As a first step, it is holding the “Travel Now, Free Now” travel fair at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre from December 15-18. Visitors will get to explore more than 300 stalls set up by hotels, resorts, restaurants and tourist attractions, some offering discounts of up to 70%, TAT deputy governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool said on Thursday. Some highlights are:• One day trip to Ko He in Phuket, four islands in Krabi or Ko Lipe in Satun starting at 99 baht• A night in a standard double room at The Chic Lipe, Satun for just 999 baht ++ from the original price of 2,500 baht ++• A night at Keeree Warin Chiewlarn Resort, Surat Thani, for just 999 baht ++ from the original price of 4,000 baht ++Every 5,000 baht spent at the fair can also earn visitors an 800-baht voucher (limited to 200 per day and one per person) that can be used at participating hotels, resorts and attractions. There will also be a golden hour every day from 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 5pm when people can buy a plane ticket, rent a car, book a room or buy a petrol voucher and get another for free (only at participating stalls). The event also features concerts and stage performances.

Sales in the first half of the expo (November 30 to December 6) totalled 13,521 four-wheel vehicles and 2,650 motorcycles, said Kwanchai Paphatphong. The annual motor show in Impact Muang Thong Thani’s Challenger Hall ends on Monday (December 12). Kwanchai said 748,021 people had visited the event since last Wednesday, with another 98,347 attending online. The improving Covid-19 situation has boosted the number of people visiting the expo in person to witness the latest automotive technology, organisers added. The big hits of this year's expo are sports utility vehicles and e-vehicles, Kwanchai said.

Set up in the southern city of Hyderabad, the gold ATM is the brainchild of GoldSikka and dispenses gold coins that weigh anywhere between 0.5 and 100 grammes. Two-thirds of the country’s gold demand usually comes from rural areas, where jewellery is a traditional store of wealth. The gold ATM, which began operations on Saturday, can store up to 5 kilogrammes of the precious metal. On a recent evening, several customers lined up to buy gold coins, inserting their credit cards into the machine and then choosing the weight of coin. So, whoever goes in for investment, I think this is the best way to take gold,” one customer said.

She said the Cabinet also acknowledged the progress of framework and action plan on Thailand's digital verification service development between 2022 and 2024, covering eight strategies:1. The Digital ID must support people, juristic persons and foreigners on verification, such as electronic signature, authorisation and consent. Juristic persons can perform transaction via Digital ID once authorisation is received. The Department of Business Development is responsible for providing transparent information on juristic persons to support their transactions via Digital ID. People can access government service via digital verification without having to register again in line with international standards.

The source said the telecom watchdog commissioners agreed that the SAT had violated the conditions regarding broadcast of the World Cup being held in Qatar since November. Under the NBTC’s ‘must-have’ rule, several key sporting events, including the Fifa World Cup finals, must be made available on free television. Thailand’s plan to acquire the World Cup broadcasting rights had a troubled start, as the NBTC’s contribution was not enough to purchase the broadcast rights, which was priced at 1.4 billion baht. This forced the SAT, an agency responsible for purchasing the broadcast rights of sporting events, to enter into a deal with telecom company True Corporation for funding support. Under the contract, True contributed 300 million baht to the SAT in exchange for exclusive rights to broadcast 32 matches on its ITPV and online platform, while leaving terrestrial TV broadcasting free for other channels.

Piti Tantakasem, chief executive officer of TTB, said his bank had to raise the interest rate after the policy rate was increased for the third time this year. On November 30, the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to raise the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% to control inflation. Piti said TTB raised its MRR (minimum retail rate) for retail customers by 0.20 percentage point to 6.68% per annum while the MLR (minimum loan rate) for big clients was raised by 0.25 percentage point to 6.625% per annum.

Ring in the Holiday Season on Bangkok’s “River of Kings” with an Exclusive Festive Dishes and Heritage Countdown Party at SirimahannopThe end of the year is fast approaching, so make sure you celebrate in style! Sirimahannop, the reimagined Thai tall ship and refined dining destination, is inviting guests and local residents to ring in the holiday season with a festive feast and with a heritage New Year dinner and party on the Chao Phraya, Thailand’s iconic “River of Kings”. Then on December 31, 2022, gather your family and friends and step onboard Sirimahannop, which is docked at Asiatique The Riverfront. Sail Into New Year Package for up to six guests at The Bridge & Hidden Rum Bar is available for THB 120,000 net, including food, soft drinks, free-flow beer, white wine, red wine, sparkling wine, premium spirits and two bottles of Champagne. Package for up to 20 guests at the Stern is available for THB 280,000 net, including food, soft drinks, free-flow beer, white wine, red wine, sparkling wine, premium spirits, four bottles of Champagne and personalised service.

Aside from transcriptions, a model of classifying and decoding emotions from voices in at-risk groups is also needed. Gowajee and AI technology can be used in many other areas such as …• A dental assistant takes notes while the dentist is doing dental work on the patient and needs to record some notes. Your data is safe with Gowajee“Data safety” is what puts Gowajee above other speech-recognition AIs. As Ekapol tells us “Normally other transcription programs store their data on the cloud or compile them on users’ computer. With Gowajee, all the data is stored on the user’s database ensuring its safety.

