Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022 (BIFW2022), World-Class Fashion Week of the Year 21-25 September 2022 at Siam Paragon

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28 September 2022, 09:44

Siam Paragon, a ‘World Class Fashion Destination,’ has initiated “Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022” or BIFW2022, a world-class fashion week which has long been a key driving force of the Thai fashion industry. The grand runway showcases creative power of 15 top-notch Thai fashion houses and new generation designers. The BIFW2022 has been Siam Paragon’s continual key mission to promote and drive Thai fashion to international levels. Simultaneously, this strategically aligns with the Thai government’s strategy to empower the Thai fashion industry since fashion is one of the most influential soft power that stimulates economic growth. The Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week runs from 21-25 September 2022 at Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon.

Thanaporn Tantiyanon, Group Head – Siam Paragon Business Unit, Siam Paragon, said “Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022 or BIFW2022 is a world-class fashion event that has been a driving force of the Thai fashion industry. It is an important platform for Thai designers to showcase their potential to the world. As we have our strong faith and confidence in the creative power of our Thai designers, Siam Paragon has always been dedicated and committed to promoting and driving Thai fashion to international levels. This year, BIFW2022 continued the success of the Thai fashion industry and to ensure it continues to be stronger and flourishes on a global level.

For five days in a row, BIFW2022 will be showcasing the latest collections from top-notch Thai brands and new generation designers, with a total of up to 15 shows: Absolute Siam presented by ZEPETO: Sculpture Studio x Waterandother x Fill in the Bag, ASAVA, FLYNOW, FRI27NOV., GREYHOUND ORIGINAL, ISSUE presented by TAT, KLOSET, LEISURE PROJECTS, NAGARA, PAINKILLER Atelier presented by Seiko 5 Sports, POEM Presented by Purra, TandT, VATANIKA presented by Lexus, VICKTEERUT and VVON SUGUNNASIL. Each brand has prepared a special collection that will debut on the grand runway for the first time, featuring top models and celebrities throughout the fashion week.

In addition, in the era of changing behavior and lifestyle of people around the world, BIFW2022 is focusing on connecting and creating a seamless fashion experience that connects the real world and the virtual world through the ONESIAM SuperApp. This app will allow fashionistas to access “BIFW Online Pop Up Store: Shop Off the Runway” which is an online fashion pop-up bringing the collections straight from the runway in real-time. The works of famous fashion brands will be available for fashionistas to conveniently grab their favorite items from the runway with special promotions. At the same time, fashion enthusiasts from all around the world can experience fashion week in the world of Metaverse. A collaboration of international partners including Digital Fashion Week and NXTinteractive, and Singapore, will be presenting the first Metaverse fashion week at “Meta Jupter’ a virtual space which features a combination of things such as Live Streaming of the runway show and having to create your own avatar to explore the fashion world. In addition, ONESIAM and ZEPETO, a virtual world platform with over 300 million users worldwide, features the winning design selected from ZEPETO which is created into a physical outfit to showcase on the BIFW2022 runway. Apart from that, favorite fashion looks from Absolute Siam showcased on the runway can then be dressed up on the avatars and celebrities also join the fashion vibe in the virtual world meet-and-greet on the ZEPETO platform.

The BIFW2022 is a collaboration between public and private sectors including the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Lexus, Seiko, Purra, Tiktok, Harper’s Bazaar, Digital Fashion Week Singapore, ZEPETO, Davines and M. A.C Cosmetics.

Experience the world-class fashion week – Siam Paragon Bangkok International Fashion Week 2022 from 21 – 25 September 2022 at Siam Paragon or visit www.siamparagon.co.th/bifw2022/, Facebook Siamparagonshopping or ONESIAM and choose to shop the fashion collection via the application ONESIAM SuperApp.

#BIFW2022 #SiamParagon

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Russia Gives Citizenship to Ex-NSA Contractor Edward Snowden

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Associated Press

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27 September 2022, 11:30

FILE - In this image made from video and released by WikiLeaks, former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden speaks in Moscow, Oct. 11, 2013. Photo: AP File

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Monday granted citizenship to former American intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who fled prosecution after he revealed highly classified U.S. surveillance programs to capture communications and data from around the world.

