A STUDY OF METAPHORS EMPLOYED IN THE BANGKOK POST NEWSPAPER

BY

MR. JIRA HUTAMAN

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2018 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ

A STUDY OF METAPHORS EMPLOYED IN THE BANGKOK POST NEWSPAPER

BY

MR. JIRA HUTAMAN

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2018 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ

(i)

Independent Study Paper Title A STUDY OF METAPHORS EMPLOYED IN THE BANGKOK POST NEWSPAPER Author Mr. Jira Hutaman Degree Master of Arts Major Field/Faculty/University English Language Teaching Language Institute Thammasat University Independent Study Paper Advisor Assistant Professor Upsorn Tawilapakul, Ph.D. Academic Year 2018

ABSTRACT

A metaphor is considered as a rhetorical language that we normally use it as entertaining purposes. So, many researchers dedicate their time studying the language (Intawong, 2016 and Klinnamhom, 2008) In Thai educational culture, the metaphor is perceived as the subject that can promote the way people live and learn, so this inspires the researcher to look at its proportion and how it is used. Ultimately, the retrieved metaphor is used for developing the subject materials in the school lecture. In order to achieve these purposes, the theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) was employed as the basic consideration of the language and implemented to the 4 sections in the Bangkok Post newspaper. Consequently, the dry version was analysed based on the Goatly theory (1998) which categorized the language into 3 functions: ideational function, interpersonal function, and textual function. The results showed that the metaphor was mostly found in the Opinion section of the newspaper (53.66%) while it could be relatively seen in the straightforward statements of both General and Business sections (17.07%). The Travel section was the smallest location of the metaphor (12.20%). In the newspaper, majorities of the metaphor were used as the textual function aiming to create a new ideology and exaggerate the discourses (80.49%), and the rest was responsible as the substitutions of the new identities (19.51%). Keywords: metaphor in the newspaper, conceptual metaphor, cognitive linguistics

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This independent study is considered as the combination between my own effort and the others’ collaborations, regardless of their intentions. First of all, I would like to thank to my ex-professor from Burapha University, Dr. Thinan Nakaprasit, whose advice triggers my preference for studying with a newspaper. Without her help, this paper cannot even be started. Secondly, my appreciation would be heartfully offered to my adviser Asst. Prof. Dr. Upsorn Tawilapakul who teaches me both academic and life stuff. Her suggestions and encouragement allow me to step out of my comfortable zone, and give me a push for developing myself. Thirdly, I would like to thank to my friend Ajarn Jetsada Uchomputhong, whose advice provides me the cheerful motivation and creative ideas, and allows me to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, I cannot continue this paper if there is not a support from my family, especially my dad, my brother, and my babysitter, who always stay by my side when I am in terrible and hopeless situations. Without these people, I cannot see myself finishing this paper. Most importantly, I would like to say thank you to myself that does not give up on many difficult challenges. Honestly speaking, many surrendering words are often floated in my head, but I still keep going until the success has come.

Jira Hutaman January 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ABSTRACT (i)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (ii)

LIST OF FIGURES (v)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background and Rationale 1 1.2 Research objectives 4 1.3 Research questions 4 1.4 Scope of the study 4 1.5 Significance of the study 4 1.6 Definition of terms 5 1.7 Limitations 5 1.8 Organizations of the study 5

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 6

2.1 Metaphor: A subject of all-inclusives 6 2.2 Conceptual metaphor 9 2.3 Goatly’s function of Metaphors 11 2.4 Previous studies 13

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20

3.1 Materials 20 3.2 Procedures 20

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3.3 Data analysis 21

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 23

4.1 Metaphor frequency 23 4.2 Metaphor functions 24

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 34

5.1 Summary of the study 34 5.2 Summary of the findings 34 5.3 Discussion 35 5.4 Conclusions 35 5.5 Recommendations 37 5.6 Pedagogical Recommendation 37

REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES

NEWS REPORTS IN THE GENERAL SECTION 43 NEWS REPORTS IN THE BUSINESS SECTION 63 NEWS REPORTS IN THE OPINION SECTION 99 NEWS REPORTS IN THE TRAVEL SECTION 125

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page 1 Metaphorical expressions 10 2 Metaphor frequency 23 3 Metaphor functions 25 4 The frequency in General section 26 5 The frequency in Business section 28 6 The frequency in Opinion section 30 7 The frequency in Travel section 32

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and Rationale Until the late 20th century, a metaphor was been solely regarded as a subject of decoration. The language technique has been long perceived by most people as a beautiful way to communicate, but we unconsciously use it as the central element for exchanging pieces of knowledge and thoughts in our daily lives (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). For instance, a British teacher gives a lecture for students in an English class, and some scientists are about to describe their investigations in international conferences. In these activities, the metaphor is floating in most situations of the discourses: e.g. the students are worms; you are the second Einstein. Considering the italicised words, the students tend to study as hard as the worm works which is substituted as a symbol of an enthusiastic identity; also, the person is as smart as the famous scientist Einstein. According to Siriwarin (2007), a metaphor is considered as the language pattern that possesses more than one definition; also, the comprehension of the meanings needs the combinations of previous knowledge and experiences of the individuals. The notion is supported by one of the most well-known metaphor theories of Lakoff and Johnson stating that we all perform and express metaphors through the beat of the heart. According to Lakoff and Johnson’s concept (1980, p.4), the theorists have reflected their ideological statements in the concept of “Argument is war”, “Your claims are indefensible. You attacked every weak point in my argument. His criticisms were right on the target. I demolished his argument with him. I have never won an argument with him. You disagree? Okay, shoot! If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out. He shot down all of my argument.”.

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Similarly to the earlier examples, the discourse depicts the cooperation between two concepts of ‘argument’ and ‘war’. In this case, the concepts are explained in the form of the one we perceive or experience and the one we understand: source and target domains. As you can see above, the italic terms are used for expanding the concept of argument: claims, criticisms, and argument. For example, the writer employs the word indefensible, which represents the sense of war, f showing that the claims are considered as unacceptable. Another example also demonstrates that the argument like criticisms is experienced for understanding the abstract concept of war right on the target. However, it is not that simple detecting a metaphor in news articles, so it has triggered the interest of many researchers looking to study the journalistic ambiguity. For example, the study of Bangnogkhwag (2003) was conducted to explore metaphors on the front page of some newspapers, and Siriwarin’s study (2007) focused on the beauty of metaphor in business news. Also, some studies have aimed at investigating the structure of the news stories in other newspapers (Chuainu, 2009; Meksujit, 2002; Seawnoi, 2008). There are also studies which have been done on the usage of metaphors in various papers (Intawong, 2016 and Skorczynska and Deignan, 2006). Another study has been done on the animal idioms used in English texts where the main objective was to examine the concept retrieved from the languages (Boonsom, 2013). Considering the previous works, most studies do target the textual sources, but there are few of them tackling how the metaphors are used in their contexts. Thus, the previous lack of the investigation inspires the present study that is aimed at exploring the news reports in the Bangkok Post newspaper. In Thai educational culture, most students encounter the traditional way of learning, which is through activity called “Phasa Thai Wan La Kum”, referring to surface-level learning. In this activity, the students will be given a word or a statement, and they need to figure out its definition; e.g. the students in a room are asked to find the definition of the term ‘fish’. It is quite obvious that their answers will be written in predictable ways such as “the fish is an animal living in the water”, so the question here is what this contributes to their learning. However, a metaphor will be regarded as a center of stimulation, for its implications can be used for

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 3 generating numerous choices of thoughts from the students (Bangnogkwhag, 2003, p.8). The metaphor of water and fish implying abundant resources is retrieved from a context stating that Thailand has plenty of food and raw materials (the old Thai saying of “nai nam mee pla, nai na mee khao” - fish in the waters, rice in the fields)- which hails the country's abundance of food and natural resources (Bangkok Post, issued 11 June 2018). According to this metaphor, the focus can be put on a variety of perceptions that can be extracted in various perspectives. In this case, the identities ‘water’ and ‘fish’ are narrated as the substitution of fertility because it shows that the land is surrounded by these kinds of materials. However, lectures in Thailand tend to put the emphasis on surface-level learning. Though the rote learning is an important feature in the school lecture, we have to admit that teaching just literal content in the books is not enough; asking questions only in the surface level is not enough. The learning thus requires the metaphor for increasing the effectiveness of the modern lecture. In the current study, the subject of interest is study of the metaphor frequency and its usages in the context. The Bangkok Post newspaper was selected as the material for the investigation because the paper has been globally credited as an influential English language newspaper for a long time (Lent, 1982, p. 322 as cited in Chuainu, 2009). Processing the research methodology, the current study has replicated the work of Klinnamhom (2008) as the model. This study divides the procedure into two main sections. Firstly, Lakoff and Johnson’s theory of conceptual metaphor will be used as the guideline for understanding and collecting the data and after that the collected dry versions will be later categorized into 3 main roles according to the metaphor role of Goatly (1998). By doing this research, it will promote the better understanding and the beauty of metaphors for the readers. In addition to Klinnamhom’s study (2008), this study will pinpoint the main contribution of the findings, which are to improve lecture material, using figure of speech instead of tackling the language matters alone. The teaching from real life materials is quite essential in the current situation of Thailand described as the 4.0 era, where the emphasis is put on the ability to utilise the latest information, so the current study focuses on discourses or contexts written in the daily

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 4 newspaper. By applying the concepts of metaphor into the classroom, they can be used for drawing out the ideas from students; i.e. they will be urged to think of the implied definitions instead of literal meaning. Ultimately, the metaphor can be used for improving the subject materials across the Thai curriculum. Imagine how, if the students are taught to extract their perceptions from the contexts, the metaphors in this case, every day, this procedure can really encourage and change the way of learning and living for the students in the future.

1.2 Objective 1.2.1 To explore the choices of metaphors in the Bangkok Post newspaper 1.2.2 To reveal the functions of metaphors used in the Bangkok Post newspaper

1.3 Research question 1.3.1 To what extent are metaphors used in the Bangkok Post newspaper? 1.3.2 What are the purposes of metaphor usages in the Bangkok Post newspaper?

1.4 Scope of the study 1.4.1 The sample of this study comprises of 10 pieces of news reports from 4 sections in the Bangkok Post newspaper, which are the General, Business, Opinion, and Travel sections, between 11th June, 2018 and 21st June, 2018. 1.4.2 The sources are from the website bangkokpost.com.

1.5 Significance of the study The benefits of this study are as follows: 1.5.1 This study will reveal how metaphors are used in the Bangkok Post newspaper. 1.5.2 The result can encourage a better understanding of each metaphor in general. 1.5.3 The results can be used as a guideline for writing news reports for those who are interested in this form of writing.

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1.5.4 The results can be used for developing learning sources for classroom lectures.

1.6 Definition of terms 1.6.1 Metaphor - It refers to a word or words that are used for representing a subject, suggesting certain qualities in that subject, which may sometimes distract and seem irrelevant in the immediate context. To grasp the meaning, readers need previous knowledge and experience for comprehending the definition. 1.6.2 Conceptual metaphor - it refers to the thoughts and perceptions of human process toward one identity, i.e. the opinions of one identity to another.

1.7 Limitations As the interpretation of metaphor has evolved every day, there are no certain definitions of the subject, so a human thought is considered as the crucial element. Moreover, its concept is used to reflect individual cultural perception, so it varies across different sections of the human race.

1.8 Organization of the study The rest of the study is organized in the following ways: In Chapter 2, the paper presents a review of literature section, which comprises of theories of metaphor and relevant studies with regards to metaphor. Chapter 3 shows aspects of the participants, tools for data collecting and depicts the methods for compiling the data, together with how the researcher analyzed the dry version. In Chapter 4, it shows the results, and the dry version will be discussed and explained in the results and discussion section. In the last chapter, the overall results will be used for answering the research questions, and guidelines suggested for future study.

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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the theories that are used as the tools for understanding the concepts of the metaphor and tools for analyzing the dry version. Initially, Section 2.1 shows how the idea of metaphor works. In Section 2.2, the theory of conceptual metaphor is then explained, and its subtopic about source and target domains is also provided as the guideline for the analysis of the data. Later, Goatly’s theory of metaphor role is provided in Section 2.3 showing how each collected piece of information is categorized. Finally, some previous studies are presented and discussed in Section 2.4.

2.1 Metaphor: A subject of all-inclusives The term ‘figurative’ conveys the sense of picturing and shaping of something. In general, when something is considered metaphorical, its comprehension is not directly interpreted. Rather, the utterance is conceptualized by the mind structure (Bangnogkhwag, 2003). The notion ‘metaphor’ originated from Greek word metaphora, which can be distinguished as meta and pherin, meaning over and to carry respectively (Hawkes, 1972, as cited in Bangnogkhwag, 2003, p.7). Hawkes summarizes the metaphor as a new form of word structure or patterns that carry the same meaning as the previous form. As shown in the example of Falk (1978 as cited in Bangnogkhwag, 2003, p.8), the sentence “Your daughter was a playful little lamp” showed that the daughter possesses a characteristic of playful, submissive, and innocent. The metaphor concept emerged in various places and situations, for we frequently utilize the concept when we respond to something. The concept of metaphor seems to be universal and occurs in any type of culture, e.g. European or Asian. For example, Shyu and Kelly (1995 as cited in Bangnogkhwag, 2003, pp.8-9) studied the difference of metaphorical characteristics in three different languages: Chinese, Turkish, and English. In the study, they set the word anger as the subject. This word in English can be described metaphorically as the change from liquid to

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 7 heat and to steam. The metaphorical characteristics in three languages are illustrated in the sentences shown as follows: In English: The angry air caused the smoke to pour out of his seven holes (mouth, nose, eyes, and ears). In Chinese: It is air which becomes heated and rises to be released as steam, as angry air (nu ch’i or yuan ch’i). In Turkish: Anger produces heat as kizma (don’t get hot), and anger is also fire as in ates sacmak (to scatter fire, which is to lose one’s temper) The above sentences illustrates howa definition of angry was similarly used in the concept of metaphor as heat (Bangnogkhwag, 2003, pp.8-9). Also, Finegan (1994) indicated that metaphors were likely to be implemented by all ages. He explained that small children acquired the language through the process of overgeneralization. They first realized one object as the main source then later perceived the others compatible to the object they had seen. Specifically speaking, the kids chanted mooi when they saw the moon, so they recognized the object with the similar shape like football, cakes or plates as mooi. In this case, the concept of metaphor showed up, since the kids utilized the utterance of mooi by transferring the meaning to other objects. Returning to the main concept of metaphor, the kids carried one meaning to the others. This case shows that metaphor is perceived as a universal process of communication. In addition to the above concept, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argued that there were three common ways for understanding the concept more clearly. These approaches were explained through the three dimensions of metaphors: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and ontological metaphor. Firstly, though a certain object was mostly t considered different compared to another, a few identical elements demonstrated that the two objects were similar. For example, the materials resource and time were considered as the metaphor representing a kind of substance (Lakoff and Johnson (1980, pp. 61-68). The process of analyzing the metaphor was shown through digesting both time and material resource into smaller pieces, “A material resource is a kind of substance can be quantified fairly precisely can be assigned a value per unit quantity

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serve a purposeful end is used up progressively as it serves its purpose” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p. 65) “A time is a kind of (abstract) substance can be quantified fairly precisely can be assigned a value per unit quantity serve a purposeful end is used up progressively as it serves its purpose” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p. 66) By grounding a structural metaphor concept, the two ideas will be analyzed more deeply into elements, looking for their similar structures that share a mutual characteristic. This type of metaphor embraced the concept of two objects that were structurally connected based on their embedded peripherals (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). Secondly, a subject of metaphor can be labelled as the orientational metaphor as well. Similarly to the structural one, this type of metaphor can be seen structurally connected together; however, its structure level will not be mentioned. Rather, the orientational metaphor drew the whole structure of itself to the other. Instead of showing its structure as the source of metaphor, the orientational metaphor will use a directional symbol or space as the indicator, e.g. Having control or force and health or life are up; being subject to control or force and sickness or death are down. For example, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) exemplified this as in the quotes “I have control over her; I am on top of the situation; He’s in the superior position; He is under my control; He fell from power” (p.15). Finally, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) found that a metaphor can be traced by drawing a more concrete idea to the more abstract one, which allow the object to be more touchable. This notion was demonstrated through the concept “Inflation is entity” “Inflation is lowering our standard of living. If there’s much more inflation, we’ll never survive. We need to combat inflation. Inflation makes me sick.”

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(Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p.26) In the above example, an abstract idea ‘Inflation’ will be understood as the living object that can be decrease, cause, or even harm our lives. Thus, the concept will promote the better understanding of the abstract idea (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). Moreover, it is found that a metaphor can be retrieved by two means. First of all, the metaphor is found exhibiting both its source and target domains, e.g. If I were the Genie (Jinni), I would conjure up the day (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.9). The expressions show that Genie (Jinni) is experienced to conceptualize the concept of I, which leads to the comprehension that I wants to be like Genie (Jinni), a fictional character, so that I could have done whatever the magical creature can. Secondly, the metaphor can be only perceived through its source domain, e.g. “You said that I was a thief anyway, but I’m sure the government will collapse ‘You yourself are barking’ ‘Heard by yourself’ ‘Annoyed by yourself’” (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.9). By conceptualizing the metaphor, it can be said that the government is used as a substitution for disturbed dog without actually seeing the word, because of the word barking, the nature of the dog, is conceptualized as the way that the government is insulting the others. Considering different aspects of metaphors, many researchers appear to place importance on the transferring elements. Many terms like kizma, nu ch’i or yuan ch’i, ates sacmak, are used to represent the identity of angry motion though none of them depicts the concept of emotional feeling. The angers, in this sense, are perceived by the people as the heated or hot identities like smoke or ates sacmak, so it can be concluded that metaphors are relevant everywhere and their concepts can be adapted in any languages. The three aspects of metaphor will be the basis of the scheme for collecting a metaphor in this study; additionally, the target domains of it will be carefully examined whether it is shown in the context. Later, the researcher will study the newspaper texts by focusing on the basic concepts of their figurative language.

2.2 Conceptual metaphor In the past, a metaphor was commonly perceived as language for entertaining purposes, i.e. it was used in the poems and literature. However, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) dismissed the idea by showing one of the examples from Shakespeare’s quote

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“Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines”. Considering its meaning, the word eye was not literally meant as the part of the human body at all, but the writer employed it to represent the sun. Lakoff and Johnson (2003) summarized the concept of metaphors in their views as the language of neural processing, i.e. the languages is analyzed and extracted from the personal perceptions. Moreover, Simpson (2004, p. 92) conceptualized the idea of conceptual metaphor as the way people applied one easier concept to the concept that is harder. This is illustrated in the conceptual metaphor ‘Ideas are foods’. Considering its elements in regular thoughts ‘I can’t stomach the idea’ and ‘Your theory’s half-baked’, the italicised words were considered as the source domains that were drawn to the abstract concept of idea, e.g. ‘Your theory’. The comprehension of metaphors requires a combinational understanding between source and domain texts. Simply speaking, people normally perceive one language, the source domain, to conceptualize the other language, the target domain (Ungerer and Schmid, 1996). Following this idea, people thus perceived the concept of eye of the heaven by conceptualizing it with the sun. Additionally, the figure below explains how metaphors function in our brain systems for the concept of life is journey

Figure 1: Metaphorical expressions (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) According to fact, the term journey refers to a travel from one place to another. So many words are used as the replacements of the concept journey, e.g. directions, crossroad, go, where, etc. Moreover, these concepts are extensively engaged with the ways people live. For example, the sentence “I’m at the crossroads

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 11 in my life” shows that the person has come to a point where s/he has to choose an alternative way for his/her life. Journey is perceived as the source domain in this case, and it is linked to the target domain life. The word choices seen in Figure 1 are irrelevant to the topic life, but they are used to draw attention to the concept of it. Even though many researchers explain the conceptual metaphors using different examples, the core notion of the concept is generally similarly defined: each smaller and concrete identity, the source domain, is experienced for conceptualizing the bigger and more abstract ideas, the target domain. In the current study, the conceptual metaphor theory will be used as the guideline for understanding the general concept of each metaphor, and it will used for explaining the metaphors found in the Bangkok Post newspaper. Also, the concepts in Klinnamhom’s study (2008) will be used as the guidelines for studying and collecting the metaphors in the Bangkok Post newspaper. In the study, metaphors are collected from Thai politicians’ speeches, and these recordings are further categorized into three roles based on Goatly’s theory (1998). Replicating the procedure, the concept of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) is used in the data collecting part; consequently, the collected metaphor will be analyzed looking for its functions in the context based on the Goatly’s functions of metaphors (1998).

2.3 Goatly’s functions of Metaphors Most people only notice the subject of metaphor as an ornament in the communication enhanced by rhetorical skill (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). In spite of Lakoff and Johnson’s fame being widely recognized in the field of metaphor, their work does not offer ways to investigate the functions of metaphors. Therefore, Goatly’s (1998) classification of functions of metaphor is also adopted in this study. It classifies the clearer purposes of metaphor into 3 main roles in discourses. First of all, a metaphor is used for reconceptualizing the original status of the discourses because the new forms of messages are easier to comprehend. For example, the metaphor ‘light year’ is used for representing the discourse explaining that the object is very far away, and the metaphor ‘waterflow’ is used as the directional representative of electricity. According to these examples, the new terms give more comprehensible explanation compared to the previous forms. In addition,

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Cacciary (1998 as cited in Klinnamhom, 2008) shows compatible ideas to Goatly’s (1998) as the researcher supports that the metaphor can be used for clarifying obscurity and creating new concepts. Secondly, a metaphor can be used for emotional purposes; easily accessed, the issue of feelings is mainly involved in the discourses aiming to create a sensitive feeling. (Goatly, 1998, pp. 29-30). According to this view, the people use metaphors for expressing emotional attitude, or it can be said that they aim to connect and blend into the others’ social dynamics. For example, metaphor will be employed to soften an original uncomfortable meaning; e.g. the metaphors ‘climbed the golden stair’ or ‘called to the eternal sleep’ are used as the substitution of ‘to die’ (Goatly, 1998 as cited in Klinnamhom, 2008, pp. 29-30). This concept is further encouraged by the study of Cacciari (1998 as cited in Klinnamhom, 2008) stating that the metaphor values the inner feelings, in which its implications can draw the sense of expressions and soften the negative feelings. Finally, the discourses are sometimes dynamic and complex in their natures, so their textual contents can be extracted into new ideology For example, the metaphor ‘time is money’ is found in the context stating that our lives are limited and valuable so we should spend them wisely, e.g. you are wasting my time or you do not need to budget your time (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003 as cited in Klinnamhom, 2008, p.2). Goatly (1998) summarizes this purpose as the textual metaphor. This function can be observed by two means. Firstly, the new ideology of language will be extracted from the textual contents that are mutually perceived as the new concept; e.g. Roman troops are described as the ant’s formation. Once the troops are organized as a systematic formation in the battlefield, the ant’s habitat is observed reflecting a methodical process in its nature. The new ideology is regularly found in contexts that are rich in textual content. Secondly, the textual metaphor also demonstrates the sense of exaggeration, for the identity will be easier recognized. According to this view, the examples are given as an apple described as a melon, which is a simple way for depicting the original image of the apple that is very big (Goatly, 1998 as cited in Klinnamhom, 2008, p. 30). Additionally, the exaggeration can be observed through fictional concepts; e.g. depicting imaginary movement. For example, when I go on a

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 13 hiking trip with my family, I hear the sound of thunder, which (metaphorically) causes the mountain to shake. Considering the given examples, the speaker wishes to narrate that the thunder produces terribly loud noise, so that the sense of shaking motive is observed. It could be simply explained that the textual content creates an impossible expression perceived as the sense of shaking of the mountain. After reviewing the concept of Goatly (1998), the researcher has found that both ideational and textual functions share common characteristics in that both of them convey the new sense of identity. While the target domain is clearly stated in the former function, it requires a content evaluation in the latter; i.e. the reader needs to review the contents that are extracted into the new identity. This means it is crucial to scan the context thoroughly. By basing on the concept, the metaphor will be categorized and explained according to its role in the later section. In the current investigation, the researcher will set the procedure in Klinnamhom’s study (2008) as the guideline, and dissect the metaphor into 3 main categories. Firstly, the metaphor that possesses the reconceptualizing aspect will be analyzed as the ideational metaphor. Secondly, the interpersonal metaphor will be looked at for its emotional purposes in the context. Finally, the textual metaphor will be analyzed according to its two concepts: new ideology and exaggeration.

2.4 Previous studies In conducting the current study, various previous studies were examined for supplementing the current investigation, works which will be used as guidelines. Firstly, a study of business metaphors in Thai newspapers by Siriwarin (2007) aimed to find out the forms and meaning of domains of business metaphors; also, the researcher wanted to know how the business concept was perceived by Thai readers. Three main theories were used as the concepts in the study: Componential analysis, Cognitive semantics, and Ogden-Richards Triangle for Meaning. The researcher weekly collected the data from the Daily News newspaper in 2005. The result shows that Thais conceptualized business into 6 domains: Business is War, Business is Vehicle, Business is Construction, Business is Life, Business is Competition, and Business is Tree.

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The research provided a tremendous amount of information regarding business texts and how the researchers collected and analyzed the metaphors. Moreover, the current investigation supplements the relevant paper, so it leads to the further study of news structures. The current study uses the new reports structure that is divided into three types: conclusion structure, the inverted pyramid, and lead-plus-equal-facts stories (Saewnoi, 2008). To explain these types , first of all, the conclusion structure style is designed with its first paragraph is the most important element of the news report, so its details answer all five W questions - who, what, when, where, why - for the readers, and the end of the report will reflect the details back to the first sentence. Secondly, the inverted pyramid model is similar to the previous structure with its beginning article developed as the conclusion while the rest provides less information. The last structure, lead-plus-facts stories, follows the concept of equal importance where each paragraph individually states its details. In focusing on these concepts, the researcher selected the Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers as the main resource material. The result shows that both brands tend to focus on the first sentences of the news reports, so they can quickly summarize the whole reports in the readers’ first glance; there was 53.3% of conclusion structure in the Bangkok Post and 50% of the inverted pyramid structure in The Nation. By studying the work of Saewnoi (2008) and Siriwarin (2007), the interesting characteristics of metaphors are provided, so their general concepts enlighten the researcher in understanding the structures of the metaphors. The topics of discussion target business English issues; however, both researchers conducted their investigations with different materials. The studies place too much emphasis on the problem of word structure, so the lack of studying its purpose inspires the current study.

In Bangnogkhwag’s study (2003), the researcher investigated the political metaphors on the front page of The Nation and the Bangkok Post newspapers. The researcher applied the componential analysis and cognitive semantic theories proposed by Lakoff and Johnson to deal with the research questions. The researcher found that 49 metaphors were used in the two newspapers, accounting as 85.72% in The Nation and 14.28% in the Bangkok Post. Secondly, the study focused on the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 15 analysis of Vehicle-Topic for their relations to the political metaphor. Based on the theory of Lakoff and Johnson, 49 metaphors were categorized into three related topics: 23 as the government, 13 as the censure debate, and 13 as the opposition. Firstly, the topic of censure debate was seen as an argument, a boxing game, and war. Secondly, the government topic involved ‘the weakest links’, cowardly, deceptive, a skillful fighter, a boxer, an injured fighter, and a warrior. Finally, the topic of opposition included images such as a boxer, a warrior, an experienced boxer, and a dangerous fighter. It confirms that Topic-Vehicle analysis is very important for the conceptual system. At the end, the researcher concluded that the metaphors are commonly employed in the newspapers to catch the readers’ attention. According to Bangnogkhwag (2003), the researcher points out that the metaphor shortage in Bangkok Post newspapers is a problem. While The Nation newspaper employed 42 metaphors in the news reports, only 7 metaphors were found in the Bangkok Post newspaper. The findings indicate that the lower proportion in the Bangkok Post newspaper could lead to a biased conclusion, so the current investigation will scope the fewer information items in the Bangkok Post newspaper, where the critical investigation could provide different outcomes. Also, the metaphor is the universal process, but the materials collected in the previous study were not enough, collecting the data with the political news alone. Though word choices are differently used, the concepts of them are still universal. So, the researcher aims to collect the data in various sections in the current study.

