Thailand Live Saturday 7 Aug 2010

[webfact]

Thailand Live Saturday 7 August 2010

News, Bits and Tweets

with webfact

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.

FOLLOW US:

You can also follow us on

- Twitter: http://twitter.com/georgebkk

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThaiVisaNews

- Breaking News via SMS text messages to your mobile phone or handheld device

To subscribe dial *424010011 on AIS, One-2-Call, DTAC or True Move networks

14 days complementary subscription for Thaivisa members.

If you have questions about the Breaking News SMS service,

email: sms [at] thaivisa.com

________________________________________________________________________________

Thailand's current weather and forecasts: http://weather.thaivisa.com/

________________________________________________________________________________

Related topic: Thailand Live Friday 6 August 2010

[webfact]

PREAH VIHEAR CONTROVERSY

Yellow rally to move from Government House to a Din Daeng stadium PM

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday said that yellow shirts have agreed to move their rally from the Government House to Kilawes Stadium in Din Daeng area.

The decision to move the rally site came after two-hour-and-a-half meeting between Abhisit and representatives of yellow shirts network.

Yellow shirts leader Chamlong Srimuang has called for a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office on Saturday to demand the government revoke the memorandum of understanding on boundary demarcation signed with Cambodia in 2000.

The MoU, which recognises the Siam-French demarcation map, would allow Cambodia to claim Thai territory, Chamlong said.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

TAT to organize "Smile@Siam" on 14 Aug

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will arrange the “Smile@Siam” event in the Siam Square area in a bid to rebuild the good image of Bangkok and help entrepreneurs affected by the political riots.

Ms Pensuda Priaram, Deputy Governor for Tourism Products and Business of the TAT, stated that “Smile@Siam” was a sequel to the “Smile@Ratchaprasong” event, which was organized at the nearby Ratchaprasong Intersection and ended with tremendous success. She said the continued project was aimed to help relieve people’s financial hardship incurred by the prolonged rally of the anti-government group and to revive the sluggish economy. The activity is also expected to help restore the liveliness of the capital and rebuild confidence among foreign tourists.

The “Smile@Siam” event will be held from 14 to 15 August 2010 during 10.00-22.00 hrs at Siam Square and adjacent areas. It will be a golden opportunity for shoppers to purchase brand name products at discounted prices while a variety of food and beverages will also be sold.

The activity will also feature many entertainment performances with 4 main stages at Siam Square Soi 3, Siam Paragon Shopping Complex, Siam Center and MBK Center.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

"Healthy Sexuality: Story of Love Exhibition" to begin on 10 Aug

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the Women's Health Advocacy Foundation have joined hands with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to launch the "Healthy Sexuality: Story of Love Exhibition".

The launch of Healthy Sexuality: Story of Love Exhibition aims at providing sex education, with the talks that cover issues of sexual identity, relationships and communication, varieties of sexual behavior, sexual violence, and HIV-AIDS.

Meanwhile, the result of a poll being conducted to sound out questions on the aspects of sexuality among adolescences will be revealed at the event.

The event is set to take place on 10 August at the National Science Museum of Thailand in Pathum Thani province.

The Opening Ceremony will be presided over by Minister of Public Health, Jurin Laksanawisit.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Academics discuss strategies to push towards democracy and reformation

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The King Prajadhipok's Institute has held an academic discussion on how to create national and parliamentary reform towards democracy.

The discussion focused on ways to develop and improve the country’s political system, encourage public participation, and create a balance of power among the state’s legislative, administrative, and judicial branches.

Mr Nanthawat Brommanond, a law lecturer from Chulalongkorn University, proposed that the government set up an independent panel to look into the enforcement of the Emergency Decree to prevent any acts that might lead to more human rights violation. He also added that the Government’s meddling with the work of civil servants, which is frequent, citing the case of the government’s inability to appoint the new Commander of the Royal Thai Police, should e done away with.

Meanwhile, Mr Amorn Jansomboon, a former member of the National Legislative Assembly, said that the national reform should begin with politicians themselves. He also said that dictatorship in the form political party financial backers should be abolished, as it puts politicians under party backer’s control and deprives them of freedom to vote on certain important issues.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Scientists create nanogold jasmine birthday gift for Her Majesty

By The Nation

This is an enlarged photo of nanogold jasmine, a creation

by the Chulalongkorn Universitys Faculty of Science.

Chulalongkorn University will present a nanogold jasmine to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on the occasion of her birthday.

Her Majesty will turn 78 on August 12.

