Patong Beach in Phuket wears a relatively deserted look in the absence of the huge number of Chinese tourists amid the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic in China.

Along the three-kilometre-long beach, there were hardly any Chinese tourists. However, the vibrant beach is still drawing tourists from Europe, Russia, South Korea and Japan in the high season who relax by lying on the sand or swimming happily in the water amid strict monitoring by the Public Health Ministry to build confidence through this crisis.

The Nation News

 

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People in their tens of thousands attended a merit making ceremony this morning in Korat to pay tribute to the late King Narai the Great, founder of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thao Suranaree, the heroine of the province during the early reign of the Chakri Dynasty and to remember the victims of the mass shooting last weekend.

10,000 monks, from temples in Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram and Surin provinces, chanted prayers to bless the province and received alms from lay people.

Some merit-makers told Thai PBS that they took part to bless Korat on its 364th anniversary and to pay tribute to the 30 people who were murdered last weekend.

The alms presentation to 10,000 monks was the second event of its kind, they said, and was jointly organized by the public and private sectors of Nakhon Ratchasima to instil a sense of unity and belonging among the residents of the province. 

 

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Images from three sites linked to Feb 8-9 carnage circulating as a single compilation

Soldiers carry the coffin of slain Pvt Metha Lertsiri at his funeral at Wat Somporn in Muang district of Udon Thani on Feb 11. (Photo: Yuttapong Kumnodnae)

A video showing the soldier involved in last weekend’s mass shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima firing shots at an army private before taking firearms and ammunition from an armoury went viral online on Saturday.

The emergence of the video comes after a week of hand-wringing and public condemnation of the behaviour of internet users and media outlets that shared grisly images of the slaughter.

The authenticity of the three-minute-long clip, reportedly obtained from rescue workers in the province, has not been confirmed. The Bangkok Post has chosen not to show or link to any of the videos or stills.

Kannikar Copland, 40, the mother of Pvt Metha Lertsiri, holds his picture during the funeral of her son at Wat Somporn in Muang district of Udon Thani on Feb 11. The death of the private, a single father, left his four-year-old son orphaned. (Photo by Yuttapong Kumnodnae)

The clip is a compilation of video from three locations. In the silent one-minute first video, a man who looks like Jakrapanth Thomma, 32, armed with a shotgun, walks to the armoury at the Surathampitham military camp. He is seen talking to Pvt Metha Lertsiri, 23, who was guarding the site on the afternoon of Feb 8. Pvt Metha then walks into a nearby room with open doors and the soldier fires two shots in his back. The private falls to the ground.

The soldier then fires shots at the lock of the wooden door to the next room and opened the door.

The private was the third victim of the shooter, who had earlier shot two people to death nearby. The attacker then took several weapons and ammunition from the armoury before going on a rampage that resulted in the deaths of another 26 people.

The second part of the video, which is 1.50 minutes long, shows the cordoned scene around Wat Pa Sattharuam monastery and some of the spots where nine people had been gunned down by the soldier.

According to news reports, after Jakrapanth took the guns, he stole a military truck that looked like a Humvee, but the army insisted it was just a modified truck.

He then went to the monastery. There, he loaded the weapons and started shooting passers-by randomly, killing nine in total before driving to Terminal 21 shopping mall in downtown Nakhon Ratchasima.

The third part of the video was taken in front of Terminal 21 at night. Gunfire can be heard from the inside and rescue workers are seen carrying a woman and escorting a man to get medical help.

Volleys of gunfire rang out before dawn on Sunday, hours before police commandos moved into the ground floor of the shopping mall, where the gunman had holed up.

Jakrapanth took 29 lives and wounded 58 others in total before police commandos shot him dead around 9am, ending the rampage that lasted more than 17 hours.

Before the mass shooting, Jakrapanth shot dead his commander Col Anantharot Krasae, 48, and real estate developer Anong Mitchan, 65, and wounded a man identified as Witthaya Kaewprom, 40, over a real estate deal, at Anong’s home in tambon Nong Jabok of Muang district.

On Feb 14, the army issued an order to promote slain Pvt Metha posthumously to the rank of sergeant for his dedication to duty.

Bangkok Post

 

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Thailand’s education minister has appealed to foreign embassies and other organisations to help him find an extra 3,000 foreign teachers to help schools teach English and other subjects in English.

After a meeting with embassies and other groups Natapol Teepsuwan said that 64 million baht was being spent on the project. He said that at present there are 7,000 foreign teachers in the kingdom. He said this is not enough for his plan to raise standards and he wants the number raised to 10,000, He needs foreign teachers to teach Thai children and teach Thai teachers to teach English.

Natapol used the term “jao khong phasa” when referring to the teachers he wants. This means native speakers.  Thaivisa notes that in stories of this nature the devil is usually in the detail. The Daily News story was rather lacking in that.

It was not mentioned in the Daily News story where these teachers might come from.  Thailand has faced criticism in the past for hiring English teachers from other Asian countries, such as the Philippines, though no mention was made of this issue by Daily News.

They said that the education minister felt that if the foreign teachers he hires teach the Thais to be better English teachers, then by three years time he won’t need so many foreigners to teach in Thai schools.

Source: Daily News

 

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