Anutin: Don't be too concerned about cannabisPublic Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul defends his cannabis decriminalisation policy during a censure debate at parliament on Tuesday. (Screenshot)Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told the House of Representatives on Tuesday that being overly concerned with cannabis use would only delay national development. In response, Mr Anutin told the House that he was only joking at the time. Mr Anutin insisted that cannabis abuse would not happen during the tenure of this government, and he hoped that a relevant law would be passed quickly to regulate cannabis use. The law would impose penalties against cannabis abusers and would also provide clearer regulations on cannabis-infused food, Mr Anutin said.

Rural doctors want end to govt monopoly on antiviral drugsThe Rural Doctors Society wants an end to the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation's monopoly on favipiravir and two other antiviral drugs, molnupiravir and paxlovid. (Photo: Komsan Jandamit)The Rural Doctors Society (RDS) wants the government to end its monopoly on antiviral drugs, to ensure the country has enough to treat Covid-19 patients and bring down the price. The RDS has proposed that the monopolies on favipiravir, molnupiravir and paxlovid be scrapped and the private sector be allowed to import these antiviral drugs. The monopoly was later extended to cover molnupiravir and paxlovid, resulting in a shortage of antiviral drugs to fight the coronavirus disease. "In fact, there is no global shortage of the antiviral drugs, but Thailand is facing a shortage because of monopolies," The RDS said.

During the four-day debate, the opposition party will have 11 hours daily to target the PM and his ministers, while the Cabinet and the ruling coalition party will have two hours daily to reply. The debate on Tuesday is focusing on two ministers — Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.

Bus firm to call on govt to provide financial supportThe operator of No.8 buses on Monday prepared a letter calling on the government to waive its 1.4-billion-baht debt and have the Department of Land Transport (DLT) renew its contract. Thiraporn Methisariyapong, manager at Thai Bus Transport, said her company, which runs No.8 buses, will file the letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob. She said her company was granted a valid operations permit by the DLT valid from Sept 1, 2016–Oct 31 next year. In 2019, the DLT initiated a bus route reform plan, prompting bus operators to reapply for a permit. However, Ms Thiraporn said after doing so, the DLT told her that Thai Bus Transport did not meet standard requirements and was not granted a permit.

The first two days of the holiday, July 13 and 14, were Asalha Bucha and the start of the Buddhist Lent. A third day, July 15, was added so including the weekend people would get five days off. The extra day was granted in a bid to boost domestic tourism. Transport Co president Sanyalak Panyawatthanalikhit said some 2,600 buses brought more than 30,000 passengers back to Bangkok, while 25,859 buses travelled between the provinces over the five days. “The company thanks all employees and related agencies for making travel during the long holidays smooth and safe, and meeting the company’s goal of providing high quality, safe and affordable transport to people,” he said.

City Hall considers app use to fight corruptionBangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt is considering expanding the use of the Traffy Fondue application to take complaints about corruption following its success in dealing with public service complaints. Mr Chadchart said as of now more than 90,000 complaints have been made via Traffy Fondue and more than 40,000 of them have been addressed. They [BMA offices] just have to check the reported issues on the application and go fix the problems," he said. Due to the success of Traffy Fondue, he said the BMA will further expand its use in reporting on corruption. "City Hall needs to weigh up the pros and cons when the private sector offers land for use as public or green spaces, as City Hall does not get to use such land for free," he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha speaks to reporters at Government House on Monday. (Government House photo)Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday appeared unfazed by the upcoming no-confidence debate, despite uncertainties over how small coalition parties would cast their votes. Speaking after the weekly cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut said he was ready to face the music as he had pure intentions. About 50 opposition MPs have signed up to speak in the censure debate, which kicks off today and lasts until Friday. Out of the 45 hours allocated to the opposition, 30 will be spent grilling Gen Prayut as head of the government.

Police were deployed to keep security in front of Government House and the Chamai Maruchet Bridge was closed to traffic. They said they had to seek the CIB’s help because the Central Administrative Court had rejected their lawsuit against the GLO for alleged unfair revocation of the quotas of the 50,000 vendors. The GLO said the 50,000 vendors’ quotas were cancelled because their tickets were found to be sold on the online platforms of some major investors at inflated prices. The Paotang digital lottery tickets are sold at the original price of 80 baht. They have proved so popular with the public that vendors are complaining they no longer have customers for their paper tickets.

