By law, fishermen must be at least three nautical miles away from the park’s compound.

However, established in 1974, Tarutao National Park in Satun province is younger in age than several local fishermen, some of whom find it difficult to strictly comply with this relatively new boundary rule.

“We were here even before this area was declared a national park. So, don’t just come to gather our opinions. Let’s work on solutions too,” Arun Chuprasit, former president of the Satun Fishermen’s Association, said at a seminar yesterday.

Senior state officials were also present at the seminar held at the Satun Provincial Hall, where a group of students from the King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) had arrived to explore solutions to fishing problems at Tarutao National Park.

Deputy Satun governor Wongsakorn Noonchukhan, who presided over the seminar, reckoned there had been frequent problems between local fishermen and officials when arrests are made.

“State officials have tried to be lenient. They start with warnings. But if the offence is repeated, legal action must be taken in the end,” Wongsakorn said.

Dr Fahsai Samart, a representative of students in KPI’s certificate course on the promotion of a peaceful society, said her group will design solutions and present them for the government to consider. KPI is a government think tank.

Man accused of killing wife in Bt143m insurance scam

A Chinese man from Tianjin is alleged to have murdered his wife during a family vacation in Phuket after buying up more than 30 million yuan (Bt143 million) worth of life insurance policies in her name.

Zhang Weifan took his wife, nicknamed Xiaojie, and their 20-month-old daughter to Phuket at the end of October.

On the third day, Xiaojie’s parents received a call from Zhang saying their daughter had drowned in a private pool at the couple’s luxury hotel.

Xiaojie’s parents were suspicious because she was a good swimmer and after he returned to Tianjin he was confronted by Zhang’s parents, who insisted that he accom

pany them back to Phuket.

They found Xiaojie’s body covered in bruises and reported Zhang to the police. Under questioning, Zhang admitted drowning his wife, it is claimed.

Xiaojie’s parents found that in the months leading up to the trip, Zhang had bought more than 12 life insurance policies on his wife, which amounted to more than 30 million yuan. Zhang was the sole beneficiary.

The parents said they found Zhang had pretended to have a job but was actually unemployed. Around 158 gigabytes of pornography was also found on his computers.

He is now in custody at Phuket Provincial Court.

Kamala police chief Colonel Somkit Boonrat said, “After we questioned Zhang he admitted to killing his wife.

“Now he is in custody at the Phuket Provincial Court while an investigation is being conducted, which is expected to be completed before December 21.

“We have received more information from the Chinese Consulate about the life insurance. If we find that Zhang killed his wife to collect the insurance, he will face a heavier charge of intent to murder.”

Xiaojie’s parents are now seeking Zhang’s extradition, believing it is more likely he will get the death penalty they are demanding in China.

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THAILAND IS now well on its path to becoming the first Asian nation to ratify C188 – Work in Fishing Convention, and despite protests from many fishing operators, the government is confident the ratification will “benefit all”.

“We will ensure that C188 measures are taken in accordance with the Thai context,” Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo said in a move to calm down the fuming owners of commercial fishing vessels.

He said that while the crew on fishing boats will be better protected and get welfare in compliance with C188, their employers will no longer face a labour shortage.

Moreover, Adul said humane treatment of fishing-boat workers will give Thailand a trade advantage.

C188 became a hot topic of discussion after the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) late last month approved the Labour Ministry’s decision to ratify this convention, which seeks to deliver better welfare and protection for people working in the fishing sector.

“I will represent Thailand in ratifying C188,” Adul said. The C188 measures will become effective one year after ratification.

Thailand’s fishing industry has long struggled with labour shortages amid reports of abuse on fishing vessels. According to the Labour Rights Promotion Network, fishing-vessel crew earned just Bt5,000 per month in 2011 and rarely got the 1 per cent commission per catch they were promised.

Even more worrying were findings that fishing-vessel captains often paid guards to beat up workers who disobeyed their commands and even abandoned some disobedient workers on small islets as punishment.

Once Thailand starts complying with C188, it will enforce 14 measures for workers in the fishing sector. Among them are annual health check-ups (including eye examination), free transportation from a foreign port to Thailand, social security and certified good working and living conditions for the crew.

