Thailand Live Thursday 3 Feb 2011

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Thailand Live Thursday 3 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 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.

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Related topic: Thailand Live Wednesday 2 Feb 2011

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2010 KBank profit up 36% y-o-y

BANGKOK (NNT) -- Kasikorn Bank (KBank) has concluded its net profit for 2010 at over 20 billion THB, a 36.07% rise year-on-year thanks to its business potential enhancement and long-term income creation strategies.

The net profit of the bank in the last quarter of last year was at 5.282 billion THB, a reduction of 4.24% compared with 5.516 billion THB in the previous quarter, due to the normally rising expenses. Earning per share for the last quarter was 2.21 THB, reducing from 2.30 THB in the third quarter.

The net profit of the bank for 2010 was therefore recorded at 20.047 billion THB, an increase of 36.07% from the 2009 net profit of 14.733 billion THB.

Earning per share for last year was 8.38 THB, rising from 6.16 THB in 2009.

As of 31 December 2010, the bank had about 1.551 trillion THB worth of assets in total, increasing 13.5% year-on-year or 184.535 billion THB. Loans accounted for most of the rising assets.

Total credits for 2010 were recorded at about 1.079 trillion THB, up 14.43% year-on-year or 136.135 trillion THB. Non performing loan (NPL) gross was at 2.91%, an improvement from the figure of 3.76% in 2009.

-- NNT 2011-02-03

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Former deputy BoT chief named candidate for top post of CMIM

BANGKOK: --Former Bank of Thailand (BoT) Deputy Governor Bandid Nijathaworn has been named as a candidate for secretary-general of the regional

reserve fund known as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multi-lateralization (CMIM), according to Deputy Government Spokesman Vachara Kannikar.

He said the Cabinet on Tuesday acknowledged progress made in the establishment of the CMIM, which was created by the ASEAN+3 countries following the Asian financial crisis, as an alternative to relying on the International Monetary Fund.

The fund was set up to accommodate the members’ need to seek loans for use in case of emergency. Its office will be located in Singapore.

Mr Vachira said Thailand had nominated Mr Bandit as its candidate for the fund’s top post. Rival candidates are from Japan and South Korea. The selection and appointment would conclude in April. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-02-03

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PAD Gives 3-Day Ultimatum To Govt To Bring Back 2 Thais

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PAD WARNS GOVT

Get Veera, Ratree out of jail in 3 days or we stage massive rally

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Pheu Thai set to target Abhisit

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Gas-supply stoppages from Gulf of Thailand could mean higher power price

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More cooking palm oil hits Thai markets

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THAI TALK

Despite the talk, a red-yellow alliance is not on the cards

By Suthichai Yoon

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EDITORIAL

A chance to some good for the public interest; Thai telecom

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State agencies sued for encroaching onto wetland

By The Nation

A leading activist lodged lawsuits against four state agencies at the Central Administra-tive Court yesterday for allegedly encroaching on the Beung Kalo Wetland in Uttaradit's Muang district.

Srisuwan Janya, president of the Stop Global Warming Association, said he and 70 fellow plaintiffs wanted the state agencies to stop using the 7,500-rai Beung Kalo Wetland.

The move, undertaken on World Wetlands Day, came as the head of the government's Biological Diversity Division admitted its bid to conserve biodiversity had failed as many amphibians were still at risk of extinction.

Srisuwan said some 24 state agencies were looking at using parts of Beung Kalo Wetland, including Uttaradit Rajabhat University, which had asked for a 2,000-rai block to build a campus, and Boromarajonani College of Nursing Uttaradit branch, which had sought to use some 250-rai.

Parts of the wetland were now filled with soil to make way for construction projects, he said, disregarding that Beung Kalo was a wetland set aside for conservation with a Cabinet resolution on November 3, 2009 prohibiting state agencies from encroaching on or using wetlands nationwide.

Srisuwan and fellow plaintiffs were thus spurred to sued four state agencies including the Uttaradit Provincial Land Reform Office and the Secretary of Land Reform Committee for not obeying the Cabinet resolution.

Meanwhile, Sirikul Bunpapong, director of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning's Biological Diversity Division, told a seminar yesterday that the agency's goal to significantly cut biodiversity loss last year could not be achieved.

