Thailand Live Monday 28 Feb 2011

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Thailand Live Monday 28 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 Saturday 26 Feb 2011

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PM: Labour Ministry has measures to support Thai workers evacuating from Libya

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that Thai workers will be evacuated from violence-plagued Libya back home by both air and sea, and that the Labour Ministry will assist evacuees in finding new jobs and with paying compensation so that they could support themselves and their families.

Mr Abhisit told journalists after the second group of 449 Thai workers arrived home from Libya earlier in the day that evacuations would be conducted both by air and sea for the safety of the workers, and chartered flights would be dispatched to pick them up.

The Labour Ministry has mapped out special measures to support the returnees, which will help find new jobs and pay compensation to the workers, he said.

Asked whether the ministry would have enough budget to pay the evacuated workers, as it would initially pay Bt10,000 to each of them, Mr. Abhisit said the most important thing now is to bring home the Thai workers from that country.

As there are more than 20,000 Thai workers left behind in Libya, some of them may be reluctant to return home for the time being, Mr Abhisit said earlier during his weekly TV and radio address that both the Labour and Foreign Affairs ministries had coordinated with the workers’ employers and job placement services in moving the stranded workers to safe places and they would be evacuated "when the time is right.”

The cabinet is expected to consider allocating a special budget for use on evacuating the workers, he added. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-02-28

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Rescue operations for Thai workers in Libya now rely on cars

BANGKOK (NNT) -- According to the Ministry of Labor, a rescue operation for Thai laborers in Libya has been changed from picking them up by airplanes to by cars.

Labor Ministry spokesperson Mr. Sutham Natheethong said it was impossible to send chartered flights to pick up the remaining 223 Thai labors in Libya as street protests in Tripoli had become aggressive and turned violent. Under the adjusted plan, all the remaining Thai workers will be transported by car to the border of Tunisia, which takes about six hours, where they are to join 2,000 other Thai workers already waiting for help there.

Meanwhile, 800 more Thais have crossed the border into Egypt, where 1,300 other Thais are currently seeking temporary shelter. Reportedly, another 600 Thai workers at Benghazi are having difficulties getting across the sea to Turkey, while the Thai embassy is trying to solve the issue as quickly as possible.

On Monday, a ship will be waiting in Tripoli to pick up the rest of the Thais in Libya, who have been urged to be at the pier at designated time.

United Nations officials have also been dispatched to the Libyan-Tunisian border to assist foreigners trying to leave the violence-torn country.

-- NNT 2011-02-28

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Pol. Lt. Col.Thaksin Claims Reconciliation Cannot Be Achieved Without Him

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Red Shirt Leader Jatuporn Fails To Convince

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AFP: Thai probe says army did not kill Japan cameraman

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Tweeple share their problems on Suvarnabhumi Airport

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PALM OIL

'Maintain mandatory reserve stocks' to prevent palm oil shortages in Thailand

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Pheu Thai To Censure 10 Ministers Including PM

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Exodus of workers from Libya speeds up

By The Nation

5,000 Thais heading to Italy today; thousands more sent to safe places

More than 3,700 Thai workers have fled the civil unrest in Libya and another 5,000 are set to head to Italy today, the Labour Ministry said yesterday.

A further 4,000 workers have been transferred from hostile locations but remain in Libya. All up, a total of 23,600 Thais were working in Libya when the crisis erupted.

Some 449 Thais had returned home on flights by yesterday, Labour Minister Chalermchai Sri-on said.

Another 31 workers were due to arrive in Bangkok at 8.45am today and an unknown number of Thais are on two more flights due to land at Suvarnabhumi at 2pm and 6.30pm this evening.

The first chartered ship will reach Tripoli tomorrow at 3pm local time to pick up 2,000 Thais and transport them to Tunis in Tunisia, and the same boat will transport another 2,000 Thais to Italy. These 4,000 workers will be flown back to Thailand from both countries - on Thai Airways aircraft and chartered passenger jets - together with an unknown number of others already in Greece and Egypt.

Thai consulate officials in Cairo have contacted another 150 Thais taken to Egypt by their employer. They will be flown back when visas and work documents are ready.

The Department of Employment said each worker was eligible for Bt15,000 in relief, as members of a government fund, and would be paid upon their arrival in Thailand. Anyone wishing to resume work with either Thai or foreign employers would get help with communications and contract counselling, deputy DoE director-general Sumet Mahosot said.

Apart from members of the state fund, which has Bt700 million available, payment would only be made to people whose contracts stipulate compensation payment when their work is ended by war or political conflict.