“There are 10 other measures, but these are already required by other Thai laws, regardless of the C188 ratification,” Adul explained.

These 10 measures include a limit on minimum working age, regular pay, medical care, prevention of accidents and compensation for work-related deaths/injuries.

Old boats not to be reconfigured

Adul added that existing fishing boats do not need to be reconfigured to meet C188 requirements, putting to rest fishing operators’ concerns that it would be too expensive. The C188 makes it mandatory for each fishing vessel to have one bedroom and toilet for every four workers, a library, a gym and a recreation room.

“The new configuration will only apply to new boats,” he said.

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Thailand has 36,953 registered fishing vessels, of which 26,373 are local fishermen’s boats, which will not be subject to C188. Only 10,579 fishing vessels registered for commercial operations will have to comply with C188 measures.

“In reality, there are just four new measures for commercial fishing operators to comply with,” the minister said.

Manit Damkul, president of the Krabi Fishermen’s Association, said he and fishing operators from 22 seaside provinces will rally against C188, because it is not possible for them to comply with the measures.

Even without reconfiguring boats, he said, enrolling workers to the national social-security scheme and contributing to welfare would be too much for commercial fishing operators.

In recent months, fishermen have staged several protests over C188, saying that compliance with this international convention will only ruin Thailand’s multibillion baht fishing industry and will very likely hurt related businesses too.

Adul, however, argued that fishing operators should realise that their industry will suffer a bigger blow if Thailand does not ratify C188.

“If labour protection is not solid enough in the industry, there is a risk that foreign countries will stop buying Thai seafood,” he pointed out.

In 2015, the European Union raised a yellow flag and threatened to ban imports of Thai fishing products due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices.

Fishing operators have already organised large demonstrations in several provinces.

A Krabi-based fisherman said he believes fishing crew would not have joined the protests if they understood the content of C188.

“C188 is, after all, for their benefit,” he said. “Many joined protests because their employers told them to.”

Adisorn Kerdmongkol, coordinator for Migrant Population Network, hailed the government’s move to ratify C188, because it reflects the government’s commitment to solving harsh working conditions, torture and unfair pay.

“I expect the government to introduce an executive decree to enforce labour welfare that is in line with C188 soon,” he said.

Tungkum Co Ltd, which operates a gold mine in Loei’s Wang Saphung district, lost the legal battle as the court believed local residents had solid evidence proving that the firm’s mining operations damaged the environment in areas around the mining zones.

More than 100 locals filed a collective complaint against Tungkum to press for environmental rehabilitation and compensation for damages they have suffered.

According to the plaintiffs, mining operations spoiled the environment, which has harmed their health, affected their livelihood as farmers and made it impossible for them to rely on natural food and water sources.

However, the court found the demand of Bt300,000 per family too high, and even though it ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, it ordered the mining company to pay the 149 claimants Bt104,000 each.

This is over and above the environmental rehabilitation measures the company will have to implement in line with state standards. The court also requires the company to involve the plaintiffs in rehabilitation planning.

The court’s ruling was based on the fact that the Constitution enshrines community rights to resource management and usage, giving locals the authority to demand environmental rehabilitation and take part in rehabilitation planning.

The plaintiffs were satisfied with the verdict.

The process normally takes seven to 15 days, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Busadee Santipitaksat said.

Naiyana, wife of Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, who was killed in a shooting at a Christmas market, is now in a better state of mind and is regaining her strength, Busadee reported.

She based her statement on a report from the Thai embassy in France, which sent diplomats to Strasbourg to help facilitate legal procedures concerning the return of Anupong’s body.

Naiyana is also entitled to the compensation given by the French government to the family of terrorism victims.

Anupong was among the three people killed in the shooting, which left many injured. The French government has upped its security alert to the maximum level following the incident, which has turned the city, usually crowded with tourists and visitors, into a ghost town.

The authorities are still hunting for the suspected attacker, a 29-year-old Strasbourg native identified as Cherif C, who cried “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire and stabbed passers-by.

Meanwhile, Immigration police chief Pol Lt-General Surachet Hakparn met diplomats at the French Embassy in Bangkok, where he was assured that French authorities would provide assistance to Naiyana.