Many indicators like species rated as close to extinction, such as amphibians, plus wetlands, freshwater ecosystems, muddy beaches, coral reefs and sea grass sources were under threat, and severely deteriorated at present.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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Hunt for court official 'should be stepped up'

By THE NATION

A Constitution Court judge yesterday urged the police to expedite their hunt for dismissed court official Pasit Sakdanarong, who is wanted in connection with a YouTube video scandal involving the top court's judges.

Jaran Pakdithanakul, one of the Constitution Court's nine judges, said the court wanted the police to locate Pasit, former secretary to the court's president, as soon as possible so he could be arrested and face legal action.

"The police already have a court warrant [for Pasit's arrest] so they should find him so that the case will be able to progress. If not, public attention towards the case will gradually decline and the facts behind it will remain unknown. And finally, the case's statute of limitation will expire," Jaran said.

The judge said police questioning and a court trial would reveal who was behind Pasit's actions in regard to the video controversy.

"Not only the Constitution Court but the general public also want to know about that," he said.

In November, the Criminal Court granted police a warrant to arrest Pasit in connection with the distribution of controversial videos posted on YouTube video-sharing website. One of the videos showed Pasit and an MP from the Democrat Party talking about the dissolution cases against the ruling party. Other recordings showed Court judges discussing about the cases in their office.

Opposition politicians later claimed the videos were "proof" that the court would be biased towards the ruling party. The Democrats were later acquitted in the two cases on the grounds of a technicality.

A court investigation later concluded that Pasit appeared to be responsible for recording the videos and he was suspected of knowing about their distribution online.

Immigration Bureau records indicate Pasit left Thailand in October last year and had not returned since.

Jaran's remark followed a report that Pasit was spotted at Siriraj Hospital early last month and the distribution of his security-camera images on the Internet.

Sanit Jon-anand, an adviser to the Constitution Court, who headed the fact-finding team investigating Pasit, said yesterday it was possible Pasit had sneaked back in through the country's porous borders. However, he said a close examination of the security-camera images found that the man caught on camera was just someone who looked like Pasit.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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Sanan not to vote for 375+125 MP formula

By PIYANART SRIVALO

THE NATION

Chart Thai Pattana Party chief adviser Sanan Kachornprasart insisted he would not vote for the charter amendment changing the MP voting system to the 375+125 formula.

Sanan said he had voted for the formula of 400 constituency plus 100 party-list MPs in the second reading and he would not change his mind.

However, he rebutted reports that he might leave the party unless the 400+100 formula gets backing.

He said he would continue to stay with the party in the next election. But as to whether he would join hands with other Phichit MPs like Pradit Pataraprasit - key Ruam Chart Pattana Party member - and form a new party, Sanan said it would be good if all Phichit MPs came from the same party, but "it is a matter of the future".

Sanan said that after the third reading of the charter change, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva can dissolve the House if he wants. He does not need to wait until the mid-year budget is passed as a parliamentary committee can carry on the work.

Regarding reports that the opposition Pheu Thai Party would nominate him as a substitute prime minister in the censure debate, Sanan said he was thankful that his name had cropped up in the news, but no one had contacted him about the issue. However, he believed it would not cause distrust among coalition parties and his party leader's chief adviser Banharn Silapa-archa would understand that it was rumour. Moreover, Pheu Thai had already agreed to nominate Mingkwan Sangsuwan for the post.

During the previous voting, Sanan, his son and Peeradej Siriwansant were the party's MPs who voted against the 375+125 formula. Four other MPs of the party abstained.

A Chart Thai Pattana source, who asked not to be named, said the party's MPs who abstained last time had promised Banharn they would vote for the change this time.

The third and final reading of the charter change is scheduled for February 11. Approval of the change needs at least 313 votes, which is over a half of the total of 625 MPs and senators in Parliament.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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Flu alert in Thailand after two people died and 470 others fell ill

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More private Thai hospitals opt out of health scheme system

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Manhunt on for Chinese murder suspect

By The Nation

Police are waiting to obtain an arrest warrant for a Chinese restaurateur accused of shooting dead a close friend in what was reported to be a brawl at the suspect's eatery in Bangkok's Din Daeng district in the early hours of Sunday.

