The water level at the reservoir in the Surin Royal Irrigation Project was severely depleted amid drought in the middle of this year.

Nipon confirmed that the water was currently clear enough to drink and use for farming.

“The amount is 100.5 per cent of capacity, and at the Ampuen Reservoir 106 per cent,” he said.

He ordered the water situation in Surin to be carefully monitored and drought conditions handled according to plan.

Nipon will visit other provinces in the Northeast to ensure the region is prepared for dry weather.

“In-season paddy rice volume decreased from 27 million tonnes to 24 million tonnes, while off-season paddy rice also went down from 8 million tonnes to 3.5 million tones,” he said. “This means that we will have only 16-17 million tonnes of milled rice. Since 8 million will be earmarked for export, only 9-10 million tonnes will be left for domestic consumption. This will certainly drive up the price of milled rice next year.”

Wichai added that the committee has considered paying rice farmers the difference between the reference price and guaranteed price as follows: Unmilled round shaped rice’s reference price is Bt7,446.61 per tonne, lower than guaranteed price of Bt10,000 per tonne, a difference of Bt2,553.39 per tonne; unmilled Hom Pathum Thani rice’s reference price is Bt9,404.32 per tonne, lower than guaranteed price of Bt11,000 per tonne, a difference of Bt1,595.63 per tonne.

Meanwhile, the rice varietals that require no difference payment are: unmilled Hom Mali rice (reference price Bt15,286.95/tonne, guaranteed price Bt15,000 per tonne), and unmilled sticky rice (reference price Bt16,186.25/tonne, guaranteed price Bt12,000/tonne).

“The campaign will run from January 6 to March 6 between 4 and 7 am.,” he said. “We hope to attract more commuters to use automatic kiosks on these expressways, which will help reduce the congestion at checkpoints caused by cash payments.”

Suchart further added that Exat is also collaborating with True Corporation to let users buy their Easy Pass kit via the TrueMoney Wallet mobile application with free delivery to their home and no entry fee until February 13. “We expect that the campaign with True will increase Easy Pass users by 10-15 per cent through True’s 8.5 million existing clients.”

Furthermore, Exat is preparing to add touch & go stations for EMV cards (Euro, MasterCard and Visa) at toll booths to further facilitate expressway users. “With credit cards, clients need not to top up before using the expressway as the bill will be issued at the end of each month instead,” he said. “The first route to pilot this system is Kanchanaphisek Expressway, starting in January.”

Twenty Four Shopping and the Department of Intellectual Property signed a memorandum of understanding to that effect on Wednesday (November 27)

Products designated GI are verified to come from a specific locale and have a trusted reputation and high quality.

Deputy Commerce Minister Weerasak Wangsuphakijkosol said consumers would now be able to buy the products any time of day and pick up their purchases at the nearest 7-Eleven.

Department director general Thosapone Dunsuputra said the six products now available to pre-order were Celadon Chiang Mai ceramic ware, Lamphun golden dried longan, Doi Tung coffee, Thung Kula Rong Hai jasmine rice, Sangyod Muang Phatthalung rice and Sakon Nakhon indigo-dyed fabrics.

“The department will select more GI products for the project and we plan to sell the most popular ones in China in the future,” he said. “We have already registered 133 GI products – 116 made in Thailand and 17 from overseas.”

Twenty Four Shopping vice president Ampa Yongpisanpop said the arrangement would encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to distribute their wares in the same way and could generate additional income for farmers and communities.

In the past 3 years, the clerk had been enforcing the law by ordering illegal structures to be demolished in Laem Son, Koh Phangan island. There were 13 intruders accused of occupying 119 rai of land on the island.

Ronnarong said municipal officers were trying to demolish the illegal buildings intruding into public land.

He said the Crime Suppression Division had agreed to conduct an investigation into the matter, adding that he would be visiting the island again tomorrow.

The department has ordered apartments, hotels and offices releasing wastewater into the canal to improve wastewater treatment.

PCD chief Pralong added that until now, 289 establishments have followed the order while 304 others have ignored the warning so far.

PCD will fine those establishments who have defied the order at Bt2,000 a day until they change their approach to wastewater treatment, he said.

The PCD also has plans to make public the names of establishments that follow the department’s regulation.

The PCD expected that this move would raise awareness of environmental issues among both entrepreneurs and residents and make them more responsible.

“We were successful in negotiating many points, such as urban development, safety, transportation and water management,” Minister of Digital Economy and Society Puttipong Punnakanta said following an Asean-South Korea Ministerial Meeting on the subject this week.

Puttipong presided at the session along with Kim Yun Mi, South Korea’s Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Digital Economy Promotion Agency was assigned to take charge of the cooperation with Seoul in accordance with five operational guidelines.

“The guidelines concern a joint study on the viability of creating smart cities, co-investment in manufacturing plants and infrastructure, the establishment of a joint intelligence coordination centre, development of smart-city skills and organising seminars and exhibitions,” Puttipong said.

The agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Transport Institute and Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements regarding collaboration on transportation and city development.

Culture Minister Itthipol Khunpluem announced that their legacies had been praised the Unesco General Conference in Paris on Monday (November 25), where the anniversaries of dates in important peace figures’ lives coming up between 2020 and 2021 were noted for future celebration.

Ithipol said the Department of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Education had submitted Ajarn Mun’s name to be included on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s list of important individuals whose anniversaries are celebrated under a Unesco programme.

The January 20 birth anniversary of Ajahn Mun, who was born in 1870 and died in 1949, will be observed in a special ceremony in Bangkok.

Also to be commemorated is the centenary anniversary of the death on August 2, 1921, of Somdet Phra Phramahasamanachao.

Itthipol recalled that Ajarn Mun was a meditation teacher and a maha thera – a monk who has spent at least 20 years in the order – and was widely respected in life, as he is long after his death.

Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said on Wednesday (November 27) the Hazardous Substance Committee he chairs voted unanimously to postpone the ban on two chemicals and allow continued use of the third. 24 committee members casted their votes while 5 were absent.

The committee had on October 22 recommended that all three be banned.

The Department of Agriculture announced in the government gazette on November 18 that the bans would take effect on December 1.

But Suriya declared on Wednesday the ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos would be postponed to June 1 and “the use of glyphosate will follow the commitee’s guideline annouced back on May 23, 2018”.

Farmers dressed in black gathered on Tuesday in front of Government House to submit a petition to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stating their opposition to the bans on all three chemicals, insisting they could adjust their procedures for using them to ensure safety.