A decree signed Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin listed Snowden as one of 75 foreign citizens listed as being granted Russian citizenship. After fleeing the U.S. in 2013, Snowden was granted permanent Russian residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship without renouncing his U.S. citizenship.

Ties between Washington and Moscow are already at their lowest point in decades following Putin’s decision to launch what the Kremlin has dubbed a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

While Snowden, 39, is considered by supporters to be a righteous whistleblower who wanted to protect American civil liberties, U.S. intelligence officials have accused him of putting U.S. personnel at risk and damaging national security. He currently faces charges in the United States that could result in decades in prison.

“Our position has not changed,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday. “Mr. Snowden should return to the United States where he should face justice as any other American citizen would.”

Snowden becomes a Russian citizen as Moscow is mobilizing reservists to go to Ukraine. In Russia, almost every man is considered a reservist until age 65, and officials on Monday stressed that men with dual citizenship are also eligible for the military call-up.

Snowden, however, has never served in the Russian armed forces, so he is not eligible to be mobilized, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency. Having previous combat or military service experience has been considered the main criterion in the call-up.

Kucherena told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills, an American who has been living with him in Russia, will also be applying for a Russian passport. The couple has two children.

“After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family,” Snowden tweeted Monday. “I pray for privacy for them — and for us all.”

Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist known for his exposés of Moscow security services, said that “strictly speaking, (Snowden) could be drafted, strictly in theory.” But that would be bad PR for the Kremlin so it won’t happen, said Soldatov, who is on Russia’s wanted list for “spreading false information.” Russian authorities have also frozen his bank accounts and he lives in exile.

Snowden, who has kept a low profile in Russia and occasionally criticized Russian government policies on social media, said in 2019 that he was willing to return to the U.S. if he’s guaranteed a fair trial.

Snowden has become a well-known speaker on privacy and intelligence, appearing remotely at many events from Russia. But he has been sharply criticized by members of the intelligence community, and current and former officials from both U.S. political parties say he endangered global security by exposing important programs. A U.S. damage assessment of his disclosures is still classified.

James Clapper, who served as U.S. director of national intelligence at the time of the disclosures, said Snowden’s grant of citizenship came with “rather curious timing.”

“It raises the question — again — about just what he shared with the Russians,” Clapper said in an email Monday.

Snowden has denied cooperating with Russian intelligence and was traveling through Moscow when the U.S. revoked his passport.

Snowden leaked documents on the National Security Agency’s collection of data passing through the infrastructure of U.S. phone and internet companies. He also released details about the classified U.S. intelligence budget and the extent of American surveillance on foreign officials, including the leaders of U.S.-allied countries.

Snowden says he made the disclosures because he believed the U.S. intelligence community had gone too far and wrongly infringed on civil liberties. He also has said he didn’t believe the administration of former President Barack Obama, which was in office when Snowden leaked the records to journalists, would act had he made an internal whistleblower complaint instead.

His decision to turn against the NSA came when he used his programming skills to to create a repository of classified in-house notes on the agency’s global snooping and as he built a backup system for agency data, he wrote in his 2019 book “Permanent Record.”

Reading through the repository, Snowden said he began to understand the extent of his government’s stomping on civil liberties and became “cursed with the knowledge that all of us had been reduced to something like children, who’d been forced to live the rest of their lives under omniscient parental supervision.”

Snowden was charged in 2013 with unauthorized disclosure of U.S. national security and intelligence information as well as theft of government property. The three charges each carry a maximum 10-year penalty.

The Justice Department also sued to stop Snowden from collecting profits on his memoir, saying he had violated his nondisclosure agreements with intelligence agencies.

The White House on Monday referred comment on Snowden’s citizenship to the Justice Department, citing the pending criminal charges.

Tense Japan Holds Funeral for Assassinated Ex-leader Abe

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Associated Press

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27 September 2022, 11:00

People leave flowers and pay their respects to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outside the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, ahead of his state funeral later in the day. Photo: Nicolas Datiche / Pool Photo via AP

TOKYO (AP) — A tense Japan prepared Tuesday for a rare and controversial state funeral for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving leader in his nation’s modern history and one of the most divisive.