Each petal of the nanogold jasmine is just over 100 nanometres thick, so tiny that one cannot see it with the naked eye. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre.

Associate Professor Sanong Ekasit of the university's Faculty of Science and his team were behind the creation of the nanogold jasmine.

"It's beautiful and meaningful," he said.

In Thailand, the jasmine is the flower children present to their mothers to show their love and their gratitude. Her Majesty is a maternal figure in the country and her birthday is the National Mother's Day.

Sanong described the nanogold jasmine as a perfect combination of art and science.

He said the raw materials for the creation of the gift were local, such as starch and sugar. Through chemical synthesis, they became quality nanogold, also known as colloidal gold, a suspension of microscopic particles of the precious metal in a fluid.

"The structure of a jasmine is complex but we made it happen," Sanong said at a press conference. Also present were Chulalongkorn rector Pirom Kamolratanakul and representatives from the Thailand Research Fund, the National Research Council, and the Office of the Higher Education Commission.

The nanogold created by Sanong's team was much cheaper than imported nanogold. A gram of the locally made substance cost between Bt50,000 and Bt100,000, while the imported equivalent would have cost 50 to 100 times as much.

"Nanogold technology can be applied to test for bombs, food contamination, and medical diagnosis," Sanong said.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

MALPRACTICE BILL

Jurin offers new round of talks to irate doctors

By The Nation

Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit yesterday extended an olive branch to opponents of the Medical Malpractice Victim Protection Bill by offering a new round of talks.

"To relieve worries on all sides, we are going to hold new discussions before taking any steps," Jurin said.

He was speaking after several doctors' groups said they would not join a panel set up by the Public Health Ministry to resolve disputes over the controversial bill.

To the opponents, the draft law has many flaws that need to be corrected, and they are also questioning why the Public Health Ministry is in such a rush to push the bill through.

When the ministry set up the resolution panel a few days ago, it said it wanted a conclusion on the bill within two weeks.

The ministry's permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said doctors' groups refused to have anything to do with this panel because they were unhappy with the number of members, though he added that the extra faces would only be doing secretarial work.

On Monday, it was agreed that the panel would have no more than 20 members, but Jurin ended up approving the appointment of 24 people. The extra names, which included National Health Commission's secretary Amphon Jindawatana, upset the Federation of Doctors at State, General and Provincial Hospitals and the Medical Association to the point that they refused to cooperate.

Amphon has been a strong supporter of the bill and has often spoken to the media in a way that made opponents feel like he was making thinly veiled attacks at them.

The Medical Council's assistant secretary Dr Chotesak Jenpanich said members of the media should sit in as observers and see if Amphon and the other extra faces were really serving as secretaries.

Chotesak said his group would only cooperate with the ministry to settle disputes only if the panel was cut down to 20 as initially agreed upon.

Medical Association's chairman Dr Jongjet Aojenpong also said he was ready for discussions with the ministry, provided it involved forming a new panel.

The Network for People's Medical Protection, meanwhile, warned people against believing that the draft law was meant for their benefit.

"The bill will require a huge amount of taxes to go into the nofault compensation fund. Don't forget that every citizen has to pay tax, directly or indirectly," the network's press chief Dr Thapanawong Tanguraiwan said.

According to the Health Systems Research Institute, the fund will collect Bt5 for every outpatient and Bt80 for every inpatient. This means the Public Health Ministry will have more than Bt2 billion in the fund each year.

"This amount is in addition to what hospitals under agencies such as medical schools have to pay," he said. "The point is, where will most of the money in the fund really go? To date, just a little over Bt200 million from the National Health Security Fund has been paid each year as compensation for medical malpractice victims. Will the country really need up to Bt2 billion a year for medical malpractice cases?"

Thapanawong said the committee overseeing the fund would likely benefit from the huge amounts it has at hand.

"Committee members can, of course, get generous meeting allowances," he said.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

BANGKOK

Close watch on all major bridges in the capital

[webfact]

Swine flu makes dozens ill in Northeast, shuts school

By The Nation

The H1N1 influenza outbreak that hit last year is spreading in three Northeastern provinces, making nearly 40 people ill so far and prompting a school to close.

In Ubon Ratchathani province, 20 senior education officials caught the disease, known as human Swine flu, after attending a seminar there, and 10 of them were admitted to hospital after catching the flu on Thursday.

The officials are from neighbouring Amnat Charoen province. They have been advised to seek further treatment in their home province, after the seminar was called off and they were asked to leave Ubon Ratchathani.

About 100 officials scheduled to attend the seminar fell ill but were diagnosed with common and seasonal flu. All hotels in Ubon Ratchathani where they were staying have been sanitised.

