Govt plots more India 'mini-FTAs'Taste of India: Indian ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai presents a bouquet of flowers to Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit who presides over the opening of the Second Edition of the North East India Festival in Thailand at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld yesterday. The government is planning to sign agreements with several states in India to boost trade between the countries, said Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit. He was speaking while presiding over the Second Edition of the North East India Festival in Thailand at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld yesterday. Mr Jurin said the northeastern region of India is close to Thailand in terms of geography and cultural traditions. The Commerce Minister thanked India and its states for organising the festival, praising the move for strengthening bilateral ties.

The waterfall was declared off-limits on Thursday and will stay closed until September 30, according to the national park’s chief, Chaiya Huaihongthong. He said frequent flash floods in the area during rainy season posed threats to tourists and wild animals feeding near waterways. Park officials also needed to close the waterfall to remove the carcasses of the two elephants found there following torrential rain, the chief said.

8 killed, 2 hurt in van taking passengers to make meritRescuers arrive after a passenger van, carrying 10 people, overturned in Khon Kaen province early Saturday. (Photo: FM91 Trafficpro)Eight passengers were killed and two others injured when a passenger van taking them to make merit overturned in Khon Kaen province early Saturday, police said. Pol Col Preecha Kengsarikit, chief of Muang Khon Kaen police station, said on Saturday morning that the van with Nakhon Phanom licence plates overturned on a bypass road in tambon Phra Lap in Khon Kaen's Muang district. The vehicle, carrying nine female passengers plus a male driver, left Nakhon Phanom around 11pm and was heading for Chaiyaphum province for merit-making at nine temples, the officer said. They were taken to Khon Kaen Hospital.

The disbursement of funds during this period also rose 1.9 per cent year on year to 2.43 trillion baht, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Saturday. Since the government also borrowed 621.07 billion baht to make up the deficit, this resulted in the country’s finances as of June 2022 coming in at 587.91 billion baht in surplus. Taxes collected by the revenue, excise and customs departments came in at 2 trillion baht, up 10.5 per cent year on year. Earnings submitted by state enterprises for the nine months was 116.13 billion baht, up 10 per cent year on year. However, revenue from other agencies stood at 109.71 billion baht, dropping 11.7 per cent year on year.

Thailand 'has highest number of wild tigers in Southeast Asia'Thailand has the highest number of wild tigers in Southeast Asia thanks to a national conservation project implemented since 2010, according to Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-archa. Mr Varawut said the government aims to make Thailand the leading country in Southeast Asia in terms of the size of its tiger population by 2034. Phadet Laithong, director of the department's Wildlife Conservation Office, said India has the highest tiger population in the world. "We have seen tiger footprints from the cameras installed in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and it is estimated there are 148-149 tigers in the forests, the highest number in Southeast Asia," said Mr Phadet. The biodiversity of an area always correlates with its tiger population."

Pictured here, Mr. Keeree Kanjanapas (center), Chairman of the Executive Officer and Chairman of the Sustainability Committee; Mr. Kavin Kanjanapas (left), Chief Executive Officer and Chief Officer of MATCH Business; and Mr. Surapong Laoha-Unya (right), Executive Director and Chief Officer of MOVE Business. The Meeting of Shareholders has approved the final dividend payment for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 at the rate of Baht 0.16 per share (16 Satang per share) to the shareholders of the Company appearing in the shareholders’ register book on the record date of August 4, 2022, where the names of the shareholders are entitled to receive the dividend payments are determined and the dividend payment date is set on August 23, 2022. Previously, the interim dividend payment had been paid to the Company shareholders on February 24, 2022 at the rate of Baht 0.15 per share (15 Satang per share), from the total dividend payment at the rate of Baht 0.31 per share (31 Satang per share) or equivalent to the total dividend payment in the amount of approximately Baht 4,081.4 million from the net profit and unappropriated retained earnings.

