Head to Muang Thong Thani for a spectacular Loy Krathong celebration
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2022
A sparkling Loy Krathong extravaganza will be held by the lake of Nonthaburi’s Impact Muang Thong Thani on November 7 and 8.
The organiser’s spokesperson, Jintana Pongphakdee, said on Saturday that a special pier will be set up for people to release their krathongs from, which will then float towards the 8-metre-tall yellow duck in the middle of the lake.
Also featured will be a concert, open-air films and more than 30 stalls selling souvenirs and food.
Jintana said an area has also been set aside for students to freely exhibit and sell their artwork. She added that more than 1,300 floats made from bread, flowers corn husks and other eco-friendly products will be up for sale at 100 baht each.
Loy Krathong, which is marked on the full-moon night of the 12th month of the lunar calendar, falls on November 8 this year. Thais release little floats with a candle, incense, flowers and money as an offering to the water goddess. Many believe the krathongs float away with their sins, so there is room for better fortune.
First Thai death confirmed in South Korean Halloween stampede
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2022
At least one Thai was among the 151 people killed in a Halloween stampede in Seoul on Saturday night, the Royal Thai Embassy in South Korea reported on Sunday.
In a Facebook announcement posted at noon, the embassy said it had received a report from South Korean police that at least one Thai national was killed in the crush.
The embassy said it was coordinating with South Korean police for more information on the Thai casualty so that it could inform the victim’s family as soon as possible.
The embassy said it would assist the family in repatriating the body to Thailand.
Earlier on Sunday, the embassy had said that there were no reports of Thais among the 151 victims of the stampede.
South Korea’s fire department told AFP news agency that 19 of the 151 people killed during the incident were foreigners. Yonhap news agency added that nationals from Iran, Uzbekistan, China and Norway were among the dead.
The embassy also advised Thais in Seoul to avoid joining festivities with large crowds in attendance.
Thais in South Korea can contact the embassy for assistance at 010 6747 0095 or 010 3099 2955.
Prawit set to check steps taken to curb online crime ahead of Apec Summit
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will call a meeting with relevant state agencies next week to take tougher action against online crimes as the problem appears to be worsening.
Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Saturday that Prawit, who oversees the suppression of online crimes, was focusing on a new case in which state officials are being accused of selling people’s personal information to fake call-centre gangs. Prawit is expected to instruct the relevant agencies to work harder for “more concrete results”, Chaiwut said, adding that tackling criminal activities urgently was in line with the prime minister’s instructions issued ahead of the Apec Summit due next month. Chaiwut said on Saturday that so far 184 cases of online scams have been cracked, with suspects being arrested for preying on social media users. He added that the DES Ministry was working with several agencies to tackle the problem of online crimes, including fake call centres, Ponzi schemes, online gambling and e-commerce scams.
The DES Ministry is working with the Department of Special Investigation, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of Thailand, and Finance Ministry, among others. As for state officials allegedly selling people’s personal data to criminals, Chaiwut said they violated the Personal Data Protection Act and will be punished if found guilty in court. He explained that selling personal data carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison for every count. “If you sell the information of 10 people, you can get 10 years behind bars. If it is 100 people, it will be 100 years,” he said.
Big reward promised in exchange for clues on Thai currency counterfeiters
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Providing clues on counterfeit banknotes can win people up to 100,000 baht, the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry’s Anti-Fake News Centre announced on Saturday.
The centre said people who have found fake banknotes can provide information on where and from whom they got the notes at nearby police stations or Bank of Thailand offices.
The Finance Ministry will offer the following rewards:
Up to 100,000 baht or 30 per cent of the value of counterfeit money confiscated if the mastermind is also caught.
Up to 100,000 baht or 30 per cent of the value of the counterfeit banknotes seized.
Police officers cracking the case are also eligible for 25 per cent of these rewards.
The reward will be paid in two lots, half when the prosecutor releases a prosecution order and another half when the court issues a guilty verdict.
Application for the reward can be sent within 90 days of prosecution of offenders at the following places:
No more toothaches in Narathiwat thanks to free services from Chula students
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Would-be dentists from Chulalongkorn University made time last week to tend to people with dental problems in the southern province of Narathiwat.
As part of a project initiated by the Royal Initiative Discovery Foundation, free dental services were provided on Wednesday and Thursday to 2,090 people from the districts of Rusoh, Joh I Rong, Si Sakhon, Yi-ngor and Bacho.
