The first point Thanathorn wanted to know was the Bt18.657 billion budget of the Defence Ministry, which was almost equal to the budgets of the Commerce and Digital Economy and Society ministries together.

He also asked the Defence Ministry to show details on:

1 Income from using radio waves in the past 10 years;

2 List of companies managing radio wave concessions and their contracts;

3 Contracts between the Army and Channel 7 dating back to 1969;

4 Income from allowing concession to Channel 7 every year dating back to 1969;

5 Income from rental multiplexer;

6 Agreement between the Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry on budgets;

7 Details of off-budget funds types 1 and 2.

Thanathorn explained that his doubts on these issues were possibly related to the unusual wealth of those generals, and which people were curious to know about.

“According to the accounts presented to the National Anti-Corruption Commission in late May, there were 81 generals in the National Legislative Assembly holding Bt78 million of assets, or who earned around Bt12.72 million per year.

“Their income was three times their salaries, which means most of them were having a side business,” Thanathorn said.

Responding to the queries, General Pornpipat Benyasri, the commander-in-chief, responded that the fund set aside from the budget of up to Bt18 billion was managed by the Budget Bureau, while the disbursement was operated normally without special treatment.

On income transparency, he said that members of the National Legislative Assembly had already disclosed their properties before and after taking up their position. He also confirmed that relevant authorities will submit the documents about other details to Thanathorn later.

Meanwhile, General Apirat Kongsompong confirmed that some of the money was income from the military hospital, which will be used for management. Regarding the multiplexer cost, he said that the contracts with Channel 5 and Channel 7 had expired in 2018. He said the military already had a plan to reduce both the number of generals and the size of the military. However, Apirat did not answer the question of the unusual wealth of the generals.

Thanathorn asked about details on fund management and who was responsible for the management. He insisted that he would like to see the financial statements of all Army race courses and asked why it must be under Army control since it is not the Army’s main mission.

Lavaron Sangsnit, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and Finance Ministry spokesman, said the campaign had been especially successful in boosting spending via the second g-wallet that requires money top up via the Pao Tang mobile application to receive cash-back rewards.

“Since the start of the campaign on September 27 to November 28, 11,761,099 people registered in all three phases with combined spending of Bt16.535 billion,” he said. “In phases 1 and 2, registrants get Bt1,000 transferred to their first g-wallet to spend at eligible shops and service providers. In phase 3, however, registrants have to top up their second g-wallet to get 20 per cent cash back after spending.”

“Spending of the second g-wallet spiked as high as Bt353 million per day, with accumulated spending at Bt4.928 billion, a ten-fold increase from October’s total spending at Bt400 million, while the average spending per registrant stands at Bt23,109. This means the campaign has been extremely well received by the public and that registrants are willing to spend their money and didn’t register just to get cash handouts,” Lavaron said.

According to the director-general, present spending of second g-wallet is roughly one-third of the total spending in the entire campaign. The “Eat, Shop, Spend” campaign is still active, but currently it is open exclusively for registrants aged over 60 to make sure that all groups of population benefit equally. This long-running economic stimulus campaign will end on January 31.

Japanese tourist Tomoko Kawashita, 25, was found dead in the Sukhothai Historical Park area on May 25, 2007.

Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand informed Somsak that the Japanese minister will inquire about the progress of investigations and has expressed appreciation for Thailand’s cooperation.

Somsak told the ambassador that the Institute of Forensic Science has accelerated DNA testing to find male and female genetic material of the suspect’s relatives. The test results could take a while because some of the suspect’s relatives are working in Taiwan.

Recent findings from the comparison of DNA collected from the crime scene and the suspect’s older sister and son found 10 matches with the sister and seven with the son.

Related stories:

More DNA testing carried out in Tomoko Kawashita murder

Tomoko’s murder not forgotten, says Somsak

Japanese man sought in rape and murder of tourist 10 years ago

The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) has been tasked since 2017 to study city development plans along with an expansion of the transportation network, including double track, high speed and regional trains, for pushing economic growth in Thailand.

