As evident of our constant inclusion in the finals of the Miss Universe contestant and the presence of numerous local pageants in the country, the Philippines is considered a powerhouse in the beauty pageant industry.

As the 67th Miss Universe is held in the beautiful land of smiles – Thailand, there’s no stopping us from traveling like the true beauty queens that we are. Feel like a Miss Universe contestant as we present to you the places the Miss Universe contestants visited in Thailand that you should definitely add to your itinerary.

1. Wuttisak Snail Farm, Bangkok

Let’s kick things off in the capital, Bangkok, and with something out of the ordinary. The Wuttisak Snail Farm in Thailand breeds snails and extracts their slime for use in different cosmetic products we know today.

2. Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya

Situated upon the edge of a waterfront, the Sanctuary of Truth is an architectural feat as it is a 344-feet intricately designed temple made entirely of wood. Built only in 1982, one can easily mistake it as a heritage structure. The awe-factor it induces upon its visitors definitely makes it worth the visit.

3. Nongnooch Botanical Garden, Pattaya

From breathtaking gardens to the beautiful wildlife – Nongnooch Botanical Garden is the place to be in Pattaya. You are treated to a beautiful view of the botanical garden, there is also a skywalk in the property that can connect you to different sections. You can choose to visit the small Buddha temple with a beautiful view or you can go ahead and check out the beautiful elephant shows.

4. Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtles Conservation Center, Sattahip

A little south from Pattaya is Sattahip, a district in Thailand that is home to the Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtles Conservation Center where not only can you treat yourself to a beautiful beach view but also educate yourself on the conservation of sea turtles and how important it is to have initiative in prioritizing the environment over convenience.

5. Krabi Islands

If it’s the smell of the beach and the sun’s kiss you’re looking for but absolutely hate crowded beaches, then the islands of Krabi is your kind of destination! As it is less developed and less crowded than the beaches of Phuket and Koh Samui, the island of Krabi allows you to indeed be closer to nature.

6. Wat Arun, Bangkok

(The story was published on December 17.)

What’s a trip to Thailand without visiting its temples? Capping off your trip, we go back to the capital and visit one of the country’s most stunning temples. With a name that translates to “Temple of the Dawn,” Wat Arun’s name is derived from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the heat of the sun. The temple will make you feel at peace as it is situated riverside and will give you a beautiful view especially at night. The temple also boasts its beautiful contrasts between white and the bold colors of its sprites.

With more and more people crossing borders to seek better opportunities, migrant workers become most vulnerable to human-rights violations and social injustice, which is why all stakeholders should protect their rights and support their quality of life, academics said.

They were speaking at a public forum held in Bangkok to mark International Migrants Day yesterday.

Lae Dilokwittayarat, an economics professor at Chulalongkorn University, said large conglomerates hold significant power and have a great deal of influence in government policies and the country’s economy.

“The business sector does not only have a strong influence in Thailand’s capitalist society, many big firms also hire a large number of migrant workers. They also have great access to government policy setting, which they should use for the constructive improvement of labour-rights protection,” Lae suggested.

“The government cannot solve all problems by itself. Help from the private sector, and NGOs, is necessary. Also, the government can never fathom the needs of the business or the labour sector,” he said.

Adisorn Kerdmongkhol, coordinator for the Migrant Working Group (MWG), said that despite the many positive developments in the protection of migrant workers’ rights this year, many aspects of labour rights are still not properly respected or protected. The government has recently ratified international conventions to tackle human trafficking and forced labour in the seafood industry.

“This year the government refused to recognise 1.9 million unofficial migrant workers, and forced their employers to get them registered.

“From now on, businesses can hire migrant workers through the MoU [memorandum of understanding] system only,” Adisorn said.

Though the government is making a concerted effort to tackle the problems of human trafficking and illegal migrant workers, he said, the implementation and management of the policy is poor. That has led to as many as 811,000 migrant workers still stranded without any documentation. Also, he said, tougher regulations are escalating cases of migrant rights violation.

“Workers, who have yet to complete their nationality verification process within the designated time period, are being arrested, prosecuted and deported. No effort is being made to find out why these workers have not been able to complete their nationality verification process within the deadline,” he pointed out.

He added that, as of now, the government has to follow the guidelines of the international labour-rights protection convention that it has ratified, and in order to do that it will have to improve mitigation measures to ensure the rights and well-being of migrant workers.

Don Thacharoensak, who has been studying Thai migrant workers in South Korea, said they too are facing serious problems of rights violation.

According to his study, there are around 160,000 Thai workers based in South Korea this year, but only 14 per cent, or 24,022 of them, are legally registered.

Even though many Thai workers in South Korea are still doing dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs that are shunned by the locals, he said many Thai workers are also shifting to other sectors, such as restaurants and convenience stores.

