Thailand Live Tuesday 29 Mar 2011

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Thailand Live Tuesday 29 March 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 Monday 28 Mar 2011

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PM Assures Investors of Stability after Poll

The prime minister insists the country's political situation will be more stable after the election.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the annual Thailand Focus 2011 for the promotion of the country's competitiveness, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the election, which is expected to take place around the middle of this year, will improve political stability in the country.

Abhisit said the present subsidy for diesel and cooking gas prices will be kept in place for a period to provide time for consumers to adapt themselves.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij stated the government will not replace the current diesel price subsidy through the state Oil Fund with an excise tax cut.

Korn ensured the cash flow of the state Oil Fund will be kept in the green.

Korn reiterated the government will proceed ahead with its planned 25-percent increase in the minimum wage and the expansion of the number of farmers registered under the income guarantee scheme to help Thais cope with the higher cost of living.

He commented that keeping goods prices low is not the best solution as this will distort market mechanism.

The minister then said Thailand now emphasizes its development in four aspects, namely the education system, basic infrastructure, launch of fairer regulations for Thai and foreign business operators and facilitation for Thai operators to expand thier investment overseas.

Meanwhile, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand ,or SET, Charumporn Chotikasathein, said the combined net profit of listed companies through 2010 grew 30 percent year on year and the volume of stocks traded via the Thai bourse increased by 56 percent while the market value hit its record high at 8.6 trillion baht.

Charumporn said the SET was among the world's five best performing markets last year thanks to surging profits from many sectors.

The Thailand Focus 2011 this year saw the largest number of participants with nearly 200 foreign investors.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-29

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Defense Minister Sees No Problem with Border Meeting

The defense minister believes that the joint border meeting between Thailand and Cambodia will see no problem and ASEAN will not be allowed to join the conference.

Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan stated that there should not be any problem with the General Border Committee, or GBC, meeting between Thailand and Cambodia as the matter rests only with the readiness of the two countries to hold the meeting.

However, Prawit said he felt that Thailand and Cambodia should hold the Joint Boundary Commission, or JBC, meeting first. As for the GBC, the Thai and Cambodian defense ministries will schedule a date for the meeting.

Asked about reports on Cambodian Defense Minister Tia Bun's statement that the JBC meeting could be arranged at the same time as the GBC conference in Indonesia, Prawit said he has not discussed the matter with his Cambodian counterpart.

Prawit went on to say that the Thai-Cambodian border meetings are considered bilateral issues.

If ASEAN wants to be involved in the meetings, representatives from Indonesia, as the ASEAN chair, could only be sent to join the press conference, not the meetings.

In a separate matter, the minister commented on the red-shirt group's planned rally on April 10 to commemorate the first anniversay of the 2010 protest crackdown at the Kok Wua Intersection.

He said the group is able to carry out such a rally but it must be in line with the law.

Prawit added that authorities will be ready to maintain peace and order at the demonstration.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-29

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Commerce Mininstry Not to Extend Price Control

The Commerce Ministry will remove the price ceiling on soybean cooking oil, chemical fertilizers, steel products, and processed milk, as the current price control program expires at the end of this month.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai confirmed that her ministry will not extend the current price control measures when they expire on March 31, as manufacturers have shouldered the cost burden for one and a half years already.

However, she said a price increase will be limited to certain consumer goods, which account for only ten percent of the total 200 items on the price control list.

Porntiva noted that products subject to the price rise include soybean cooking oil, chemical fertilizers, steel products, and processed milk.

She added that the ministry is also considering revising the price of student uniforms, stationery, canned food, instant noodle, soap, and toothpaste, in light of rising costs.

The minister said the Internal Trade Department is working on a plan to regulate prices after the peg is removed.

Internal Trade Department Director-General Watcharee Wimuktayon said the price of processed milk may increase by 50 satang for all package sizes, while that of chemical fertilizers may go up by four to ten percent, depending on the formulas.

She could not tell by how much the prices of steel and soybean cooking oil will rise, as the price increase on such items has yet to be considered by concerned committees.

However, Watcharee said it is unlikely that the price of soybean cooking oil will be increased from 46 baht to 65 baht as requested by some manufacturers.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-29

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Thaksin Has Selected Pheu Thai's PM Candidate: Apiwan

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Radioactive Imported Potatoes Found In Thailand

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Foreign Film Industry Leaders To Explore Filming Locations In Thailand

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Thai Navy defends plan to buy used subs

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Buildings in parts of Thailand at risk of collapse

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THOUSANDS STRANDED ON KOH SAMUI:

Flood situation gets worse in Thailand's mid-South

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After Burma, earthquakes rocked Thailand too

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ANALYSIS

PAD wracked by division as factions, chiefs try to find common path

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Diesel subsidy may stay until July, Thailand's Korn says

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EDITORIAL

Mekong dam builders do not care about ordinary people

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Red shirts to set up Pheu Thai's substitution party

By The Nation

The red shirts in Chiang Mai will next week form a new party intended to replace the Pheu Thai Party in the event that the latter is disbanded following the election.

"The new party is to be named Pheu Tham," Chiang Mai red leader Phetchawat Wattanapongsirikul said yes?terday.

Phetchawat said senior fig?ures in the red-shirt movement asked him to spearhead the new party due to speculation that there would be intervention to deny the Pheu Thai victory.

He said he was campaigning to solicit the support of 5,000 people, an initial requirement to register a party.