Intawong (2016) studied the metaphors employed in leads-in and headlines of political articles relating to war in the Matichon Thai daily newspaper,. The news reports were compiled from September, 2013 to March, 2014 as there were many issues in the period. Digesting the data, the researcher focused on the theory Source and Target domain mapping by Lakoff and Johnson. The result shows that there were 7 themes employed in the newspaper, which were: war is a person, war is a location, war is tactics, war is weaponry, war is verbal activities, war is physical activities, and war is an outcome. Also, Boonsom’s study (2013) aimed to study and reveal the usage of animal metaphors in English idioms. The researcher tackled 4 English idiom dictionaries with

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 16 a corpus which comprised of a total of 277 items. By embedding the notion of the cognitive linguistic idea, the researcher analyzed the data on the theory of source and target domains. The results showed that people create the images regarding to animals with 3 reasons: (1) physical attributes and parts of animals’ body; (2) characteristics and habitations of animals; (3) the idiom that is not relevant to animals directly. Moreover, the idioms mostly dealt with the familiar animals; e.g. dog, bird, and horse. In accordance to Intawong (2016) and Boonsom’s studies (2013), their procedure of collecting and analyzing the data will be utilised. The researcher followed a previous recommendation in Intawong (2016) stating that there is still a need for studying various sections of the newspaper; moreover, the content will be adapted to the English version in the current study. Both studies do target the linguistic matters alone, so the current study will escalate the contribution to pedagogical understanding. Also, the metaphor function issue has not been fully investigated yet; thus, it inspires the current investigation in exploring the gap.

Skorczynska and Deignan (2006), studied the purpose of metaphor choices used in two corpora. They selected business research articles, referred to as the Research corpus, and business periodicals, referred to as the Periodicals corpus, as the subjects of the study. The procedures were divided into 4 steps. Firstly, each corpus was examined looking for the metaphors manually. Secondly, the metaphors were later grouped according to availability in the dictionary: active, tired, sleeping, dead, and dead and buried. After that, the metaphors were categorized into their roles: Illustrating, Generic, and Modeling. Finally, frequency measures and concordancing techniques were utilized to explain the collected results. The result showed that both corpora shared relatively few linguistic metaphors, and they were differently used according to their specific functions. Moreover, the Research corpus used a narrower range of metaphors than in the Periodical corpus. Reviewing the article, it can be said that most elements are compatible with the current study, but the approach for analyzing the data is slightly different; i.e. the theory will be differently grounded in the synthesizing procedure. Rather, the current study focuses on the functions operating in discourses.

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According to Klinnamhom (2008), the researcher aims for achieving two main objectives. Firstly, the study is conducted to analyze the metaphors used by Thai politicians; also, the researcher further looks at the purposes of the collected information. Processing the investigation, the researcher employed the well-known theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Charteris-Black (2005) for retrieving the metaphors. The data were collected from four sources: political campaign speeches, censure debates, politician interviews, and the radio talks of Mr. Thaksin. The results showed that these sources demonstrated 9 various aspects of conceptual metaphors, which reflected the attitude of politicians toward the political situation. For example, the conceptual metaphors were used to reflect an aggressive pattern: politics is fighting and politics is competition; moreover, some discourses showed a sense of healing;, e.g. politics is medical treatment and politics is caring and maintaining. Consequently, an approach of categorizing the purposes of metaphors was done under the theory of Goatly (1998) that filtered the data into 3 characteristics. The metaphors showed three functions including (1) ideational function, (2) interpersonal function and (3) textual function, with the researcher also adding that one conceptual metaphor can be used in the context of more than one purpose. Firstly, the ideational metaphor is the one that reconceptualizes the previous form, and the concept will be explained as the new identity. For example, the metaphor ‘politics is business’ is found in the political speech that narrates the concept of politics relating the issue to a product in business talk. Also, the metaphor ‘politics is competition’ shows that the political issue is reconceptualized as a sports competition where two sides are fighting for the reward (Klinnamhom, 2008, pp.163- 164). Secondly, the metaphor that is used for emotional purposes is categorized as the interpersonal function. In the study, the researcher summarizes this concept into two main aims; i.e. they are used for expressing a negative ‘other-presentation’ and positive ‘self-presentation’. For example, the metaphor ‘politics is a game’ is found in the politician’s discourses that insult other politicians as the gamers who always win over the another by cheating (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.176). Another example of ‘politics is medical treatment’ is used by Mr. Thaksin to express a positive presentation of himself during his campaign (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.175).

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Finally, the textual metaphor is the one where contents reflect a new ideology, and the contents can themselves show the fictional concept implied. Firstly, the metaphor ‘politics is fighting’ is found reflecting a new ideology in the quote, “We are now fighting with the poverty, and our methods will consider the district as the decisive point, [in] which the sheriff manages the army as the head commander...” (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.181). According to the example, the politically related contents are mutually perceived through the concept of fighting, so they create the new ideology; e.g. the terms ‘fighting’, ‘army’, ‘decisive point’ are used in the political discourse. Moreover, the metaphor ‘politics is journey’ is found creating a new ideology in the politician’s speech: “Respectfully, the president, if we compare the education reform to the train, it will depart from the station on the twentieth of August, 2002, sir. The train and the passenger are now ready to leave…” (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.182). According to the example, the contents in the political discourse are mutually perceived through the concept of a journey, so it reflects the new ideology; e.g. the terms regarding a journey - ‘passenger’, ‘train’, and ‘station’ - are used in the political discussion. Though the textual contents are found creating the new ideology, none of them shows the fictional concept in the study. Considering the previous study, the current investigation will use this as the model while some adjustments will be made according to the needs of the current study. Firstly, the metaphor theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) will be used for extracting metaphors while the Charteris-Black’s work (2005) is rejected as it is found compatible with the used one. Also, the previous investigation only tackles the issue of the conceptual metaphor, so it encourages the current investigation to include both ‘the metaphor’ and ‘the conceptual metaphor’ because more results could allow the most efficient analysis in developing the subject materials. Secondly, the material of the study will be adapted to the textual content in the Bangkok Post newspaper, for the contents could provide different results. Moreover, the English content written in different sections of the newspaper could reflect varying cultural views compared to the Thai content in the relevant sections: i.e. the General (National and World), Business, Opinion, and Travel sections. Finally, the collected metaphors will be later classified into 3 functions in accordance to Goatly’s theory (1998).

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2.5 Conclusion This chapter presented how the subjects of metaphors are organized in our daily life, and how we perceive them, through Lakoff and Johnson’s analysis. Their roles are further discussed by Goatly showing why the metaphors are used. In addition, previous studies were examined for exploring the strengths and weaknesses of previous study. The current study will utilize the theories and concepts explained in these investigations later on. In the next chapter, the procedure in the current study will be presented showing how the data was characterized, collected, and analyzed based on the accessed materials.

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Previously, the theories and relevant articles were provided and explained. In this chapter, the material characteristics and the procedure of the investigation will be presented for the readers, based on the theories in Chapter 2. Firstly, Chapter 3 shows the information with regards to the materials in section 3.1. In Section 3.2, it presents how the researcher collected the data. Finally, it shows the method of analyzing the data in Section 3.3.

3.1 Materials The metaphors were collected from the official website of the Bangkok Post newspaper, bangkokpost.com, which covers 4 sections: General, Business, Opinion, and Travel, from 11th June to 21st June, 2018. In the news reports, the content is written in English, and 10 news reports were accumulated from each section.

3.2 Procedures 3.2.1 The data were manually collected from the website bangkokpost.com in 4 sections, General, Business, Opinion, and Travel, and individually comprised of 10 news reports, 3.2.2 The time scheme of the study was from June 11th, 2018 to June 21st, 2018. 3.2.3 The percentage and frequency of the data are discussed and explained using pie charts, initially analyzed with their properties based on the concepts of Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003). 3.2.4 The metaphor were later categorized into 3 main purposes based on the metaphor functions of Goatly (1998), e.g. ideational function, interpersonal function, and textual function. Later, the percentage and frequency of the data are explained. Referring to the articles in Chapter 2, the three functions will be examined as follows. Firstly, the ideational function is the one showing the reconceptualizing aspect, or it is used to fill the vocabulary gap. For example, the metaphor ‘Kohmak is

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 21 paradise’ will be categorized as an ideational metaphor because the writer wants to reconceptualize the concept of Kohmak in terms of paradise, which is easier to understand as a beautiful place. Secondly, the interpersonal function holds the notion of the feelings involved; i.e. the metaphor will be used for the emotional purposes. For example, the metaphor ‘climbed the golden stair’ is used to reduce the negative feeling of the word ‘to die’, and the conceptual metaphor ‘politics is performance’ is used for insulting other people. Thus, the metaphor that possesses the attribute of expressing the feeling will be categorized as the interpersonal metaphor. Finally, the textual function can be seen in two main aspects. On one hand, the textual contents can be extracted and create a new form of ideology. For example, the conceptual metaphor ‘politics is a medical treatment’ is categorized according to the contents that show the relation between the political issue and the medical issue: “I would like to compare the management of this government to the doctor and the patient. The patient in this case is Thailand, and the primary doctor is called Mr. Thaksin together with his 35 physicians. They declare the will to cure the patient (Thailand) by using 9 kinds of medicine, and the economic growth and the stability of the baht value will be used as the thermometer measuring the success of the country...” (Klinnamhom, 2008, p.180). On the other hand, the textual content can also exaggerate the discourse showing the fictional concept. For example, the metaphor ‘cash is alive’ demonstrates the fictional sense because this wording represents an impossible action; i.e. the cash, the non-living thing, shows that it is alive, with the action of an organism. Therefore, the textual metaphor possesses two main aspects: new ideology and exaggerating the discourses.

3.3 Data analysis Initially, the collected data will be explained according to its proportion in the Bangkok Post newspaper, so the frequency of the data and its percentage will be represented for illustration. The source and target domains of the retrieved metaphor are based on the theories of conceptual metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 2003). Consequently, each metaphor will be put into the analyzing process, but different approaches are used in order to analyse the data. Due to a lack of specific explanation

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 22 of metaphor purpose in Lakoff and Johnson’s concept, the theory of Goatly (1998) grouping the metaphor into 3 characteristics is applied instead; i.e. the metaphor is interpreted as the ideational function, the interpersonal function, and the textual function.

3.4 Conclusion In this chapter, it initially shows the characteristics of the materials used in the study, and later presents how the data were collected and analyzed according to the theories explained in Chapter 2. Then, the next chapter will provide the results based on the theories in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, and therefore explained to the readers.

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CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter demonstrates the collected data of the study, basing the findings on the methodology explained in the previous chapter. The extents to which metaphors that were obtained by manual procedure are used and presented in Section 4.1, and the metaphors are grouped according to their functions and presented in Section 4.2. In addition, discussion of the results will be provided with the dry versions.

4.1 Metaphor frequency Based on the theories explained in Chapter 2, the metaphors were retrieved according to the basic properties explained by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003), and the work of Klinnamhom (2008) was used as the guideline for improving the quality of the data collection. The metaphors collected from the four sections of the Bangkok Post newspaper during June 11 - June 21, 2018 are presented and explain by percentage and frequency in the Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Metaphor frequency In response to the first research question “To what extent are metaphors used in the Bangkok Post newspaper?”, the metaphors found being used were 41 items. The figure 2 above shows that the Opinion section is the largest location of the metaphors in the newspaper (53.66%). This demonstrates that the people tend to employ metaphors based on their point of view toward their subjects, so it suggests

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 24 that the process of thought is powerful in our daily life, which is the main source from where the metaphors are produced. For example, people believe that Thailand is an abundant hub of raw ingredients, so the metaphor ‘Thailand is a global kitchen’ is found in the context showing that the country is full of raw materials for cooking and eating. Also, metaphors can be found with relative frequency in the General and Business sections (17.07%), in which the news reports are written quite straightforwardly and relate to the facts. To support this idea, most of the metaphors in these sections are collected without explicit target domains, for the wording choices are commonly used without any subjective views. For example, in the metaphor “the country is becoming the favorite destination for dropping electronic waste”, the target domain ‘bin’ is not overtly presented, but its expression shows that its source domain ‘the country’ shares a mutual characteristic with a bin as the garbage container. Therefore, the metaphor is implicit without the people’s opinions. Finally, it is shown that writers also use metaphor for comparing their chosen objects when it comes to the sense of travelling (12.20%). For example, the metaphor ‘The Eiffel Tower is an iron lady’ is found in the Travel section, where the term ‘iron lady’ depicts the strengthened structure of the Eiffel Tower preparation for terrorists’ attacks, and the metaphor ‘The airport is a hotel’ demonstrates that the facilities in the airport are comparable to the ones in a hotel. No matter what types of circumstances people face, the metaphors can be utilized and found everywhere. To conclude from the overall results, the metaphor is a subject of neural processing, so its identity will be regularly discovered via the process of human thought.

4.2 Metaphor functions The retrieved metaphors were further categorized according to their roles in the process of discourse. The data was analyzed based on the metaphor role theory explained by Goatly (1998). The percentage and frequency of the findings are shown and presented in Figure 3 below.

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Figure 3: Metaphor functions In response to the second research question, “What are the purposes of metaphor usages in the Bangkok Post newspaper?”, the results demonstrate that most of the metaphors are used to create a new form of language in the newspaper (80.49%). This implication indicates that the organization of textual material is complex, and its components can be extracted into the new terminology. Referring to the textual function, it is described as the metaphor in which the contents or characteristics are mutually perceived as another concept, so it is extracted as a new form. According to this view, the new terminology is observed from the metaphor ‘school is a defendant’ in the context “State-run primary schools will be quizzed on how they spent their budget for school lunch programmes. Schools will be asked whether they received a budget for the programme for the first semester. The schools will also have to explain how they arranged lunches for students in the event of a delayed budget...” (Bangkok Post, issued 12 June, 2018). As shown in the example, this illustrates that the school is mutually perceived with regard to other subjects, so the writer creates the new form of defendant, with the italicized words suggesting their mutual relationship. Moreover, the metaphor ‘The country is a bin’ is analyzed as a textual metaphor because of its mutual relation as well. In the context “She said the country is becoming the favorite destination for dropping electronic waste after China's government refuses to accept it.” (Bangkok Post, issued 11 June. 2018), it is shown that the contents reflect the country as a bin, which we normally perceive as a place for dropping garbage. Therefore, the metaphor is analyzed as the textual function.

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On the other hand, few of the metaphors are used as the ideational function showing the reconceptualizing concept (19.51%). For example, the metaphor ‘Centaurs is startups’ is used for adding a clearer image of the business identities in the context: “To attract big investment in tech startups, Thailand must have "centaurs", startups that have a valuation of more than $100 million, showcasing high competency and their potential here, said Krating Poonpol, managing partner of 500 TukTuks.” (Bangkok Post, issued 15 June, 2018). According to the theory, the ideational metaphor is used for reconceptualizing the previous form; consequently, the new form of language can provide a clearer explanation. Another metaphor ‘Free trade is mother of all evils’ is used to reconceptualize the status of the free trade policy, so the mother of all evils could give the clearer explanation; i.e. a terrible situation. Interestingly, it was found that some characteristics in the ideational and the textual metaphors can be seen as resembling each other. Though both types of metaphors convey a new sense of identity, only the ideational ones can be observed with their target domains in the context. However, no interpersonal metaphors were found in the newspaper. According to the theory of Goatly (1998) discussed in Chapter 2, the metaphor tends to be used for emotional purposes, but the materials sampled are the textual contents. This primarily implies that most of the contents will be narrated with a neutral tone, so there are no places for the interpersonal metaphor in the newspaper. In addition to the discussion above, some examples from each section will be presented and explained as follows. 4.2.1 General section

Figure 4: The frequency in General section

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According to the findings, it was found that all of the metaphors are analyzed as the textual metaphors within the context (100%). This is due to the fact that most of the contents are written with a neutral tone, so the metaphors reflecting the opinions of the people are rarely found. Some of the examples are shown as below: Ex1: Animal is a guru = textual metaphor “Achilles, the allegedly psychic cat, paused for a moment and then went for the food under the Russian flag. The cat follows in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus who became a star in 2010 after predicting winners for that year's World Cup by choosing one out of two boxes containing food. Others have made a play to be the next Paul -- including Swiss guinea pig Madame Shiva in 2014 and British Piranha Pele -- but none quite had the mollusc's foresight.” (Bangkok Post, issued 14 June 2018). According to the example, the main discussion of the animal is experienced reflecting the new identity, for its similar characteristics in the contents are perceived; e.g. predicting behavior. Referring to the theory, a textual metaphor is one that is influenced by the contents, and the new ideology is a reflection. Therefore, the metaphor ‘animal is a guru’ is created from the context indicating the mutual relationship between the animal and the guru.

Ex2: Life is costing = textual metaphor “The cost of living is often a huge factor for those looking to move, with the initial month almost always incurring extra costs due to potential visa applications. According to the study, New Zealand has the highest visa fees, at $2,159.46, and the longest visa processing time, at 381 days. San Francisco has the priciest rent, at $2379, while Bangalore has the cheapest, at $160. UAE has the most expensive internet costs, at $111.02, while Moscow's are little more than $5. Switzerland has the most expensive phone service prices, at $106.73, while Warsaw's are a mere $5.48.” (Bangkok Post, issued 13 June, 2018) Based on the example, it can be seen that the conceptual metaphor ‘life is costing’ is found from the mutual relations between life and the costing; e.g. one living in the UAE or Moscow needs to pay about 100 dollars for the internet or $5 if in Moscow. This further creates a new terminology of life. Referring to the theory, the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 28 textual metaphor covers the new ideology aspect influenced by the contents, so the conceptual metaphor ‘life is costing’ falls into the textual function.

Ex3: Sport is a gambling game = textual metaphor “Pol Maj Gen Phanurat also warned parents to pay more attention to what their children are up to during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which runs from Thursday until July 15.”Parents will have to be more vigilant regarding their children's activities during the World Cup, otherwise they could face legal action for breaking the 2003 Child Protection Act," he said. The police are also working together with the Office of the Basic Education Commission to raise awareness among students at more than 30,000 schools nationwide that gambling on football is against the law, he said.” (Bangkok Post, issued 12 June, 2018). In the example, the conceptual metaphor ‘sport is a gambling game’ was found in the context of a sport competition and a gambling activity, where their mutual relations are perceived creating the new concept of life. Referring to the theory, the textual metaphor is one where its contents create a new terminology, so the metaphor falls into the textual function; e.g. students participate in gambling on the football competition.

4.2.2 Business section

Figure 5: The frequency in Business section According to the findings, there were seven metaphors found in this section, and most of the metaphors are translated from their textual sources (85.71%), which reveal several fictional concepts in this section. On the other hand, the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 29 reconceptualized concepts are also found (14.29%). Their explanations are given as below: Ex4: Centaurs as startups = ideational metaphor “By 2023, 500 TukTuks aims to build at least seven local startups that each have a valuation of more than US$100 million (3.21 billion baht), making the country more attractive to big tech investors. To attract big investment in tech startups, Thailand must have "centaurs", startups that have a valuation of more than $100 million, showcasing high competency and their potential here, said Krating Poonpol, managing partner of 500 TukTuks.” (Bangkok Post, issued 15 June, 2018). In the example, the metaphor ‘centaurs as startups’ is used to reconceptualize the message. Referring to the theory, an ideational metaphor is one that reconceptualizes the subject for a clearer explanation. Therefore, the metaphor falls into the ideational function of representing a powerful mythical beast, making the message between the centaurs and the startups clearer.

Ex5: A country is slowly sinking beneath an island of electronic waste = textual metaphor “Laying waste to Thailand's bounty. A country long known for its natural beauty is slowly sinking beneath an island of electronic refuse being shipped in from its more affluent neighbours.” (Bangkok Post, issued 11 June. 2018). In the example, the metaphor is used for exaggeration because its fictional concept is observed. Referring to the theory, a textual metaphor aims to create a fictional concept through its contents. Therefore, the metaphor demonstrates its impossible concept through the content: “A country is slowly sinking beneath an island of electronic waste”.

Ex6: Drug is a treatment = textual metaphor “A customer waits to purchase marijuana at Harborside, one of California's largest and oldest dispensaries of medical marijuana, in Oakland. Asia will probably be the last place in the world to make cannabis legal, even though writings from 5,000 years ago indicate that doctors in China were recommending a tea made from

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 30 cannabis leaves to treat various conditions including gout. China today is a marijuana- growing superpower, though few are willing to discuss it publicly given the country's strict anti-drug laws. Cannabis plants contain more than a hundred compounds known as cannabinoids, not all of which get people high. Non-psychoactive chemical compounds such as cannabidiol (CBD) can be extracted and processed to treat many conditions.” (Bangkok Post, issued 11 June, 2018). In the example, the conceptual metaphor ‘Drug is a treatment’ was found in the context of a drug and a treatment. Consequently, the two concepts are mutually perceived, so both contents influence the new concept of life. Referring to the theory, a textual metaphor is one where its contents create a new terminology, so the metaphor is categorized as the textual function; e.g. the marijuana or the cannabis is used as a medicine curing illnesses.

4.2.3 Opinion section

Figure 6: The frequency in Opinion section In this part, the findings in Figure 2 indicate that the section is the largest location of metaphors in the newspaper. While the minority of them are used as the substitutions of new identity (22.73%), most of them are responsible for creating new terminology and exaggerating the contexts (77.27%). Several collected items will be presented and analyzed below. Ex7: Mr Trump is a dog = textual metaphor “True enough, but what also needs to be said loudly and often (but generally isn't) is that the whole confrontation over trade is irrelevant to Mr Trump's real political concern, which is vanishing American jobs. He's not just barking up the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 31 wrong tree on this issue; he is baying at the moon.” (Bangkok Post, issued 12 June, 2018). In the example, the metaphor ‘Mr Trump is a dog’ is found in the context possessing a new ideology aspect. Since the textual contents ‘barking’ and ‘baying at the moon’ are perceived as the specific characteristics of a dog, the metaphor creates the new relationship between the man and the dog. Referring to the theory, a textual metaphor will be considered from its textual influences, so the metaphor falls into the textual function.

Ex8: Light years is a very far distance = ideational metaphor “This is several light years distant from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's pre- summit definition of the US goal as "permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction, which must happen ‘without delay’” (Bangkok Post, issued 14 June, 2018). In the example, the metaphor ‘light years is a very far distance’ is used to substitute the idea of a vast gulf that cannot be explained in number, so the reconceptualized term is used to make the gap clearer. Referring to the theory, the metaphor falls into the ideational function which aims to clarify the characteristics of the previous form.

Ex9: Thailand is a global kitchen = ideational metaphor “Thailand aspires to become a global kitchen; a top supplier of food to the rest of the world. It also aspires to become a tourism, hospitality, aviation and wellness hub for the region -- if not the world -- to mention just some government objectives. There is another aspiration which is not mentioned in any promotional brochures -- that it wants to become the world's biggest dump site for electronic and plastic trash.” (Bangkok Post, issued 11 June, 2018). In the example, the metaphor ‘Thailand is a global kitchen’ in used to reconceptualize the message, so the identity will make it easier for people to understand its abundance. Referring to the theory, the metaphor falls into the ideational function because it is used to give a clearer explanation of an aspect of Thailand.

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4.2.4 Travel section

Figure 7: The frequency in Travel section Based on the findings, the analyzed data will be characterized in two functions. On one hand, some of them are used as the metaphors for adding value to the original forms (40.00%); on the other hand, most of them are implemented for the textual purposes in the article (60.00%). Ex10: The Eiffel Tower is an iron lady = ideational metaphor “The walls, which are bulletproof as well as resistant to vehicle-ramming attacks, are "rock-solid for absolute security", said Bernard Gaudillere, head of the SETE, the company which runs the Eiffel Tower. The other two sides will be fenced off with metal barriers formed from curved prongs in the form of the tower itself and, at 3.24 metres high, stand exactly a hundredth of the height of the "Iron Lady". Gaudillere said his team worked with police to decide how best to secure a monument which has itself repeatedly switched off its twinkling night-time lights in memory of the victims of attacks around the world” (Bangkok Post, issued 15 June 2018). In the example, the discussion involves an agreement to strengthen the Eiffel Tower as Paris might be targeted by terrorists. Consequently, the security measures are enhanced by building additional walls to protect the tower. By using the metaphor, the ‘lady’, who is perceived as having a weak identity that is in need of protection, will be used as a substitute for the identity of a bare Eiffel Tower. Referring to the theory, the ideational metaphor aims to reconceptualize the previous form, and explains it as the new identity. According to the metaphor ‘the Eiffel Tower is an iron lady’, the reconceptualized term will be used to provide a clearer mental image for the reader.

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Ex11: Flying foxes is a black fruit = ideational metaphor “The island has a tiny beach and a natural stone arch. After our guide led us through the curved structure, we had to walk only a short while through a mangrove forest — while listening to the bats squeak — before seeing the large fox bats. They hung from almost every branch of the tall trees as if they were black fruit. We took pictures for a while and then continued our journey to Ao Khian at the northern tip of the island to see the towering trees called ton somphong or Tetrameles nudiflora.” (Bangkok Post, issued 21 June, 2018). In the example, the term ‘black fruit’ is used to describe the flying foxes, a type of bat, because their appearance is similar to the black fruit hanging on the tree. In this sense, the metaphor is used to reconceptualize the original status, so that the bats can be perceived in a clearer image. Therefore, the metaphor ‘flying foxes as a blackfruit’ is used as an ideational metaphor.

4.3 Conclusion In this chapter, the results show that the metaphors found in the newspaper mostly captured the processes of human thoughts and perceptions. On one hand, most of them were used for creating new identities; on the other hand, several of them were used for exaggerating the contexts in the newspaper. Thus, some ambiguities toward the subject of metaphors have been gradually elucidated. In the next chapter, the summarized results are used for answering the research questions and suggesting future investigations.

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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In this chapter, the summary of the study will be presented in Section 5.1. The findings will be summarized and presented in Section 5.2. In Section 5.3, the discussion of the results is presented and will be concluded in Section 5.4. Finally, suggestions for future study are provided in Section 5.5.

5.1 Summary of the study This section will primarily provide the outline of the overall investigation, and each important perspective is presented and discussed as follows. This study had two main objectives which were to explore the choices of metaphors found in the Bangkok Post newspaper and to promote a better understanding of each metaphor in general. In order to achieve these purposes, the materials were collected from four sections of the newspaper - General, Business, Opinion, and Travel sections - on the website bangkokpost.com between June 11 and June 21, 2018. The sample comprised 10 news reports in each section, and the data was examined based on the theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003). Finally, the collected metaphors were analyzed based on the metaphor theory of Goatly (1998). The summation of the collected information with the relevant explanations is given next.

