The (newest) Thailand casino plan: Five of them; One per region
Good morning boys and girls and others. Today is the final June 30, 2022, of your lives.
Prayut demands more national unity
The junta-designated 'prime minister' of Thailand called Wednesday for more unity among Thai citizens.
Prayut compared the country to a vehicle with 70 million passengers that needs unity to move forward.
He was speaking at the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) Expo 2022, on the subject of 'Shaping Future Industries for Stronger Thailand'.
The public and private sectors must work together in the face of changes and challenges, he said.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2336473/
Wait for the editorials and commentariat to roll in.
They will point out the lack of leadership from the top that Thailand has suffered for 8 years.
Prayut claims to know something that no one else knew:
Thailand will be producing and selling and exporting Electric Vehicles (EVs) within a year.
Prayut said the government is speeding up promotion of EV assembly in Thailand and plans to begin by next year.
Significant parts such as batteries, traction motors, battery management services, AC/DC converters, inverters, portable EV chargers, electrical circuit breakers and EV smart charging systems should also be manufactured in the country in the near future, he said.
According to Gen Prayut, following his Tuesday meeting with Young Liu, chief executive and chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, the company announced a plan to embark on EV assembly in Thailand within one year. (The promise cannot be found online.)
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2336553/
A new approach for new casinos
A chairman of a Lower House committee on entertainment introduced his latest idea to get a casino open in Thailand - five casinos, simultaneously.
Pichet Chuamuangphan, a relentless campaigner for government-regulated gambling, said he could finish a feasibility study within a year. It would be based on business models of "many countries" including Singapore and Malaysia.
"The primary aim of having entertainment complexes in Thailand is to create jobs, attract foreign visitors and bring additional revenue to the country," he said.
He vowed to submit a plan to the government to operate one casino in each of the country's five regions.
Thailand bans all gambling except the government-run lottery.
Korea, Singapore warn Thais: Leave your weed at home
Thai embassies in both countries claimed they received specific warnings to pass on to potential Thai tourists and workers.
The Royal Thai Embassy in Singapore posted the warning on its Facebook page on Wednesday:
Thai travellers must not bring cannabis-based products or cannabis into the city-state.
Specifically, possession and consumption of cannabis or hemp may lead to the death penalty.
Meanwhile the Thai embassy in Seoul posted a notice on its Facebook page: Thai travellers must not carry cannabis, hemp or products containing these plants into South Korea.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2336588/
PHILIPPINES PRESS FREEDOM
Duterte is out. So is Maria Ressa.
Philippines authorities have again ordered the shutdown of an investigative news site founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa (centre, below).
Rappler is one of the few Philippines media outlets critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's government.
The regulator's ruling comes just before Duterte leaves office and is succeeded by his ally Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who won election in May.
Ressa (below) said she won't close and she'll fight the order in court.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61976456
There are still countries, not including Thailand, where you don't go to jail or worse for mean headlines.
Analysis: Kamala Harris Is a 'Petty Ass Bitch'.
https://tinyurl.com/yc79uak6
THAILAND TOURISM
[BLOOMBERG] What nationalities are trying to save Thailand's lagging tourist industry?
https://bloom.bg/3Ooyaul

BANGKOK POLITICS TRANSPORTATION
Outrage at Green Line Skytrain fare
City Hall plans to charge a fare of up to 59 baht for the BTS Skytrain Green Line electric rail service, drawing criticism from a consumer protection group.
The new Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt has control over the issue, and his decision will affect his popularity.
[The 'Green Line' train route, owned by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, City Hall, has 52 stations and will runs from Samut Prrakan to Wat, the Golden Mount.]
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2335698/
CORONAVIRUS THAILAND
Thailand records 2,569 brand new Covid-19 cases and 14 more deaths
Covid-19 will soon become like the flu, says virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan of Chulalongkorn University (below).
"Flu spreads every year, and the variant also changes each time it spreads, meaning vaccines used must be adjusted accordingly"
AND
The junta's plan is to declare 'End of Pandemic' as of tomorrow. It might be endemic or epidemic but it won't be a pandemic.
AND
Just like Rona:
"You can still catch a flu even after recovering from one."
https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40017161
Singapore reports 11,504 new Covid-19 cases, highest daily number of infections in more than 3 months
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/new-covid-19-cases-deaths-hospital-infection-ratio-moh-2775281
The Department of TRUST THE SCIENCE reports:
Q:, U.S. House of Representatives: When the government told us that the vaccinated couldn't transmit [Covid-19], was that a lie or a guess?
A:, Doctor Debbie Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator: I think it was hoped that the vaccine would work in that way.
THAILAND POLITICS
Thailand junta's political-party front losing popularity
Prawit Wongsuwon, ex-general and former BFF of Prayut, nominal organizer and leader of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), says 'never mind, it's not a major concern'.
Prawit said the PPRP was aware its popularity was waning, so it is working on self-improvement.
He also shrugged off a recent Nida poll in which Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, topped a list of favourite figures for prime minister.
BUT - and this is the important part once again
Prawit refused to answer questions on whether the PPRP front party intended to put up Thaksin again as 'prime minister'.
DRUGS SMUGGLING TRAFFICKING
Drug seizures on Mekong river bank
NAKHON PHANOM: Thai narcs interrupted a smuggling gang's plan to move 1.4 million methamphetamine pills and 482 kilogrammes of dried marijuana.
The smugglers dropped their goods and ran. The anti-narcotics squad (below) seized the drugs.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2336238/
Also in Nakhon Phanom province, inflation brings back cattle rustling.
