Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha talks to reporters at Government House on Friday. After repeatedly stressing he intends to see out his tenure, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha changed his tone when asked by reporters late last week about a possible early election. Citing Gen Prawit, Gen Prayut insisted last week the breakaway faction, which would join the Setthakij Thai Party (Thai Economic Party), will support the coalition government. Cracks in their relations are hard to mend, especially from political situations where Gen Prayut made decisions without listening to Gen Prawit, including the removal of Capt Thamanat and others close to Gen Prawit from their positions. The critical moment for the government is in July when the opposition is expected to launch a no-confidence debate against the government and Gen Prayut.

Seyed Reza NobakhtiIran is known to be a major exporter of oil to Thailand, despite the economic sanctions imposed on it by the West. "Right now, Iran's nanotechnology is ranked fourth in the world -- behind the US, China and India -- and biotechnology is ranked twelfth. Beyond the health sector, Iran is seeking Thailand's cooperation in combatting drug trafficking. He said the US sanctions have discouraged Thai officials from engaging with their Iranian counterparts, calling the sanctions "unilateral, not universal". "We cannot force foreign officials to do business with Iran, but we believe that the sanctions will end some day.

A Canadian man whose bullet-ridden body was found early yesterday at a resort in Phuket was wanted by the authorities in India, says Pol Lt Gen Amphon Buarabporn, chief of Provincial Police Region 8. He said the man came to Thailand in 2016 and was in Phuket on Jan 27. The man was found lying face-down behind a red MG hatchback with Phuket licence plates. Police believe the man had died at least six hours before his body was discovered. A number of illegal products were found inside a villa rented to the victim, police said.

In city near border, Ukrainians protest Russian threatOne of he demonstrators at Saturday's protest in Ukraine's second city KharkivKHARKIV (UKRAINE) - A Ukrainian flag wrapped around her shoulders, pensioner Iryna Gayeva had a simple message as she demonstrated in second city Kharkiv on Saturday, just 40 kilometres from the Russian border. Russiaseized the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and began fuelling a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. And now, those demonstrating insisted that Russian forces would not be welcome in Kharkiv as pro-Ukrainian patriotism has rocketed. - 'Constant threat' -Behind a large banner reading "Kharkiv is Ukraine", the demonstrators marched between the city's two main squares in sub-zero temperatures. But after years "living under constant threat of invasion", she insists resident in Kharkiv have steeled themselves for anything.

Cyclone Batsirai nears Madagascar, 'widespread damage' fearedCyclone Batsirai is set to hit eastern Madagascar after passing Mauritius and La ReunionVATOMANDRY (MADAGASCAR) - Powerful Cyclone Batsirai was closing in on eastern Madagascar Saturday as residents sought secure shelter or reinforced their roofs with sandbags after warnings that "widespread damage" was feared. "Significant and widespread damage is therefore feared," warned the metereological services. Community leader Thierry Louison Leaby lamented the lack of clean water after the water utility company turned off supplies ahead of the cyclone. The impact of Batsirai on Madagascar is expected to be "considerable", Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian organisation OCHA, told reporters in Geneva on Friday. "We are very nervous," Pasqualina Di Sirio, who heads the WFP's programme in Madagascar, told reporters by video-link from the island.

Law enforcement gets off lightly againAn old 2014 photo of a 'Ja Choey' (literally an 'indifferent Pol Sergeant' in local language), mock-up officer used to deter lawbreakers just metres from the scene of a fatal crash at an intersection in Bangkok which claimed one life and injuried three others. He too is demanding strict traffic law enforcement. It is remarkable that Thais, who routinely break traffic laws, suddenly become law-abiding when they travel to or reside in another country where law enforcement is taken seriously. It's the seemingly ubiquitous presence of active law enforcement that does the job. What are the chances of Thailand ever achieving a similarly effective -- and fair, I should add -- standard of law enforcement?

Call to expand tour subsidy schemeLocal tourists examine Naga Cave located near Phu Langka National Park in Bueng Kan.Tour operators are urging the government to increase the quota for locals joining Tour Teaw Thai, a tour package subsidy, to stimulate more demand from frequent users. The remaining tour packages in Tour Teaw Thai, which subsidises 40% of the prices of such holidays, were cut to 200,000 from previously 1 million packages for 1 million tourists because of lukewarm feedback. Only 29,506 tour packages have been sold, as of Feb 3. He said if the tour package subsidy ends with unimpressive results, TCT would like the government to consider subsidising 5,000 tour buses per month in five regions instead. Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Domestic Travel (ADT), said tourists should be granted at least three Tour Teaw Thai tour packages.

