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39 Chinese Are Thailand’s 1st Foreign Tourists in 7 Months

A public health worker screens Chinese tourists from Shanghai who arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport on a "Special Tourist Visa, in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s tourist industry took a modest step toward reviving its coronavirus-battered fortunes Tuesday by welcoming 39 visitors who flew in from Shanghai, the first such arrivals since regular travelers were banned almost seven months ago.

The visitors who arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport are pioneers in a “Special Tourist Visa” program devised by Thai authorities to restore step by step a sector of the economy that welcomed almost 40 million foreign visitors last year and by some estimates accounts for more than 10% of the country’s GDP.

China was a natural choice for restarting tourism. Thailand was one of the top overseas destinations for Chinese tourists in 2019, when they accounted for by far the largest number of visitors to Thailand by nationality. Just as crucial is that China has largely contained the virus domestically, in sharp contrast to other countries.

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Chinese tourists from Shanghai arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport on special tourist visas, in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Thailand has had only a handful of domestic cases since June, and China’s few local outbreaks have dissipated quickly after authorities took steps such as testing entire cities and quarantining communities with potential exposure.

Thailand’s newest visitors cannot freely traipse around the country, however.

Under the program approved by the Thai Cabinet in September, foreign tourists who commit to a stay of at least 30 days are issued 90-day visas that can be renewed twice. After arriving, they must stay in government-approved quarantine at a hotel or hospital for 14 days and prove they have long-term accommodations. They must have special insurance policies, undergo pre-departure testing for the virus and download an official coronavirus-tracking application for use during their stay.

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A Chinese tourist from Shanghai who arrived on a special tourist visa, waves from a transit bus at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

An operations manager at Suvarnabhumi Airport said it is ready for tourists with a testing system that gives the result within 90 minutes. He said arrivals have to go through three thermal scans as they make their way through the airport.

“We can assure everyone that all our measures are systematic and meet international standards,” the manager, Kittipong Kittikachorn, told The Associated Press.

Members of the media were not allowed to meet with the arriving tourists.

At least two other flights from China are expected later this month, and Thailand’s tourism ministry expects about 400 foreign visitors in early November. Future flights may land in destinations other than Bangkok, such as the southern resort island of Phuket.

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A public health worker gathers information from Chinese tourists from Shanghai, who arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport on special tourist visas, in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
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TAT’s New Plan Hopes To Attract More Tourists Amid COVID-19

A public health worker guides Chinese tourists from Shanghai who arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport on special tourist visas, in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

BANGKOK (Xinhua) — The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) on Tuesday rolled out its 2021 Tourism Plan, targeting healthy tourists from across the world as the country tried to stem imported COVID-19 cases.

In its tourism plan next year, Thailand also highlighted the country’s tourism sites that are free from COVID-19.

“The world knows that Thailand had been very successful in containing the virus and that nearly all of our 76 provinces are COVID-19 free,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The main highlights of Thailand will remain the same, that includes natural beauty, the Thai cultural sites and authentic Thai food, the governor said.

However the 2021 Tourism Plan for now is only a blueprint, as tourism next year would depend mainly on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

“We are looking into early next year or in the second quarter when tourism will pick up again,” said Yuthasak.

The governor also said he expected Thai people to make an approximate 120 million domestic trips and spend about 800 billion baht (25.6 billion U.S. dollars) next year.

For inbound tourism, the TAT expected about 20 million visitors and a revenue of about 1.5 trillion baht (48 billion U.S. dollars) from their spending next year.

Thailand has already announced plans to gradually allow return of foreign tourists to minimize job losses and prevent shuttering of more hotels and travel-related businesses.

According to the TAT, more than 2,000 tourists have shown interest under a special visa program that would allow them to stay in the country for as long as 270 days.

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It’s Jay Time! Thailand’s Fave Vegan Venues Announced

BANGKOK — Mark down these places to grab brunch or plant-based snacks during the “Jay” Festival. 

