THE WEEK AHEAD
MONDAY
The National Blood Centre of the Thai Red Cross will launch a programme today to encourage more people to give blood. The two-day Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2018 opens today at the Inter-Continental Hotel, emphasising match-making between inventors and investors. The market will be worth more than 25 billion baht this year.
Russian ambassador to Thailand Kirill Barsky and Greek counterpart Pericles Boutos close their exhibition of personal photographs, sketches, postcards and poetry at RCB Galleria, River City Bangkok. Also in its final day is the International Exhibition of Cultural Creative Products from Palace Museum at the China Cultural Centre on Thiam Ruam Mitr Road.
TUESDAY
The highly criticised Central Admission System (TCAS) for hapless high school graduates will forward its decision to the Council of University Presidents of Thailand on where to funnel students. Tears, jibes and the occasional threat will result. The Thai Sugar Millers Corp has invited India and Pakistan to its three-day Thai Sugar Dinner 2018 meeting that starts tonight, to address the worldwide drop in prices.
The Dotard meets Little Rocket Man today in a luxury hotel at Singapore’s Sentosa Island. Who thought a year ago that this would happen?
The high court of Scotland will listen to an appeal by lawmakers who believe it is possible to overturn the outcome of the Brexit vote.
WEDNESDAY
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow War
rior docks today at Phuket for a two-day replenishment, visitors welcome. South Koreans who elected a hugely corrupt woman as their president are mature enough to hold local elections and parliamentary by-elections and a referendum on constitutional reform.
Thais are not.
Go figure.
China’s premier techie expo, the Consumer Electronics Show Asia, opens this morning in Shanghai.
Speaking of corruption and Russia and Qatar, the gang officially known as Fifa will announce this evening whether they will anoint Morocco or the US-Mexico-Canada as the site of World Cup 2026.
THURSDAY
You can have your World Cup and stream it, too, today, thanks to a last-minute deal brokered with the gang known as Fifa by the tourism and sports minister. Polish story, not Polish joke: To mark the World Cup, thousands of fun-loving football fans will try to break the Guinness world record for keepie-uppie — keeping a football in the air.
Starting today, you need to have no cash to ride the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) A1 (Mo Chit) and A2 (Victory Monument) buses to and from Don Mueang airport. Just scan the QR code held by your friendly hostess and hand over payment digitally.
FRIDAY
The awkwardly named Acmecs will hold its annual three-day summit in Bangkok starting today, with remarks by Gen (Ret) Prayut, ex-Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen and somebody or other from Myanmar. Reminder for the infinitesimal number of readers who know but have forgotten, Acmecs stands for AyeyawadyChao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy.
Muslims will celebrate the end of Ramadan and daytime fasting with the annual Eid al-Fitr festival.
Bangkok’s Minor Holdings of William Heinecke is to sign today to get control of Spain’s NH hotel chain in a deal worth 2.5 billion euro — 93.5 billion baht in real money, or, in Juntacoins, seven submarines with a bit left over for the Mercedes fund.
You must submit by today your bidding documents for the Aug 4 spectrum auction to the always interesting National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). G20 environment ministers begin a twoday meeting today on renewable energy at Buenos Aires.
SATURDAY
Turkish citizens in Thailand can vote today until Tuesday in their national election, but Thai citizens in Thailand don’t even have an election to vote in.
This is the first day of a three-month test of modern, hybrid-powered (diesel and electric), Japanese-built buses. They will run for 15 days each on seven normal BMTA routes.
The exciting Saturday matches: Portugal vs Spain (1am), France vs Australia (5pm), Argentina vs Iceland (8pm) and Peru vs Denmark at 11pm. Grab an hour’s nap before Croatia-Nigeria at 2am. Sunday play opens with Costa Rica-Serbia at 7pm, followed by Germany-Mexico at 10.