Death toll from Mountain B pub inferno rises to 18Firemen put out the fire at the Mountain B pub in Sattahip district, Chon Buri province, on Aug 5, 2022. (Photo: @sawangrojana Sattahip rescue Facebook)CHON BURI: The death toll from a fire at Mountain B pub in Sattahip district rose to 18, as one more seriously injured victim was pronounced dead on Friday night. The teenager had gone to Mountain B with two other friends on Aug 5. One of her friends, Phromporn Phoolsawat, 18, died at the fire-gutted pub. The death toll had increased to 17 on Thursday.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said this while addressing an event to mark the World Elephant Day at the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala. The minister said India has emerged a pioneer in elephant conservation and managing human-elephant conflicts is the major focus of the government. “With competition for resources, (the number of) human-animal conflicts are increasing, and it is very unfortunate that around 500 people are killed in elephant attacks and 100 jumbos are killed in retaliation annually,” Yadav said. “Managing human-elephant conflict is the major focus of the government. The Narendra Modi government has increased the ex-gratia amount for families of those killed in elephant attacks from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Lawyer says battle with Indian Railways over fare refund was a matter of principleA railway worker waves a flag during a ceremony for the roll-out of 12,000th Indian Railways coach at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai on May 20 this year. (AFP Photo)A lawyer who won a 22-year court battle for compensation from Indian Railways after being overcharged 20 rupees (9 baht) said on Friday that his quest for justice was worth the effort. The court awarded 66-year-old Chaturvedi a refund of 20 rupees, plus interest at 12% a year, and compensation of 15,000 rupees. But even as a lawyer representing himself, his victory cost him hundreds of hours of effort, plus 20,000 rupees in fees and other payments. Family and friends tried to convince him to give up the fight over a token sum, but he persisted.

This year’s total exports of natural rubber are expected to reach 4.27 million tonnes, up 3.41 per cent from last year, said Alongkorn Ponlaboot, citing the Rubber Authority of Thailand. In the first half, Thailand exported 167.2 billion baht of natural rubber and rubber products, he added. Almost half (49 per cent) of the exports went to China, which is the largest market for Thailand’s rubber and rubber products, said Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn, who also chairs the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry’s committee monitoring rubber prices. Between January and June, China imported 1.42 million tonnes of natural and synthetic rubber from Thailand, up 5.37 per cent from last year.

The exhibition is providing a platform for Thai logistics service providers to connect and trade with global logistics entrepreneurs and buyers/importers. First time ever, TILOG VE 2022 participants will have the opportunity to experience logistics virtual exhibition and online business matching all in one place. This event will be featuring 5 categories namely Material Handling, Packing, Warehouse & Loading, Logistics IT & E-Logistics, and Transportation & Logistics Service Providers. TILOG Virtual Exhibition responds to the policy of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit promoting clusters of services especially services of logistics providers. Hence, TILOG VE is considered to be the most influential logistics trade event that gathers logistics key players together and creates an opportunity for the logistics industry.

Hong Kong’s ban on CBD products leaves companies facing ruinCannabis in butter is seen during a process of making cannabis snacks at a shop in Bangkok on July 16, 2022. In Hong Kong, law enforcement authorities plan to ban CBD or cannabidiol, a substance derived from cannabis and its close relative, hemp within 2022. (Photo: Reuters)As Hong Kong takes its first steps towards cracking down on cannabidiol, businesses specialising in CBD-infused beers, coffees and other products are scrambling to work out what comes next. High temperatures or direct sunlight can cause CBD to degrade into THC, according to Dr Albert KK Chung, clinical assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong’s department of psychiatry. Dr Calvin Ho, co-director at HKU’s Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, expects Hong Kong authorities to ban CBD for pragmatic reasons.

The government will encourage people to use public transport to deal with the growing energy crisis. As a result, the global oil supply would not decline, Mr Krisada said. In this case, global oil prices are likely to keep dropping gradually this year as the oil supply will be better reallocated, he said. In that case, Thailand's growth would slow this and next year while inflation would stay high before declining next year, Mr Krisada added. Conflicts would be more complicated, sparking bouts of recession alternating with bursts of growth depending on the intensity of the action between the two opposing blocs, Mr Krisada said.