5.2 Summary of the findings The results of the examination of the metaphors can be summarized as follows: 5.2.1 Referring to Table 1 shown in the previous chapter, the metaphors are mostly used in the Opinion section (53.66%) while they are rarely seen in the factual statements of the General (17.07%), Business (17.07%), and Travel (12.20%) sections. 5.2.2 The writers placed the strong emphasis on using metaphor as a tool for the textual purpose (80.49%), connecting and relating one subject to another subject through the textual sources. In addition, some of the metaphorical fictional concepts

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 35 were also apparent in the purposes. The ideational purpose was found less frequently in the context (19.51%), the aim of which is to add and reconceptualize the original status of the discourse.

5.3 Discussion In this section, the most interesting perspectives of the results will be presented and discussed in relation to the theories and previous research as follows.

5.3.1 The frequency of metaphor is varied across all sections of the newspaper, but its proportion is the greatest in the subjective environment; i.e. the situation that urges the readers to consider and criticize. Accumulating the results, 22 metaphors were used in the Opinion section while both the General and Business sections contained 7 metaphors, and 5 metaphors were found in the Travel section. Among these findings, it is thus concluded that the metaphor in the newspaper is commonly used in a context that involves the sense of determining and describing the situation.

5.3.2 With reference to the research findings, the metaphor is implemented for two purposes in the newspaper. First, it is used for reconceptualizing the language, so its primary status is escalated to a new form. This view, for example, is reflected from the identity ‘Kohmak which is described as a ‘paradise’ and in another example startups are reconceptualized as ‘centaurs’. Second, metaphors aim to create a new ideology for people. For example, the concept of paying an expense is delivered through the concept of living in daily routines; e.g. the metaphor ‘life is costing’. By reviewing these factors, it can be concluded that the metaphor aims to create and connect to a new perspective of language.

5.3.3 Though the newspaper is considered as a type of reading material providing factual information, some metaphors are used for exaggerating the discourse; e.g. the metaphor ‘cash is alive’. Therefore, it demonstrates that the subject of a metaphor can be used for the purpose of entertainment, or for persuasion, in the newspaper.

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5.4 Conclusions In response to the research questions, the previous discussion and the results in Chapter 4 are summarized as follows: 5.4.1 The results show that metaphor is a universal process. According to the theory in Chapter 2, metaphors can be collected into two aspects in the newspaper. First, the metaphor is the representative wording used as a metaphorical expression. For example, the terms ‘iron lady’ and ‘paradise’ are used for describing the other identities. Second, another way is to accumulate the speaker or the writer’s ideas; the thoughts are then examined as his/her perceptions. By studying the conceptual metaphor, the universal process of the metaphor ‘life is a journey’ is replicated (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, 2003). For example, the ideas of living and paying in different activities are perceived as the metaphor ‘life is costing’. These two views point out that the process of human thought is crucial regarding the subject of metaphor.

5.4.2 To complete the previous investigations, the results demonstrate that collecting the data from many types of materials will provide different points of view toward the world. For example, both Bangnogkhwang (2003) and Siriwarin (2007) gathered the data with a narrow scope; that is, while the former only examined the political concepts, the latter placed the emphasis on the sole business idea. As a result, they provide a narrower perspective toward the world compared to the current study (the business is war or the business is a vehicle, etc.). Moreover, the functions of each metaphor are further studied to advance the work of Intawong (2016); therefore, this investigation leads to an enhanced understanding of the conversations.

5.4.3 With reference to the work of Klinnamhom (2008), the current study shows that the interpersonal metaphors are not used in the textual material. By examining the material of audio recordings, the interpersonal metaphor is shown to be commonly used in conversation, but the textual material such as a newspaper only provides the factual statements, most of which are interpreted as the textual function (Goatly, 1998). Interestingly, not only does the textual material yield the textual metaphors covering the new ideology aspect, but it also shows the exaggeration

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 37 aspect that is not found in Klinnamhom’s study (2008). For example, the metaphor “the community jumped on the tourism wagon a couple of years ago” is used for exaggerating the discourse, highlighting the “jump on the tourism wagon” to help the community. This excerpt does not indicate that the residents actually travel and get onto a wagon, but the term is used to emphasize the fact that the community recognizes tourism as a way to gain benefits (Bangkok Post, issued 14, June 2018).

5.5 Recommendations Referring to the outcomes of the study, the suggestions for any future investigation are provided as follows: 5.5.1 As the current investigation was conducted as a limited independent study, future investigations should be done with a larger scale of samples. 5.5.2 In the current study, although the news reports are narrated in English, the writing styles are still embedded with Thai wording and culture, so it is recommended to examine a wider range of various kinds of sources; e.g. newspapers published overseas such as The Times and The Daily Telegraph, which may provide different kinds of concepts. 5.5.3 Referring to the lack of the interpersonal metaphor, it is recommended to investigate further into this type of the language. In particular, the analysis of recordings and human discourses is recommended. 5.5.4 The analysis of metaphor can be more interesting if competing sources are compared; e.g. The Times versus The Daily Telegraph newspapers, or the Daily Express versus The Sun newspapers.

5.6 Pedagogical recommendations In regard to teaching plans, the metaphors should be developed into subject materials used in the classroom. With regard to the modern lecture, it is found that most instructors tend to conduct in-class research by examining textual materials at the surface level. For example, grade 12 senior high school students’ scores could be improved if the students are initially given dictation activities (Yokrat, 2017). Also, the achievements of grade 10 senior high school students regarding the past perfect tense are learned after the students are processed through a drill training. As a result,

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 38 it indicates that these students can achieve higher scores, and their grammar ability will be improved, if they previously received the audio lingual method teaching, which is focused on restatement and repetition (Kantawittaya, 2017). Moreover, the supplement of the English textbook Weaving It Together has been shown to enhance the reading skills of grade 12 senior high school students (Tritip, 2017). By reviewing in-class studies, it was found that the instructors place too much emphasis on the academic learning: spelling, grammar, reading skills. However, none of them have sufficiently considered the current situation of this era enough, in which the environment stimulates the students to live more efficiently rather than academically. The emphasis should be put on the process of thought, so the current study was conducted to collect some potential materials that can reinforce and extract the ability of students to criticize and judge the context situations. Base on the retrieved metaphors, it can be seen that the items can be used as a replacement of the sole wording; for example, the metaphor ‘budget is workforce’ should be implemented instead of questions looking for the definition of the term ‘budget’ alone. In other words, the new forms of materials would rather ask the question ‘Why?’ instead of ‘What?’. By activating these ideas, the students will be taught to think and decide based upon their own perceptions. Thus, the process of thought can be triggered and promoted by experiencing the materials in a more meaningful way.

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REFERENCES

English: Bangnogkhwag, W. (2003). A Study of Political Metaphor on the Front Page of Two Thai English Newspapers. Master’s Project, M.A. (English). Bangkok: Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University.

Boonsom, P. (2013). Animal Terms as Conceptual Metaphor in English Idioms. Master’s project, M.A. (Language and Intercultural Communication). Bangkok: Graduate School, Silpakorn University.

Chuainu, K. (2009). A Comparative Study of Structures of Domestic Political News Stories in Bangkok Post and The Nation. Master’s project, M.A. (English). Bangkok: Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University.

Finegan, E. (1994). Language, Its Structure and Use. Florida: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Goatly, A. (1998). The Language of Metaphors. New York: Routledge.

Intawong, P. (2016). Metaphors of War in Thai Political News in Matichon Daily Newspaper. Master’s project, M.A. (English Language and Communication). Chiangmai: Graduate School, Chiangmai University.

Klinnamhom, R. (2008). Metaphors Used by Thai Politicians: A cognitive semantic and pragmatic study. Doctoral dissertation (Philosophy of Arts). Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphor we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. London: The university of Chicago press.

Meksujit, S. (2002). Grammatical structures used in business sections of The Nation and the Bangkok Post: A case study. Master’s Project, M.A. (English for Business and Industry). Bangkok: The Graduate College, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, North Bangkok.

Seawnoi, T. (2008). A Comparative Study of Business News Story Structures in Bangkok Post and The Nation. Master’s Project, M.A. (English). Bangkok: Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University.

Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics: A Resource Book for Students. Second Edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Siriwarin, D. (2007). Metaphor in business news in a Thai newspaper. Master’s project, M.A. (Applied Linguistics). Bangkok: Department of Linguistics, Kasetsart University.

Skorczynska, H. and Deignan, A. (2006) Readership and purpose in the choice of economics metaphors, Metaphor and Symbol, 21, 2, 87-104.

Ungerer, F. and Schmid, H.J. (1996). An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. Harlow: Longman.

Thai:

นพดล ยกรัตน์. (2560). การพัฒนาการเขียนสะกดคาศัพท ์ภาษาอังกฤษโดยใช ้กิจกรรมการ

เขียนตามคาบอก ของนักเรยี นชนั้ มธั ยมศกึ ษาปีท ี่ 6/14 โรงเรียนวัดเขมาภิรตาราม, 8

กรกฎาคม 2560. http://www.kma.ac.th/attachments/view/?attach_id=167510.

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 41

นางสาวสุทธิชา ขันธวิทยา. (2560). การพัฒนาทักษะการใช ้ Present perfect Tense โดย

การสอบท่องกริยา 3 ชอ่ ง ในรายวชิ าภาษาองั กฤษพนื ้ ฐาน (อ31101) ของนักเรียน

ระดบั ชนั้ มธั ยมศกึ ษาปีท ี่ 4/14 ภาคเรยี นท ี่ 1 ปีการศึกษา 2560, 8 กรกฎาคม 2560.

http://www.kma.ac.th/attachments/view/?attach_id=167520.

นางสาวณรินา ไตรทิพย. ์ (2560). การพัฒนาทักษะการอ่านภาษาอังกฤษ (Reading skill) จาก

หนังสือเรียน Weaving It Together ในรายวิชาภาษาอังกฤษ (อ่าน-เขียน) (อ33203)

ของนักเรยี นชนั้ มธั ยมศกึ ษาปีท6/14ี่ ภาคเรยี นท ี่ 1 ปีการศึกษา 2560 โรงเรียนวัดเขมา

ภิรตาราม จังหวัดนนทบุรี, 8 กรกฎาคม 2560.

http://www.kma.ac.th/attachments/view/?attach_id=167505

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A NEWS REPORTS IN THE GENERAL SECTION It's easy being green, state and activists say Environmentalists say Thais need to look after their nation before it's too late to salvage its plight

Thailand's future to become an environmentally friendly country will not look bleak if all Thais care enough about protecting and preserving the environment, state officials and environmentalists say.

They called on all stakeholders in society to help address the issue to raise public awareness about environmental protection -- but they insist the government must make it a national agenda item.

Activists have expressed concerns about environmentalal protection after the country faced two major pollution issues recently that are raising alarm in the international community.

The first was the death of a pilot whale last Friday in Songkhla.

The ill whale died after eating 80 plastic bags weighing about eight kilogrammes. The whale suffered a a convulsion and vomited five plastic bags before it died. Officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources spotted it on May 28 in Na Thap Canal in Chana district. It was unable to swim.

They used two boats to help float the whale and put up a sun-shade to protect it. They took turns caring for the whale around the clock but were unable to save it.

The second issue was the continued raids of several electronic waste recycling factories such as those in Chachoengsao, Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Ayutthaya. Authorities said the raids took place between late last month and early this month.

The raids followed complaints from residents who said the factories were suspected of smuggling electronic waste into the country and some of them were suspected of operating a recycling business without a licence.

Residents said polluted water came from these factories, affecting their health and livelihoods. They urged authorities and the Prayut Chan-o-cha government to solve the problem.

Shortly after the coup on May 22, 2014 the government formed 11 national reform panels to deal with 11 main problems of the country -- one of them was the issue of natural resources and environment.

The national reform panel on natural resources and environment has finished drafting a 522-page plan which will become a guideline for authorities to make Thailand an

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 44 environmentally friendly country and ensure sustainability for the country and encourage people's participation in protecting the environment.

Under the plan which will be implemented between 2018 and 2022, it requires a budget of 28.58 billion baht.

Royol Chitradon, chairman of the national reform committee on natural resources and environment, said he is confident the plan will help shape the country up with a new aspect of green environment.

He said it will happen with good cooperation from all stakeholders.

"The plan is drafted under the great support from all agencies involved, especially representatives from the state sector. So, we're confident all of the measures mentioned in the plan will let the country move into a right direction on clean environment,'' he said.

Mr Royol admitted that the problem of waste is a "challenging issue" and needs to be solved as urgently as possible.

He said according to the five-year plan on the protection of natural resources and environment, one measure is to increase waste management capacity by having a proper waste management by 70% in the next five years, compared with 43% at the current level.

He said another measure is to increase capacity on electronic waste management by 30%, including an introduction of law enforcement on the electronic waste management.

"We need cooperation and support from all stakeholders in the society especially from those from the local administrative organisations to help drive up the plan. Without them, the plan will face a lot of obstacles,'' he said.

However, Penchome Sae-tang, director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, thinks differently.

Ms Penchome said the national reform plan on natural resources and environment is hard to gain success as the plan was carried out under on old practices and concepts.

''I have seen nothing to be considered as reform. Measures mentioned by the plan is not different from the state agency's job descriptions to do," she said.

''But the problem is it has never translated them into active actions. And I am quite confident that the plan will move nowhere.

''Reform on the environment will not happen if the situation has not yet reached the deepest bottom. It means we will keep seeing a poorer environment, caused by the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 45 government's industrial investment policy to facilitate economic growth.''

Ms Penchome was referring to the government's Eastern Economic Corridor policy, in which advanced and green technology will be used for industrial activity in a bid to limit impacts on health and environment.

But the definition of "green technology" is still her main question.

She said that green technology at the time being could not be able to reduce waste at the manufacturing process.

Produced waste is transformed into other forms of what the government regards as useful materials, despite the fact that those products are contaminated with pollutant substances, she said.

She said the government is reluctant to issue an environment law that forces people to contribute less garbage to the country, including a tax collection on plastic bags and more.

Moreover, she added that the official's ignorance on law enforcement will make the environment situation get worse, especially law enforcement on electronic waste.

She said the country is becoming the favorite destination for dropping electronic waste after China's government refuses to accept it.

The police order to close illegal electronic waste management in Chachoengsao due to a charge of illegal imported electronic waste into the country proved to be a fact, she said.

Witoon Lianchamroon, director of Biothai, said the country will not be able to go to a green environment if the government doesn't ban paraquat, a hazardous chemical that is already banned on more than 20 countries.

He said the national reform committee on natural resources and environment has a clear direction to eradicate harmful chemicals used in the farming sector and increase organic practices among farmers.

He said getting a way to green environment needs the government and people's clear mindset to consider that there is no other means to go.

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Cops go after World Cup gamblers Celebs targeted over betting portal promos

A department store display shows 2018 World Cup-themed decorations ahead of the tournament kick-off on Thursday. (Wichan Charoenkiatpakul) Police plan to summon and charge around 100 celebrities and online beauty presenters for allegedly promoting illegal football gambling websites. Phanurat Lakboon, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, in his capacity as director of an operation against World Cup football gambling, said Monday that the suspects may face a maximum prison term of one year and/or a maximum fine of 1,000 baht. Section 12 of the gambling law prohibits all forms of advertising and acts encouraging others to gamble, he said. Investigators will next week begin summoning them 10 at a time to face charges, he added.

Pol Maj Gen Phanurat also warned parents to pay more attention to what their children are up to during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which runs from Thursday until July 15. "Parents will have to be more vigilant regarding their children's activities during the World Cup, otherwise they could face legal action for breaking the 2003 Child Protection Act," he said. The police are also working together with the Office of the Basic Education Commission to raise awareness among students at more than 30,000 schools nationwide that gambling on football is against the law, he said. Police have a team tasked with identifying websites based in Thailand offering football gambling services, he said, adding that as soon as they are located, they will immediately face legal action. Entertainment venues are also being warned against allowing or organising gambling on the tournament, an offence that may lead to them being closed down, he said. A total of 722 people were arrested between May 1 and Jun 10 for involvement in

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 47 football gambling, he said. Of this number, five were providers of gambling services, 715 were gamblers and two worked for the service providers handling customers for them, he said. The Royal Thai Police will work together with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to seize assets of 3,199 people arrested between Jan 1 and May 31 in football gambling cases. The Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, estimated that at least 78.3 billion baht extra will be circulating in the country's economy during the upcoming World Cup, 60 billion of which will be due to undocumented transactions and gambling. Elsewhere in the country, Damrongsak Kittipraphat, chief of Provincial Police Region 3, which takes care of the lower northeastern provinces, said his office has also opened a centre to suppress football gambling. The centre has already compiled a list of people operating illegal football gambling services in the province, he said. The problem is that more gamblers have now turned to online gambling services, which makes it more difficult for the police to track them, he added. TAGS

Primary schools face lunch budgets grilling Surat Thani, Phichit scandals spark probe

The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) has finally agreed to make inquiries into reports by parents on social media that their children's allocated lunch money is being siphoned off by one or more school heads and teachers. (FB via Post Today) State-run primary schools will be quizzed on how they spent their budget for school lunch programmes, the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) said Monday after widespread irregularities in how the money was disbursed were found in Surat Thani and Phichit.

Obec secretary-general Boonrux Yodpheth said he ordered his assistant, Sanit

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Yamgesorn, to inform directors of all primary educational service area offices to gather full details on the expenditure. Schools will be asked whether they received a budget for the programme for the first semester of this school year and whether the money was delayed. Those that failed to receive funding will be asked how they dealt with the situation, he said.

The schools will also have to explain how they arranged lunches for students in the event of a delayed budget. The information will be reported to the Primary Educational Service Area 1 of each province and then forwarded to provincial governors and the Obec secretary-general by tomorrow, Mr Boonrux said. Directors of the service area offices must also survey the number of schools in their respective jurisdictions and how many obtained money for their lunch programmes, he said. The schools facing complaints about irregularities will be investigated to see if there are grounds for the allegations, he added. Meanwhile, schools with "efficient" lunch management programmes will be chosen as models for others to follow. They will also be requested to give advice on how other schools can improve their programmes. Mr Boonrux said there have been many complaints about these programmes but it is not yet known how many are valid. The Obec must separate fact from fiction and rumour before solutions can be sought, he added. The order to scrutinise schools' lunch budgets came after two schools in Surat Thani and Phichit were suspected of regularly serving substandard-quality lunches to their students. In the Surat Thani school, a video clip went viral on May 31 showing young students eating noodles mixed with fish sauce for lunch. Somchao Sitthichen, the former director of the school in Tha Chana district, was later sent to work at the Office of Surat Thani Primary Education Service Area 2. Deputy chief of the office Jakkarin Apisamai, who is leading the probe, said his office

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 49 recommended Mr Somchao be temporarily discharged from government service. The panel found he had committed disciplinary breaches including arranging substandard food for the children. In the Phichit case, an executive at a school in Muang Tapan Hin municipality allegedly committed malfeasance in connection with the school lunch programme. A 600-page report also found grounds for corruption charges in four other projects, including the construction of a concrete road in one compound, said Lt Gen Kosol Prathumchat, an adviser to the Education Ministry.

Czechs bust Vietnamese drug gang using Thailand in Australia connection

Cocaine and heroin often are mixed by addicts in a concoction then known as a 'speedball'. (File photo) PRAGUE: Czech police said Tuesday they had charged 60 people with drug trafficking after busting a ring smuggling cocaine and heroin to Australia via the United States and Thailand.

"The group was led by three Vietnamese organisers, one active in the Czech Republic and the other two in other countries," said Barbora Kudlackova, spokeswoman for the National Anti-Drug Centre. She said the ringleaders hired mostly impoverished or indebted Czech nationals as couriers. Working in pairs, the couriers booked a holiday in Australia, flying via the US or Thailand with four suitcases that were swapped during the stopover.

"The drug was hidden in the luggage in a way that prevented its discovery by X-ray or a sniffer dog," said Kudlackova. Each suitcase contained 5kg of the drug, meaning 20kg kilos of cocaine or heroin were smuggled into Australia during each trip. The gang is suspected of having managed to smuggle more than 700kg of drugs. "In Czech Republic alone, 60 people have been charged so far," police said in a statement, also confirming that one ringleader was in custody.

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All face between 10-18 years behind bars if found guilty. Australian police had already detained four couriers run by the gang, three of whom have been sentenced to 7-9 years in prison, said Kudlackova.

Cash but no home for Karen

Ethnic Karen villagers led by Phinnapha Phrueksaphan arrive at the Administrative Court for a ruling in a 2011 land dispute. Tawatchai Kemgumnerd The Supreme Administrative Court ruled yesterday that six ethnic Karen villagers cannot return to their forest homeland in Phetchaburi's Kaeng Krachan National Park after their houses were burned down by park officers in 2011. The final verdict stated they did not have any ownership documents for the land they were evicted from and were therefore ineligible to claim ownership or return to live there. Yet the court ordered former park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, one of the defendants, to pay damages of 50,000 baht on average to each of the six plaintiffs within 30 days of the ruling. The court found Mr Chaiwat was guilty of malfeasance for torching over 100 Karen houses. The villagers have been relocated outside the park in a designated area called Bang Kloi Lang.

Despite this, six of them lodged an appeal to the Administrative Court in 2013 arguing their families had been living in the park for over a century, long before the authorities declared the forest a national park in 1979. They include 106-year-old Ko-i Meemi, a Karen spiritual leader who was reportedly carried out of his house by officers before it was razed. Another plaintiff, well-known rights activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, also failed to show up. He disappeared in 2014 after being released from detention at the hands of the national park's staff after they allegedly found him illegally collecting wild honey there. Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, the grandaughter-in-law of Mr Ko-i, said the villagers did not want compensation.

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"My grandpa will be saddened by this verdict. All he wants is to return to the forest so he can spend his final days there," said Ms Phinnapha, who is Mr Porlajee's wife. Mr Chaiwat, who looked relieved after hearing the verdict, said the case should serve as a lesson for the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to help it deal with future cases of trespassing. "I'm also glad these individuals can no longer live in the national park area," he said. Many indigenous communities have been declared illegal trespassers and evicted after authorities started declaring forest areas as national parks over three decades ago.

Bangkok a cheap posting for expats, says Nestpick

Expats looking to relocate to the city can expect to shell out US$1,112 (35,700 baht) in their first month in the city, a figure which includes a $79 visa fee, $440 for rent, $17 for internet, $20 for phone, $37 for transport and $516 for food. While Bangkok is one of the cheapest relocations worldwide, it's still more expensive than other cities in the region, including Kuala Lumpur, where expats can expect to spend $1,014. Dubai is the most expensive relocation, based on a first-month living cost of $4,251.68, with high rent prices and visa fees. Cairo is the least expensive, based on a first-month living cost of $656.80, with cheap rent prices and affordable food and drink, according to Nestpick.

No Asian city made it into the top 10 most expensive. The study looked at the most popular destinations for work opportunities, top universities and thriving startup cultures, before finalising a list of 80 cities from around the globe. To calculate the cost of relocating to each place, the search engine first researched the potential immigration factors such as a possible visa fee and the visa processing time. Next, the living costs for the first month were calculated, covering rent prices, internet, phone service, food and drink, and public transport. "The world has never been more accessible than it is right now to those seeking out employment opportunities, cultural exchanges or remote working hubs," said Omer

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Kucukdere, managing director of Nestpick. "In the last few years especially, we've seen trends that more people than ever are relocating to far-flung destinations which have rapidly digitised. It's now equally as possible to find 4G on a beach as it is in a built-up city. "The cost of living is often a huge factor for those looking to move, with the initial month almost always incurring extra costs due to potential visa applications." According to the study, New Zealand has the highest visa fees, at $2,159.46, and the longest visa processing time, at 381 days. San Francisco has the priciest rent, at $2379, while Bangalore has the cheapest, at $160. UAE has the most expensive internet costs, at $111.02, while Moscow's are little more than $5. Switzerland has the most expensive phone service prices, at $106.73, while Warsaw's are a mere $5.48. Switzerland has the most expensive food and drink prices, at $1,193.96, while Bangalore's are the least, at $255. London has the most expensive transport prices, at $168.71, while Cairo's are the least expensive, at $7.14.

Gamblers gear up for Cup Football wagers likely to boost economy by billions of baht, despite police crackdowns.

At a Wednesday press conference, deputy national police chief Chalermkiat Srivorakhan (centre) outlined plans to tackle football gambling during the World Cup. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul) With the Fifa World Cup 2018 in Russia set to kick off today, hype among football enthusiasts is running high, but so too is enthusiasm among gamblers who plan to bet on the matches.

A 21-year-old source identified as "K" said he has been saving money for the big event, taking extra jobs to boost his income so he can wager on the games. He plans to place bets of 5,000-20,000 baht each time.

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Betting syndicates generate billions of baht each year, boosted by an alarming trend in which gambling is appealing to younger people every year. Football betting is also more easily accessible due to the ubiquity of online betting sites, says the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. In 2015-2016, there were 213,000 online gambling sites dedicated to football betting and this number is on the rise, according to the foundation. The government has introduced campaigns to deter young gamblers, and police have launched crackdowns. Ahead of the opening match tonight, police said they plan to summon and charge around 100 celebrities and online beauty presenters for allegedly promoting football gambling websites.

They have also warned parents to pay more attention to what their children are up to during the tournament, which runs until July 15. Police are also tracking down websites based in Thailand offering football gambling services. A total of 722 people were arrested between May 1 and yesterday for involvement in football gambling. Of this number, five were providers of services, 715 were gamblers and two worked for the service providers handling customers for them. Meanwhile, the Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce estimated that at least 78.3 billion baht extra will circulate in the country's economy during the World Cup, 60 billion of which will be due to undocumented transactions and gambling. The gambling problem is huge, even outside World Cup time. The Centre for Gambling Studies, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, estimates that in 2017, 4.6% or 2.476 million Thais participated in football betting, a 24.3% increase on 2015. Of this, 609,000 were youngsters aged 15-25. Gambler K's preferred platform for betting is Sbobet, which he contacts via the Line app. Sbobet is an international online bookmaker with operations in Asia licensed by the Philippines, and thought to be one of the most popular bookmakers in Thailand. Such bookmakers might be temporary proxies which close after each match or after each round of betting ends, a source said. "P", a former gambler, 26, who stopped gambling six years ago, said he was introduced to the world of football betting when he was a freshman in college. He

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 54 overheard the story of a friend who won a large bet. He decided to have a flutter through his friend's bookmaker. P tried not to place excessive bets, wagering 100-200 baht each time, as he was young and wasn't making much of an income. "Most of the time I won. But when I lost, I felt the impulse to double the wager to offset my loss," he said. However, he brought his gambling splurge to a stop when he heard about a friend who lost 20,000 baht to football betting and had to approach his mother to pay off his debt. "I didn't want to become like him. I didn't want to run the risk of becoming an addict and disappointing my mother," he said. While the government and anti-gambling campaigners argue gambling can lead to social problems, gambler K said the anti-gambling campaigns they run rarely affect his decision to bet. "All the money I spend on betting is money I have acquired from my own work. So I do not feel bad if I lose it, as it is not money that I owe anyone." Even though he admits he loses more money than he wins, he does not regret gambling. "I see gambling strictly as an entertainment, not a source of income. If I win, I see it only as extra pocket money," he said, adding he started gambling when he got his first job during his college years and he spends around 80% of his winnings on laying new bets. Back to former gambler P, he said that since authorities will never put a stop to gambling entirely, they should devise a means to educate people in financial literacy and to gamble within their means. He also suggested the government regulate gambling and collect taxes on it. Amid the gambling hype, many football fans are looking forward simply to watching the games. Jirawat Areejitsakul, 25, said he's looking forward to games involving top- tier teams. Meanwhile, Thanachoke Aphikawinwong, a 21-year-old maths tutor, said the World Cup is a special opportunity to catch up with friends.