The event held in Rusoh district included filling teeth, extraction of rotten teeth, scaling and extraction of wisdom teeth.
This project has been running since 1969 when Princess Srinagarindra visited rural areas and found many people suffering from dental problems.
The foundation has expanded the project and is now also covering the southern border provinces.
Though people have to wait several months to avail of these services, it helps reduce the burden on local hospitals, said Kritsada Bunlart, who oversees the project.
The last time Chulalongkorn dentistry students were in the South was in 2019 when they served the residents of Yala’s Bannang Sata district. Before that, they were in Pattani’s Sai Buri district in 2018.
Free dentistry services were suspended since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but were restarted last week and will be provided at least twice a year.
Weekend of open-air films, fun and games in Bangkok
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has not just brought back the outdoor film fest this weekend but is also organising many fun games for city residents to enjoy.
This weekend, two Thai comedies will be shown at the Lan Khon Muang ground opposite City Hall from 7pm. They are:
Saturday: Satree Lek (Iron Ladies)
Sunday: Saep Sanit Sid Saai Naa (Noodle Boxer)
There was no information on whether the films would have English subtitles.
Apart from films, the BMA is also organising many games and contests on the grounds from 1pm to 9pm. They are:
Saturday:
Thai chess (makruk) competitions under three categories:
Motorcycle taxi drivers: 50 matches
General public: 16 matches
Young people: 16 matches
Flag race between Phra Nakhon City Law Enforcement Office and Chana Songkhram Police Station
Flag race
Tug of war
Sunday:
Thai checkers competitions under three categories
Motorcycle taxi drivers: 50 matches
General public: 16 matches
Young people: 16 matches
Sack race
The event will also include an exhibition and workshop on Thai chess and checkers, as well as stalls selling local goodies. The BMA’s Music Division will also put up a performance from 4pm to 9pm on both days.
Rock n’ Roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has died at age 87
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Reuters
American rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, who was torn between his Bible-thumping upbringing and his desire to make hell-raising rock ‘n’ roll with hits such as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” has died at the age of 87.
Lewis passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, with his wife, Judith, by his side, a statement from his publicist said on Friday (October 28). He had been ill in recent years and suffered a stroke in 2019.
Like Chuck Berry’s guitar, Lewis’ piano was essential in shaping rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-1950s. He was part of the dazzling Sun Records talent pool in Memphis, Tennessee, that included Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison. Lewis outlived them all.
He was one of the first performers inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and was so influential that when John Lennon met him backstage at a show in Los Angeles, the Beatle dropped to his knees and kissed Lewis’ feet.
Lewis filled his albums not only with ground-breaking rock but with gospel, country and rhythm and blues such as “Me and Bobby McGee” and “To Make Love Sweeter for You” as he endured a life often filled with alcohol, drugs and tragedy. His music was sometimes overshadowed by scandals – including his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra in 1957.
In his prime, he performed with daring, originality and a lewd wild-man stage demeanor that thrilled his young fans as much as it agitated their parents. Typically, Lewis would kick away his piano bench and bang the keyboard with his foot while his long wavy blond hair flopped in his face.
According to legend, Lewis was once so upset that Chuck Berry had been chosen to close a show over him that he finished his set with a move that was hard to top – setting the piano on fire and walking off.
“I’m a rompin’, stompin’, piano-playing son of a bitch,” Lewis once told Time magazine in his Louisiana drawl. “A mean son of a bitch. But a great son of a bitch.”
Singer Jerry Lee Lewis performs during his appearance at “An Evening with Jerry Lee Lewis” at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles September 28, 2010.
FAMOUS COUSINS
Lewis was born Sept. 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, and grew up poor with two cousins also destined for fame – television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and country singer Mickey Gilley.
He became interested in the piano at age 4 and by 10 was sneaking in to roadhouses to hear blues performers. He absorbed a variety of musical influences, especially the Jimmie Rodgers records that belonged to his father, a farmer who went to prison for bootlegging.
Lewis’ family attended the Assembly of God church and his mother ensured he was thoroughly informed about the evils of liquor, honky-tonks and promiscuity. But Lewis was intent on experiencing them first hand and began playing piano in bars while still a teenager. His mother, upset by the idea of her son performing the devil’s music, sent him to a Bible college in Texas.