"I believe, in the slowdown, regulatory uncertainty has played a role. It’s important for India to take up reforms but to be able to do this with greater clarity and greater certainty would help,” Gopinath said at an event here in the national capital. The IMF Chief Economist said that although reforms are important for an economy, they should come with clarity and certainty on the policies and regulations. “Economies need reforms and they are important but there also needs to be an environment of regulatory certainty, which is the clear rules of the game, what the particular policies are and how it impacts you. There has to be clarity on that,” she said at industry chamber FICCI’s 92nd Annual Convention.

FDA tells shops to separate products containing THCThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging convenience stores and shopping malls to clearly demarcate areas selling cannabis-based food and snack products and ensure that sales are only to customers over the age of 20. FDA deputy secretary-general Weerachai Nolwachai on Sunday mentioned an incident where a child became ill after eating a snack that had cannabis as an ingredient. He said the FDA had already issued a public health ruling requiring cannabis to be clearly listed as an ingredient no matter the quantity included. The drug was delisted from Category 5 of the narcotics law in June. If people keep violating the law, the government might put cannabis and hemp back on the Category 5 narcotics list.

Foreign workers granted 2-year extensionNearly 1.7 million registered foreign workers initially allowed to work until Feb 13, 2023 will be granted extensions to work for another two years. Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said the cabinet approved on July 5 a work permit extension for 1.69 million migrant workers to Feb 13, 2025. The workers include 410,000, approved by the cabinet in Dec 2020, 930,000 in July 2021, and 350,000 in Sept 2021. Pairoj Chotikasathien, director-general of the Department of Employment, said migrant workers who are allowed to work until Feb 13, 2023 will be divided into two groups. Under ministry regulations, if workers want to continue working in Thailand they must seek permission from a registration officer at the Labour Ministry, he said.

He also dismissed rumours that the digital lottery tickets were being snapped up by a handful of people to resell at their websites. Lawan said data shows that the 5.1 million digital tickets for the previous draw had been bought by some 900,000 individuals, which means each person bought only five or six tickets. He said there was no indication that any one person bought an unusually high number of tickets. He also said that the GLO did not find any large-scale vendors reselling digital tickets, but did catch and take action against some small vendors who were reselling them. Meanwhile, GLO director Noon Sansanakhom on Sunday warned people against buying previously bought digital lottery tickets.

“But travel restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 crisis has caused the border trade to drop by more than 60 per cent,” she said. She said consumer behaviour has transformed after the Covid-19 crisis, as most Laotians only go to Udon Thani to see the doctor, refuel their vehicles or purchase necessities. “Foreign investors have introduced big changes in Laos, with many 4- to 5-star hotels being built in Vientiane,” she said. She added that now travellers preferred to put up in Vientiane as hotels are cheaper there and they can take the China-Laos high-speed railway to continue their journey. “Soon Thais will be crossing the Mekong River to go shopping in Vientiane instead,” she added.

2,028 Covid hospitalisations, 18 deaths as true numbers unreportedShoppers walk round the famous Chatuchak weekend market at night after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration eased Covid-19 restrictions, on Sunday. On Saturday, 2,578 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus. Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 4,559,029 Covid-19 cases, including 2,335,594 cases this year, with 4,504,734 complete recoveries to date. The accumulated death toll stood at 30,006 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 9,298 so far this year. Global Covid-19 cases rose by 642,743 in 24 hours to 567.15 million.

Most Thais foxed by new party-list MP scheme: pollA staff member calls out the vote for a constituency at a Samut Prakan polling station on March 24, 2019. A Nida opinion poll on Sunday shows most people do not understand the method for the calculation for party-list MPs in the upcoming election. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)A large majority of people do not understand the method for the calculation of party-list MPs, particularly an argument over whether to divide the party-list votes by 100 or 500, according to the result of a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll. Under the approved formula, the 500 figure - the total number of all MPs, comprising 400 from constituencies and 100 from party-lists - will be used to divide party-list votes to determine the minimum number of listed MPs for each political party. Asked to comment on the House of Representatives having two types of MPs, from constituencies and party-lists, 58.39% said they wanted to have both types of MPs; 33.38% said there should be only constituency MPs; and 8.23% said there should be only party-list MPs.