Thailand Live Tuesday 1 Feb 2011

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Thailand Live Tuesday 1 February 2011

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 sothat 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 Monday 31 Jan 2011

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Govt Plays Down Stock Plunge

The finance minister is not worried about continued losses on the Thai stock market, saying the fall remains in line with other regional markets.

He also affirms that local economic fundamentals remain strong enough to weather external factors.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said that the Stock Exchange of Thailand continued to fall sharply due to worries over the global oil situation, induced by ongoing protests in Tunisia and Egypt.

Korn insisted that the SET’s losses are in line with the trend seen in other Asian markets.

He is confident Thailand should remain immune to negative effects from external factors due to its high international reserve, falling public debt and the vigilant eyes of the Bank of Thailand.

The central bank is prepared to employ necessary monetary and fiscal policies to tackle any undesirable circumstance.

The finance minister went on to say that he will discuss with the prime minister around the end of February to find more measures to address the higher oil price.

In terms of inflationary risks, Korn admitted that such issues are still a threat to the Thai economic growth.

He stated that the central bank also has limited choices of tools to control inflation as some of them may lead to higher prices, if used in the extreme.

The minister is suggesting that the Commerce Ministry play a more active role in helping control product prices and to clamp down on goods hoarding.

-- Tan Network 2011-02-01

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CDD proposes an OTOP exhibition at Suvarnabhumi Airport

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Community Development Department (CDD) has proposed to the Interior Ministry to organize an OTOP exhibition at Suvarnabhumi International Airport to stimulate the sales of local products.

Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul paid a visit to the CDD headquarters to hand down policies on the protection of national institutions, the application of His Majesty the King’s royally-initiated projects and the Sufficiency Economy philosophy to the department’s operations, and the promotion of OTOP products.

The latter task has been deemed successful, thanks to the CDD’s cooperation with residents of local communities. The sales of OTOP products have been rising steadily every year with more diversity and higher quality, gaining much acceptance from the global community.

During the Minister’s visit, CDD Director General Surachai Kanasa presented an idea to coordinate with the Airports of Thailand (AOT) on opening an exhibition specifically for OTOP products at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in order to give them international exposure. Even though the event would not aim to sell the products, it would serve as an advertisement, given each product would carry the contact information of the manufacturer, such as address, phone number and website.

The CDD’s proposal, pending consideration by the Interior Ministry, is expected to help expand the customer base of Thai products around the globe.

-- NNT 2011-02-01

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Special Report: Sequel in Preah Vihear Saga

The relationship between Thailand and Cambodia has been in hot water for the past several years. After Cambodia’s unilateral management plan to register the Preah Vihear Temple and its environs as the world heritage site last year, the recent arrest of seven Thai border crossers has re-ignited the sensitivity of other related border disputes. While these issues are believed to have been used as political ploys in the current street protests in Bangkok, academics suggest that they can be solved through diplomatic channels.

According to Dr Charnvit Kasetsiri, a senior adviser and lecturer at the Southeast Asian Studies Program of Thammasat University, there are 911 world heritage sites worldwide, and 30 of them are in seven countries within the ASEAN region. He said it is a sad story that Preah Vihear Temple has become an issue of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia although it should have drawn cooperation.

Dr Charnvit elaborated that both Thailand and Cambodia could choose how they would like to end the prevailing spats. As for short term solutions, he quipped that they might use bilateral negotiation, the International Court of Justice, or warfare to decide who should own the ruin; nevertheless, the senior academic said it might be better for both countries to solve the matter on a long-term basis by together developing and getting benefits from the area beyond the border.

Meanwhile, Mr Akarapong Khamkoon, an academic from Pridi Banomyong International College of Thammasat University said it was misunderstood that the entry to Preah Vihear Temple could be made only from Thailand. He explained that at present Cambodia has an access to the ruin from the Northwest, and the road is well constructed.

Since the Preah Vihear issue and other border spats have been used for internal political manoeuver in the pretext of patriotism, the sequel to the saga still goes on in the soap opera while both domestic and global audiences are bored with the apparently never-ending rows. Mutual understanding remains critical for Thailand and Cambodia and everyone, not just academics, wants the two countries to live in harmony and prosper together as good neighbors.

-- NNT 2011-02-01

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Cambodia Threatens To Open Fire On Thailand

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Thaksin's Lawyer Robert Amsterdam Brings Crackdown On Reds To International Criminal Court

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Jet Ski Scammers Emboldened

Using new tactics to avoid police involvement

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AFP: US jails Canadian 25 years for Thai child sex ring

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Thailand takes stand on pagoda

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Lawyer files case with ICC over red shirts

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Teacher arrested for planting bomb in Pattani

By The Nation

Police have arrested a teacher from an Islamic boarding school suspected of planting a bomb in Pattani last week that wounded a monk and five soldiers escorting him.