Surachet said Anupong’s family had contacted his bureau regarding the return of the body, adding that his bureau will fully cooperate and facilitate the return. French diplomats have also given assurances that their government will do its best to provide safety for tourists.

Meanwhile, deputy police spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said local police has been providing protection for the foreign diplomatic corps by deploying police officials to embassies and diplomatic agencies. He said the measures have been taken even though Thailand is not a target or a party in any related feuds.

The Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT)’s new regulation bans children under the age of 17 from marriage. The new regulation would be announced to all mosques on today, Wisut Binlateh, director of the coordination centre for the Sheikhul Islam Office and a senior member of the Islamic Council, told the online Benar News. Wisut also said that the Sheikhul Islam of Thailand Aziz Phitakkumpon, who also chairs CICOT, had given his approval for the new regulation in late November.

Panadda Isho, legal specialist at the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), also told Benar News that SBPAC would translate the new regulation into Bahasa Melayu and publicise the information through seminars.

The new regulation ensures local mosques cannot grant permission for marriages involving anyone aged under 17 unless an Islamic court gives permission or the parents sign a document approving the marriage at the provincial Islamic committee office or at the local police station, Panadda told Benar.

A special sub-committee was also set up to consider marriages involving children younger than 17, and give the green light if the marriage benefits the spouses. One of the three committee members must be a woman with knowledge of Islamic laws and she must be in charge of questioning and interviewing the girl.

The historic move ends a widespread practice in the southern Muslim-majority provinces where girls were married off by poor parents with the permission of the local mosque once the girl had started menstruating.

In the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Satun, Islamic law were used in place of the Civil Code for family matters and inheritance. The law does not specify the minimum age for marriage unlike the Civil Code, applied elsewhere in the Kingdom, which has set the minimum age at 17. The loophole allowed many Malaysian men to take much younger girls as wives from Thailand, and local imams benefited monetarily from the loopholes, activist Sanphasit Koompraphant previously told The Nation.

National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapai-jit, meanwhile, said the Islamic Council’s move was not enough. Without penalties set for violators, the regulation is more like “asking for cooperation,” she told The Nation.

The underpass aims to alleviate congestion in eastern Bangkok, said Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governor Pol General Aswin Kwangmuang, who presided over the opening ceremony.

The four-lane underpass from Khlong Lam Sali Bridge to Soi Krungthep Kreetha 9 was part of the second phase of the 12km Srinakharin-Romklao Road construction project, which has been divided into seven phases, with only the elevated six-lane road between the Kanchanapisek overpass yet to be completed. It is reportedly 59 per cent complete and should be open in March 2019, according to the authorities.

The partnership was announced on Thursday at the Asia-Pacific AI for Social Good Summit held in Bangkok.

The initiative has already been rolled out across several clinics in India with help from Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences.

Now, after months of research in Thailand, Google is collaborating with Rajavithi Hospital to kick off clinical trials in select sites across the country.

Google hired 54 specialists to examine 130,000 images of the back of the eye, resulting in 880,000 diagnoses. Google then took those diagnoses and trained a machine to study a new image of the back of the eye and grade it on a five-point scale, hoping to help doctors better diagnose the disease.

Google is now working with Thai doctors to test if the algorithm works in Thailand.

Dr Paisan Ruamviboonsuk, assistant director of the Centre of Medical Excellence at Rajavithi Hospital, said there were more than five million patients with diabetes in Thailand, all of whom were at risk of diabetic eye disease, a condition that can lead to blindness but can be prevented by regular screenings.

“The results of the retrospective study show that the AI model was able to catch the eye disease better than trained human graders conducting similar screenings,” he said.

Lily Peng, Google Health’s product manager, added that the company’s goal was to make the benefits of AI available to everyone.

“The goal is to build this into a tool that can assist doctors in diagnosing the disease and help prevent more Thais from getting blind,” she said.

Meanwhile, Google and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific [ESCAP] used the occasion of on Thursday’s summit to sign an MoU for a partnership to share best practices and identify solutions to optimise the use of AI in Asia-Pacific.

For its part, Google is providing a grant to the Association of Pacific Rim Universities to create an Asia-Pacific AI for Social Good Research Network.