His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4 deputized for His Majesty the King at the royal ceremony to mark the Coronation Day, May 5, at Amarindravinitchai Throne Hall in the Grand Palace.

The Crown Prince, accompanied by the Royal consort, Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasmi, arrived at the Amarindravinitchai Throne Hall at 3.30 pm. He then paid homage to the Buddha image representing the Ninth Reign and listened to religious chanting by a chapter of senior Buddhist monks.

His Royal Highness then made offerings of gold and silver flowers to the deity protecting the Throne which is placed underneath the Nine-Tiered White Umbrella of State. This was followed by the Court Brahmin reading an announcement on the Royal Ceremony Celebrating the Coronation Day. The Buddhist monks then chanted prayers blessing Their Majesties the King and Queen.

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned on May 5, 1950. And by royal command, a 3-day royal ceremony is scheduled from May 3-5, 2014 to celebrate the anniversary. May 3 saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince represent His Majesty the King at the ceremony to pay homage to the relics of the Chakri Dynasty’s former kings in the Grand Palace.

Today (May 5), at 10.30 a.m., His Majesty the King will proceed from Piam Suk Building to Rajapraja Samakhom Pavilion in Klai Kangwon Palace, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, to attend a merit making ceremony held in celebration of the Coronation Day.

By Royal Command, Prasat Phra Thep Bidon, or the Royal Pantheon, in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, is open to the public on May 5, 2014 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is to allow members of the Royal Family, civil servants and members of the public to pay homage to the past kings of the Chakri Dynasty.

Academics in political science and laws have expressed their disagreement with the Democrat Party’s Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s proposed political reform roadmap, saying that it may be unconstitutional, while the ruling Pheu Thai Party simply views that it is not the correct strategy to exit from the nation’s political crisis.

Pheu Thai Party Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit reiterated that one prerequisite for a Prime Minister is that the individual must be a Member of Parliament, while stressing the constitution does not endorse the idea of an ‘intermediate Prime Minister’.

He then concluded Mr. Abhisit’s proposal, which was similar to the one offered by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), was unlawful and its implementation would not move the nation forward while calling it a ‘silent coup d’etat’. Nonetheless Mr. Prompong said the matter would be discussed in Pheu Thai Party’s meeting tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Mr. Weerapat Pariyawong, a law expert, echoed Mr. Prompong’s opinion on the Democrat Party Leader’s proposal, pointing out that Mr. Abhisit might intentionally make such a proposal to draw disagreement from the opposition in order to make ways for independent public agencies to intervene.

Another academic in political science, Bundit Chanrojanakij also viewed Mr. Abhisit’s proposal in the same way, saying it was not agreeable to any constitutional principles. He indicated that the chance of success for the proposal was nearly zero as it lacks support from the majority of the people.

Dean of the Faculty of Political Science of Sukhothai Thammathirat University, Yutthaporn Issarachai stated that the Democrat Party Leader’s proposal would lead the country right into a political vacuum while creating an even wider rift among Thais.

Authorities have reported a fire in a 32-rai of landfill in Ayutthaya Province, saying nearby farmers’ rice stubble burning was the cause of the blaze.

The landfill is located on the Baan Pom Sub-district, Phranakhon Sri Ayutthaya District in the province. According to District Chief Precha Khantapraisri, it took firefighters two hours to put out the fire at the district landfill, with 350,000 tons of trash piling over 6 storeys high.

The District Chief said the administration is planning to purchase a garbage incinerator to deal with the massive pile of trash, adding however that the matter is still being studied before being proposed to the provincial administration for approval.

Prior to the event, nearby farmers were burning rice stubble close to the landfill, said the official, further explaining that the blazed was stoked by strong winds.

The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) at the Chaeng Wattana rally site is now considering to give back the public area to the people.

PDRC core leader Senior Monk Buddha Issara, who is in charge of Chaeng Wattana protest site, said that he was disappointed with Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s decision not to run for the next general election. He added that Mr. Abhisit’s political reform roadmap was nothing new. As a matter of fact, it was similar to the PDRC’s demand to have political reform take shape before an election.

The leader went on to say that he was considering to move his protest camp from Chaeng Wattana Road into the compound of the Government Complex in order to let traffic flow clearly after a months-long roadblock.

Booms were heard in front of the Ratchadamnoen boxing stadium Sunday night. Two injuries were later reported.