Wae Saudi Wasukaloh, 26, was seen in footage from security cameras at the scene parking a motorcycle that carried a home-made bomb before it went off, blasting the monk and the soldiers, police said.

He implicated an accomplice he named as Ameen Daleng, saying Ameen gave him a ride to the scene and then handed the motorcycle over to him.

Police said Wae Saudi was a teacher at a religious school in Si Deh village in Yarang district's tambon Sadawa. He is allegedly the head of a 10-strong team of operatives. Police also seized items of clothing at his home during a raid this past weekend. He was seen wearing the clothing in the security-camera footage.

Wae Saudi has been charged with attempted murder of state officials on duty and an arrest warrant is being sought for Ameen, who was earlier wanted for his alleged part in an ambush of security officials in mid-2010.

Speaking at a press conference with permission from security officials, Wae Saudi said he felt remorse over his act, and called on insurgents to lay down their arms and turn themselves in.

Unlike many previous insurgent bomb and gunfire attacks, the preparation of this bomb attack was caught on camera, with the footage allegedly identifying Wae Saudi and leading to his arrest.

The Southern Border Province Administrative Centre has begun a new project to install another 3,500 security cameras in high-risk areas in five southern provinces - Satun, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani - where insurgent attacks are regular events.

The centre's acting director Phanu Uthairat admitted that only about half of the first 2,000 cameras were in use. He blamed legal loopholes with contractors as the reason for poor management of their operations and bad maintenance.

The new cameras will be installed in areas with greatest risk, where frequent attacks have occurred before. Local operation centres for the cameras will be at police stations.

Meanwhile, Yala General Hospital has opened an ostomy clinic and is offering special treatment for bedsore wounds affecting patients who are paralysed or confined to beds for lengthy periods after injury from insurgent attacks. A 24-hour consultancy service for patients undergoing ostomy procedures has also been launched.

The ostomy clinic is open Monday to Wednesday from 8.30am to 4.30pm at Yala General Hospital's outpatient department.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Stranded Thais anxious to get out

By The Nation

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Decision likely today on claims against Thailand's three mobile-phone operators

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Plans for Bangkok vendors, motorcycle taxi-drivers

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BURNING ISSUE

Thai military coup remark stems from reds' doubts

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Plans begin for revered monk's cremation

By Seksanti Kallayanawisut

The Nation

UDON THANI

Devoted Buddhists from across the country continued to mourn yesterday and pay respect to the late highly revered monk, Luangta Maha Bua Yanasam-panno, at Wat Pa Ban Tad in Udon Thani's Muang district.

A temporary crematorium will be set up in front of the temple for the royally sponsored cremation ceremony, which could be held on either March 5 or March 12.

Luangta Bua passed away at 3.53am on Sunday at the age of 97 after suffering from an intestinal and lung infection for more than six months before agreeing to seek treatment at a hospital.

The monk's body was placed in a refrigerated coffin behind a mortuary urn and groups of visitors were allowed to visit for three minutes per time.

Luang Phor Inthawai Santusatko, a member of the nine-strong committee that will fulfil the monk's wills, said that to get all donations made at the funeral to the Bank of Thailand (BOT), people should give at the sole donation-taking spot on the temple hall's second floor.

The monk's three wills have the same message that all gold ornaments and bars and other donated assets in his custody be handed to the central bank as part of the national reserves.

Luang Phor Inthawai led a team of monks yesterday at the first meeting about the cremation ceremony with Dr Paisal Lomthong, a representative of the Royal Household Bureau and Udon Thani governor Khomsan Ekachai. They then inspected the area in front of the main hall for the crematorium. The meetings will be held every two days.

Luang Phor Inthawai said the temporary crematorium design would be "classic" and simple. "It'll be a large and tall hill-shaped structure with a large umbrella on top," he said adding that the budget to build it would come from money raised by the monk's students and close disciples - not from public donations.

Nakhon Udon Thani Municipality official Samreung Lamrit said the temporary crematorium to be built shortly would be a three-layered hill-shaped structure. Each layer would be a metre-high, and it would have a 40-metre-wide base, a nine-metre-wide flat top and a large corona-shaped umbrella.

Luangta Maha Bua is best known for collecting 967 gold bars weighing more than 12 tonnes and over US$10 million in cash donations in a public campaign to restore the country's national reserves after the Asian economic meltdown in 1997. The gold and money was given as reserves to the BOT between April 1998 and January last year.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Thai govt's medical hub policy 'should benefit public'

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Pathum Thani residents call on DSI for help

By The Nation

The small community living behind the Makro Rangsit department store in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district yesterday called on Tharit Pendit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, for help because they are reportedly being evicted from the land they've been living on for more than two decades.

Resident Sorasak Chukhuan, who led 30 fellow residents to meet Tharit, said a representative from Panali Co called on them last month with documents showing that the 94 rai and 1,304 square metres of land belonged to someone else. The group also alleged that they were threatened.