North Korea refers to “fever patients” rather than “Covid patients” in case reports, apparently due to a lack of testing capacity. He attended a ruling party meeting Wednesday in which he claimed “victory” in the “great quarantine war.”Kim Yo Jong also claimed the country’s Covid outbreak was caused by South Korea, warning of “retaliation”. Kim Yo Jong said such actions were a “crime against humanity” and that Pyongyang was considering “a strong retaliatory response”. In Seoul, the Unification Ministry said on Thursday that North Korea was repeating a “groundless claim” and expressed regret that Pyongyang was making “rude and threatening remarks”. There are plenty of places where the virus could have entered North Korea.

The company expects passengers to travel throughout the day on short routes not longer than 300 kilometres, Sanyalak said. Currently, the Transport Company operates 15 northern bus routes, 19 northeastern bus routes, 15 southern bus routes and nine bus routes to Laos. He said passengers can book tickets in advance on its website www.transport.co.th, e-ticket application of the company and from counter services. He added that the Transport Company had not yet raised the fare for its buses even though the Central Land Transport Committee had allow a fare hike of five satang (0.05 baht) per kilometre distance. Sanyalak said the current fares would be in use until September 30 to help people bear the cost and the company would also provide 5 per cent discount to passengers who register for Transport Company membership cards.

The selected innovators will receive partnership building opportunities, mentorship, increased visibility, access to networks, and grants to scale their solutions. Urgent sustainable solutions are needed to combat the ever-growing global plastic waste pollution crisis. Between 2017-2019, an estimated 2 million tonnes of plastic waste leakage per year came from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. This accounts for 17% of annual global marine plastic waste leakage. Plastic waste that is not polluting waterways is either burnt or dumped - posing a significant threat to environmental and biodiversity health.

Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had praised the government's efforts in combating human trafficking issues. Gen Prayut hopes Thailand one day will climb to Tier 1, which indicates human trafficking has been eradicated. The report indicates 17 more public officials were found to be involved in human trafficking rings than the year before. The ministry has provided aid for 414 human trafficking victims, 148 of whom were rescued from forced labour. She said the ministry would establish a labour union for migrant workers to prevent human trafficking and improve standards in their workplaces.

Thares said the latest survey revealed that only 11 hospitels and six hotel isolation centres remain open, compared to 76 hospitels and 31 hotel isolation centres available when the outbreak had reached its peak in Thailand last year. These 17 establishments that are still open have a combined capacity of only 4,720 beds. “Currently most of the infected patients are having mild or no symptoms and can be treated under the OPSI system or via home isolation, therefore the need for these hospitels and hotel isolation is growing smaller,” he added. Thares added that besides OPSI, patients also have the option to receive Covid-19 treatment via the National Health Security Office (NHSO)’s telemedicine system. Currently three applications have been commissioned by the NHSO to treat Covid patients.

The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 4,463,557 – 4,399,358 of whom have recovered, 34,056 are still in hospitals and 30,143 have died. Separately, another 16,589 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 41,546 their second shot and 73,760 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 138,103,194. According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 534.85 million on Saturday, 505.63 million of whom have recovered, 22.9 million are active cases (36,693 in severe condition) and 6.32 million have died (up by 1,161). Thailand ranks 24th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 86.45 million, followed by India with 43.17 million, Brazil with 31.14 million, France with 29.6 million and Germany with 26.51 million.

Vietnam needs $8bn-$14bn power investment a year through 2030Power-generating windmill turbines are pictured at a wind park in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam, on July 8, 2017. Of the amount, 75% would be spent on new power plants, with priority given to renewable sources, and 25% on grid expansion, the deputy minister said in a statement. He said the country will seek to raise funds from private investors for the new power projects, without elaborating. Vietnam, a regional manufacturing hub, needs to increase its installed power generation capacity by around 10% a year to support its fast-growing economy and population. "Vietnam will not add new coal-fired power plants to its master power development plan, and will only continue coal projects that are under construction until 2030," An said.

The first ESG activity, “Taiwan Excellence Wonder Miles – Art Therapy for Children with Autism”was held on July 22, Many participants,including runners, autistic children with their families, and Taiwaese officials, joined the activity. The second ESG activity, “Taiwan Excellence Wonder Miles - Plastic Caps Transform to Wealth”, was held on August 5. The activity attracted many participants, including runners, Taiwan Excellence fans, and Taiwanese officials. Overall, “Taiwan Excellence Wonder Miles” not only successfully increased people’s health awareness, but also gave back to society and the environment by holding these two activities with the Thai Autistic Foundation and Precious Plastic Bangkok of the Green World Foundation. This is in line with the principles Taiwan Excellence values: supporting society and communities, to help each other achieve sustainable well-being.