Root the Future’s Plant Based Food Awards announced in its Tuesday press release the winners of the public’s favorite vegan dishes in Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, billed as the first ever crowd-based vegan awards in the country. 

Voters were allowed to cast the ballots for their favorite vegan places, without any nominees. 

In Bangkok, Loving Hut Rama 3 won the Best Jay Food Seller and their khao soi won the Best Thai Dish category. The Vegan Table in Phuket swept not only the best plant-based restaurant on the island, but also the best burger and best Thai dish with their tempeh green curry. 

EzyGo Edamame Beans, sold in 7-Eleven, won the Best Convenience Store snack in both Phuket and Chiang Mai, which chose Goodsouls Kitchen as their favorite plant-based restaurant. 

Root the Future is a website founded by Briton Max Hellier and Aussie Joanna Broomfield that promotes plant-based living in Thailand. 

Bangkok:

Best Plant-Based Restaurant: Vistro, a diner in Sukhumvit known for for their international vegan dishes

Best Overall Dish: Bangkok City Diner’s Tan Tan Ramen, which has a vegan egg

Best Dessert: Hebe Naked Chocolate Ice Cream 

Best Jay Food Seller: Loving Hut Rama 3

Best Thai Dish: Loving Hut’s Khaosoi

Best Plant Meat: Meat Avatar’s Crispy Pork

Best Convenience Store Snack: Snack Jack’s Green Pea Snack

Best Plant Milk: Kebbio 

Best Burger: Barefood Cashew Burger

Best Food Court for Plant-Based Food: Foodworld at Centralworld

Phuket:

Best Plant-Based Restaurant: The Vegan Table

Best Overall Dish: Pure Vegan Heaven’s Falafel Bowl

Best Dessert: Revitalise’s Chocolate Brownie

Best Jay Food Seller: Dok Bua Vegetarian

Best Thai Dish: The Vegan Table’s Tempeh Green Curry

Best Plant Meat: VeganReady’s Nature Nuggets

Best Convenience Store Snack: EzyGo Edamame Beans

Best Plant Milk: 137 Degrees

Best Burger: The Vegan Table’s Beyond Burger

Chiang Mai:

Best Plant-Based Restaurant: Goodsouls Kitchen

Best Overall Dish: Anne’s Pizza’s Chicago Vegan Deep Dish Pizza

Best Dessert: The Vegano Bistro’s Chocolate Lava Cake

Best Jay Food Seller: Im Jai Veg Food Stall at Maya Mall

Best Thai Dish: Anchan Vegetarian’s Banana Flower Thai Salad

Best Plant Meat: Let’s Plant Meat

Best Convenience Store Snack: EzyGo Edamame Beans

Best Plant Milk: Nature’s Charm 

Best Burger: Goodsouls Burger

Best Food Court for Plant-Based Food: Maya Mall Food Court

Related stories:

Cast Your Vote in Thailand’s 1st Ever Vegan Awards

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Cabinet Approves Parliament Session to Debate Protests

Pro-democracy activists flash three-fingered salutes during a rally outside Siam Paragon, one of the largest shopping malls, in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a request to recall Parliament for a special session to deal with the political pressures from ongoing anti-government protests.

The Cabinet at its weekly meeting approved the request, which calls for a non-voting session on Oct. 26-27.

The request for the session came from House Speaker Chuan Leekpai, who said Monday that both government and opposition parties supported it. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had already said earlier that he supports the move.

There is a deadlock between the government and the student-led protesters, who want Prayuth to step down, the constitution to be amended to make it more democratic, and reforms to the monarchy to have it conform to democratic norms.

The protesters charge that Prayuth, an army commander who led a 2014 coup, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters say a constitution written and passed under military rule is undemocratic.

But their more recent demand for checks and balances on the monarchy has deeply angered conservative Thais — and broken a taboo, since the monarchy is considered sacrosanct and tough laws protecting it from insult mean its role is not usually discussed openly. It has also raised the risk of confrontation in a country where calls for political change have a history of being met with military intervention or even violence.

