A massive fire at a 30-rai garbage dump in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District, which broke out on Sunday has been completely extinguished.

The fire was reported on Sunday afternoon after it has ravaged a 7-meter high trash pile. Up to 20 fire trucks have been deployed to put out the blaze.

Provincial Governor Witthaya Piewpong confirmed that by noon on Monday (April 5th), the fire has been brought under control. The province is planning to hold a seminar for firefighters on how to effectively extinguish fires at garbage dumps.

Moats will also be constructed around 20 landfills in the province in a bid to prevent more fires from breaking out.

Mr. Wittaya added that any members of the public found to be starting a fire near trash pits will face legal action or immediate arrest.

The number of new factories that have registered with the Department of Industrial Works (DIW) has decreased for the past four months due to the ongoing political crisis, according to DIW Director General Nattapon Nattasomboon.

There were 1,260 new factories that opened in the first four months of the year, which is a 9.81 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, and the overall investment in industry is assessed at 92.4 billion baht, which is down 1.38 percent. Investment was highest in the automobiles and auto parts manufacturing sector.

There were 321 new registered factories that opened in April, which is a 13.2 percent drop compared to the same period last year.

Mr. Nattapon added that the decrease in the establishment and expansion of new factories is due to political instability, which has affected investor confidence and has led to a decrease in domestic consumption.

He also expressed concern about the electrical appliance and equipment sector since the availability of goods from China has intensified competition, along with increasing labor and electricity costs.

The Trat Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Center, led by Supaporn Tangsitthiwat and villagers of Trat’s Baan Kanna, today released 500,000 tiger prawns to the sea.

This activity was dedicated to His Majesty the King on the auspicious occasion of Coronation Day as a way to increase natural resources into the sea area around Trat.

The center has been organizing similar activities as part of a provincial development project to increase the amount of coastal aquatic life in an effort to rebalance water resources.

The 40 Senators Group has confirmed that the Constitution will not be violated should the senators go ahead with the selection of the new Senate Speaker during their current session.

Appointed Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn, as a core member of the 40 Senators Group, expressed his confidence that the voting on the Senate Speaker was feasible in this extraordinary session, which began on May 2, as it would not breach Section 132 Paragraph 2 of the Constitution. He elaborated that even though the matter was not specified in the agenda from the beginning, the Senate Speaker could be viewed as one of the constitutional positions the royal decree said were to be considered by senators.

Mr Somchai pointed out that if the selection of the Senate Speaker was interpreted as unconstitutional, the recent swear-in ceremony of newly-elected senators could have been of the same nature since it was also not included in the agenda.

The appointed senator then voiced concerns over politicians’ increasing intervention in the work of the Upper House. Therefore, he highlighted the necessity for the new Speaker to be voted on soon and for the voting process to be conducted independently among the senators.

Phitsanulok Province’s Bang Rakam District has been severely hit by drought, causing the water levels at many canals to drop rapidly.

Several canals around the area have become bone dry, as they are quickly running out of water. In a one-week time span, these canals are expected to completely dry up with no water remaining at all.

Nonetheless, the locals have taken advantage of this opportunity by catching a number of freshwater fish that are trapped as the water levels start to deteriorate. Following their efforts, they have managed to catch at least 100 kilograms of fish, with each kilogram selling at 2,000 baht.

Considerations are being made on whether release water from the Sirikit Dam in order to assist locals and villagers who are distressed from the drought.

Another two power plants will be added to the grid system in order to secure the stability of the country’s electricity demand and to serve the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), according to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

Ayuuthaya’s Wang Noi power plant, which produces 768 megawatts of capacity, and Songkhla’s Chana power plant with 782 megawatts, are scheduled to connect with EGAT’s grid later this year.

EGAT Governor Sunchai Khamnunsaret said Thailand’s total power generating capacity is 33,680 megawatts, of which 15,000 megawatts is generated by EGAT. The remaining 18,670 megawatts are derived from private power plants and neighboring countries.

Moreover, EGAT continues to develop the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) which is a major project to jointly serve the energy needs of the AEC, as well as to appropriate energy to maintain the stability of the country’s electricity system.

Economic woes resulting from the rice-pledging scheme have caused the sales of student uniforms in Buriram Province to decline more than 20 percent.

Meanwhile, many business operators in the province admitted that their sales have been reduced by 20 percent this year compared to last year, while a number of parents have felt distressed about the rising costs of consumer products.

Parents in Buriram Province have taken their children to buy school supplies and uniforms as the new school semester would open in a week or two. However, most of them have chosen to purchase uniforms that are priced no higher than 300 baht since they are trying to save on costs.

Most of them openly admit that they’ve been affected from the soaring prices of consumer goods. A number of these parents are also farmers who haven’t received their payment from the government’s rice-pledging scheme. Therefore, they have requested the government to regulate price controls on consumer products to help alleviate their financial burden so that they could deal with the rapidly increasing cost of living.

Executives of the Government-led Pheu Thai Party say Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra cannot resign since her resignation will breach the Constitution and point out that the Democrat Party Leader’s political reform road map is against the charter.

Phue Thai Spokesman Phromphong Nopparit on Monday said the party’s executives would hold an official meeting on the reform road map of Democrat Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and would later issue a statement on the matter. The Pheu Thai executives would also travel up-country to explain the statement to the locals themselves, he said.

The party’s executives had initially agreed that Mr Abhisit’s proposal that the prime minister and the Cabinet should step down to pave the way for a nonpartisan provisional government was unconstitutional and against democracy, said Mr Phromphong. The Pheu Thai spokesman called on the prime minister to adhere to laws by remaining in office, saying she might face legal actions if she resigned according to Section 181 of the Constitution.

Officials attending the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting have shown confidence in the growth potential of the regional economy this year while urging for measures to safeguard against future obstacles.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong, who had led the Thai delegation to the city of Astana in Kazakhstan to participate in the 17th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting, stated that the discussions were aimed to follow up on the economic conditions of both the ASEAN+3 region as a whole and each individual member country.

The attendants were informed that, from the beginning of 2014, economic slowdowns had been seen in some of the member nations and that most of them had been more reliant on exports due to the declining domestic spending and the recovery of the global economy compared to last year.

Nonetheless, the meeting reckoned that healthy expansions of the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean economies as well as improvements in the US and the EU would be the positive factors helping propel the ASEAN+3 economy forward.

Over the medium term, the meeting agreed that each member country should try to strengthen the economy by implementing an economic restructuring plan while adding more flexibility in the macroeconomic policy. It was also advised that more emphasis be placed on the importance of the regional financial safety net and the goal of inequality reduction through the use of financial tools.

The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) has made known that the group will be moving to Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace to celebrate Coronation Day.

Donning yellow shirts to honor His Majesty the King on Coronation Day, the PDRC protesters today are moving to Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace in the afternoon in order to honor and commemorate the auspicious occasion of Coronation Day.

Buddha Issara, on the other hand, stated that he would lead a group of monks for a round of alms giving to let local participants take part in making merit in the name of His Majesty the King.

Security in the area remains tight, and officials are staying vigilant in order to prevent any violence erupting during the auspicious occasion.