A team of nine DoE staff were flown to Italy today to help with contract negotiations and paperwork last night, in addition to a number of officials from both the Labour and Foreign Ministries already stationed in the region, and a team of Navy medical personnel.

A Thai worker in Libya, Yutthana Wit-upasai, explained the confusion associated with assistance and the evacuation process in two emails sent to The Nation. An evacuation rehearsal was conducted a few days ago to familiarise Thai workers with the actual process.

Yutthana said information over the means of evacuation to Thai workers in his group in Tripoli was [totally] inaccurate.

"I learned from Thai officials based in Malaysia that a ship would be ready for sea evacuation, initially on March 2, then March 1. Next, Thai officials who made a phone call to my friend in Thailand, [said] that instead it was an air evacuation. Now I am not sure if I will ever return home," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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EDITORIAL

Thailand's Deep South could learn much from America's example

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Jail caused health problems: Red Shirt Leader Natthawut

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Legal opinion sought on doctors in baby trade

By The Nation

An arrest warrant is set to be issued for a Taiwanese man allegedly behind an illegal surrogate baby service involving 13 Vietnamese women allegedly held against their will.

Liang Lung Lo is the alleged ring leader, while five other Taiwanese nationals have been arrested and are now in custody. Police are waiting for a legal interpretation on the role of Thai doctors and medical staff to determine their criminal and civil liability, judging from their awareness about criminals being involved in the scheme, as well as the delivery of one baby.

All 13 Vietnamese women, some of whom are pregnant, are now under government care and treatment. They will be repatriated to their country shortly.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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Future uncertain for children in Thai baby scam

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Police coroner to explain today why cameraman was shot by AK47 bullet

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Threats to bomb Hat Yai shopping mall

By The Nation

A large number of road checkpoints has been set up throughout Hat Yai district in Songkhla province in the wake of phoned bomb threats that a major shopping mall would be targeted.

Civilian defence volunteers have also been deployed in large numbers to assist police and soldiers at either checkpoints or by imposing other security measures. Any vehicles parked unattended at government premises were inspected thoroughly.

In Pattani, an construction material vendor was shot dead while driving his pickup truck in Nong Chik district. Police are determining whether the murder was insurgencyrelated.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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Bayer offers prizes for environmental envoys

By The Nation

Eligible high school and university students are now invited to join the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Competition 2011.

This year, the theme of "Climate Change in Thailand" will challenge pupils to send environmental projects under one or two different topics. They are 'Measures that mitigate against the effects of climate change' and 'Alternative energy development'.

Forty students will be selected and appointed Bayer Young Environmental Envoys 2011. The five best envoys will have a chance to join a oneweek educational trip to Germany, including Bayer's headquarters and government agencies, together with counterparts from 18 countries in October.

The five winners will each get an award of Bt15,000 while five runnersup will each receive Bt5,000 in order to carry out the winning projects in their communities.

Interested applicants can download an application form and find more details at www.bayer.co.th or call 02 616 674950. The entry submission will be valid until June 30.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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Learning french fashion design and dressmaking

By Wannapa Khaopa ,

Neena MalisakLemire

The Nation

Courses at Alliance Francaise are also reasonably priced

With a dream of becoming a clothing brand owner in a western country, Panissara Srijamroen has equipped herself with fashion and dressmaking skills and knowledge to ensure she will be eligible for entering a leading university in the UK.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Raffle Design School in Bangkok, the 23yearold graduate doesn't let time go by without selfdevelopment. Instead, the Alliance Francaise (AF) in Bangkok is where she spends her time talking a course to strengthen her skills and knowledge of French haute couture, which was a style she hadn't learnt before.

"France is among the top countries of fashion. So, here, I chose to study what is different from what I have studied at Raffle," she said.

"I want to have my own brand maybe in the UK or France after I graduate with a master's degree in fashion design from the UK."

Alliance Francaise is the only place that provides French style fashion design and dressmaking courses in Thailand for people who want to be selfemployed. They can apply what they learn from courses with their jobs.

Moreover, the courses provide an alternative to working age people, housewives and particularly new graduates so they can try creating their own handiwork. Graduates can also find themselves - get a better idea of what they're skilled at from the courses.

"I hope I will be more fluent and skilful in creating patterns from papers because this skill may be necessary when I study my master's degree in the UK," Panissara said.

Piboon Nasomyon, a student at the fashion design class, will use his acquired knowledge to improve his business. He said: "I have my own business in the clothing industry. I learned a new method of management and how to think creatively. I also gained new knowledge and learnt what I need to improve. I applied these to my products to enhance the quality of my business."

Apart from the unique French style, AF also offers cheaper tuition fees. So, it is not surprising that fashion is the most popular course for Thai students. It is extremely affordable when compared to other design schools.

