Thailand Live Friday 16 Jul 2010

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Security Authority Denies Ongoing Talk with Insurgents

The commander of the Joint Civilian-Police-Military Force has denied claims of an ongoing talk with insurgent groups in the southernmost provinces of the country.

The Pattani Malay Liberation Movement or the PMLM, a joint organization of the Pattani United Liberation Organization and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate, has announced a unilateral suspension on organized attacks for three districts in Narathiwat Province from June 10 to July 10, in an attempt to bring the Thai government to the negotiating table.

According to the latest report, the Commander of the Joint Civilian-Police-Military Force, Lieutenant General Kasikorn Kirisri, said he learned about the cease-fire agreement from a news report, but had nothing to add to it.

Kasikorn claimed that the security situation in the southernmost region remains volatile, but admitted that there has been no report of any planned major attack.

When asked about a potential talk with the insurgents, the commander of the joint security force only said he has not been contacted.

Kasikorn also ordered the forces stationed in the area to step up security efforts from now to Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, a period in which violence is known to intensify in past years.

-- Tan Network 2010-07-16

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Kusoldharm Phuket protest update

The Kusoldharm Foundation main office off Phoon Phon Road in Phuket Town.

story:

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Arisman hiding in Cambodia

By The Nation

Red-shirt fugitive Arisman Pongruangrong is hiding in Cambodia after fleeing at the end of the unrest in May, red terrorist suspect Surachai "Rang" Thewarat told his investigators from the Department of Special Investigation.

On Friday, Surachai attended the remand hearing on terrorism charge at the Criminal Court after his Thursday's arrest in Lop Buri.

In his statement given to DSI, he said he accompanied Arisman to take refuge in Cambodia. He returned to his Buri Ram home on June 26 but Arisman has remained in the neighbouring country.

Surachai admitted he was one of the red-shirt guards firing the Tavor assualt rifle into Dusit Thani Hotel at Saladaeng, causing property damage and the evacuation of guests and foreign reporters inside the hotel.

He said the rifle attack was meant as a reprisal for the killing of his military leader Maj General Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawasdipol.

He confirmed his earlier statement that Khattiya took him and a group of 20 red guards to China in March, 2009 and paid for their expenses. He did not clarify whether the arms training took place abroad.

-- The Nation 2010-07-16

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Four impeachment cases cleared for PM, four more pending

By The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The National Anti Corruption Commission has decided to drop four impeachment cases against the prime minister and ordered additional probes in four pending cases, NACC member Klanarong Chantik said on Friday.

Eight impeachment complaints were filed since PM Abhisit Vejjajiva took office on December 17, 2008.

In the first case, Abhisit was targetted for probe on unconstitutional conduct related to his election boycott in 2006. His opponents argued for impeachment due to what they termed as his unconstitutional conduct.

The nine-member NACC ruled in an unanimous decision to drop the case on the ground that Abhisit was not the prime minister at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.

Under the constitutional provisions, the impeachment can only be activated for violations committed by invoking the power of the office in question.

In the second case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter and breaking from political traditions by causing the alliance switch to pave way for his government to come to power.

The NACC made a similar decision to drop the case because it happened when Abhisit had no executive power.

In the third case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter by naming Kasit Piromya as the foreign minister.

The NACC decided to launch the additional probe into the matter. Even though Kasit was not in office when he was a speaker for the yellow-shirt rally at the Suvarnabhumi Airport, the government is sponsoring a draft legislation on airport safety.

The draft is seen as lenient to the yellow shirts because if it is enacted, it will be favourable to the yellow shirts because the besieging of airports would be penalised by a fine instead of a more serious penalty for terrorism.

The NACC has ordered for checks on Kasit's role in connection with the draft before it would rule on the impeachment of Abhisit.

In the fourth case, the NACC decided to suspend the probe on Abhisit related to his alleged interference in the shuffling of the officials in the Culture Ministry.

The case is linked to a separate investigation involving the conduct of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaug. The NACC will return to the case involving Abhist after the completion of its investigation on Suthep.

