizures and chronic neuro-inflammation.

Efforts to push for legalisation have been ongoing on various fronts in recent months, including a proposal for the FDA to reclassify marijuana.

But yesterday’s Narcotics Control Committee meeting fell short of making a decision, and instead chose to seek the opinions of the Council of State before deciding on the proposed marijuana reclassification next month.

“Committee members support the idea of using marijuana for medical purposes, but legal experts on the committee suggest that we should consult the Council of State in regards to legality and other committee members agreed,” said Pisit, who is also a deputy permanent secretary for Public Health Ministry.

FDA secretary-general Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong said his agency would move quickly to seek input from the Council of State, so the committee could then make a decision while taking into account the council’s opinion.

With the FDA reclassification now stalled, other approaches may take the lead in the effort to legalise marijuana for medical purposes.

Earlier this past week, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) prepared a short bill to legalise medical marijuana. The bill only has 17 articles, so it is expected to require only a short period of deliberation.

There is a possibility that the NLA may be able to clear the bill next month.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong met with Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn on Friday to discuss the bill.

“We will present the bill on Tuesday for the Cabinet to consider and approve,” Prajin said.

He added that the bill would then be submitted to the NLA for deliberation.

With more than 28 million Thais downloading the widely popular mobile multi-player game RoV (Realm of Valour) over the past two and a half years, the Kingdom is set to host the world championships next month.

The domestic online gaming market is estimated to be worth Bt10 billion per year, with an annual growth rate of about 20 per cent.

According to Sarut Vanichpun,

country manager of Garena Thailand, the game’s publisher, next month’s event is officially known as AIC – for AoV International Competition. RoV is known as AoV (Arena of Valour) overseas.

The game is specifically designed for mobile phones and like devices and has so far registered more than 100 million downloads around the world, with Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam among the major markets.

Sarut said the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Bitec) in Bang Na will be the venue for the world championships, which will be streamed live on Garena’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

Sixteen teams of five to six players from 11 countries including Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United States and some European nations are expected to compete in Bangkok.

This is the second global event of its kind after the inaugural championships in Los Angeles in July.

Owing to huge domestic interest in mobile gaming, Sarut said, Thailand has joined the ranks of major markets for the Moba (mobile multi-user online battle arena) segment, which is outgrowing PC-based games due largely to the high penetration of smart phones here.

Gaming on mobile devices, especially smartphones, has outpaced the PC gaming segment, accounting for 45 per cent of market share against 30 per cent. Gaming on consoles and Play-stations accounts for the rest.

In Thailand, Garena uses the free-

to-play business model for its games

and generates revenue from the sale of necessary in-game items such as characters, which cost Bt300 to Bt500 apiece.

As part of an e-sports promotion, the Tourism Authority of Thailand recently held a national contest for the best design of digital hero “skins” inspired by Thailand’s tourist landmarks such as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Thanks to the growing popularity of online games, people are now getting jobs as professional e-sports players and commentators during live streaming of major competitions.

Sarut said most players in Thailand are aged 15 to 35.

In a related development, the LoL World Championships were held in South Korea from September 22 to November 5 and the final round ended with the Invictus team of Chinese and Korean players beating the Fnatic team from Europe 3-0.

Chinese retailer Tencent is a shareholder in both Garena and game developer Riot Games, while Garena is part of Sea Group.

Sea, the parent company of Garena, operates the digital entertainment platform also called Garena, e-commerce service Shopee and digital financial service AirPay.

Online gaming and other electronic sports have also evolved into a new segment of competition recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) as a medal event slated for the 2022 Asian Games in China, having been a demonstration sport at this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia.

The OCA has also introduced Moba games as one of the e-sports for the Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games.

However, official recognition of online gaming and e-sports as part of the traditional sport programme has been controversial, with some critics opposing the classification.

In Thailand, there have also been concerns about game addiction among young people.

Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said e-sports should be developed to require more physical movement like players actually having to hit balls, run on treadmills or jump over specially designed electronic obstacles.

He said the process of “gamification” had a wide range of benefits, but there should be more developers focusing on new applications, such as those aimed at helping senior citizens maintain their health, and making traditional activities more challenging and appealing. Education, training and other mundane activities also benefit from gaming, he said.

Maj-General Surachate Hakpal, said on Friday that police are now summoning the alleged Thai agent to give testimony on the case.

The visas of Fabrice Mbimmba Makiadi, 27, from the Congo and Nicolas Yao Kouadio, 29, from the Ivory Coast, were revoked following their arrest after forged documents were found that were to be used in applying for a visa to stay in Thailand.

The suspects reportedly told police that a female Thai agent had offered foreigners – especially footballers and language teachers – a service to get them documents to apply to legally stay in Thailand for Bt20,000 per head.

Nigerian Cory Samuel Madubuchi, who was arrested in Nonthaburi, was also found to have 57 money-transaction slips and a cell phone with photos of good-looking white men.

National police deputy chief Pol General Rungroj Saengkhram and acting head of Thai immigration police, Maj-General Surachate Hakpal, instructed officers to continue the crackdown on foreign criminals and over-stayers.

A police source also revealed that 16 romance scam suspects (including two foreigners and 14 Thais) and three Thais accused of call-centre fraud, were arrested in an operation from November 5 to 9.

The call-centre scammers make phone calls to target victims claiming to be state officials accusing the victims for violating the law and demanding the victims wire money from their bank accounts for “investigation”.

The romance scam involves people with fake identities, often white males, contacting female victims online and tricking them into wiring money to them to pay for an import tariff and fee for the purported delivery of a gift from overseas.