Barkar Nash (Page 900)

The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) strategic framework has generated over US$618 billion (about 21.7 trillion baht) since its founding in 1993, said deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek on Monday.

Established during Chuan Leekpai’s tenure as prime minister, the framework was set up to facilitate private sector cooperation between the three countries, in a bid to boost the region’s economic growth.

Ms Rachada said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the longevity and success of the initiative, which has helped the region improve its economic performance, especially in border areas tremendously.

Under the IMT-GT framework, the private sector is encouraged to help develop six core industries which are seen as the key drivers of the region’s economic growth, namely trading, infrastructure, tourism, human resources, agriculture and the environment, as well as halal food production.

As for projects to enhance connectivity in the region worth US$57 billion, all 36 have made considerable progress, said Ms Rachada. Aimed at improving logistics and travel, the projects include the Hat Yai-Padang Besar-Kuala Lumpur train and the second bridge over the Kolok River connecting the border town of Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat of Thailand to Rantau Panjang district of Kelantan in Malaysia.

At present, the scope of the IMT-GT cooperation has also expanded to 36 states and provinces in all three countries, she said.

During the past four decades, the gross domestic product of the three countries has also increased from US$12.7 billion in 1984 to US$405 billion in 2021, Ms Rachada said.

Trade value also increased from US$97 billion in 1984 to US$618 billion in 2021.

Deputy House speaker Padipat Suntiphada has come un-der fire after posting a video clip of himself drinking beer on social media, which some say could be a violation of the law.

The furore began after Mr Padipat, a Move Forward Party MP for Phitsanulok, reviewed a can of beer brewed in his home province on Tiktok.

This prompted a flurry of criticism from netizens, who pointed to the law which prohibits the advertising of alcoholic beverages.

Tankhun Jittitsara, a former Democrat MP, called on House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha to look into whether Mr Padipat breached the ethical code for political-office holders.

Democrat spokesman, Ramet Rattanachaweng, warned that Mr Padipat’s action may constitute a violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

The orphaned elephant calf Tula has died due to illness after 10 months under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s (DNP) care, the department announced on its Facebook page on Sunday evening.

Tula first came to the public’s attention when a team of veterinarians found him in Chanthaburi’s Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary in October last year.

He was abandoned by his herd after contracting herpes in the wild, said Patarapol Maneeorn, chief of the department’s Wildlife Health Management Division.

According to Dr Patarapol, Tula suffered from a metabolic bone disease, which impeded his ability to stand on his front legs. Tula’s condition began to deteriorate last week and on Sunday, his pulse became very weak.

Veterinarians attempted to resuscitate Tula, but he died later that evening.

Dr Patarapol said Tula’s remains will be examined for other contributing factors.

Candidate does not have to be in parliament for vote

Pheu Thai will propose Srettha Thavisin for prime minister, expects he will immediately get all the support he needs, and he does not have to attend the joint sitting of parliament that will vote on his nomination, according to party secretary-general Prasert Chanthararuangthong.

Mr Prasert said on Monday that key party figures had agreed and confirmed that Mr Srettha would be their  candidate for prime minister.

He dismissed speculation that Paetongtarn Shinawatra, another of the party’s three registered candidates, could be nominated to the parliament instead of Mr Srettha. Ms Paetongtarn is a daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

“The members of the House of Representatives who will support Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate should number about 270. The support of the Senate is also being requested. I believe that many senators will support the candidate of Pheu Thai,” the party secretary-general said.

“So, I am confident that Mr Srettha will be elected right away.”  

The constitution requires a joint vote by the 500 House representatives and 250 senators to select the prime minister.

Mr Prasert confirmed that Pheu Thai would be happy to receive supporting votes from all political parties,  including the two political parties linked to caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Asked to comment on some senators’ demand that Mr Srettha elaborate on his qualifications in the parliament, Mr Prasert said that Mr Srettha was not an MP and so he was not required to be in the parliament when it votes for a prime minister.

Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said that he may reconvene the joint sitting of the House and the Senate either on Friday this week or Tuesday next week, for their vote for prime minister.

He preferred to first wait for a ruling from the Constitutional Court, expected on Wednesday, on the parliament’s resolution rejecting the renomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister on July 19.

A mechanic who soups up cars for racing was arrested on Friday in possession of 1.18 million methamphetamine pills at a petrol station in Muang district, Sing Buri province.

He was taken into custody by investigators of the Bangkok metropolitan police, and about 10 million baht worth of his assets were later impounded for examination.

Pol Maj Gen Teeradet Thamsuthee, commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s investigation division, said the suspect, Jirasak “Kan” Boonchai, 42, ran a garage in Mae Dai district, Chiang Mai province, that modifies cars for racing.

His arrest followed a two-month expanded investigation by metropolitan police following several major drug seizures in Bangkok.

On Aug 11, police followed an Isuzu pickup travelling from Chiang Mai, and intercepted and searched it at a PTT petrol station in Muang district of Sing Buri. 

The vehicle was carrying two boxes intended for power generators. However, the generators had been removed from their casings and replaced with packages containing 1.18 million meth pills. The driver, Mr Jirasak, was arrested.

Police subsequently searched Mr Jirasak’s house in Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai. They impounded 11 cars and four motorcycles for examination, on suspicion they had been acquired with the proceeds of the drug trade.

Thailand’s first fatality related to monkeypox occurred last week, a Thai man aged 34 years who already had HIV and syphilis, according to health authorities.

Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said on Monday that the patient had suffered a fever, headache, itching and a rash on his body on July 3.

