Dry season
A villager on March 2 collects water from a deep well in Doi Tao district of Chiang Mai, as Northern farmland areas faced water shortages.
Online queues
New passport system introduced
From March 3, Thai passport seekers have been able to register for an online queuing system. The Consular Affairs Office announced on February 18 that from March 3, an Internet-based booking system would be available for people apply for ordinary passports.
The online registration is due to be available at branch offices in Bang Na, Pinklao, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Songkhla and Yala.
Passport applications have been disrupted due to the anti-government protests, and back-up systems have been unable to keep up with demand.
Wheel deal
Drugs hidden in tyre
A truck driver was arrested on March 1 after selling a spare tyre with 102,000 methamphetamine tablets stashed inside. However, police now believe the driver, Somkid Wongchuen, 53, may have been unwittingly used as a drug mule by a smuggling gang.
Police were first alerted by the owner of an auto part store in Phrae’s Rong Kwang district who discovering the drugs stashed inside a tyre which had been sold to the shop by Somkid. He was apprehended in Den Chai district and insisted that he had no idea how the tyre was filled with the narcotics.
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Life terminated
Man commits suicide
A Canadian man committed suicide. It happened at a terminal building of Suvarnabhumi Airport on March 2. A witness saw him jumping from the fourth floor. He died later at a nearby hospital.
Vocabulary
- well (n): a deep hole in the ground from which people obtain water
mule (n): a person who is paid to take drugs illegally from one place to another
narcotic (n): a powerful illegal drug that affects the mind and body in a harmful way