Tokyo was under maximum security, with angry protests opposing the funeral planned around the capital and nation. Hours before the ceremony began, dozens of people carrying bouquets of flowers queued at public flower-laying stands at nearby Kudanzaka park.

Thousands of uniformed police mobilized around the Budokan hall, where the funeral is being held, and at major train stations. Roads around the venue are closed throughout the day, and coin lockers at main stations were sealed for security. World leaders, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, were in town for the funeral.

Opponents of the state-sponsored funeral, which has its roots in prewar imperial ceremonies, say taxpayers’ money should be spent on more meaningful causes, such as addressing widening economic disparities caused by Abe’s policies.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been criticized for forcing through the costly event to honor his mentor, Abe, who was assassinated in July. There has also been a widening controversy about Abe’s and the governing party’s decades-long close ties with the ultra-conservative Unification Church, accused of raking in huge donations by brainwashing adherents. Abe’s alleged assassin reportedly told police he killed the politician because of his links to the church; he said his mother ruined his life by giving away the family’s money to the church.

Kishida says the longest-serving leader in Japan’s modern political history deserves a state funeral. The government also maintains that the ceremony is not meant to force anyone to honor Abe. Most of the nation’s 47 prefectural governments, however, plan to fly national flags at half-staff and observe a moment of silence.

Opponents say Kishida’s one-sided decision, which was made without parliamentary approval, was undemocratic, and a reminder of how prewar imperialist governments used state funerals to fan nationalism. The prewar funeral law was abolished after World War II. The only postwar state funeral for a political leader, for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967, also faced similar criticism.

“Spending our valuable tax money on a state funeral with no legal basis is an act that tramples on the constitution,” organizer Takakage Fujita said at a protest Monday.

About 1.7 billion yen ($11.8 million) is needed for the venue, security, transportation and accommodation for the guests, the government said.

A group of lawyers has filed a number of lawsuits in courts around the country to try to stop the funeral. An elderly man last week set himself on fire near the prime minister’s office in an apparent protest of the funeral.

In what some see as an attempt to further justify the honor for Abe, Kishida has launched a series of meetings with visiting foreign leaders in what he calls “funeral diplomacy.” The talks are meant to strengthen ties as Japan faces regional and global challenges, including threats from China, Russia and North Korea. He was to meet about 40 foreign leaders through Wednesday. No Group of Seven leaders are attending.

Kishida met about 10 dignitaries Monday, including Harris, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte. He will meet with his Australian and Indian counterparts separately and host a reception Tuesday.

About 4,300 people, including Japanese lawmakers and foreign and local dignitaries, are attending the funeral.

Japanese troops will line the streets around the venue, and 20 of them will act as honor guards outside of Abe’s home as his family leaves for the funeral. There will then be a 19-volley salute.

The ceremony will start when Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, enters the hall carrying an urn containing her husband’s ashes, placed in a wooden box and wrapped in white cloth. The former leader was cremated after a private funeral at a Tokyo temple days after his death.

Government, parliamentary and judicial representatives, including Kishida, will make condolence speeches, followed by Akie Abe.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party are boycotting the funeral, along with others.

Abe’s opponents recall his attempts to whitewash Japan’s wartime atrocities, his push for more military spending, his reactionary view of gender roles and a leadership seen as autocratic and supportive of cronyism.

Protests of the funeral have increased as more details emerged about Abe’s and LDP lawmakers’ connection to the Unification Church. The South Korea-based church has built close ties with LDP lawmakers over shared interests in conservative causes.

“The fact that the close ties between the LDP and the Unification Church may have interfered with policymaking processes is seen by the Japanese people as a greater threat to democracy than Abe’s assassination,” wrote Hosei University political science professor Jiro Yamaguchi in a recent article.

Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, helped the church take root in Japan and is now seen as a key figure in the scandal. Opponents say holding a state funeral for Abe is equivalent to an endorsement of ruling party ties to the Unification Church.

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Story: Mari Yamaguchi.

