Thailand English-language News for December 4

In Thailand English-language News for December 4, 2017, Newsline presenter Cholaphansa Narula tells us about:

00:39 | King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun has presided over a ceremony to officially open the Bt8.3 billion (about US$254.18 million) Naruebodindrachinta Reservoir in Prachin Buri Province, a royal project initiated by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

02:25 | The royal crematorium grounds at Sanam Luang continue to attract large numbers of visitors to view the exhibition dedicated to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

03:15 | The Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture Office (Public Organization) is holding an exhibition of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s agricultural wisdom in Phathum Thani province. The exhibition is open between 8am and 8pm daily until December 5.

04:09 | Volunteers under the royally inspired ‘We do good deeds with our hearts’ programme and others have undertaken a cleaning day event at the historic Samut Sakhon train station.

05:11 | Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned newly sworn-in Energy Minister, Siri Jirapongphan, to manage the proposed coal-fired power plant in Songkhla Province and told those responsible to take in to consideration the cost, the location, and the amount of power stability it will provide.

06:06 | Thailand has moved closer to being able to hold municipal elections with deputy prime minister Dr Wissanu Krea-ngam saying that the six draft laws required are currently being reviewed by the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) and the Election Commission (EC) of Thailand, after which they will be forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) early next year.

07:14 | The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has collected complaints and opinions from locals in Chai Nat province as part of its 38th ‘Meet the People’ campaign. The majority of complaints concerned agriculture and economic issues.

08:09 | The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has decided that as it has submitted all ten draft organic laws to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) required for national and municipal elections it will only in future meet once or twice a week.

11:23 | New Labor Minister, Police General Adul Saengsingkaew, has inspected the operation of the local alien worker screening center and the Port In-Port Out (Pipo) center at Talay Thai market in Samut Sakhon Province. The ministry aims to provide legal employment documents to all foreign workers before the end of March to help eliminate child labour, human trafficking, and illegal workers.

12:23 | Thai authorities have raided a warehouse in Nonthaburi Province and confiscated a variety of pirated products worth more than Bt20 million (about $US61,2400). Items included knock offs of brand name clothing, handbags, cigarettes comprising Thai and foreign brands. Authorities plan to summons the warehouse tenant for questioning.

13:19 | Flooding in Yala has improved, while other southern provinces such as Trang, and Pattani remain submerged. In Pattani more than 30,000 households and almost 40,000 rai of farmland have so far been affected by the flooding, with five people killed.

15:07 | Environmental preservation volunteers nationwide have been urged to apply the conservation policies of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, considered the father of natural resources and environmental preservation in Thailand, to their work.

16:05 | Deputy Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) governor, Chakkaphan Phewngam, and other city officials on Saturday inspected construction of the Ladphrao Dam. Already 20 per cent complete, Mr Phewngam said 2,982 households have agreed to move, 584 have rejected the request to move, and 87 haven’t decided yet.

17:00 | The government has opened another Pracharat-Cultural-Ethical Community market in Nakhon Pathom to help locals build careers and boost the grassroots economy. There are currently 45 official Pracharat markets in Nakhon Pathom, where 1,380 entrepreneurs sell goods.

18:47 | Thailand is holding human resources and skill development programme in preparation for its role as Asean chair in 2019, with particular focus on English-language communication skills.

• and more.

Newsline is a daily Thailand English-language news and current affairs programme produced by the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNBT) under the Thailand Government Public Relations Department (PRD) for *NBT World, the NNBTs 24/7 English language television service delivering Thailand government news and information to the Thai, Asean, and wider Asian communities. AEC News Today publishes Thailand English-language News M-F.