The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Thailand

  • Thailand approves same-s3x marriage

    Thailand approves same-s3x marriage

    Thailand’s Senate has given final approval to a bill legalising same-s3x marriage, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to do so. 

    The vote was overwhelmingly in favor with 130 senators supporting the bill, four opposing it, and 18 abstaining. 

    The legislation will now go to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for royal assent, after which it will be published in the Royal Gazette and come into effect 120 days later.

    The new law replaces gender-specific terms in marriage laws with gender-neutral language, allowing same-s3x couples to marry and enjoy the same rights and benefits as heteros3xual couples.

    This includes adoption and inheritance rights, which were previously only available to heteros3xual couples.

    Thailand has a reputation for being a welcoming and accepting country for the LGBTQ community, and this move has been widely praised by activists and advocates.

    Opinion polls have shown strong public support for same-s3x marriage, and many Thai people have been waiting eagerly for the law to change.

    The passage of the bill is a significant milestone for Thailand and for the LGBTQ community in Asia.

    It follows similar moves in Taiwan and Nepal, and adds to the growing momentum for marriage equality around the world. 

    Celebrations are planned in Bangkok and other cities, and many same-s3x couples are already making plans to tie the knot once the law comes into effect.

  • From Thailand with good tidings

    Move over crude oil; enough of your domination. Get off the scene o ye bitumen and advocates of your exploitation. A new kid with bountiful returns is on the block.

    There has been so much revelry – and hot arguments – since Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu returned from Thailand to break the news that he had, at last, found an answer to the grinding poverty that has been the state’s lot. It was time, he said, to push for legal cultivation of Indian hemp or cannabis for export to places where the controversial plant is used for medicinal purposes.

    Also at the “Medicinal Cannabis Extract Development” programme in Thailand was National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Chairman Muhammad Abdallah, who has been explaining what the whole thing is all about after reports that his men will no longer be engaged in those blood-and-guts encounters with hemp users and farmers. Wrong, he cried.

    Abdallah’s stand notwithstanding, there has been jubilation–and protests– in many concerned quarters that Indian hemp is, at last, getting its long overdue recognition. Derided and scorned by many, the plant has been criminalised and blamed for many ills of the society. Ah! if only plants could talk. Those who craved it secretly would never identify with it openly. All that is changing – kudos to Arakunrin Aketi, among whose many attributes boldness is numbered. He need not bother about those curtain-twitching do-nothing busybodies who have been asking: “Is Aketi also taking?” Taking what?

    Anyway, that has been the controversial nature of this plant and everything associated with it. Consider its numerous names. In serious circles, it is cannabis sativa. The other names are rather derisive:  Samples: Igbo, weed, Morocco, ganja, gbarimu, oja, kaya, dope, stone, sensi, pot, Mary Jone, grass, shark  and weewee – depending on the environment.

    Instead of considering the merits of Akeredolu’s case, many have been attacking him and raising all manner of questions that are everything but relevant. Who will prevent the abuses to which the substance is most likely to be subjected? How will the NDLEA know who to go after? Will every patient using hemp carry a doctor’s prescription to show the anti-drug agents that he is a legal user? If it is good for the export market, how about the the local consumer? Will hemp farmers, long abused as enemies of the society and wayward elements, get compensation and apologies?

    Many of these questions, to be candid, are legitimate, borne out of the fears of those who perceive Igbo as nothing but an illicit drug with no redeeming feature. Those claiming that legalising it may breed abuses on a monumental scale and overstretch the distressed health sector miss the point. I have just learnt that more psychiatrists will graduate from our universities in no time. Besides, the likelihood of a few greedy individuals gorging themselves on the stuff should not obliterate the main goal of an economic windfall in these days of diversification.