CP Foods maintains its sustainability excellence in Dow Jones Sustainability Index

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Contributor

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26 September 2022, 16:54

Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC (CP Foods) has maintained its score in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) 2022, a globally recognized sustainability index CP Foods has participated in for 8 consecutive years.

CP Foods attributed the success to the “CPF Sustainability in Action 2030 Strategy,” applied to all businesses throughout, from upstream to downstream.

This year’s ranking shows outstanding performance in all 3 sustainability pillars – environmental, social, and governance (ESG). CP Foods successfully earned full scores in several criteria, health & nutrition, human rights, information security/ cybersecurity, innovation management, packaging, and customer relationship management. CP Foods is also designated as the industry leader when it comes to risk management, supply chain management, labor practices, and corporate citizenship & philanthropy.

CP Foods remains steadfast on the path towards sustainability. Under the “CPF Sustainability in Action 2030 Strategy”, the Company strives to accomplish the 3 sustainability pillars, comprises “Food Security, Self-Sufficient Society, and Balance of Nature”. The strategy is driven by its 3-benefits commitment in making contribution to the country, the people, and the Company, simultaneously, as well as facilitating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sustainability strategy is guiding the Company towards social responsibility and environmental stewardship, on the foundation of good governance. Thus, CP Foods ascertain it can keep on delivering quality and safe food, in tandem with ensuring food security for global consumers.

‘Multilateral’? Global South’s Leaders Question Solidarity

By

Associated Press

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26 September 2022, 11:30

President of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photo: Jason DeCrow / AP

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United Nations was established on one simple notion above all others: Working together is better than going it alone. But while the term “multilateralism” might be trending at this year’s U.N. General Assembly, some leaders are calling out the heads of richer nations.

Whether it’s the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic or climate change, developing countries say it seems that richer nations are thinking of themselves first and not the world’s most vulnerable.

“The global economy is now a house on fire, yet we continue to use evacuation methods that rush some nations out to safety while leaving the rest of us behind to fend for ourselves in the burning building,” said Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera. “But if we are truly one U.N. family, then leaving no one behind has to be practiced, not just preached.”

Tanzania’s Vice President Philip Isdor Mpango was even more blunt. He said that “unilateralism driven by greed is leading us — rich and poor, strong and weak — to a catastrophe.”

When the United Nations was established in 1945, world leaders hoped it would make sure that something like World War II never happened again. Over the years its mandate has tackled everything from nuclear proliferation to protecting refugees. But that high-minded notion of multilateralism has never wavered — even if the reality sometimes has.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau Beretitenti reminded member states last week that the United Nations’ founders wanted to not only prevent future wars but also “improve the standard of living for all.”

“Today, we take stock of the progress made towards those goals along with new commitments and to reflect and assess if we have truly lived up those values,” he said. Regionalism and solidarity, he said, “are at risk of being increasingly used to serve specific national interests” rather than for the common benefit.

“Broken humanity cannot be fixed by wonderful speeches, meetings, resolutions, nor international instruments, but by an interplay of greater compassion and solidarity,” he added.

Mohammad Niamat Elahee, an international business professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, said most rich countries are giving lip service to multilateralism but are, in reality, acting otherwise.

“When we try to solve it ourselves, maybe in the short term we gain some benefits only for a limited number of people. But in the long run, it becomes worse for everyone,” he said, pointing to the COVID-19 variants that emerged in developing countries after rich countries initially hoarded vaccine supplies.

“For multilateralism to work, we need cooperation across the board. If some countries follow multilateralism and some countries don’t, then it doesn’t work,” Elahee said. “Big countries have a disproportionately high influence in the world,” he said. “When they abandon multilateralism, everybody else abandons it and it becomes a dog-eat-dog world. And that’s the challenge.”

Multilateralism has taken a steady stream of hits over the past 20 years, from U.S. military interventions to the backlash against globalization. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tenure reintroduced an “America First” approach to foreign policy. His administration eschewed the United Nations as an “unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy.”

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic — a shared global disaster, but also one that exposed how there was enough oxygen for some countries, but untold patients elsewhere would die without.

“The richer nations immediately received vaccines at the expense of the have-nots,” Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said last week, echoing the anger of a number of other countries.

