Thailand Morning News For April 18

Over 200,000 drunk drivers arrested and charged
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said on Tuesday (Apr 17) that military officers manning all road checkpoints have arrested more than 200,000 drivers for drunk driving during the past six days of the Songkran festival.
— Thai PBS

Thailand approves tax incentive plan to encourage bank mergers
Thailand’s Cabinet approved a plan on Tuesday to offer tax incentives to encourage mergers among the country’s commercial banks, a move that will help them better compete with their larger regional rivals.
— Reuters

Shark Attack: Norwegian Man Mauled at Thai Beach (video)
Authorities in the Thailand seaside royal city of Hua Hin are in damage control after a 54-year-old Norwegian man was mauled by a shark while swimming on one of its highly prized beaches.
— AEC News Today

True says its customers’ database “hacked” by very experienced hackers using special device
Executives of True Corporation, Thailand’s mobile phone operator, went to the office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Tuesday morning to discuss the leak of customers’ personal information allegedly by hackers.
— Thai PBS

True urged to compensate data-breach customers
The telecom regulator has ordered True Move H to assess the impact and prepare a compensation offer to customers affected by the recent leak of personal data.
— Bangkok Post

Thailand placed higher in Doing Business report this year
Thailand has been placed 36th in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business by the World Bank, following a significant effort by the Thai government to make the business environment more appealing to investors.
— NNT

Business registration process to be streamlined
The government is determined to streamline business registration procedures, in a bid to help businesses get off the ground.
— News Today (video)

Speeding, drunk driving remain biggest factors in road accidents
A TOTAL of 378 lives were lost and 3,575 people were injured in road crashes during the first six days (April 11 to 16) of the Songkran holiday period’s seven-day monitoring period.
— The Nation

Five senior monks implicated in temple fund scandal
Three members of the Sangha Council and two other senior monks have been implicated of alleged involvement in temple fund embezzlement by the National Office of Buddhism.
— Thai PBS

SEC files DSI case against POLAR over debt doubts
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Polaris Capital Plc (POLAR) executives of creating an artificial debt of 3.6 billion baht with the intention of entering the company into a business rehabilitation plan, along with falsifying documents and accounting statements.
— Bangkok Post

Plodprasop gets 2-year prison term
The Appeal Court on Tuesday sentenced ex-deputy prime minister Plodprasop Suraswadi to two years in prison for his role in the demotion of a senior official at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry in 2003.
— Bangkok Post

NBTC mulls own centre to store personal data
Takorn summons True Corp and Wemall execs to raise concerns over reports last week that customer information was leaked.
— The Nation

Patrol boat combs Hua Hin sea to look for sharks
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has dispatched a team of experts on a patrol boat to look for sharks in the sea of Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan after one foreign tourist was reported to be attacked by a shark as he was swimming in the sea.
— Thai PBS

Alibaba to splash B11bn on EEC
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will inject 11 billion baht into the first stage of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the Industry Ministry says, as the group braces for the imminent entry of Chinese rivals JD.com and Tencent and the strengthening of local alternatives like Tarad.com.
— Bangkok Post

BOOST FOR FINTECH
The Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to set up a Financial Technology Development Institute to spur growth in the country’s financial technology (fintech), Nattaporn Jatusripitak, a spokesman for the deputy prime minister for economics, said yesterday.
— The Nation

Prayut vows to overcome traffic accident scourge
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed Tuesday to succeed in curbing the carnage on the roads, saying more stringent measures would be introduced.
— Bangkok Post

Thailand taps tourists to fight human trafficking and keep the country smiling
At Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi airport, a video repeats scenes of tourists visiting Thailand’s sunny beaches and its vibrant nightlife, but at the end comes a warning.
— Reuters

Average cost of international business trip to Bangkok now $278 a day, ECA research finds
Bangkok has moved into the top 50 most expensive locations in Asia for business travel for the first time.
— The Nation

Tourism revenue more than 20 billion baht during Songkran holidays
Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has revealed that the country’s tourism revenue generated during Songkran holidays was higher than the previous estimate of 20 billion baht.
— NNT

