Thailand Live Wednesday 29 Sep 2010

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Thai Bank Bills 3-Year-Old Boy Bt2 Million

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Parliament rejects Senate-amended National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission bill; joint commission formed to consider bill /MCOT

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Suthep Stops Talking to Press

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugasuban has stopped giving interviews to members of the press in order to avoid the possibility of violating election laws.

He says he will remain in office until October 8 when he resign from his post as deputy prime minister and officially apply to field in the Surathani by-election.

-- Tan Network 2010-09-29

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UNFAO hopes for "Phuket Agreement" on aquaculture

Thai Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut, Department of Fisheries

Director Dr Somying Piumsombun and Kevern Cochrane, Director of

the UNFAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Use and

Conservation Division.

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Strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits off New Zealand /via @WireUpdate

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Pattaya Teen Dies In Accidental Pen-Gun Shooting To The Face

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Parliament ready to consider amnesty bill if proposed

BANGKOK (NNT) -- House Speaker Chai Chidchob has voiced his readiness to include the controversial amnesty bill into the Parliament meeting agenda once it is proposed by the government whips.

Regarding the appointment of a joint-panel to consider the amnesty bill for political rally demonstrators, Mr Chai responded that he did not know the full details of the issue. He, however, said the House could consider it immediately once presented by the government whips.

According to the House Speaker, there is no need to wait for the Bhumjaithai Party, which has been proactively forging ahead with the amnesty bill, to complete its signature collection process as required by law.

The Bhumjaithai Party has kicked off its campaign to collect signatures of people in support of the amnesty bill. It has also joined hands with another coalition partner Chart Thai Pattana Party.

The government whips earlier required the Bhumjaithai Party to revise the contents of the amnesty bill, citing that the purpose of the bill was inconsistent with its contents, as well as its lack of detailed specifications as to who should be pardoned.

-- NNT 2010-09-29

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Staunch Thaksin foe takes command of Thai army

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Suthep’s resignation not a plan to substitute PM

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The planned resignation of Democrat Party Secretary-General Suthep Thaugsuban from his position as Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs is not intended to prepare himself as prime minister in the face of the party’s dissolution threat.

Prime Minister’s Office Minister Ongart Klampaiboon confirmed that Mr Suthep has agreed to resign from the ministerial post by his own judgment after acknowledging opinions from others. He denied the Deputy Prime Minister had been pressured by Democrat Party executives.

The Minister noted that Mr Suthep could be re-appointed to the same position.

Mr Suthep will resign from his position in order to compete in the Surat Thani by-election after Surat Thani MP Chumphon Kanchana has recently been banned from politics for five years for false assets declarations. Only MP will be eligible to be the Prime Minister, according to the constitution.

Mr Ongart believed that Mr Suthep’s resignation would not affect national security affairs because Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would be supervising the issue by himself; therefore, there would be no vacuum in the security affairs.

-- NNT 2010-09-29

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Con Artist Laotian Arrested for Raping and Blackmailing Drunk Victims

Police arrested a Laotian man on multiple charges including rape and blackmail.

In a separate case, a Thai man has been caught for shooting on-duty police officers in June.

Thonglor Police in Bangkok said they apprehended a Laotian man for raping and blackmailing female victims.

They explained that the accused, identified as Ong-at Wongchai, under the alias of Jacky, raped a victim on September 25 in an apartment in the Thonglor area and recorded a video clip of the sexual intercourse to force the victim to have sex with him once again.

Police went on to say that Jacky claimed to be a reputable Laotian businessman who also acts as a consultant for many Thai firms.

They added that the accused often hung around public housing and lured victims to bars and pubs, and taking advantage of the intoxicated victims.

Upon search of his room, police seized video recorders containing many video clips of victims.

The Laotian man is been indicted on rape charges.

In a separate case, Bangkok police officers arrested a man for obstruction of a security official after the man refused to let police officers search his motorcycle and shot at them on the 30th of June.

The accused was at large for three months at a resort in Nakon Ratchasrima province.

Police said the man has pleaded guilty on all charges.