The government has sought to weaken the protesters’ resolve over the past week by arresting their leaders, declaring a state of emergency for Bangkok that makes all rallies illegal, and trying to physically impede their gatherings, including by closing mass transit stations.

However, when riot police backed by water cannons were sent in to break up a rally in Bangkok on Friday, it drew widespread criticism for the use of force and failed to discourage the protesters, who have continued to gather in large numbers every day. Protests have also spread to other provinces.

Tuesday marked the seventh straight day of protests, though they were much smaller in scale than previous rallies, with organizers telling supporters on social media that it was a rest day. Small groups of demonstrators gathered in at least five locations in the Bangkok area.

Two detained top protest leaders were released Tuesday, but were immediately rearrested on other charges, said their lawyer, Noraseth Nanongtoom. He said they would seek their release on bail when they are brought to court on Wednesday.

The two, Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul and Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, were initially taken into custody during an attempted overnight rally outside the prime minister’s offices on the night of Oct. 14.

Parliament in September made its first attempt at dealing with one of the protesters’ demands when it was scheduled to vote on six proposed constitutional amendments. But the vote was canceled at the last minute as Parliament voted instead to set up a committee to further consider such proposals.

Constitutional changes require a joint vote of the House and the Senate, but it was clear that the proposals lacked enough support in the Senate, whose members are not elected and are generally very conservative and hostile to the protesters.

Police announced Monday that they were seeking to impose censorship on media reporting of the protests, citing what they called “distorted information” that could cause unrest and confusion in society.

They said they sought to block access to the online sites of four Thai news organizations and one activist group that broadcast live coverage of the protests. They also proposed a ban on over-the-air digital television coverage of one broadcaster, Voice TV.

Phuchphong Nodthaisong, a senior official from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, announced Tuesday that a court, at the government’s behest, had ordered that Voice TV stop broadcasting on all platforms. The company, which was founded by the son of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, has been sympathetic to the protest movement in its coverage.

The government also said it would try to block use of the Telegram messaging app by protest groups, who announced Sunday that they would use it for organizing because they feared they might be blocked on other platforms, such as Facebook. Telegram channels of the protest groups were still accessible on Tuesday.

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Fast and Furious Food: Protesters Baffled by Speed of Cart Vendors

A fried chicken cart at the Kaset Intersection protest on Oct. 20, 2020.

BANGKOK — At nearly every venue marked for protests, kilometers ahead of the press, activists – and light years ahead of the police – are none other than hawkers of fried chicken, fish balls, and sausages. 

Minutes after pro-democracy protest pages posted the location of Monday’s protest, motorized street food carts were already staking their ground, frying up crispy street food snacks in anticipation of heavy foot traffic.

Throughout the protests over the past week, netizens have noticed that these vendors are the first to arrive at protest sites even before the demonstrators and activists who called the rallies. 

The secret, vendors interviewed Monday at the Kaset Intersection said, is following pro-democracy social media and setting out for the protest site as soon as the announcement is posted with maximum haste.

“I’m usually one of the first persons here. I follow the main page, Free Youth, and then head there immediately,” a fried chicken vendor said. “I have already prepared all the food since morning.”

She said that she made as much as 50 percent more profit than other days, and sold out within a few hours at protests. Usually, she would have to sell roadside for six hours, hawking chicken wings for 15 baht apiece. 

“It’s really profitable,” she said. 

A fishball seller close by said that protests were a boon for his cart business.

“I’ve completely sold out,” he said. “Normally, I never do. So this is giving me a lot of profit.”

LIVE from anti-government protest at Kaset Intersection

LIVE from the Kaset Intersection, where protesters announced as their venue for today's anti-government rally

โพสต์โดย Khaosod English เมื่อ วันจันทร์ที่ 19 ตุลาคม 2020

Our interview with street food carts begin at 22:07.

