The Central and East regions including Bangkok and its vicinity will also see the temperature dropping by 1-2 degrees. More rain is expected in the south and wave height in the Gulf of Thailand of about 2 metres.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is as follows:

Northern region: Cool to cold with fog in the morning, lows of 13-19 degrees and highs of 30-36 degrees Celsius. Temperature likely to drop to 5-10 degrees on hilltops with frost in some areas.

Northeastern region: Cold with fog in the morning with isolated rain, lows 16-20 degrees and highs of 32-33 degrees Celsius. Temperature likely to drop to 9-13 degrees on hilltops.

Central region: Partly cloudy with fog in the morning; lows of 21-22 degrees, highs 33-35 degrees Celsius.

Eastern region: Partly cloudy with fog in the morning and isolated rain; lows 20-24 degrees, highs 32-34 degree Celsius; wave height 1 metre.

Southern region (east coast): Partly cloudy with thunder showers in 10 per cent of the area; lows 21-24 degrees, high 31-34 degrees Celsius; wave height 1 metre.

Southern region (west coast): Partly cloudy with thunder showers in 10 per cent of the area; lows 22-24 degrees, highs 32-34 degree Celsius; wave height 1 metre, increasing to 1-2 metres during storms.

Bangkok and surrounding area: Partly cloudy and fog in the morning; lows 23-25 degrees, highs 33-35 degrees Celsius.

“I want to change my name to Ching Jai [Faithful] because my heart [Jai] is devoted to helping the country to develop further,” he said.

“During these auspicious moments of the New Year, I want everyone to be careful on the road to reduce accidents and deaths. There are many differences in our society, but don’t see everything as difficult and have mercy on others since (sometimes) laws cannot not solve everything.”

He said that there are 3 pillars for happiness, calling them the 3Ls; Love yourself, Love family, and Love others. “When an accident occurs all three of these are broken, so stay sober and keep your speed down to less than 80-kilometres per hour.

“The government hopes to see 0 per cent accident even though that probably isn’t possible. My family is getting bigger every day with police and people. Therefore, I want people to be safe during the festival,” he said.

The PM also visited the exhibition and participated in an alcohol test, scoring, of course, a perfect zero.

Representatives from co-organisers SUT Institute of Agricultural Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ Office of the Permanent Secretary, and Nakhon Ratchasima Agricultural Extension Office were also present at the announcement.

The fair, scheduled for January 10 to 19, is held in honour of the royal members of the House of Chakri and aims to disseminates their expertise and activities in agriculture.

The event will also highlight the potential of Thai farmers and exhibit SUT’s researches and innovations in the industry.

There will be agricultural exhibitions, contests of plants and pets, and booths selling farm produce and the university’s products.

Alao, the fair will come with briefing and training on the production of qualified marijuana for medical and business use, total mixed ration (TMR) for goats and cows, and smart greenhouse.

“SUT will mark its 30th anniversary in 2020” the chancellor said, adding: “This event will be the pride of the university as well as Nakhon Ratchasima”.

Deputy minister Weerasak Wangsuphakijkosol said that the Department of Intellectual Property (DIT) issued the announcement about copyright agent identification, which allows people to check the information on the agent by scanning the QR Code on the ID card via a smartphone application.

“People can check information about copyright owners, the authorisation period and the copyright infringement procedures,” he said.

Copyright agents who want to submit their information must have the qualification specified by the DIT, and have passed a criminal background check from the Royal Thai Police. They must also go through copyright law and basic ethics training to be eligible to receive the copyright agent card.

“We would like to ask the copyright owners and agents to submit the information to DIT so that we can upgrade copyright law enforcement and make it more efficient and transparent,” Weerasak said.

The deputy minister also warned copyright agents to proceed under the law and not violate anyone’s rights, because they may be disqualified as an agent.

“The copyright owners and agents can submit their information from December 26 onwards at the Copyright Office in the Commerce Ministry during normal working hours,” he added.

The algae (Ulva intestinalis) is edible and their appearance resembles a long stretch of cloudy fur. The growth is natural and will not harm the environment.

The images have captured the curiosity of netizens and drawn many to the site and the page also warned the algae are slippery and visitors should take caution.

The Mo Chit Bus Terminal in Bangkok was packed with passengers waiting patiently to board their buses. Most are heading home to spend time with their relatives while others are simply escaping for a well-earned break.

Transport has increased services from December 26 to 28 to facilitate passengers during the New Year festival.

They were identified as the Mayor of Nakhon Trang Municipality Apichit Winothaias, owner of the vehicle, and his chauffer.

Police and rescue team took three hours to pull it from the canal but found only Sutthimeth Panysitthikorn, the 22-year-old chauffeur, dead on the back seat. There was no sign of the mayor.

Divers have been searching for him while locals pray that the mayor would survive the accident as he is a respectful person in the community.

Security cameras nearby show the car travelling at high speed, then suddenly plunged into the canal. The mayor, reportedly, left Thetsaban 1 Sangkhawit School’s boy scout camp before the accident.

The broadcast on YouTube was live for several hours on Tuesday (December 24) on an account named ‘BigBrother’s Gaze’.

The deputy commander said that the lawyer of the Corrections Department has secured all the evidence and sent his report to police who would request more information from the company that installed the surveillance cameras in the prison. He believed that the hacker wanted to show off his skills, pointing to the many cases where hackers log into servers to show they can but don’t touch sensitive data.

“The police are investigating the identity of the hacker. Should he or she prove to be a foreigner, they will coordinate with international police,” Siriwat said.

The footage has now been removed from Youtube with an apology in both English and Thai. The message reads: “I apologise for making people mad. but the truth is there was no hacking since all the leaked footage is in public servers. However, no more pictures or footage will be broadcast on Youtube. I suggest regular changes of the password and prohibiting the use of the default password given by the factory.”

Two of the suspects, who are known to be members of a major drug cartel, were caught with 525 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and 6 million tablets of amphetamine at the Hua Talay Intersection in Chaiyaphum.

A further 400,000 amphetamine tablets were found hidden in the tyres of a vehicle at the Phayuha Khiri Checkpoint in Nakhon Sawan and six arrested, while in another incident officers arrested for suspects and took possession of 2 million amphetamine tablets at Chiang Saen District in Chiang Rai.

The “Bag of Life” is a thick plastic bag which can be used several times. The bag is made of recycled plastic, and is sold at Bt3 for small size and at Bt5 for big size.

Salinla explained that the recycled bag distribution scheme was developed after Tesco Lotus surveyed and found that cloth bags sold in the general market were quite expensive. “Their price is an obstacle for people who want to stop using plastic bags,” she added. “Moreover, some reusable bags are not strong enough to support the weight of some products”.

Thoose who opt for the “Bag of Life” can exchange their bags when they are worn out for a new ones at the branch where they bought them from, free of charge.

“Tesco Lotus does not dispose the worn-out bags of, but recycles them into new ones,” she added. “We do not want to add to the plastic waste in accordance with Tesco group’s no-plastic bags policy.”

The first exchange period for the bags will be from January 1 to March 31, 2020.

Besides, Tesco Lotus has provided other kinds of bags apart from the “Bag of Life”. Those bags are sold in the price range of Bt19 to Bt99.

In addition, Tesco Lotus, together with other retailers in Thailand, will stop using plastic bags from January 1, according to the government policy