ANN news highlights: Wed, Dec 7, 2022Bringing Asia CloserSociety Indonesia INew Criminal Code which among others criminizes nonmarital sex is a set back for civil liberties - Jakarta PostIndonesia updated its Criminal Code (KUHP) on Tuesday, when the House of Representatives passed a newly revised version that has ushered the country into a new era in which illiberalism and religious conservatism prevail. Society Indonesia IIEditorial: Conservative turn - Jakarta PostFor decades, Indonesia has maintained its status as a country that is “neither religious nor secular” — a philosophical compromise, or conundrum, that reflects the longstanding ideological tensions between conservative and liberal forces in the country. Environment MalaysiaOil palm plantation picked as The Earthshot Prize finalist | The StarA pioneering partnership between a non-governmental organisation and an oil palm plantation in Malaysia was selected as one of the 15 finalists for The Earthshot Prize 2022, the world’s most prestigious environmental prize led by Prince William and the Royal Foundation. Unlock ChinaMore COVID curbs eased in Beijing, other cities - China DailyAuthorities in several Chinese regions eased COVID-19 restrictions to varying degrees on Tuesday, slowly and steadily adopting a new approach to deal with the virus and making life less regimented for the people.

This proprietary in-depth study of natural ingredients identified that people are very excited about dragon fruit. In terms of consumer perceptions, dragon fruit triggers associations with adjectives like bold, exotic, exciting, impressive and fun. In fact, dragon fruit use in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) is growing more quickly in foods than beverages, where innovations typically appear first. Jeff Schmoyer, Firmenich Global Head of Human Insights, commented: "Dragon fruit may be still a 'rare' fruit flavour for CPG food & beverage brands, but it is no longer rare to consumers. "For this reason, Firmenich believes that its flavour creativity will play a key role in amplifying the taste and celebrating combinations of dragon fruit with other flavours," Schmoyer concluded.

AFPOngoing travel restrictions and entry requirements in some countries are the most critical obstacles to expanding the tourism sector, according to the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA). Even though the seat capacity on flights to the country is only at 60% of pre-pandemic levels and airfares are extremely expensive, Thai tourists have continued to travel there since Japan's reopening in October. Travel flow is expected to remain strong until next year's Songkran festival, said Mr Charoen. He said if regional governments let tourists travel freely, with promotional campaigns to introduce unexplored destinations, tourist flows would be increased and countries that take part would benefit. Mr Charoen said given strong support from the local government, the number of Thai tourists visiting Kyushu could increase to at least 100,000 over the next year.

Kreetakorn Siriatha, chief of financial and strategy officer, The Minor Food Group Pcl, Sizzler's parent company, told a press conference on Tuesday that specialty is a food trend for 2023. There is a demand for premium foods that make consumers feel special, he explained. Many players are working hard to win over consumers' hearts in order to win over their loyalty, while newcomers are entering the market with new and amazing concepts. Though it is beneficial for customers to have more options, we must transform ourselves as quickly as their demand changes in order to stay on top of our customers' minds," Kreetakorn elaborated. Aside from being concerned about healthy food and its safety, they want something premium and unique that will add value to their experience.

Samsung, LG plan multi-billion-dollar additional investment in VietnamMotorcyclists pass restaurants and stores on a street near the Van Trung Industrial Park in Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province, Vietnam. (File photo: Bloomberg)HANOI: South Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG plan to pour billions of United States dollars of additional investment into Vietnam, state media reports and the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday. The announcement comes after Samsung cut smartphone production in Vietnam twice this year in response to weaker global demand. Samsung Electronics, the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, will invest $2 billion more in the Southeast Asian country, raising its total to US$20 billion, Vietnamese state media said. The state media report and the government statement did not provide further details on the investment by the two companies.

The institute will coordinate research at the university, provide grants, assist course development and link students with alumni in the field. A Rakuten online donation site started in February has raised nearly ¥1.3 billion from over 70,000 contributors to support aid efforts in Ukraine. This includes HK$150 million to fund research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Medicine and over HK$70 million to fight Covid-19. To date, it has granted over 1,600 bursaries totalling about S$1 million ($727,000) to students from primary school to pre-university levels. The foundation is also a longstanding donor to the Singapore Management University, to which it contributed S$3 million in April to set up the JLFO-LHF Scholarship.

INQUIRY LINES: UTN secretary-general says if Prayut joins new party, the PM must change how he worksThe United Thai Nation Party (UTN), also known as Ruam Thai Sang Chart, has been thrust into the spotlight as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is widely expected to join the newly-established party. "With former Democrats joining the UTN, the party may seem like a branch of the Democrat Party, but that is not the case," Mr Akanat said. We will make the party a political institution, not just an ad hoc party created for a specific purpose." Mr Akanat said he had a close bond with the Democrat Party, with his mother, Srisakul Promphan, being a former Democrat Party MP for Nakhon Ratchasima, while several of his relatives are also staunch supporters of the party. If the party secures seats in the upcoming election and continues to do so in future elections, then it is proven that that party is not an ad hoc party for Gen Prayut," he said.