Another explanation is the nature of their work. Unlike students or office workers who may need a couple of hours to get off work before arriving at the protests, the sellers who sell food full time can immediately head to the sites chosen for rallies. 

A pair of sausage and fish ball carts interviewed by Khaosod English also said that they follow the protest page and alert each other to come to the protest site as soon as possible.

“I came with my friends. We’re working as a team,” said the seller who normally hawks at Wong Sawang area, about six kilometers from the Kaset Intersection. 

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Twitter: Pcys04

Protesters: No one can catch up to us now, we’re so sneaky in changing up the protest locations!

Fish ball sellers: 

ไขปริศนา ผู้มาก่อนกาล! พ่อค้าแม่ค้า หน่วยเคลื่อนที่เร็ว

ไขปริศนา ผู้มาก่อนกาล! พ่อค้าแม่ค้า หน่วยเคลื่อนที่เร็ว ถึงก่อนม็อบ ไวยิ่งกว่าหน่วยข่าวกรอง

โพสต์โดย Khaosod – ข่าวสด เมื่อ วันจันทร์ที่ 19 ตุลาคม 2020
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Curry, Iced Coffee, CIA: A Guide to Thai Protest Vocab

Protests in Bangkok on Oct. 18, 2020 at the Victory Monument.
Protests in Bangkok on Oct. 18, 2020 at the Victory Monument.

BANGKOK — “Spicy Curry, quick! The Iced Coffee is coming.”

“Several Natasha Romanoffs spotted.” 

“CIA at the protest site!”

That’s not gibberish, but coded messages adopted half jokingly by pro-democracy protesters to communicate with each other in the ongoing flash protests. 

Since Thais are masters of wordplay, it’s no surprise that many slang words have popped up on social media in recent days to denote the presence of cops, undercover agents, and victims of police brutality. 

Kaeng Te Po: Fool The Police

A reference to a spicy curry dish Kaeng Te Po from the central plains of Thailand. It is now used as a combination of three different words in Thai: Kaeng (to trick or fool someone), The (flake), and Po (short for Police). 

In short, it’s to trick police into heading to a wrong place, away from the real protest site. Many reporters also grumble that they, too, are often the victims of Kaeng Te Po.

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OK! Number One!: Strongly Agree

The phase was taken from a media interview with a local vendor about the impact of demonstrations on business. She told a reporter that her business was badly hit from Friday’s rally at Pathum Wan Intersection before she twisted the ending by saying “OK! Number One! Let them come!”

Carrot, Baby Carrot: Monk, Novice Monk

Similar to the orange veggie, monks and novice monks in their bright orange robes were spotted at protest sites.

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A Buddhist monk, supporter of pro-democracy movement, displays a placard during a protest rally at an intersection in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Mocha: Police

The khaki police uniform can be mistaken for the chocolate-flavored cup of joe.

O-liang: Riot Police

Literally Thai iced coffee, but in this context, the word Liang means being taken care of by someone. You can figure out the first letter by yourself.

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O-yua: Water Trucks

An o-liang, served hot and furious. On Friday, water cannons with chemical irritants were sprayed at protesters.

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Smurfs: Protesters were hit by dyed water

A wry codeword for protesters hit by blue-colored water, making them as blue as the Belgian cartoon characters. 

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Donald Dumb: Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha

In an apparent reference to Donald Trump, another nickname was given to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for his knack of lashing out at everything that stands in his way.

I Hear, Too: Fuck PM Prayut

What seemed like an acknowledgement of having something is actually a derogatory term that referred to ai hia, or bastard, and PM Prayut’s nickname, Tuu.

CIA: Street Food Vendors

Faster than reporters, police, and even protesters, the quickest to execute their mission are none other than street food carts. They often arrived at the protest sites just minutes after the venues were announced. 

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Minions: Men in Yellow Shirt

Royalists or volunteer soldiers in yellow shirts were seen at royalist gatherings. They’re compared to the Minion creatures in the Despicable Me series. 