    Why think of the few who may not know when to stop instead of focusing on the multitudes who will be hired as farmers, farm hands, packers, harvesters, labourers and others. Drivers will be engaged to move the stuff from the hinterland to the cities where factory hands will package it for export. Packaging firms will also enjoy the boom. Ancillary businesses, such as ashtray makers, matches/lighter factories, rolling papers and others, will definitely not be left out of the coming boom.

    What of those local hawkers who will not need to have the stuff in some tablets but simply boil the leaves and serve at motor parks, mechanic workshops, barber shops and other public places?

    But, is Indian hemp bad as we have been made to believe? Those who deride the substance apparently refer to its side effects. I recall a teacher in my secondary school, incidentally in Ondo State – Ajuwa Grammar School, Okeagbe- Akoko  –  demonstrating to the class how hemp smokers feel. He said: “After some puffs, the smoker will slap his own head violently a few times, close his eyes tightly, rub his face with his hands and proclaim gallantly (without opening his eyes), ‘now, I can see clearly’.”

    All of a sudden, videos deriding hemp are trending on the social media. They are, apparently, from those opponents of Akeredolu’s new formula for economic boom, which, I am told, other states are eager to follow. A source even told me that the matter may come up when the Governors’ Forum eventually settles down after electing a new leader.

    Among such videos is one showing two young men, who are friends. They have big and long wraps of Indian hemp in their hands, puffing away. Thick, white smoke billows from their mouths, but they are crying as they inhale and exhale the stuff. One says he had died in an accident. He tells of how it all happened and the other mourns with him.

    Their conversation in pidgin: “Na so I dey come from Iyara Junction like dis.” Wetin come happen now?”  “One trailer dey come. Na so e shine im head light wawawa.  E face me wawawa like dis.. Na so the trailer run enter me; I run enter am. Na so in grind me, match me. The thing crush me.”

     “Trailer jam you? No tell me say you die o.” “I die.” “Ah God. You for look naw. My guy, I try.” “God, my friend don die. I come una house I no see you. I go your mama shop, I no see you.”

     “By that time I don move. Ah, rest in peace, my brother”. “Rest in peace. Rest in peace. This world, why good people no dey last. Dem don fix burial? “Dem never fix burial; if dem fix burial I go let you know.” “Ah, my guy, na so u take go leave me. Oh.”

    Amid tears and lamentation– bloodshot eyes and all – the smoking continues.

    There are also those who do not understand the intricacies of the new formula, those who think the drug will just be let loose on the society, just like that. They started claiming – without any scientific proof whatsoever – that drug abuse may have been responsible for some of the heinous crimes committed recently in the Sunshine State as if there are no worse crimes in other states. They cited the young man who killed his girlfriend and buried her in his bedroom. He was sleeping soundly until the law grabbed him. There is, also, the man who sold his mother for N7m so that her hunchback could be harvested for money rituals. He is still on the run after his customers discovered that the hunchback was not original.

    Ondo will not be the first to legalise medical cannabis. It will be joining the league of Austria, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and Spain. It is legal to cultivate industrial hemp in much of Europe and some states in America. ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, the former boxing champion, who made so much money in the ring, whipping opponents as if they were kids and then losing it all – cash and fame – to a champagne lifestyle, has rediscovered himself. Now he owns and runs a big cannabis farm in California.

    The variety of the plant found in Ondo is said to be of unbeatable potency. To Edo, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Delta states belongs the quantity – to be fair. Ondo, many argue, has the prize for potency; the undiluted stuff. At the global level, Nigeria isn’t doing badly; we are the eighth highest consumer of hemp. What is wrong in showing that we have the capacity for export?

    It is a measure of the contempt with which hemp is held that our young musicians hardly mention it in their lurid lyrics. They would rather sing about tramadol and codeine, now banned. Great musicians will be proud of the progress that has been made in the age-long battle to decriminalise marijuana. Reggae giant Bob Marley’s song, “Kaya” remains evergreen. So is Peter Tosh’s “Legalise It”.