AIS honored as Cloud Services Innovative Company of the Year and IoT Solutions Provider of the Year at the 2018 Thailand Excellence Awards
AIS has been honored with two awards at the annual Frost & Sullivan Thailand Excellence Awards banquet, held at the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel in Thailand on 28 March 2018. The two awards AIS received include the 2018 Frost & Sullivan Thailand Cloud Services Innovative Company of the Year and IoT Solutions Provider of the Year.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire (media release)

Wood industry sees promise of growth in CPTPP
Once the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) comes into effect, tariffs on Vietnamese wood exports to signatories of the CPTPP will be cut back to zero, bringing many advantages to the wood sector, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES).
— NNT

Attache says New York hooker sting ‘a mix-up’
Thailand’s most famous jet fighter pilot Gp Capt Rawin “Hollywood” Thanomsingha was detained in a Saturday night New York City prostitution sting but says it was a misunderstanding.
— Bangkok Post

Thai Leader Reveals New Deep South Safety Zone
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Tuesday identified the Deep South district where the government and Malay-speaking separatist insurgents are preparing to create a safety zone or limited ceasefire that would propel the three-year-old peace talks.
— Benar News

Fishing vessels required to have a code painted on the side
The Fisheries Department has urged fishing vessel operators, who have already been given permission to catch fish and crustaceans, to have a code painted on the side of the boat before the end of May.
— News Today (video)

Three-week crime suppression operations net illicit drugs worth Bt320m from 101 suspects
Police seized a large haul of narcotics with a street value of Bt320 million from 101 suspects in 88 drug busts during March 28-April 17 crime-suppression operations overlapping the Songkran holidays, deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakhan told a press conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.
— The Nation

Top 10 e-commerce sites in Thailand 2018
The second largest economy of Southeast Asia with one of the most engaged population online, Thailand is already a well-developed market for e-commerce. Many brick-and-mortar brands and pure e-commerce players are competing for market share, with regional and national players fighting for digital consumers.
— AseanUp

Thailand Innovation Hubs 4.0
Government organizations and the Thai private sector expect to improve the economy by developing technology in preparation for the Eastern Economic Corridor. Our NBT World correspondent has this report
— News Today

Thai police hunt ‘elephant electrocutioner’
Thai police are looking for a pineapple farm worker suspected of setting up an electric fence that has killed two wild elephants in the past month, authorities said Tuesday (Apr 17).
— Thai PBS

Halfway point for Pattaya’s Songkran, major Thunder storms next three days in Chon Buri/Pattaya
The Thai Meteorological Department has stated that heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail are expected over the next three days, specifically hitting the Pattaya area over Tuesday and Wednesday, but likely cleared up before the raucous Grand Finale and Wan Lai of Songkran on Thursday the 19th.
— Pattaya News

Tropical storms wreak havoc in many provinces
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has advised people to take precautions after a tropical storm wreaked havoc in many areas of the country.
— NNT

OIC continues rice field insurance program from 2017
The Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) has unveiled its 2018 Rice Field Insurance scheme, looking to provide assurance to no more than 30 million Rai of rice farms at a charge of 90 baht per Rai nationwide.
— News Today (video)

Acrylic paint used for ‘splashing’ during Songkran in Nai Yang
Three car owners have reported to Saku Police that their cars were splashed by acrylic paint when they were driving past the Songkran zone at Nai Yang Beach on April 13, Songkran day.
— The Thaiger

Four years after the disappearance of prominent defender “Billy”
The UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia is concerned with the lack of progress on the investigation of the enforced disappearance of prominent Karen human rights defender Mr Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen who has been missing for four years.
— Prachatai English

Family ‘gang’ rob shop in Krabi
A video from CCTV camera footage shot at a clothes shop in Ao Nang, Krabi, shows a 1.32 minutes recording of a family of 3 – father, mother and a son, all western in appearance – stealing an iPhone X from the owner of the shop while pretending to be buyers.
— The Thaiger

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Thailand morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Thailand news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Thailand Morning News For April 18 added by John Le Fevre on April 18, 2018
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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.