In Buri Ram, Marie Anusorn School in Muang district closed immediately after 19 fifthgraders contracted the flu. One of them is receiving hospital treatment.

The school closed yesterday morning and will reopen on Monday. School management has issued an apology to parents for the immediate closure without prior notice. Mattresses and sleepwear of toddlers in its kindergarten classes have been sanitised.

Screening of suspected cases will be conducted upon the school's reopening on Monday, and those with symptoms will be excused from classes.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

PAD RALLY

Defiant PAD group to go ahead with rally

Veera

[webfact]

PREAH VIHEAR CONTROVERSY

Yellow rally to move from Government House to a Din Daeng stadium PM

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday said that yellow shirts have agreed to move their rally from the Government House to Kilawes Stadium in Din Daeng area.

The decision to move the rally site came after two-hour-and-a-half meeting between Abhisit and representatives of yellow shirts network.

Yellow shirts leader Chamlong Srimuang has called for a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office on Saturday to demand the government revoke the memorandum of understanding on boundary demarcation signed with Cambodia in 2000.

The MoU, which recognises the Siam-French demarcation map, would allow Cambodia to claim Thai territory, Chamlong said.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

POLITICAL PROBLEMS

Disrespect for law the root of Thailand's woes: Chuan

[webfact]

ENVIRONMENT

Oil exploration off Koh Samui 'will continue'

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Flag-waving won't resolve Thailand-Cambodia border issues

[webfact]

VENUS' VISION

Use or lose it: young people love the Thai language too

[webfact]

'Tuk Tuk' Thailand ranked no.5 of the World Best Taxi by 'hotel.com'

[webfact]

Commerce Min to propose Sa Kaeo special economic zone to the Cabinet by early Sep

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Commerce Ministry will propose a plan to set up a special economic zone in Sa Kaeo province to the Cabinet, to link Thai-Cambodian trade.

Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot unveiled that the plan to set up a committee of Thai-Cambodian trade and the special economic zone in Sa Kaeo would be proposed to the Cabinet for approval in September. This project is aimed to develop and link trade and logistics system in the eastern region of Thailand with the Eastern neighbor.

By the end of August, the Deputy Commerce Minister is scheduled to visit Cambodian Trade Minister to discuss on the linkage of trade, investment and trade barrier reduction between the two nations including the direction through the third country in ASEAN. Sa Kaeo special economic zone will be set in similar form of Tak economic zone in the west of Thailand which has been approved by the Cabinet. Location for the economic zone in Sa Kaeo has been scouted and three different sites with an area of 700, 1,000 and 10,000 rai will be proposed for the selection.

Mr Alongkorn added that on 12-13 August he would attend the meeting of economic framework around Beibu Gulf Rim of Nanning in Guangxi province of China. This is a sea logistics framework development of countries by the Mekong River, Indochina, and South China, focusing on the deep sea ports in order to reduce trade obstacles.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

A new image for Thai rice will be created for foreign markets

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Government’s strategy to create a new image for Thai rice is expected to result in higher consumption of Thai rice in foreign markets.

Mr Alongkorn Ponlaboot, the Deputy Commerce Minister presided over the Thai rice's branding and consumption promotion under the project of creating new image for Thai products in international markets. The project is aimed to expand exports and consumption of Thai rice in foreign markets through innovation and creative ideas in the new branding.

This project is meant to push the creative economy initiative and to achieve sustainability of the national economic system.

Mr Alongkorn stated that rice was an important export product of the country, earning around 80-100 billion THB each year. He added that Thailand remained the number one rice exporter in the world market, while the Government this year had set a target to export 9-10 million tons of Thai rice.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

PAD gathering begins at Thai-Japanese Sports Complex, but activist Veera Sonkwamkid leads supporters to Government House defying CRES rally prohibition /via @MCOTEnglishnews

[webfact]

999 rare trees to honor Mother’s Day in Phuket

KING OF TREES: The yang na, or hairy leafed apitong,

can reach up to 40 meters when fully grown.

[webfact]

18 provinces warned of flashfloods, mudslides

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has warned people in 18 provinces of possible flashfloods and mudslides due to torrential rains during 6-8 August 2010.

The DDPM today issued a warning of potential floods for 18 provinces due to continuous heavy rainfalls from 6-8 August. The 18 provinces prone to flooding are Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Phayao, Lampang, Lamphun, Phrae, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun, Tak, Phitsanulok, Loei, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon.

Residents of the mentioned provinces are suggested to follow up weather reports and observe weather conditions in order to be ready for an immediate evacuation.

