Asia (Page 2,874)

Srettha, Anwar vow to strengthen ties

The leaders of Thailand and Malaysia have agreed to enhance relations and cooperation across various aspects, including border trade and tourism.

The agreement to deepen ties and tighten cooperation was reached as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim met on Monday for a working visit at the new Sadao customs checkpoint in Songkhla.

The meeting was a follow-up to Mr Srettha’s visit to Malaysia on Oct 11, with joint border development being the main focus of the talks.

The attendees included Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsupakitkosol, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and Malaysia’s Minister of Works Alexander Nanta Linggi and Minister of Tourism Tiong King Sing.

Both sides expressed willingness to advance their cooperation, especially in joint border development, with Mr Srettha proposing a set of proposals to bolster trade and investments.

The Thai prime minister asked Malaysia to host the Joint Trade Commission meeting at the commerce minister level to resolve existing problems and pursue cooperation. He urged Malaysia to expedite the Memorandum of Understanding on Cross-Border Transport of Goods. He also encouraged closer cooperation between local chambers of commerce to facilitate joint action plans to increase trade volume, tourism and border development.

On tourism development and cooperation, Thailand agreed to temporarily exempt Malaysian tourists from filling TM 6 immigration clearance forms at the Sadao checkpoint from Nov 1 to April 30, 2024, to facilitate the travel of Malaysian tourists.

On agriculture, the Thai government said it also plans to set up a department under the Industry Ministry to promote Thailand’s halal food products.

Both agreed to resolve wildlife smuggling across the border with a draft agreement to fight wildlife trade to be reviewed in February next year.

To promote the movement of goods and people, both sides agreed to push ahead with a road project connecting Sadao checkpoint with the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint and a bridge project linking Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok to Kelantan’s Rantau Panjang.

Following the meeting, Mr Srettha wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that both nations agreed to increase bilateral trade to US$30 million (1 billion baht) by 2025. He said the setting up of a One Stop Service CIQ at the busy Sadao checkpoint would mark the first step, and completing the road and bridge projects would boost trade and tourism.

In the 2023 fiscal year, the checkpoint collected 7.69 billion baht in revenue and registered trade volumes of 428.9 billion baht. The number of people passing through from Oct 1 last year to Sept 30 this year was 5,358,270, with 656,401 trucks.

In related news, Mr Srettha on Monday signed an order setting up the “The Peace Dialogue Panel” headed by Chatchai Bangchuad, a deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), to drive the peace process.

The panel members comprise the secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) and representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the National Security Council and the Internal Security Operations Command’s Region 4.

Firm conditions laid down for bridge plan

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed among state agencies in an effort to protect the environment and ecology with regard to the planned construction of a bridge crossing Songkhla Lake which begins next year.

The Department of Rural Roads (DRR) signed the MoU with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Department of Fisheries and Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning.

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said the bridge is aimed at improving regional transport in the South to boost cargo transport capacity as well as to shorten travel time for locals seeking to get to the other side of the lake.

The bridge will be seven kilometres long, connecting Song­khla’s Krasae Sin district with Phatthalung’s Khao Chaison district, and cost an estimated 4.8 billion baht.

Mr Suriya said he had asked the DRR and related agencies to ensure the project would not harm endangered Irrawaddy dolphins living in Songkhla Lake, and adopt a model for sustainable conservation of natural resources.

Montri Dechasakulsom, deputy permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, said the MoU consists of five action plan phases between 2024-2028 focusing on six main frameworks.

The MoU states that the five agencies will reduce factors which threaten Irrawaddy dolphins and their habitat, recover lake resources and rehabilitate a number of marine animals.

They are also to publish ecological and biological research regarding the Irrawaddy dolphins in the lake, support research and development regarding the Irrawaddy dolphin population and implement a sustainable management plan to protect the Irrawaddy dolphins as well as the lake’s natural resources.

Construction is expected to start at the end of next year, with the bridge to open sometime in 2026.

The project will cut driving time between the provinces from two hours to just 15 minutes and shorten the travelling distance from 80km to only seven.

The bridge is expected to improve logistics between cities on the Andaman coast and the Gulf of Thailand via Trang, Phatthalung and Songkhla.

In 2022, the World Bank was reportedly concerned by the impact the bridge might have on the last remaining pod of endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins in the South’s largest freshwater lake.

If their concerns are addressed, the World Bank will approve the required loans, and the three-year construction period could begin as early as next year.

Prolific conservationist Pol Sub Lt Wichai Suriyuth, who succeeded in his ambition to plant more than three million trees in his lifetime, died on Saturday night. He was 77.

His death was announced on Sunday by the “Tree for Dhamma” Facebook page, which said the former policeman — who gained fame from being featured in a conservation advertisement where he said he was taunted and ridiculed for setting a goal to plant more than three million trees — had died the night before.

