Thailand English-language News For July 6

In Thailand English-language News for July 6, 2017, Newsline presenter Sandra Hanutsaha tells us about:

00:50 | Thais from across the country continue converging on the Grand Palace to pay their respect to the late king Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Several sandalwood flowers making workshop have also been held nationwide. Ubon Ratchathani Governor, Nikorn Suksai, received 13,998 sandalwood flowers from students and teachers of Benjama Maharat School, while 200 workers attended a workshop at the Northern Region Industrial Estate in Lamphun Province. In Udon Thani Province Samakee Sub-district Administrative Organization also held a workshop for representatives of eight villages which is aiming to make 3,200 sandalwood flowers for the royal cremation.

03:20 | Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, General Prawit Wongsuwon, chaired a meeting to discuss progress on national reform. The meeting heard about plans to establish a pilot special economic rice zone centre in Kalasin Province and continued efforts to tackle illegal fishing activities.

04:50 | A seminar themed ‘The Executive Decree on the Management of Migrant Workers B.E. 2560 and What Will Thais Get?’ held by the Ministry of Labor has began collecting opinions on the Royal Decree on the management of migrant workers.

Director-general of the employment department, Varanon Peetiwan, said that during the six month period in which enforcement of the decree will be postponed the ministry will set up a temporary centre to accept reports on the use of foreign workers from across the country and introduce new criteria to facilitate the employment of foreign workers.

07:01 | Chairman of the Constitutional Drafting Commission (CDC), Meechai Ruchuphan, has sent a request to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to review the draft organic law on political parties claiming that the draft law could be contradicting the new Constitution because it lacks the process to ensure transparency in the election.

08:08 | The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has held a seminar and exhibition titled ‘A Decade of Routine to Research (R2R): Developing Thais for the Thailand 4.0 Society’, at Siriraj Hospital aimed at promoting various public health innovations.

Minister of Public Health, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, said that the R2R method enabled current methods to be studied with a focus on patient care and hospital administration, both key components of public health.

11:47 | Customs Department director-general, Kulit Sombatsiri, said yesterday that he has ordered strict reporting on imported goods after tax revenue dropped by Bt10 billion (about US$293.686 mil) in the first six months of this year.

13:07 | Secretary-general of the Monetary Policy Committee, Chaturong Chantharang, said the committee decided to maintain the policy interest rate at 1.5 per cent per year following improvements in exports, increased contributions from tourism, and strong private consumption due to increasing agricultural revenue. The committee increased the forecast for Thailand 2017 GDP by 2.94 per cent, from 3.4 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

14:29 | The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has agreed to draft a law to regulate over the top (OTT ) services within 90-days to put Thai regulations on par with the international community. The law is expected to be submitted within 30-days, after which a public hearings will be held to review and make amendments where necessary, before it is published in the Royal Gazette. The new law is aimed at removing all inappropriate content from OTT services and to make OTT a good option for consumers.

15:37 | The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (Mac) has reported it has successfully reclaimed 70,000 rai (11,200ha/ 27,675 acres) from a targeted 1.6 million rai (256,000ha/ 654.829 acre); In one instance it found 34,000 rai (13,443ha/ 13,442 acre) was being misused to grow corn in Nan Province.

17:10 | NBT World takes a look at progress being made in Phuket about 18 months after it was selected to become a ‘smart city’ through the introduction of technology to improve the lives and well-being of the people. Of seven projects in Phuket’s smart city plan, four have already been introduced: smart economy, smart tourism, smart safety, and smart environment. Still to come is smart healthcare, smart education, and smart governance.

20:52 | Former Asean secretary-general, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, has said that the government should take the well-being of Asean migrant workers to Thailand of great importance, adding that while foreigners, especially from Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, are mostly employed in menial jobs, they play a vital role in boosting the Thai economy. Responsible officials, he said, should make efficient use of the 180-day stay in enforcing the Royal Decree on the management of foreign workers to amend the new law to ensure absolute transparency in the labour market.

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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 via cable and satellite. It is also available via android and iOS apps. AEC News Today publishes Thailand English-language News M-F.