During a CCSA meeting on July 8th, 2022, chaired by the prime minister, it was agreed to extend the state of emergency until September 30th, 2022. A spokesman told the press that the prime minister in his capacity as the CCSA director stressed that the extension is intended only to control the disease and protect people's lives and there is no other purpose for the exercise of this executive decree. The government had no intention to use it to limit people's freedom, he added.* Thailand's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is supervised by Thailand's Prime Minister, Dictator, Songwriter and the man of many words Prayut Chan-o-cha. This is the 19th extension of the special law. The government insistes that the extension is necessary to facilitate the swift and integrated implementation of measures to control Covid-19 for the sake of public safety. This special law was enacted March 26th, 2020, and gives Prayut Chan-o-cha wide-ranging powers, including a ban on large gatherings to prevent anti-government protests. Over the past two years the emergency has been invoked mainly to deal with political protests.

The Nation Thailand: Emergency decree to be lifted on Oct 1, CCSA to be dissolved

Bangkok Post: Medical warning against cannabis in food

Bangkok Post: Ganja guidelines

Bangkok Post: Pot policy 'won't be axed'

The Thaiger: Thailand's cannabis cottage industry set to fly high

The Nation Thailand: Health Ministry wants police to smoke out people who break cannabis law. (The door opener for corruption)

Coconuts Bangkok: Thai weed in disarray after 'arrest' order, insider says dispensaries 'should never have existed'

Bangkok Post: Health ministry withdraws demand for punishment of cannabis abusers

Bangkok Post: What is the current cannabis situation?

Prachatai english: Decriminalization, recriminalization and other fantasies

Bangkok Post: Pot-smoking tourists not welcome in Thailand: health minister Anutin

Bangkok Post: New bill outlines limits on ganja use

Bangkok Post: Anutin open to more relaxed laws on pot

The Nation Thailand: Govt may legalise recreational use of ganga in future: Anutin

In 2015, the Thai government started building a housing complex for justice officials of the 5th Regional Appeal Court on the Doi Suthep mountain, close to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city. The project was located on land plots owned by the Treasury Department that were still forested. more .... Thai PBS World: Call for demolition of housing project at foot of Doi Suthep dismissed by court

Thailand's Transport Ministry sponsers the design of a luxury 25-seater rail carriage for the State Railway of Thailand at the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) with 25 million Baht.

Bangkok Post: SRT says luxury carriage prototype in the works

The Royal Thai Navy has removed a sign banning bikinis on Chon Buri’s Samae San Island after it caused a backlash on social media. However, the bikini ban appears to still be in place.

The Nation Thailand: Thai Navy removes bikini ban sign from island after media storm

Thai PBS World: 'No bikinis' sign on Samae San Island removed by the Thai Navy

Hardly in office, the new mayor of Pattaya, who belongs to the Kluenpleum family clan, takes over the waste of money of his two predecessors. Pattaya City Hall has purchased 67 of the pictured stairs to beautify Jomtien beach at a unit price of 30'000 Baht. An expert has calculated the actual cost based on comparable building materials and concluded that these stairs should not cost more than 15'000 Baht, but said that given the many hands involved in procuring such building elements, an amount in the order of 30'000 Baht could quickly be reached.

Side streets like this one in Naklua, where there is hardly any traffic, were made roadworthy by the new city administration in a night and fog operation to the delight of the residents. To the delight of the children, the alleys were painted with a lot of white and yellow colours.

Everywhere where hardly anyone crosses a road, e.g. in front of empty houses like in the picture on the left, the new city administration has had gaudy zebra crossings painted on the roadways - except where people cross the road in large numbers, e.g. in front of convenience stores or the shopping temples. The zebra crossings on Pattaya Beach Road as well as on Jomtien's Beach Road have so far been spared from the painting campaigns, i.e. the pedestrian crossings on the two busiest roads have been bleached out by the sun and are thus practically invisible!

A traffic underpass built by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) as a shortcut to the Bang Sue Grand Station has been lying unused for almost two years, due to ownership and maintenance issues.

The Nation Thailand: Underpass in Bangkok lies unused two years after completion

Thailand's Medical Council comes with a bizarre statement: Don’t have sexual contact with foreigners to avoid monkeypox and even death by monkeypox. Hotels are told to clean better when foreigners are staying.

Wikipedia: All about Monkeypox

There are allegations that the military-run Thai Palang Pracharath Party paid 100'000 Baht a month to 5 splinter parties to secure their support. The money was secretly paid to each of the MPs of these parties. Most of them have only one MP each.

Bangkok Post: All-time high power tariff expected

Update (August 2nd):

Bangkok Post: Prayut cancels planned power tariff hike

Update (August 15th):

Two one-litre bottles of Lotus Soybeanoil cost 136 baht, but for the 1.9-litre bottle Lotus charges 138 baht. When shopping in Thai supermarkets, your brain or calculator is needed ....

The stairs could not have been properly attached to the plane and there were animals nearby that could have posed a danger to the passengers .... Was the crash landing at an airport or a zoo?

IATA, please investigate: Does this airline / airport really meet your technical standards?

Soi LK Metro is Soi Buakhao's A Go-Go Heaven. It connects Soi Diana with Soi Buakhao.

In recent weeks, several new bars have opened in Soi Chaiyaphoon, also known as Soi Chalermphrakiat 25. Soi Chaiyaphoon connects Pattaya 3rd Road with Soi Buakhao and Soi Xzite.