It turned out to be a brief stay, with Lewis reportedly being dismissed from the school for playing a boogie-woogie version of “My God Is Real” during an assembly. The incident showed the dichotomy that Lewis had to live with.
“The man is tortured,” Myra Lewis told People magazine. “Jerry Lee thinks that Jerry Lee is too wicked to be saved.”
As Lewis himself once put it, “I’m dragging the audience to hell with me.”
Flowers are laid at Jerry Lee Lewis
MAKING IT IN MEMPHIS
Lewis had a son and was on his second marriage before he turned 20, even though he had not divorced his first wife. He was determined to be a musician and made his way to Memphis.
In 1957 he recorded two rollicking chart-topping hits for Sun – “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” which he had been reluctant to record because he considered it blasphemous – that helped define early rock ‘n’ roll. Lewis quickly followed with more hits – “You Win Again,” “Breathless” and “High School Confidential.”
His career came to a halt during a 1958 tour of Britain. Journalists discovered Lewis was now married to Myra, the daughter of his bass player, who not only was 13 years old but also was his cousin. News coverage was so intensely negative that the tour was called off.
Back in the United States, Lewis’ career was not revived until he shifted genres and recorded country hits such as “Another Place, Another Time,” “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)” and “She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye.”
Lewis’ string of hits was matched only by the tragedies in his life. His young son Steve Allen Lewis drowned in 1962 and another son, Jerry Lee Jr., died in a 1973 car accident at 19.
After a divorce from Myra in the early 1970s, he married Jaren Pate in 1971 but she drowned in 1982. They had been separated for eight years but not divorced.
After only a few months of marriage, his next wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens, was found dead of a drug overdose in their home in 1983. Eight months later he started another stormy marriage with sixth wife Kerrie McCarver that lasted 20 years before they divorced and he married his seventh wife, Judith Brown, in 2012.
GUNPLAY
In 1976 Lewis accidentally shot his bass player and that same year was arrested drunk outside Presley’s Graceland mansion in Memphis with a loaded pistol, demanding to see Presley.
Lewis, who lived much of his later life on a ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi, also endured costly battles with U.S. tax officials, a nearly fatal perforated ulcer and a painkiller addiction that landed him in the Betty Ford Clinic.
In his later years he settled down but biographer Rick Bragg recalled interviewing Lewis for his 2014 book “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Words.” Lewis showed Bragg the pistol he kept under his pillow in a bedroom pockmarked with bullet holes and a Bowie knife stuck in the door.
“I don’t think Jerry Lee Lewis had to exaggerate his life one bit to make it interesting,” Bragg told the Atlanta Constitution Journal. “He really did make Elvis cry. He really did turn over more Cadillacs than most people purchased in the state of Mississippi.”
Lewis’s late recordings included featured guests such as Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Ringo Starr and other rockers he had influenced.
Buakaw gains sweet revenge over only fighter to knock him out
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek gained revenge by knocking out Japan’s Yoshihiro Sato in the first round at Rajadamnern Muay Thai Stadium in Bangkok on Friday night.
The 40-year-old Buakaw Banchamek was facing Sato, 41, a two-time K-1 Max Japan tournament winner and the only man ever to knock out the Thai fighter.
Their exhibition bout topped October’s bill of the Rajadamnern World Series “KAT Presents Legends of Rajadamnern”.
Buakaw had won three of their four previous encounters but suffered the only knockout of his career against Sato in 2008.
Both fighters started Friday night’s three-round match tentatively, wary of each other’s power.
Sato used his 11-centimetre height advantage to fire off a body kick early on, showing no signs of ring rust even though he hadn’t fought for seven years.
But Buakaw saw the kick, caught it and threw the Japanese fighter to the ground. The Thai warrior easily evaded three more kicks and started to counter with punching combinations.
Sato finally connected with a body kick and tied Buakaw up in the clinch but couldn’t do any damage there. He kept the Thai at bay with a kick but suffered a hard one-two to the body.
With a minute remaining in the first round, Sato went down for the first time but it was more of a slip. Sensing his Japanese rival was tiring, Buakaw unleashed a vicious one-two combination to the head, connecting with an overhand right that sent Sato to the canvas. The Japanese managed to get up but his wobbly legs showed he was in no state to continue. The referee called off the match 2 minutes and 15 seconds into the first round.
Buakaw successfully secured his second victory this year at Rajadamnern Stadium, in his return to the famous Bangkok venue after eight years.