Sutthisarn police said yesterday that all airports and border checkpoints had been notified about the murder and told to arrest Zhang Min, 49, even though the court had not issued an arrest warrant as of press time last night. If the suspect has fled Thailand, help would be sought from the Chinese embassy to bring him back for investigation, the officers added.

After Huang Wang Bin's Thai wife informed the police that her husband had been missing since she dropped him off at the Tu Ei Choo restaurant off Soi 20 Mithuna early on Sunday, police searched the premises and found the victim's body with a lone bullet wound to his head.

In security camera footage, an obviously drunk Zhang was seen entering the restaurant at 1.06am with his wife Thian Jing, and the victim was seen entering a few minutes later. Members of the staff were then seen running out of the premises in panic, followed by Zhang and Thian. The couple reappeared at around 2am, and left a few minutes later with their luggage. They have not been seen since.

The victim's uncle, Wang Hai, said Huang worked as an agent obtaining visas for tourists travelling to China. He said he got to know the suspect when he opened a restaurant behind the embassy. Wang also quoted Huang as saying that Zhang had a terrible temper and had fled to Thailand to escape murders he had committed in China.

The victim's wife, identified merely as Nual, said Huang and she had a six-year-old daughter and her husband was in the process of buying a house in Thailand.

Though initial reports said Huang was an embassy official, it was later confirmed that he worked as a visa agent.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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BOI, NHC aim to cut ill effects of Thai Govt's medical hub policy

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Censure debate may set back early Thailand poll

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Distrust of neighbours deeply rooted in Thais

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Evacuation plane heads for Cairo

By The Nation

The Foreign Ministry will send a plane this afternoon to pick up the second batch of Thais waiting to escape riots in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

Meanwhile, the Thais brought home yesterday revealed that the embassy convoy bringing food to them at Cairo Airport were robbed.

The Foreign Ministry's Department of Information chief Thani Thongphakdi said yesterday that many more Thai citizens, mostly workers and students, were waiting to return home and the government was sending a 300-seater plane to pick them up. The elderly, women and children would be given first priority, he added.

The plane will leave Suvarnabhumi Airport today at noon and arrive in Cairo at 5.30pm, before taking off two hours later and arriving in Bangkok tomorrow at 8.50am, he said. The plan will also carry dried food and drinking water because there was a severe shortage of essentials in Egypt, he said. In addition, two of three doctors who had travelled in the first plane will remain to take care of Thais stranded in the country. The Thai Embassy in Cairo has also warned Thai students to strictly observe the curfew hours and not go to protest sites, he said. Those who want to be evacuated can contact the embassy at (201) 986 72122 and (201) 986 72207.

Meanwhile, 68 Thai nationals landed in Suvarnabhumi Airport early yesterday and were welcomed warmly by their friends and family.

Chuchote Chotayakrit said he was happy to finally get home after being stranded at Cairo Airport for three days. He said that initially he was provided with food by airline staff and later by Thai embassy officials. He confirmed that embassy officials were robbed of food on their way to the airport.

Suwannee Praditwanit, who was in Egypt for a visit, said she had already confirmed her plane ticket but the flight kept getting postponed. "I thought I wouldn't be able to get home. I've never experienced anything like this before."

Meanwhile, Yala-native Beuraheng Leumae, 44, was overjoyed to see his 18-year-old son Hamad Saifu, who has been studying Arabic in Egypt since he was 13 and flies home for a visit every two years. He said his son had bought a ticket to return home, but couldn't leave Cairo due to the unrest. Hamad was stranded at the airport for three days, but he and his fellow travellers did not go hungry thanks to the embassy staff, he said.

The Labour Ministry confirmed yesterday that Thai workers in Egypt were safe and that the ministry had already suspended the process of granting permits for Thais to work in Egypt or transit through the country.

Deputy chief of the Department of Employment Sumet Mahosod said two groups of Thai workers were affected - the 630 Thais who work in health spas and industries, and the 16 people who were on their way to Libya via Cairo. The 16 workers have safely made it to their destination.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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Peering into the galaxy through water pipes

By The Nation

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) has launched a project teaching youngsters and teachers to make telescopes out of plastic water pipes in a move to arouse interest in astronomy.

The three-year project, launched in cooperation with a firm producing PVC water pipes, is open to students and teachers from 84 selected schools as well as officials from 15 private and state scientific institutes. The aim is to produce 99 telescopes with lenses between 200 and 300 millimetre in diameter.