Deaf, 'psychic' cat picks winner of World Cup opener

MOSCOW: Russia's football team has failed to chalk up a single victory in eight

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 55 months but things could be about to improve -- according to a supposedly clairvoyant cat who predicted a win for the side in the first World Cup match.

Achilles, a deaf white cat who is the official animal soothsayer for the tournament, on Wednesday chose a bowl of food bearing the host's flag rather than that of Saudi Arabia, who Russia will face on Thursday evening.

The match will be shown live in Thailand beginning at 10pm. The tournament then will shift into high gear on Friday with three matches: Egypt vs Uruguay at 7pm; Morocco vs Iran at 10pm and Portugal vs Spain at 1am Saturday. Egypt's Mohamed Salah has recovered from his shoulder injury and will play in his country's World Cup opening match against Uruguay in Yekaterinburg on Friday. Egypt's crucial performer has been battling against time to be fit for the Group A encounter since hurting ligaments in an awkward fall in the early stages of last month's Champions League final. The blue-eyed feline Achilles is usually part of a team of dozens of cats that guard Saint Petersburg's Hermitage museum from rodents, but has taken on a new role for the football event. "Achilles is already used to the public and shouldn't be too stressed," said vet Anna Kondratyeva, who manages the animals.

Achilles the allegedly psychic cat, paused for a moment and then went for the food under the Russian flag. The cat follows in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus who became a star in 2010 after predicting winners for that year's World Cup by choosing one out of two boxes containing food. Others have made a play to be the next Paul -- including Swiss guinea pig Madame Shiva in 2014 and British Piranha Pele -- but none quite had the mollusc's foresight. Earlier in the day the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said he would pray for the national team to give a worthy performance. The hosts, who take on Saudi Arabia in the Thursday curtainraiser, need all the moral support they can get as they come into the event without a win in seven games.

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In another interesting development, Spain will play its opening World Cup match on Friday (1am Saturday, Thailand time) against Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, the European champions, with a coach who has been on the job for only two days. Fernando Hierro, a former national team player who had been acting as the national team's sports director in Russia, will coach the squad following the Spanish federation's shocking decision to fire Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday. "We have to stop thinking about the past and focus on our match against Portugal," Hierro said Wednesday. "We don't have time to lament. We have to be mature. We have to change our focus. We have an obligation to do it." Portugal had been the team dealing with off-the-field distractions ever since Ronaldo hinted after the Champions League final that he was going to leave Madrid. He said he would reveal his plans when he joined the national team, putting the spotlight on himself instead of Portugal's World Cup preparations, but he was yet to make any announcements. "We are in a very difficult situation," Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales said. "It's very complicated. I'm not going to come here and say that this was the best solution." Everything appeared to be running smoothly for Spain, with Lopetegui leading the team on a 20-match unbeaten streak and turning it into a top title contender again after disappointing eliminations from the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship. But Rubiales, the newly elected federation president, didn't like the timing of Madrid's surprise announcement on Tuesday and decided to take the drastic measure of firing the coach. He said that winning was important but not as much as maintaining the federation's values. "I talked to the players and they have shown their commitment to do everything they can to take the national team as far as possible in this tournament," Rubiales said. "This is already in the past. We are moving forward." Hierro, a former national team player and Real Madrid captain, is taking on his first major coaching job. He was Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at Madrid after Zinedine Zidane left the post in 2014, and coached second-division club Real Oviedo two seasons ago.

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"I only have one year of experience with Oviedo and one year of experience as an assistant coach," Hierro said. "(But) I've been near a ball for 30 years."

Five-nation meeting plays to diverse strengths Acmecs' growth strategy aims to promote balanced development by exploiting members' strong points, writes Chatrudee Theparat

Final results already are printed, but the five-nation, three-rivers 'Acmecs' summit will take up two days in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday. 'Growing together" is the government's key goal under the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya- Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (Acmecs) framework, says Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

The 8th Acmecs summit and related meetings will be held in Bangkok Friday and Saturday. The group is a cooperative framework of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, using member countries' diverse strengths to promote balanced development in the sub-region. Thailand initiated the framework in April 2003. Areas of cooperation include transport, trade and investment. Mr Somkid said although the five members, known as CLMVT, are not a big group with a population of around 200 million, their cooperation would usher in a substantial market, and this is why the meeting is crucially important. The group's economy has grown 7-8% on a yearly average over the past decade, which is remarkable, he said, adding the rate is known to be the strongest compared with other regions in Asia. "The region's long-lasting substantial economic growth results from an abundant workforce with low wages, which helps draw in foreign investors," said Mr Somkid. "The connectivity under Acmecs would give a vast boost to the region's potential."

Few people other than investors may know about Asean, but the heart of Asean now lies in the upper part of the region, or the CLMVT, the deputy premier in charge of economic affairs said. The master development plan

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On Friday, the first master development plan for Acmecs will be submitted to leaders of the group at the 8th Acmecs Summit, aiming to strengthen sustainable economic growth for members.

The five-year master plan (2019-23) aims for greater collaboration among member countries, making the bloc more powerful and efficient in managing the effects of global swings in economic growth, Mr Somkid said. Mr Somkid said the action plan will be conducted quickly with an eye towards implementing the master plan in 2019. "The upcoming meeting is crucial for the region, although the scale of each country is not large," he said. "But if the 200 million people represented by the member countries are combined and economic cooperation is closely tied in, Acmecs will become very powerful in trade, investment and tourism." The Acmecs' master plan consists of three key pillars -- seamless connectivity, synchronised economies and human resource development sustainability. Regarding seamless connectivity, strategies will encompass rail, road and water transport development along with digital and internet boosts, Mr Somkid said. These will foster regional connectivity, which would be a boon for trade, investment and tourism, he noted. In terms of synchronised Acmecs economies, members will organise joint intra-trade forums and work together on tourism development, including the launch of tour packages to help draw foreign tourists to the region. The group will also have human resource development strategies to ensure sustainable development, including the smart human resource concept. The master plan, Mr Somkid said, will lay out collective development guidelines among the members, which would help ward off duplication of work since several countries out of the region are also keen to tap into development projects through other cooperative frameworks. For example, Japan wants to play a part in supporting projects under the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) scheme, which covers Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and China (especially Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region). China, on the other hand, is keen on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation scheme. Meanwhile, the United States, European Union, and Australia are also

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 59 interested in carrying out development projects with the region. Financial assistance The master plan also paves the way for international financial institutions to consider the plans by which they can provide financial assistance to the region. These institutions include the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). "They can step in to assist in with various aspects of the master plan, which would help reduce duplication and ensure maximum efficiency in regional development," said Mr Somkid. The Foreign Ministry would also set up a fund for regional development and this mechanism would allow financial institutions to engage with the planned strategies. The fund will be supervised by the Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (Neda), which would serve as a point of contact with various financial institutions for regional development, he said. Neda was set up in 2005 with the aim of helping countries in the region with trade, investment, transport networks, tourism and human resource development. A public agency under the Finance Ministry, Neda has provided financial and academic support to 74 projects worth 15.7 billion baht in neighbouring countries. Of the total, 23 projects worth 15.4 billion baht entail financial aid with eased conditions, 16 projects worth 244 million are free grants and 22.2 billion are technical transfer projects of officials. During 2018-21, Neda plans to provide financial assistance to projects including improvement of a power grid worth 1.78 billion baht for the North Okkalapa and North Dagon districts of Yangon; Road No.67, stretching from Anlong Veng to Siem Reap; the development of Road No.11 for a section spanning Khok Khaodor-Ban Nam Sang, worth 6.3 billion baht; and construction of the fifth Thai-Lao friendship bridge. Neda has provided financial assistance to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and East Timor. Mr Somkid said Neda will function more like a coordinator for international funding organisations such as the AIIB, ADB, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank. "Many countries are involved in the sub-region's development," he said.

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"There are several cooperation frameworks, including the Greater Mekong Subregion, which is supported by Japan; and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation scheme, initiated by China in 2014, covering connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resource management, agriculture and poverty reduction, while the US, Australia and EU have also been trying to get involved in regional development. "Involvement by many organisations in Acmecs has led to duplication of investment projects, and the master plan will cut redundancy and bring more efficiency to international funding programmes in the region." CEO Forum The group will also hold a CEO forum, a venue that should bring business people in the five countries together. Regarding boosts to trade, the Commerce Ministry will organise activities to support the group's strategic partnership cooperation for overseas market development and regional economic boosters. The first activity is to foster links between Thai local products and the CLMV and global markets, he said, adding ways will also be found to connect local suppliers in border provinces with other potential producers in neighbouring countries, such as cooperatives and those in commercial districts, so they would work together in production and trade. A second type of activity concerns attempts to create trade and service connectivity among potential players in the CLMV countries. They could work together on an e- commerce platform to expand trade. Another activity will be the organisation of the third CLMVT forum under the chairmanship of Cambodia. The participants would follow up on various cooperation projects in the region, such as efforts to address border trade problems, development of the economic and trade database, enhancing human resources, support for startup companies, and tourism. Mr Somkid said the master plan would potentially help attract international companies to set up offices here as a base to enter one or multiple CLMV markets.

Taxi rate hike could lower refusal rate,TDRI argues

Switching taxi fares from distance-travelled to 50 satang a minute would likely solve

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 61 the problem of drivers who refuse to pick up passengers, a new study by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) claims. (File photo) The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has suggested a new 50-satang- per-minute taxi fare hike to increase the income of drivers and reduce the likelihood of them refusing passengers.

The idea was floated during a gathering Thursday of representatives from taxi driver associations and the Department of Land Transport (DLT). The DLT commissioned the TDRI to conduct research on improving the quality of public taxi services and how ride-sharing applications such as Grab can operate legally. The study results are set to be presented by next month.

The institute's Transportation and Logistics Policy research director, Sumet Ongkittikul, said fare hikes would be a key factor in improving taxi service quality. But he said the fixed starting fare of 35 baht for the first kilometre would not have to change. "Taxi drivers generally refuse passengers because they don't want to get stuck in traffic when their time could be better spent earning more money elsewhere," he said. "Our research suggests that introducing a new system where passengers are charged for the amount of minutes they are actually in the cab will act as an incentive for drivers [to accept passengers]." According to Mr Sumet, this would involve passengers being charged 50 satang per minute throughout their journey. At present, DLT rates for taxis caught in traffic are 2 baht per km for vehicles travelling at less than 6km per hour. "While there are several congested areas in the capital, drivers would still opt for areas with less traffic, since there is no guarantee that they will be driving at 6km per hour [for at least 1km at a time]," Mr Sumet said. He said the average Bangkok taxi driver earns 300-400 baht a day, roughly the minimum wage. The TDRI report says drivers pull in 1,400 baht a day on average but those who rent

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 62 their cars must spend upwards of 1,000 baht on daily rental fees and fuel. Mr Sumet said the proposed surcharge would bring their daily revenue to 1,600 baht. He also suggested a new demerit system for taxi drivers to replace the current DLT- affiliated penalty system of fining those who engage in misconduct. "At present, the policy has been ineffective because drivers just get fined and then are back behind the wheel," he said. "What we propose is a system where authorities keep track of past cases, which could be used to suspend or revoke a driver's licence." According to Mr Sumet, the system will model itself on Singapore. The island state's Vocational Licence Points System, introduced in 2003, states that a taxi driver who accumulates between six and 20 demerit points in a year could have their licence suspended. Demerits will be cleared if they maintain a clean record for a year from the date of the last offence. Meanwhile, DLT deputy chief Jongrak Kitsamrankhun has urged ride-sharing firm Grab to reach an agreement with the department to legally register as a transport company and pay taxes.

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APPENDIX B NEWS REPORTS IN THE BUSINESS SECTION Laying waste to Thailand's bounty A country long known for its natural beauty is slowly sinking beneath an island of electronic refuse being shipped in from its more affluent neighbours.

The old Thai saying of nai nam mee pla, nai na mee khao (fish in the waters, rice in the fields), which hails the country's abundance of food and natural resources, is barely applicable to modern-day Thailand, as decades of industrialisation and improper e-waste management have risked turning the Land of Smiles into a dumping ground for hazardous materials.

Electronic waste has long afflicted Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, but recent news reports have begun to raise public awareness of the ever-accumulating electronic offal.

A policeman guards mountains of electronic waste during an official check at a recycling plant at Klong Laan, Pathum Thani province. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu) Police at Laem Chabang port, on the Eastern Seaboard, on May 29 displayed seven shipping containers, each packed with 22 tonnes of discarded electronics, including crushed game consoles, computer boards and bags packed with scrap material.

According to Department of Industrial Works data, 53,000 tonnes of e-waste is legally imported from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore into Thailand each year.

The increase in dumping has only intensified after China moved to stop accepting foreign trash last year, telling the World Trade Organization it would no longer accept 24 types of foreign waste and leading some to fear that the refuse could end up in neighbouring countries.

Environmentalists say waste once destined for China is being rerouted to Southeast

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Asia, and either new laws are needed or existing laws should be enforced to prevent illegal imports.

Thailand in 1997 ratified the Basel Convention, which aims to control trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste. But the convention does not completely prohibit these exports from more-developed to less-developed countries.

"The Basel Convention cannot prevent what is happening in Thailand because it has its limitations," said Penchom Saetang, director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand. She has called for an amendment that would ban such shipments. Vigorous inspection

The government recently uncovered instances of hazardous waste being dumped in Thailand, prompting it to ratchet up inspection scrutiny of four of seven companies that have licences to import hazardous e-waste from abroad.

The Industry Ministry has approved imports of hazardous waste and chemical waste, including electronic circuit boards, mobile and smart phone batteries and steel scraps from JPS Metal Group Co, Yong Thung Thai Co, OGI Co, SS Import-Export International Co, Virogreen Thailand Co, Ming Engineering Thailand and Fuji Xerox Eco Manufacturing Co.

Last year, those firms imported 53,000 tonnes of chemical waste and exported 430,000 tonnes, according to the Industry Ministry.

Thailand imports 37,000 tonnes of hazardous and chemical waste each year and exports 136,000 tonnes.

Deputy Industry Minister Somchai Harnhiran said companies importing hazardous waste are being inspected on suspicion of violating the Hazardous Substance Act and the Basel Convention.

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The government inspected those seven companies last week and found that four had been active at illicit recycling factories, where they had been importing and processing toxic e-waste illegally.

The four companies are JPS Metal Group Co, which has capacity for waste management of 60,000 tonnes per year; Yong Thung Thai Co, a smelting metal and iron steel company with waste management capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year; OGI Co, a steel and metal import business with waste management capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year; and SS Import-Export International Co, with waste management capacity of 14,000 tonnes per year.

"The government suspended the factory licences of these four companies last week and we are in the process of inspecting Virogreen Thailand Co, with the results of that inspection forthcoming," Mr Somchai said.

Two other companies, Ming Engineering Thailand and Fuji Xerox Eco Manufacturing Co, were found to have legal waste management operations in Thailand, he said. Ming Engineering's waste management capacity is 786 tonnes per year, while Fuji Xerox's is 7,000 tonnes.

Most of the illegally imported and processed e-waste is in Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan, Ayutthaya, Chon Buri and Bangkok, according to the Industry Ministry.

Electronic waste is largely imported from Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Britain.

While the government has approved an import licence for plastic waste for 26 companies, the government is inspecting imported plastic from 17 companies, two of whose licences have been revoked. The government will complete a full inspection this week.

The government predicts that 31 million tonnes of electronic and hazardous waste will

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 66 be recycled this year, with 2 million tonnes designated as hazardous waste and the rest as general waste. If 10% of recycling output cannot be treated, that waste will be incinerated or sent to landfills.

Mr Somchai said the government will also uphold its inspection mandate to examine electronic waste segregation plants for 148 companies in Thailand.

Customs Department director-general Kulit Sombatsiri said the government will uphold its policy of inspecting imported hazardous and chemical waste.

"At present, 600 containers per month or 7,200 containers per year of imported hazardous and chemical waste passes through deep-sea ports in Thailand," Mr Kulit said.

Imported waste that companies have reported to the government mostly consists of electronic components such as computer parts and plastic, he said.

"The Customs Department has a duty to inspect imported goods, and we have no regulations to withdraw or cancel imported waste licences," Mr Kulit said. "The Industry Ministry is empowered for this task."

Not a total ban

If e-waste is not processed properly and gets dumped in landfills, harmful substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium can leak, leading to health problems, said DIW director-general Mongkol Pruekwatana.

"Our short-term solution is to strictly inspect all 148 electronic waste recycling factories nationwide," he said. "If irregularities are found during the inspections, the factories will be charged with violating the law. And if the wrongdoers are factories licensed to import electronic waste from abroad, their licences will be revoked."

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Unauthorised imports of e-waste, or false customs declarations, will result in legal penalties for importers, some as high as two years' imprisonment, Mr Mongkol said.

Regarding a long-term solution, he said his agency is considering banning recycling factories from importing certain types of e-waste that negatively impact the environment and communities.

Thailand should not impose a total ban on importing e-waste, he said, as the recycling processes of some types can still benefit the economy, but the process must be done using the appropriate technology.

"There are valuable materials that can be recovered from the waste of electrical equipment and electronics, but we may have to choose what kind of e-waste is worth importing, ensuring it will be handled at the proper facilities that use advanced technology and pollution control methods," Mr Mongkol said.

Campaigns to reduce e-waste

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), as Thailand's telecom regulator, has demanded a permanent ban on all used components from telecom devices, including long-outdated models of smartphones from abroad, to cut down on the e-waste scourge.

The NBTC has taken three approaches towards e-waste alleviation by imposing conditions upon issuing licences, issuing awareness campaigns and cooperating with other organisations.

According to NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith, some companies have requested permission to import used telecom devices and components into the country over the past two years.

But the NBTC rejected those requests, saying such imports were illegal because they

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 68 constituted toxic e-waste.

The prohibition of importing these items is aimed at breaking the cycle of using these components for the manufacture of new products, which will add to the e-waste burden down the road, along with the concurrent burden to eliminate it.

E-waste management is mandatory for telecom licensees under corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines.

Thailand's first telecom spectrum auction for the 2.1-gigahertz bandwidth spectrum dates back to 2012. In that auction, Advanced Info Service Plc, Total Access Communication Plc and True Corp Plc each won a licence, thus falling under the CSR plan.

That plan covers e-waste management, users' health and a risk management plan for rapidly changing technologies. Each licensee must submit a CSR plan to the NBTC before launching its service.

In practice, e-waste management plans proposed by licensees (mobile operators) differ from case to case, but most of them include a programme whereby customers can turn in their old mobile phones for newer models. Older phones must then be properly recycled and disposed of.

One licensee has a battery regeneration programme to extend the life of batteries used in cell stations, thus helping to reduce e-waste. Another has a continuous public relations programme to educate and raise awareness regarding e-waste and set up disposal points for old phones and batteries.

The telecom regulator also takes responsibility for reducing e-waste through campaigns.

In May 2014, the NBTC organised a campaign, "Return Old Batteries to Save the

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World", which included an exhibition, a talk show and distribution of disposal boxes for old mobile phones and batteries.

The boxes were designed to safely collect batteries and phones while preventing passers-by or criminals from reaching into them.

Last but not least, the NBTC has been cooperating with other organisations on projects to cut back on e-waste. Those efforts have extended to the Pollution Control Department, the Public Relations Department and the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion.

Ultimately, the projects aim to raise public awareness of the impact from e-waste and provide campaigns for people to dispose of old mobile phones at designated disposal points.

Telecom operators and mobile phone vendors were also asked to set up disposal boxes with the project's logo at their service centres, so that phones and batteries can be recycled and disposed of properly.

Adieu to the ATM? soCash founder says people still need paper money but deserve more convenient access to it, and many banks agree.

Hari Sivan smiles in acknowledgement when I suggest to him that the 15 years he spent as a specialist in payments at Citibank and DBS Bank helped to explain why he saw the business opportunity that eventually became soCash.

"Come to think of it, yeah, you're right. I never thought of it that way," the co-founder and CEO of the Singapore-based fintech startup says with a laugh. soCash is based on a simple premise: when people need to withdraw cash, they should not be limited to using an ATM. The money they need could be made available at a

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 70 store or other handy "cashpoint". soCash is linked to the mobile app of a bank, so a customer simply opens the bank app to place a cash-out request and selects a nearby registered merchant, such as a 7-Eleven store. The app guides the user via GPS to the store where she scans the QR code at the cashier and receives the amount of money requested. The sum is deducted from the user's bank account without the need for a machine, card or PIN code. The idea was pioneered in the United States by Spare, developed by Mercuri Systems, but soCash is the first mover in Asia, offering the service in Singapore, India and Japan.

"soCash is a technology platform connecting banks to the vast network of retailers with the goal of offering basic banking services, the first service being cash withdrawal and cash deposits," is how Mr Sivan puts it. "For consumers, it's all about safety, convenience and privacy. For banks, it's converting their fixed costs into variable expenses, optimising liquidity and generating scale. For retailers, it's about additional footfall, revenue and productivity." soCash could make the ATM a museum piece. Graphic by ocash.io END OF THE ATM? Besides doing away with the hassles of finding a functioning machine, waiting in line and punching in a PIN code, soCash is very safe as everything is done electronically. You can forget about card fraud completely, and personal safety is an added bonus. Especially for women, using an ATM in a dark area at night can be fraught with danger, while the local convenience store is a different story as there are security cameras inside and there is always somebody working there, he says. Consumers can also enjoy soCash promotions, including freebies while waiting, and Free Cash, a redemption or cash-back programme tied to referrals and other promotions. For example, referring the app to two friends brings a Free Cash bonus of S$6 ($3 per friend). The next time that person withdraws $50 at a store, she will receive $50 cash but only $44 will be debited to her account. For shops, installing soCash offers the potential of more customer traffic and purchases. For banks, re-engineering their cash supply chain will save costs of

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 71 expanding ATM networks cash-handling logistics. The fact is, cash costs banks a lot of money, not least for armoured vehicles and guards to travel around replenishing ATMs. HARI SIVAN CEO and founder, soCash Born - April 12, 1980 Education - Bachelor of Technology, Industrial Production Technologies, National Institute of Technology Calicut, 2001 - MBA in Finance and Marketing, EDHEC Business School, 2008 Career - 2001-03: Programmer analyst, Cognizant Technology Solutions, India - 2003-04: Software engineer, HSBC India - 2004-07: Manager of credit card loyalty and marketing, Citibank Singapore - 2008-10: Assistant vice-president, eBusiness Group, Citibank - 2010-12: Vice-president, Regional eBusiness, DBS Bank - 2012-16: Senior vice-president, DBS Remit - 2016-present: CEO, soCash Other optional services are "cash out" options integrated with point-of-sale (POS) cashier systems in certain stores linked to corporate retail brands. soCash, however, works without a POS machine, which allows smaller and independent shops to become cash transaction points, Mr Sivan notes. Banks can avoid cash transport costs as well as ATM maintenance and just pay soCash a transaction fee, which the company shares with the cashpoint. This makes transactions 25% to 40% cheaper than conventional ATM transactions, as people do not have to pay for them unless the bank decides to charge them. Banks can also choose to pay soCash for services such as sending staff to meet shopkeepers and training staff to understand the system. It is now lobbying large banks in Singapore to offload 25% of their ATM volumes while investing in soCash instead of ATM infrastructure, as the fees paid to soCash are roughly half the transaction costs banks pay for ATMs.

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 72 soCash is the first startup backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It is poised to enter Thailand this year and is in talks with at least three major banks in the country, where regulators are fine-tuning regulations that would allow stores and other locations to act as banking "agents". The company's current banking partners in Singapore include DBS, POSB and Standard Chartered, allowing its users to withdraw money from any merchant using those banks. Other clients include Citibank and HSBC. Last October, soCash closed a Series A financing round in which the sole investor in was Vertex Ventures, a global venture capital group whose other investments include the ride-hailing service Grab. The company started with US$50,000 and so far it has managed to raise $925,000. soCash was selected as one of the Ten Hottest Startups in Asia by Startup Thailand for 2018. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING Mr Sivan did not originally envision a career in banking and finance. He studied at the National Institute of Technology Calicut in Kerala state in India, majoring in production engineering and industrial management. He spent most of his time creating algorithms for autonomous coordinated robotics systems, but then he discovered that he would be physically unable to do hands-on engineering work. "My pursuit of engineering was over when I found out that I was colour-blind," he says, but he adds with a smile that he would not change anything as he is now doing what he likes and it is paying off. His first job after graduation was with the Indian operations of US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions as a programmer. He then moved to HSBC India where he helped set up an automation process for credit card sales as a software engineer. At that point he followed his father, who is also in banking, to Singapore and joined Citibank. He spent the next five and a half years with the American bank as manager of its rewards and loyalty programmes, gaining expertise in cash-back and tactical rewards- based marketing initiatives. As his career progressed and his interest in finance and marketing grew, he spent a year completing an MBA at the France-based EDHEC Business School, and returned to Citibank in Singapore as an assistant vice-president of the eBusiness Group, where

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 73 he drove mobile and internet banking services and managed multiple payment and fund transfer projects. When he moved to DBS Bank in 2010, he was put in charge of the company's online wealth management and payment systems in its emerging markets including India, Indonesia, Taiwan and China, which gave him more insights into Asian preferences for payment. That led to DBS Remit, which enables bank customers to enjoy same- day fund transfers to any bank in China and the UK as well as DBS in Singapore. But despite the success of his brainchild, Mr Sivan was getting bored and he wanted to create something on his own. By this time, few could question his knowledge and ability to identify "pain points" within the payment system. He and some of his peers believed they could develop more tangible and pragmatic solutions for those problems. "We were sick of climbing the corporate ladder so we started talking and the idea of soCash originated in early 2016 when we realised the convergence of digital banking and the need for distributed platforms for many banking functions , the most lucrative being cash logistics," he recalls. "What we found was that the cost of cash is the cost of logistics and we built on the idea from there." Mr Sivan notes that he and the company's co-founders were lucky to have received plenty of support from his banking partners and regulators in Singapore because they recognised that a digital cash management platform would save the banks money and provide consumers with another convenient way of getting their cash out. CASH IS ALIVE As he pondered alternatives to the ATM, Mr Sivan recalled how he had often wondered why mobile wallets and similar payments had never really taken off in some markets. In his view, it is because cash is still very relevant in many markets. This is especially true in Asean and India, but not so much China as it is moving at astonishing speed toward a cashless society. "Cash is an efficient payment mechanism for daily consumption and low-value payments. Compared to the alternatives, there is no transaction fee, there is instant settlement, trust, privacy and universal acceptance," he says. "Alternatives and mobile derivatives lag far behind and are usually elitist instruments promoting debt-based

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 74 consumption." Mr Sivan believes that the relevance of cash will be defined by the society at large and the collective intelligence usually makes intelligent choices. "Leaving aside the motivated evangelisation for a cashless society, if we look at the usage data and price points, it is clear that cash will continue to dominate until a more efficient product evolves and gains adoption," he adds. He notes that in economies across the world with healthy GDP growth and young populations, particularly in Asia, cash still dominates day-to-day consumption.

It is still the payment of choice for the masses and even where there are alternatives, the market share of cash is still well over 25% no matter how you look at it, he says.

