Thailand to be next chair of Bimstec
DIPLOMACY: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will attend the 5th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec), ahead of Thailand taking the Bimstec chair from Sri Lanka.
Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said yesterday that Gen Prayut is scheduled to attend the summit and related meetings via a teleconference hosted by Sri Lanka on March 30.
Thailand will hold the chair for two years during 2022-2023. Issues to be put forward during the country's chairmanship include post-Covid-19 economic recovery, and preparations for wide-ranging challenges and crises, he said.
Bimstec is a technical and economic cooperation framework between 7 countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Dozens complain over insurance
Phuket: A group of more than 30 people filed a complaint with local authorities, alleging that multiple insurance firms have refused to compensate them for their Covid-19 medical expenses.
Det-anan Suwanno, leader of the group, said he and other members of the group contracted the virus and underwent medical treatment.
The insurance companies were supposed to help with the payments, providing compensation ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 baht, he said.
The group asked provincial authorities to press the insurance firms to make the overdue payments. Several complainants are in dire financial straits as they have been furloughed and counted on the compensation money for help, the group said.
Pichet Panapong, deputy provincial governor, citing OIC data, said in total, 831 people in the province took out Covid-related insurance policies from two of three insurance firms facing complaints, worth 98 million baht.
Cops arrest 7 drug smuggling suspects
CHIANG RAI: Police arrested seven people for drug trafficking after a raid that yielded two million amphetamine tablets on Thursday last week, a press briefing was told yesterday.
One of the suspects is an army officer who used a car with a Royal Thai Army badge to smuggle the narcotics to the South, said Pol Lt Gen Piya Tawichai, Commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5 at the briefing.
The raid followed two earlier operations which saw members of the drug network "Aguay Mae Fah Luang" arrested by the police. The gang is known to be actively smuggling narcotics along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Those arrested told police they were hired by a man known as Nuttawut Panpong to smuggle drugs from Chiang Rai to the South.
Prayut reaffirms SDG commitment
DEVELOPMENT: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha met with UN deputy secretary-general Amina J Mohammed on the sidelines of the 9th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, where the premier assured her of Thailand's commitments to achieving sustainable development goals (SDG).
Government spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said Ms Mohammed said she believed Thailand's role in the region and services for the UN will help the international community tackle challenges, both on the regional and the global stage.
To achieve SDG targets, the Thai government has launched the Voluntary National Review (VNR) to monitor and support the SDGs in the country, the spokesman said.
It aims to study the problems and lessons voiced by the younger generation as a basis for future work on human resource development.