Even issues that many countries have rallied around, like condemning the war in Ukraine, feel different to nations whose armed conflicts have not garnered the same international solidarity.

“They should pause for a moment to reflect on the glaring contrast in their response to the wars elsewhere where women and children have died by the thousands from wars and starvation,” East Timor President José Ramos-Horta told the Assembly.

“The response to our beloved Secretary-General’s cries for help in these situations have not met with equal compassion,” he said. “As countries in the Global South, we see double standards.”

Countries like Ghana say they need more international solidarity, too, when it comes to the inequities in how economies have weathered the impact of the pandemic and global inflation. The resulting currency devaluations have made it even harder for countries to pay back their U.S. dollar loans.

The consequences are also more dire for developing countries when it comes to climate change, leaders say. Presidents from Africa and island nations have been asking richer countries to take more financial responsibility for the fact they’ve contributed the most carbon emissions.

The fear lies, too, in what will happen once this annual flurry of promise-making ends, says Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, whose country has seen apocalypse-like flooding.

“My real worry is about the next stage of this challenge — when the cameras leave and the story just shifts away to conflicts like Ukraine,” he said. “My question is: Will be left alone to cope with a crisis we did not create?”

Ultimately, the “united” in United Nations means interdependence. It’s a notion that the past three years have taught many nations in substantial ways. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina summoned that as she told world leaders that “the greatest lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that ‘no one is safe until everyone is safe’.”

“Mutual solidarity must be shown more than ever,” she said. “We need to prove that in times of crisis, the United Nations remains the cornerstone of the multilateral system.”

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Story: Krista Larson.

Powerful Typhoon Leaves 5 Rescuers Dead in North Philippines

By

Associated Press

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26 September 2022, 11:00

Residents give out free food as they wade through a flooded street in their village from Typhoon Noru in San Miguel town, Bulacan province, Philippines, Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. Photo: Aaron Favila / AP

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Noru blew out of the northern Philippines on Monday, leaving five rescuers dead, causing floods and power outages and forcing officials to suspend classes and government work in the capital and outlying provinces.

The most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year slammed into the coast in Burdeos town in Quezon province before nightfall on Sunday then weakened as it barreled overnight across the main Luzon region, where thousands of people were moved to emergency shelters, some forcibly, officials said.

Gov. Daniel Fernando of Bulacan province, north of Manila, said five rescuers, who were using a boat to help residents trapped in floodwaters, were hit by a collapsed wall then apparently drowned in the rampaging waters.

“They were living heroes who were helping save the lives of our countrymen amid this calamity,” Fernando told DZMM radio network. “This is really very sad.”

On Polillo island in northeastern Quezon province, a man was injured after falling off the roof of his house, officials said.

More than 17,000 people were moved to emergency shelters from high-risk communities prone to tidal surges, flooding and landslides in Quezon alone, officials said.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated to safety in Metropolitan Manila, which was lashed by fierce wind and rain overnight. Classes and government work were suspended Monday in the capital and outlying provinces as a precaution although the morning skies were sunny.

The entire northern provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were hit by the typhoon, remained without power Monday and repair crews were at work to bring back electricity, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a televised meeting he called to assess damages and coordinate disaster-response.

Marcos Jr. praised officials for evacuating thousands of people to safety as a precaution before the typhoon hit which prevented large number of casualties despite the Noru’s potentially disastrous force.

Noru underwent an “explosive intensification” over the open Pacific Ocean before it hit the Philippines, Vicente Malano, who heads the country’s weather agency, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

From sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (53 mph) on Saturday, Noru was a super typhoon just 24 hours later with sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph) at its peak late Sunday.

By Monday morning, Noru had sustained winds of 140 kph (87 mph) and gusts of 170 kph (105 mph) and was moving westward in the South China Sea at 30 kph (19 mph), according to the weather agency.

About 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago also lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines — well to the south of Noru’s path.

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Story: Jim Gomez and Aaron Favila. Associated Press journalist Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.

