Thailand English-language News for January 9

In Thailand English-language News for January 9, 2018, Newsline presenter Surapan Leotharanarit tells us about:

00:38 | Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has met with a group of 785 students recognised for their academic excellence and told them to study hard and do good deeds to others.

01:40 | US Ambassador to Thailand, Glyn T. Davies, has handed over a US$24,000 grant to Silpakorn University for the restoration of artefacts from the reign of King Rama IV.

05:20 | The government is finalising preparations for National Children’s Day on Saturday, January 13, which will be opened by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House, before a hand-picked group of children will be given a guided tour of the seat of power by the PM.

07:01 | Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is gearing up for National Children’s Day with the theme of ‘Sustainable development with the science of the King’. Activities will be held at various locations across the city, with 20,000 prizes for those participating in the various events.

08:13 | Deputy prime minister Dr Wissanu Krea-Ngam said yesterday that he expects the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) will examine the amendments to the six draft laws on local and provincial elections by February. There are at least 30 points that the NLA plan to change.

Dr Krea-Ngam said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will decide when local and provincial elections can be held.

09:41 | The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) special committee vetting the draft law on the election of members of parliament said yesterday that it expects to complete its work soon. Its review must be completed by January 26.

10:50 | The committee responsible for preventing public officials from being involved in human trafficking has urged the public to report those it suspects of involvement. The committee approved a rewards system with payments of between Bt30,000 and Bt100,000 (about US$930-$3,101) for information on public officials involved in human trafficking.

12:23 | The reconciliation committee has approved a plan to promote national social unity in 2018.

15:45 | Deputy prime minister Dr Somkid Jatusripitak has instructed the Ministry of Science and Technology (MosT) to promote projects that are inline with the Thailand 4.0 policy.

17:04 | Newsline takes a look at eSport in Thailand, including one professional player who is ranked ninth in the world.

21:01 | Director-general of the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEP) for the Asean Disability Training Center, Somkid Somsri, said yesterday that his department will organise a cycling event with visually impaired persons riding two set bicycles from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, a distance of 867 kilometres (about 539 miles), between January 28 to February 5 to raising funds for the construction of the Asean Disability Training Center in Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai.

• 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.