    I understand that many lawmakers have also been discussing the Aketi proposal. Should it come before them as a private or executive bill, I am told, it will get an expeditious hearing and passage, partly because many of them are aware of the great benefits of the much derided herb.

    Among those who clearly understand the economic potential of ganja is a young man who is already packaging a proposal for a loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, to cultivate – you guessed right– hemp.

    Good luck to him and many other proponents of this formula. When hemp eventually displaces oil, I hope credit will be given to who it is due.

     

    Zoom off to loom, land in doom

    A NEW ponzi scheme is in town. Coming so soon after the crash of the popular Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM), it is incredible that some Nigerians, particularly the youth, are embracing Loom.

    How does it work? Loom is a peer to peer pyramid scheme in which participants invest as low as N1000 and as high as N13,000 to get eight times more before 48 hours. The workings of the scheme is as hazy as its organisers who are not traceable, with no website, unlike MMM. Loom participants are mainly on Whatsapp and Facebook.

    The authorities have warned that Loom will lead to only one destination – doom. Is anybody listening? Doubtful.

    Apparently because of the economic situation, many Nigerians, particularly the youth, are desperate for easy money. Musicians romanticise Internet fraud, otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo, and idolise those who have made a fortune in this evil trade.

    The difference between “cash” and “crash” isn’t much. Just insert “r” between ‘c” and “a” and “cash” becomes “crash”. So fast and simple. Our youths should accept the fact that there is no legal alternative to hard work. It may take time, but it is sure. Quit loom now before you are thrown for a loop.

  • Royal change of batons in Japan and Thailand

    Two interesting history-making events took place in the kingdoms of Thailand and Japan last week. Thailand got a new king Vajiralongkorn with his coronation after the death of his father, King Bhumibol at the age of 88 two and a half years ago. The old king reigned for nearly 70 years as a divine king. The new 66-year-old king was a pilot and his new queen, who is his fourth wife, was courted and married from among the hostesses in his plane. The new king has travelled widely maintaining residence in Germany and by all standards he is a thoroughly modern king ruling over a medium power in Southeast Asia. Thailand is a country famous for its rice production and its tourism and hospitality business.  The world will be watching how this new king who is the most powerful king in the world almost wielding absolute power fares in a modern world of democracy and constitutionalism.

    As an aside, Thailand used to be called “Siam”. When I entered Christ School, Ado Ekiti in 1956, one of the rites of passage was that we were told that the king of Siam was called “Whatanass” and we were taught to sing its “national anthem” with the music of British ”God Save the Queen “in the presence of the whole school.  We then as greenhorns sang “Oh Whatanass Siam” three times, repeating it many times while our seniors laughed at us before we were told what we were singing was “Oh what an ass I am”! This was a secret initiation we all kept to ourselves and not even revealing to our junior brothers since none of our own brothers told us about this prankish rite of passage. Nobody can joke about Thailand today because it is a reasonably prosperous and contented country whose divine king provides a rallying point in its fractious political environment.

    On  a  more serious note, historically, the more important change of royal baton took place in Japan when Emperor Akihito after  being on the formidable Chrysanthemum imperial throne for 30 years abdicated and handed over to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito. Akihito saw the economic miracle of growth in Japan but his reign also witnessed several disasters, tsunamis, earthquakes and even an explosion of a nuclear reactor. He abdicated because of poor health and handed over to his well prepared and educated son, Naruhito whose highly educated wife and former diplomat, Masako had suffered some depression because of too much pressure as a result of being caged more or less in the palace because of imperial traditions. The abdication is significant because no Japanese emperor has abdicated in more than two centuries; certainly none after the Meiji restoration in the 19th century.