“The department had in 2006 proposed to the US a plan to export several types of fresh fruit, but the US had allowed only seven types of fruit imports from Thailand,” he said. “They are mangoes, mangosteen, rambutan, logan, lichee, pineapples and dragon fruit. Pomelo was recently added to the list, and it will be the first time in 15 years that fresh Thai pomelo will penetrate the US market,” Phichead said. Eligible pomelo exporters must be registered with the department and have their produce undergo radiation treatment to eliminate agricultural pests, especially fruit flies, that may have contaminated the fruits, he added. The other criteria include the plantation must be certified under the GAP (good agricultural practices) standard, while packaging facilities must be certified under the GMP (good manufacturing practices) standard.

The health ministry data showed 1,072 new deaths due to the pandemic reported since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 500,055. There are currently 1,435,569 active COVID-19 cases in the country, a fall of 98,352 recorded during the past 24 hours. A total of 40,017,088 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far in the South Asian country, including 246,674 newly registered recoveries. The Delhi government announced Friday that schools, colleges and all other educational institutions will be allowed to reopen from Monday, as COVID-19 cases decline once again in the capital of India. Schools, that have been shut since the last week of December, will be reopened from the next week for students of Classes 9 to 12, and it has been made mandatory for all teachers to be fully vaccinated before resuming their work from Feb. 7.

Under the proposed rule, toddlers seeking admission in all three kindergarten levels would have been deducted three scores out of an unspecified total if they were found crying during interviews or during an admission procedure scheduled for February 5-6. However, other rules remain in effect, as are additional measures regarding Covid prevention.

Blancpain reinforces its ties with Sühring twins, sharing their passions through a crafted special tasting menuBlancpain further cultivates its ties with the twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Sühring from eponymous restaurant Sühring, one of Bangkok’s finest gastronomic scenes. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the twin chefs craft a delightful tasting menu available from 14 February to 13 March 2022. For chefs Thomas and Mathias, Blancpain timepieces adorning their wrists are masterpieces that have become a part of their lives. “For the new tasting menu, we have meticulously chosen rare ingredients that need to be handled with expertise. The Blancpain x Sühring special tasting menu is available for lunch and dinner at 7,500++ baht.

The Test & Go scheme was suspended in late December to curb the spread of Omicron and was reopened this month after some adjustments. Under the new Test & Go scheme, travellers are required to book and pay for accommodation and RT-PCR tests on their first and fifth days in Thailand. Previously, travellers arriving under Test & Go were only required to spend one night in hotel and pay for one RT-PCR test. Foreign travellers are also required to have insurance with a coverage of no less than US$50,000. Yuthasak added that the highest number of Thailand Pass registrations came from Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Stimulus scheme tipped to pump in B396bnPeople shop at Trok Mo morning market, also known as Thesa market, in Bangkok on Jan 23, 2022. The four phases of the government's "Khon La Khrueng" co-payment subsidy scheme are expected to inject almost 400 billion baht into the economy, according to Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) director-general Pornchai Thiraveja. The co-payment scheme, which was launched in 2020, aims to mitigate the impact of the pandemic by reducing people's living costs. More than 26 million individuals and 1.3 million shops have taken part in the scheme, Mr Pornchai said. The first three phases pumped some 326 billion baht into the economy, he said.

Crypto network Wormhole hit with possible $320m hackFILE PHOTO: A view shows the data centre of BitRiver company providing services for cryptocurrency mining in the city of Bratsk in Irkutsk Region, Russia, March 2, 2021. (Reuters)Hackers may have possibly stolen roughly $320 million (10.6 billion baht) worth of cryptocurrency from decentralised finance (DeFi) blockchain networks after a communication channel linking them was breached. Wormhole, which builds bridges between blockchains, facilitating transfers of any kind of information from one network to another, including Solana, tweeted on Wednesday that the network was "exploited" for 120,000 units of a cryptocurrency called wETH. So-called DeFi platforms allow users to lend, borrow and save - usually in cryptocurrencies - while bypassing traditional gatekeepers of finance such as banks. Wormhole has fixed the vulnerability in its system, it said in a follow-up tweet early on Thursday, but was still working to get the network back up.

Published byThe Bangkok PostJapanese film fest to run in two citiespublished : 3 Feb 2022 at 04:00 newspaper section: [Life](http://search.bangkokpost.com/search/result_advanced?category=news&xNewsSection=Life) A selection of 12 Japanese movies will be presented during “Japanese Film Festival 2022”, which will take place at House Samyan in Samyan Mitrtown, Rama IV Road, from tomorrow to Feb 13, and SFX Cinema Maya in Chiang Mai from Feb 25-27. Held by the Japan Foundation with the support of the Embassy of Japan and the Japanese Association, the film festival will bring nine movies to Bangkok and seven to Chiang Mai (fou…Read More