Suthep unfazed by reshuffle
Suthep unfazed by reshuffleTaweesak Na Takuathung is the new leader of the Action Coalition of Thailand after M.R. "Don't listen to rumours and fake news," Mr Suthep said. MR Chatu Mongol did not elaborate on why he resigned, saying: "No reason. The ACT on Sunday held a general assembly to elect a new seven-member executive committee, including a new party leader. Both were former key members of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) led by Mr Suthep.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:37 UTC
Schools need reform, not haircuts
Schools need reform, not haircutsSchoolboys wear a military-style short hair cut. In Kanchanaburi, a student was punished for sharing a clip of her teacher hacking off another student's hair. And teachers hardly think twice when issuing irrational rules which infringe on students' rights on school compounds. The leader of Bad Student, 15-year-old Benjamaporn Niwad, told the media that the hair issue reflects teachers' "unfair treatment" of students. It's more of unequal power relations in schools, a school norm which condones authoritarianism in society.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:26 UTC
Hairstyles a rights issue
Hairstyles a rights issueThe protests of a group of school students against teachers who continue to enforce rigid haircut requirements hint at the answer to a far wider problem with the Thai education system. After schools in Thailand reopened last Wednesday, several cases of penalties imposed by teachers against students who turned up with long hair were publicised. On Friday, the so-called "Bad Student" group, lodged a petition calling for action against these teachers and schools with Prasert Boonruang, permanent secretary of the Education Ministry. However, in May, the Education Ministry issued a new rule permitting boys to have longer hair. However, the Education Ministry issued a second ministerial regulation in 1975, allowing students to have longer hair, but stipulating that it must look tidy.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:26 UTC
Priority boarding
Of 3.1 trillion baht worth of tourism revenue last year, two-thirds was revenue generated from the international market, which recorded a massive spike in arrivals to 39.8 million. But this is not the first time the Thai aviation industry has experienced massive job cuts during this pandemic. Experts say domestic tourism alone will not save the industry. Though the outbreak is a chance for Thais to travel domestically, domestic tourism alone will not help the tourism industry to reach the same levels as before the outbreak hit, said Ms Binh. Promoting domestic travel can help partially absorb the impact of the lack of foreign arrivals, while waiting for international routes to reopen, said Ms Binh.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:26 UTC
Govt defends medical tourism
Govt defends medical tourismThe government will only allow foreign patients who have tested negative for Covid-19 to enter Thailand for treatment, the Public Health Ministry said on Sunday, moving to allay public concerns over the matter. All foreigners arriving for "medical tourism" visits are required to take three Covid-19 tests and enter a 14-day quarantine at a medical institution, the ministry said. Director-general of the Health Service Support Department, Tares Krassanairawiwong, said foreign patients are now allowed to enter the country since the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) allowed medical tourism to resume on June 30. After treatment patients will be required to stay at the hospital for an additional 14 days and tested for Covid-19, Dr Tares said. Both patients and carers will be required to download and use the government's tracking application throughout their stay so authorities can keep an eye on them, he said.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:21 UTC
Govt backs 'monkey business'
A monkey is taught to pick coconuts at a plantation in Surat Thani province. Karnjana AryuwattanachaiBoonyarit Kalayanamit, permanent secretary for commerce, said the monkey owners did not abuse or exploit the animals which have been humanely trained to pick coconuts. The subcommittee has also asked the Department of Agriculture to give details regarding the use of monkeys to pick coconuts, Mr Pramual said. In the UK, Waitrose, Ocado, the Co-op and Boots all vowed to stop selling certain Thai coconut products, the BBC reported. "Peta is calling on decent people never to support the use of monkey labour by shunning coconut products from Thailand."
