Thailand Morning News For November 16

Thailand’s internet freedom ‘in decline’
Thailand has been branded “not free” for internet freedom for the fourth consecutive year in the latest Freedom on the Net report.
— Bangkok Post

Happy Ending For Drowned Young #Thai Boy Caught on Camera
A dramatic video has emerged of frantic attempts by a Hmong hill-tribes man in the northern Thailand province of Chiang Rai to resuscitate a young Thai boy who drowned while playing near a small waterway.
— AEC NewsToday (HD video)

Somkid says 2018 marks turning point
Next year will be Thailand’s turning point, says Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, as much-touted infrastructure projects, international broadband development and investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) are scheduled to get started.
— Bangkok Post

New bill to boost govt’s loan capacity
THE NATIONAL Legislative Assembly (NLA) will today deliberate on a new public debt bill which excludes debts of the Bank of Thailand and state-owned financial institutions, among others, to expand the government’s capacity to borrow from capital markets.
— The Nation

Government urgently develops national digital ID system
The Ministry of the Digital Economy and Society and the Ministry of Finance have collaborated to urgently develop the national digital ID system to ensure security of online services for the public. The system will be fully operational in June next year
— NBT World (video)

Thailand now ranks 78th place in ITU’s Measuring the Information Society 2017 report
Thailand’s ranking in communications technology development has improved four places to 78th this year from last year’s 82nd place out of a total of 176 countries in the International Telecommunications Union’s Measuring the Information Society 2017 report.
— Thai PBS

ETDA arranges Thailand e commerce Week for Thai entrepreneurs
The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) is organizing the 2nd Thailand e-Commerce Week 2017 to enhance the potential of Thai entrepreneurs who want to drive their businesses to success with e-commerce.
— NBT World (video)

BCPG app creates new power trade
SET-listed BCPG Plc, the renewable power arm of state majority-owned refiner Bangchak Corporation Plc, has developed a mobile application that allows clients to buy and sell power they generate in their community.
— Bangkok Post

NLA set to pass Elderly Bill
A CRUCIAL draft law for government-provided elderly care looks set to sail through the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) today.
— The Nation

Cabinet allows local administrations to incur debt, support tax measures
The Cabinet has agreed to allow Local Administrative Organizations to incur binding debt and request budget for economic and community infrastructure development projects until March 30 of next year to help offices with pending projects.
— NBT World (video)

Free internet access for poor
The Finance Ministry plans to give internet SIM cards to the government’s welfare recipients to allow them to access free internet, provided by TOT.
— Bangkok Post

DOE provides 31 million baht loans to working from home people
The Department of Employment has approved 31 million baht in loans to some 300 groups of people who work from home and expectd some 123 million baht in revenue
— NBT World (video)

Thailand e-Commerce Week to push online sales
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) will host Thailand e-Commerce Week at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre from November 24 and 26 to help create new online merchants within the e-marketplace and introduce them to “big buyers” from overseas.
— The Nation

Phuket police hit with false arrest reports
The Royal Thai Police (RTP) has set up a panel to look into accusations that Phuket police officers failed to report the arrests of more than 1,700 foreigners over the last year to the Immigration Bureau to help prevent them from being deported.
— Bangkok Post

Taokaenoi acquires US seaweed factory to tap into Western markets
Thai listed seaweed processor and distributor Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Pcl has agreed to buy out California-incorporated organic seaweed producer GIM Factory Inc for $2 million to expand its market in North America and Europe.
— Deal Street Asia

Six investigated for using drones during Royal Funeral
The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has submitted the names of six individuals who allegedly violated the ban on using drones during HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Cremation Ceremony from October 25 to 29 to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) on Monday for further action.
— The Nation

Feature photo Orasa Khosanthia
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Thailand morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Thailand news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Thailand Morning News For November 16 added by John Le Fevre on November 16, 2017
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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.