In the fifth case, Abhisit faced the complaint on the Democrat Party financial records related to the Bt258 million donation. The NACC dropped the case on the ground that it happened in 2004, before Abhisit took office.

In the sixth case, Abhisit was accused of neglecting to safeguard the territorial integrity and the sovereignty in the disputed area near Preha Vihear Temple.

The NACC ruled to drop the case after finding that the government had consistently protested against any territorial violations and that it did not condoned the unilateral decision by Cambodian government to construct a road near the temple.

In the seventh case, the NACC dropped its investigation because Abhisit did not invoke his prime ministerial power when his Democrat Party certified Thanin Chaisamut as the electoral candidate for the Satun Provincial Organisation Administration.

In the last case on SMS, the NACC ordered the additional probe to look into the tax issue.

Abhisit and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij were involved in sending out SMS as the public service. Although the SMS as public service had followed past precedents since 2003, Korn granted income tax exemption for SMS revenues he deemed as the public service.

In the past, the people did not respond to public-service SMS. But in this case, they sent replies to messages from Abhisit. This generated revenues at Bt3 per reply for mobile operators.

The NACC needs to examine the tax implications before ruling whether to activate impeachment.

-- The Nation 2010-07-16

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UPDATE

Five impeachment cases cleared for PM, three more pending

The National Anti Corruption Commission has decided to drop five impeachment cases against the prime minister and ordered additional probes in three pending cases, NACC member Klanarong Chantik said on Friday.

Eight impeachment complaints were filed since PM Abhisit Vejjajiva took office on December 17, 2008.

-- The Nation 2010-07-16

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Pheu Thai Party to Use Candidate's Speech Recorded in Prison for Campaign

The National Election Commission has approved the use of a speech recorded in prison by the Pheu Thai Party candidate Korkaew Pikulthong, for campaigning.

President of the Pheu Thai Party's Bangkok MPs, Wicharn Meenchaianant, who is also the party's campaign director for the upcoming by-election for Bangkok's District 6 MP seat, has reported that the Department of Corrections has allowed the party's jailed candidate, Korkaew Pikulthong, to record his speech in prison, to be used for the campaign. Wicharn added that Korkaew's speech will be recorded within the next few days.

Meanwhile, the the National Election Commission or EC has indicated that according to the law, airtime on public radio must be equally allocated among the candidates for campaigning.

The EC has also said that the content of the speech will be scrutinized by corrections officials, to check whether there is any violation of the emergency decree.

Afterward, the EC will listen to the tape to determine if any violations of electoral regulations have been committed.

Once the official receives the recorded speech, it could be broadcast as soon as next week.

However, the EC has expressed doubt that there will be any offensive messages in the three-minute speech, which is barely enough to make a self-introduction.

The National Election Commission has approved the use of a speech recorded in prison by the Pheu Thai Party candidate Korkaew Pikulthong, for campaigning.

President of the Pheu Thai Party's Bangkok MPs, Wicharn Meenchaianant, who is also the party's campaign director for the upcoming by-election for Bangkok's District 6 MP seat, has reported that the Department of Corrections has allowed the party's jailed candidate, Korkaew Pikulthong, to record his speech in prison, to be used for the campaign. Wicharn added that Korkaew's speech will be recorded within the next few days.

Meanwhile, the the National Election Commission or EC has indicated that according to the law, airtime on public radio must be equally allocated among the candidates for campaigning.

The EC has also said that the content of the speech will be scrutinized by corrections officials, to check whether there is any violation of the emergency decree.

Afterward, the EC will listen to the tape to determine if any violations of electoral regulations have been committed.

Once the official receives the recorded speech, it could be broadcast as soon as next week.

However, the EC has expressed doubt that there will be any offensive messages in the three-minute speech, which is barely enough to make a self-introduction.

-- Tan Network 2010-07-16

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US hopes for quick end to Thai state of emergency

BANGKOK (AFP) -- A senior US envoy expressed hope Friday that a state of emergency imposed in parts of Thailand since April in response to violent street protests would be lifted "as soon as possible".