AIS and 3 key ministries – MOE, MOPH and MOI, with King Mungkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

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Contributor

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26 September 2022, 10:09

Thailand’s first launch of “Aunjai Cyber Course” to level up digital education

Building cyber-immunity from a young age with effective education nationwide

AIS has partnered with four key institutions: Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in signing an MoU to launch “Aunjai Cyber”, a course in cyber immunity, for the first time ever in Thailand. It is a joint effort between the state and private sectors to upgrade education in the digital age, to protect against cyber threats and build immunity in digital lifestyles for all ages from children to members of the public. Teachers can learn for themselves and then apply that for their students on the digital LearnDi platform and the Aunjai Cyber App. Content has been designed in reference to the DQ Framework (Digital Intelligence Quotient) standards. Materials have also been adapted to the context of Thai society by mental health professionals. This is now a target for rollout to over 30,000 educational institutions around the country which are under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior. All Thai people, regardless of gender or age, are invited to test their digital skills with the “Aunjai Cyber” syllabus, and upgrade their knowledge of Digital Citizenship.

Somchai Lertsutiwong, CEO of AIS, said, “At AIS, the focus of our work is more than developing our network quality to meet users’ needs. We are also actively aware of building a better digital society. Since 2019 we have implemented our Aunjai Cyber program as the hub of a network for every sector to come together and make positive changes to Thailand’s digital society. We use digital tech both as a tool for secure use, and to enhance digital intelligence. The body of knowledge promoting the digital skills for Thai people gives them adequate warnings, so they can enjoy the digital world securely and creatively.

“AIS is fulfilling this mission in cooperation with the country’s three most important ministries. Digital learning materials have been created for the Aunjai Cyber Course. The Department of Mental Health under the Ministry of Public Health has developed a course in partnership with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, which has a strong graphics and animation component. The Ministry of Education, through the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), has been helping to certify that these courses are compliant with educational standards, and hence can be made available to students. The Ministry of Interior will also bring this course to the schools under their supervision.”

“Aunjai Cyber course” is presented in 4 Professional Skill Modules (4P4) covering the following digital skills:

Practice: Instilling the knowledge and understanding of using digital tech correctly and appropriately
Personality: Recommendations to protect online privacy
Protection: Learning how to prevent online cyber threats
Participation: Interactive learning of appropriate online communications skills and behaviour

Since January 2022, the program has been trialled in a virtual sandbox. Over 160,000 teachers and students have taken the course and passed the test

Mrs. Amporn Benjaponpitak, M.D., FRCPsychT Director-General of Department of Mental Health said, “One of our missions at the Public Health Ministry is mental health, executed by the Department of Mental Health as the responsible body for mental healthcare in Thailand. Our mission is focused providing the Thai public the resources they need to look after their mental health sustainably. Working with AIS to develop the Aunjai Cyber Course is a very concrete application of this policy. The Department of Mental Health has provided content suitable for every social group and age cohort in the form of warnings, recommendations and suggestions to cope with online challenges securely and creatively, very much in tune with our vision at the Ministry of Public Health.”

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) President, Assoc Prof Dr Suvit Saetia, commented on the university’s cooperation to develop educational materials for the Aunjai Cyber Course. “This cooperation came about from the sincere intention to work together of the faculty and other personnel, particularly by unleashing the potential of the Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology. This is in line with our long-term goals to develop educational innovation. We have developed digital media for the Aunjai Cyber Course. Alongside digital media for teaching, there is a test to assess the student’s digital skills and understanding of digital citizenship. We sincerely hope that by following this course, everybody will be helped to adjust their lifestyles in the digital age and be good digital citizens, able to access the online world securely.”

Miss Treenuch Thienthong, Minister of Education, noted, “The Aunjai Cyber Course is another important step for Thai education in keeping abreast of a rapidly changing digital world. The mission of the Education Ministry is dedicated to expanding access to educational services. The course we are launching today has been certified by the Office of the Teacher Civil Service and Educational Personnel Commission (OTEPC) as a course suitable for teachers and instructors at institutions under the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC). Teachers have been able to count development hours in requests for promotion, as stipulated by OTEPC.