The pro-democracy camp often says that the pro-establishment group are “minions” or “slaves” of dictators. 

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Unidentified individuals in yellow shirts stand watch close to the protest outside Government House, Oct. 14, 2020.

Natasha Romanoff: Spy

Like the spy in the Marvel superhero films, Natasha Romanoffs refer to “spies” in the protest, such as royalists who change their yellow shirts to support the protesters. 

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Baby Crystals: The demonstrators

The colorful small beads are said to resemble the massive gatherings of demonstrators wearing different colors of raincoats and outfits.

image from ios

Strong Coconut Smell: Salim

Salim is a derogatory term for a pro-establishment supporter, named after the Thai dessert that consists of green, white, and pink bean threads in sweet coconut milk. 

Therefore, a “coconut smell” in the protest signifies someone supported the protests in 2014 that ushered in the coup and continues to harbor suspicions toward Redshirts and young progressives. 

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A man claiming to be a “repentant Salim”apologizes to the cheers of the anti-government protesters at Bang Na Intersection on Oct. 17, 2020.

Related stories:

Imposters Among Us: Royalists Showing Support for Protest Go Viral

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Court Approves Gov’t Order to Shut Down Protest Broadcast

Anti-government protest in Bangkok on Oct. 19, 2020.

BANGKOK — The government said Tuesday a court backed its order to close down “all platforms” of a TV channel known for its extensive coverage of the ongoing protests, a decision decried by critics as censorship.

Digital economy deputy perm sec Putchong Ntethaisong said Voice TV must now shut down all of its broadcasts, whether on air or social media, due to violations of the emergency decree. Putchong said the court is also deliberating on the shutdown order for three other media sites: The Standard, The Reporters, and Prachatai.

Voice TV said it has not received any official documents from the court as of publication.

“For 11 years, Voice TV is a media committed to democracy, giving space to people’s opinions from all sides with openness, transparency, and responsibility to facts,” channel executive Makin Petplai wrote in a statement.

Putchong accused Voice TV and three other media agencies of spreading information that could cause unrest in the country, which is banned under the Severe State of Emergency imposed by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday.

The government order that sought the shutdown of the four media sites was leaked to the internet on Monday. It was signed by the Joint Command for the Administration of the Emergency Situation, or JCAES.

The document drew widespread uproar from government opponents and media watchdogs. The Thai Journalist Association released a statement saying it opposed all attempts by the government to censor the press without clear evidence of wrongdoing.

“Censoring the media in this way is therefore an attempt to block the public’s rights to have access to the news,” the statement said. “As a consequence, more members of the public affected by this censorship may end up joining the demonstrations.”

The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand also warned that the media have the right to carry out their duty without the government’s threat of bans, suspensions, censorship or prosecution hanging over them.

“The justification used in this instance by the authorities under the controversial new state of emergency is that some reports may undermine national security,” it said. “This is overly broad, and can easily be abused to silence reporting that is accurate but makes the government uncomfortable.”

The statement added, “This is therefore not the time to interfere with the work of professional and accountable journalists. It makes the government appear heavy-handed and unresponsive to criticism, and could stir up even more public anger.”

The police played down the concerns in their news conference on Monday. Assistant police commissioner Lt. Gen.Charuvat Waisaya said the government has no intention to gag the media, but will only deal with some “problematic information” on a case by case basis.

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Schoolgirls Emerge as Leaders of Leaderless Protests in Bangkok

A protester shines a flashlight for two students working on their school assignments while attending the anti-government rally at Kaset Intersection on Oct. 19, 2020.

BANGKOK — Young protesters, many of them women and high school students, briefly took over parts of Bangkok on Monday and over the weekend to demand the government’s resignation, despite police threats to prosecute them

As much as 70 percent of the demonstrators who occupied Kaset Intersection in northern Bangkok on Monday were women, Khaosod English correspondents at the scene observed. With the declaration “everyone is a leader,” they are forging a new movement amid the police crackdown that put nearly every prominent activist behind bars. 