The DDPM has coordinated with concerned agencies to prepare first aid kits and necessities for assisting flood victims. People can also contact to the DDPM Hotline 1784 for further assistance around the clock.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Update: China gold mine fire kills at least 14, traps 8 in eastern Shandong province /via @BreakingNews

[webfact]

Yellow-shirt protesters confront security officials at Government House

Protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy refused to cancel their rally outside the Government House and move to Din Daeng Saturday morning.

Instead, they formed lines to confront crowd-control and border patrol police, who were deployed to keep security at the Government House.

The protesters led by Veera Somkwamkid and Chaiwat Sinsuwong arrived at the Government House at 8 am.

The two leaders refused to move to the disperse and move to the Thai-Japanese Youth Centre although some senior police and military officers came to talk to them at 8:30 am.

The confrontation lines started at 9 am when crowd control police form lines and moved towards the protesters from Likhit Road beside Benjamabophit School.

-- The Nation 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Police forces deployed to secure Preah Vihear mob in BKK

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Metropolitan Police gears up to handle the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) gathering at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok today over the Preah Vihear Temple dispute.

Metropolitan Police Chief Police Lieutenant General Santhan Chayanon called an urgent meeting on Friday night with the police commander to adjust the security plan after the PAD decided to change the rally venue from Government House to the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Din Daeng.

Four companies of Metropolitan Police officers, including riot policewomen, have been deployed both inside and outside the stadium to provide security against possible third-party instigation. However, the police have not blocked the roads around the venue.

Meanwhile, the 4 main roads around Government House, which are Nakhon Pathom, Phitsanulok, Ratchadamneon Nok, and Luk Luang Roads, will remain closed until the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) cancels the announcement.

Previously, a group of PAD protestors under the Thailand Patriot Network, led by Mr Veera Somkwamkid, declared to stage a rally to pressure the Government on Saturday over the Preah Vihear Temple issue. The venue was changed from Government House to the Thai-Japanese Stadium after the group was warned against violations of the Emergency Decree currently retained in the city.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

40% of Thai women overweight

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Data recently collected by the Health Systems Research Institute indicates that 40% of Thai women are obese, whereas 28.4% of men are.

The result of the research conducted over the last two years was revealed during the 4th National Nutrition Academic Conference. The figures showed that around 40% of Thai women and 28.4% of Thai men, aged 15 and over, have the problem of obesity. 45% of the females have a waistline of over 80 centimeters while 18.6% of the men have 90 centimeters or more. Half of women, aged between 40-49, are at risk of being overweight.

MD Kraisit Tantisirin, President of the Nutrition Association of Thailand, said women naturally had more body fat compared to men, especially pregnant women whose body tended to store more fat than normal in preparation for breastfeeding. The excess nutrient will not be burnt out if these women do not breastfeed.

The doctor also stated that the slimming coffee, which had been claimed to help lose weight, did not have nutritional property to do so. The quality of these products is over-advertised. Consumers are even subject to more risk from taking in extra caffeine, sugar, and cream in the coffee.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Passenger van operators urged to modify engines to run on gas

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Ministry of Transport encourages passenger van operators to modify the engines to run on natural gas for vehicles (NGV) in order to meet the new requirement of the Land Transport Act.

Director General of the Land Transport Department Chairat Sa-nguansue said most passenger van operators had already installed NGV engines to their vehicles to be in line with the Transport Ministry’s new regulation that required vans older than 10 years to undergo the modification, starting on 1 July.

However, some van operators in the southern border provinces still cannot afford to alter their engines due to their reduced income incurred by the local unrest. The Government will thus provide sources of low-interest loans to encourage them into the change.

Meanwhile, a provider of boat service in San Saeb Canal has started altering some of the passenger boat engines to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The modified boats will run on both gas and petrol because fuel suppliers are not yet ready to set up LNG stations. The investment on the boats is expected to break even in 4 years.

-- NNT 2010-08-07

[webfact]

Activist Veera, supporters move from Govt House to rally at 1st Army Area HQ after negotiations with army, awaiting PM's answer on Preah Vihear dispute /via MCOT-NEWS

[webfact]

New hope for Phuket bus station

The new Phuket Bus Station 2, on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Koh Kaew.

[webfact]

Work begins on new Phuket Town road

Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, who has made road building a top priority since taking up his post in Phuket.

The opening ceremony yesterday morning.

[webfact]

Activist Veera says his group ready to prolong its rally, gives PM 7 days to answer on Preah Vihear dispute /via @MCOTEnglishnews