Thailand Live Saturday 2 Oct 2010

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Phuket IT update: Tech Talk schedule for October

Software Park Phuket is located on Chao Fa West Road

northbound in Wichit. File photo.

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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 marches on

Devotees from Samkong Shrine take to the streets for a

Vegetarian Festival procession to Saphan Hin. 2008 file photo.

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A 107-yr old, almost blind man has been found abandoned in a ramshackle deep in a Chumphon province forest - thairath. /via @tulsathit

The man, now visited by welfare officials, has relied on donated dried foods from a temple&starved on several occasions. /via @tulsathit

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PM meeting police chief after explosion at Pratunam bank

BANGKOK, Oct 2 -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is scheduled to meet urgently with national police chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree later Saturday following a bomb explosion at a commercial bank in the Pratunam area of Bangkok.

Mr Abhisit is expected to ask Gen Wichean to beef up security measures and for the police to set up more checkpoints in the capital after an unidentified bomber threw two Russian-made hand grenades at a Krung Thai Bank branch near Pratunam intersection.

The incident occurred at about 1am Saturday morning when two grenades fell on the verandah of the bank building. One exploded while the other was a dud.

No casualties were reported as police initially believed the incident stemmed from a personal conflict as the area is frequently used by teenagers as a meeting place.

Police said they plan to invite witnesses for questioning which could lead to an arrest of the bomber, while they also plan to examine surveillance cameras installed in the area which might give them some clues.

Mr Abhisit said during the weekly Cabinet meeting next Tuesday it was expected the emergency decree now enforced in Bangkok and three neighbouring provinces would be extended.

The premier on Friday lifted the state of emergency in three more northeastern provinces -- Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Nakhon Ratchasima.

The Cabinet on Tuesday is expected to approve the appointment of Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan to succeed Deputy Prime Minsiter Suthep Thaugsuban as director of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) as Mr Suthep plans to resign his post by Friday to run in the Surat Thani Constituency 1 by-election.

The by-election will be held on October 30 to choose a replacement for former Democrat MP Chumphon Kanchana who faced a five-year ban from politics for submitting a false assets statement.

Mr Abhisit is scheduled to leave Sunday for Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Belgium. Mr Suthep has been assigned to chair the Cabinet meeting and to act on behalf of the prime minister. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-10-02

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Police say grenade-incident due to personal conflict; Explosive not used by Thai military

BANGKOK, Oct 2 -- Police, noting that the Russian-design RDG-5 grenades not used by the Thai military, said that Saturday’s midnight bombing in Pratunam stems from a personal conflict, probably among teenagers.

Police and bomb disposal experts rushed to the verandah of the shophouse building near Pratunam intersection. The ground floor is a restaurant.

The verandah was slightly damaged after one grenade exploded in mid-air while the other, found on the verandah of the Krung Thai Bank, had its pin removed but failed to explode.

Bomb disposal experts later destroyed the dud bomb at the scene of the incident.

Acting Bangkok police chief Pol Maj Gen Chakthip Chaijinda told journalists that senior police officers met urgently after the incident and agreed that about two youths were involved and it had arisen from a personal conflict.

The bombers must have climbed to the verandah of a nearby building to throw them, Gen Chaktip said, but they missed and fell on a roof instead.

The bombs were of the RDG-5 type manufactured in Russia which are not imported or used by the Thai military, he said.

Gen Chakthip said police were investigating how the explosive was brought into Thailand. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-10-02

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Chiang Rai province designates Doi Mae Salong as disaster area after landslide; local residents evacuated /MCOT

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Bomb hidden in motorcycle explodes at Yala's Raman railway station, wounding 4 police, local residents /MCOT

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Half of eligible voters expected to cast ballots in Surat Thani by-election

SURAT THANI, Oct 2 -- About half of the total eligible voters are expected to participate during a by-election in the southern province of Surat Thani’s Constituency 1 on October 30, a senior official said Saturday.

Provincial election director Thongchai Wattanapisit said he expected that only 50 per cent of the 354,782 eligible voters in the constituency would exercise their voting rights in the election.

The projected poor turnout is based on the people being weary of local politics, Mr Thongchai said.

Also, the current rainy season might keep some eligible voters at home, the Election Commission (EC) said earlier.

Applicants wishing to contest the by-election are required to submit applications between October 4 to 8, he said. Advance balloting will take place on October 16 and 17.

There will be 646 polling booths in the constituency and the EC has set aside Bt16 million for the event.

The by-election is being held to choose a replacement for former Democrat MP Chumphon Kanchana who faced a five-year ban from politics for submitting a false assets statement.

The executive committee of the ruling Democrat Party decided on Tuesday to field party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban the by-election. He planned to resign his deputy prime minister post by next Friday to run in the by-election.

Mr Suthep left his parliamentary seat in July last year following an Election Commission ruling that he and 12 other Democrat MPs violated the Constitution by holding shares in companies involved with the mass media or state contracts. The court later dismissed the case against Mr Suthep following his resignation.

Meanwhile, Opposition Puea Thai Party will field Worawut Wichaidit as ibreathtaking newsts candidate. Mr Worawut is a leading member of anti-government 'Red Shirt' United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-10-02

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Man arrested after threatening behavior with a Long Knife in South Pattaya

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German Resident of Pattaya arrested by Region 2 Police

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[Maestro]

to be continued

Thailand Live Sunday 3 October 2010

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