Thailand Live Sunday 13 Jun 2010

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Thailand Live Sunday 13 June 2010

News, Bits and Tweets

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Keep up to date with live updates from the news, hour by hour.

For breaking news,national, regional and international news updates on

a daily basis only, this thread is closed to commentary so that those

who wish to follow the news can find it here...

Commentary is still open for Thailand news in the relevant thread posted in News Clippings.

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Related topic: Thailand Live Saturday 12 June 2010

Thailand Live Saturday 12 Jun 2010 - Thailand Forum

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Public Health Ministry to curb unregistered clinics

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Provincial Heath Offices across the country are tasked to strictly monitor unregistered clinics in their areas.

According to Ministry of Public Health Jurin Laksanawisit, there have been reports of several stealth clinics being operated in the northeastern Khon Kaen province. In response to that, the Minister has assigned the Department of Health Service Support to bring operators who failed to provide certificates for medical treatment to prosecution.

Operators of the unregistered clinics are subject to a fine of up to 60,000 THB and/or a jail term of up to three years for violating section 16 of the Medical Services Act, BE 2541.

Meanwhile, the MOPH encourages citizens to ask to see the certificates for medical treatments and an occupational permit with a clear identifying photo. Citizens are urged to contact provincial health office in their area or dial 02-590-1329 to report the name of the operator who failed to provide the certificates.

-- NNT 2010-06-13

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MD Khunying Pornthip clarifies suspicious lost bullets found in dead bodies at Pathumwan Naram temple

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) MD Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand on Friday meets Acting Government Spokesperson Dr Panitan Wattanayagorn in a bid to clarify doubts upon the lost bullets that had been found in six dead bodies in Pathum Wanaram temple.

The six dead bodies have been suspected of being executed during the clashes between state authorities and protesters of anti-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship that occurred right after the core figures managed to surrender themselves to the authorities.

The forensic results have not yet been disclosed to the public. The meeting was held on Friday so the investigative team could report updates of the autopsy process to the government as claims had been reported by relatives of the deceased, while the issue was brought up during the debate held by the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University on 10 June 2010.

-- NNT 2010-06-13

[Maestro]

Nation Channel TV report wins award

By Jessada Jantharak

The Nation on Sunday

Published on June 13, 2010

A report by Nation Channel TV on illegal slot machines won third prize for Best Television News from the Crime Reporter and Photographer Association of Thailand.

First prize went to Channel 7 for a report on a Yaba crackdown, while the second prize went to Channel 3 for a report on brawling youths.

The Best Crime News Award went to a Daily News report on the crackdown on a "Call Centre" gang luring people to wire them money via ATMs. The Best News Photo Award went to Khao Sod newspaper followed by Manager newspaper and Daily News newspaper respectively, which scored over 100 other news photos this year, association president Pairoj Tesniyom said.

Besides crime news, police pro-jects and individual officers were also recognised. Among the award recipients was Royal Thai Police spokesman Pol Lt-Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen who was named the Most Popular Police Officer, while Bureau Division 1 Commander

Pol Major-General Wichai Sangprapai was named the Model Policeman.

The award-conferring ceremony will be held on July 3 at the Metropolitan Police headquarters' main conference room. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and acting national police chief Police General Pateep Tanprasert will present the awards to the winners.

-- The Nation 2010-06-13

[Maestro]

NOAA's National Weather Service

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS

ISSUED AT 1934Z 12 JUN 2010

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.

... A REGIONAL TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

INDIA / INDONESIA / SRI LANKA / MYANMAR / THAILAND / MALAYSIA

Read more and discussion: Tsunami Warning - Thailand Forum

[Maestro]

Tsunami watch cancelled: Tsunami Warning - Thailand Forum

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M16 gang targeting expats busted

By The Nation on Sunday

Five suspected members of the "M16" gang that preyed on for-eign residents in Chon Buri have been arrested on burglary and armed robbery charges.

At a police press conference, the five Thai men were pre-sented along with an M16 assault rifle, three pistols, one of which was stolen from a Sattahip resident, an Isuzu pickup truck and nearly 1,000 valuables that police had seized from them.

