Pirom Nilthaya said the province is expected to resume tourism by the New Year while Betong can reopen even sooner next month, as 90% of locals in Mueang district and 70% in Betong district have already been vaccinated against Covid-19. Narin Rueangwongsa, deputy president of the Betong Tourism Association, said the association has spoken with members of the tourism sector, noting they wanted the province to reopen next month to rejuvenate their businesses. Mr Narin said Betong tourism operators have agreed to join the government's tourism stimulus programmes, which will last until January. Pruek Wongnamroj, president of the Betong Hotel Club, said 26 of 28 hotels, with a total of 1,773 rooms in Betong district, have been approved under the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA) standards and two other lodgings are undergoing the process. On Oct 15, he held a meeting with border officials and private sector members who urged the government to speed up the reopening of border checkpoints to resume border trade.

Court hits prohibited websitesA court has ordered the blocking of 71 URLs related to illegal gambling over the past week, according to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES). DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said that between Nov 8-14 the court authorised the blocking of 80 URLs found to have violated the computer crime law. According to Mr Chaiwut, the DES ministry has asked the court to block a further 418 URLs for publishing illegal content. He added that legal action was also being pursued against a group of people associated with nine URLs with illegal content. Of the total, six URLs were based on Facebook while the remaining three were on Twitter.

Ex-Yakuza cuffed for medical glove fraudA Japanese man said to be a former Yakuza gangster, was arrested twice over the past week on suspicion of rubber glove fraud reportedly worth 286 million baht. He said the suspect was a former member of the Sumiyoshi gang in Japan. Last Thursday police also arrested the suspect's Thai wife -- identified only as Supanida, 24 -- on suspicion of selling the merchandise, many orders of which were also never fulfilled, Pol Col Neti said. Last Friday, police found over 10 million more pairs of the gloves in six cargo containers at a container yard in Chon Buri's Si Racha district, Pol Col Neti said. Buyers had been lured into handing over at least 286 million baht, but the suspect had transferred most assets to close aides, Pol Maj Gen Phuthidej said.

Maya Bay reopening set for Jan 1Tourists jam-pack the beach at Maya Bay in Krabi in 2017, before the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation closed it in June 2018. (Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park photo)The famed Maya Bay in Krabi province will probably be reopened to tourists on Jan 1, with regulations in place to preserve the rehabilitated beach and bay from the ecological ruin it previously suffered. He said Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park was in the final stage of building an improved pier on the island and defining the swimming zone for beachgoers. The minister, in Krabi for a cabinet meeting, said reopening of the bay will come with strict conditions. #BangkokPost #tourismDepartment of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation pic.twitter.com/sX14JtlowS — Bangkok Post (@BangkokPostNews) November 15, 2021Park officials have planted coral on reefs over more than 10 rai of the bay.

VIENNA: Austria became the first EU country on Monday to impose a lockdown on the unvaccinated and the first to start inoculating children as young as five, as the virus strengthens its grip on the continent.

FILE PHOTO: A Vietnam Airlines Aribus A321-200 plane prepares to land at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi, Vietnam April 18, 2019. (Reuters)Vietnam is welcoming foreign tourists this month for the first time since the spring of 2020 as the Southeast Asian country gradually reopens its tourism sector amid the pandemic. Khanh Hoa Province on the south-central coast received two flights carrying foreign tourists from Japan and South Korea as of Thursday, newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong reported. About 430 US tourists are expected to arrive in the Unesco World Heritage Site of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province on charter flights Nov 17-18, while Phu Quoc Island plans for about 250 foreign tourists Nov 20, the newspaper said in a separate report. Vietnam’s transport ministry has proposed a three-phase plan to resume regular international flights next year, according to a posting on the government’s website.

(Bangkok Post file photo)Thailand's internet economy is expected to be worth US$30 billion (around 984 billion baht) in 2021, up 51% year-on-year, buoyed by a surge in e-commerce, according to the latest e-Conomy SEA 2021 report. The annual study of Southeast Asia's internet economy is jointly commissioned by Google, Bain & Company and Temasek. The biggest contributor to the country's internet economy in 2021 has been e-commerce with $21 billion, followed by online media at $4.5 billion, online travel at $2.8 billion and transport and food at $2 billion. Digital merchants use an average of two digital platforms, while profitability remains a top concern for them. Digital financial services are becoming important for vendors, with 96% of digital merchants now accepting digital payments and 82% adopting digital lending solutions.