Pol Sub Lt Wichai’s last words were to tell people not to be saddened by his death, Tree for Dhamma quoted his daughter Kritsadawan as saying.

“Do not get sad. Life has many other things in store for you.”

Phra Paisan Wisalo, president of the Tree for Dhamma Foundation committee, paid tribute to the conservationist, writing in an obituary that he wished “Pol Sub Lt Wichai would ascend to heaven, which he believes is full of lush trees”.

Pol Sub Lt Wichai was named one of the country’s most outstanding personalities of 2006. He claimed the honour for effectively turning his hometown in Si Sa Ket’s Prang Ku district, once known for barren land and described as being among the country’s most poverty-stricken areas, into a green oasis.

Wichai’s tree-growing mission was deep-rooted in his belief that trees are key to providing a sustainable future for local people.

In 2001, Wichai was honoured by His Holiness, the Supreme Patriarch, for his contribution to Buddhism through environmental preservation.

That same year, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented him with an award for environmental protection. In 2002, he received an award from the Green World Foundation.

A photo of Pol Sub Lt Wichai Suriyuth preparing the ground to plant trees. The conservationist who planted more than 3 million trees died on Saturday. Pol Sub Lt Wichai’s Facebook page

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday issued a staunch defence of its methods following criticism over a perceived delay in processing complaints from the May general election, saying it needed time to look into complex legal details.

Since the May 14 poll, the EC has red-carded one candidate, Ketkanda Inchuay, who was running for an MP seat in Bangkok’s Constituency 16, and her campaign assistant, Duangruedee Phansomton, for engaging in vote-buying in the lead-up to the election.

The EC has come under fire from critics who accuse the agency of being too slow to act on complaints. The commission has up to a year from the date of the election to suspend or take legal action against candidates or MPs who may have broken the law.

On Monday, Sawang Boonmee, the EC secretary-general, took to his personal Facebook page to explain the EC’s handling of election complaints and why the agency has not issued more yellow or red cards.

He said the EC had used the time to devise supplementary measures to make its investigation thorough and the evidence watertight enough to guarantee convictions.

As many poll-related cases must be brought before the Criminal Court, they require solid evidence and witness accounts to back them up, which require a thorough and time-consuming investigation.

Mr Sawang added there is no denying the fact that election fraud can be complex, especially as it involves people who aspire to assume public office.

He noted many malpractices were committed with the full consent of vote sellers who profess true faith in the party that buys votes from them.

The vote buyers were also doing everything in their power to win the high-stakes election. This calls for complicated malpractice investigation processes, which make swift resolutions difficult, he said.

The EC, Mr Sawang added, has decided to focus more on preventing and deterring vote fraud by launching fast-deployment, joint patrols with local authorities in various constituencies to monitor situations on the ground. The patrols have succeeded in preventing poll-related crimes or foiling them.

Prevention lowers election fraud, which in turn reduces the need to issue yellow or red cards.

He said it was a waste of resources and time organising a by-election.

According to Mr Sawang, the EC received 365 poll complaints from the last election, significantly down from the 2019 general election when 592 complaints were lodged.

House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha expressed his gratitude to those who were involved in the negotiations leading to the release of three Thai hostages held by Hamas on Sunday night.

This raises the number of freed Thai hostages to 17. Mr Wan said that the remaining 15-16 Thai hostages might be set free during the next ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Dec 4-5.

“We have declared that Thai nationals [in Israel] are workers who are breadwinners of their families, not the Hamas group’s or anyone’s rivals. They should be released as soon as possible,” he said.

The three freed Thai nationals — Wichian Temthong, Surin Kesungnoen and Pornsawan Pinakalo — have been admitted to a hospital in Israel for health examinations. Embassy staff visited them at the hospital and provided them with assistance.

The House speaker noted that all the released hostages will be assisted in getting home by the Thai government and compensated by the Labour Ministry.

The three freed Thais were among 17 hostages released on Sunday. The 14 others were Israeli nationals.

Foreign Minister Panpree Bahiddha-Nukara and Gen Songwit Noonpackee, chief of the Thai defence forces, left for Israel last night to bring the released hostages home.

The government would continue to do its best to get the 15 other Thais believed to be still held hostage released as soon as possible, he said.

The 17 Thais who have been freed so far would be repatriated to Thailand as soon as they complete the initial compensation process in Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Wirat Tanna, the father of a Thai worker in Israel, Pongsak Tanna, who has been held captive since Oct 7, said he has become hopeful again after seeing the recent release of Thai hostages by Hamas.

One of the released hostages was Santi Boonprom, who was a supervisor of Mr Wirat’s son in Israel and had been captured at the same time.

Mr Wirat said he was relieved that his son’s name has not yet appeared on the list of the deceased, but he has urged the government to speed up the release of Thai hostages as soon as possible.