Alliance Francaise director Claire Keefe said: "We're very much cheaper than most fashion design schools in Bangkok. We have our building so there is no rent for luxurious studios and we want to make fashion design, Frenchstyle accessible to everybody."

She said the Bangkok branch was the only AF outlet in the world to have its own fashion design school, as both France and Thailand are very interested in fashion, as two countries that produce amazing and beautiful textiles and have a wealth of creative designers.

Each fashion design course and sewing haute couture course costs only around Bt5,000Bt6,000.

"All of our teachers have worked in France or have degrees from French fashion institutes, which is actually an opportunity for students to improve the French fashion. What is taught here is Frenchstyle fashion design," Ms Keefe said.

The skill of sewing was taught to students, who also learn how to do really nice sketches plus the basics of dressmaking, like how to cut and how to make patterns.

"We want to produce people who cannot only do a beautiful sketch but also make a beautiful dress by themselves," she said. "All French designers are also very good dressmakers."

Alliance Francaise had exchange agreement so students had gone to work for French fashion houses as well.

Fashion design teacher Duangkaew Srichaiwan said: "We teach sketching the structure of the body, starting from the basics. Then, when students are more confident about it and able to get the right measurement, we can move on to do something more complicated. I emphasise the right measurement because it is a good basic. Doing it well, their clothing designs will be good, too."

Sewing haute couture teacher Peng Saenpinta focuses on teaching his students uptodate clothing fashion and elaborate dressmaking.

"Frenchstyle haute couture uses elaborate measurement. We use centimetre measurement," he said.

Duangkaew has good skills in fine arts, and later went to France for a month to learn French concepts of fashion design and clothes from many institutes.

Peng is Duangkaew's fashion design alumnus. He later graduated with a bachelor's degree in fashion design from France. After graduating, he made elegant dresses for beauty pageants in Europe and India and worked for the world famous brand Chanel.

There are also many more interesting courses taught by French and Thai teachers at Alliance Francaise, such as French language, music, dance, interior design and photography - all for people to keen fulfil their artistic ambitions.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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Donations at top monk's funeral

By The Nation

Cash donations at the funeral of revered monk Luangta Maha Bua has topped Bt200 million while the total weight of gold donated is nearly 40kg.

The money, precisely at Bt200,746,502 as of yesterday, will be used to buy gold bars which will be given to the Bank of Thailand, along with the donated gold - 39kg and 975 grams, after the royallysponsored cremation on March 5.

A large number of mourners massed at the funeral to pay last respects to the highlyrevered monk, who had the ecclesiastical title of Phra Thamma Wisutthi Mongkhol. Construction of the crematorium was 95 per cent completed yesterday.

-- The Nation 2011-02-28

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Top red shirts to run for pheu thai in poll

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Innovational learning at Phoenix school

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Weather bureau: North, Northeast hot and windy; BKK, Central, East, South to see rain /TAN_Network

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700 police removed PAD's tents, freeing up 2 lanes of traffic in front of Education Min; protest area shortened and no violence reported /TAN_Network

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More than 120,000 Gmail users temporarily lose e-mails, other data

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Bangchak to cut diesel price by 50 satang/lr tomorrow; maintains benzene and gasohol prices /TAN_Network

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700 police dismantle half dozen PAD tents to open traffic in two lanes in front of Education Ministy near Makkhawan Bridge, Yellow Shirts main protest site /MCOT

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PAD crowd doesn't look big enough to do much. Chamlong not calling for additional protesters. Guess they're resigned to being hemmed in /via@terryfrd

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Thai stock index opens on Monday at 982.53, down 3.38 points /MCOT

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Thailand's PM Abhisit Clarifies British Nationality

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Red-shirt Group Make Merit for Those Killed in Unrest

The recently released red-shirt leaders attended a merit-making ceremony at Pathumwanaram Temple in Bangkok to commemorate those killed in last year's political unrest.

Yesterday, the leadership of the red-shirt group, consisting of Nattawut Saikuer, Thida Thavornset, Weng Tochirakarn, Kwanchai Praipana and others attended a merit-making ceremony at Pathumwanaram Temple in Bangkok for those who were killed in last year's political unrest.

The red-shirt leaders did not make any public speeches during their first public activity after their release from 9 month detention.

A large number of the red-shirt supporters and the press also turned up at the ceremony amidst tight security provided by police from the Metropolitan Police Bureau Regions 4, 5 and 6.

There were no reports of any incidents at the ceremony and traffic was not blocked as the event ended around noon.

-- Tan Network 2011-02-28