He sought treatment at a private hospital in Chon Buri province on July 11. Tests on samples taken from him confirmed he had monkeypox, HIV and syphilis.

The patient had later suffered a sore throat due to a fungal infection, an opportunistic infection in HIV patients, Dr Tares said. A rash spread all over his body due to monkeypox.

He was discharged from the hospital after receiving weeks of treatment there.

On Aug 9, the man suffered fatigue and breathing difficulty. Relatives took him to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province.

By then he had a monkeypox-related rash all over his body, large areas of dead tissue on his nose and neck, infections to his limbs, lungs and brain, and severe immunodeficiency.

He received monkeypox medication and antibiotics but his condition deteriorated and the man died on the night of Aug 11.

Dr Tares said monkeypox was an emerging infectious disease in Thailand. As of Aug 8, there had been 189 cases, consisting of 161 Thais and 28 foreigners.

The disease was spreading. Most cases were among men who sex with other men, and 43% of all cases also had HIV, he said.

The disease control director-general said a common cause was a sexual liaison with a stranger who was  already infected with monkeypox.

His deputy, Dr Sophon Iamsirithaworn, said monkeypox was spreading because people continued to indulge in risky behaviour.

Almost half of the new monkeypox cases had HIV, and they had put their lives at risk because their immune system was already weakened,  which allowed opportunistic infection, he said.

There had been 152 fatalities related to monkeypox worldwide since the outbreak was first reported in May last year, Dr Sophon said.

Monkeypox is now being referred to by global health authorities as Mpox, and is reported to have initially spread from Africa.  

Thousands of rai of rice fields damaged

NAKHON PHANOM: The level of the Mekong river is falling and water can now be drained more quickly out of thousands of rai of flooded rice fields, authorities in this northeastern border province said on Monday.

The river was receding by 10-20 centimetres per day. It was measured at 10.70 metres deep on Monday morning, 1.30m below the spilling point of 12m, Irrigation officials said.

Although the Mekong is falling,  water in three major tributaries –  the Nam Oon, Nam Songkhram and Huay Bang Ko rivers – was  20-30% higher than their normal capacities.

The provincial irrigation office was trying to drain as much water as possible out of nearly 10,000 rai of rice fields which have been flooded. It was initially estimated about 5,000 rai of the flooded rice crop would be  damaged.

Gambling addiction fuelled by poverty, researchers find

Social workers say gambling addiction among blue-collar workers is fuelled by social and welfare issues, not by an individual’s passion as many might have thought. NGOs and government agencies are working together to provide rehabilitation.

Asst Prof Pattamaporn Sooksomsod, from Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Rajabhat University, said gambling addiction arises from workers being paid too little to feed their family.

Most workers in factories work overtime, which takes away their free time for other recreational activities.

“Everyone has their own Facebook account. Just type in a few words and a list of gambling websites shows up. There will also be game plans for gamblers and 24-hour group chats for people to access online gambling. It only takes a few seconds after wiring the money to access the games,” she said.

Based on her research about the effects of online gambling among workers in the manufacturing industry in Ayutthaya, workers do not see online gambling as a problem. Instead, it’s their side income.

Many have set up limit such as not losing more than 300 baht per day. They often think the money they earn from gambling can contribute to their daily expenses. Still, few keep a tally of how much they have lost.

Players aim to make high returns from the games but they are more likely to end up heavily indebted to loan sharks. Once their financial situation deteriorates, the stress tends to affect their relationships, work and health.

The most popular online gambling games among workers include slot machines, the illegal lottery and sports betting, she told participants in the “Gambling Activities in a Daily Life of Workers in Manufacturing Industry” seminar, organised recently by the Center for Gambling Studies and the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation with support from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth).

A glimpse of wealth

Asst Prof Tanit Toadithep, from Burapha University, said workers who gamble are often the family’s main breadwinner. They do not wish to spend their lives working in factories but would rather save a sum of money large enough to start a small business at home.

But most workers still live from hand to mouth. Many who work in industrial estates pay off pickup trucks or motorcycles by instalment because public transport is not available in the area. Gambling offers a rare ray of hope.

”However, the more they bet, the more they lose,” Asst Prof Tanit said.

He gave as an example workers in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC): when gambling addicts lose control over their betting, they will try everything to make a return. Eventually, they could end up losing all their money, breaking up with their partner and might even quit their job.

Assoc Prof Lae Dilokvidhyarat, president of the Gambling Rehabilitation Direction Division of ThaiHealth, agreed that gambling addiction among low-income workers is the result of poverty.

“We tend to think about gambling addiction as an individual issue but it is actually a social and welfare issue which requires work from various agencies to solve,” he said.

He proposed workers must be paid a reasonable wage which satisfies their life demands. Once they earn enough, the stress that poverty brings will disappear. Then, there will be no point in betting their hard-earned money on games that are impossible to win.

Suppressing gambling

Jirasak Lamlert, president of Nippon Steel Corp Labour Union, said most gambling addicts spend 5-10% of their wages on betting games. Instead of gambling, the union has tried to convince workers to save the same amount for family or household expenses.

Many employers in manufacturing have joined anti-gambling campaigns, as the outcome directly benefits business and union relations, he said.

Wongjan Janyim, coordinator of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, said anti-gambling campaigns sponsored by ThaiHealth offer counselling to workers addicted to gambling, and help them quit their habit.

Ms Wongjan said the network has labour unions to the campaigns. Around 70% of participants are now spending less money on betting and have started to save enough for their families, she said.