“The transboundary labour movement is something spontaneous; if there are better opportunities out there, people will try to grab them to improve their lives and well-being,” he said.

He added that the only way this problem can be solved is to look at the bigger picture, as it is a globalised problem – workers move from poorer countries to meet the labour demand in richer countries.

“We need to remember that migrant workers are not criminals – they are just people seeking to improve the well-being of their family. So, we need to focus on humanity and prioritise human rights,” he said.

A doctor in Kra Nuan district also said in a post to Facebook on Monday that as many as 10 pregnant women had used methamphetamine pills in the mistaken belief this would enable them to give birth more easily.

The unnamed doctor’s boss said later that the number of drug-abusing pregnant women was “less than 10” but agreed the story of the six-year-old boy being fed meth was not far-fetched.

The boy’s grandmother had taken him to hospital to get treated after catching him threatening to set fire to their house, the unnamed doctor at Somdej Phra Yupparaj Kra Nuan Hospital said. The grandmother, who sought a medical certificate for the boy to undergo further psychiatric treatment, reportedly told the doctor that the boy’s drug addict father had diluted meth in water and given the solution to the boy in order to keep him drug dependent so the boy will go deliver the drugs as the father ordered.

The doctor wrote that, from his observation, the boy was anxious, struggling to pay attention, suffering from a lack of hygiene, avoiding eye contact, apparently suffering from malnutrition. He said that the child’s seven-year-old brother was displaying similar symptoms. “So a six-year-old is serving as a drug delivery boy, isn’t it time for us to seriously tackle this escalating drug problem?” the doctor asked.

The Somdej Phra Yupparaj Kra Nuan Hospital director, Dr Wiroj Lertpongpipat, told The Nation he had not been aware of his subordinate’s Facebook posts about the six-year-old boy’s plight. However, he believed all areas had drug problems and that was why the Public Health Ministry had campaigned for public awareness about it and to get addicts into rehabilitation programmes, so the tale of the boy being plied with drugs was possible.

The hospital director also commented on the earlier claim by the same unnamed doctor that he had detected the 10th case of a mother-to-be taking methamphetamine just three months into her pregnancy, mistakenly thinking this would help her deliver more easily.

In the latest such case a child was found to weigh only 2.39 kilograms, much lighter than the standard 3kg, the doctor had written. He also said he would like government agencies to launch awareness campaigns to warn mothers of the danger of abusing meth during pregnancy.

The hospital director said that he had talked with the doctor, who confirmed that two meth-abusing pregnant women had told him of their beliefs that meth could enable easier childbirth.

“But these two women were addicts before they got pregnant and continued to be so during the pregnancy – they were not just taking the habit recently for that reason,” Wiroj said. He also said the hospital found six pregnant women had tested positive for meth abuse – three had already given birth and had also entered a drug rehabilitation programme. The six women and their children were safe and generally healthy, Wiroj added.

Meth use during pregnancy is associated with numerous problems for mother and child. It increases the risk of low birth weight, a small head circumference, plus problems related to the heart and the body’s neurological development.

The children exposed to meth during pregnancy also had a greater risk later in life of having a shorter attention span, inferior visual motor integration, a lesser verbal memory and shorter long-term spatial memory.

The council had initially decided to cancel the automatic granting of teaching licences to graduates from next year, as it aimed to test each graduate before deciding if they should be conferred a teaching licence.

However, the council scrapped the plan after taking into account the fact that five-year teacher-training programmes will soon be extinct anyway. From next year, all teacher-training programmes will be cut back to four years only.

“The Teachers’ Council board has resolved that tests should be required for those seeking a teaching licence from 2023 instead. Let’s focus on graduates from the soon-to-be introduced four-year programme,” Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said yesterday.

Wattanaporn Ra-Ngubtook, deputy secretary-general of the Education Council, said a subcommittee had proposed that tests for teaching licences be postponed for now.

“The licence is automatically granted partially because the five-year programme is extensive enough,” she said.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Udom Kachintorn said all teacher-training institutes were now adjusting their curriculum to match the four-year timeframe.

The move to shorten the programme is in line with the Education Ministry’s policy, which believes a shorter course is necessary to keep pace with the changing world.

This move is undoing the trend that Thailand has embraced since 2004, when the five-year teacher-training programme was launched in the hope of boosting the quality of teachers and enhancing the prestige of the profession.

Dr Teerakiat said the Teachers’ Council had also recently approved a draft regulation on teachers’ standards.

“The draft covers up-to-date knowledge, experience, work experience and behaviour,” he said.

For instance, it requires that all teachers have knowledge of changes in the world and the nation, have teaching experience of at least one year and a good relationship with students’ parents and communities.