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Thailand Live Thursday 30 June 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 29 June 2011

Posted

More than 4 mn Thais alcoholic: survey

About 4.3 million Thais are alcoholics, according to a survey conducted from 2008 to this year.

Of them, more than one million are between 15 and 25 years old. Moreover, up to 7.1 per cent of alcoholics have mental disorders.

"On average, there have been 20 hospitalisations relating to alcoholism with mental disorders each month," Dr Boonsiri Jansirimongkon from the Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry said Wednesday.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

King joins efforts to help flood-ravaged North

By The Nation

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Among the torrent of relief rations from private donors and authorities for flood victims in hardest-hit Nan and four other provinces are 2,000 survival kits provided out of the deep concern of His Majesty the King.

Nan has been smothered by floods after days of heavy downpours, with 675 villages in all 15 districts inundated, and 22,433 residents in 7,461 households affected, according to a report read out at a ceremony to pass out the kits.

A man drowned on Sunday night when the flood first struck the Northern province. Most areas are still submerged, including 13,226 rai (2,116 hectares) of farmland.

The Nan River is now receding to a safe level but flood waters are still high in most areas. Since Tuesday, 24 schools have been closed and will reopen after repairs are finished.

The four other provinces still flooded are Phayao, Sukhothai, Chiang Rai and Tak, with 118,856 people in 37,147 households affected, according to an official update released yesterday. Two people have drowned, including one in Tak, and 53,227 rai of farmland is affected.

So far 3,917 head of cattle have drowned and 208 shrimp ponds have been washed out. Also flooded or damaged are 55 small dams or reservoirs, 63 roads and 45 bridges, said the update from the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, which receives calls for help around the clock at 1784.

Run-off from Phrae may enter Sukhothai in a few days, threatening a flash flood in low-lying areas, said the provincial irrigation office in Sukhothai.

A stretch of the Yom River in Sukhothai is now swollen beyond a safe limit and tributaries are already brimming. Villagers and volunteers are racing to put up barriers in flood-risk zones.

Uttaradit-based Sirikit Dam can still contain the drainage from Nan, with the flow at 61 per cent of capacity, dam director Somkhid Kaengraeng said.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Plant blockade hits transport firms

By The Nation

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A blockade of a road leading to a natural-gas separation plant in Songkhla province is adversely affecting the transport sector.

Trucks with trailers and vans in a long line at a natural-gas service station in Hat Yai district yesterday waited in vain to get their tanks filled.

"Our natural gas is running out," station manager Chalermpon Tikbaripat said.

The blockade of the road to Chana Natural Gas Separation Plant began on Tuesday morning, with local residents demanding compensation from the plant.

They blame huge trucks travelling past their homes to the plant for cracks in their houses.

Residents say they have protested over the same issue before and were promised compensation but have not received any money yet.

"With the road blockade, my station is not being refilled either," Chalermpon said.

He said many trucks were running out of natural gas and had no choice but to wait until his station was refilled.

"The road blockade is hurting businesses. My service station is losing between Bt300,000 and Bt400,000 in lost business opportunities each day as a result," Chalermpon complained.

He added that transport firms were feeling the pinch too because their natural-gas-powered trucks could not make deliveries.

"Delay costs can be up to Bt10 million per truck," he said. "Some operators have had to find new trucks to solve the problem."

The blockade has affected five natural-gas service stations in Songkhla, three in Surat Thani and two in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Yesterday Chana district chief Banjong Chuaychoo said PTT had agreed to pay Bt1.6 million in repair costs to owners of 13 homes damaged by vibrations caused by the construction. PTT will give an official statement on the payments on July 5 next Tuesday.

The promise pleased the villagers, who temporarily opened the road blockade to allow a number of gas trucks to go through.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Collaboration aims to cut cancer in Roi Et

By THE NATION

Cancer has been the No 1 killer of Thais for the past decade, with 56,000 people dying from the disease in 2009 alone.

As a result, the Public Health Ministry has joined Chulabhorn Hospital and other agencies in carrying out a five-year research and development pilot project into cancer prevention and control in Roi Et province in the Northeast.

