ERC Chairman, Samerjai Suksumek said on Friday (December 20) that in setting the guidelines for liberalisation of the business, the commission must improve rules and regulations to comply with the policy of the Energy Ministry.

“The commission seeks an improvement in the natural gas price formula to encourage third-party competition in the business,” he said.

“The formula should be divided into two pools, as opposed to the current gas price structure which is based on the average price of procurement from three sources – domestic gas supply, gas purchased from Myanmar, and gas imported in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG)”.

He explained that the first pool is gas procurement. PTT Plc will still be responsible for LNG purchases as fuel for the power plants of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), in line with the Power Development Plan (PDP).

The second pool is procurement to meet additional LNG demand. It should allow third parties or other entrepreneurs to compete for the role of supplier/importer.

“However, if the calculation resulted in price difference. The ERC will refer to price supervision rules to ensure fairness and not to cause problems in import management and gas quality”.

He added that ERC is considering improving details of licences and will hold public hearings on the drafts of System Operator-SO Regulatory Framework and Transmission Owner-TO Regulatory Framework.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced the numbers during the launch of a campaign “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor, the Amazing Smashing Success” to promote Thailand as the “Preferred Destination”.

The total, 38.26 million, was confirmed after the arrival of Devanshi Deepak Kesaria, a tourist from India, who was the “luckiest visitor”. She travelled by Spicejet on her first visit to Thailand and plans to enjoy her vacation in Bangkok and Pattaya.

She will receive round tickets for two to travel from her home country to the Kingdom along with free service of the Airports of Thailand (AOT)’s limousine taking the passengers from the airport to the accommodation provided by the AOT.

TAT believes the campaign will promote the country and attract several tourists from all over the world to travel to Thailand and spend on Thai products and services.

The network is a gathering of community enterprises established under the Tree Bank project of Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. Its proposal explained the project’s operation and Tree Bank’s target to resolve the low prices of agricultural products by adopting an energy policy, and substituting polyculture in areas where monoculture is not functional.

The network complained through the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)’s energy committee chairman Gen Sakon Sajjanit, that the project was difficult to operate due to numerous factors.

The government now has a policy to solve the network’s problem, and Energy Minister is implementing this by creating community-based power plants. This will allow project Thai farmers to change their career, as well as solve their problems and strengthen local communities.

Tree Bank Community Enterprise Network consisted of farmers from numerous provinces in Thailand, such as Phayao, Phetchabun, Loei, Udon Thani, Sakhon Nakhon, Kalasin, Nakhon Ratchasima, Trat, and Ratchaburi.

FTI has collaborated with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) using information from satellites to make a map of water flow in Thailand to build effective reservoirs supporting each water stream.

Montri said that the industries in the eastern region will suffer the most. Several factories have to buy water leading to higher expenditure. The government has to work on this issue before it worsens the economic situation.

Orapin Sermpraphasilp, chairperson of the Federation of Thai Industries of the Eastern Region said that Chachoengsao province is of the most concern as it is located near the sea and must rely on the Bang Pakong River which usually turns from freshwater to brackish water during a drought. Without freshwater in the area, the industries, particularly those involved in food and medical equipment, will have to buy it.

She added that the problems are not caused only by the low quantities of water but also the quality of it since the industries need to use high-quality water.

Fortunately, some eco factories have excellent water management and are using their water footprint along with the SMART system and applying R3 (Reduce Reuse and Recycle) with the Internet of Things system to enhance 15 per cent of water management, which will help retain confidence in Thai industries.

The drought this season is the most severe for 14 years because the reservoirs that usually provide a fallback are themselves short of water this year.

The Water and Environment Institute for Sustainability stated that reserved rainfall is 30 per cent lower than average.

At the meeting of the Office of the National Water Resources, Royal Irrigation Department and the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO) on December 3, the government agreed to bring in water from other sources to the eastern regions and to develop new reservoirs to support EEC industries.

“Statistics from Department of Mental Health revealed that in 2018 there were six suicide attempts every hour in Thailand,” he said. “More than 300 successful suicides are among children and teenagers, while the numbers of those seeking psychiatric help from the department are increasing.”

Supreeda further added that among the most interesting findings are the reasons that cause stress to children and teenagers. “The leading reason is the familial relationship, followed by jobs and duties, being bullied and domestic violence,” he said.

A survey conducted by Child Online Protection Action Thailand (COPAT) and Internet Foundation for the Development of Thailand found that members of Generation Z (aged 10-24) spend average of 10.22 hours per day on the internet, while in 2018, 31 per cent of children were the targets of cyber-bullying, 74 per cent have seen online pornographic materials, and 25 per cent admitted that they made contact with strangers they met online.

“The more time children spent online the more chance they have of being cyber-bullied, thus contributing to the mental health and suicide problems,” said Supreeda. “To prevent these problems, parents and schools need to monitor children’s behaviors closely and try to replace online times with healthy activities such as exercising, reading or taking a trip together.”

The baby muntjac is strong and healthy and being cared for by a team of veterinarians. “It’s still being breastfeed, as it’s too young eat other kinds of food” he said. “Its father was albino Indian muntjac while its mother was normal Indian muntjac”.

The first Indian muntjac for breeding at the zoo was given by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, after villager who caught it in a forest offered to Her Majesty.

The first albino Indian muntjac produced its offspring later, and one of them was given to Songkhla Zoo.

Albino Indian muntjacs have the same characteristics as common Indian muntjac which is nocturnal animal and likely to live in solitary. During daytime, it hides in the shrubs. It moves swiftly and makes a sound like dog barking when it is frightened.

The Indian muntjac is found in Indonesia, Southern part of China, Sri Lanka, India, and all over Thailand and feeds on grass, leaves, and fruits. The average lifespan is 15 years.