-- Tan Network 2010-09-29

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PM Might Also Resume Deputy PM Post if Suthep Resigns

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Pattaya Vegetarian Festival 2010 Press Conference

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Under-Fed And Under-Paid Burmese Fisherman Escapes From Thai Employer

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Customs seize 1,140 endangered star tortoises smuggled into Thailand on a flight from Bangladesh

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Three wounded survivors, including 2 children, in Tuesday night Pattani shooting in stable condition; five killed in incident /MCOT

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Accused charged with counterfeit tax invoices arrested

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) together with the Revenue Department’s Director General on Wednesday held a press conference about the arrest of the wanted accused charged with counterfeit tax invoice fraud that had already caused over a million baht of damages.

Police Major General Surapon Hormchoen, Commander of Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) together with Mr. Winai Wittawatkaravej, Director General of the Revenue Department told the press of the arrest of Ms Siriyakorn Somsap, an accused charged with counterfeit tax invoice fraud.

Ms Siriyakorn was arrested at Khu Khot district, Pratumthani province with over 10,000 counterfeit tax invoices worth more than 1 million baht in possession and 6 computers. Mr.Winai explained that the accused had opened a construction materials store offering to sell fake tax invoices over the internet without real purchases. Such an action is illegal and liable to both Civil and Criminal lawsuits and if found guilty, the accused would be facing a jail term of 3 months to 7 years and fines between 2,000-200,000 baht, added Mr.Winai.

Also those who have purchased the counterfeit invoices from the accused would be guilty under both Civil and Criminal laws and authorities are in the process of investigating the accused ’s trading partners.

-- NNT 2010-09-29

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ID card will be used for health security service

BANGKOK (NNT) -- By 1 October, people under the national health security program can use identification card instead of the gold card in accordance with the Public Health Ministry’s policy.

The project of free medical service for 48 million Thais with ID card used under the Public Health Ministry will be launched from 1 October 2010 onward. According to the project, those who have registered with any hospital can bring only ID card to get free medical services. This program is aimed to facilitate the public in accessing medical service.

In an emergency case, patients can access the services at any nearest hospital. For children under 15 year-old, birth certificate or household registration can be used instead of ID card. The services under this program cover all diseases including AIDS, cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, and kidney disease. However, the case of hemodialysis costs 500 THB each.

MD PAichit Varachit, the Permanent Secretary for Public Health stated that the system in support of this program had been put on trial in all provinces, and he was confident that the services would run smoothly. Those who encounter problems can inform the ministry at 1330.

-- NNT 2010-09-29

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SET index closed at 696.65, up 10.38; Bt/USD30.34; GBP47.96; AUD29.30; EUR41.17; CAD29.42; HKD3.90; SGD22.92; JPY36.07

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SET index closed at 696.65, up 10.38; Bt/USD30.34; GBP47.96; AUD29.30; EUR41.17; CAD29.42; HKD3.90; SGD22.92; JPY36.07

Correction: SET index closed at 969.65 up 10.38

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Bangkok Bank raises fixed deposit interest rates

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Another suspect in Lopburi army arsenal theft surrenders to police

BANGKOK: -- Another suspect in the Lopburi army arsenal theft surrendered to police in Nakhon Sawan on Wednesday, citing fear of extrajudicial killing by police while 13 more rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) were found in a Saraburi botanical garden.

Police said Mr Thaworn also known as Koh Rakboon turned himself in to the police at Banphot Phisai district of Nakhon Sawan province. He admitted to the authorities that he was the person identified in the arrest warrants.

Mr Thaworn said he was persuaded to joined the mission at the Thai Army Ordinance Department in Lopburi twice, the first time he received Bt5,000 and second time, he got Bt1,000. He said he had provided metal pliers to one of the thieves who was already arrested.

He claimed that he did not know where the group kept the weapons. He said he escaped to Nakhon Sawan after knowing that some members of the group had been apprehended by the police.

Mr Thaworn said he was quite stressed and feared that he could be killed by the police who were hunting the arms theft suspects.

The court had already approved warrants for the arrest of seven suspects and four have since been arrested.

Meanwhile, the authorities discovered 13 more RPGs in a botanical garden in Saraburi after 16 grenades were found earlier. Now 10 are still missing.

A Royal Thai Army employee and three civilian accomplices have been arrested by the authorities in connection with munitions stolen from the Lopburi Army Base last week.

A military employee working at the base was questioned last Wednesday after investigations and DNA tests linked him to the missing munitions site. He later confessed to authorities that he and friends had broken into the armoury to steal the weaponry. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-09-29

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to be continued

Thailand Live Thursday 30 September 2010

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