South-East Asia (Page 1,351)

Don Muang will be the first district in the capital to get a new hospital under the “50 districts, 50 hospitals” initiative, one of the 13 programmes announced by Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew upon assuming the post.

Dr Cholnan said authorities will now select a site with an existing building that could be converted into a 120-bed hospital, complete with primary care facilities and emergency rooms.

“In the next 100 days, we will prepare the building which will ultimately be converted into a hospital. Other districts can start the process once they are ready,” he said.

When asked where the government will find the staff to work at the hospital when it is completed, Dr Cholnan said staff will initially be sourced from within the Public Health Ministry’s ranks.

Ultimately, Dr Cholnan said he would like to see district hospitals operate as a public organisation, similar to Ban Phaeo Hospital in Samut Sakhon.

The permanent secretary for health, Opas Karnkawinpong, has been asked to form 13 sub-committees to oversee each programme, including the “50 districts, 50 hospitals” policy.

A pit viper found in Thale Ban National Park in Satun back in 2016 has now been acknowledged as a new species, said park chief Saengsuree Songthong yesterday.

The snake, which has the scientific name Trimeresurus ciliaris, is locally known as ngu hang mhai khao hin poon, or limestone eyelash pit viper in English.

The first sample of the species was found back in June 2016 by a research team led by Mr Saengsuree, his assistant Nakaen Kawithanatham, and researcher Bunyarit Dechochai. The snake was spotted in lowland dipterocarp forest, resting on limestone rocks.

The discovery was published in the scientific journal Vertebrate Zoology on Sept 19.

The journal described the snake as a small viper, about 40 centimetres long with reddish-brown bands along its body, set on an emerald-green background. The snake has a triangular head with olive-green eyes.

The name “ciliaris” is derived from the Latin word cilium, meaning “eyelash”, a reference to the snake’s characteristically small and distinct supra-ocular scales, which resemble eyelashes or eyebrows in lateral view.

The limestone eyelash pit viper feeds on small lizards and frogs in captivity, but its natural diet remains unknown. Currently, the snake is the only known viper species in the Nakawan Ranges that spans the border of Thailand and Malaysia, which features limestone forests, the article said.

The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) and Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co, Ltd have come together to organise the “Thailand Cyber Top Talent 2023” — a groundbreaking cybersecurity competition open to local students and the general public.

Participants have the opportunity to win cash prizes totalling up to 521,000 baht. The competition aims to foster knowledge in the area of cybersecurity, addressing online threats, and to serve as a platform for individuals to enhance their practical skills, ultimately boosting their proficiency in this critical domain.

The winners of this competition will represent Thailand in the upcoming Cyber SEA Games. The first round of the competition, held on Sept 16, witnessed an overwhelming response, with 2,323 participants from across the country forming 831 competing teams.

These teams covered all three categories: High-school, university, and the public. The final showdown — where 30 finalist teams competed for the prestigious title — took place on Saturday at the Centara Grand Central Plaza Ladprao. It was presided over by Minister of Digital Economy and Society Prasert Chantararuangthong.

He said: “Cybersecurity is very critical in our connected world. Online threats have been steadily increasing in severity and can affect both the public and private sectors on a global scale.

“The stakes are even higher when public infrastructure, such as national waterworks, electricity systems or financial institutions, become targets, as the consequences can be far-reaching. With advanced technology, incidents involving compromised online data and various scams have become more prevalent among the Thai population.

“I see the increased number of participants in this year’s competition as a good sign. It shows that we have plenty of resources to work towards the improvements of our national cybersecurity and bring it to the global standard.”

AVM Amorn Chomchoey, secretary-general of the National Cyber Security Agency said: “We have observed a shortage of IT talent worldwide, making it a top priority for the NCSA to nurture expertise in this field and elevate our national cybersecurity standards.

“We are committed to enhancing public awareness of online threats and and are actively collaborating with esteemed global partners […] to organise public events to foster knowledge.”

Flood-hit areas must batten down hatches

Heavy rain has been forecast from tomorrow until next Wednesday during which more floods are expected in several parts of the country.

Following days of torrential rain which have already resulted in flooding in the North and Northeast and the risk of more floods in the Central Plains, the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) warned these areas yesterday to prepare for more.