He also revealed that he would contest the upcoming poll as a Pheu Thai candidate for a House seat from Chiang Mai.

In a related development, red-shirt leader Kanya Pakaramaneejak, aka DJ Om, reported to Mae Ping police sta?tion to face charges in connec?tion with the raid on the head?quarters of Provincial Police Region 5 last January.

Kanya and Phetchawat are among the suspects thought to have carried out the raid. Phetchawat reported to police last week. The two cited legal wrangling relating to last year's red rally at Ratchaprasong as reason for the delay in answer?ing their summonses.

Following her booking, Kanya was released on Bt100,000 bail.

-- The Nation 2011-03-29

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Funds for nannies for disabled kids

By The Nation

The Cabinet yesterday approved spending Bt221 million from the 2011 fiscal year central budget to hire 14,184 nannies to take care of disabled kids, as proposed by the Education Ministry.

Deputy government spokesman Marut Masayawanich said that the number of nannies needed to care for disable children in Thailand was said to be 15,860 people. But with the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) having previously got a budget to hire 1,676 nannies for this purpose, it was deemed that another 14,184 positions were needed, he said. Cabinet had approved the new hiring in principle on February 15.

Marut said the hiring period would be five months, from May to September, at Bt5,080 a month for each nanny. So that could cost about Bt378.2 million.

-- The Nation 2011-03-29

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Thai Government urges Parliament to break border deadlock

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Thai Cabinet rejects to boost list of crimes to be overseen by DSI

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Clean, tidy vendors to get BMA awards

By The Nation

Encouraged by a pilot project in Saphan Kwai, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday launched a project to reward street vendors who keep their footpath sites in good order.

The idea was to give encouragement to street vendors selling in the city to keep their areas in order and clean, said Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

Deputy Governor Theerachon Manomaipibul said the BMA City Law Enforcement Department, seeing the success of the Saphan Kwai Intersection pilot, want?ed to expand the project to other areas.

They have established district-level committees to select nominees for the awards "gold shield", "silver shield" and "bronze shield" who produce outstanding areas. Vendors will also be eligible for gold, silver and bronze pins. The award-conferring ceremony will be held on September 1, Bangkok City Law Enforcement Day.

-- The Nation 2011-03-29

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Meeting with drug firms to target overpriced medicine

By The Nation

The Comptroller General's Department will soon schedule a meeting with pharmaceutical manufacturers to discuss the problem of grossly overpriced medicine sold to government agencies.

The government has a long-standing policy to reduce the high cost of treatment enjoyed for decades by public officials.

Already Bt25 billion in medical expenses is pending reimbursement this year, compared to Bt62 billion for all of last year, despite the target to cut costs by Bt5 billion this year, Rangsan Sriworrasart, director-general of the department, said yesterday.

Of the Bt62 billion spent last year, 80 per cent was for medicine mainly prescribed by corrupt doctors or without a doctor's knowledge, including unnecessary drugs prescribed by doctors who receive kickbacks from pharma firms.

In some cases detected in inspections conducted with the Health Systems Research Institute, expensive medicine with seals or wrappings still intact were resold by patients at lower prices, through personal connections or even on websites.

A new national drug list with median prices will be completed in a few months.

A new process to ask hospitals with a record of unauthorised prescriptions to immediately return the money spent wrongfully would be put in place to blacklist them.

Another price list will be worked out to standardise various types of medicine at the lowest prices, possibly for use by both the National Health Security Office and the expensive civil service scheme, he added.

-- The Nation 2011-03-29

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More cold weather in Thailand expected

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BURNING ISSUE

Scare tactics dominate Thai election campaign

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International jurists condemn Thai court ruling on Somchai's abduction

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Political divide in Thailand not huge: Poll

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Heavy rain deluges southern provinces, eight districts in Surat Thani experience high water level of 1-3 metres;landslide blocks road in Nakhon Si Thammarat /MCOT

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Nakhon Si Thammarat: landslide blocks road in Ban Saotong district; electric pole fell on vehicle at Mahatat Temple, injuring driver /TAN_Network

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Samui Airport temporarily closed until noon today due to heavy rain; Surat Thani Airport still operating normally /TAN_Network

Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport still closed indefinitely due to flooding; Nok Air cancels flights there until Apr 4 /TAN_Network

Criminal Court to read verdict in case where armed PAD protesters seized a public bus in 2007 at 10am; suspects face 6 charges /TAN_Network

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Market for Japanese tourism in Thailand set to shrink with earthquake crisis

BANGKOK, March 29 – The Japanese tour market in Thailand is likely to experience setbacks in the wake of Japan's massive earthquake and nuclear emergency, according to the Kasikorn Research Center.

The leading think tank forecasts the number of Thais travelling to Japan this year falling by around 100,000-150,000 from the earlier target with spending declining to Bt5-7 billion.

It also depends on how long it takes the Japanese government to bring the situation under control and rehabilitate the country, which would help restore confidence among foreign tourists regarding safety and convenience.

Aside from the devastating earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan, some external negative factors have dampened overseas tourism interest and the market this year.

It is likely market growth will drop from 12.1 per cent last year to only 3.7-8.4 per cent this year.

The expected slowdown in market growth will definitely affect foreign tour agencies, so operators must speed adjusting their marketing strategy, launching promotional campaigns for travel to interesting destinations and catering to the demand of families preferring to travel abroad when the school semester ends. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-03-29

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,033.42, up 0.48 points /MCOT