Asia (Page 2,452)

A panel of Supreme Court judges yesterday stood by a decision to sentence former Pheu Thai MP Narisorn Thongthirach to 12 months in prison for casting votes for colleagues during House meetings in 2013.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions earlier found him guilty of misconduct and handed down the 12-month jail term. The politician appealed the sentence in February and asked for a suspended sentence.

The judges, reviewing the appeal, upheld the jail term, saying they found no grounds to suspend the sentence and he was also found guilty in a similar case in which he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Narisorn was previously impeached over this case by the National Legislative Assembly in 2016 and was barred from holding political or government office for five years.

Wants discharge rate on Mekong managed

The Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) has sent an emergency notice to the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS), requesting neighbouring countries in the Lower Mekong River Basin and China to carefully manage water level discharges to prevent floods.

Surasri Kidtimonton, ONWR secretary-general and deputy director of the National Water Command Centre (NWCC), said yesterday that continuous heavy rain in the lower basin has resulted in flash floods in Laos’ Bolikhamxay province.

A low-pressure trough covering southern China and northern Vietnam has caused heavy downpours across the North and Northeast of Thailand, with water levels expected to rise in the Mekong River from Thursday to Tuesday, he said.

The NWCC initially warned people living in eight provinces along the Mekong River to brace for potential flash floods, he said.

After the warning, the ONWR sent a letter to the MRCS to inform member countries, such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, of the latest water situation, urging them to prevent emergency situations stemming from floods, he said.

Mr Surasri said that the ONWR has also contacted Laos and China to urge them to carefully manage the discharge rate of dams along the Mekong River to prevent floods.

Reports from water stations along the river — in Chiang Rai, Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani — showed that current water levels are still manageable, he said.

Officials from the ONWR Region 3 have been assigned to closely observe the water situation and cooperate with local agencies to assist people who live along the major waterway during an emergency, he said.

From today to Friday, Thailand will experience heavy rainfall, which will likely cause landslides and flash floods across 16 provinces, he said, citing a weather forecast.

On Thursday, downpours hit Trat, Mukdahan, Trang, Kanchanaburi, Nan and Lop Buri, he said.

Moreover, flash floods and mudslides are expected in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Tak, Nan, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat, Ranong, Phangnga, Phuket, Satun and Trang from today to Friday, he said.

Police have warned about a new scam where call centre gangs trick students into sending fake abduction video clips of themselves, which are then used to get money from their parents.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang, special adviser to the Royal Thai Police (RTP), yesterday gave details about this new type of scam where call centre gangs target university students living alone in apartments.

A gang would make a phone call via voice over internet protocol (VoIP), mostly beginning with the numbers +697 and +698 and randomly call victims, Pol Lt Gen Sompong said.

They use the same technique of telling their victims that they were involved in an illegal activity. During the call, if they find the receiver is a university student, who lives alone and does not have money, the gang will suggest to the victim a way out, he said.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong said they told each victim to buy a new mobile phone SIM card and record a clip of the victim being tied by a rope or duct tape and send the clip to the gang.

The gang then contacts the victim’s parents and sends them the video clip with a demand for money.

The parents cannot contact their child, so they transfer money to either a mule account or their child’s account, which is later transferred to the scammer gang, he said.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong urged people to be more prudent and not fall for such scams.

He also suggested people download the “Who’s Call” mobile application to help verify mobile phone numbers and inform the police at 191 or call centre of Police Cyber Task Force centre at 1441 or 081-866-3000 about suspected scam calls.

Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha yesterday promised to help address the concerns of Thai students in Indonesia over complaints they cannot apply for a job in the public sector with the degrees they have earned there.

He was speaking after a meeting with a group of Thai students in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, where he led a delegation of parliamentarians to attend the 44th Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

Mr Wan said the students urged parliament and the government to help resolve issues concerning their education degrees earned from abroad.

Some courses or fields of study are not recognised by the education ministry, and they are required to seek a certificate equivalent to a degree or study more if they want to apply for a job in the public sector, said Mr Wan.

He said the students’ concerns would be brought to the attention of the House of Representatives so they would be properly addressed, but he also advised the students to submit the issue to the House.

