george

ANNOUNCEMENT: ASEAN NOW will re-launch the World News Forum on May 25. The World News forum is located below the Thailand forums, so it should be easy to find. Direct link to World News forum: https://aseannow.com/forum/158-world-news/ Our news team will publish Breaking and Top news stories from around the world for our members to comment on. NOTE: Forum rules applies. We are also doing a major overhaul of the forum rules to be announced shortly. More exciting things is in the pipeline for ASEAN NOW!! I’m happy to announce that I have joined the ASEAN NOW team again after 6+ years doing other media projects, radio and entertainment. Feel free to keep in touch in the comments, or by PM, if you have any questions. Check out the World News forum! The news stream will appear later this evening and be in full force by tomorrow: Go here: https://aseannow.com/forum/158-world-news/ Kind regards George Anderssen Business Development Manager and Founder and former CEO of Thaivisa.com / ASEAN NOW

Thai citizenship process to be corruption-free in future BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Interior has ordered its officials to make the process of granting Thai nationality corruption free. The process must be transparent, without bribes and extortion, the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Interior, Siwa Sangmanee, told TNA on Monday. All state-less people, minorities and foreign residents in Thailand seeking Thai citizenship will be dealt justly and strictly according to the law, he said. The ministry has also ordered its officials to provide adequate public information about the citizenship process and the regulations concerned to potential applicants in order to prevent corruption. Anyone abused by officials can lodge their complaints to the authorities at the Damrongdhramma Centre at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or call 1567. Officials found guilty of abuse, or corruption will be prosecuted, Mr. Siwa warned. Some state-less people and minorities have already been granted Thai citizenship earlier this year. Unsuccessful applicants will be informed of the reasons they were turned down within a designated time. --TNA 2004-08-17

Boys having unprotected sex from 14 A majority of 350 male high-school students surveyed in Kalasin province claimed to have engaged in sexual intercourse for the first time at the age of 14, with only 4% admitting they had visited prostitutes. Public health spokesperson Nittaya Chanruang Mahapol said yesterday 49% of the 17-year-old boys surveyed had sex for the first time with girls they knew well. Mrs Nittaya said 76% of these did not wear condoms because they believed there was no risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. ``Teenagers are choosing to have sex with people they are familiar with, and because they trust them they do not use condoms,'' she said. ``That is a big worry.'' Mrs Nittaya said 50% of those who visited prostitutes for their first sex wore condoms, up from only 17% in 2001. However, condom use was much lower among boys who had sex for the first time with male partners, with only 29% taking appropriate precautions. Mrs Nittaya said the average age for first-time sex had dropped to 14 from 16 years old, recorded in a similar survey completed in 1997. --Bangkok Post 2003-11-17

Bangkok - EAGER to clamp down on rampant illegal gambling all across the nation, the Thailand government has decided to follow fellow South East Asians Singapore's lead in legalising punting on the game. Back in 1999, SCORE, the nation's legalised football gambling avenue, was set up in support of professional football development in Singapore but more importantly, ensure the money being betted will be channelled back into the game. Somchainuk Engtrakul, head of the Government Lottery Office, is fully aware of the problems that tag along with gambling and has made firm suggestions that such a business be brought above the ground. "The board felt it was a must for the government to tackle the rampant problem of football betting, whose value is rising rapidly," said Somchainuk to Reuters. "We estimate the market size is around 150 billion baht ($3.76 billion) a year. It is necessary for the government to regulate this business and to bring this amount of money into the formal economy." --AFCnet 2003-11-04