Baan Pu Namron has won the National Community Forest Award and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Trophy under the “Love the Forest and Community” programme.

It is among 138 award-winning community |forests that participated in the ninth National Community Forest Contest. Privy Councillor Ampol Senanarong presided over the award-presentation |ceremony.
Chonlatit Suratsawadee, director-general of the RFD, said the department had focused on implementing a strategy to increase effective protection of forests in areas under its responsibility.
“Consequently, we have long-term forest-resource management and development plans with an emphasis on the formalisation of private-sector engagement in developing a mutual forest management plan to benefit the country sustainably.”
Baan Pu Namron Community Forest in Dan |Chang sub-district, Dan Chang district, Suphan Buri, received a Bt200,000 award for use in its conservation efforts.
The RFD said the community forest had implemented comprehensive forest management alongside |community engagement of households, temples, schools and local agencies. By relying on local |beliefs, tradition and culture as an effective strategy, |the community created a strong network to raise |awareness of the incomparable value of forests and |took action to rehabilitate degraded forest areas |from the granite-mining concessions and |deforestation due to charcoal production.

A camp focused on environmental science under the theme “Managing biodiversity and conserving world-heritage sustainably”.

Seventy students in Grades 10 and 11 majoring in science came together from across the country, after being selected to participate in a number of “Envi-science: Learning through Actions” activities in both theory and practical aspects, on the continuing theme of biodiversity. This included a trip to Khao Yai National Park, a World Heritage site in northeastern Thailand.
Towards the end of the camp the students will present their science projects to win a scholarship.

Throughout October, every reaction to the “One Reaction = One Baht” photo on Stiebel Eltron’s Facebook page results in a baht being added on top of the construction cost for a new building for Ban Tha Ngam School, Ban Dan Mek branch, in Kalasin.
Stiebel Eltron is a Germany-based manufacturer of water heaters and other products.
“Education is an important part of Thailand’s development and Stiebel Eltron is striving to contribute what we can to provide better facilities for children in remote areas. We hope people will support this worthy cause by visiting our Facebook page and sharing their reactions,” said Roland Hoehn, managing director of Stiebel Eltron Asia Co.

Kittinun Anupun of Claim Di app, an insuretech (insurance technology) start-up, said: “The emergence of autonomous cars like the Tesla brand in the US has raised questions on how the auto insurance industry will formulate motor policies and price the risks.”
“Developers of these self-driving cars have claimed there would be more road safety or fewer or even no accidents [due to the reliability of such a new technology and the absence of human error],” he added.
“In fact, there are now four levels of self-driving cars. Level One is the vehicles that have cruise control allowing drivers to fix the speed, which have been in use for some time.
“Level Two is like the Tesla cars produced in the US, which have a so-called autopilot feature allowing the cars to be self-driven, but drivers can still override the self-driving feature when necessary.
“We can programme Tesla cars to go to a certain destination and the vehicles will be self-driven towards that destination. They will go ahead and stop on their own when required.
“Still, it’s not yet at Level Three or Four, when these cars can interact with other autonomous vehicles. In such a scenario, hundreds of vehicles on the road will be able to communicate with each other. It’s likely that we’ll have to equip current vehicles with some computing system and software to allow them to interact with the new generations of vehicles,” Kittinun explained.
“Experts in the auto insurance industry are discussing when more than 50 per cent of all vehicles on public roads will be autonomous. It’s maybe some 20 years from now. At present, the latest models of Tesla cars could have the capability to communicate among themselves, but they would have challenges dealing with other vehicles.
“As a result, we will likely have to turn existing vehicles on the road into ‘connected’ cars, so that they can communicate with Tesla and the like to avoid accidents. In this scenario, existing cars will become IoT [Internet of Things] vehicles equipped with telemetrics and data stored in the cloud,” he predicted.
“In addition, there will be a user-based insurance application which will work with the built-in telemetrics in models, starting this year. For example, the latest Isuzu models on sale in Thailand already have some telemetric features and sensors allowing the vehicles to stop automatically when approaching another vehicle.
“These vehicles are regarded as Level Two and Level Three. For the upcoming 2017 models, users will be able to communicate with their vehicles with their own mobile phones via a new app. For tech start-ups, we’re developing software and apps to tackle these challenges so that these vehicles become ‘connected’ vehicles.
“For insurance coverage, there remain several questions which need to be answered when a significant number of self-driving cars are on the roads. For example, what the responsibilities are of drivers or owners of these autonomous cars, and how the premiums will be calculated. Will premiums be based on a vehicle’s data from its telemetrics, or on the driver’s record – or both?” Kittinun said.