“Now, educational supervisors, teachers and instructors from different educational institutions around the country have all come together. They all have a part in disseminating the Aunjai Cyber Course with the provided media to students nationwide, at schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), Office of Vocational Education Commission, Office of the Private Education Commission (OPEC) and the Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education (NFE). We will continue to expand our coverage as much as possible, so that both teachers and kids have the necessary digital skills to deal with hidden cyber threats on the Internet. They will also get the maximum use out of the technology.”

Dr Songsak Thongsri, from the Ministry of Interior, added that the Ministry was disseminating the course to schools governed by local administrative organisations: “As well as our goal of maintaining order, public safety and internal security, the Ministry of Interior is committed to making communities and local economies more resilient. This includes supporting urban development and infrastructure. One of our goals is to enable the public to spend time online happily and securely by having the necessary skills to use the Internet properly at the current time. We will support our teachers and instructors, as well as over 700,000 students at institutions under local administrative organisations to study the “Aunjai Cyber” course, which will be of the greatest usefulness in their lives.”

The Aunjai Cyber course has become a key element of teaching in the official system. The public can learn more and grow their digital skills for free at https://learndiaunjaicyber.ais.co.th/

Sustainability Expo ‘SX 2022’ Highlights New Dimension of Collaborative Mission, Promotes Balance for Planet

By

Khaosod English

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26 September 2022, 06:00

Five leading enterprises committed to international sustainability have jointly upgraded their expo to make it the biggest such event in ASEAN, thus creating a positive collaborative platform to drive the Decade of Action on the Sufficiency for Sustainability approach and advance the trend towards good balance and better world concept.

Mr. Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, president of Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, said Sustainability Expo 2022 or SX 2022 marked the third year that the annual forum had brought together all relevant sectors and expanded their network overseas. SX 2022 has continued to embrace H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy and inspire its applications in the Thai context for sustainability.

SX 2022 has grown out of the TSX Expo or Thailand Supply Chain Network (TSCN), an annual event that had been held for the past two years. This year, however, five enterprises, namely Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited or GC, Thai Union Group Public Company Limited, SCG Public Company Limited, and Frasers Property Limited have joined forces to upgrade the event to the regional level under the name SX 2022.

SX 2022, moreover, serves as a platform for B2C2B (Business-to-Consumer-to-Business) that pursues consumer centricity and connections that go from business to consumers and vice versa.

Mr. Thiraphong Chansiri, chief executive officer of Thai Union Public Company Limited, said sustainability was at the core of his firm’s business operations because Thai Union aims to deliver Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans for the future generations under its SeaChange® strategy.

“We intend to bring positive changes to the world’s seafood industry in four dimensions, namely Safe & Legal Labor, Responsible Sourcing, Responsible Business Operations, and People & Community Care. These core elements are also in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” he noted.

Mr. Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president of Siam Cement Public Company Limited or SCG, said, “In the face of climate change, everyone must live in an environmentally friendly way. SCG would like to encourage you to embrace green products such as solar roofs that promise to curb energy consumption and lower electricity charges; green packaging that keeps vegetables and fruits fresh longer and thus reduces food waste; water-efficient sanitary ware, and innovations like SCG Active AIR Quality that protect you and your family from PM2.5 pollution, pathogens, and viruses. SCG is ready to create a better world for the future generations.”

Dr. Kongkrapan Intarajang, chief executive officer and president of PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (GC), added that as a co-founder of the Sustainability Expo, GC had always been committed to sustainability and thus conducted its businesses based on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) principles.

“Today, GC is pursuing a challenging goal of becoming a low-carbon enterprise. We plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. Not only have we improved our manufacturing process to achieve lower carbon emissions, but we have also developed High Value Businesses and Low Carbon Businesses. We have actively engaged in forestation and carbon capture too. Moreover, we have paid back to society through many initiatives with the aim of upgrading quality of life in communities, fulfilling people’s lifestyles, and preparing a livable plan for posterity”.

Mr. Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Frasers Property Limited, said his firm was pleased to have co-organized SX 2022 because the event resonated with the firm’s Inspiring Experiences and Creating Places for Good vision. Frasers Property always seeks to deliver good things to people, businesses, and local communities in a sustainable way by offering valuable experiences, improving quality of life, and achieving zero carbon emissions. As Frasers Property boosts its preparedness for the increasingly unpredictable situation in the future, it has prepared inclusive services and better quality of life for all.

