The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) is moving quickly to resolve trade barriers affecting Thai exporters in China and India. Director-General Sunanta Kangwanakul announced after talks with the Thai Chamber of Commerce that DITP has discussed cooperation with the Small and Medium Industry Committee for 2025-2027 on strategies to boost SME potential. The department confirmed it has ongoing policies and programs supporting SMEs, including knowledge building, market creation, international expansion, and addressing trade obstacles impacting exports.

DITP and the Chamber of Commerce discussed the next phase of the SMEs Pro-active project and requested collaboration on developing the "Go China" and "China Survival Program" curricula, with DITP serving as a key partner providing expertise on international trade and market entry. Kangwanakul noted that the department plans initiatives in health-related services covering cosmetics and traditional Thai herbs, and is ready to support SMEs in trade shows. However, she asked the Chamber to provide details on China's ban on herbal cosmetics exports so DITP can explore solutions.

Regarding India, DITP reported that a ministerial visit is scheduled for early September 2025, which will be used to discuss silver jewelry export restrictions and pearl exports. The department confirmed readiness to support the Chamber's "5I" industrial development strategy, encompassing intelligent industry, innovation and creative industry, international alliances, industrial infrastructure reform, and inclusive sustainability. For more information, contact DITP at 1169 or visit www.ditp.go.th.

While many see sustainability as distant, GC has made it core to every business process—from product development to resource management to environmental innovation. The chemical company drives its operations through ESG principles and circular economy practices, turning ideas into real results: recycling used plastics, developing eco-friendly materials, and deploying carbon-reduction technology.

All these initiatives reflect the same philosophy: "differentiation that creates sustainable value." This commitment has earned GC continuous global recognition through multiple ESG awards and indices.

GC's sustainability efforts have won consistent worldwide recognition. The company ranks first globally in its chemical products segment according to S&P Global CSA assessments for seven consecutive years and has been selected for the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for 13 straight years among over 9,200 companies worldwide.

GC also appears in both the Dow Jones Best-in-Class World Index and Emerging Markets Index. It achieved the highest "A" rating for Water Security from CDP for six consecutive years, demonstrating effective resource and environmental management at an international level. In Thailand, GC earned the highest SET ESG Rating of "AAA" for three years running and has been on the sustainable stocks list for 11 consecutive years.

Though each assessment framework differs, a consistent theme emerges: GC applies ESG principles to deliver long-term results for business, people, society, and the environment.

What sets GC apart is its ability to convert ideas into results through innovation that solves problems and creates value across business, society, and the environment simultaneously.

A major example is GC's development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from used cooking oil—the first such production in Thailand. By leveraging existing infrastructure and expertise, the company produces sustainable jet fuel without building new plants, while also advancing toward biochemicals and bioplastics. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and adds value to waste resources.

GC is advancing toward Net Zero by 2050 through improved production efficiency, optimized energy use, and investment in low-carbon technology. Between 2021 and 2025, the company cut cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by over 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

In water management, GC deployed Wastewater Reverse Osmosis (WWRO) technology to recycle treated wastewater, reducing freshwater consumption by up to 1.8 million cubic meters annually.

The GC YOUTurn programme exemplifies circular economy in action, involving partnerships with over 140 organizations across Thailand. The initiative now operates more than 400 used plastics collection points.

A 26-year-old woman identified as Beer was found walking naked through the Nong Sai community in Nong Na Kham subdistrict, Muang district, Udon Thani on the evening of 19 August. She told officers and residents she was looking for a man named Keng Noi and asked them to take her to him. Police and local residents provided her with clothes and took her home to the Nong Tu area, with authorities noting she appeared to be experiencing abnormal behaviour requiring close supervision.

According to a friend named Joe, the woman had recently returned from working at a bar in Pattaya, where she had earned good income and accumulated money and gold jewellery. Since her return, her behaviour changed significantly, with Joe suspecting possible involvement with illegal drugs as a contributing factor. He reported that she had previously behaved erratically, including removing her clothes and wandering around the city.

Police initially allowed her family to monitor her condition at home. Authorities said the circumstances surrounding her behaviour and its possible causes would require further investigation, though police have not confirmed drug use as the cause.

A viral internet sensation known as the 'bitter melon boy' received a surprise award during a concert taping. Namo, who became famous for selling bitter melons and vegetables to help support his family, was invited as a special guest to the GLO Miracle Music Season 3 programme 'Chumtang Dao Thong', hosted by presenter Nok Bripun Chaiyphumi. During the taping, producer Pichet Sriratcha from Channel 7HD made an unexpected appearance to present Namo with a special award, leaving the young man moved by the gesture and the recognition of his inspiring story.

The programme features country music artist Rerai performing live alongside Namo, showcasing her signature entertainment style and traditional country music repertoire. This week's episode also includes a competitive singing round featuring three contestants from Ranong, Si Sa Ket, and Suratthani provinces, all competing for a chance to advance in the GLO Miracle Music Season 3 competition.

The broadcast airs Thursday, 20 August and Friday, 21 August 2025 at 13:10 on Channel 7HD, with reruns available on bugaboo.tv, YouTube Channel 7 Star Studio, and the Facebook page Chumtang Dao Thong.