The “KAT Presents Legend of Rajadamnern” was organised by Global Sport Ventures Ltd in collaboration with the Kickboxing Association of Thailand (KAT) and sponsored by the National Sports Development Fund.
Thai start-ups raise over THB10 billion in just two months
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022
Thai start-ups managed to secure more than 10 billion baht in funding in September and October, as investment rebounded with the country’s reopening.
Thansettakij business daily reported on Friday that the past two months have seen major investment deals announced by five Thai start-ups in various industries.
The biggest deal was announced by e-commerce platform LINE MAN Wongnai, which raised US$265 million or 10 billion baht from several partners including Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Line Corp, BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail (OR), Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile. The deal raised the company’s value to over 37 billion baht, making it Thailand’s latest unicorn.
The second deal was announced by Globish Academia Thailand, an online English learning platform, which raised over 90 million baht from leading venture capital firms Premier, NVEST Venture, ECG, 500 TukTuks, StormBreaker Venture and RareJob. Globish is entering a growth stage and aims to become a leading EdTech start-up in the Asean region.
Meanwhile, Green Yellow, a solar generation start-up, recently secured 831 million baht from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand to expand its solar-panels project for residential and business customers wishing to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.
AutoPair, a provider of automotive-part sourcing and auto-shop management software, also secured 70 million baht from Mitsubishi Corp to expand the Japanese automaker’s parts-manufacturing wing.
Lastly, Fintech and blockchain start-up Forward recently completed its seed or first-stage funding with 160 million baht raised. The six-month fundraising project weathered a volatile cryptocurrency market to secure investments from Primestreet Capital, Beacon Venture Capital, KBANK, Bank of Ayudhya and KASIKORN X, among others.
Thailand needs ‘more investment in renewable energy, digitalisation by public, private sectors’
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022
Nongluck Ajanapanya
Thailand’s public and private sectors should invest in renewable energy and digital solutions to maintain the country’s competitiveness and growth, according to Delta Electronics.
Green energy and reduction of carbon emissions are now part of the global mega-trend. All transformation processes take time, so the sooner the better, said Delta Thailand’s president, Jackie Chang.
He made the remarks during the annual seminar “Delta Future Industry Summit 2022: Smart Green Energy for a Resilient and Sustainable Thailand”.
The seminar provides a venue for Delta’s partners to network and solve problems while learning about the company’s latest solutions in EV charging, data centre, and industrial automation.
Chang stated that while investment in renewable energy will be high, it will be worthwhile in the long run because the global economy is concerned about the environment. Many regulators will impose regulations requiring polluted or high-emission companies to pay compensation.
One of Thailand’s top priorities right now is to focus on establishing factory plants for electronic vehicles, he said, while praising the government’s policy of encouraging foreign investment, but he believes it should be expedited.
Aside from battery plants, Chang suggested that Thailand consider developing its own chip set and semiconductor in order to sustain Thailand’s EV industry as well as digital economy.
He emphasised the importance of assisting traditional automobile suppliers in Thailand in transforming their businesses to serve the EV industry.
He also pledged to assist the Thai government and entrepreneurs during this period of energy transition.
“As an EV parts manufacturer and EV charging solution provider, Delta has the local engineering and service capabilities to implement comprehensive EV charging infrastructure solutions,” Chang said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Supattanapong Punmeechaow thanked Delta for supporting the National Energy Plan 2022, which will reduce carbon emissions to meet the country’s 2050 carbon neutrality target.
“Today, we are already seeing Delta contributing to Thailand 4.0, new S-Curve and sustainable goals, by building many essential EV parts and charging infrastructure in Thailand to supply top car brands, as well as paving the way for environmentally friendly buildings and manufacturing practices by promoting rooftop solar, batteries, and energy efficiency technologies,” said Supattanapong.
Chang concluded by saying that Delta is looking forward to collaborating with its partners to put solutions into action that promote e-mobility and digital transformation in support of Thailand 4.0 and thus create a new green economy.
Delta Electronics is a global producer of power and thermal management products and solutions. Currently, the company’s business categories include power electronics, automation, and infrastructure.
The embassy also advised Thais in Seoul to avoid joining festivities with large crowds in attendance.
Singer Jerry Lee Lewis performs during his appearance at “An Evening with Jerry Lee Lewis” at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles September 28, 2010.