"This is simply because there are multiple challenges in adoption, primarily around transaction costs, settlement delays and acceptance challenges, just to name a few. While the mix may change, we strongly believe that runway for cash is pretty long." Mr Sivan argues that digital payments are not taking off in India, where some channels have shown a healthy growth trend but volumes have declined as fewer people use the services. He believes India is likely to be cash-dominated for decades, much like developed markets like Japan and Germany. His view is backed up by World Bank data which shows that 97% of India's retail transactions are still conducted in cash or by cheque. The June 2016 study also estimates that the total global value of micro, small and medium retailers' transactions was about $34 trillion, of which $19 trillion is paper- based transactions and $15 trillion in electronic payments. Only 20% (around $800 billion) of payments by micro, small and medium retailers in South Asia were made electronically in 2015 compared to 31% ($2.7 trillion) in East Asia-Pacific but that is still less than 46% ($1.3 trillion) in Europe and Central Asia and 71% in high-income OECD countries. The use of cash is still growing year on year in both emerging and developed markets where cash in circulation from Australia to the US and from to Indonesia to Hong Kong has grown at nearly double-digit rates for the past half-decade. According to data compiled by soCash from central banks, demand for cash between 2011 and 16

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 75 continued to grow in major markets including India (14%), Indonesia (12%), Singapore, (9%), Thailand (7%), the United States (7%) and Australia (6%). According to the World Bank's global market size study, developing countries have a higher percentage of paper-based payment transactions (cash and cheques). The trend is more prominent among micro retailers, where many entrepreneurs or mom-and-pop stores tend to shy away from electronic transactions, such as using debit or credit cards, because of extra costs including transaction and bank fees, lack of awareness and difficulty in accessing financial services. Realising both the opportunities and challenges, Mr Sivan still sees a need to change the fixed mindsets of some traditional banks and shops that are still more comfortable with the ATM structure. Therefore, he believes that finding the right markets and partners is the path forward for his company as it sets its sights on Indonesia and Thailand. "Our goal is to become the platform of choice for banks in Asean for cash circulation and beyond," he concludes.

'Modicare' to the rescue Indian government adapts Thailand model to offer the world's largest public health insurance programme covering 500 million people.

Sunita Devi, 45, has been losing hope for her niece, 13-year-old Soni Kumari. The housewife from Bihar state has been camped on the pavement outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), India's premier healthcare institute in New Delhi, since May 16.

Beer Kunwar Baitha has gone heavily into debt seeking treatment in New Delhi for his 15-year-old daughter Puja Kumari, who suffers from severely stunted growth. Photo: Narendra Kaushik Soni, whose mother is missing and whose father died of alcoholism, has not been able to stand on her own since last December. Doctors at the AIIMS say she is suffering from spinal cord tuberculosis and will need an operation, but it could be a year before the overburdened hospital can schedule one. Meanwhile, medicines to stabilise her

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 76 condition will cost 70,000 rupees (33,350 baht). Ms Devi, a blacksmith, made the 19-hour train journey to Delhi with high hopes. Her brother, who is being treated for fistula at the AIIMS, brought them to the capital. When they heard about the long delay in Soni's operation, they asked Pappu Yadav, a lawmaker from their district, to intercede with the doctors, but to no avail.

The doctors instead referred Soni to Safdarjung, another government hospital across the road. The physicians there rejected the AIIMS diagnosis, admitted the child for a day and then discharged her after prescribing medicines. Ms Devi still has more faith in the AIIMS diagnosis but seems resigned to her fate. She does not visualise Soni walking again and is planning to return to Bihar soon. "I will wait for another two or three days. If I do not get a date for early operation I will take Soni back. I have neither the money nor the will to wait for one year. Soni will never be able to walk again," she told Asia Focus, sitting next to her niece on the pavement and massaging her feet. Sad stories like Soni's are innumerable in India, where the government has struggled to deliver quality healthcare in a timely and affordable way to hundreds of millions of poor families. That could change, though not overnight, under a sweeping new insurance programme. Not far from where Ms Devi was camped out, Beer Kunwar Baitha, a welder from Sitamarhi in Bihar, related a similar tale of anguish and helplessness. He has yet to learn the reason for the stunted growth of his daughter Puja Kumari. "Puja has not grown at all in the last four years. She was 11 when she first started getting headaches and fever. She has been treated for tuberculosis several times. But look at her -- she weighs only 18 kilogrammes," he says, holding the 15-year -old in his lap. Treatments for his daughter have left Mr Baitha with a debt of 150,000 rupees (71,500 baht), a huge sum for a family that lives below the poverty line. The AIIMS sees hundreds of poor patients from across India every month. Many are forced to camp out with their families on the pavements because the hospital does not have enough beds and doctors are so overworked. The government has set up AIIMS centres in several state capitals. But secondary and

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 77 tertiary care in tier II and tier III cities is woefully inadequate, and private hospitals charge huge amounts for quality care, forcing poor people to flock to government hospitals in the national capital. With a view to providing affordable healthcare to poor Indians, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially introduce the world's most ambitious public health insurance programme on Aug 15. Announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his February budget speech, the programme is officially known as Ayushman Bharat (Blessed with long life India) or the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). Not surprisingly, it has become known as "Modicare". "It's a historic step and a bold decision. It will be the largest public funded health protection scheme in the world," Health Minister JP Nadda has said. India spends only about one percent of its gross domestic product on public health, among the world's lowest, and the health ministry estimates such funding leads to "catastrophic" expenses that push 7% of the population into poverty each year. Beneficiaries of the new programme will be entitled to healthcare both in public hospitals and participating private facilities. The central government will pay 60% and the states 40% of the cost of covering 100 million poor households with a combined 500 million people. Each household will pay an annual fee of no more than 1,100 rupees (525 baht) for cover extending up to 500,000 rupees (240,000 baht). Patterned on Thailand's Universal Coverage (UC) or 30-baht programme, Ayushman Bharat has been described as "bold, ambitious and courageous" by World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Forecast to cost 100 billion rupees over the next two fiscal years, it will be overseen by the National Health Protection Mission Agency, headed by a CEO. That model also mirrors the Thailand approach, where the UC programme was separated from the Public Health Ministry in order to reduce red tape, and is overseen by the independent National Health Security Office. The NHPS will replace existing but limited central government insurance programmes for unorganised workers and senior citizens. The former make up 93% of the workforce in India.

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The agency overseeing the programme has already fixed rates for 1,354 medical services to be covered under the NHPS. The rates will be between 15% and 20% lower than those approved under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) for civil servants, pensioners and their dependents. Private healthcare facilities, particularly those providing five-star care to Indian and foreign patients, say the NHPS rates will not be viable for them. The central government has said that state governments have the option of topping up payments to private providers by 10%, but whether this will happen in practice remains to be seen. In a bid to bring more states on board, Delhi will allow them to increase rates paid for some procedures beyond the 10% top-up limit if needed, to match those under existing schemes, the Times of India reported last week. Uttar Pradesh state, where at least 60 million people are expected to benefit from Ayushman Bharat, has already set aside 4 billion rupees for the programme. It is setting up an agency to facilitate communication between the targeted beneficiaries and designated hospitals and insurance companies. West Bengal, a state ruled by Trinamool Congress, a regional party, has said it will not join the NHPS but its officials have been attending meetings on the introduction of the scheme. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Commission, which advises the central government on policy, is working on a plan to help private companies set up 100 hospitals in tier II and III cities, where they would offer treatment under Modicare. The Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes the NHPS will help it win another term in office next year by wooing back poor Indians who have drifted toward opposition parties. However, sceptics say that without strong oversight and governance, the programme could be abused by private insurance companies and drain away public money. Meanwhile, Mr Modi was reported last week to be preparing to further enhance his government's appeal to voters by providing three more programmes -- old age pension, life insurance and maternity benefits -- to most working citizens.

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The programmes are expected to be introduced soon on a trial basis in selected districts and gradually expanded until next May, when the election is scheduled.

Huawei innovates to move up mobile value chain

Models such as the P20 have helped Huawei build a bigger presence in the premium handset market. Photos courtesy of Huawei Huawei Technologies of China is riding a wave of innovations in its campaign to achieve premium status in mature smartphone markets in Asia, competing head-to- head with Samsung and Apple.

"Huawei's mission is to become an iconic global tech brand and our strategy is very clear: to become a premium brand," Xu Qinsong, vice-president of global product marketing for Huawei Consumer Business Group, said during a recent visit to Bangkok. "We have powerful technology and innovation. Once we understand the consumer requirement, we can leverage the power of our R&D," he told Asia Focus. The world's third-largest smartphone seller last year spent US$12.4 billion on research and development, up from $10 billion in 2016, as part of its drive to upgrade its features and brand image.

Mr Xu said Huawei's focus in Asia was now on middle-income countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, where it launched its top-of-the-line P20 series this year. Retailing for $800 to $1,100, it is the only smartphone with a triple camera. Driven by the flagship Mate and P models, Huawei improved its share of the premium device market ($600 and above) to 8.4% in December 2017 from 3.4% a year earlier. The increase was driven by sales of the P10 and Mate 9 series, which have exceeded 20 million units since their launch, Mr Xu said. "In the last four months, our shipments have grown very fast. In the second quarter, as we began to launch new models, overseas shipments have risen 40% and we expect to see at least 50% growth in a lot of countries this year," he added. Huawei is attracting more customers with high-tech specifications, full-view displays

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 80 and creative application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The result is an 11% share of global smartphone sales, compared with 22% for Samsung and 15% for Apple, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

Photos courtesy of Huawei Achieving premium status will help the China-based company avoid the cutthroat competition in the low-margin budget phone market. Although the company increased its market share globally and shipped 153 million smartphones last year, growth in its consumer business segment, which includes smartphones, slipped to 31.9% on sales of 237.2 billion yuan ($37.85 billion), versus 43.6% in 2016. The company is now preparing for the introduction of 5G technology, conducting pre- commercial tests with over 30 leading carriers. Business-to-business (B2B) revenue from carriers accounts for nearly half of the group's total revenue. "We have already proven that we are the leader in B2B business globally. In Thailand, for instance, Huawei is the strategic partner of AIS and DTAC on the operator side," Mr Xu said. "On the consumer side, it will take time but that is our dream." One of the biggest challenges in the Asian consumer market, he acknowledged, is lingering resistance to "Made in China" products despite marked improvements in quality. "We need to better communicate what our brand stands for and we need to tell consumers what kind of products we can deliver," Mr Xu said. "We want to be perceived as a high-quality and premium tech brand but this is not easy because most people today still see Chinese phones as a cheaper option. It takes a lot of time and marketing money to change consumer perceptions toward Chinese brands." Huawei continues to offer affordable products for consumers of all ages, even in its mature markets. It recently launched a sub-brand called Honor, aimed at young people eager to replace their smartphones at an attractive price. In Thailand, the Honor 10 made its Southeast Asian debut at $440 (13,990 baht). It

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 81 offers a dual-lens camera and an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chipset that can pinpoint the outlines of surrounding objects and identify their locations instantly. In China, 1 million units were sold within 26 days of the launch. Aside from its premium push, Huawei is making its mark in the budget segment in less-mature markets such as India, where 50% of smartphone users have budgets below 10,000 rupees (4,800 baht). Its Honor 7 series sells there for between 8,999 and 11,999 rupees. The company aims to become one of the top three smartphone brands in India by 2022, according to P Sanjeev, vice-president of sales for the consumer business group of Huawei India. "India is the only market which is growing at a very fast speed," he said. "This year we expect smartphone users in India to be at least about 340 million. … India strategy is a key for us. If we want to reach the top three soon, we have to go for the sub- 10,000 rupee segment." Huawei has also partnered with OneAssist, a local protection and assistance services platform, to offer protection plans for customers buying its handsets in India. The plan covers both Huawei and Honor units and starts at 1,249 rupees to cover accidents and damage.

High time for change Marijuana is gaining favour for its medical properties, with some Asian countries looking at ways to profit from global demand.

At a time when public alarm is rising about the scourge of opioid abuse, many countries are taking a closer look at marijuana as a safer option for treating pain. Legalisation of medicinal marijuana is on the rise across the western world, and some countries now allow recreational use.

A customer waits to purchase marijuana at Harborside, one of California's largest and oldest dispensaries of medical marijuana, in Oakland. Photo: Reuters Asia will probably be the last place in the world to make cannabis legal, even though

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 82 writings from 5,000 years ago indicate that doctors in China were recommending a tea made from cannabis leaves to treat various conditions including gout. China today is a marijuana-growing superpower, though few are willing to discuss it publicly given the country's strict anti-drug laws. Cannabis plants contain more than a hundred compounds known as cannabinoids, not all of which get people high. Non-psychoactive chemical compounds such as cannabidiol (CBD) can be extracted and processed to treat many conditions.

Studies have shown that CBD can be used to treat convulsive seizures in children with a severe and often fatal epilepsy disorder. It can also provide significant relief of Parkinson's disease symptoms by increasing dopamine levels. Cannabis has become a mainstream treatment for cancer patients, helping reduce nausea from chemotherapy. Studies have also found that smoked marijuana helps increase food intake in HIV patients while people who took marijuana extracts in clinical trials tended to need less pain medicine. Altogether, the World Health Organization estimates that around 147 million people or 2.5% of the world's population, use cannabis every day. According to Arcview Market Research, which follows the cannabis industry, spending on legal cannabis worldwide is expected to reach US$57 billion -- two- thirds recreational and one-third medical -- by 2027. Arcview sees sales in North America reaching $47.3 billion in 2027, compared with $9.2 billion in 2017. However, growth rates will be even faster in some other countries, notably in Australia, where the legal cannabis market is set to become the fifth largest in the world with a value of $1.2 billion, versus $52 million this year. The world's biggest medicinal cannabis company, Canada-based Canopy Growth Corporation, is now planning to set up its southern hemisphere headquarters in Victoria. It expects to spend $16 million establishing a hub for cultivation and production in Australia with a long-term view of exporting the product.

ADVANCES IN ASIA Singapore, home to some of the strictest drug laws in the world, is now funding research into medical treatments from synthetically derived marijuana compounds, as part of a $25-million initiative to promote the city-state's biotech industry.

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In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, the government is spearheading a plan to cultivate cannabis on 100 acres in north-central Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts. The aim is to export around 25,000 kilogrammes of marijuana to North America. Pending cabinet approval, farmers will be hired by the state and production supervised by the military. "If the private sector is given the green light for cannabis cultivation it will require permits and other regulatory mechanisms will have to be imposed. This way, there will be no need to issue permits, since no private parties are involved," Public Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told the Sunday Observer newspaper. China jumped on the bandwagon a long time ago. Back in the 1970s, the military was looking for a fabric that could keep soldiers clean and dry in tropical conditions. Hemp, a form of cannabis with a low amount of the psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was chosen for its breathable and antibacterial properties. Chinese companies have filed 309 of the 606 patents relating to cannabis since 2014, many for herbal treatments, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation. "The predominance of Chinese patents suggests that pharmaceutical sciences are evolving quickly in China, outpacing Western capabilities," Dr Luc Duchesne, an Ottawa-based businessman and biochemist, wrote in an article for InvestorIntel. "[Chinese traditional medicine] is poised to take advantage of a growing trend." Peter Reynolds, leader of Cannabis Law Reform (Clear), a UK-based campaign group, told The Independent in 2014 that China had another advantage as it is one of the world's largest producers of industrial hemp. Cannabis sativa or hemp has been cultivated in China for centuries, mainly for its strong fibres which can be turned into rope, fabric and paper. "The Chinese are smarter and they are on to all the good ideas," he said. "The potential for cannabis as a medicine is monumental," said Mr Reynolds. Hemp farmer Jiang Xingquan told the South China Morning Post last year that he had set aside 600 hectares on his farm in Heilongjiang province near the Russian border to legally grow cannabis sativa. He sells the stems to textile factories to make high-quality fabric, the leaves to pharmaceutical companies for drugs, and the seeds to food companies to make snacks,

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 84 kitchen oil and drinks. He now earns 10,000 yuan ($1,500) per hectare of marijuana compared to a few thousand yuan for more common crops like corn. "That's pure profit," he told the newspaper, adding that the crop has few natural enemies so there's little need for expensive pesticides. Heilongjiang and Yunnan were the major cannabis growing centres in China long before they were legalised and regulated: Yunnan in 2003 and Heilongjiang in 2016. Together they account for half of the world's legal commercial hemp cannabis cultivation, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. There are no official figures for marijuana production as the Chinese government still classifies the plant as an illicit drug. Anyone with more than 5 kilogrammes of processed marijuana leaves can face the death penalty. Authorities, however, turn a blind eye to farmers growing the low-THC variety of cannabis because it is an important source of income for some. "It's a big figure. It cannot be revealed to the public. Many farms are, strictly speaking, illegal under current law and regulations," said Yang Ming, the head scientist of the cannabis sativa research programme at the Institute of Industrial Crops at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. South Korea, meanwhile, has seen a huge increase in the number of people brining in cannabis products for medical purposes in recent years, despite the risk of five-year jail terms for anyone who gets caught. Last year 80 people were caught bringing in medicinal cannabis products though South Korean airports and seaports, up from 10 cases in 2016, according to the Korea Customs Service. "The current [narcotics control] law doesn't reflect what's going on outside Korea or help sick people who need medical help," Kang Sung-suk of the Organisation for Legalising Medical Cannabis in Korea told The Korea Times in April. DEVELOPMENTS IN THAILAND Thailand, famed for the potent "Thai stick" strain of marijuana prized by American soldiers during the Vietnam war, is now flirting with the idea of legalising cannabis for medicinal use. If it happened, it would be the first country in Asia to do so. The cabinet earlier this year approved a Narcotics Control Board proposal for farmers to grow industrial hemp, or cannabis sativa, in 15 districts of six provinces: Chiang

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Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Tak, Phetchabun and Mae Hong Son. Raw materials processed from hemp can be used for the manufacturing of clothes, bulletproof vests, building materials, food supplements, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. As for medicinal marijuana, the debate is continuing, but it has a very high-profile supporter in Dr Arthit Ouraitat, a former cabinet minister and now rector of Rangsit University. Rangsit researchers obtained permission from the Narcotics Control Board to develop a cannabis extract spray for cancer patients. However, it cannot be brought to the market until the law changes. "Be brave. Let us use medical marijuana legally regardless of the method," Dr Arthit said in April. "It will be your legacy … although you have to use Section 44, I want you to use it for this," he said, referring to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has absolute power under Section 44 of the military-drafted charter, and can continue to exercise it under the new constitution until a new government is formed. "Those who have cancer, they cannot wait. They need the help now, so I think we need to take every shortcut possible," said Dr Arthit. Meanwhile, Thai Cannabis Corporation (TCC), the country's first legal cannabis company, is embarking on a five-year project to cultivate 5,000 hectares of cannabis, in cooperation with Chiang Mai-based Maejo University and the Royal Project Foundation. The company's goal is to establish a low-cost model to grow, harvest and process cannabis plants into oils and extracts to be use by makers of high-quality health and beauty products, packaged food and beverages, nutraceuticals, alternative medicines, traditional medicines, and pharmaceuticals in and outside the country. It will focus on breeding CBD cannabis strains that comply with current Thai law which requires cannabis to contain less than 1% THC. "If and when Thai law enables the company to produce cannabis with THC exceeding 1%, the company will expand its product line accordingly," the company says on its website. Despite cabinet approval last month of a draft bill permitting research into the effects of medicinal cannabis on humans, marijuana is still categorised as a Class 5 narcotic under the 1979 Narcotic Drugs Act. It allows planting for medical purposes but not human trials.

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Recreational use is still illegal in Thailand, with jail terms of up for five years for possession, cultivation and transport of up to 10kg. It is not clear when the National Legislative Assembly will pass the human-research draft bill, but TCC and others are preparing for new developments. One prospective grower and supplier of soil who is now in talks with TCC said the company last month called a first meeting with local farmers in Chiang Mai. He is hoping for the law to take effect by the end of this year. "There weren't any pharmaceutical companies at the meeting as far as I know but there were farmers there who are interested in growing the crop as an alternative," the grower who is known in the industry as "66 Zombies" told Asia Focus. "There is a lot of interest from local farmers and exporters because the choices in export are abundant and can cover a wide range of industries. This will also benefit the farmers because they can grow this alongside their existing crops such as rice without having to stop growing their main crop," he said. Thailand's climate, he believes, is supportive for cannabis sativa L or land-raised hemp. "If we use the local land-raised strain then there is no problem to grow it at all, or you can mix the local strain with CBD from America and Europe and it will work for medical purposes as well. "We are still waiting for the law to tell us exactly when and how much we can grow per year and we have to wait until the end of the year again to find out where. TCC will most likely be one of the first in line to get a licence since it has been involved with research on cannabis sativa alongside the Royal Project Foundation from the start."

Turned off in Asia Conservative social attitudes underlie resistance to legalising marijuana use, though some countries are cautiously exploring medical applications.

Uruguay became the first country to legalise marijuana entirely in July last year. Residents over age 18 can smoke cannabis in public and purchase it either from a pharmacy or harvest a crop of up to six plants.

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Canada last week became the first G7 country to legalise recreational cannabis use with a Senate vote, and commercial sales are expected to start by the fourth quarter of this year. Australia legalised the plant for medicinal use in 2016 and legal recreational use is now being discussed. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has pledged to hold a referendum on pot legalisation before the next general election in 2021. Marijuana laws in many countries in Europe are also relaxed, but Asia is a different story. Recreational use of marijuana is still illegal in all Asian countries with harsh penalties in many. You can be also be sentenced to death if you are considered a trafficker in Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. Given the strict rules applied to users and sellers, it's no surprise that Asia is home to seven of the world's 10 most expensive cities to buy marijuana. A gramme costs US$30.55 in Tokyo and $23.21 in Bangkok, compared with less than $10 in most cities in North America.

One surprising regional exception is Jakarta, where marijuana consumption is high and prices very low at $3.54 a gramme, despite the harsh consequences of being caught. "That illegal cannabis use is so high in countries that still carry the death penalty such as Pakistan and Egypt [should show] those in power … how desperately new legislation is needed," Uri Zeevi, the chief marketing officer of Seedo, told The Guardian. High prices in Japan reflect a tough Cannabis Control Act that punishes use and possession with up to five years' imprisonment, while social sanctions such as job losses and exclusion are common. The Japanese public takes a very dim view of any kind of drug use, with the exception of alcohol. Attitudes are similar in South Korea, where K-pop idol T.O.P. from the boy band Big Bang made headlines after receiving a suspended 10-month jail sentence last year for smoking pot in 2016. He later entered hospital after overdosing on tranquillisers and subsequently was judged unfit to return to service as a conscripted policeman. In Japan, former actress Saya Takagi was arrested in 2016 for marijuana possession after she unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the House of Councillors on a platform to legalise pot for medical purposes. Reruns of her shows have since been scrubbed from

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 88 the networks. She has also been demonised by local media as a "woman of loose morals". Akie Abe, the wife of Japan's prime minister, once said she believed marijuana could be used for medical purposes, but her husband's government thinks otherwise. A hemp farmer in Tottori Prefecture, who became famous when Mrs Abe promoted his product, was arrested in 2016 for marijuana possession, and she has been silent on the issue since then. "The World Health Organization has not acknowledged there are scientific grounds [for legal medical use]," a Japanese health ministry official told Reuters in 2016. "Given that marijuana is already abused, we need to be truly careful." The WHO in fact notes that several studies have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids for nausea and vomiting in the advanced stages of illnesses such as cancer and Aids. "Other therapeutic uses ... are being demonstrated by controlled studies, including treatment of asthma and glaucoma, as an antidepressant, appetite stimulant, anticonvulsant and anti-spasmodic, research in this area should continue," its website says. However, the WHO also points out that the harmful effects of cannabis use have long been recognised, notably impairment of cognitive development and motor coordination. The ability to operate machinery can be impaired for as long as 24 hours after smoking as little as 20 milligrammes of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Authorities in countries where pot is being legalised fear a sharp increase in cannabis-impaired drivers and accidents. According to the US-based National Institute on Drug Abuse, the amount of THC in marijuana has increased dramatically in recent decades. In the mid-1990s, the average THC content of confiscated marijuana was roughly 4%. By 2014, it was about 12%. No one has ever died from overdosing on marijuana but other health risks are substantial. They include damage to the trachea and major bronchi from long-term smoking, lung inflammation and impaired pulmonary defence against infection. Besides health risks, there are also other concerns. "The main risk of cannabis is losing control of your cannabis intake," Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at the Marron Institute at New York University, told Vox, an

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American news website. "That's going to have consequences in terms of the amount of time you spend not fully functional. When that is hours per day times years, that's bad." The perception that marijuana is harmless can actually make users more comfortable falling into a habit of constantly smoking it. The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has that marijuana can even induce schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms, and is potentially harmful to babies in the womb. According to the WHO, cannabis used during pregnancy is associated with impairment in foetal development leading to a reduction in birth weight. So far, however, there is no link between marijuana and cancers in the lung, head and neck as associated with tobacco. Less clear is the role, if any, of marijuana as a "gateway drug" to more harmful substances such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers say a similar case could be made for legal drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol given their easier availability. Asia is just starting to warm to the idea of medical marijuana but acceptance is outweighed by concerns associated with recreational use that remain rooted in conservative social attitudes. However, Singapore is now beginning to do research on medical marijuana. Thailand is preparing to begin controlled cultivation of marijuana for research and medical use, with human testing and legalisation for medical purposes possibly to follow. The Philippines, where thousands have died in a savage anti-drug war, is following a similar path. Penalties for marijuana use and trafficking in selected Asian countries: CHINA: Smokers can be detained for 10-15 days and fined up to 2,000 yuan. First- time offenders sometimes get off with a warning. Heavy users face compulsory addiction treatment. Some trafficking offences carry the death penalty. INDONESIA: Possession, sale and consumption of marijuana punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Trafficking punishable by death. JAPAN: Use and possession punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine. First offenders normally get 6 months. Cultivation, sale and transport punishable by 7- 10 years' imprisonment and a fine. LAOS: Public use punishable by up 12 months in jail or a fine of up to the equivalent

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 90 of US$35,000. MALAYSIA: Possession of 50 grammes or less punishable by 5-10 years in jail. Trafficking, defined as possession of 200 grammes or more, carries the death penalty. PHILIPPINES: First-time users can be sent to rehab for at least 6 months. Repeat offenders can be jailed for 6-12 years. Drug traffickers are sentenced to death. SINGAPORE: Possession or consumption can result in up to 10 years in prison, with a fine up to S$20,000. Trafficking, import or export of more than 500 grammes can result in the death penalty. SOUTH KOREA: Large-scale trafficking can result in the death penalty. The penalty for dealing is 5 years to life, and simple possession is punishable by up to 5 years. THAILAND: Possession, cultivation and transport of up to 10kg of cannabis can result in a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and/or a fine. Possession, cultivation and transport of more than 10kg punishable by 2-15 years in jail and/or a fine. VIETNAM: Users can be sent to mandatory drug detoxification for 2-5 years. Dealing of large quantities is punishable by death.

Illegal software found in 774,000 Mercedes cars

Dieter Zetsche, Daimler AG chairman, arrives at the German Ministry of Transportation in Berlin for a meeting with the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer on Monday. (EPA photo) FRANKFURT: Germany ordered Monday the recall of some 774,000 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler across Europe, citing illegal "defeat devices" designed to conceal high levels of harmful emissions from regulators' tests. "The federal government will order an immediate official recall because of illegal defeat devices," Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said in a statement. The move mostly affects Vito vans and diesel-powered versions of GLC 4x4s and C- class sedans, Scheuer added. Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche was summoned Monday for crunch talks with Scheuer over emissions irregularities in the firm's vehicles.