“The government’s violence makes people wake up,” A 17-year-old girl from Horwang School said. “The people fighting here are fighting for all of us. The government’s use of violence makes them even worse in our eyes.” 

The Matthayom 6 student said this was her “tenth time” attending a protest and that she was not afraid of defying the emergency decree, which bans public gatherings of more than five people.

“If there are enough of us, they [the government] can’t do anything,” she said. “We’re students. I’m wearing my uniform because at the last mob, people are kinder to me if they see we are the country’s future.”

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Schoolgirls hold up “liberte, egalite, fraternite” signs at the Kaset Intersection protest on Oct. 19, 2020.

Jaded Chaowilai, a women’s welfare advocate who campaigns against rapes and domestic violence, was present at the Kaset Intersection rally on Monday. He said young women have the most incentive to protest due to Thailand’s male-dominated society and social pressures. 

“Most of the movement are women, students, young women because of gender-related problems at family and school. They want to speak out and join because there’s so many problems,” Jaded said. “On Facebook Live, I saw a 8 or 9-year-old girl talking about gender issues and problems at her school.” 

The protests – which are calling for the prime minister’s resignation, a more democratic constitution, and a reformed monarchy – have become leaderless “pop-up” gatherings. Monday’s protests took place at Kaset Intersection near Kasetsart University, Khlong Prem Prison, and MRT Ministry of Public Health Station. 

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Student protesters at the Kaset Intersection protest on Oct. 19, 2020.

The flash mobs tactics were adopted after many protest leaders and activists have systematically been arrested over the past week, though 19 of them were granted bail and released Monday night. 

Monday also saw protests in Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Ubon Ratchathani, and Chiang Mai.

“Everyone can be a leader,” a volunteer female guard said at the rally. “The protests are managing without a leader, and everyone who wants to say something can take turns talking through megaphones.”

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Students at the anti-government protest in Nonthaburi on Oct. 19, 2020.

The government appears to be struggling to catch up with the fluid and leaderless nature of the protests. The Cold War-era mentality of suppressing dissent can be seen in their response to the movement, from arresting the activist leaders, threatening to prosecute anyone who shared photos of the protests online, and trying to ban the Telegram app used by the demonstrators to communicate. 

But if the government hoped those harsh reactions would “decapitate” the movement into collapsing, they could not be more wrong. Protests have become organic and almost spontaneous; locations are announced on social media only a few hours prior, and the venues spread out across the city instead of converging on one area. 

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“We are all protest leaders,” reads a sign held by a protester on Oct. 19, 2020 at Kaset Intersection.

Creativity of the younger generations also took the stage. About 3 million baht was raised by Thai K-pop fans on Twitter – a largely female base. 

They are not afraid of touching on the country’s most powerful institution and therefore the most sensitive subject, either. In recent days, many schoolchildren held up signs and shouted slogans calling for reforms of the monarchy.

“Some people disagree with reforming the monarchy but only agree with reforming the government,” the 17-year-old student at Kaset Intersection protest said. “But young people these days are able to think for themselves and are not brainwashed.”

She added, “We are not radical. We are just brave enough to think.” 

Related stories:

Ideological Clashes Split Families as Protests Heat Up

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Thai Industrial Sentiment ‘Improves for 5 Straight Months’

Shoppers at a supermarket in Bangkok on May 5, 2020.

BANGKOK (Xinhua) — The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) released a report on Monday indicating that the resumption of business and activities after COVID-19 lockdowns have improved Thailand’s industrial sentiment for the fifth consecutive month in September.

However, the FTI had also cautioned that the sentiment for the next three months have declined on concerns about the possible second wave of COVID-19.

Thailand Industrial Sentiment Index (TISI) rose to 85.2 in September from 84.0 in August because the government eased business lockdowns and introduced economic stimulus measures and assistance for small and medium enterprises, said FTI chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree.