But William Burns, the State Department's number three, stressed that Thailand was able to find its own way out of the political crisis, reiterating US calls for a democratic and peaceful solution.

"Clearly the US hopes that the state of emergency ... can be lifted as soon as possible," Burns told reporters after discussions with Thai officials.

He said Americans had been "deeply saddened" by the violence and deaths suffered during the two months of opposition demonstrations in Bangkok that ended with a bloody army crackdown in May.

Ninety people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 were injured in violence sparked by the anti-government "Red Shirt" rally.

The emergency powers -- enabling authorities to detain suspects without charge for up to 30 days and shut down anti-government media -- were extended last week for three more months in Bangkok and 18 other provinces.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has set out a five-point reconciliation plan, which the US Congress has said should form the basis of efforts by all parties in Thailand to resolve their differences.

The next stop on Burns' regional tour will be Phnom Penh on Saturday for events marking the 60th anniversary of relations between Cambodia and the United States.

He is then set to head to Indonesia, with which President Barack Obama has been seeking stronger ties, and will round off his trip on Monday and Tuesday in the Philippines, another close US ally, for talks with the new administration of President Benigno Aquino.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-07-16

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UPDATE

Swedish Drug Manufacturer in Custody for 12 Days

The 29 year old Kim Roger Eriksson from Sweden was Friday shortly before noon informed of the charges against him by the criminal court in Bangkok...

update:

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One dead, two wounded by explosives

By The Nation

A hidden bomb killed a female villager who detonated it when she stepped on a trip wire as she was heading to a plantation to tap her rubber and two ordinance offiers distached to the scene nearly met the same fate when they arrived at the scene, a local official said.

The size of the two bombs were not clear but the two officers could lose their legs from the attack believed to have been carriedout by a local separatist cell, the officer said.

The incident took place Friday morning in the village of Kirikate village in Yala's Than To district.

It came one day after a security unit killed a suspected insurgents and arrested another after a tense standoff in Pattani's Mayo district.

The dead suspect, Sabuding Deng, was said to have been negotiating his surrender with the authorities days before he was surrounded and killed, said a local resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mayo is one of the highly contested district in the southernmost provinces where an ongoing insurgency has so far claimed more than 4,000 lives since January 2004.

-- The Nation 2010-07-16

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Burmese worker shot in Naklua

Local tiler killed in North Pattaya road accident

Police General chairs meeting on illegal foreigners in Jomtien

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SET index closed at 827.54, up 6.52; Bt/USD31.85; GBP48.98; AUD27.66; EUR41.19; CAD30.18; HKD4.05; SGD23.05; JPY36.26

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Thai Customs Make Million-Dollar Ivory Seizure

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Asian Police Arrest 5,000 Over World Cup Betting: Interpol

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Gold Robbers Claim Gambling Debt as Motive

Authorities are pursuing two other members of a gold shop robbery gang in Udon Thani province after arrested suspects have confessed they were driven to the crime by gambling debt incurred during the World Cup.

Commissioner of Provincial Police Bureau 4, Police Lieutenant General Santi Pensute, held a press conference on the arrests of two members of a gang that robbed a local gold shop.

The two were identified as Chatchai Nommanas, aged 19, and his 17-year-old accomplice dubbed Em.

The two were captured in possession of gold necklaces, an AK-47 assault rifle, a 9-millimter pistol, three machetes, two knives and two cars.

Santi explained that the two gang members stole 12 million baht worth of gold ornaments before making off in a black car, which they later parked in Soi Boonchai.

Surveillance camera footage showed that the two then switched to another vehicle before being stopped by police in Khon Kaen province.

Chatchai told police that he committed the robbery in order to pay off 30,000 baht in debt from the recent World Cup gambling. He claimed that his bookies had ordered him to assist in robbing the gold shop.

The two bookies who allegedly masterminded the theft are still at large.

-- Tan Network 2010-07-16

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to be continued

Thailand Live Saturday 17 July 2010

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