The Thai cabinet scrapped an old school practice today, which had been imposed since 1999. It requires at least one teacher to take turns to be posted at their schools as a night guard, to protect property from potential intruders.

The decision follows a recent incident in which a female teacher on night guard duty was assaulted by an intruder in Chiang Rai province recently.

Read more : Teacher’s assailant claims he was attacked first

Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told the cabinet meeting in Ranong province today that he feels sorry for the injured teacher, adding that he thinks the cabinet resolution from 1999 is outdated and irrelevant to present circumstances, when surveillance equipment and technology, as well as security companies, are available to do the night guard job instead.

At the same meeting, the prime minister also pointed out the poor infrastructure and transport system in Ranong province, due a lack of maintenance, as he urged all agencies concerned to address the problem quickly, said Chai.

The prime minister also raised the concerns of western businessmen, whom he met during his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about bureaucratic red tape and complicated regulations involved in doing business in Thailand.

He urged ministries to streamline the regulations and to scrap those which pose an obstacle to foreign investors doing business in Thailand.