    After the surrender of Japan to Allied forces in 1945 following the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Americans on the order of President Harry Truman which promptly incinerated close to half a million people and perhaps more by collateral damage, Emperor Hirohito, the 124th emperor of Japan  was to be tried for war crimes and deposed. The reason for possible trial of the emperor was that the armed forces of Japan fought and died for the emperor and it was considered a sacrilege for any Japanese soldier to surrender and rather than surrendering, it was considered honourable to commit hara-kiri. Wise counsel prevailed and the emperor was allowed to stay on the throne as a constitutional monarch. He had ascended the throne in 1926 and remained on the throne until 1989 when he died and was succeeded by his son, Akihito who has now abdicated.

    The Japanese had fought with fury during the Second World War under their war time Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who, along his military generals were accused of holding the emperor hostage. The important thing is that Japanese people and soldiers were ready to pay any price and endure any hardship in the defence of their country and the Japanese throne. The Japanese before the outbreak of the war had carved out an area of China (Manchuria) and imposed colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula and during the war had occupied Taiwan and the Philippines and many other pacific islands. Even British rule in India was threatened by the militaristic state of Japan. Many war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Japanese including forcing women in occupied territories in China and Korea to provide sexual service for Japanese soldiers as “comfort women” for which Japan has had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to surviving comfort women and their families. So strong was the animus against Japan in 1945 that the imperial throne was earmarked for abolition just as was done to the Emperor of Germany in 1919 after the First World War. Japan as a result of its defeat lost its prestige and Russia has refused up till today to hand over Japanese northern territories it occupied in 1945.  Russia against all pleas by Japan has refused to return Japanese northern territory to Japan perhaps because of the humiliation of defeat Russia suffered in the hands of Japan by Czarist Russia in 1905.

    From the ashes and humiliation of defeat and without substantial natural resources but with the ingenuity of its people and commitment of the political leadership of the country, Japan for years became the second most powerful economic power in the world before being recently overtaken by the People’s Republic of China. If Japan wants to be a nuclear power, it has the resources and the knowhow. In fact, in recent times as a result of thereat from nuclear armed North Korea, its former colony, there is a strong movement within Japan and encouraged by President Trump that Japan should be able to defend itself against nuclear threats from North Korea and China. This is a departure from the pacific constitution imposed on Japan by America in 1945 limiting it to small armed forces with only defensive capabilities. This was before North Korea became a threatening nuclear power.

    What happens in Japan has global significance because of the economic power of the country and its potential military power. Japan for now does not need to worry too much about nuclear attacks from potential enemies in Beijing and Pyongyang. This is because it enjoys protective nuclear umbrella of the United States which stations troops on Japanese mainland but particularly on the island of Okinawa where it maintains hundreds of thousands of American troops and on nearby American territory in Guam. But questions are being asked in Japan whether America would sacrifice the interest of Japan in trying to accommodate China and North Korea in the age of Trump where politics has become transactional. In this kind of scenario, the influence of the new emperor may become decisive. He is the 126th in a dynasty that has existed for more than 2000 years, certainly before the birth of Jesus Christ and it is the oldest dynasty in the world today. The mystical love and respect for this dynasty is deeply embedded in the Japanese psyche. There are millions of modern Japanese to whom the emperor remains a god that they are willing to fight and to die for. Below the superficial modernity of Japan is a deep conservative culture which gives the country its solidity which many marvel at because they cannot understand its culture. The new emperor is 59 and a very modern man and unlike his predecessors, he is widely travelled. After a first degree in History from a prestigious university in Japan, he spent three years for a post graduate degree in Oxford University in England. He speaks English and has a smattering knowledge of other languages while his wife, a former diplomat is said to speak English and French fluently. This modernity did not save the new queen Masako from the vitriol of criticism for not having a male child because the throne is reserved for only males. This has led to the nephew of the new emperor being declared the heir apparent to the throne. It seems some kind of Sallic law of royal succession which had been abolished in Europe for quite a while remains in Japan.

    But it must be noted that until recently even in England, the male child takes precedence in order of succession to the throne. Recent attempt to change the law of succession in Japan was rebuffed by the aristocracy and the government. Kingship has its mystic and mystery and to remove these may seal the fate of the institution. This does not only apply to Japan but to all countries where the royal institutions continue to be revered, embraced, venerated and respected. When kings lose their aura and become ordinary people, the justification of the institution becomes tenuous and unsustainable.