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"Daimler says the applications in the motor control software the federal government has found fault with will be removed at the greatest possible speed and in cooperative transparency with the authorities," Scheuer said. A Daimler spokesman confirmed the recall and added, "Legal questions will be cleared up in the appeal procedure" against the transport ministry decision. So-called defeat devices were at the heart of Volkswagen's "dieselgate" scandal, in which the world's largest carmaker admitted in September 2015 to installing them in 11 million vehicles worldwide. Vehicles kept to legal emissions limits for harmful substances like nitrogen oxides (NOx) during lab tests, only to exceed them as much as 40 times in on-road driving. The scandal has so far cost the world's largest carmaker over 25 billion euros ($29.5 billion) in fines, buybacks and compensation, and senior executives are under investigation over their suspected roles in the cheating. In the years since 2015, other German carmakers have also been forced to recall vehicles to fix manipulated software, although none has so far admitted to mass cheating as Volkswagen did. Recent weeks have seen Germany's KBA vehicle licensing authority hit Volkswagen subsidiaries Audi and Porsche with mass recall orders over their engine control software, as well as a smaller batch of cars from rival BMW. Prosecutors raided Munich-based BMW in March, saying their investigation was "only just getting started" after gathering evidence, and announced on Monday they suspect Audi chief executive Richard Stadler of fraud. "The whole European car industry is still stuck in this diesel quagmire, and everything that's been done so far has done nothing to set it free," auto industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer of the CAR research centre said - pointing also to Italian and French automakers. The German government should approve hardware, rather than software alterations to manipulated vehicles to produce "an honest solution" to excessive emissions, Dudenhoeffer charged. Otherwise, "car firms will continue to stumble into the future and watch as their reputations are destroyed," he warned. "The pressure is rising, but it's of course up to the politicians" how much progress is

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 92 made, Dudenhoeffer said. For their part, German firms have announced dozens of new electric and hybrid models for the coming years in a bid to bring down emissions of both greenhouse gas CO2 -- the original reason they turned to diesel -- and of harmful NOx. But they continue to bet on the internal combustion engine and diesel into the future, with Daimler and component maker Bosch recently touting upgraded diesel technology they say solves the motors' exhaust issues.

TMB Bank issues first-ever 'green bonds' worth $60m TMB Bank has issued green bonds, the country's first bond to finance environment-related projects, worth US$60 million (1.85 billion baht).

The bank has largely offered the seven-year green bonds to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with proceeds arising from the bond issuance to be used to finance climate-related projects and contribute to sustainable development, said chief executive Piti Tantakasem.

Funds from the bond offering are to be lent to renewable energy and energy- efficiency projects benefiting both the economy and the environment, he said.

TMB also aims to expand its green lending portfolio under guidance and support from the IFC to 15 billion baht in the next five years, up from 9 billion.

Vivek Pathak, IFC's director for East Asia and the Pacific, said TMB is the first financial institution in Thailand and the second bank in Asia-Pacific to issue green bonds. IFC also supported the Philippine Bank, which was the first in the region to float green bonds six months ago.

IFC, a member of World Bank Group, has collaborated with Amundi, Europe's largest asset manager, to set up a green bond fund with investments focused on emerging

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 93 markets.

TMB, the country's seventh-largest lender by assets, plans to offer another batch of bonds worth $90 million to IFC, to support the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending programme. TMB and IFC have a long-standing relationship supporting local enterprises under the SME loan programme.

In related news, Mr Piti said the bank's total loan growth for the first five months of the year fell short of target due to slower-than-expected SME loan growth.

A new SME loan analysis model, based on data analytics, is a key factor slowing down the bank's loan expansion, he said, and more time is needed to master the new model.

"If we want to achieve our total loan growth target of 8-10% this year, we can do it by growing corporate loans which offer minimal yields," Mr Piti said. "But the bank will meet the lower-end of the target by focusing on SMEs under a data-driven-lending model to sustain the business segment in the long term."

TMB typically strives to divest itself of bad loans on a quarterly basis to limit the non- performing loan ratio to 2.6% by year-end.

TMB shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 2.48 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 354 million baht.

Upgrading energy into cans

Mr Sathien sees a future in marketing green apple-flavoured energy drinks to youth. SOMCHAI POOMLARD Carabao Group is seeking to market energy drinks, long a mainstay of the working class, to high-spending younger consumers by packing new flavours in cans rather

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 94 than in traditional bottles, a concept previously introduced by the company in Britain but unexplored by Thai producers in the domestic market.

Sathien Setthasit, founder and chief executive of Carabao Group, said the company will issue 3 billion baht worth of 2% interest rate debentures next month (out of a possible 5 billion authorised by the board).

Part of the proceeds will be used for business expansion, and the rest will be used to pay down debt, which climbed to 3 billion baht in 2017 from around 1 billion in the previous year.

Carabao has burning through cash at an impressive clip in order to fuel its growth abroad and build capacity at home. The company went from 1.3 billion baht in cash in hand in 2015 to a little under 150 million baht at the beginning of 2018, after putting the capital down for two factories and becoming a major sponsor of two English football teams.

Mr Sathien also invested in an additional factory for alcoholic drinks through a separate private company, Tawandang Co.

Canning the competition

The can, which will contain the green apple flavour launched by the company in Europe, will retail at 25 baht, more than twice as expensive as their traditional drink, but on par with imported Red Bull cans.

Mr Sathien said cans are 20% more expensive for the company than bottles, but the cost will reduce when the company's can factory comes online in the last quarter of the year.

Energy drink producers have been locked at the 10-baht-per-can price point for a decade.

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"Ten is a magic number because consumers perceive it as cheap and you don't need change," he said.

The low price is part of the reason why energy drinks have retained their image as the working man's drink in Thailand.

Then there is history. Energy drinks in Thailand have been on the market for close to 50 years, when Krating Daeng (Red Bull) was introduced to the market in 1975.

"Energy drinks, and similar products that came after, were sold to construction workers and other people doing physical labour, and the perception stuck. When the drinks were introduced into other markets they were intentionally marketed to the young and well-off," said Mr Sathien.

While the cans carry a larger profit than their bottled counterparts, the move is not primarily driven by profit considerations. The more expensive format will remain a relatively small part of Carabao's 7.8 billion baht in domestic sales revenue. The company will target 1 million cans for the first three months.

"The potential market is 12 million cans per year, but it may grow once we introduce the product and other players enter the segment," he said.

At 12 million cans a year, the segment will still be less than 1% of the 3.5-billion-baht bottle energy drink market, said Mr Sathien.

Cans may not provide a huge boost to Carabao's declining bottom line, but sales abroad, where high-priced drinks form the bulk of the market, may. The company's stock dropped 50% from October of last year, driven by lower than expected results for 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.

Sales abroad represent 60% of the company's top line (up from 40% last year), and

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 96 will represent a larger portion as the Chinese market expands. Chinese consumers buy only one-fifth as many energy drinks as consumers in most developed markets.

Carabao expects revenue of 15 billion baht in 2018, up from 13 billion last year.

"The story is completely different elsewhere," Mr Sathien said. The energy drink market is growing in double-digits worldwide, and drinks can fetch close to 100 baht per bottle in Western markets. Energy drinks, because of their price as premium products, mainly cater to a younger crowd.

While the rework may not, by itself, work financial wonders at home, he said it will serve to refresh the brand, which also sells branded water and coffee.

Products other than energy drinks (including those produced by third parties) have been growing as a percentage of the company's revenue, as the Thai energy drink market experienced its first contraction in 2017. Mr Sathien said the company will introduce other branded products this year, but did not provide further details.

Cheers to the future

Alcoholic drinks may prove the best insurance against the uncertain energy drink market.

Introduced two months ago, Mr Sathien's white spirit already sells close to 3 million 60-baht bottles in the domestic market. White spirits, he clarified, are produced under his Tawandang distillery, a private corporate entity housed alongside Carabao's headquarters.

The distillery, with capacity of 150,000 litres per day, is the largest in Thailand.

"We are ready to produce vodka, whisky, brandy and other spirits tomorrow if we desire," he said.

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Big firms support 500 TukTuks Push to make Thai innovation hub

Krating Poonpol, right, co-founder of 500 TukTuks, with executives from Central Group, TCP Group, Thairath Group, Saha Group, and the South East Insurance Company. Five Thai corporations have invested in 500 TukTuks, the local operating unit of US venture capital 500 Startups, aiming to make Thailand an innovation and deep tech destination in Southeast Asia.

The five companies are Central Group, TCP Group, Thairath Group, Saha Group, and the South East Insurance Company.

By 2023, 500 TukTuks aims to build at least seven local startups that each have a valuation of more than US$100 million (3.21 billion baht), making the country more attractive to big tech investors.

To attract big investment in tech startups, Thailand must have "centaurs", startups that have a valuation of more than $100 million, showcasing high competency and their potential here, said Krating Poonpol, managing partner of 500 TukTuks.

The country only has seed round funding for startups, for less than $1 million, and few series A rounds for valuations above $1 million, creating a bottleneck for growth, he said.

Thailand needs to have more series B and C funding rounds to draw bigger deals with higher valuations.

Local startups need to innovate, not copy ideas, and go beyond the domestic market to Southeast Asia, said Mr Krating.

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The government needs to execute regulations to facilitate foreign venture capital and startups in Thailand by speeding up the smart visa approval process.

The valuation of startups in Thailand is 20-30% lower than Singapore because of barriers to doing business.

Mr Krating said in the first year of 500 TukTuks, which opened three years ago, it invested 400 million baht from a total fund of 550 million in 50 startups, mostly seed stage funding.

Of the startups the company invested in, 47% of startups successfully raised funding of almost 7 billion baht and created at least 10,000 jobs.

"In 2018, we believe that 500 TukTuks can help at least 2-3 startups reach a valuation of $100 million each," he said.

Mr Krating said 500 TukTuks will expand investment in series A funding for not only digitally disruptive technology but also deep tech startups that heavily rely on R&D.

The company will invest in food tech, e-commerce related areas, travel, agritech, logistics, fintech, health, energy, property tech, insurtech, artificial intelligence, and biotech.

"We will consider more startups that can work with our corporate investors," he said.

500 TukTuks wants to invest in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

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APPENDIX C NEWS REPORTS IN THE OPINION SECTION Paradise in jeopardy

I get to know people when I travel for work, but I rarely see them again in person because each time I travel, I go to someplace different. Earlier this year, however, as I was about to leave a tourism fair, I bumped into the owner of a resort on Koh Mak, the island of Trat province famous for its efforts to become a "low-carbon destination". Then, a couple weeks ago, I met him by chance again on a Bangkok street. This time we arranged to set a date for another meeting after work a week later, so we could have more time to catch up. He wanted to tell me about something going on in his beloved island that is not publicly known, something not so pretty. Since Koh Mak is a small island and every resort operator knows one another, he asked me not to reveal his identity. So let's call him Somchai. "When people think of Koh Mak, they picture a pristine island free of environmentally damaging tourism activities and developments," said Somchai during our meet over noodles. "But what people see in the media is not the full picture."

He explained that, unlike what outsiders may think, the five local families that own most land and resorts on Koh Mak are not on good terms with one another. They are divided into two groups, each with a certain amount of political power. "One group takes control of the TAO [tambon municipality organisation] while the other has a member in the kamnan position." A kamnan is the head of a tambon, which is made up of villages. Koh Mak is designated as a tambon. The divide results in a lack of co-operation between the two sides. "When one side holds a meeting, it's not a surprise that the other will not attend," Somchai said, adding that each group makes sure that projects supported by agencies like the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration, as well as the publicity that comes with them, benefit their members first.

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According to Somchai, there are also changes on Koh Mak that visitors who spend just a few days on the island may not notice. "The main road has been widened, from 4m to 6m. At the same time, there's no space left for proper sidewalks," he said, adding that new buildings were also constructed too close to the road. "The wider lanes naturally tempt the drivers to go faster, making the road more dangerous," he said, adding that over the past few years he has seen the number of motorcycles and pickups continually rising. "Accidents and conflicts are increasing. And when a problem happens, the police dare not do anything. Everybody is connected to one of the political groups," he lamented, adding that drug use is not uncommon. By the time we finished our noodles, Somchai revealed to me a few other things, which I cannot write about. The most important, however, is that the local people must leave their rivalry behind and genuinely work together to make sure Koh Mak will always maintain its "low-carbon" practice, as well as the rustic, natural charm that makes the island a dream destination for travellers from around the world.

Government must stop waste piling up

Police check some of the mountains of electronic waste at a recycling plant at Klong Luang, Pathum Thani province. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu) Thailand aspires to become a global kitchen; a top supplier of food to the rest of the world. It also aspires to become a tourism, hospitality, aviation and wellness hub for the region -- if not the world -- to mention just some government objectives.

There is another aspiration which is not mentioned in any promotional brochures -- that it wants to become the world's biggest dump site for electronic and plastic trash.

So imported industrial waste is welcome in Thailand just like the way we embrace tourists and criminals in the guise of tourists who arrive for short visits without the need of a visa.

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China stands out as the country which has taken advantage of this misguided, misconceived and blind policy of allowing electronic trash and plastic trash to be imported into Thailand since China itself banned similar imports into its soil last year.

In the last year alone, as many as 100,000 tonnes of mostly electronic trash were shipped in containers into Thailand, mostly through Laem Chabang deep-sea port, for separation and recycling at local factories -- several of them run by Chinese businessmen -- in the eastern region or the Eastern Economic Corridor which is now being touted by the government as the new economic powerhouse that will propel Thailand into a new era of prosperity.

But the 100,000 tonnes of Chinese industrial trash may be just a very conservative estimate judging by the recent finding that one recycling plant in Samut Prakan, which was raided by police and officials from the Industrial Works Department, had a permit to import about 20,000 tonnes of plastic scraps into the country for recycling.

Why are industrial waste and electronic trash, in particular, allowed to be imported while the country itself is incapable of properly disposing of the waste that is generated domestically?

According to data from the Industrial Works Department, domestic industrial waste over the past five years has soared to 16 million tonnes, including 2.8 million tonnes of hazardous trash or 7.48% with the rest being non-hazardous.

But only 10% of this mountain of trash has been disposed of through incineration or landfill.

So what has happened to the remaining 90%?

It is left exposed to sunshine and rain in the open yards of recycling plants, in filled- up landfills or simply dumped illegally in any open and un-barricaded space.

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The last few weeks saw police and officials from the Industrial Works and Pollution Control departments raid several recycling plants in Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan and Pathum Thani.

Irregularities were found in many of the recycling plants.

One was found to have a permit for a recycling facility in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan, but the actual plant was built in Chachoengsao province.

Others falsely declared electronic trash as plastic trash to elude tighter controls and the requirement for a treatment facility to contain hazardous substances which it allowed to leak into the environment.

Those which were found to be operating without a licence were shut down. But this belated tough action does not address the problem at its root cause as far as imported industrial waste is concerned.

The government's open-arms policy to imported industrial waste has spawned a string of recycling plants opened with Chinese investment and run by Chinese owners.

My question to the government, the Industrial Works Department which granted the licenses and other governmental agencies which promote foreign investment is: What benefits will Thailand gain from this misguided policy? How much will the recycling plants contribute to our economy? How many jobs will they create?

But I have my answer. The imported trash does not benefit the country or the people at all.

It is a burden, a threat to our environment and the health of the people living near the dumping grounds or recycling facilities.

And the one effective way to address this problem is to ban its import for good and

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 103 immediately, which will make life easier for customs officials.

There is more than enough domestically generated industrial trash to be disposed of by our recycling facilities.

If new permits are to be granted for new recycling plants, the Industrial Works Department must make sure they must only recycle locally-generated waste.

Touching on the trash issue last week, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government has always paid attention to the issue and he had instructed agencies concerned to address the problem.

But that is not enough. To begin with, imports of industrial waste for recycling, or whatever reason, must stop now for good.

Then focus should be directed to addressing home-made industrial waste and garbage in general, plastic in particular, which has increasingly become a real threat not just to us, but to the world in general.

Act now Mr prime minister and I am sure you will win support from many people.

Opportunity e-wasted

As if plastics were not threatening enough to the environment, officials have finally woken up to the danger of the most dangerous of all the common pollutants. After years of turning their heads, police and government now are discovering the great environmental disaster from discarded electronics.

Right under the eyes of officials appointed to know better, the nation has become one of the world's great dumping grounds for downright dangerous, discarded mobile phones, PCs, CDs, game boxes and a hundred other items from the massive mobile and internet supply lines.

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As dandy as the 35-year-old tech revolution has been, the fallout that has hit Thailand has environment-harming results that endanger all Thais. Tens of thousands of tonnes of this worn-out, downgraded, broken or just discarded tech junk has hit and continues to hit Thai shores. Last year, three countries -- Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore -- offloaded 53,000 tonnes of this junk on Thailand. Dozens of other countries also ship their tech garbage here.

At first, this programme had a point. It was authorised -- and still is -- by the Department of Industrial Works, under the nominal supervision of the Ministry of Industry. Thailand already produces hundreds of tonnes of such e-waste itself. Business interests convinced the government Thailand could become a world leader in recycling electronic junk from around the world. The DIW, without public fanfare, issued the first licences.

Right there is where this now highly dangerous proposal and project should have stopped. It should have been clear, and in fact was clear to many experts in the environmental field, that the government had taken a huge misstep. The idea of recycling electronic waste was excellent. Allowing business to proceed without strong regulations and stronger enforcement put this programme off the rails. It is questionable whether it can be successfully redeemed.

It was entirely predictable that when the door was opened to import some, manageable amounts of e-waste for recycling that there would be a fast and furious onslaught of illegal imports. Smuggling of imported tech waste is now actually big business, not to mention a source of corruption at the Laem Chabang port.

The scale of the graft is unknown for now, but it is clear that authorised and unauthorised shipments are mixed, and virtually nothing is rejected.

The promise was for modern recycling plants, using carefully regulated measures and trained staff to handle highly dangerous, usually toxic waste. Without scrupulously enforced regulations, the inevitable occurred. Gimcrack factories using cheap, usually

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 105 migrant labour sprung up. The result in some areas of Chachoengsao and Ayutthaya provinces is farmland polluted with toxic material as if the recyclers had salted the earth.

There now may be only one solution: a total ban on importing e-waste. Indeed, some environmental groups already are recommending this.

It is an extreme measure, and would certainly cause harm to the seven companies which have licences to handle e-waste. But it would also, quite properly, put out of business the unauthorised and dangerous mini-factories handling e-waste in a most cavalier and risky way. Thais toss away plenty of electronics every year -- batteries and circuit boards are particularly toxic for workers and the environment. But there is not enough for the seven factories entrusted with handling such e-waste safely.

Arguably the worst part of the current situation is that it didn't occur quickly. While it is coming to public attention now, the problem has been well know. Farmers have complained their fields have suffered. Tech experts and pollution authorities warned that e-waste is different from standard rubbish and requires special handling.

The idea of raising Thailand as a regional or world hub of e-waste handling and recycling was credible and deserved support. The manner in which it has been handled has created health risks and a regulatory mess that was never necessary.

Trump delusional on free trade

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, on Saturday. (EPA photo) Halfway across the Pacific Ocean, US President Donald Trump heard the closing statements from the G7 summit in Quebec (which he had left early to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in Singapore).

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All the G7 countries had signed up to an anodyne closing communique that papered over the huge gap between the United States and the other six on world trade -- but Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then said once again that he would answer Mr Trump's big new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports with new Canadian tariffs hitting US exports just as hard.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. He had said it before, including to Mr Trump's face just the previous day. The other national leaders present in Quebec said exactly the same thing, and none of them had changed their positions before the final communique was agreed. But Mr Trump flew into a rage. No jumped-up leader of a rinky-dink country like Canada was going to get away with talking to the president of the United States like that. Mr Trump retracted his endorsement of the joint communique, called Mr Trudeau "very dishonest and weak", and hinted heavily that his next target would be Canada's car-making industry (which is almost completely integrated with its US counterpart). No surprises here. The other countries of what used to be called "the West" have grown used to Mr Trump's tweeted outbursts, and French President Emmanuel Macron restricted himself to saying that "international co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks". True enough, but what also needs to be said loudly and often (but generally isn't) is that the whole confrontation over trade is irrelevant to Mr Trump's real political concern, which is vanishing American jobs. He's not just barking up the wrong tree on this issue; he is baying at the moon. Mr Trump's line is that the very high unemployment rate in the United States (which he is almost alone among American politicians in acknowledging) has been caused by free trade. The evil foreigners took advantage of gullible Americans to make free trade deals, and then lured ruthless American manufacturers to relocate their factories in their low-wage homelands. This only made sense for American manufacturers if there was more or less free trade between their new base and the United States, so that they could still sell their

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 107 products back home without tariffs. For Mr Trump, therefore, free trade is the mother of all evils. But while more than a million American jobs did get sent abroad like that in the 1990s, very few have been exported in the past 15 years. In the first decade of the 21st century, the United States lost one-third of all its manufacturing jobs, and the vast majority of them were killed by automation. They didn't "go" anywhere. They just vanished. It happened first in what became known as the Rust Belt, because that was the main centre of assembly-line industry in the US. Assembly lines, which break a complex task down into a series of simple and highly repetitive actions, are the easiest thing in the world to automate. Job destruction then slowed down until other new computer-driven technologies matured: self-driving vehicles, on-line shopping, "dark" factories and warehouses. But they are ready now, and the carnage in retail jobs, driving jobs and warehouse jobs is just getting underway. To worry about free trade while this is going on is pure folly. Not only has the "offshoring" of jobs virtually stopped, but there is a new phenomenon called "reshoring". Some American manufacturers are bringing their factories home, because with full automation you have to hire only one-tenth of the high-paid American workers you used to employ, and by reshoring you get to work in a predictable legal environment in your own language. Mr Trump can do a lot of damage to employment both elsewhere and in the United States by launching a trade war, but he cannot "bring the jobs back". They are gone for good, and a lot more will follow. Automation may be slowed down here and there for a while, but eventually it will eliminate at least half the existing jobs -- and the notion that it will create equivalent numbers of new good jobs is an amiable myth. So while the leaders of other rich countries will have to divert some attention and effort to coping with the negative impacts of Mr Trump's trade war, they must not let that become their obsession too. It's a side issue, though potentially a very expensive one. In Canada, in France, in Japan, in all the developed countries, the real problem is the same as it is in the US: the inexorable advance of automation and the resulting

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 108 haemorrhage of jobs. So devote most of your attention to that, and only respond to Mr Trump's declaration of trade war to the extent that is politically unavoidable. In the end, you'll be glad you did.

Trump, Kim can learn lots from city-state

Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister and head of the People's Action Party (PAP), which now is seen as the movement to join in order to get ahead. (File photo) US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are spending such a short amount of time in Singapore this week. Maybe they should stick around longer to see what makes its economy tick. Singapore is an especially wealthy nation, with a per capita income of about US$90,000 (2.8 million baht), well above that of the US. But how is this prosperity maintained, and why has Singapore commanded so much admiration from liberals and conservatives alike?

Singapore has many features shared by other wealthy countries, such as a high capital stock, a predictable legal environment and a well-educated workforce, but what are some of the less common factors behind its success? Strikingly, Singapore is one of the few countries where there is brain drain into the public sector. This stems partly from the high salaries paid. Top bureaucrats typically receive more than their American equivalents, and cabinet level pay may exceed $800,000, with bonuses attached that can double that sum for excellent performance. Yet it's not just about the money. Since independence in 1965, Singaporean leaders have cultivated an ethos of public service in the bureaucracy. The country moved from being relatively corrupt to having one of the best ratings on transparency indexes. There are now complex and overlapping incentives whereby top public sector workers are paid well, respected highly, and develop the personal networks for advancement in either the public or private sectors.

I've met a number of times with Singaporean government officials, and I've always been impressed with their state-of-the-art social science knowledge. The participants typically have top educational backgrounds (doctorates from Harvard or Princeton are

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 109 common, and now two of Singapore's universities have achieved world class status). Their analysis is pragmatically geared toward finding the right answer or at least a workable solution. I view the development of Singaporean civil service culture as one of the world's great managerial and political success stories of the last 50 years, though it remains underdiscussed in the West. Singapore also mixes many of the virtues of both small and big government. The high quality of the civil service means it gets "good government", which pleases many liberals and progressives. The high quality of the decision-making means Singapore often looks to market incentives -- congestion pricing for the roads is one example of many -- which pleases conservatives and libertarians. Singapore's health-care system has been praised by both liberals and conservatives. The country has some of the world's best health outcomes, while spending only about 5% of gross-domestic product on the medical sector, as compared with more than 17% in the US. A statist perspective would emphasise that the government owns most of the hospitals, but market-oriented economists would stress that the hospitals are instructed to compete with one another. Is Singapore a small government or a big government country? The correct answer is both. Government spending is about 17% of GDP, which makes it look small and helps hold down taxes, which is good for business and productivity. But if you look at stocks rather than flows, the government owns shares in many critical Singapore businesses, plus it de facto controls lucrative sovereign wealth funds. The government claims ownership of the land, although it allows for active markets for transferring rights of use. All of these resources give the government the ability and credibility to get things done. One of the most common caricatures of Singapore is as an authoritarian state where you can be tossed in jail for chewing gum. The government does still regulate chewing gum, in part because it was being used to jam the sensors on subway doors. But is this so different from a wide array of proscribed substances and public health regulations elsewhere? These days, it is best to think of Singapore as a democracy with legitimate elections, although it is a democracy with some restrictions on political entry and political

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 110 speech. The most significant barrier to entry probably is that the dominant political party, the People's Action Party, has amassed so much talent, and is such a vehicle for career advancement, that potential competitors find it hard to mount serious challenges. Overall, I see the government of Singapore as more responsive to public opinion than the federal government in the US, or the European Union. You don't have to approve of everything that goes on in Singapore to grasp what a unique and successful blend of political and economics the nation has created

Using technology to fill the gap in welfare delivery

Machines already handle a portion of the work in the welfare chain such as keeping track of payments on cards, but technology can be further harnessed to make welfare more efficient and more honest. (Bangkok Post file photo) The threat of digitally disruptive technologies has caused many people to grow concerned as they fret about disappearing jobs due to greater automation and advanced technology replacing humans on factory floors, in offices and elsewhere. But such technology can also work wonders to improve the country's welfare delivery system. Better yet, it can be designed to help prevent fraud and corruption.

There are two major problems in the welfare delivery system. Firstly, there is a loophole in identifying welfare recipients, which can open the window to graft. This was evidenced in a number of cases involving centres aimed at assisting and protecting the destitute under the Social Development and Human Security Ministry. The first such case was exposed earlier this year by a Mara Sarakham University student working as an intern at a centre in Khon Kaen.

The centres were set up nationwide to help the impoverished receive state payments of up to 3,000 baht in cash, which are issued three times a year. During her internship, the student and her colleagues were ordered to write fake signatures on the receipts for the money. It was understood that the cash did not get to the destitute but into officials’ own pockets for their personal use.

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The ministry subsequently announced it would shift the method of payment from cash to bank account transfers. This, however, may not be enough to close the loophole if we look into another embezzlement case involving the Sema Phatthana Chiwit Fund under the Education Ministry, which offers scholarships to girls at risk of becoming victims of prostitution.

The fund directly transfers the scholarships into the eligible students' bank accounts. But many students did not receive the money as a high-ranking official who served as assistant to the secretariat of the fund committee was found to have secretly used 22 bank accounts registered in the names of her relatives and friends. Over the space of a decade, the official stole a whopping 88 million baht from the fund.

The second problem with our welfare system is its efficiency, or lack thereof. While the government seems to regard bank transfers as more convenient with less room for corruption creeping in compared to the use of cash, this may not really be the case.