OTP’s director of the Bureau of Transport and Traffic System Development, Roengsak Thongsom, said that the OTP has chosen Chonburi, Ayutthaya and Khon Kaen provinces as models for the project. The agency has already held a meeting to evaluate the interest of the private sector.

“Chonburi is a city with high capacity for tourism, with 17.4 million tourists visiting in 2017,” he said. “In the past five years, the average growth rate in the province was 10.4 per cent, while the growth rate in 2018 was Bt557 billion.”

In addition, the province is an economic hub in the western part of the country, with numerous factories. Also, the high-speed train connecting three airports will run to this province, while U-Tapao Airport, located in it, will be developed as an international airport to support growth of economy and tourism in the future.

Based on its studies, the OTP considered Chonburi’s Pattaya city as a model for the TOD project. “We aim to divide four zones around the city for development,” the director explained. “The first zone will include regional offices, educational institutions and retail stores for serving economic and lifestyle purposes, while the second will consist of business hubs, shops, and big department stores to meet the needs of tourists visiting the province.

The third zone is planned as MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) metropolitan, establishing international convention and exhibition centres. The fourth zone will foster a healthy environment, community retail stores and parks.

Meanwhile, Ayutthaya’s economy will be developed by integrating with its strong point as a World Heritage Site, which attracted 7.6 million tourists in 2017. “The area around the province’s train station will be divided into four parts,” said Roengsak. “The first one will be developed as a mixed-use complex to woo trade and investment, while the other three areas will be developed as mixed-use community, focusing on the accessibility of public transportation and covering non-motorised transport”.

Furthermore, the OTP aims to develop Khon Kaen as an innovation and medical city, as well as a hub of the Mekong region. “The province was a strategic point of transportation in the northeastern part of Thailand,” he added. “Khon Kaen will be a door connecting investments between Thailand and nearby countries, and will be linked to China by a high-speed train.”

Government Spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Saturday (November 30) that the Office of the Spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister, which acts as secretary, will gather this information in order to prepare the presentation to Parliament, including informing the public about what each ministry has done and what benefits were delivered to the people.

“After we receive information from each ministry, we will categorise in each aspect such as social, economic and public welfare in order to make a presentation,” she said. “The prime minister and the deputy prime minister may also present the information, which may include infographics and video clips.”

She said the government has been working for four months, and each ministry already has performance results.

“The presentation will highlight 12 policies already announced in Parliament, while we will allow each ministry to add their topics to the presentation,” she said.

She added that the government would have completed six months in the middle of January next year. The presentation date has not been finalised yet.

This test run will be available every day from 10am to 4pm with 8 to 10 minutes between trains. Passengers wanting to continue their journeys to Bang Pho, Bang Or, Bang Phat, and Sirindhorn, from the Blue and Purple Lines must change trains at Taopoon station. Those getting on or getting off at Taopoon station will be charged Bt16.

Journeys on the Blue Line cost from Bt16 to Bt42, going up to Bt70 when connecting to the Purple Line. Passengers who have already activated tokens or tickets can stay in the system for no longer than 180 minutes.

The aim is to promote the halal business and tourism in northern part of Thailand, according to Torsak Sutthichartm advisor to the Halal Science Centre’s incubation agency.

“Through this activity, we aim to improve knowledge about and standards of halal products and services, as well as create more opportunities and a marketing channel for halal businesses,” he said, while the Centre’s assistant director, Asst Prof Pradorn Sureephong, added that the activity would allow to halal entrepreneurs to show off their potential to the 170,000 visitors expected to attend the fair.

There has been little increase in the number of halal entrepreneurs in Chiang Mai although demand for their products has soared “Our monthly inspections of halal products factories almost reflect a steep rise in Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) products,” he added.

“We are also promoting online trade in halal products and helping entrepreneurs to understand the basics of product pricing, shipping platforms, online transactions, and online marketing using influencers.”

Most halal factories in Chiang Mai have received halal food certification and sales for the entire province are said to be around Bt100 billion.

On show in the fair are natural herb drinks, frozen fruits and vegetables, instant food, oatmeal-milk and coffee-milk soaps, spa products, cosmetics, silverware, handmade bags, Arabian carpets, home décor items and selected jewellery.