Visiting Roi Et Hospital's Chulabhorn Cancer Centre yesterday, Public Health Minister permanent secretary Dr Paijit Worachit said cancer was the No 1 cause of death of Thais since 2000.

In 2009, there were 56,058 deaths from the disease. Of them, 58 per cent were males and 42 per cent females, he said, adding that cancer kills 20 per cent of the 300,000 Thais who die every year.

Liver cancer claims the most lives, followed by bronchogenic lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer, he said.

Responding to HRH Princess Chulabhorn's determination to save Thais from cancer, the ministry, Chulabhorn Hospital and the National Health Security Office (NHSO) are studying cancer prevention and control in a project running from 2010 to 2014.

Roi Et was chosen due to its readiness in terms of data and personnel.

Roi Et health official Dr Passakorn Chaiyaset said two projects were started under this collaboration last year.

First, a colon cancer prevention project in Phanom Phrai and Nong Hee districts saw the screening of 10,000 people aged over 50 and found 829 people with suspicious symptoms.

Twelve were diagnosed with colon cancer and treated at Chulabhorn Hospital.

Second, a liver cancer pre?vention project for Hepatitis B patients in Muang, Phanom Phrai and Nong Hee districts aimed to screen 10,000 people aged 20-65. They have been examined and those with symptoms will be treated with anti-viral drugs and followed up for five years.

As of May 30 this year, 900 of 7,000 people screened had Hepatitis B, Passakorn said.

This year three more proj?ects will be implemented. A project to prevent cervical cancer caused by HPV (human papillomavirus) will vaccinate 5,000 women aged 20-70.

A long-term research project into cancer and prevalence of other diseases in the population will see 100,000 people interviewed and tested. Tissue samples will be collected for study.

Finally, IT systems in Chulabhorn Hospital, Roi Et Hospital, Panom Prai Hospital and Roi Et Public Health Office will be connected to help cancer patients.

It is hoped the collaboration will be extended by the Public Health Ministry to prevent and control cancers nationwide.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Three fugitive hunters sought after arrests near wildlife sanctuary

By The Nation

Thai authorities are looking for three hunters - two Vietnamese and a Hmong - who they claim conspired with two other arrested suspects to hunt wildlife and cut down agarwood trees in Uthai Thani's Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

Among the evidence seized in the arrest of the two suspects on Sunday was a mobile-phone photograph of Hmong hunter Nhai Saetao carrying an AK-47 rifle and sitting on a tiger carcass, and another photo of a hunter posing with a wild boar's head and tiger teeth.

Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy chief of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, said after interrogating Nhai and Vietnamese hunter Hong Van Nguen at Tak Umphang police station that the duo had been arrested in the area bordering the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary and Tak's Umphang district.

He said they had been among a team of five, of whom two Vietnamese and one Hmong hunter remain at large, together with some Thai accomplices. The Vietnamese man's passport showed a Thai tourist visa and he entered through Chiang Rai on June 1.

The arrests resulted from the Sunday incident in which Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary officials on patrol ran into a group of hunters. After a gunfight the hunters fled, leaving behind evidence including mobile phones, some cash, three kilograms of wild-boar remains and 13.2 kilograms of agarwood.

Officials traced the hunters' blood trail to Ban Sepala in Umphang and alerted local authorities. Residents alerted them to strangers claiming to be tourists whose car had broken down, leading to the arrest of two alleged hunters, a Vietnamese and a Hmong. They also recovered a gun and 60 rounds of ammunition on Monday morning.

Agarwood is produced in certain trees by a type of mould, and is valued for its fragrance but has been over-exploited. Theerapat said Nhai confessed to cutting trees but claimed he had killed the tiger in the picture in Burma and sold its skin and bones for Bt300,000.

However, Saksit Simcharoen, head of Nakhon Sawan's Conservation Office Zone 12's wildlife conservation division, confirmed that the tiger in the photo was from Thung Yai Naresuan. Researchers last October had taken photos of the tiger population in Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuaries and they included this particular tiger, to which they had given a code but no name.