The project is also part of the celebrations marking His Majesty's seventh cycle birthday this year.

The water-pipe telescopes, reportedly capable of zooming as far at other galaxies, will be used in astronomy classes. Project manager Sawas Tantiphanwadee said applicants would also be taught how to maintain and repair their devices.

NSTDA is also welcoming Thai students to take part in a space-exploration project in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Successful applicants will be able to submit their research to be experimented on in low-gravity environments. The subjects to be tried out in this fifth Thailand Zero-Gravity Experiment Contest would be medicine, new materials and genetic engineering.

Details and applications can be downloaded from www.nstda.or.th/jaxa-thailand. The website is in the Thai language.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

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Police arrest Karun Sai-ngarm at Suvarnabhumi on arrest warrant from airport closure case upon return from visiting Veera /TAN_Network

Pattani: vehicles, phone booth torched at 7 spots; tea shop attacked in Panare, killing 4, injuring 4 /TAN_Network

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Presumed insurgents spray bullets killing four Pattani villagers; burn telephone booths and tyres at five locations in provincial seat /MCOT

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Travel tip: Chinese New Year Festival 2011, Feb 3-4 2011 from Noon till Midnight at Bangkok's Yaowarat Road. Travel with MRT (subway) to Hualampong station

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Japanese investors still eye Thailand as top investment destination

BANGKOK, Feb 3 – Japanese investors continued seeing Thailand as the top investment destination in the region, according to Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat.

He said the ongoing political rallies are unlikely to undermine foreign investor confidence in the overall economy, but it could impact new investors, who do not yet understand the situation in Thailand.

The minister said the Japanese investors continued considering Thailand as the top destination to which they want to shift their investment base.

He predicted that the number of Japanese investors will be on the rise, mainly SMEs investing in major industries and those in non-autmotive sector industries.

Mr Chaiwuti said new investment projects set to take place in Thailand are mainly environmentally friendly schemes such as clean energy production and bio-technology.

Thailand has been recognised as the investment hub in the region, so he is confident that the value of projects seeking investment promotions this year would be higher than Bt400 billion, the minister said. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-02-03

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BMTA changes bus routes to avoid Yaowarat

BANGKOK, 3 February 2011 (NNT) – The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) buses have diverted services in order to avoid traffic closure at China Town in Bangkok during the 2011 Chinese New Year celebration from 1 to 5 February 2011.

According to BMTA Director Opart Petchmunee, services to be affected are numbers 1, 4, 7, 21, 25, 53 and 73. They usually run through Yaowarat Road, where the 2011 Chinese New Year celebrations are taking place.

The road has been temporarily closed from at 00.01 hrs on 2 February to 08.00 hrs on 5 February. The traffic closure starts from Odeon Circle to Chalerm Buri Intersection.

Mr Opart noted that the route change is aimed at facilitating people joining the celebration of Chinese descendants residing in Thailand.

More details could be reached at the BMTA call center by dialing 184 from 06.00 to 22.00 hrs daily or by short messages (SMS) via 4264998 around the clock.

-- NNT 2011-02-03

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Thai stock index opens on Thursday at 977.43, down 0.41 points /MCOT

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Faster Work Seen in New Subway Line

The Transport Ministry is satisfied with the progress in the construction of the Purple Line underground train system.

The project is expected to become operational a few months earlier than planned.

Transport Ministry Permanent Secretary Supoj Saplom said the Purple Line MRT construction progress is around 18-19 percent completed, which is about a percent more than anticipated.

Supoj said that the construction is expected to progress at a faster pace.

He added that the procurement of the land that the train system will run through is also 98 percent completed, only with the compensation process still under negotiation.

As a result, the Transport Ministry believes that the Purple Line train system will be operational in December 2014 instead of early 2015.

In another development, Supoj said that the construction of a new 2.4 billion baht road link between the Bang Plee-Suksawat Expressway and the Industrial Ring Road, which began in August 2009, is about 80 percent completed.

He is confident that the completion of this project will help facilitate road traffic in southern Bangkok and ease congestion in nearby areas.

-- Tan Network 2011-02-03

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AFP: Five killed in Thai south shooting spree

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