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:15 UTC
Griezmann stars against Villarreal as Barca keep title hopes alive
Griezmann stars against Villarreal as Barca keep title hopes aliveAntoine Griezmann celebrates with Lionel Messi after scoring a sensational chip against Villarreal on Sunday. MADRID: Antoine Griezmann answered his critics in style on Sunday by scoring with a sensational chip as Barcelona thrashed Villarreal 4-1 to keep their faint La Liga title hopes alive. An end-to-end contest, full of chances for both sides, showed Messi, Suarez and Griezmann at their free-flowing best yet the defence was opened up with ease by Villarreal, who might have scored more. Griezmann had experienced his lowest moment since joining Barcelona on Tuesday in the draw against Atletico but this was the perfect response. Barca were ahead within three minutes, Torres diverting Jordi Alba's cross into his own net under pressure from Griezmann at the near post.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 23:15 UTC
Virus pushes US hospitals to the brink, India hits record new cases
India faces similar challenges as it clocked a record daily number of cases across a vast nation where medical facilities are uneven and many COVID-19 infections are likely to be undiagnosed. After the United States, Brazil is the hardest-hit country with 64,265 deaths, followed by Britain, Italy and Mexico. "If we don't change the trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun. Critics allege India is conducting very few tests, leaving the true scale of the pandemic unknown. - Military medics -In South Africa, dozens of military medics were deployed on Sunday after a surge in infections in East Cape province.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 22:52 UTC
Trump idea of 'National Garden of American Heroes' raises questions
Trump idea of 'National Garden of American Heroes' raises questionsUS President Donald Trump described his idea for a national park of "American heroes" while speaking on July 4, 2020, in the White House gardenWASHINGTON - A new national park populated with statues of "American heroes"? The surprise idea, proposed by President Donald Trump over the July 4 holiday weekend, hardly seems likely to calm the partisan passions deeply dividing the American people. To Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University, Trump's notion of a National Garden of American Heroes is a purely political ploy. Trump said the "vast outdoor park" he envisions "will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live." "We will defend, protect and preserve the American way of life, which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America," Trump said.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 20:48 UTC
'It's about equality, not politics,' says Hamilton as six drivers refuse to take knee
'It's about equality, not politics,' says Hamilton as six drivers refuse to take kneeProtest: Lewis Hamilton takes a knee. SPIELBERG: Lewis Hamilton insisted on Sunday his fight against racism is "about equality and not politics or promotion" after six drivers refused to join the Formula One world champion in taking a knee before the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen had confirmed a split among drivers when they said they would not take a knee. "I may get criticism in the media and elsewhere, but this fight is about equality, not politics or promotion. Hamilton had explained his views to his fellow drivers before the race, claiming that silence is "generally complicit".
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 20:37 UTC
In Lebanon, single-concert festival serenades empty ruins
In Lebanon, single-concert festival serenades empty ruinsMaestro Harout Fazlian conducts rehearsals ahead of the Sound of Resilience concert inside the Temple of Bacchus at the historic site of Baalbek in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on July 4, 2020BEIRUT - A philharmonic orchestra performed to spectator-free Roman ruins in east Lebanon Sunday, after a top summer festival downsized to a single concert in a year of economic meltdown and pandemic. The Baalbek International Festival was instead streamed live on television and social media, in what its director called a message of "hope and resilience" amid ever-worsening daily woes. Festival director Nayla de Freige told AFP most artists performed for free at the designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The concert aimed to represent "a way of saying that Lebanon does not want to die. Baalbek itself became a militia stronghold during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, but conservation and tourism have revived the ruins over the past three decades.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 19:41 UTC
CIMBT examines efficiency options
CIMBT expects overall business activities to remain sluggish because of low consumer confidence. Patipat JanthongCIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) is studying shortening working hours to reduce salaries and reallocating working space to cut down on operating costs to adjust to the post-pandemic era. "We may reduce working hours and decreasing operating costs by lowering salaries to sustain our business in the long run. Mr Adisorn said the bank will continue to develop a digital platform to catch up with new normal. Mr Adisorn will step down from CIMBT, effective from Sept 15, to head TMBAM Eastspring.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 19:18 UTC
New type of newt found in pollution-free forest
New type of newt found in pollution-free forestA type of rare salamander, or new type of newt found at Doi Phu Kha National Park in Nan province. (Photo by Arnun Chonmahatrakool)A Chulalongkorn University biology research team has discovered a new type of newt at Doi Phu Kha National Park in Nan province. The newt has been named Doi Phu Kha Newt, or in local language Kratang Nam Doi Phu Kha, says Porrawee Promchote, a lecturer on biology at the university's faculty of science. "The discovery of the newt means the ecology of Doi Phu Kha is pollution-free because newts will only survive in a clean environment," Mr Porrawee said. About 50 Doi Phu Kha newts were found living near the water resource on the mountain -- 1,796 metres above the mean sea level.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 19:18 UTC
Final curtain drops at Scala theatre
Final curtain drops at Scala theatreStaff at the 51-year-old Scala theatre on Sunday stand in line to thank the last group of customers who emerged from the theatre which closed yesterday. (Photo by Varuth Hirunyatheb)The final curtain has dropped at the Scala movie theatre, which closed on Sunday amid rumours the building will be demolished to make way for a new development by its landlord, Chulalongkorn University. Management and employees of the 51-year-old movie theatre donned yellow-shirts which read "SCALA 5/7/63 Last Show" to bid a final farewell to the Art-Deco theatre in Siam Square. Parts and memorabilia from the Scala theatre will be exhibited at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden. Located at Siam Square, which is owned by Chulalongkorn University, the Scala was the last stand-alone theatre in Bangkok.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 19:18 UTC
Ratch giving Teco to Hin Kong Power
Ratch giving Teco to Hin Kong PowerRatch Group has announced a plan to decommission the wholly owned Tri Energy (Teco), a 20-year-old operator of a combined-cycle power plant, after its power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) expired on June 23. Kijja Sripatthangkura, Ratch's chief executive, said the company will have Hin Kong Power, which is jointly owned with Gulf Energy Development, continue the business. The company set up Hin Kong Power for the new licences. In January this year, Gulf Energy Development agreed to buy a 49% stake in Hin Kong for joint investment. The power plant will use imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the main fuel.
Source:Bangkok Post
July 05, 2020 19:18 UTC