In Thailand English-language News for March 15, 2017, Newsline presenter Cholaphansa Narula tells us about:
• The Cabinet has agreed in principle to the draft law on the national reform road map and execution plan along with a draft law on national strategy. The Office of the Council State (OCS) has been instructed to amend the content of the two draft laws before returning them to the Cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) which will conduct public forums to gauge opinions.
• In an attempt to better manage traffic flow during the annual Songkran holidays tollway fees will be waived between April 12 and 18 on Highway No. 9 and highway No. 7. According to deputy government spokesperson Lieutenant General Werachon Sukondhapatipak, a nationwide road safety campaign will also be implemented, along with programmes aimed to assist the travelling public.
• The Cabinet has agreed to Thailand joining the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) established to encourage regional collaboration on fishery work, regulation management, and conservation of sea life.
• The Cabinet has approved the waiving of immigration fees for immigrant workers from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Lao PDR during the Songkran holiday. The waiver will be valid between April 5 to 30 and requires immigrant workers to leave and return via the same border immigration checkpoint.
• The National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA)has continued to meet with Thailand political parties to discuss reforms needed to bring about national political reconciliation with 46 of the country’s 49 political parties already joining the discussions.
• Newsline takes a look at Thailand’s position as one of the leading destinations for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) and its contribution to the national economy in an exclusive discussion with the chairman of the Board of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), Weerasak Kowsurat.
• Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Sopon Mekthon, has said close attention is being paid to the over-use of antibiotics against a backdrop of rising drug resistance illnesses. Introducing the ministry’s 2017 to 2021 plan, Mr Mekthon said the five year programme aims to reduce the number of drug resistant illnesses in humans by 50 per cent and by 30 per cent in animals.
• In its continuing crackdown on practices that breach EU illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing Thailand’s Department of Fisheries has ordered businesses involved in logistics and storage of marine life to register their vessels and fit them with GPS tracking devices to enable them to be logged by Port-in Port-out centres. Failure to comply will result in a fine ranging from Bt10,000 to Bt25 million (US$284 – $709,421) depending on the size of the vessel.
• The Department of Land and Transport (DLT) has established free vehicle examination centres at 2,000 locations nationwide ahead of the approaching Songkran holiday, traditionally one of the deadliest seven days on Thailand’s roads (See: Thailand Road Crashes Strip 3% From GDP).
• Thai Minister of Commerce, Apiradi Tantraporn, has rejected a request by Cambodia to extend an agreement allowing it to export corn for animal feed for another two months, claiming the corn was of inferior quality and expensive. The refusal came on the last day of the 6th Thailand-Cambodia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting in Cambodia.
• Thanit Roisri, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has told attendees at a seminar themed ‘Driving the Thai Agriculture to Asean with Thailand 4.0′ that the government foresees a near future where Thai farmers use technology in conjunction with agricultural activities – so-called “smart farmers’.
• and much more.
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Newsline is a daily Thailand English-language news and current affairs programme produced by the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNBT) under the Thailand Government Public Relations Department (PRD) for *NBT World, the NNBTs 24/7 English language television service delivering Thailand government news and information to the Thai, Asean, and wider Asian communities via cable and satellite. It is also available via android and iOS apps.