PM orders haze in North to be tackled in seven days

23 Sept 05:01 Key points summarised by AI

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha mandated officials resolve northern Thailand's severe smog within seven days and initiated a manhunt for arsonists responsible for forest fires.
Chiang Mai residents protested, urging the PM to declare the region a disaster zone for enhanced measures and to halt maize cultivation, blamed for contributing to the haze through post-harvest burning.
Satellite data revealed nearly 7,000 hot spots across northern Thailand and neighboring countries, with over 700 in northern Thailand alone, significantly contributing to hazardous PM2.5 levels.
The Air Force deployed planes to spray water, and military troops reinforced firefighting efforts to combat the extensive forest fires and ease the severe air pollution.

Suchada: Meet the reluctant star of Thailand’s cryptic crypto drama

Yesterday 15:38 Key points summarised by AI

Thai MP Suchada Zhang Thaensap faces intense scrutiny over her husband’s substantial 1.84 billion baht wealth, with opposition lawmakers alleging connections to international scam networks.
A significant portion of her husband, Taiyang Zhang's, declared assets includes a 1.44 billion baht loan to the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which still owes him 1.34 billion baht.
Opposition MP Rangsiman Rome accused Suchada's husband of links to online scam networks and gambling sites, prompting Suchada to vehemently deny the claims, demand evidence, and file a defamation complaint.
Taiyang Zhang's background includes co-founding Ren Protocol, later sold to Alameda Research (linked to the FTX collapse), and some of his former associates have been convicted in crypto company failures.
Suchada, a former actress and first-time MP, maintains her husband's innocence, while her party leaders have distanced themselves from the allegations, deeming it a private matter.