Nirun Phosri, 44, Soralak Srisa-ngium, 29, Chatchai Phsuk, 31, Auychai Boonreu, 24, and Boonleu Srithongbai, 38, were accused of targeting expats in Pattaya, Sattahip and Bang Lamung.

After the gang broke into the Bang Lamung house of a Swiss couple - Rolf Ernsr Seilier, 70, and his wife Verena, 65 - and stole valuables and cash worth Bt2 million in total on the night of May 26, police traced the gang via their truck's licence plate number.

Major General Niwat Rattanathammawat, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 2, said that besides hunting down the rest of the gang, police were also considering punishing owners of Pattaya shops that bought stolen items from the gang.

-- The Nation 2010-06-13

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Atm gang arrest

By The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK: -- A suspected member of a Taiwanese ATM gang that conned Chinese people into wiring them money was caught in Bangkok yesterday trying to make a withdrawal.

Acting on a tip-off, Tourist Police arrested Lieo Min Ching, 43, at an ATM on Sukhumvit Soi 7 and found 53 ATM cards on him. A search of his room at the World Inn Hotel turned up 51 more ATM cards and a bank account with Bt1.13 million. The man's roommate and alleged accomplice identified as Gao I-Feng managed to escape.

Tourist Police commander Major General Adisorn Ngarmjitsuksri said the suspect was believed to belong to the "Call Centre" gang in Taiwan, which has lured Chinese on the mainland to transfer money to them. The gang members then travelled to Thailand to try to withdraw the money.

-- The Nation 2010-06-13

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Two simultaneous bomb attacks on Yala eateries

By The Nation

Yala

YALA: -- More than 20 people were injured from a simultaneous bomb attacks on two eateries in the heart of Yala's Muang district on Saturday evening amid a growing fear that the worse is yet to come, officials said.

A culprit on a motorbike tossed the bomb hidden inside a metal box inside a Korean-style barbeque restaurant, forcing customers to run for cover. But the bomb didn't go off until three minutes later. The shrapnel hit young man who was cruising by on his motorbike.

Almost at the same time at another part of town, another home made bomb was tossed at a rice porridge eatery, known locally as the Khaotom Khon Chon, injuring at least 20 people. At this incident, the bomb went off within three second after it hit the ground.

One senior official at the scene said both bombs were set off by time clock but could not explain why the discrepancy over the length of time for each bomb to go off.

Separately, in Pattani earlier in the day, local resident Arong Wae-ali, 41, was shot twice in at close range in Tambon Sabarang in Muang district, and remained in critical condition.

In nearby Yarang district, Abdullateh Sani, 39, was shot dead early in the morning as he was riding his motorbike home from a nearby market.

Authorities believe the violence in Yala is part of a series of bomb attacks that started in the city's Old Market section on Tuesday evening that resulted in the injuries of 13 people. They feared that similar violence attacks, especially on soft targets, are on the way after several months of pause in attacks on public places. 


A senior government officials said authorities have been on high alert for fear of retaliation following the Monday assassination of Ustaz Mae, a prominent Muslim cleric in Yala's Banang Sata district believed to have been killed by pro-government death squad. The switch to soft target as seen on Saturday night could be part of the retaliation, they said.

-- The Nation 2010-06-13

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Fun ride accident

By The Nation on Sunday

PATHUM THANI: -- A 15-year-old boy broke his arm and hurt his back after being "thrown off" the Spider thrill ride at Dream World Fun Park yesterday.

Pongthorn Singkhalo went to the amusement park in Pathum Thani with five family members. His brother, 13, told police it looked like Pongthorn was ejected from his seat, which was about two metres above ground, during the last spin around.

Dream World manager Thije Mansap said the park would pay all the boy's medical bills. Staff closed the ride pending a safety check.