Sorasak said land they were living on was actually 168 rai, and doubting the authenticity of the document, has called on the Legal Execution Department to look into it.

Meanwhile, Tharit has promised to send officials to look into the matter in the next couple of days, adding that DSI could take action on the issue because it fell under its jurisdiction.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Amendments need backing from 314 MPs

By THE NATION

Legislators can only vote whether to accept or reject the 375+125 MPs formula in the final meeting on the charter amendment, chief government whip Witthaya Kaewparadai said yesterday.

Unless at least 314 MPs and senators agree to change the number of the constituency and party-list MPs to 375 and 125 respectively, the charter draft will be dropped, he said. He added that if the change in law is passed, organic laws will need to be drafted. But the Election Commission can issue regulations and arrange for an election in case of a snap poll.

"There is no other formula - neither 400+100, 300+150 nor 400+125 formula," he said.

The law requires votes of over half of the total legislators to pass the law in the third reading.

He said that in the meeting scheduled on February 11, MPs and senators will vote openly in the alphabetical roll call.

Witthaya denied reports of vote lobbying. He said the legislators are independent. Ratchaburi MP Preechaya Khamcharoen, for example, did not support the draft although she is a Democrat.

Appointed Senator Prasarn Marukpitak in the Senate meeting yesterday raised reports that 20 senators will allegedly be paid Bt10 million to vote in support of the Constitution change in the third reading.

"At first I didn't believe it. But after thinking again, paying Bt500,000 to each and Bt10 million in total is possible as it is so little compared to political interests," he said.

"This can hurt the reputation of the Senate. So I hope it will be investigated and revealed who the 20 senators are and who changed their votes," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Culture Ministry seeks 50 per cent budget increase

By The Nation

The Culture Ministry is planning to seek a budget of about Bt10 billion for its operations in fiscal year 2012, an increase of about 50 per cent when compared with this year's figure. The Budget Bureau has allocated a little over Bt5 billion to the Culture Ministry for fiscal year 2011.

Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat yesterday said his ministry planned to continue with projects to turn the Thailand Cultural Centre into an international venue

for cultural events, to

support the film industry and to encourage people to go to temples every Sunday.

"We will also launch new projects, such as the Asean Arts and Culture Festival, International Music in honour of HM the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and an image boost for museums across the country," Nipit said.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Cabinet to decide on 'smart' ID cards

By The Nation

The Cabinet will today make a decision on "smart" national identification cards. Late last year, the Cabinet resolved that a ministerial regulation should be issued to make millions of smart cards usable and avoid paying huge amounts in compensation to private companies contracted to provide these cards.

A legal amendment is also needed now that the Interior Ministry has discovered that the cards issued so far fail to match the original specifications. The Council of State has already looked into the draft regulation, a source revealed yesterday.

"However, the council has formed an opinion that is different from what was recommended by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry. Therefore, the Cabinet will have to look into the matter and decide itself," the source added.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Pheu Thai man sues judges

By THE NATION

Opposition Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit filed a counter-lawsuit yesterday against three judges from the Constitution Court who sued him last November in connection with contentious videos posted on YouTube.

In his petition filed with the Criminal Court, Prompong accused judges Charoon Inthajarn, Suphot Khaimuk, and Chalermpon Ake-uru of libel and having filed false information with the court.

Prompong's lawsuit said that in their petition filed with the Criminal Court on November 23, the three judges accused him of being involved in the distribution of videos on YouTube video-sharing website that attacked the Constitution Court in general and the judges in particular.

"The plaintiff in fact has nothing to do with the group of people involved in the distribution of those videos," Prompong's lawsuit said.

The suit said an internal investigation by the court was suspended after the panel's head resigned, so no culprits had been determined.

Prompong said his reputation was badly damaged by the three judges' petition accusing him of spreading content in the videos as part of an attempt to threaten and blackmail the Court. The opposition politician called many press conferences to mention the videos and their content. At the time the videos were distributed on the Internet, the Constitution Court was about to read verdicts on two dissolution cases against the ruling Democrat Party. Both cases were rejected on a technicality.

The plaintiff requested a hearing of 30 witnesses and submitted 400 pages of document that are transcripts of the videos. An initial hearing of the case was scheduled for May 21.

-- The Nation 2011-02-01

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Ministry statement

The Foreign Ministry's statement concerning the Cambodian flag over Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda:

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Veera brought to Cambodian court for what is expected to be verdict reading, in good spirits, said will fight case til the end /TAN_Network

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TREASURY VIEW

How the tide turned for the baht in just one short month

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'James Bond Theme' composer John Barry dies at age 77

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EGYPT'S UPRISING

A chartered flight arrives in Cairo to evacuate Thais : FM

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87 Thai nationals stranded at Cairo airport leave Egypt by chartered plane and arrive safely in Jordan; expected to return to Bangkok at 2.45am Wednesday /MCOT

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 972.38, up 8.28 points /MCOT