Measures implemented by the government had paved ways for consumers more purchasing powers to buy durable and non-durable goods.

Supant also said that international cargo transport showed positive signs as many countries have relaxed COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Trading partners have also placed more orders of Thai goods, Supant said.

TISI for the next three months dropped from 94.5 as anticipated in August to 93.3 on the concern that Thailand could suffer a second wave of COVID-19, he said.

Supant urged the Thai government to quickly disburse budgets, speed up investment projects nationwide and instruct state agencies to order locally made products to enhance local economy.

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CP Foods Wins 5 Asian Excellence Awards

Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Fooods or CPF) received 5 awards at the Asian Excellence Awards 2020, in recognition of its international-level achievements and excellence.

The 5 awards are; Asia’s Best CEO, Asia’s Best CFO, Best Investor Relations Professional, Best Investor Relations Company and Best CSR Company. The Asian Excellence Awards was organized by Corporate Governance Asia, the Hong Kong-based magazine dedicated to economic and corporate governance reporting. The criteria of the awards are as follows:

1. Asia’s Best CEO: Mr. Prasit Boondoungprasert, Chief Executive Officer of CP Foods, who is domestically and internationally recognized for his leadership in leading the organization towards sustainable growth and equitable responsibility for society, shareholders, investors and stakeholders.

Mr. Prasit Boondoungprasert
Mr. Prasit Boondoungprasert

2. Asia’s Best CFO: Mr. Paisarn Chirakitcharern, Chief Finance Officer, recognized for his capable financial management in times of volatilities. Under his stewardship, CP Foods stands out in terms of debt management, financial performance, business planning and strategic procurements.

Mr. Paisarn Chirakitcharern
Mr. Paisarn Chirakitcharern

3. Asia’s Best Investor Relations Professional: Mrs. Kobboon Srichai, Company Secretary and head of Investor Relations Office, who played a key role in communicating with investors.

4. Best Investor Relations Company: Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC (CP Foods). The award recognized CP Foods’ highest standards in transparent and equitable information disclosure: aside from periodical reporting to regulators, CP Foods effectively communicated with all stakeholders.

5. Best CSR Company: Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC (CP Foods). The award recognized CP Foods emphasis on social and environmental impacts on communities under the 3 pillars towards sustainability – Food Security, Self-Sufficient Society and Balance of Nature; as well as its measures to protect employees and improve their quality of life.

CP Foods performed outstandingly after the novel coronavirus outbreak. The organization has sailed through hardships and enjoyed greater competitiveness. CP Foods attained milestone achievements while extended help to society through the “Food from Hearts against COVID-19” campaign that involved the delivery of food to medical personnel and their families, health volunteers, returnees under quarantine and poor communities.

Meanwhile, CP Foods standards guaranteed 100% prevention of African Swine Fever (ASF) and prevented the spread of COVID-19 among employees, allowing undisrupted production and continuous supplies of food and meat products. Such clearly demonstrated CP Foods’ social responsibility.

CP Foods has collaborated with the government in rehabilitating and driving the economy, through the employment of 8,000 new graduates. Concerned about layoffs and pay cuts in the aftermath of the COVID-19, CP Foods issued discount vouchers to the public and launched several social activities for the sake of the country, society and the environment.

CP Foods has received awards from the Asian Excellence Awards for consecutive years, thanks to the adherence to the 3-Benefit Philosophy to sustainability, sustainable growth, and good corporate governance for the sustainability of the organization, community and the environment as well as the trust of shareholders and stakeholders in the country and internationally.

The Asian Excellence Awards are bestowed by Corporate Governance Asia to the organizations in fast-growing Asia that demonstrate corporate governance. The awards are extended to visionary leaders excellent in management acumen, financial performance, corporate social responsibility, environmental practices and investor relations. Through interviews and corporate information, the winners are picked from several countries across the region, including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

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