According to the World Bank's The Little Data Book on Financial Inclusion 2018, some 81% of Thai people hold accounts with financial institutions. This means nearly 20% of the Thai population, or roughly 13 million people, will not have access to state welfare that is delivered through these institutions.

Some basic requirements for opening a bank account may explain why a significant number of people still lack access to this service. One requirement is that they must show up in person to start an account, which could prove a major obstacle for people who have difficulty with mobility such as the elderly and disabled, as well as those living in remote areas. Another requirement is that they produce an identification document, which is an issue for homeless people and those whose nationality still needs to be legally verified. Such requirements effectively lock these people out of the system even though they are among the most in need of help.

The good news is there are at least three technologies that can be adopted to improve our current welfare delivery system, namely digital IDs, e-money and blockchain.

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The use of digital IDs is now being studied by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry as a way to verify the eligibility of fund recipients, with or without regular ID cards. This has many advantages over conventional ID cards including the possibility of tracing their usage and updating information so the authority will know immediately when a person changes status and is no longer eligible for state welfare.

E-money, when linked to digital IDs, is a system for recipients with or without a bank account as the money will be transferred through their mobile phone or other devices. All digital IDs and transaction histories can then be stored on a blockchain to keep a permanent and immutable record in a way that preempts fraud.

People with both a bank account and an ID card can receive state-issued welfare through existing channels like PromptPay. ID card holders who do not have a bank account may be issued with digital IDs and receive welfare via e-money. The government can create digital IDs using various factors such as face- or voice- recognition software for those who do not have ID cards or bank accounts, and pay them using e-money.

With this proposed mechanism, the government can provide welfare directly to targeted groups and prevent the abuse of welfare funds. Big data and AI can also be employed to detect any irregularities in the system.

After setting up the proper privacy protection, the public can even help monitor transaction sand be offered rewards as an incentive if fraud is detected, using smart contracts and e-money.

Does B3 trillion budget add up to political gain?

National Legislative Assembly members Dr Thamrong Thassanayachalee (left) and Gen Chalee Chanrueng were caught resting their eyes during the budget speech by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week.

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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's outrage over the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members who were spotted dozing off during the 2019 budget deliberations last Thursday seems like an overreaction.

The prime minister threatened he would blacklist those who fell asleep and told NLA president Pornpetch Witchitcholchai to make sure there are no reoccurrences of snoozing during meetings. He also lashed out the media for their editorial decision to splash the shameful photos across their front pages.

In fact, there was no need for the prime minister to be so annoyed if even half of the NLA had slept through the proceedings. The new budget bill, accounting for a record three trillion baht, would still have sailed through. Thursday's vote attested to this as 197 out of 200 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, with three abstentions. There was not a single "no".

But I believe the media paid due attention to the deliberations. This was why they seized on the images of the lawmakers during their work.

So, why is this bill so important?

First of all, it is the first time that Thailand's annual budget has reached three trillion baht. Under the budget for 2019 fiscal year, revenue is projected at 2.55 trillion baht with a deficit of 450 billion baht funded by loans. Thailand's budgets have been in deficit for more than a decade.

The 2019 budget bill is also the second consecutive year that the military government has cut the education budget while continuing to increase the amounts set aside for defence and security.

The Education Ministry's budget has been reduced by 21 billion baht, or 4%, this year to 489.8 billion baht. This means the education budget in 2019 is lower than it was in 2015 when it was 498 billion baht. In 2018, the education budget shrank by three

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 114 billion baht from the 2017 budget.

For decades, Thailand's education budget increased annually before it was cut for the first time in 2018.

Thailand's spending on education is among the highest in the world as a proportion of the national budget. Although the value of this spending has been ambiguous, the government should elaborate on its reasoning for the cut given the substantial increases for defence and security.

In its first reading of the budget bill, the NLA gave the green light to a 20% increase in the national security budget for the 2019 fiscal year. Some 274 billion baht was spent on national security last year, and this will rise to 329.1 billion baht in 2019.

The budget for the Interior Ministry increases by 17.5 billion baht, or 5%, to 373.5 billion from 2018.

And the Defence Ministry will enjoy an increase of five billion baht, or 2.3%, to 227.7 billion baht.

Meanwhile, the budgets for competitiveness building and human resource development, which are part of the education cluster, have been reduced by 14.7% and 2.6% respectively.

The above-mentioned budget decisions do not reflect the government's policy direction. Previously, the Prayut government said it aspired to accelerate Thailand's transition into the 4.0 world of technology and new media, yet it is reducing the budget promoting competitiveness, human resource development and education while substantially increase the budget for defence and security.

Yes, some may argue that the huge amount of budget allocated to education is not well-spent. But neither is the defence budget.

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There are many cases that show problems with the armed forces' and security agencies' weapons procurement.

Another interesting point about the 2019 budget bill is that it will be effective from October, shortly ahead of a general election expected in February next year or a few months later. So, it shouldn't go unremarked upon that the budget specifically earmarks 40 billion baht for the Prayut-initiated Pracharat welfare fund to be shared among the grassroots.

This fund will facilitate a round of cash injections into the pockets of low-income earners in the 2019 fiscal year.

I try to be optimistic. There may be good intentions behind the regime's decision to allocate the budget in this way. But I cannot help but be suspicious of the political gains it will reap from the bill.

Under the budget time frame, the new round of money injected into the poorest, but most politically valuable, areas is expected to coincide with the final election campaign period next year.

And all of this is why it's so vital that the media shine a light on the slumbering lawmakers who have so willingly waved this budget through.

A summit win, or mere status quo?

A worker at the Singapore media centre set up for Tuesday's summit between the US and North Korea shows fans featuring the images of US President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, provided as a gift for journalists in a media kit. (Reuters photo)

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If the Singapore meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un had been a zero- sum game, then Trump definitely lost. But maybe it wasn't. Mr Kim got a meeting with Mr Trump on terms of strict equality right down to the number of flags on display, which is a huge boost for his regime's claim to legitimacy. He persuaded Mr Trump to end America's annual joint military exercises with South Korea (and even got Trump to call them "war games" and say they were "provocative", which no US spokesman has ever done before).

And he got Mr Trump to accept North Korea's deliberately vague language about the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", with no specific reference to North Korea's nuclear weapons, let alone any talk of dismantling them. In fact, the agreement they signed talked about "re-affirming" North Korea's denuclearisation pledge, so obviously no progress there. This is several light years distant from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's pre-summit definition of the US goal as "permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction", which must happen "without delay". There's no cause for surprise here. Mr Trump is not a great deal-maker; he's a man who is accomplished at playing the role of a great deal-maker. The reality is more like the contract he signed with Tony Schwartz, who ghost-wrote The Art of the Deal, the book that made him famous: 50% of the advance, 50% of royalties, and equal billing on the cover. Mr Schwartz was as surprised and pleased then as Mr Kim undoubtedly is now. If Mr Trump had had a little more time in Singapore, he could have bought a T-shirt saying "My president went to Singapore and all I got was this lousy T-shirt", then taken it home to give to the American people. He would have needed a bigger apology-gift for the South Korean government, which was blindsided by Mr Trump's spur-of-the-moment promise to stop the joint military exercises. "We need to find out the exact meaning or intention behind his comments at this point," Seoul said in an unmistakably sulky tone of voice. But this was not really a negotiation. It was a show, staged for the benefit of the two main participants, and they both got what they came for. They were bound to get it, since they had the power to define the meeting as either a success or a failure.

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Naturally, they said it was a success, but that doesn't mean it was actually a failure. All this zero-sum game nonsense is irrelevant to what is really happening here, or at least could happen in the months to come: the gradual acceptance by the US that North Korea is irreversibly a nuclear weapons power, although a small one, and the negotiation of some basic rules for this new relationship between two nuclear powers of radically different size. Diplomatic and military experts have been saying for years there is no way that North Korea will ever give up its nuclear weapons. The whole country lived on short rations for a generation to get them, and Mr Kim is well aware of what happened to dictators who didn't have nukes, like Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. The experts are right, but they do not see this situation as necessarily a cause for panic. After all, more evenly matched pairs of nuclear powers, like India and Pakistan, or the US and Russia, have managed to avoid nuclear war for decades. Nuclear deterrence, as Bernard Brodie pointed out more than 70 years ago, works even when there is a huge disparity in the number of weapons possessed by the two sides. If North Korea has even a marginal ability to destroy one US city with a nuclear weapon, the US is effectively deterred from using nuclear weapons against it. North Korea is and will remain deterred from attacking the US, because it would be utterly destroyed in a massive American counter-strike. So the deterrence is mutual and relatively stable, barring huge technological surprises or crazy or suicidal leaders. That is the destination the US-North Korean relationship is heading for, because it is the only one that reality permits. Mr Kim is almost certainly seeking it quite consciously, although it's unlikely that Mr Trump has ever thought of it in these terms. Indeed, there is some evidence that he is not even clear on the basic concept of deterrence. No matter. That's what Mr Trump is heading for, and by the time he gets there he will undoubtedly think that it was his goal all along. There will be more meetings, probably including Mr Kim visiting the White House, and the two countries will move, slowly and crabwise, towards the mutual deterrence that will define their future relationship.

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Time for new chapter in tackling poverty

A child holds a banner urging the government to solve land problems for the poor during a protest last month. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu) Over the past years the government has boasted of numerous economic advances, including an increase in GDP figures. Yet this does not necessarily bode well for its plan to tackle poverty. In fact, these achievements have exacerbated economic inequality, with farmers now marginalised at the bottom of the social spectrum.

A study by the Bank of Thailand's Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research (Pier) shows that the country's poverty problem is deep-rooted and can't be solved by superficial measures aimed at political gains. On the contrary, such measures worsen the problem. Unless it is rightly addressed, this will become a political time bomb that will throw the country into crisis when it goes off.

According to the survey, 40% of farming households are living below the poverty line, set at 32,000 baht (US$995) a year, with the sector's low income and higher debt a drag on the country's economic growth. Farmers' annual per capita income stood at 57,032 baht last year, just shy of the government's 2021 target of 60,000 baht. Some 66% of their income comes from farming. Meanwhile, 30% of farming households are struggling with debt that exceeds their average farming income on a per-person basis. Another 10% have debt equivalent to three times their farming income and half have debt equivalent to 60% of their income.

It's sad to know that the people who produce our food earn so little, with so many living below the poverty line.

The survey indicated a spate of challenges that lie ahead including the ageing population of farmers. Labourers in the agricultural sector aged from 40-60 increased significantly in decade from 2003-2013, jumping from 39% to 49% of the workforce. Over the same period, younger farmers aged 15-40 declined from 48% to 32% of the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 119 total labour force. This comes as little surprise given the hardship and low income the trade offers.

Such a trend is worrisome. The farming sector is occupied by older farmers who typically lack the ability to innovate (or even produce, given their age) which would add quality to their products. Not to mention that a looming labour shortage could pose a threat to the country's food security; or that the farming sector could be controlled by a few giants, or multinationals, who could therefore dictate prices.

Most Thai governments in modern history have introduced assistance packages with the hope of eradicating poverty and the focus has usually been on the farming sector. Fugitive former premier Yingluck Shinawatra came up with a rice-pledging scheme that offered rice at prices 50% higher than the market rate (normal pledging prices are set at about 20% above the market to help out during the harvest season).

The current Prayut Chan-o-cha administration opted to give farmers cash, either in the form of a subsidy to help cover the cost of production or as compensation for damages from natural disasters or calamities. Yet that kind of assistance is unsustainable and can't ultimately help farmers stand on their own two feet.

With a mind to putting people first, the regime claims it has allocated 14% of the 2019 budget (about 400 billion baht) to eradicating poverty.

During his visit to Buri Ram last month for a mobile cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut announced a massive injection of development funds into the lower Northeast, which triggered speculation that he was paving the way for an election bid in February. The prime minister promptly denied that was the case.

Meanwhile, his cabinet surprised observers by approving in principle 121 development projects for the lower northeastern provinces worth over 20 billion baht. Gen Prayut said they were largely proposed by the private sector and should be prioritised and implemented based on their urgency to ensure the budget was spent in

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 120 a prudent way.

Yet the prime minister told the media last week his government was ready to inject 16 billion baht into villages across the country this month as part of the government's Thai Niyom Yangyuen (Sustained Thai-ness) programme to address local people's grievances.

Since 2007, successive governments have allocated a budget to help farmers and the poor through state financial institutions in what is known as quasi-fiscal activities, which has caused their debt to accumulate to 800 billion baht. A big portion of that debt derives from the notorious rice-pledging scheme.

This quasi-fiscal package has concerned some analysts and policymakers as it gives the state a chance to abandon fiscal discipline, which would create a long-term budgetary burden. The new monetary and fiscal law stipulates a cap in public debt at 30% of the national budget. Such a measure aims to provide flexibility and accommodate economic changes while ensuring the state maintains fiscal discipline.

Now the accumulated public debt accounts for 24-25% of the 3-trillon-baht budget approved last week by the National Legislative Assembly. This means the next government will have about 100 billion baht in its coffers to use for quasi-fiscal activities and subsidy schemes.

We can see that a colossal sum of state money has been allocated to help the poor over the past decade. But the fact that poverty still remains so entrenched, with so many people struggling to make ends meet, means those measures are a failure and need to be reviewed, especially those assistance policies designed for political gain.

It's time we learnt our lesson and found sustainable solutions to eradicate poverty rather than allowing some people to exploit the situation for the purpose of staking out short-term political gains at the expense of future burdens and a potential crisis.

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The Trump-Kim summit and its aftermath

TV screens in a Seoul electronics store display the moment US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shook hands. The remarkable achievement of the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore was that it took place at all. (Bloomberg photo) The unprecedented and dramatic summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un, the current leaders of the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (otherwise known as North Korea), will go down in history as another case of "better the devil you know than the devil you don't". Since the Korean War stopped without a permanent truce in 1953, the world has become accustomed to the North Korean regime as a menace to regional peace and stability with ominous global ramifications because of its nuclear weapons.

The Trump-Kim summit has changed all that -- for better and for worse. It also has closed the last chapter of the ideologically driven Cold War that consumed the second half of the 20th century. What happens going forward is likely to be a fluid sea change on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia's security environment more broadly, with implications for relations among the major powers in Asia While the Trump-Kim meeting has been widely interpreted, that it took place at all is a remarkable achievement for all sides involved. For Singapore, as the venue and host, it was a diplomatic coup, stamping the island-state's claim as a global peacemaker, a "Geneva of the East" of sorts, as one of its leading public intellectuals put it. But Singapore was the chosen location for reasons that had nothing to do with its role as the current chair of Asean. What was good for Singapore in this case hardly had positive spill-over for Asean.

For Mr Trump, the summit results have not been portrayed favourably because he is more or less despised the world over outside his strong base in the American electorate. Many have said the summit amounted to little. Others have insinuated that Mr Trump was duped by Mr Kim. The latter, from a dictatorship seen as a global

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 122 outcast, got equal treatment from the leader of the world's preeminent superpower. For Mr Kim, it was a global coming out party with immediate benefits and concrete concessions yet to be determined.

Because he is such a serial rules-breaker while a leading newsmaker at the same time, Mr Trump cannot win vis-a-vis the global partisanship against his blustery style of leadership and disrespect for established rules and norms. Yet his administration has managed to bring a pariah regime into the open. Several implications will now be played out.

First, it is still unclear what "denuclearisation" means for both sides, a point noted by many. Obviously, North Korea is the nuclear party on the Korean Peninsula. Thus denuclearisation must mean the elimination of North Korea's nuclear programme in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement," known as "CVID". But this would not make sense for the Kim regime. Why should North Korea get rid of its nuclear weapons when they are its chief bargaining tool and security guarantee?

What "denuclearisation" must mean to Pyongyang likely includes a Korean Peninsula devoid of a US military presence. The US is the dominant nuclear power, and its security guarantee for South Korea implicitly covers all available military capabilities.

Shedding more light on the knotty issue of denuclearisation is the 27 April 2018 Panmunjom Declaration between North and South Korea, the Trump-Kim joint statement upholds and centres on the watershed agreement between North and South Korea. This means that the US is now bound to follow the stipulations between North and South Korea, which guide the Trump-Kim summit statement.

It would be a profound development if denuclearisation leads to US military withdrawal from the Korean Peninsula. This would allow the two Koreas to cultivate long-term relations, perhaps including reunification. China would gain if US military bases so close to its homeland are removed. North Korea would be more secure, although the "verifiable" component of the agreement may be a sticking point. Once

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 123 the US starts leaving, it will have less leverage to verify or insist on other demands.

For South Korea, this is a huge and calculated gamble. For successive generations, South Koreans have had to pay an incalculable price and make untold sacrifices to face up to North Korea's constant threats and intimidation. The South Koreans will likely see the Trump-Kim statement and its Panmunjom Declaration reaffirmation as a worthwhile risk.

For Japan, any US military retreat from Northeast Asia will bode ill for its security considerations. Japan has been mulling its own defence build-up for years, and what happens now on the Korean Peninsula may well embolden hawkish Japanese security planners to bite the bullet and beef up their own defence capabilities irrespective of US intentions and commitments.

Like China, Russia would gain from less of a US military presence in South Korea. Friendlier inter-Korea relations will be a boon for Russian economic development. The changing Northeast Asian geopolitical equation would likely boost trade and development as well as infrastructure on the Eurasian landmass centring on China and Russia.

Moreover, North Korea will likely insist on a compensated reciprocity. Mr Trump already has conceded suspending US military drills with South Korea. Other economic and aid measures for North Korea will likely be forthcoming. This timetable of mutual concessions and benefits will be crucial, and any reneging could derail what has been achieved.

For Thailand and its neighbourhood, the ideal would have been for Asean to be the broker and venue for the summit. For more than two decades, Asean has taken pride in counting North Korea as a member of the Asean Regional Forum. But now the most profound geopolitical shift on the Korean Peninsula has taken place with Asean as a mere bystander, thereby challenging Asean's much vaunted "centrality" and "convener" role in regional peace and stability.

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Asean and Thailand within it have to be watchful. What goes on in Northeast Asia will have an impact on Southeast Asia. If the US is less reliable, Japan may have to step up while China towers over the rest and the Korean Peninsula transforms into a new state entity. It would be a geopolitical shift that bears downside risks more than upside gains for Thailand and Southeast Asia.

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APPENDIX D NEWS REPORTS IN THE TRAVEL SECTION Key airports' passengers to hit 200m, says Arkhom Active plans for expansion at the three airports mean that within three years they will be able to handle 200 million passengers a year. Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports will have a collective capacity to handle up to 200 million passengers a year when each of their development plans are complete, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said Monday. He made the comments during the opening ceremony for the 22nd annual Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (Canso) Global Air Traffic Management summit. He made the comment although definite plans for the development of the three airports are still unclear. Current plans are for Don Mueang to accommodate 70 million passengers a year once its third terminal opens in 2021.

Suvarnabhumi's capacity will reach 60 million when its second phase of development wraps up by the middle of 2020. Meanwhile, U-Tapao will hit capacity of 3 million in January. Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), the state enterprise that operates Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi, announced in late April a new international passenger terminal will be constructed at Don Mueang to accommodate soaring passenger numbers. Scheduled to open in 2021, the new third terminal is set to replace the old, unused terminal, which was decommissioned in 2006 to make way for Suvarnabhumi's opening. Terminal 3 alone will be able to take in 40 million passengers per year, according to AoT reports. Last year, the airport serviced more than 38 million passengers using two terminals despite only having a capacity of 30 million. Suvarnabhumi, the largest airport complex in Southeast Asia, is also scheduled to go through its second phase of expansion and development. AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said the 62.5-billion-baht revamp will involve

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 126 building a secondary concourse, an aircraft parking lot and a tunnel linking the main passenger terminal to the concourse using an automated people mover, or short electric train network. The second phase is expected to be concluded by mid-2020. It was originally scheduled to finish by 2019. While Suvarnabhumi has a total of four development phases, deadlines for the remaining two have not yet been set. Mr Arkhom said all four phases would see Suvarnabhumi's capacity increase to 90 million passengers. AoT reports state the airport serviced 60 million last year, exceeding its stated capacity of 45 million and straining the system. He added that U-Tapao, tipped to be an Asean regional hub, has a long-term plan of expanding its capacity to 60 million passengers a year. The terms of reference are awaiting an announcement from the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Committee by July. According to the airport's reports, its partially-open terminal will be able to handle 3 million passengers from January. U-Tapao saw about 1 million passengers in 2017 but the number is expected to double this year. Its short-term EEC-backed plans include a new terminal, runway and station for the high-speed railway set to link it to Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang by 2023.

Night tours draw tourists to Tokyo's buzzing district

Pedestrians walk at a scramble crossing at Shibuya district in Tokyo. (Reuters photo) Already known for its boutiques, bars, restaurants and that famous "scramble crossing," Shibuya's appeal as a destination for foreign visitors is being given a further boost by its local tourist association, which has begun tours to introduce the area's nightlife -- from backstreet izakaya pubs to the "love hotel" quarter.

The tours, which give tourists a taste of Shibuya after dark, are also aimed at boosting the nighttime economy. Starting from Hachiko Square, a popular meeting place, they take in a number of landmarks, including a local shrine, the Shibuya Hikarie shopping complex and the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 127 much filmed and photographed pedestrian intersection in front of Shibuya Station." "I have never seen anything like this," Emi Estrada, a 70-year-old solo traveller from the United States, says as she is guided by Shogo Nomura, 24, to Nonbei Yokocho (Drunkard's Alley).

Nomura explains the history of the narrow, untidy strip of tiny bars and restaurants, decorated with "akachochin" red lanterns, which dates back to the postwar period. "I was able to see a side of Shibuya that I could not have seen on my own," Estrada said after the tour, adding, "I enjoyed the gleaming buildings and trains and buses passing by." While various other guided tours of the area are available, what makes this particular tour unusual is that it is hosted by Shibuya City Tourism Association Inc, which started the English-language nightlife tours in April. According to the Japan Tourism Agency, it is rare for a local tourism association to conduct night tours. One of the night tours includes the chance to savor Japanese food and drink, including sushi, takoyaki -- balls of diced octopus cooked in batter -- and sake. Participants also walk through a district of love hotels, Japan's version of the "no-tell motel," watch live entertainment featuring Japanese "idols," and stop by 100-yen discount stores. Nomura says he sometimes goes out with his customers once his work is done. "After the tour, there are times when I'll be invited out for drinks by the foreign tourists." Describing what motivated the association to launch tours of the area's nightlife, spokesperson Kyoko Hori says, "People used to say Shibuya is only for taking photos." However, the area's clubs, bars and other nighttime attractions are still relatively unknown to foreign visitors, she believes. The association's plan to start evening tours were realised when the country relaxed its regulations earlier this year to allow non-certified tour guides to offer paid services. Japan has noted the economic boost that a thriving night scene brings other countries. When London started operating subway services around the clock on weekends, for example, the positive impact on the city's nightlife is said to have had economic

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 128 benefits for the British economy worth four trillion yen ($36.39 billion), according to the Japan Tourism Agency. Hori says the Shibuya Tourism Association is considering other measures for boosting the nighttime local economy by collaborating with restaurants and other businesses in the area. "We hope more foreign people will become a part of Shibuya's nightlife," she says.

Keeping it crispy A journey through the culinary traditions of Ban Wang Wa

The fragrance of cooked rice filled the air. Sometimes it was mixed with the smell of burning wood. In front of me were two large round button woks, called krata bai bua in Thai, on two big charcoal stoves. Standing behind the cooking woks was Kamol Pruksa, 71, who was in charge of the cooking station. "The rice is almost done," he said, adding: "I will show you how to make our traditional rice snack soon." Kamol is the president of Ban Wang Wa Community Based Tourism in Klaeng, Rayong. The village was founded in 1897. The name Wang Wa comes from the location where the community is located. Wang means a deep part of a river and wa refers to the name of the big ton wa (Java plum tree) found at the location, he explained.

The community jumped on the tourism wagon a couple of years ago. The cooking demonstration hosted in the community learning centre is part of its half-day programme to introduce visitors to local food.

Kamol Pruksa cooking the rice snack.

The mixture of oil and seasoning is spread over the cooking rice to make it tasty. The snack that Kamol cooked is called khao tang boran, a traditional crispy rice cracker. Normally, rice crackers these days are made of deep fried dried rice which may have cane sugar on top.

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But in Ban Wang Wa, the snack is a way to salvage leftover rice that had stuck to the pan. "It is my favourite snack," said Walailuk Jumroon, an agricultural research assistant of the Tambon Administrative Organisation of Wang Wa, who helps develop the community's tourism programme. "It is a hard-to-find treat nowadays. Since I was young, we have only ever had the chance to eat khao tang boran when there was a big celebration, such as a kathina ceremony [monk's robe presentation], a pha pa merit-making ceremony or a wedding. Only for those events would hosts need to cook rice in big woks," she said. The idea of the snack started when their ancestors decided not to keep wasting grains of cooked rice that had stuck to the cooking pan. They would cover the rice in lard and let it cook for a while to make it crispy, then add seasonings for taste. To the rendered lard, Kamol added fish sauce, sugar, sliced garlic, shallots and fresh chillies. Then, he swiftly scraped the rice out of the pan, which came out easily and in big pieces, and put it in a tray. "Try it while it's still hot," he told us. The smell of the snack made me hungry. I took a big bite of it. It was crispy, a little salty and sweet. Its local popularity was evident from the appeal it had even for elders in the learning centre. In addition to khao tang boran, we got to make another local food called krarang krabok, which is made of kernels of luk krabok, the fruits of Barking deer's mango trees. Luk krabok is also known as "wild almond", due to its thin, almond-like shape and its nutty taste. Sao Bamrungsin, who is in her 70s, taught us how to make the dish, which is usually a side served with rice. The nuts were already boiled for us to roast them until their colour turned gold. "We still use a mortar and pestle to pound and grind the nuts until they are busted up," she said. She told us that a blender can also help speed up the process, but she just preferred the old grinding method. After the nuts clumped together, she added sugar and salt, tasted it and kept pounding

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 130 until it turned into a golden-brown buttery paste. The blend looked much like peanut butter to me and it did taste like it, too. It was nutty, sweet and salty. But people in Ban Wang Wa do not spread the nutty paste on bread but rather mix it in with rice. "The rice must be hot to produce that good taste," she said, adding that it's a vegetarian dish.

Krarang krabok, the nutty spread, and the raw kernels of Barking deer's mango fruits.

The khla mat.

A villager demonstrates how to make the khla mat. For the leftover krabok spread, Sao told us to spoon the paste into small cones made of jackfruit leaves and let it dry for a couple of hours. This preserves the food to be eaten and reheated later. The locals of Ban Wang Wa also prepared durian, rambutans, longkong and mangosteen for us. These came from their orchards, which are also open to visitors. Before leaving the learning centre, we were shown how locals weave a mat from khla (Schumannianthus dichotomus), the plant that grows in the wetland. Walailuk explained to us that khla mats are also known as "cool mats" and used to be a popular product in the past. "When I was young, I also slept on the khla mat," she said, adding that today the mat was quite hard to find as those who know how to weave it were getting older and the places where the plant could be found in the community were getting fewer. "The learning centre in Ban Wang Wa is the place where we try to keep our tradition alive. When visitors are interested in our way of life, we hope that our young generation will be proud of it and help us preserve it too," she said.

