Government House, The Prime Minister is preparing to hold a meeting on flooding at the Royal Irrigation Department on August 5. He has instructed “Thammanat” to solve the recurring flooding area. He has assigned the Ministry of Agriculture to announce 7 measures to solve the black-chinned tilapia problem. He has urged the Ministry of Interior, the Royal Thai Police, and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board to suppress drugs and expand the results to 25 provinces. He has assigned the Digital Economy and the Royal Thai Police to set up a committee to suppress cyber crimes.
Prime Minister Settha Thavisin announced after the cabinet meeting that since it is currently the rainy season, many areas are experiencing continuous rain and flooding. He has therefore ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Interior, security agencies to integrate their work in water management for the entire system. Last week, Lt. Col. Thammanat Prompao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, vis
ited the eastern region and reported that the situation is still under control. However, he will go to inspect the northeastern region because there are more serious problems. Therefore, there should be preparation to cope, especially with the problem of repeated flooding.
The Prime Minister also said that next week, on Monday, August 5, he will attend a meeting to integrate short-term, medium-term and long-term water management plans at the Royal Irrigation Department to find measures to prevent flooding in many areas in the provinces. He also ordered the Ministry of Defense to work with the Supreme Commander to send military personnel to help manage the flooding. However, in other matters, it is necessary to look at areas that repeatedly flood. Prevention is better than finding solutions later.
The Prime Minister also said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has reported to the Cabinet about the solution to the black-chinned tilapia problem, which is a matter of interest to everyone. A worki
ng group has been set up to solve the black-chinned tilapia problem, and a draft of 7 measures to solve the problem has been proposed, including short-term, medium-term, and long-term. The Ministry of Agriculture will announce the details today.
The Prime Minister also announced that he has assigned the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) and the Royal Thai Police to set up a committee to suppress cybercrime to urgently resolve the problem so that the people are not affected by it, following his meeting at the Royal Thai Police last week. The Royal Thai Police asked for help saying that this problem is a big one and not just the Royal Thai Police. The Ministry of DE and other ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which must communicate with border areas and neighboring countries where there are problems, must therefore set up an integrated committee to resolve the problem.
In addition, he has ordered the Ministry of Interior, the Royal Thai Police, the Office of the Narcotics Contr
ol Board, and related agencies to urgently integrate the prevention and suppression of drugs to be eliminated according to the target set within 3 months in 25 provinces. The target is to prepare to expand to other provinces, including considering the granting of rewards to officers who successfully complete the operations in an appropriate and rapid manner. This morning, there was a meeting with several provinces that exceeded the target, while some provinces fell short. He also spoke with Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, to urge any provinces that fell short of the target to expedite the process. As for the rewards, they must be revised and improved to motivate officers. Since there are more arrests, there is a risk to life and property, so officers must allocate a budget to purchase weapons and equipment to be ready for prevention, suppression, and arrest because it is an important matter.
At the same time, the Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Higher
Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) to produce nursing personnel from the academic year 2023 to 2027 to produce enough professional nurses at the bachelor’s degree level to support the country’s public health potential in all sectors, with a target of almost 16,000 nurses and a budget of 7 billion baht. This may seem like a small matter, but it is a very big matter because the shortage of nursing personnel is not only in Thailand, but it is occurring all over the world. Our nurses who are producing few are being pulled out of the civil service system to the private sector and also being pulled across the country to other places. The problem of an aging society is linked to the main policy of Ignite Thailand on wellness. The nursing sector is in high demand, so I would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation for expediting this matter.
The Prime Minister said that the Cabinet agreed with the opinion of the Ministry of Finance that the Ministry of Indust
ry proposed the implementation of the SME Green Productivity Loan Project in the amount of 15 billion baht to support SME entrepreneurs to access the minimum source of funds and have sufficient liquidity to improve the amount of 15 billion baht to support SME entrepreneurs to access the minimum source of funds and have sufficient liquidity to be able to improve their businesses, expand their businesses, and create added value for products and services, including the transition to green industries. This is considered an economic stimulus measure, along with many other measures proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
In addition, the Cabinet approved the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ proposal to request an allocation of 275 million baht from the central budget for the operation of the Muay Thai Soft Power Project in 2024 to elevate Muay Thai from a national martial art to a world-class martial art. There will be Muay Thai courses, training referees and coaches, setting up a center to test the competency standar
ds of Muay Thai coaches both domestically and internationally, expanding activities to promote Muay Thai, and inspecting boxing camps abroad. These are matters that the government is giving more importance to, not just as Soft Power, because Muay Thai is something that people all over the world know better than anything else, and it has the word ‘Thai’ in it. Therefore, distorting the meaning of which country it comes from is not possible to argue. However, there may be sports that are similar to Muay Thai, so we have to be careful. Therefore, we are the owners of Muay Thai, and we can speak with full confidence. Therefore, we have proposed to Mr. Sermsak Pongpanich, Minister of Tourism and Sports, that there should be an organization related to FIFA for Muay Thai to regulate it, so that it is known that it is a sport of Thai people, and we are the ones who initiated and organized it to elevate it domestically to an international level.
And the Cabinet has approved tax measures to support potential Thais abr
oad to return to work in the country. The Ministry of Finance has proposed reducing personal income tax for employees with specialized skills and reducing corporate income tax for employers operating in targeted industries, which will attract skilled and potential people from abroad.
Source: Thai News Agency