SCREENSHOT: Newshawk Phuket

On October 12, a pick-up truck was involved in a horrific road incident on Ban Dok Daeng – Ban Bangsai, Takuapa, in Phang Nga. Luckily the driver, a local policeman, survived but was trapped inside the vehicle while emergency responders figured out how to get him out.

The vehicles was in such bad shape that the rescue team had to use the hydraulic jaws to pry open the car and rescue the trapped driver, Pol. Snr. Sgt. Chainarong Waratikul, from Talad Yai Police Station, in Takuapa.

The blue Isuzu pick-up truck, with Phang Nga plates, crashed into a high-voltage electric pole and almost completely destroyed the front and side of the car, especially on the driver’s side where the roof collapsed.

The rescue was difficult as the crushed roof was pressing the driver into the seat and the team had to use a machine to cut open the roof into pieces, which took about half an hour, before they managed to get him out and then rushed him to the Bangsai Hospital.

He told the team that he was driving alone from the police station and when he arrived at the scene of the crash, a sharp curve, he was feeling exhausted and probably fell asleep, losing control of the car resulting in the accident.

STORY: Newshawk Phuket

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A professor of Rangsit University has criticised the previous military government for focusing too much on tourism and not enough on the welfare of the Thai people. The professor was speaking at Chulalongkorn University at a seminar discussing street stalls and urban development.

She questioned the National Council for Peace and Order’s policy of clearing street vendors in all but a few areas such as Yaowarat and Khao San Road that mainly cater to tourists.

She claimed that the NCPO – in power since the coup of 2014 until this year’s election – was more interested in economic development through tourism than in the welfare of the public.

Having affordable street food options was not just about tourism, she said, it was vital for poor workers who have migrated from the countryside, adding that it was part of an informal rather than a formal economy.

“For years people had earned their living from selling goods and services, including food, on the streets.”

This in turn provided an affordable option to eat for workers who came to Bangkok on for large investment projects. The issue, she said, was not just about tourism but the wider economy that might benefit.

The professor noted that CNN had once called Bangkok the best place in the world for street food but this had changed with the sanitized food trucks that have appeared since stalls and vendors were banned from most areas.

The Thaiger notes that banning street vendors has divided the capital. Many are happy that the sidewalks are easier to navigate, but others – including tourists – have said that the lifeblood and character of the city has suffered.

SOURCE: Naew Na | ThaiVisa Forum

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Thousands across the Kingdom, many wearing yellow, attended religious ceremonies and activities yesterday to commemorate the passing of the beloved late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. His Majesty died on October 13, 2016

In Bangkok, a large crowd offered alms to hundreds of monks and novices as PM Prayut Chan-o-cha led ministers, military leaders and officials in paying homage to the late King and placing wreaths in front of a huge portrait of the late monarch.

Similar activities were held at provincial halls throughout the country, and a candlelit ceremony, led by the Prime Minister, was held at Sanam Luang in Bangkok.

In Hua Hin, some 500 people, mostly dressed in yellow, the colour of the late King, joined a charity walk and run on the Phetkasem highway in the morning. In the north-east province of Yasothon, Thanisorn Chittama placed rice crops in his 1 hectare rice field to form an image of the late King, with wording related to the King’s philosophy of sustainable economy.

SOURCE: thaipbsworld.com

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