Tech
Thailand to use Biometrics scan to identify travellers
With a 2.1 billion baht budget, the project is designed to install 2,000 biometrics devices at 170 immigration points
PHUKET, (NNT) – The biometrics system, a machine for facial and fingerprint identification, is being introduced to enhance immigration checkpoints nationwide.
Biometrics is a device used worldwide to scan persons coming into or going out of the country on land, sea and air, especially regarding suspected face-lifted transnational criminals and passport forgery.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Tinaphat Phumarin, the commander of the National Police’s Quartermaster Division in capacity as head of the Biometrics Project led a delegation of relevant agencies to Phuket airport’s immigration unit to see the biometrics device which is replacing an old individual scanning system.
The biometrics device can scan any facelifted suspects and fingerprints which cannot be changed, thus raising the confidence of travelers in the airport’s safety measures.
The installation of the biometrics device has been 70% completed and the device which was earlier scheduled to be operable on May 2 and extended for a month, is to be 100% operable on July 1.
Failing to meet such schedule, the firm which is installing the device will be liable to more than four million baht in fine daily. With a 2.1 billion baht budget, the project is designed to install 2,000 biometrics devices at 170 spots on land, sea and air throughout the country.
In Phuket, the biometric devices will be installed at the airport, piers, immigration units and provincial police investigating office. A total of 76 biometric devices will be installed at Phuket airport’s arrival terminal and international departure terminal. Thailand is the fifth ASEAN state which has applied the biometric system.
Myanmar
Digital Revolution and Repression in Myanmar and Thailand
Activists have also proactively published social media content in multiple languages using the hashtags #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar and #WhatsHappeningInThailand to boost coverage of events on the ground.
By Karen Lee
Following the February 1 coup, Myanmar’s netizens became the latest to join the #MilkTeaAlliance, an online collective of pro-democracy youth across Asia.
(more…)
– The rise has been driven by OPEC+ production cuts and an improving economic climate
– Higher prices are likely to support a rebound in oil-producing emerging markets
– Further virus outbreaks or increased production would pose challenges to price stability
A combination of continued production cuts and an increase in economic activity has prompted oil prices to return to pre-pandemic levels – a factor that will be crucial to the recovery of major oil-producing countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Brent crude prices rose above $60 a barrel in early February, the first time they had exceeded pre-Covid-19 values. They have since continued to rise, going above $66 a barrel on February 24.
The ongoing increase in oil prices, which have soared by 75% since November and around 26% since the beginning of the year, marks a dramatic change from last year.
Following the closure of many national borders and the implementation of travel-related restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, demand for oil slumped globally.
In the wake of the Saudi-Russia price war in early 2020, Brent crude prices fell from around $60 a barrel in February that year to two-decade lows of $20 a barrel in late April, as supply increased and demand plummeted. The value of WTI crude – the main benchmark for oil in the US – fell to record lows of around $40 a barrel last year on the back of a lack of storage space.
While global demand for oil remains low, one factor credited with reversing the trend is the decision to make significant cuts to oil production, which subsequently tightened global supplies.
Tech
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