The Erawan Center reported that bomb-like sounds were heard in front of the boxing stadium on Ratchadamnoen road, near anti-government protest sites, at 8 PM on Sunday. One of the injured, a 47-year-old woman was sent to Klang Hospital while the other, a 60-year-old woman, was admitted to Rajavithi Hospital.

Authorities have not yet confirmed that the source of the booms was an explosion.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva says his political roadmap neither violates the Constitution nor freezes the country, while calling on the prime minister and the cabinet to step down for 5-6 months to allow a country reform.

After releasing his nine-point political roadmap, Mr. Abhisit posted a message on his Facebook account, affirming that his proposal was in accordance with the country’s democracy and the Constitution, adding that if successful, it would be greatly benefit the country and restore peace and order. He also indicated his reform plan does not involve the monarchy or the court.

The roadmap proposed by the Opposition party leader suggests that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra resign and that the election be postponed in order to avoid the possibility of future violence and a military coup d’etat. The proposal also calls for a neutral interim government, which will be in charge of a political reform.

According to Mr. Abhisit’s political roadmap, the reform process should take about 18 months while the election should be organized within 150-180 days upon the completion of the reform.

According to KGI Securities, Thai stock shares would be highly volatile this month, as there would be both positive and negative factors which could affect share prices across the market.

The brokerage firm predicts that foreign funds would continue pouring into emerging markets across Asia, thanks to the relaxed monetary policies of the Asian nations and the global economic recovery.

KGI, however, have also pointed out that there would be a number of negative factors affecting share prices such as weak profit margins among companies during the first quarter. The second factor is that continuously rising share prices may trigger investors to make short-term profits and lead to a market correction. Lastly, there is also a lot of uncertainty on how the political situation would turn out this month.

The company also said the outcomes of the Prime Minister’s cases regarding the unfair transfer of the National Security Council Thawin Pliensri and the Rice Pledging Scheme fraud would play a pivotal role in determining the overall direction of the local stock market during the second half of this month.

Therefore, the firm has advised investors to focus on trading shares that would outperform the market and show promising signs of a strong profit margin during the second quarter of this year. KGI recommended to focus on trading shares that have low risks such as the ones in the energy and telecommunications sectors and avoid buying shares that are directly affected from the political crisis.

The Excise Department has predicted that the upcoming World Cup, to be held during June 12th – July 13th, would boost public spending on alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well as cigarettes, enabling the department to collect at least an additional 1 billion baht in revenues.

According to Mr. Somchai Poonsawad, the Director General of the Department, the department will step up its inspection of pubs, bars, and several commercial public venues in order to prevent consumption of illegal booze and cigarettes. He pointed out previous statistics, which clearly showed that consumption of the goods surged during the World Cup season.

The aggressive measures are aimed at purging the market of excise laws violators and encouraging illegal alcoholic beverage and cigarette producers to enter the tax system. Mr. Somchai said the strict policies would also indirectly protect consumers from low quality alcoholic beverage and cigarettes, which post more dangerous side effects on consumers than the genuine ones.

The Director General also urged residents to report any illegal production or trading of goods subjected to excise taxes to the department’s 1713 hotline around the clock.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport’s Customs Bureau has rescued more than 200 black pond turtles in Samut Prakan Province.

225 black spotted pond turtles weighing up to 100 kilograms altogether were rescued at Suvarnabhumi International Airport while being smuggled in to the kingdom. According to Customs Bureau authorities, these adorable reptiles could have a combined value of 1 million baht.

Authorities said they discovered the turtles in 4 passenger bags as the bags were going through an x-ray scanner and about to be claimed by the owner.

The black pond turtle, also known as the spotted pond turtle, is a species of turtle found in southern Pakistan, northeastern India, and Bangladesh. These turtles are mainly black with small yellowish spots, with three interrupted keels.

Black pond turtles are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is known as CITES, and other wildlife protected laws.

Chainat’s provincial authority has told local farmers to refrain from burning dried rice straw in their fields because burning causes the emission of methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Supatra Klaitim, chief of Chainat’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, instead encourages farmers to adopt a more environmentally friendly rice straw management practice, which is to plough mixed rice straw and stubble into the soil.

Every dry season, highways in Chainat are often covered with smoke from the burning of rice straw in nearby paddy fields. This poses dangers for motorists who are using the highway. Some farmers are careless in controlling their burn off and the fires have sometimes got out of control and caused major damage to other people’s property and assets.