A new period of heavy rain, forecast to begin tomorrow and last until Saturday, will bring more run-off which is likely to exacerbate the current situation, it said.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation also cautioned 10 more provinces including Bangkok to brace for floods caused by any overflow from Chao Phraya River.

The provinces included in this warning are Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya, Lop Buri, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan.

Communities in low-lying areas near the river are at greater risk of encountering flooding and the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat will need to release more water to prevent overflowing, said the department.

The discharge rate from the dam has already been raised from 1,000 cubic metres a second to 1,400 cu/mecs, said the department, and the situation is likely to worsen when Tropical Storm Koinu hits Vietnam next Monday, said the ONWR.

The 14th storm in the Pacific this season formed early on Saturday morning and is moving towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to a weather update issued yesterday by the Meteorological Department.

As of yesterday, close to 18,800 households in 28 provinces have been affected by floods, said Suttipong Juljarern, permanent-secretary for the interior.

In Sukhothai, a floodwall in Moo 1 village in tambon Pak Khwae of Muang district broke triggering a major flood in some nearby communities where people and livestock were evacuated.

The water levels in the Yom River measured right in front of the province’s city hall rose by 37 centimetres yesterday morning due to excess water flowing in from Mae Mok reservoir.

Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin yesterday visited Sukhothai to inspect the flood situation in the province. The rising volume of the run-off coming into Yom River was worrying, said Mr Somsak.

The minister also visited Phrae to inspect the salvage effort on an express train derailed in a flooded area on Saturday morning, in which some passengers sustained slight injuries.

Mr Somsak also discussed long-term measures with local authorities and improving the safety system of the country’s major dams as part of a bid to better cope with flooding.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) staff are working against time to remove the locomotive and three carriages of a special express train which derailed on the northern route in Long district, Phrae province, early on Saturday. The work is expected to be completed on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday morning, Pichet Khunathamrat, director of the Department of Rail Transport, accompanied Deputy Transport Minister Surapong Piyachote in a trip to Long district for an inspection of the derailment site.

The incident occurred at 5.48am on Saturday between Kaeng Luang and Ban Pin railway stations in Long district while Special Express Train No 13 from Bangkok was heading for Chiang Mai. The derailment was caused by damage to the rail track made by forest runoff.

The train’s locomotive, a baggage car and two sleeping cars derailed.

No train staff and passengers were hurt. However, the rail route was closed for the derailed locomotive and carriages to be removed from the track and for the rail track to be repaired.

Mr Pichet said one of the sleeping cars was lifted from the track with a crane and towed to nearby Kaeng Luang railway station at about 7pm on Saturday.

He expected the removal of the locomotive, the baggage car and the other sleeping car would be completed and the repair of the rail track finished on Sunday afternoon. The rail route should be reopened by 6pm, he said.

Heavy rains will be expanding nationwide and the levels of waterways will be rising throughout the first week of this month, government agencies warned on Sunday.

The Meteorological Department said that heavy rains would cover parts of the North, the Northeast and the South on Sunday and Monday.

From Tuesday to Saturday heavy downpours would be in the lower Northeast, the lower Central Plain, the East and the South.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned people living near waterways in 11 provinces in the Chao Phraya river basin that the levels of those waterways could rise from Monday onwards.

The warning was issued for residents of Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Chai Nat, Lop Buri, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Sing Buri, Suphan Buri and Uthai Thani.

Water levels might go up by 1.00-1.50 metres in low-lying parts of Ang Thong and Ayutthaya.

The department said that deluges of water were flowing from the North and it would rain heavily in the Northeast, the Central Plain and the South this week.

On Sunday the Yom River overflowed through ruptured embankments into Muang district of the northern province of Sukhothai, affecting about 1,300 households and 2,400 rai of farmland.

Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin said in Sukhothai that the province would receive torrents from Phrae province and flooded areas in Sukhothai might expand.

Meanwhile, flood levels in Lom Sak district of Phetchabun province, also in the North, were subsiding on Sunday. Phetchabun governor Krit Kongmuang said local reservoirs were 80-90% full.

The Highways Department reported that four highways were impassable in the northern provinces of Lampang, Lamphun and Sukhothai due to floods and mudslides on Sunday.