  • Thai cave boys return to school

    Officials said the 12 boys rescued from a cave in northern Thailand returned to school on Monday.

    At Mae Sai Prasitsart School in Chiang Rai province where six of the boys attend, all of the 12 boys were given a warm welcome back to school.

    The ceremony was also marked with Buddhist prayers, according to Chiang Rai officials.

    Dressed in their respective school uniforms, the boys were also given team shirts of Germany’s Bayern Munich football club by a club representative.

    A dramatic 19-day search and rescue mission for the group, a local youth football team, has gained much attention, sympathy and admiration from around the world.

    Many international football clubs have invited the group to come and see matches abroad following their dramatic rescue.

    The group visited Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non Cave, 1,000 kilometres north of Bangkok, on June 23.

    Read Also: Buhari hails Thailand’s rescue of trapped children from cave

    They were trapped inside for more than two weeks after a flash flood blocked their only exit, leading to Thailand’s biggest-ever rescue operation which involved thousands of people from many countries.

    After a successful rescue of all members of the group on July 10, the boys aged 11-16 recuperated at a nearby hospital for a week and then at home for another week.

    Eleven boys, with an exception of 14-year-old Adul Sam-on who is a Christian, entered a nine-day monkhood as an act of gratitude for their rescue.

    They left the monastery on Saturday.

    Their coach, 25-year-old Ekapol Chantawong, the only adult in the group trapped in the cave, is expected to remain a monk for three more months.

    A museum is being constructed near the cave to commemorate the rescue.

  • Buhari hails Thailand’s rescue of trapped children from cave

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has hailed the Thai government and international volunteers in the efforts to rescue 12 children and their coach trapped in a cave for more than two weeks.

    Reacting to ongoing rescue efforts, which are already yielding positive results, Buhari said Thailand has inspired other developing nations that despite limited resources, a people can achieve success through their efforts towards emergency response.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said: “In a globalised world, the bond of our common humanity is getting stronger day by day.

    “Although Thailand is located thousands of miles away from us, we in Nigeria share the pains and difficulties of these trapped teenagers, who face imminent danger to their lives.

    “The way the international community responded with empathy and enthusiasm, is evidence that our common humanity is greater than our differences.

    “When we perceive the victims as our own children, we are bound to identify with the trapped kids and be moved to action.”

    The statement said the President was greatly inspired by the response of the Thai government to the crisis and the dedication and enthusiasm of the rescue teams.

     

     

     

     

  • FG to permanently shut land borders over rice smuggling

    Says Thailand rice is poisonous

    Federal Government has issued stern warning against consumption of Thailand rice saying it is poisonous.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh disclosed this when he interacted with youths during The Guardians of the Nations International (GOTNI) leadership clinic held on Monday in Abuja.

    He disclosed that the land borders will soon be totally shut, in order to prevent smuggling of foreign rice and other toxic materials into the country.

    His words: “Our other problem is smuggling. As we speak, a neighbor of ours is importing more rice than China is importing. They do not eat parboiled rice, they eat white rice, they use their ports to try and damage our economy.

    “I am telling you now because in a few days, you will hear the border has been shut, we are going to shut it to protect you, us and protect our economy. You will start seeing all sorts of negative things on the internet. Let me tell you why we need to shut the border, I grow rice, I was the first Nigerian to mill rice free of stones, if you plant rice in certain parcels of land, some poisonous materials gets into the rice.”

    Ogbeh lamented that the friendly relationship that existed between Nigeria and her neighbouring African countries was adversely affecting the nation’s economy, hence the decision to shut the borders.

    Read Also: Rice smuggling: FG to shut land border in few days

    According to the Minister,  the federal government in past two years had succeeded in reducing rice importation by 95 percent and increased the number of rice farmers from five to 30 million.