-- The Nation 2010-06-13

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EDITORIAL

Reds should agree to reconcile, pick a better leader

Thai Red-Shirts Should Agree To Reconcile, Pick A Better Leader - Thailand Forum

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Songkhla police arrest online World Cup bookie with money circulation of Bt80 million for football gambling /via MCOT

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2 Already Dead for Consuming Wild Mushrooms

The Public Health Ministry has warned Thais against consuming wild mushrooms as they can cause liver infection.

It said two people have already died from consuming wild mushrooms while 300 had fallen sick.

-- Tan Network 2010-06-13

[george]

Police arrest 1 out of 3 Colombian suspects in Bt12 mln heist at hotel in Ekamai area; recovers Bt1.5 mln /via TAN

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Poll: People Don't Have Faith in Natl Reform

An ABAC Poll revealed 66.3% of respondents believe the reform of Thailand will not succeed while 61.9% believes the problem of corruption among state officials will still exist. A majority wants the government to address economic recovery first.

-- Tan Network 2010-06-13

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PM denies conflict of interest, reconciling with terrorists under reconciliation plan

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has dismissed allegations over the government's plan to reconcile with the terrorists and act unethically.

Speaking on his weekly talk show on Sunday, " Confidence in Thailand with PM Abhisit", the Prime Minister was responding to the recent criticism over the government's reconciliation plan by reaffirming that the government never reconciled with terrorism-related groups or committed any conflicts of interest under the reconciliation roadmap.

He insisted that the state authorities would seriously take legal actions against terrorism-related suspects in the recent political violence in order to speedily bringing back normalcy and peace to the country.

PM Abhisit added that the 5-point roadmap to political and national reconciliation has been progressively executed with the participation of all relevant sectors. He also invited everyone in the nation to take part in the government's reconciliation process as all Thais share a love for peace and desired to see the country move forward.

-- NNT 2010-06-13

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DSI mulling over idea to pardon UDD protesters

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) has assigned the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to seek an amnesty for people taking part in the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) during April-May 2010

DSI Director-General, Tharit Pengdit, said the DSI would study a possibility of issuing a law allowing those UDD supporters to be pardoned from violating the emergency decree during their gathering at Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok.

Mr Tharit elaborated that actually anybody violating the Emergency Decree, which is still in effect in 24 provinces, was subjected to an imprisonment of not more than two years; however, the UDD rally participants were too many, prompting a call for their pardon.

The director-general continued to say that the DSI would set up a working group to cooperate with the Office of the Council of State in drawing up possible criteria for the exemption, as well as looking into both advantages and disadvantages of the amnesty in the wake of the reconciliation effort.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declined knowledge of the DSI’s attempt to pardon UDD supporters who were not charged with terrorism. He reaffirmed, however, that hard-core members of the anti-government group who had incited chaos in the society must be prosecuted.

-- NNT 2010-06-13

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Artificial rain making operation carries on to ease drought nationwide

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will continue conducting the artificial rain operation in order to increase water levels in the main dams to handle the drought crisis in different parts of Thailand.

Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Theera Wongsamut stated that the drought situation in several areas of the country had eased off but some remained critical due to unbalanced water levels in dams especially at the Sirikit dam and Bhumibol dam. The ministry would carry out the artificial rain operation in order to increase water for consumption use despite rainfall redistribution across the country, said the Minister.

Currently, water used for consumption throughout the country stands at 68 million cubic meters per day while the flows in the dams stands at only 46 million cubic meters per day.

According to the Meteorological Department, a monsoon blowing around the Southwest had weakened which will likely result in discontinuous rainfalls during June – July 2010. Mr Theera therefore said that an artificial rain operation would proceed in order to increase water levels in dams nationwide to resolve dry conditions in several parts of the country.

-- NNT 2010-06-13

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Meteorological dept reports 3.7-magnitude quake in Kanchanaburis Si Sawat district, about 230 kms west of BKK /via MCOT

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok: Center One demolition in full swing near Victory Monument: http://tweetphoto.com/27020533 /via @Legalnomads

ThaiTV schedules for the world cup. (time, channel & teams) http://worldcup.hotelsza.com/program-worldcup/ /via @tukky_nt