PM pleased with rising tourist numbersThe ambience of Sukhumvit Soi 4 or Soi Nana Tai now Covid-19 curbs have been relaxed. Only 52 foreign visitors tested positive for Covid-19 upon arriving, or about 0.12% of all visitors, he said. As of Saturday, 173,637 visitors had applied for the Thailand Pass QR Code via the website tp.consular.go.th. Gen Prayut has asked the Digital Economy and Society (DES) to further speed up the approval process for the Thailand Pass, said Mr Thanakorn. With the latest update, applicants can now download their Thailand Pass QR code by themselves, without having to wait for an e-mail confirmation.

Protester shot in chest at city rallyDemonstrators gather at Pathumwan intersection before moving on to the German embassy on Sathon Road with a statement opposing the court ruling that they claimed will bring about the return of absolute monarchy. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)A man was shot in the chest during a rally against a Constitutional Court ruling after key protest leaders were accused of trying to bring down the constitutional monarchy. Marchers had also intended to visit the German embassy in Sathon district to submit a petition to reform the highest institution. The protesters claimed that the Constitutional Court's ruling is bringing the country back to an absolute monarchy and they were opposing it. At 6.20pm, protesters reached the German embassy to submit a statement opposing the court ruling.

In my case, it feels like I have had to be continuously learning and adding skill sets (and discarding some as well). We don’t even know what impact the metaverse will have on our lives, what attributes, skill sets and roles will be required, and what new possibilities will emerge. More autonomy and empowerment require new perspectives and more diverse and deeper skill sets (or at least the capability to build them quickly) to get the win. There are probably at least three new skill sets required to succeed, along with a much broader understanding of what is going on in a given domain. The potential benefits of developing staff with broader perspectives and skill sets mean you will find more opportunities, create sustainable growth, can better interpret and benefit from your data, and benefit from bigger-picture thinking.

The government will repatriate 60 Thai workers who were duped into working illegally in Cambodia on Monday. The matter caught the public's attention as several sources reported that many Thais were deceived into working illegally in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. After the arrest of the wrongdoers, the RTP on Saturday coordinated with related agencies in Cambodia to provide help for the Thai victims. Separately, the army's Burapha Task Force has arrested 29 Cambodian migrants for illegal entry, along with two Thai smugglers near the border in Sa Kaeo. At 10.30am, the Burapha Task Force, Klong Hat Task Force and community leaders jointly caught 22 Cambodian migrants -- 19 men, 2 women and a girl -- during a search of tambon Tub Prik of Aranyaprathet district.

It is likely J&J would spin out its consumer unit and hold a stock offering, but no decision has been made, Mr. Gorsky said. The decision comes after rivals including Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. decided to hive off their consumer businesses and double down on faster-growing pharmaceuticals. The consumer company will be among the industry's largest, after competitors such as Procter & Gamble Co., Nestlé SA and L'Oréal SA. A stand-alone consumer business, however, won't be able to draw on a well-endowed parent while it competes with bigger rivals. Merck sold its consumer business, which makes Coppertone sunscreen, to Bayer AG for $14.2 billion in 2014.

Protesters submit statement opposing absolute monarchy to German embassyProtesters make the three-finger salute as they stand in front of the German embassy during a demonstration on Sunday. (AFP photo)A large group of protesters on Sunday marched from Bangkok's Pathumwan intersection to the German embassy to submit a statement opposing absolute monarchy. "The move is against absolute monarchy and to protect democracy," the statement said. Citing the ruling and the order, protesters accused the court of attempting to bring back absolute monarchy. "We don't want absolute monarchy," they shouted at the rally site.

Thailand becoming even more amazingWith the kingdom opening up again the Tourist Authority of Thailand have announced that they are primarily interested in "quality tourists". The TAT appears to be loyally sticking to a variation on the "Amazing Thailand" slogan which has served them well for two decades. For 2022 we have "Now Even More Amazing Thailand Has It All". I admit to having been somewhat sceptical when the original "Amazing Thailand" slogan was launched, but have come to accept it and am even fond of it in a peculiar sort of way. A few years ago they introduced "Miracle Thailand" which apart from sounding rather strange had a hint of desperation about it, as if some kind of divine intervention had been called upon.

PAD's Somkiat Pongpaiboon dies at 71Somkiat Pongpaiboon, a co-leader of the now-defunct People's Alliance for Democracy, died on Sunday. I was informed by Pi Noy, Somkiat's wife, at 11.10am that he died just a while ago at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital. He was later transferred to the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital where he underwent a CT scan and was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. Somkiat was later moved back to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital where he stayed on life support until he was pronounced dead on Sunday. He was a lecturer at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University and a party-list MP of the Democrat Party from 2007-2011.