Somebody at the Swedish school on Koh Lanta kept a diary. It is a spiral notebook, written by hand, and it belongs to the school's very first pupil, who was seven when it starts.

She organised it by season rather than by year, the way an island does. It begins the year the school begins and stops in 2007. Her opening line is the whole story in one sentence: Lanta Sanuk School has not always been the way it is now. In the beginning there was only a single pupil, and then it grew and grew.

Season 00/01: a maths book made of A4 paper

The first entry describes a school with one pupil, one teacher and nothing else.

"The school was in my bungalow. Mum was the teacher and there was absolutely no material. We made a maths book out of A4 paper!"

That is the beginning of what people now call Little Sweden. A child, her mother, a bungalow, and a maths book they stapled together themselves.

Season 01/02: the Palm School

Another Swedish family arrived, and the mother happened to be a secondary school teacher. She taught her own two daughters, aged eight and six, plus the diarist, then seven. Lessons moved to their bungalow, and the children gave it a name: Palmskolan, the Palm School.

Then, in a detail that could only come from a real diary, the whole thing decamped to Greece for a few months and carried on there.

The following season has the shortest entry in the book. "No school. We were in Sweden."

Season 03/04: cockroaches and road dust

By now enough families wanted in that the diarist's parents hired an actual teacher, and it was she who named it Lanta Sanuk School. Usually six pupils turned up. At most nine.

The description of the premises is the least romantic thing you will read about this island:

"Two rooms with a fan and a filthy hole in the floor as a toilet. The tables were rickety, there were several cockroaches and the floor was always dirty with road dust."

And then, immediately after: "There were lots of different ages and everyone hung out with each other." Which is the part the children evidently remembered.

Season 04/05: the tsunami

The autumn term opened with 25 pupils and three teachers. By January sixty children were enrolled. It was the school's best year yet.

Then one line, written plainly, the way a teenager writes down something enormous:

"The school was closed after the tsunami because everyone went home."

It stayed shut through January 2005 and opened again at the beginning of February with two new teachers. That same season the first pupil enrolled through the Swedish distance-learning programme, and the school got its first computers.

Season 05/06: upstairs at the conference centre

The school took over the entire upper floor of a conference centre, twelve air-conditioned rooms. There were 119 pupils and ten teachers.

Her list of what existed for the first time that year tells you what had been missing before it: a head teacher, a library, a preschool, school lunch.

Season 06/07: two schools

The last entry counts 220 pupils and 20 teachers across two sites, plus 19 children in preschool.

The old building became the Holiday School, for families staying one to four months. A new school went up at Long Beach for families staying longer than four months. They called it the Long-term School.

That distinction is quietly the most revealing thing in the diary. By 2007 there were enough Swedish families living on Koh Lanta for a whole year that they needed their own school, separate from the ones passing through.

Why this matters beyond one school

The usual account has Swedes discovering Koh Lanta in the mid-2000s, and the 2006/07 season is the one always quoted. The diary ends exactly there, and that is the point the school wanted to make when they shared it: the season everyone remembers was not the start of anything. It was the moment something that had been growing quietly for seven years became too big to miss.

It started in a bungalow, with one child and a maths book made of A4 paper.

The diary is kept at Sanuk, the Swedish school on Koh Lanta, and was shared with us by the school. Its author, the school's first pupil, also designed the yellow sun that is still the school's logo. Translations from the Swedish are ours. The school asked us to be clear that they speak for Sanuk alone and not for anything else on the island.

On August 20, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin issued urgent orders to departments under his ministry—including the National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Department, the Forestry Department, and the Nan Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office—to rapidly mobilize staff and resources to assist and relieve residents affected by heavy rains, flash flooding, and flash floods in Nan Province. The minister emphasized close monitoring of the situation, ongoing coordination with local agencies, and prioritizing public safety and welfare.

Suchart explained that heavy rains in the early morning of August 19 triggered flash floods and flash floods across many areas of Nan Province, especially Pua District, damaging homes, property, and farmland. The government and ministry expressed concern for residents and ordered affiliated agencies to deploy full support for relief efforts while closely monitoring water levels to prepare for any ongoing developments.

"I have instructed all agencies under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to deploy immediately to assist residents fully, with public safety as the priority," Suchart said. "This includes helping move belongings, providing convenience to affected people, and preparing for immediate recovery operations once water levels drop and conditions are safe, so residents can return to normal life as soon as possible."

The Forestry Department, under Sukaith's orders, mobilized 50 staff members, 10 vehicles, and necessary equipment to support relief and area rehabilitation. Initial operations include helping residents move belongings, providing convenience to affected people, and supporting other tasks as needed. The National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Department also prepared to mobilize staff and local units to assist affected residents, closely monitoring water levels and conditions to enable swift assistance, with personnel, vehicles, and equipment ready as appropriate.

The Nan Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office serves as the area coordinator, working with local government, local administrative organizations, and relevant agencies to assess the situation and community needs, then coordinating resources from Natural Resources and Environment Ministry departments to reach affected areas and residents quickly and comprehensively.

In the next phase, once water levels drop and conditions are safe, all Natural Resources and Environment Ministry agencies will coordinate with local government and agencies to support recovery operations.