Local News

Creative relaxation centre launched

Central World Plaza venue for youth IT project

On October 30, teenagers visiting a Bangkok shopping complex were greeted with a new �creative relaxation� corner, an education/entertainment project expected to help increase Thailand�s competitiveness in the future.

More than 30 brand-name computers in a circular room caught the eyes of many teenagers on the sixth floor of the Central World Plaza, a department store not far from a hangout of teenagers in Siam Square.

�I want to see our children have creative relaxation so they will not be lured into harmful activities,� said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the opening of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry (ICT) Learning Centre.

Thaksin said the centre would help keep teenagers away from drugs and sex, and open their mind to useful information. A wide range of information, which can be quickly downloaded through the Internet, would also partly help create a knowledge-based society in Thailand. It can make one country overtake another in business, and children are key to this aim, he said.

Southern students to get security scholarships

Law, education and political science core subjects

The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) has launched a scholarship programme for security-related studies targeting poor students from the southern border provinces to produce personnel for local needs.

Chulalongkorn and Kasetsart universities will collaborate in the programme.

Police Colonel Prasopchoke Prommul, secretary to ISOC�s security graduate project, said on November 2 that 124 �good but poor� students from 31 border provinces would be enrolled in educational fields essential for local development, such as law, education and political science.

He said senior high-school students will be selected from each border province to cover each field. Chulalongkorn University will allocate seats in its law, education and political science faculties while Kasetsart will arrange for seats in its agriculture faculty.

Once the details are finalised, cabinet approval will be sought, and those studying under the programme will enjoy free study until graduation.

Students from the three southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat would also be represented in the special scholarship programme.

Flower festival

Phan Thapthimthuan, 74, poses for photos in a sunflower field in Saraburi. The province on October 22 announced the opening of its Sunflower Fields Tour Festival to be held until April 30 next year.

Northeasterners warned to watch out

The government has warned northeasterners to beware of swindlers. They should not hand strangers any land deeds and other important documents. These could be used in getting land purchase deals and loans. Swindlers pretending to be land officials have struck many northeastern provinces. They lure local residents into giving them land ownership documents. Many victims later found that the gangs had used their documents to seek loans and then ran away after getting the money.

Vocabulary

creative (adj): involving the use of skill and the imagination to produce something new or a work of art
competitive (adj): used to describe a situation in which people or organisations compete against each other
circular (adj): shaped like a circle; round
lure (v): to persuade or trick somebody to go somewhere or to do something by promising them a reward
collaborate (v): to work together with somebody in order to produce or achieve something
enrol (v): to arrange for yourself or for somebody else to officially join a course, school, etc.
allocate (v): to give something officially to somebody or something for a particular purpose
watch out (phrasal v): used to warn somebody about something dangerous
swindle (v): a situation in which somebody uses dishonest or illegal methods in order to get money from a company, another person, etc.