    He noted that states like Anambra, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa have taken advantage of the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) of the Federal government to upscale rice production, and such achievements will not be allowed to fizzle away through smuggling activities.

    “There are three kinds of water in their natural state; there is fresh water from the river, salt water from the sea, blackish water. If you go to the Delta in many countries, in South East Asia where they grow the rice, if you plant rice in the same place like four to six years continuously, the quantum of arsenic begins to increase and arsenic causes cancer and that is what they are dumping for us.

    “Some people say they prefer Thai rice because they are very sophisticated, welcome to poison. We just have to handwork you to prosperity otherwise, this country will not grow. My wish for you is to have a better time than we had,” he added.

  • Agro-entrepreneur urges FG to ban importation of starch

    Agro-entrepreneur urges FG to ban importation of starch

    An agro-entrepreneur, Mr Goke Adeyemi, on Monday urged the Federal Government ( FG )to ban the importation of starch as way encouraging  starch production from cassava in the country.

    Adeyemi, who is the Chairman of the Harvest Feed and Agro Processing Limited ( HFAP ), made the call in an interview in Abuja.

    He underscored the need for the government to protect local starch producing industries from unfair competition from foreign products, saying some companies were importing starch to the detriment of the local industries.

    “Nigeria is the leading cassava producer in the world, producing a third more than Brazil and almost doubling the production capacity of Thailand and Indonesia, which is opportunity for us to stop corn starch importation.

    “We have enough raw materials to produce edible cassava starch for local use and exportation to earn foreign exchange but government needs to help local producers.

    “Cassava has the potential to industrialise Nigeria more than any other product; if the potential is properly harnessed, it is a key instrument for job creation and catalyst for development,’’ he said.

    The agro-entrepreneur commended FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) Programme for its intervention in the country’s agricultural sector and described its partnership with his company as “wonderful”.

    “We are into processing cassava into edible starch; we have a wonderful relationship with Osun State FADAMA, which involves the cultivation a 300-hectare cassava farm.

    “The FADAMA in Osun State is very organised; they are on top of their game and they supervise their farmers properly. They have also facilitated the interface between the off-takers and farmers very well, we have a seamless relationship,’’ he said.

    Adeyemi, however, urged the National Office of FADAMA to increase the size of the farmers’ farmlands because the farms were too small to meet the off-takers’ demand.

    “FADAMA should strive to develop commercial farmers; particularly those farmers who can cultivate 10 to 50 hectares of farmlands.

    “The arrangement will be beneficial to industrial users like us in HFAP, rather than smallholder farmers that are cultivating less than five hectares.

    “All the same, cassava farmers that are cultivating less than five hectares are also good for food market but FADAMA needs to  do more to help both farmers and off-takers,’’ he said.

    Adeyemi urged the FADAMA programme to encourage smallholder farmers to adopt the use of equipment such as tractors, harvesters, planters and ploughs, among others, in place of the traditional farm implements such as hoes and cutlasses.

    “This is the only way to encourage the youth to become interested in agriculture and engage in mechanised farming.

    “We can go into partnership with the FADAMA programme in the area of agricultural equipment but this should not a short-term relationship, it must be a long-time relationship like five years, such that we can recoup our investments.

    “We started our engagement with FADAMA sometime in July by off-taking cassava from their farmers, and we are able to solve transportation problem by off-taking directly from their farm, instead of waiting for them to bring their produce to us,’’ he said.

    Adeyemi identified the challenges they encountered awhile ago to include the price issue, saying that the price of cassava had started to drop, regardless of the agreed price.

    “Even though we agreed on a certain amount, the price we agreed to pay was too high, compared to the current market price.

    “We had to do some negotiations again; we reached an agreement and started doing our business together,’’ he explained.

    He, however, said that that HFAP had its own cassava farms in Ogun State, adding that his company, nonetheless, patronised FADAMA farmers, while off-taking cassava from other farmers.