NAKHON PHANOM: Livestock officials are looking into the unexplained sudden deaths of four female buffaloes in That Phanom district on Tuesday afternoon.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2336278/
THAILAND ECONOMY INFLATION PRODUCTION
Speaking of INFLATION IN THAILAND
"Unexpectedly"
Factory output drops in May
Thailand's latest complete figures show that the manufacturing production index (MPI) in May fell 2.11% from a year earlier, weighed down by lower production of cars, hard disk drives and plastic pellets
https://bityl.co/CxVZ
Thailand junta bans 'slave labour' by convicts to make fishing nets.
The Department of Corrections also 'rents out' convicts to get down and clean Bangkok sewers.
https://news.trust.org/item/20220628130031-asg2c


MOVIE RESCUE CAVE
The third major movie about the rescue of the Thai boys' soccer team and coach trapped in a Chiang Rai province cave was made by America's Ron Howard.
One of the big problems of 'Thirteen Lives', with stars Joel Edgerton, Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen, is that everyone knows the ending.
Still, recreating the conditions of the intense incident was both physically and psychologically challenging for the actors.
The movie is now in cinemas in North America
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/thirteen-lives-ron-howard-tham-luang-cave-rescue-amazon-prime-2776376
IRAN ASSASSINS TURKEY THAILAND
Iran Denounces 'Ridiculous Zionist Accusations' of Plot to Kill Israelis In Turkey
- Story first published by IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) and then several other places. Israel urged/ordered citizens to leave Turkey because of a "real and immediate danger" posed by Iranian agents.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/06/24/Iran-denies-plotting-to-attack-Israelis-in-Turkey
Interesting fact.
When Iranian agents were caught red-handed in 2012 in a plot to kill Israeli diplomats and Israeli citizens and tourists in Thailand, Iran's foreign minister and official media outlets were completely, 100%, totally silent.
HEALTH MARIJUANA CANNABIS
Insomniacs get weed treatment
Thailand's junta showed full backing for a new scheme to fight Thai insomnia with Mary Jane. And even Prayut was enthused:
The use of cannabis can benefit the medical industry and stimulate the economy," he said.
The herbal programme comes from a hospital in eastern Prachin Buri province, Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr.
It produces a cannabis oil, 'Ganja Thang Ha,' and slaps it on people who can't sleep, and they go to sleep.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2335858/
Related
Twenty bucks a gram
Marijuana is sort-of semi-legal in Thailand now, and there is no turning back.
This Thailand-based website is the tiniest sample of the adverts now flooding the country. And helping tourists, especially, make their choices, by the ounce.
https://prikpot.com/
Thailand has human trafficking, chiefly from Burma/Myanmar, but absolutely nothing like this:
At least 46 undocumented migrants [from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras] were found dead in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas and more than a dozen were hospitalized, authorities said.
Five of those taken to a hospital later died, officials said, bringing the total death toll to 51.
No drinkable water found inside the trailer.
PHOTO: Law enforcement 'investigates' the tractor-trailer of death.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/27/us/san-antonio-migrants-found-truck/index.html
Yes, well, Mr. Mayor, ask Thailand how that plan has worked for them.
"We hope those responsible for putting these people in such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the mayor said.
But anyway, there's nothing to see here, move along please.
Karine is the official top No.1 well-remunerated spokeslady of the United States and its president.
The new Disney/Pixar flick 'Lightyear' did not open last weekend in China. Or the Middle East. Or half of ASEAN.
https://deadline.com/2022/06/lightyear-box-office-2-1235047729/
์NATO MEMBERS
The eastward creep of NATO membership continues. Slowly.
Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nato-turkey-lifts-objections-to-sweden-finland/
WEEKEND READS
A professional environmentalist (aka 'city boy') has a harsh look at industrial waste-dumpers:
Unity needed to fight 'waste colonialism'
In many areas countrywide, imported waste releases dangerous toxic chemicals, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) or "forever chemicals" -- so called because of their ability to remain in an environment and organisms for a long time.
PHOTO: Employee of the ministry of industry hauls two barrels of electronic waste from a reservoir if Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2336023/
Not Everything Is As It Appears
Miss International Queen 2022.
Fuschia Anne Ravena of the Philippines (left) won the title.
The beauty pageant, held in Pattaya, was cancelled for two years because of the Covid, but now it's back.
Thai organizers say it's the biggest and flashiest of its kind, anywhere, and contestants came from all over the world.
VIDEO and STORY
https://www.voanews.com/a/thailand-hosts-transgender-pageant-as-equality-drive-hits-parliament-/6635515.html
This is a true story, about drugs and crime and cartels and monkeys.
Background: Mexican cartel bosses often have weird-ish pets because they believe it gives them respect. So.
A monkey wearing a bulletproof vest and camouflage jacket was found dead after a cartel shootout in Mexico.
It died of Monkey Pox and bullet wounds but mostly of bullet wounds.
https://tinyurl.com/5j8ubytj
Q: Does Pride month ever really end?
@Cicero43: Traditionally, Pride endeth before the Fall.
Her choice was Twinkies.
Also, she's on strike and won't have sex with you. Even if you offer to take her on a date to the Molten Chocolate Cake restaurant.
Casual semi-related Q: Is this the first time in world history that a North American paper has listed times and places of hard-left political demonstrations?
https://www.nj.com/news/2022/06/demonstrations-planned-in-nj-after-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade.html