Thailand Morning News Roundup For February 24

Welcome to the Thailand morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Thailand news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Court acquits two Thais accused of human trafficking
A provincial court in southern Thailand has dismissed human trafficking charges filed by Cambodian workers against a Thai fishing boat captain and a fish market owner.
— Prachatai

BOT embraces big data, analytics for micro-financial activities
THE BANK OF THAILAND (BOT) is investing in big data and data analytics in an effort to deal with complicated transactions arising from consumers’ micro-financial activities in the digital age.
– The Nation

Thailand’s Mobile LTE gets satellite license
Thai mobile broadband provider Mobile LTE has secured the nation’s second satellite service provider license, positioning the company to compete against incumbent Thaicom.
— Telecom Asia

True Corp to splurge Bt20 bn on mobile, broadband platforms
TRUE CORP PLANS to invest Bt20 billion this year on the further expansion of its mobile-phone and broadband Internet networks, executive committee chairman Suphachai Chearavanont said.
– The Nation

Erawan plans to double hotel portfolio by 2020
THE ERAWAN Group aims to more than double the number of hotels its operates to 95 by 2020 under an ambitious expansion drive at home and abroad, the group’s president said yesterday.
– The Nation

Police move to indict 10 suspects in Mother’s Day attacks
Deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Rangsipramanakul yesterday submitted 16 case reports to military court prosecutors in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in relation to the Mother’s Day bomb and arson attacks in seven provinces last year.
— The Nation

Myanmar workers in Thailand go on strike for labour rights
A total of 300 Myanmar migrants working at INDEX, a motorcycle helmet factory in Bangkok, went on strike to demand better working conditions and rights, said Thai-based migrants rights organisation Aid Alliance Committee (AAC) yesterday.
— Myanmar Times

New Charoen Pokphand CEO unveils ‘CP 4.0’ plan
THE NEWLY appointed chief executive officer of Charoen Pokphand Group, Suphachai Chearavanont, plans to transform the Thai conglomerate into “CP 4.0” by embracing innovation and the digital revolution.
— The Nation

Media bill feeds junta ambitions to stay in power: senior journalists
Senior journalists have denounced the junta’s controversial Media Bill, arguing the junta wishes to entrench itself in power rather than promote truth and responsible media.
— Prachatai

Coffee World to double Thai outlets
COFFEE WORLD has announced that it plans to double the number of its coffee houses in Thailand over the next five years to about 175.
– The Nation

Somyot gets final sentence of 6 years for lèse majesté
After almost six years in prison, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a long-time labour activist turned lèse majesté suspect, was sentenced to six years in jail by the Supreme Court for royal defamation and another year for defaming a military general.
— Prachatai

Myanmar monks to protest in solidarity with Thailand’s Dhammakaya Temple
A group of nationalist monks are planning to hold protests in Yangon to express their solidarity with the Dhammakaya Temple in Thailand, which has been the subject of a police crackdown over the past week.
— Frontier Myanmar

Emergency powers abused at Wat Dhammakaya: lawyers
Human rights lawyers have called on the junta to cease the use of absolute powers during the ongoing clash between authorities and monks at Wat Dhammakaya.
— Prachatai

Thailand’s PTT interested in Petronas offshore gas stake
Thailand’s PTT Plc is interested in bidding for a stake in the SK316 offshore gas block in Malaysia’s state of Sarawak, Chief Executive Thewin Wongwanich said on Wednesday.
— Deal Street Asia

Providing quality education to one million students in Thailand’s small schools
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results brought several pieces of alarming news for Thailand.
— The World Bank

Feature photo: John Le Fevre

The Thailand morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Thailand Morning News Roundup For February 24 added by John Le Fevre on February 24, 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.