    “We provided inputs to the farmers and they do the farming and after a year, we buy from them and deduct whatever we had spent on them. However, my challenge is that our farmers still need more education because there is a lot of side-selling taking place.

    “I am planning of engaging in in-grower schemes aside from out-growers schemes, which I am doing presently. In this case, I will own the land and will ask farmers to come and cultivate it.

    “We will also sign an agreement with the farmers, it will be better for me to control the processes; I will like to work with FADAMA and any other programme or organisation to develop the model.

    NAN

  • Ex-Thailand PM jailed five years for negligence

    Ex-Thailand PM jailed five years for negligence

    Former Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra was handed a five-year prison sentence on Wednesday after the country’s highest court found her guilty of negligence in the management of a rice subsidy scheme.

    Yingluck was due to hear the verdict on Aug. 25, but failed to show up, surprising hundreds of supporters, who had gathered at the court.

    Aides said she had fled Thailand, fearing a harsh sentence.

    In August, Reuters reported that she had escaped to Dubai, where her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, owns a home.

    Yingluck, who swept to power in a 2011 general election, introduced a rice subsidy scheme that proved wildly popular with farmers but which the military government says caused billions of dollars in losses.

    Her government was ousted by the military in 2014.

  • 91-year-old grandma becomes Thailand’s oldest university graduate

    91-year-old grandma becomes Thailand’s oldest university graduate

    A 91-year-old woman became the oldest person to graduate from university in Thailand on Wednesday, receiving her bachelor’s degree from King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

    Escorted by her family, Kimlun Jinakul travelled more than 700 km from the northern province of Phayao to Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, near Bangkok, to receive her bachelor’s degree in human ecology.

    “It has always been my dream to continue my studies,” Kimlun told local TV station Thai PBS.

    She said that she had finished junior high school but couldn’t continue her education at the time because her family couldn’t finance it.

    Kimlun said: “When I was young, I actually received good grades.

    “I have always enjoyed reading. I even bought manuals to educate myself so I could help my children with their homework.”

    Kimlun said she became inspired to continue her formal studies in 2011, once her children and grandchildren had received university educations and found decent jobs.

    “It’s never too late to study,” she said.

    “She is a very determined person,” said Bhum Juasiripakdee, one of Kimlun’s grandchildren.

    “We all support her while making sure she remains in good health.”

    The university said Kimlun had not received any special treatment in terms of grading.

    In fact, she failed half of her courses and had to retake examinations several times.

    “The university provided me with a lot of convenience,” Kimlun said.

    “They allocated rooms on the ground floor for me so I did not have to climb the stairs.”

    The university is the first in Thailand to offer distance learning to elderly people.

    Almost 200 people older than 60 have enrolled.

  • Police arrest three Chinese nationals with 474 iPhones, 350,000 SIM cards

    Police arrest three Chinese nationals with 474 iPhones, 350,000 SIM cards

    Police on Monday arrested three Chinese nationals in Thailand after being nabbed with 474 iPhones and nearly 350,000 SIM cards which they used to manipulate product information on WeChat.

    Police officer Wassapan Sirikulkamonchat said in addition to the iPhones and SIM cards, police also found 21 SIM card readers and nine computers in the raid at their apartment.

    He said the three reportedly confessed that they were hired to falsify the popularity of certain WeChat pages selling products in China by boosting social media “likes’’ and page views,.

    WeChat is a Chinese social media app with almost a billion users.

    Wassapan said that Wang Dong, 33, Niu Bang, 25 and Ni Wenjin, 31, were arrested in Sa Kaeo province, 200 km east of Bangkok, following a tip-off by locals who suspected them of working illegally in Thailand.

    The three were charged with working without a permit in Thailand and smuggling electronic gadgets from China.

    He said they are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

    The officer said that although working without a permit in Thailand could lead to five years in prison, the three men are likely to only pay fines related to their charges and be deported back to China.