News
Thailand’s Poor and Elderly Agonize Over State Welfare Cuts

Thailand’s universal welfare system has taken a step backwards with the caretaker government’s recent decision to limit monthly handouts of 600 to 1,000 baht per head to only the poor and elderly Thai. Previously, all elderly Thai qualified.
Those who register as senior will no longer receive monthly state subsidies unless they can demonstrate that they do not have enough income or resources to survive on.
“I am concerned that millions of elderly Thais, despite their poverty,” remarked Saiyud, 67.
She emphasised that proving one’s poverty is difficult due to the multiple conditions that must be completed. For example, she was denied a welfare card just because her household income with her children over 100,000 baht per year.
“But in reality, my kids never give me money,” the elderly woman explained.
Fortunately, Saiyud is one of 10.8 million elderly Thai whose eligibility to state-provided monthly payments is unaffected because he enrolled before the new laws took effect on August 12.
Nonetheless, she feels awful because she is aware of the difficulties that disadvantaged older persons experience in their daily life. While the government’s monthly grant is minimal, it provides consistent income on which they may rely.
Thailand’s Welfare Started in 1993
The State Welfare for Equality and Justice (We Fair) organisation has committed to resist the new laws by appealing relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Ministry of Finance.
“With the new rules, it’s as if we’ve gone back to pre-2009,” We Fair’s director Nitirat Sapsomboon bemoaned.
Thailand began providing monthly subsidies to the aged poor in 1993, during the Chuan Leekpai-led government’s tenure. Kamnans and village leaders were in charge of determining who was qualified. Those who qualified received a monthly stipend of 200 baht. The monthly subsidy gradually increased to 300 baht.
The Abhisit Vejjajiva-led government modified the conditions for providing a universal elderly subsidy in 2009. The state provided 500 baht per month to all senior Thais, not only the destitute. The plan only applied to state pensioners, such as retired public officials.
Monthly state-provided subsidies have climbed over the last decade to the present minimum rate of 600 baht. Those in their 60s receive 600 baht each month, up to 700 baht at 70 and 800 baht at 90. Those over the age of 90 earn 1,000 baht every month.
Several political parties made major promises to increase elderly assistance dramatically ahead of the May 14 general election. The Move Forward and Thai Srang Thai parties, for example, have committed to raise it to 3,000 baht each month. As a result, the public was taken aback when the new rules on elderly assistance appeared unexpectedly in the Royal Gazette earlier this month.
“Under the new rules, the government no longer provides universal welfare to the elderly population of the country.” “What they will do is help the poor,” Nitirat explained.
Changing of Attitude
Krisada Chinavicharana, permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry, stated that the current action intends to promote long-term budgetary sustainability. He also highlighted that if monthly subsidies are focused at the elderly who truly need them, rather than all old Thai, the government will be able to save enormous amounts of money.
The government gave out 79.3 billion baht in monthly subsidies to 10.48 million elderly Thais in the fiscal year 2021. The expenditure increased to 82.43 billion baht the next fiscal year, as the number of elderly Thais increased to 10.91 million.
The number of old Thai has risen to 11.21 million in the current fiscal year, 2023, and is expected to climb further. Thailand will be a super-aged society by 2030, with the elderly accounting for 28% of the population.
“We used to budget 50 billion baht per year for the elderly’s monthly subsidies.” However, the funding required for the next fiscal year could reach 90 billion baht. That is why, according to Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek, we need to change our attitude.
According to Theepakorn Jithitikulchai of Thammasat University’s Faculty of Economics, the government’s latest move stemmed from a reluctance to improve the country’s structural inequalities.
“In other words, it does not want to collect [more] tax from the rich in order to make society fairer,” the researcher explained.
He went on to say that the government is so fearful of upsetting the interests of the minority at the top of Thai society’s pyramid that it ignores any recommendations offered by the people’s sector, intellectual circles, and even numerous political parties.
“In fact, even if the monthly subsidy for the elderly increased to 3,000 baht, the budget required would be far less than what the government spends on retired civil servants,” Theepakorn pointed out.
Monthly assistance for the elderly
If the government believes that the budget is increasing in an alarming manner, he believes that the government should reassess the country’s current structure and look for ways to divide resources more fairly.
“While there are many proposed solutions, the government chose to cut the budget for elderly Thai subsidies.” We’ve arrived at a fork in the road. Thailand will be impoverished in 10 to 20 years if the government does not create a firm basis for a harmonious and equitable society,” Theepakorn predicted.
Sustarum Thammaboosadee, another Thammasat University lecturer, stated that monthly assistance for the elderly help to support their families and alleviate their fears. While the government would not dare to decrease the budgets of institutions such as the Defence Ministry, he noted, it has shown no reluctance to lower the benefits of many senior Thais.
“Every Thai citizen pays taxes to the government.” They are deserving of help. “No one should be left out,” he told Thai PBS.
Nimit Tien-udom, an advocate for a wider welfare state, agreed with the concept of generating government money through other means to ensure that all senior Thais continue to receive monthly state payments.
“Reform the tax system and impose wealth taxes, capital gains taxes, and land vacancy taxes,” he said.
Nimit went on to say that establishing poverty was a difficult procedure that also harmed the dignity of many Thais.
Move Forward MP Sia Jampathong expressed dissatisfaction with the caretaker government’s decision to discontinue the universal monthly assistance for senior Thais. “We’ve already stated our position. “We will push for a pension-for-all law,” said the politician, whose party appears to be destined for opposition despite winning the May election.
Prayut Government Stiffs Elderly Limiting Monthly Pensions in Thailand
Prayut Government Stiffs Elderly Limiting Monthly Pensions in Thailand

News
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Washington — Trump Media, The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.
The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.
The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.
The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.
Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.
Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.
The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.
SOURCE | AP
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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