Rediscovering Phrae The villagers of Ban Mae Phuak recently opened their homes to the first batch of homestay guests, hoping to become a base for culture and history enthusiasts

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Beloved by the local community, the former Mae Phuak station of Den Chai district boasts twin two-storey structures, the only one of its kind in the country with such a design. The upper floor served as the residence of the train station's chief. The State Railway of Thailand pulled out all its employees years ago. Officially, this place is no longer regarded as a station, but downgraded to a "train stop". However, no train stops here anymore, except for the Nakhon Sawan-Chiang Mai route. The northbound train, which can take you to the German-style Ban Pin station, arrives in Mae Phuak at 10.05am. The southbound train arrives at 2.26pm. Pongpet Mekloy More than a decade-and-a-half before the northern railway reached Chiang Mai in 1926, the villagers of Ban Mae Phuak in what is now Den Chai district of Phrae province already had their own train station. A century later, this small station, which is less than 6km from the larger one in Den Chai town, was degraded to a "train stop". Unstaffed and unmaintained, the twin two-storey teak architecture was left to decay.

Thanks to concerted efforts between Ban Mae Phuak villagers, academics and social groups, the once neglected wooden buildings won a conservation award from the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA) in 2016. Last weekend, Ban Mae Phuak welcomed its first group of homestay guests. The community is exploring its potential to become a base for culture and history enthusiasts wishing to explore this part of Phrae, which includes Muang Phrae, Den Chai and Long districts.

"Income from tourism will help make villagers realise the benefits of keeping our historical train station. This is a way to make our conservation efforts sustainable," said Noi Thianmanee, or Phuyai Noi, the headman of Mu 5, Ban Mae Phuak, where the award-winning train stop is located. Asked how it all started, Phuyai Noi recounted that in 2004, while watching TV news about the Sam Chuk community in Suphan Buri -- which these days is one of the province's major tourist attractions -- he was inspired to preserve the village's train stop buildings which sport a design he had never seen anywhere else.

Once permission was granted from the State Railway of Thailand, Phuyai Noi and other villagers joined forces to clean the ex-train station, repainted it and keep the

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 132 surroundings tidy. "We used the buildings for many purposes, from village meetings to receptions of visiting groups of students and villagers from other communities," he said. Then five years ago, Prinya Chukaew, an architecture lecturer at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) visited the Mae Phuak train stop and met Phuyai Noi. Prinya has a passion for old railway stations and has been active in conservation projects at other sites in Nakhon Ratchasima. "The twin-tower design of this place makes it unique," said Prinya, who was also in Ban Mae Phuak last weekend. The academic added that after his first visit, he soon returned to the train stop with colleagues and architecture students to conduct a systematic study of the buildings. From then on the villagers and the team from KMITL's Faculty of Architecture has been working hand in hand making sure the heritage buildings will not see the same fate as many other old train stations torn down to make way for new developments such as the dual track railway project. "The conservation award from the ASA will help prevent such a thing happening here," he revealed. Putting Ban Mae Phuak on the tourist map is another measure that Phuyai Noi and Prinya believe can immunise this one-of-a-kind former train station. Ban Mae Phuak now receives support from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and local government agencies, as well as social groups such as Ride Explorers, which brought in the first batch of homestay guests. For visitors, the new overnight service will allow them to get first-hand experience of village life. The locals have planned many activities for this purpose. From Ban Mae Phuak, homestay guests can make short trips to explore the many interesting places in nearby districts, especially Long, which is home to another unique train station in Ban Pin and a number of museums and temples. At least for now, the future of this former train station and the local community doesn't look as gloomy as it used to be.

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PARIS PUTS FINAL TOUCHES TO EIFFEL TOWER ANTI-TERROR WALLS

PARIS: Paris is set to unveil thick bulletproof glass walls and metal fences around the Eiffel Tower, designed to protect France's most famous monument from terrorist attacks.

The boosted security measures, under construction since last year, come with France still on high alert after a string of jihadist attacks that have killed more than 240 people since 2015.

The new walls, shown to journalists during a site tour on Thursday, are part of security measures that have cost nearly 35 million euros and are due to be finished by mid-July.

Glass walls measuring 6.5 centimetres thick will run along the riverside Quai Branly boulevard as well as the Avenue Gustave Eiffel which separates the tower from a park.

The walls, which are bulletproof as well as resistant to vehicle-ramming attacks, are "rock-solid for absolute security", said Bernard Gaudillere, head of the SETE, the company which runs the Eiffel Tower.

The other two sides will be fenced off with metal barriers formed from curved prongs in the form of the tower itself and at 3.24 metres high, stand exactly a hundredth of the height of the "Iron Lady".

Gaudillere said his team worked with police to decide how best to secure a monument which has itself repeatedly switched off its twinkling night-time lights in memory of the victims of attacks around the world.

'Dangerous times'

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Tourists visiting the site Thursday said they felt reassured by the new measures, still mindful of the horrific Islamic State attacks of November 2015 in which 130 people were killed at Paris nightspots.

"We live in a dangerous time. I think it's a great idea -- when I see this I feel more safe," said Edyta Poncyljusz, visiting from Warsaw.

David Luke, from the US state of Utah, noted with dismay that tourists are no longer free to walk under the tower as was the case last time he visited four years ago.

"But I think it's a good idea," he said of the security walls.

"It's inconvenient and a little annoying, but we're used to security measures in the US -- going through metal detectors just for a basketball game."

Like other French tourist sites, the tower is regularly patrolled by anti-terror troops, and the forecourt underneath the iron structure has been fenced off over terrorism fears since June 2016.

Gaudillere acknowledged that the temporary fences were "not very aesthetically pleasing", giving the monument the look of a building site, but promised the end result would be "infinitely nicer and more romantic".

He said the building work does not appear to have dented visitor numbers, which are still expected to reach up to seven million in 2018.

Tourists will still be able to access the gardens and the forecourt underneath the tower for free once passing through the security fences, he said.

The walls are part of a 300-million-euro revamp of the Eiffel Tower, with most of the work due to be completed ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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Paris open-air booksellers seek Unesco status

PARIS: After baguettes and bistros, second-hand booksellers along the banks of the Seine River in Paris are pushing to be recognised as one of the world's cultural treasures on Unesco's list of "intangible heritage".

Calling themselves "the biggest open-air bookshop in the world", the "bouquinistes" and their dark green stalls have been a fixture of the French capital since the 17th century.

Nearly 1,000 stalls belonging to 226 registered booksellers stretch along both sides of the riverbanks -- which have already been on Unesco's heritage list since 1991.

"We are spreaders of knowledge, with phenomenal diversity, incredible personalities - - we play almost a philosophical role in the city," said Gildas Bouillaud as he dusted off his collection in the shadow of Notre-Dame cathedral.

Even Francois Mitterrand continued to visit the stands during his 1981-1995 presidency, strolling with two of his bodyguards in tow.

Yet despite paying no rent for their spots, making a living has become increasingly difficult, with some earning more money from tourist trinkets than hard-to-find tomes from France's literary giants.

"Faced with the crisis among booksellers, the competition from multimedia and this increasing lack of education, we're hoping to put the spotlight on us," said Jerome Callais, president of the Bouquinistes association.

"We're as important for tourists as the Eiffel Tower."

'Antiques of the city'

"City Hall should pay us, we're a sort of spectacle," says Mathias Grandis de Portefaix, 67.

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He points out his peers: Bernard who "only does detective stories", while another further along deals only in books about Algeria.

Mathias himself does "only history", in particular the Napoleonic period.

On a recent sunny day tourists were stopping to look, but most left empty-handed. "Out of 100 clients, only two or three buy something", he says.

The city only allows one of a seller's four allotted stalls to be stacked with keychains, miniature Eiffel Towers and other tourist favourites.

And for every pleasant day spent outdoors, there are others where the rain doesn't ever seem to stop.

"We are among the antiques of the city, but we pay dearly for this freedom: it's physical work," Michelle Huchet-Nordmann said at the stall she has kept near the Academie Francaise for 30 years.

Olivia Polski, the City Hall official in charge of commerce, is pushing the bouquinistes' campaign with the Culture Ministry, which has the final word on candidates who will be put forward in March 2019.

"They need to make it known that they are here," Polski said.

She is also hoping to convince Unesco to deem the postcard-perfect bistros and terraces of Paris a world heritage treasure.

President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, has lent his support to French bakers who say their crusty baguettes also deserve recognition.

Their hopes have been fanned by the UN agency's decision in December to grant Naples' pizza makers official heritage status.

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"It's one of the last typically Parisian professions," Bouillaud said of the bouquinistes, admitting he doesn't make a living selling his books -- he gets by mainly on unemployment benefits.

"We need to be protected for the sake of humanity!"

Airport immigration procedures surge Traveller numbers rise by more than 30%

The Immigration Bureau says it has trained and deployed 254 new agents to handle the ever-increasing number of foreign arrivals. (File photo) The Immigration Bureau (IB) saw the number of immigration clearance service procedures rise to 41.9 million or a 31.33% increase in the first half of this year.

It expects to see a further rise of between 5% and 10% in the other half of the year, IB deputy spokesman Cheongron Rimphadi said Sunday. The number represents both Thai and foreign travellers at five international airports -- Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai. Nearly 15 million of the procedures involved foreign travellers, Pol Col Cheongron said. "The IB was therefore accelerating its measures being maintained to keep up with the rise in the number of travellers entering and leaving the country," Pol Col Rimphadi said Sunday. The IB is now required to better serve also the country's tourism industry, trade and investment sector, the other policies of the government and the Royal Thai Police. In terms of criminal suppression, the IB in the first half of the year detained a total of 156 suspects including 12 foreigners, he said. Among these foreign criminal suspects were Oh Janghyn, a Korean human-trafficking suspect arrested on Jan 4, and Dolen Zuarez, an Israeli murder suspect detained on Jan 22, he said. A total of 3,461 foreigners suspected to pose a threat to Thailand's national security, including 30 sex offenders, have been denied entry to Thailand over the past six months, he said.

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To keep pace with the extra workload, IB has accelerated training aimed at improving skills of immigration officers and preparing them to cope with the expected rise in the other half of the year, Pol Col Cheongron said. Aside from preparing to cope with the increase in numbers of travellers, the IB is also being ordered to step up measures to deal with criminal suspects and fugitives who are categorised as "unwanted persons", he said. The bureau is now working closely together with the airports locally and internationally in evaluating the travel situation in advance to prepare to handle unexpected events. In terms of growth, Suvarnabhumi recorded a 6.89% growth in number of travellers when compared with last year's same period. Don Mueang saw an 18.67% surge in number of travellers, due to increased flights, especially low-cost services, from China, Korea and Japan. Following an outcry over long queues at the immigration counters at the airport, the IB late last year began identifying and analysing the problem before overhauling its personal identification and blacklist immigration control system including the addition of automatic passport check channels, he said. The efforts began to pay off given a significant improvement in the speed of immigration clearance service at Don Mueang during the New Year festival, he said. The IB has also recruited a total of 254 new officers to add to its current workforce at the airport immigration checkpoints, he said, adding that these new officers have only recently completed their training on policing skills and deployed to work at the airports.

Laid-back, sustainable and local Koh Yao Noi’s community-based tourism clubs promise a good time for the conscious and culturally curious travellers

This ruea hua thong is modified to have benches and a roof for tourists. For safety, one boat will accommodate up to six passengers. Located in Phangnga Bay in the Andaman Sea, Koh Yao Noi is situated right between Phuket, Phangnga and Krabi. The small island is a popular destination for visitors

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 139 who look for a quiet vacation, a place close to nature or who seek to experience the local way of life of fishermen.

My first trip to the island was almost a decade ago. I remember that I was very impressed with the hospitality of people on the island as well as the large selection of fresh seafood prepared by my homestay host Dusit Buttree. I wanted Koh Yao Noi to stay my secret escape. But homestays on Koh Yao Noi are well known these days due to the success in tourism management, facilitated by many awards in Thailand and Asean; too well known to be hidden from visitors. When I had a chance to return to the island with the Phuket Office of Tourism and Sports, I did not hesitate to join. The government agency operated under the Tourism and Sports Ministry selected the island's only two homestays to be the role models for community based tourism (CBT) in Phangnga province this year: Koh Yao Noi CBT Club and Ban Tha Khao CBT Club.

A group of Ban Tha Khao housewives introduce themselves to visitors before holding a batik workshop.

In general, people associate the concept of Koh Yao Noi homestays with the services and facilities of Koh Yao Noi CBT Club, the homestay pioneer on the island founded in 1995. "About 30 years ago, we faced a critical problem of marine life shortage due to overfishing by commercial trawling boats. They used destructive fishing gear to trawl and dredge up the seafloor. They took everything from our sea. The fishing gear also damaged marine habitats and seagrass,” said Samroeng Rakhet, the club's founder and president. Koh Yao Noi is home to seven different communities. Most of them are Muslim and their main source of income is fishing. "We are fishermen who catch fish with small fishing boats. We must protect our bread and butter," Samroeng said.

Flying foxes on Koh Roi stay in groups on tree branches during the day and fly out to

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 140 search for fruit at night. They tend to move up the branches inch by inch when they hear human voices coming closer. Some also fly away. The communities joined forces to fight against illegal fishing vessels. They slept on their fishing boats to guard the seashores and ward off poachers. It took them many years to successfully lobby local authorities to announce a ban on illegal fishing within 3km of the island. In consequence, marine life and seagrass gradually returned to the island's ecosystem. The measure's success drew the attention of media and visitors. To regulate tourist activities, the community then formed Koh Yao Noi CBT Club, over 20 years ago. Today, they also offer accommodation and tour packages on the island as well as island hopping services. Those who stay overnight at Koh Yao Noi Homestay will have a chance to visit Ban Tha Khao to join a batik workshop. Located in the east of the island, Ban Tha Khao also has a pier, from which locals commute between the island and Krabi.

Chanya gives a big smile before handing a coconut to each of her visitors. She and her husband have grown coconut trees for more than 30 years. They have 60 coconut trees in their 1 rai plot of land. During my first visit, it was her husband who harvested fresh coconut for me. But recently the old man got sick. He hardly walks, so now Chanya picks the coconuts in the early morning to serve visitors later in the day. She also makes flat spoon-like handles out of the top of a coconut shell, which help with scooping out young coconut meat. "When tourists visited our island, they wanted to know where they should stay and what to do," said Praphan Ben-amat, the president of Ban Tha Khao CBT Club, recalling the time before the village set up the tourism club. In the year 2000, a group of villagers joined hands to open a restaurant. Three years later, a team of housewives set up a batik group for extra income by selling batik to tourists. Praphan said the number of tourists kept increasing, so the community worked with Koh Yao Noi CBT Club, as its affiliate, to set up their own tourism group. Today Ban Tha Khao CBT Club also offers a homestay, tour programmes on the island and island hopping services, just like Koh Yao Noi CBT Club.

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"Our service is an alternative for tourists who stay in another part of the island," he said.

Kasem Nilsamut has farmed lobsters for almost two decades. His farm, called Ban Mangkon, can be accessed via a 10-minute boat ride from Laem Sai pier in the south of the island. He likes to pull out one or two lobsters for visitors to hold for pictures. He also entertains visitors by displaying various types of bigger fish, such as puffer fish or zebra sharks. During my visit, he would take zebra sharks from their small pen and let people touch them. I secretly hoped that the net would break, allowing the fish to return to the open sea. During my recent visit hosted by the Phuket Office of Tourism and Sports, we tried the services of both the Koh Yao Noi and Ban Tha Khao tourism groups. Ban Tha Khao managed a half-day island hopping programme for us and Koh Yao Noi CBT Club led a tour around the island. We boarded a modified long-tail fishing boat, known as ruea hua thong, at Ban Tha Khao pier with a local guide. The boat headed north to Koh Roi for us to see numerous flying foxes. The island has a tiny beach and a natural stone arch. After our guide led us through the curved structure, we had to walk only a short while through a mangrove forest — while listening to the bats squeak — before seeing the large fox bats. They hung from almost every branch of the tall trees as if they were black fruit. We took pictures for a while and then continued our journey to Ao Khian at the northern tip of the island to see the towering trees called ton somphong or Tetrameles nudiflora. Overlooking the entire bay is Ao Phangnga National Park. The staff of the park told us that the 50m-tall tree is many centuries old and the trunk's circumference is about 30m. These trees are huge and the island's northern forest is still dense.

The batik designs of Ban Tha Khao are based on things people find in their daily lives such as the local fishing boats (ruea hua thong), the panoramic view from Phangnga Bay, or a pair of hornbills. If you are lucky, you may spot some of the birds in the early morning. Our next stop was Koh Lao Kudu which is also known as Koh Kudu Yai. It is one of

Ref. code: 25615921042155CIQ 142 the snorkelling sites of Phangnga Bay and home to a range of towering karsts similar to Koh Tapu, or the James Bond Island, also located in Phangnga Bay. The last stop of our boat trip was Tham Toh Buat, a small cave named after the fisherman who found it a long time ago. The cave is also located in the north of the island. It is also used as a rest area where fishermen can spend the night. There is no fresh water or electric light inside the cave, but several raised bamboo platforms for sleeping and some kitchen utensil and cooking facilities provide the bare necessities. Upon getting back to Koh Yao Noi, Samroeng had organised songthaew pickup trucks on which to tour the island. The first stop, a coconut plantation, allowed us to refresh with cold and sweet coconut water. The plantation is surrounded by rice fields. We saw buffaloes eating grass on the paddies. Samroeng told us that there were about 300 buffaloes in total on the island. They are not used for farming but raised as pets. If visitors want to experience growing rice with farmers, he added, they should visit the island around August, whereas rice harvest takes place around December.

Fresh seafood on Koh Yao Noi is second to none. Each dish is served in big portions, such as steamed blue crabs, fried fish, steamed shrimps, nam phrik kung siab (spicy dip with shrimp), bai liang phad kai (stir fried liang leaves with egg) and kaeng leung (spicy yellow soup with fish). We also made a quick stop at a small bio-fertilising plant, using organic waste from Koh Yao Noi households. Local farmers tend to use the bio-fertiliser instead of chemical alternatives. "We have about 800 rai of paddy fields and most of us grow rice organically. We plan to produce 100% organic rice within this year," said Samroeng. The tour package of both homestay services can be adjusted to fit the requirements and schedules of visitors, ranging from one to four day offers. The clubs also receive long-stay visitors from Europe who may stay for up to six months. "Our homestay guests can try catching fish or harvest crabs in the sea with their host or learn to get latex from a rubber tree or snorkel in the sea. We have a variety of activities that are part of our lives and that we can share with our guests," he said. When it comes to a laid-back place to stay, Koh Yao Noi has certainly never failed

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A herd of buffaloes eating grass in the rice fields in the late afternoon. Farmers on Koh Yao Noi grow rice only once a year. Their yield accounts for only 30% of the island’s total rice consumption.

We tried to measure the size of a ton somphong tree by standing close to each other while holding hands. The park officer said we need about 30 people to complete the circle around the huge trunk. Travel Info - Koh Yao Noi can easily be reached from Phuket by taking a 35-minute speedboat ride from Bang Rong pier. Boats depart daily starting from 7.30am to 5.30pm. A one- way ticket costs 200 baht. The boat docks at Ma Noh pier in the southwest of Koh Yao Noi. Contact the homestay service to pick you up from the pier. - From Tha Len pier in Krabi, visitors can ride a speedboat to Ban Tha Khao pier on Koh Yao Noi. The service is available from 9am to 5pm. A one-way journey takes 20 minutes is priced at 200 baht. - In addition to homestay services, choices of accommodation on Koh Yao Noi range from budget hotels to luxurious resorts.

Mekong tourism

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand will host the Mekong Tourism Forum 2018 in Nakhon Phanom next week.

Under the theme “Transforming Travel Transforming Lives”, the annual meeting is expected to have about 500 attendants from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) tourism industry including Cambodia, China (Yunnan province and the Guangxi Autonomous Region), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The conference will cover market development and tourism promotion to promote GMS member countries as one single destination. Topics include “Mekong

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Innovative Startup Tourism”, “Working With Influential Content Creators” and “Transforming Travel”. There will also be a Mekong Mini Movie Festival. The Mekong Tourism Forum 2018 will be held from June 25 through June 29 at Nakhon Phanom University.

Visit http://mekongtourismforum.org. Bollywood awards Bangkok has been chosen as the host city for the 19th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA). Started in 2000, the award ceremony is organised annually in different countries across the world. The event will return to Thailand a decade after it was first held in Bangkok. “India is one of Thailand’s important sources of tourism. Being named as the host country for the IIFA Awards for the second time reiterates Thailand’s position as the preferred destination among Indian travellers,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Thailand welcomed 1.4 million Indian visitors in 2017, up 18% from the year before, generating 62.4 billion baht in income. The TAT expects the number to further rise this year. In the first four months of 2018 already, 17% more Indians visited Thailand than in the same period last year, totalling 481,573 arrivals. The event will also draw Bollywood fans to the capital. Top Bollywood celebrities to join the event include Anupam Kher who will receive the ceremony’s Outstanding Achievement Award, Ranbir Kapoor who is known as one of India’s highest-paid actors, Shahid Kapoor who is one of the most attractive Indian celebrities and Kartik Aaryan who is widely known for his recently released film Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. The International Indian Film Academy Awards will take place at Siam Niramit from Friday to Sunday. Visit http://iifa.com/awards2018. Airlines update - Thai AirAsia will launch direct flights between Chiang Mai and Yangon starting Aug 11. Flights will depart from Chiang Mai Airport at 1.15pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and

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Saturdays and will arrive at Yangon Airport at 1.45pm. The return flight from Yangon will be scheduled for 2.25pm and arrive in Chiang Mai at 4.30pm. The travel time is about one hour. On Aug 16, the airline will also launch its first direct flight from Bangkok to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. The service will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The flight will depart from Don Mueang Airport at 9.30am and will arrive at Kota Kinabalu Airport at 1.35pm. The return flight will be at 3pm and arrive in Bangkok at 5.05pm. The travel time is about three hours. Visit http://airasia.com. - Thai Airways celebrates the 25th anniversary of Royal Orchid Plus, its loyalty programme. To mark the anniversary, the airline has signed up with new business partners including the Government Savings Bank, Vana Nava Water Jungle, Blacklane Limousine and Concept Golf Management to offer special privileges and more selections for mileage redemption. Royal Orchid Plus will also launch activities at Quartier Gallery, EmQuartier to offer promotion tickets on July 1-2. Visit http://thaiairways.com/rop. Hotel deals & update - 137 Pillars Hotels & Resorts announces a policy to eliminate single-use plastic from its hotel rooms and outlets. Plastic straws are to be replaced with paper straws which will be offered on request, drinking water will be served in recycled glass bottles and plastic bags for collecting waste will be switched for reusable woven bags. 137 Pillars Hotels & Resorts operates two 5-star hotels in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, with a plan to open another one in Phuket. - Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has partnered with Timeshifter to help guests beat jet lag. Guests booking directly with Six Senses will get free access to the Timeshifter’s jet lag app. The app offers personalised plans based on the traveller’s sleep pattern, chronotype, flight plan, and optional preferences such as pre-travel adjustment to help guests quickly recover from time zone differences.

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Visit http://sixsenses.com. - Santiburi Koh Samui has introduced an “Exclusive Culinary Experiences” package for guests staying in the Grand Reserve Pool Villas or Grand Deluxe Pool Villas. The offer includes a “Floating Breakfast” served on a floating wooden tray in guests’ private swimming pool and a private barbecue for up to six people with a personal chef. The prices for the floating breakfast per person is 1,390++ baht with Prosecco wine and 1,990++ baht with unlimited Champagne. The price for the private BBQ per person is 1,290++ baht.

Close to nature A boat ride through mangrove forests in Prachuap Khiri Khan provides glimpses of nature and solace of mind

Klong Khao Daeng. Prachuap Khiri Khan province is well-known for its beautiful resort town Hua Hin and many natural attractions, including two national parks. The Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is home to the famous Phraya Nakhon Cave visited by King Rama V, but not many people know Klong Khao Daeng, a nature-study area with the breathtaking views of limestone mountains and mangrove forests.

Situated in Kui Buri district — over 250km from Bangkok, 67km from Hua Hin — this 4km stream runs deep into mangroves at one end while its mouth is where the flows of freshwater and seawater meet. The forests are the habitat of various kinds of plants like samae thalay (grey mangrove), kongkang bai lek (true mangrove), kongkang bai yai (red mangrove) and chakhram (herbaceous seepweed). They are also home to a variety of birds, including the common kingfisher, the black-capped kingfisher, the collared kingfisher, the little heron, the little egret and the Javan pond- heron. Wanna Phetpradab, forest ranger of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, which oversees Klong Khao Daeng, said tourists can board boats from the pier of Wat Khao Daeng in Khao Daeng Village which is part of the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. Each boat

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A rock in the shape of a monkey’s face.

“All passengers must wear life vests. Each boat ride takes about an hour along the canal. Tourists will be able to see rocks in bizarre shapes, such as that of a crocodile. The highlight is a red cliff from which the name Klong Khao Daeng is derived. If the tide is low, tourists can see various kinds of animals, including pla teen [mudskippers], pu kam dab [fiddler crabs] and ling samae [the crab-eating macaque],” she noted. Pla teen and pu kam dab (fiddler crabs) are among the six indicators of the abundance of mangroves besides the collared kingfisher (nok kin pieo), snapping shrimp (kung deed khan), mud creeper (hoi khika) and oysters (hoi nangrom). The best time for a boat ride is around 4.30-5pm, because the heat of the day cools down and tourists can also enjoy the stunning views and take photos of the sunset. After passing the rocks and mangroves, the boats will make a U-turn, head to the mouth of the canal past Khao Daeng fishing village and many fishing boats, and then return to the pier.

The stunning view of limestone mountains and mangroves. Khao Daeng village is located near the red cliff. Its residents earn their living from fishing and shrimp farming. The Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park and a tambon administration organisation are strict with measures to keep Klong Khao Daeng clean by installing enough trash cans in provided areas, collecting garbage regularly and warning or fining violators. The Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park covers 61,300 rai or about 98km² of forested land, waterways and other areas. Khao Sam Roi Yot is a range of limestone mountains with many uneven tops running from north to south. There are a few local legends on what the name Sam Roi Yot is derived from. First, the mountain range is said to have 300 peaks. Second, the range had been an island where 300 survivors from a sinking Chinese junk ship sought refuge. Third, it was named after a local plant called sam roi yot. However, no conclusion has been reached yet.

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If you want to see more of the national park, you can visit Sai and Kaew caves, Sam Phraya beach and Bung Bua Nature Study Centre, a 500 rai swamp full of lotus plants and birds of many kinds. Those interested in mangrove ecology can also visit the Pran Buri Forest Park and the Sirinart Rachini Mangrove Forest Learning Centre in Pran Buri district. Both are nature learning centres, but their backgrounds are different. The former is a natural mangrove while the latter is a man-made forest.

Pran Buri Forest Park was founded in 1974 by the Forestry Department after HM Queen Sirikit visited Pak Nam Pran Buri Village in Pran Buri, saw many mangrove trees and wanted to support the growing of more trees along the coastline. This project developed 1,984 rai of Khlong Kao and Khlong Doi forests, which consists of mangrove forests, mixed deciduous forests, coastal land and deserted land, into a multipurpose forest. Sirinart Rachini Mangrove Forest Learning Centre is a good example of human efforts to turn overexploited land into a mangrove. It was inspired by a royal visit of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit in 1996, and their concerns about more encroached mangrove forests near the mouth of the Pran Buri River. After that, an abandoned 800 rai of shrimp farms were reforested and changed into this mangrove. In all, the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is perfect for small adventurers who enjoy nature trails and birdwatching and want to see the lifestyles of local fishermen and learn more about mangroves. For more information, call the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park at 032-821-568.

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