Thaicom has not named the foreign partner at this stage.
This will be the first satellite of Thaicom group to operate outside of Thai regulations, as administered by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) and the Digital Economy and Society Ministry.
Thaicom currently has five satellites in operation: the Thaicom 4 (iPSTAR) broadband satellite, and the Thaicom 5, 6, 7 and 8 broadcasting satellites.
Thaicom 4, 5 and 6 operate under the ministry’s concession, while the other two fall under the NBTC licensing regime.
However, the ministry is keen to bring the two licensed satellites back to the concession regime, arguing that the regime does not expire until 2021.
Thaicom yesterday announced that ISC had entered into a satellite procurement contract with China Great Wall Industry Corp, which is China’s leader in satellite construction and commercial launch services.
It said ISC had been entrusted to conduct a new satellite project for a business partner, and that the satellite would be operated under the licence and orbital slot of that partner.
The project will serve the provision of broadband and mobility services for Asia-Pacific, it added.
The partner will provide the company with advanced service fees, which will serve as the source of funding for the construction of the satellite, while the project is expected to contribute to increased revenue for the company, Thaicom said.
With a 15-year lifespan, it will have a service footprint covering China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.
The satellite is expected to be completed around the end of 2019, Thaicom said in the announcement.

One company watcher called the Nintendo Switch “disappointing”, while gamers were left wondering how much it would cost and whether it was compatible with smartphones.
In a three-minute video posted on its YouTube channel Thursday, Nintendo unveiled the hybrid machine which can be played at home and on the go, thanks to a removable screen with the controllers attached.
The device is due to be released in March.
“It’s a disappointing console,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, Singapore-based head of Japanese equity sales at BGC Partners.
“It doesn’t enhance the gaming experience when you have a smartphone in your pocket.”
The Kyoto-based company’s share price dropped nearly eight per cent at one stage on Friday before ending the day at 25,185 yen, down 6.54 per cent.
The console is seen as key to Nintendo’s business, as it competes with Sony’s hugely popular PlayStation 4.
Nintendo, whose Switch uses cartridges rather than discs, is looking for a hit product to offset disappointing sales of its Wii U console.
After years of pressure, Nintendo abandoned its consoles-only policy and entered into the smartphone game market earlier this year.
In March, the company released “Miitomo” — a free-to-play and interactive game that allows users to create “Mii” avatars — as it tries to compete in an industry that has increasingly gone online.
This summer it scored another hit with the Pokemon Go app, giving a boost to a Nintendo-created brand, although the game was developed by a US firm and the financial impact on the Japanese company’s bottom line will be limited.

No surprises

Nomura Securities analyst Junko Yamamura was more charitable than some, calling the Nintendo Switch “formidable”.
But she added that it would not redefine gaming in the way that the original Wii console did after its launch a decade ago.
“The concept for the product is in line with our expectation that it will be a hybrid of a stationary console and a handheld device,” Yamamura said.
“Nintendo has not come out with any surprises to redefine gaming… but we think the Nintendo Switch addresses some of the issues that came up with the Wii U and looks formidable.”
Respected game industry watcher Hirokazu Hamamura described the Switch as a “high-end” console that would run multi-platform titles designed for personal computers, PlayStation and Xbox.
“Keen to know compatability with smartphones and price,” he said on Twitter.
Gamers expressed both delight and caution as competition heats up with Sony pushing its high-powered PS4 and PSVR virtual reality headset.
“I am glaaaad Nintendo Switch came out better then expected!!(><) Mario Kart and Splatoon in pipeline, but how about Pokemon… Now I am growing less inclined to buy PS4…” one fan tweeted.
But others were waiting on more details.
“Nintendo Switch, I might want it depending on the game titles (^^),” said a fan.

The Khao San Tourism Business Club has said 14 hotels in inner areas including Khao San Road are offering big discounts of 10 to 40 per cent for mourners.
The 14 hotels have set aside a limited number of rooms for Bt600 to Bt1,500 per night until next month.
Siriwan Thongsuwan, manager of Panee Lodge, said the hotel was selling 15 rooms per day for Bt800, out of its 22 rooms.
“During this high season, our room rate is up to Bt1,200 per night but this is a special event and we would love to help people,” he said.
Thammarat Ratanapiban, front office manager of Buddy Lodge on Khao San Road, said the hotel offered more than a 40-per-cent markdown for guests visiting for the current royal event.
“We’ve cut our rate for 20 rooms per night or more if needed, from Bt1,900 to Bt1,000 per night,” he said.
Patcharin Choewnawin from Khaosan Palace said the property is making about 10 per cent of its 1,000 rooms available for Bt850 per night, down from the rate of Bt900 to Bt1,100
An officer of the Khao San Tourism Business Club said other hotels featuring special deals were the Boutique Inn, De Moc, Dang Derm, D&D Inn, Dang Derm in the Parc, Baan Chart, The Pillow Hostel, Sleep with Inn, Sakul House, Rambutri House and Khao San Park.
About half of the participating hotels are including breakfast while one offers transportation.
The club said operators would take bookings from both online and walk-in guests at the same rate.