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Pharmacists: End unrestricted growing of cannabisPublic Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul tries a cannabis-infused drink at the Department of Health Service Support in Nonthaburi province on Tuesday. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)The Rural Pharmacists Club wants the government to stop allowing people to freely grow cannabis, to protect young people. He wrote that the decriminalisation of cannabis on June 9 led to the faster and more widespread use of cannabis for recreation than for medical purposes. Unless the government stopped the free use of cannabis beyond medical use, the impact would continue. Therefore, the pharmacists club asked the government to stop the free cultivation of cannabis.

To achieve this, he listed four options that countries can adopt to boost supply chain liquidity. They are:• Developing digital infrastructure for seamless, transparent and effective supply chain connection. • Strengthening cooperation at the regional level to strengthen supply chain connection and promote regional trade through pacts like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). He added that RCEP was one of the most concrete achievements that have helped create connections and expand supply chains in the region. Trade between APT countries in the first five months of this year came in at US$563.53 billion (20.40 trillion baht), up 14 per cent year on year.

In April, two sisters Suphakamol “Pam” Vuntanadit and Suphajit “Patty” Vuntanadit became the first Thai riders to compete in the Grand Prix, the highest level on the international stage, in the dressage category in Poland. The Nation will introduce you to the charm of this sport and talk to the Thai sisters on their biggest dream of qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

SoPa allots another $20m to acquisitionsMr Nguyen says that SoPa has over 2.1 million registered consumers and more than 6,700 registered merchants and brands on its platform. SoPa has over 2.1 million registered consumers and more than 6,700 registered merchants and brands on its platform. On July 14, SoPa announced its acquisition of TMG, which is a social-commerce focused, premium digital video MPN and social commerce platform. TMG's social commerce platform can level up reach and engagement for SoPa's e-commerce ecosystem and its retail partners, he said. According to professional service provider Accenture, the global social commerce market is poised to grow to $1.2 trillion by 2025.

Thai delegation to visit Saudi next monthTwo-way trade volume between Thailand and Saudi Arabia last year reached 234 billion baht, with exports to Saudi Arabia tallying 51 billion baht. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)The Commerce Ministry will lead a trade mission to Saudi Arabia next month to strengthen business partnerships between Thailand and the Middle Eastern country, in a bid to grow Thai exports by 20%. Two-way trade volume between Thailand and Saudi Arabia last year totalled 234 billion baht, with exports to Saudi Arabia tallying 51 billion baht. The main imports from Saudi Arabia comprised crude oil, chemicals, fertiliser, pesticide, finished oil, and metallic minerals. The council expects Thai exports to Saudi Arabia to grow by 20% to 65 billion baht this year.

Read More:https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40018206However, the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, Dr Narong Saiwong, said on Wednesday that Dr Yongyot Thammavudhi, director-general of the Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine Department, wanted to review the order first and send it for further consideration before any action was taken. Yongyot said the notification to the police needed to be revised because there were four topics to consider:People who use cannabis for medical use should not be affected Past offences are not punishable Clarity of operational procedures for officials Cannabis is important for the economy and medical servicesYongyot said cannabis should not be listed again as a narcotics substance so the subcommittee agreed to declare cannabis buds as a controlled herb while other parts of the plant could be used normally.

The CISW Cann Festival Thailand 2022 is scheduled for September 9-11 at Central Pattaya department store. It is a collaboration between Pattaya City, CISW Green World Co Ltd, and Central Pattaya. At the festival, Cann Expo and Hemp Expo will highlight products made from cannabis and hemp, including food, beverages and cosmetics.

1,902 new Covid patients, 32 deaths as severe cases riseA health worker from the Zendai organisation takes a swab sample from a boy for a rapid antigen test in Bangkok on Jan 5, 2022. Although the number of new patients receiving treatment had steadily declined, the figures for seriously ill patients were going in the opposite direction. On Wednesday, 2,129 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus. Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 4,584,070 Covid-19 cases, including 2,360,635 cases this year, with 4,528,820 complete recoveries to date. Global Covid-19 cases rose by 880,000 in 24 hours to 578.35 million.