“An issue like this has been handled before,” he said. “There is a case of a medical graduate from abroad whose degree wasn’t recognised. He is currently required to work at a designated hospital for one or two years, take the required exams, and get a licence.”

Mr Wan said more than 1,000 Thai students are studying in Indonesia, but only 10 are enrolled at universities in Jakarta, while the others are studying in cities where living costs are lower.

Nura-ayanee Samoh, who studies at Muhammadiyah in Jakarta, said she hoped all Thai graduates from overseas, regardless of their field of study, could apply for jobs in the public sector without having to get a certificate equivalent to a degree or study more.

Sulfar Mani, who studies at UIN Jakarta, said he asked Mr Wan to see what he could do to help students deal with the high cost of living and to coordinate with them on visa renewals.

The Public Health Ministry has sent 20 million baht in funding to Umphang Hospital in Tak province to assist in the medical emergency along the Thai-Myanmar border after the hospital was reported to be facing a financial crisis and had lost 40 million baht of its liquidity.

Dr Opas Kankawinpong, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, said the political turmoil in Myanmar had caused an influx of ethnic people across the Thai border. Many have turned to Umphang Hospital for help causing a spike in its operating costs.

He said the Public Health Ministry sent the 20 million baht in funding in July to ease the situation temporarily.

Dr Opas noted the lack of liquidity stemmed from the political unrest in ethnic states in Myanmar, which resulted in a large number of migrants seeking refuge in Thailand and requesting medical help.

“I have assigned officials to investigate whether local hospitals along the Thai-Myanmar border are facing the same situation as Umphang Hospital and for them to draw up solutions,” said Dr Opas.

He added that Umphang Hospital is listed under the “One Province One Hospital” scheme, where hospitals in each health district share medical staff, budgets and resources to support one another.

On Aug 9, Dr Worawit Tantiwattanasap, director of Umphang Hospital, said the 2023 fiscal year marks the first time in three decades that the hospital has over 40 million baht in deficit, largely resulting from its treatment of immigrant patients.

Some 25% of migrant inpatients and half of migrant outpatients reportedly cannot afford their medical bills.

Many patients were hospitalised due to the outbreak of fighting in the Kawkareik border town of Myanmar’s Karen State as well as an ongoing malaria flare-up, said Dr Worawit.

Besides, he added that more migrants have come to Tak province to have their babies delivered.

Umphang Hospital has settled a community isolation programme in Myanmar to slow down migration to Thailand. However, the operating cost of the programme cannot be reimbursed from the Public Health Ministry, resulting in a deficit of the hospital’s budget.

Umphang Hospital gets B20m lifeline as more people flee conflict in Myanmar

The Ministry of Public Health has sent 20 million baht to Umphang Hospital in Tak province to help it cover the increased costs of treating the rising number of migrants fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Myanmar.

The hospital has been facing an increase in operating costs, putting a strain on liquidity and resulting in a deficit of 40 million baht, said Dr Opas Kankawinpong, the ministry’s permanent secretary.

“I have assigned officials to investigate if other local hospitals along the Thai-Myanmar border are facing the same situation as Umphang Hospital and for them to draw up solutions,” he said on Friday.

Umphang Hospital is listed under the “One Province One Hospital” scheme, under which hospitals in each health district share medical staff, budgets and resources to support one another.

Dr Worawit Tantiwattanasap, the director of Umphang Hospital, said on Thursday that this was the first year in three decades that the hospital has faced such a large deficit resulting from treatment for migrant patients from Myanmar.

One-quarter of migrant inpatients and half of migrant outpatients cannot afford medical bills, he added.

Many patients have been admitted to hospital because of the conflict in the border town of Kawkareik in Karen state and the ongoing malaria outbreak, said Dr Worawit.

As well, he said, more migrants have been crossing the border to give birth to their children as conditions at hospitals in Myanmar have deteriorated since the military coup two years ago.

Umphang Hospital has set up a community isolation programme in Myanmar in an effort to slow down migration to Thailand. However, the operating cost of the programme cannot be reimbursed from the public health ministry, resulting in a deficit in the hospital’s budget.