On April 27, rescue workers perform a water rescue and emergency drill set up by the National Institute for Emergency Medicine on Lipeh Island in Satun.
People smugglers
Rohingya refugees found in forest
Fourteen Rohingya refugees, including kids, abandoned by people smugglers were found in a southern forest, police said on April 27, almost a year on from a crackdown which has forced traffickers to find new routes.
Muslim Rohingya, an ethnic minority from Myanmar's western Rakhine state, have for years fled their homeland seeking work in Malaysia.
Smugglers abandoned the group ahead of a police checkpoint, police said, adding that they had initially entered Thailand through Kanchanaburi, a much more northern entry point than those usually used by traffickers. — AFP
Holiday horror
Fake tour operator arrested
A 55-year-old tour operator was arrested and charged with fraud for operating an online website to swindle money from people buying tours to Japan and South Korea. Montri Noenthong allegedly fled with the money after receiving the payments.
Montri was caught in Nakhon Sawan on April 26. The arrest followed complaints from customers that they had been duped by Montri's Phitsanulok-based World Tour Travel Co into buying overseas tour packages. His customers complained that after making payment, they were unable to fly to the destinations as advertised and unable to contact Montri.
FOR M1-3
Changing times
Academic year adjusted
The academic year for university students will change. The news was announced on April 25. The academic year will now start in June and end in March, officials said.
refugee (n): a person who has been forced to leave their home country because of persecution, war, etc. and is seeking to stay somewhere else
swindle (v): to cheat somebody in order to get something, especially money, from them
fraud (n): the crime of cheating somebody in order to get money or goods illegally