They were Highway 1102 in Mae Phrik district of Lampang; Highway 1010 in Ban Hong district and Highway 1184 in Thung Hua Chang district of Lamphun; and Highway 1056 in Sri Samrong district of Sukhothai.

The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) has issued an update on the progress of Thailand’s digital government transformation, laying out its aim of digitising services via the mobile app “Tang Rat”.

Supot Tiarawut, director of DGA, said the DGA was making progress in driving a digital government, whether providing services at the Government to Citizens (G2C) level, Government to Business (G2B) or Government to Government (G2G).

For the G2C level, DGA has connected more than 112 government services to serve citizens through the application “Tang Rat”, a mobile app that combines services from all state agencies available for people on digital platforms, he said.

Currently, there are more than 112 services with cumulative usage of over 7.5 million logins and 607,041 downloads, said Mr Supot.

By 2024, the DGA aims to include more services such as personal land tax examination checks, personal insurance information and interest payment services (pawning).

Mr Supot said the DGA has also launched a government open data centre on data.go.th, where public data is available for citizens and software developers. There are currently 10,226 open data collections and 3,871,796 people have used the service.

For the G2B level, the DGA has designed bizportal.go.th. to provide business-related services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Entrepreneurs can apply for licences from the government through the website. Over 124 services are available online and about 15,881 users have registered for them.

For the G2G level, the DGA focuses on supporting data linkages among state agencies such as the Government Data Exchange (GDX) on communication channels which guarantee data safety. Currently, 13 agencies and 74 data services have been linked while collective data has been linked 133.44 million times.

In addition, the DGA is focused on providing digital knowledge to officials. It has established the Thailand Digital Government Academy (TDGA) to help improve digital skills among civil servants and government officials.

The academy has provided training to more than 1.9 million officials. In 2024, the training will include officials at the provincial level. Digital courses will be designed for the local area and will develop digital skills onsite.

“The success of the DGA’s projects has shown the agency can lead the scheme “Smart Nation Smart Life”, allowing agencies to manage and present public services through digital channels,’’ Mr Supot, the DGA director, said.

Thailand’s ranking in digital government development as surveyed by the United Nations continues to increase as a result of such efforts, he added.

The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) has issued an update on the progress of Thailand’s digital government transformation, laying out its aim of digitising services via the mobile app “Tang Rat”.

Supot Tiarawut, director of DGA, said the DGA was making progress in driving a digital government, whether providing services at the Government to Citizens (G2C) level, Government to Business (G2B) or Government to Government (G2G).

For the G2C level, DGA has connected more than 112 government services to serve citizens through the application “Tang Rat”, a mobile app that combines services from all state agencies available for people on digital platforms, he said.

Currently, there are more than 112 services with cumulative usage of over 7.5 million logins and 607,041 downloads, said Mr Supot.

By 2024, the DGA aims to include more services such as personal land tax examination checks, personal insurance information and interest payment services (pawning).

Mr Supot said the DGA has also launched a government open data centre on data.go.th, where public data is available for citizens and software developers. There are currently 10,226 open data collections and 3,871,796 people have used the service.

For the G2B level, the DGA has designed bizportal.go.th. to provide business-related services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Entrepreneurs can apply for licences from the government through the website. Over 124 services are available online and about 15,881 users have registered for them.

For the G2G level, the DGA focuses on supporting data linkages among state agencies such as the Government Data Exchange (GDX) on communication channels which guarantee data safety. Currently, 13 agencies and 74 data services have been linked while collective data has been linked 133.44 million times.

In addition, the DGA is focused on providing digital knowledge to officials. It has established the Thailand Digital Government Academy (TDGA) to help improve digital skills among civil servants and government officials.

The academy has provided training to more than 1.9 million officials. In 2024, the training will include officials at the provincial level. Digital courses will be designed for the local area and will develop digital skills onsite.

“The success of the DGA’s projects has shown the agency can lead the scheme “Smart Nation Smart Life”, allowing agencies to manage and present public services through digital channels,’’ Mr Supot, the DGA director, said.

Thailand’s ranking in digital government development as surveyed by the United Nations continues to increase as a result of such efforts, he added.