Held between 26 September and 2 October 2022, SX 2022 spans over 40,000 square meters of space at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. More than 100 leading Thai and foreign enterprises / organizations have joined the event, and over 150 business leaders and experts are serving as speakers to share their views / visions. Participants therefore will get updates about and gain insights into the full spectrum of sustainability-related trends, innovations, and technologies via the expo’s exhibitions, seminars, and activities that are suitable for people of all ages and genders.

Opinion: Why Ekachai Hongkangwan Is a Formidable Political Activist?

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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25 September 2022, 15:00

Ekachai Hongkangwan at a police station on Feb. 10, 2018.

Anti-junta-cum-monarchy-reformist Ekachai Hongkangwan has emerged as one of the most persistent opponents to the conservative powers in Thailand over the years.

Just out of prison on bail earlier this week on Tuesday after spending five months in prison for posting obscene and sexually explicit story about sex in prison on Facebook, Ekachai told me with a nonchalant voice on the phone Friday that he’s most probably returning to prison anew. “Probably not by this year at least,” the 47-year-old activist said.

The former lese majeste convict had been detained on five separate charges and convictions now and I assume he knows his stuff. He said there are three more pending charges, including sedition, and 17 more charges in the pipeline.

“I am certain that soon I will be back [in prison] but probably not this year,” said Ekachai who quickly became active on Facebook after his temporary bail release and said to me he was surprised that many people came to greet him outside the prison when he was freed a few days ago. He said he was surprised but thankful that many turned up and wanted to tell them that if they are resolved to do something, then go the whole hog. “Do it with confidence,” said Ekachai.

I was thinking about factors that made Ekachai a formidable political activist and these are some factors. At the same time these factors are also constraints faced by many other Thais.

First, Ekachai’s parents are both deceased, he is alone, with no partner or a child. Over the years, I have heard countless stories, mostly told confidentially, that an activist or activist wannabe is being constrained by his parents, family, spouse, workplace, and more. Many were reminded to consider the costs that the family will face. Ekachai has little or none of that.

Second, Ekachai is financially independent and does not work for any company or government organizations. Many activists face financial and workplace constraints. Being a political activist is costly in Thailand especially when you end up in prison and no one wants to hire you afterward.

Ekachai, a former lottery seller with a college degree is “fortunate” that he has a bit of savings and no pressure from an employer to toe the line. The same cannot be said for many, including young student activists hoping for a professional career in non-politics-related fields in an era where your personal social media accounts such as Facebook are monitored by your prospective employer or employer.

Third, a spartan lifestyle. When you think about luxuries, more luxuries, and getting used to it, it is hard to be out on the protest sites day in and day out. I visited Ekachai’s humble shophouse in Ladprao area of Bangkok once and was struck by how spartan it was. The man also mostly eats like a working class.

Fourth, no political ambition. When the man is ideologically driven but showed no intention to join any political party over the years. He is just too blunt to act like he cares for the electorate.

He is too wild a loose cannon for any party system to manage him. A free spirit, the man, now with over 43,000 followers on Facebook and a household name among those in the anti-junta as well as monarchy-reform movement has emerged as a political voice, independent of constraints from family, company, political party, and beyond.

After spending more than three years in prison over the five incarcerations, Ekachai told me he will continue to do what he does.

“I feel like there’s not much more they can do to me,” Ekachai told me.

After so many troubles that he went through, you either end up broken or survive and become more immune to the pains. Ekachai appears to be the latter.

Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University’s team won the innovation awards worldwide

By

Contributor

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23 September 2022, 14:54

Associate Professor Dr. Luedech Gridwichai (6th from the left), President of the University Council of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, presented the honorary certificates to the professors and students who did the benefits to the university from winning the innovation competitions in various countries. Assistant Professor Dr. Natnaporn Aeknarajindawat (5th from the left), Lecturer of the Graduate School and Consultant of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Udon Thani Education Center, was a leader of the team and Associate Professor Dr. Chutikarn Sriviboon (7th from the left), President of the university, attended as the witness of the ceremony.

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