He said it was suspected this group of hunters had also poisoned a female tiger and its cub last July in Huai Kha Khaeng.

nationlogo.jpg

-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Man nabbed with drugs, guns

By Suparat Iamtan

The Nation

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A 40-year-old man was arrested in Bangkok's Lak Si district with 400,000 ya ba tablets and 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth Bt130 million, Metropolitan Police commissioner Lt-General Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday.

Police also found a rifle, a pistol and ammunition in the suspect's car.

Sunthorn Kaewthong reportedly told police that he was unemployed and delivered drugs to support his family.

He said he had transported drugs twice before, being paid Bt100,000 each time.

Patrol police became suspicious after seeing Sunthorn in his car on Soi Chinnakhet 2/46. They presented themselves to search his car and found the drugs and guns.

Sunthorn allegedly told police the drugs belonged to an inmate in Nonthaburi's Bang Kwang Prison identified only as "Nai Hua", who called Sunthorn to pick up the drugs and deliver them to customers in designated places.

He picked up the drugs at a market to deliver to a customer in a Southern province, he said.

Sunthorn has been charged with possession of drugs with intention to sell.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Two women battle for hearts and minds of voters

By Budsarakham Sinlapalavan

The Nation

Two women are vying to represent Bangkok's Constituency 5 in Parliament. Both Leelawadi Watcharobon from the Pheu Thai Party and Chitpas Bhirombhakdi from the Democrat Party are the front-runners.

In addition, there's a well-known candidate like Sophon Damnui, former director of the Chiang Mai Zoo from the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party, and other little-known candidates, but their chances of winning are slim, according to recent opinion polls.

The odds would seem to be stacked against Chitpas, judging from the relatively weaker support base of the Democrat Party. Constituency 5 consists of Dusit and Ratchathewi districts. Democrat city councillors dominate Ratchathewi while Pheu Thai's city councillors have been elected in Dusit for four consecutive terms. Also, Dusit has more eligible voters than Ratchathewi does.

Leelawadi, 44, entered politics due to her respect for the late former prime minister Samak Sundaravej since the time he was leader of the Prachakorn Thai Party. She used to serve as spokeswoman and executive member of Samak's party.

She contested the general election on April 2, 2006, under Prachakorn Thai's banner. Later, after Samak moved to the People Power Party - known to be the proxy of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra - Leelawadi followed suit and ran as a People Power candidate in the previous general election on December 23, 2007.

She lost in both elections in Bangkok - first in Constituency 12 and then in Constituency 1. However, she was appointed secretary to then-education minister Somchai Wongsawat in the Samak

government after the election.

Leelawadi was the first runner-up in the Miss Thailand beauty contest in 1985, when she also won the Miss Photogenic title. She also became an actress. She got her bachelor's degree in Education from Srinakarinwirot University, a master's degree in Communication Arts from Dhurakit Pundit University, and doctorate in Education from Chulalongkorn University.

Leelawadi said she received a warm welcome from supporters during her visits to the constituents. "People are very active in this election," she said. According to her, people complained about economic problems and expensive consumer products.

During her recent visit to the constituency, she was greeted by Pheu Thai supporters who wore red and gave her red roses.

The Democrat Party's Chitpas asked for support from voters during her recent campaign visit in Dusit district. While many people smiled at her and showed their support for the party, some shouted the election number of Pheu Thai.

Chitpas, 26, has never contested an election but was a political appointee at the Prime Minister's Office. Her father Jutinand is an heir to the Singha Beer empire and her mother ML Piyapas acted as Queen Suriyothai in the epic war movie "Suriyothai".

She obtained her bachelor's degree in Geography from King's College, London, and master's degree in International Law from Regent University, in the United States.

The young candidate said local voters are now showing more interest in her than when she began campaigning several weeks ago. During her visit to communities, she was greeted by Democrat supporters as well as those backing Pheu Thai, who wore red and signalled the pro-red party's campaign number with their index finger.

"I respect the right of everyone," she said.

After several visits, she also learned that communities that flew red flags at the entrance were not entirely pro-red shirts. She found out later that only a handful of households in those communities were red-shirt supporters while their neighbours avoided opposing the red flags to avoid dispute.

"There are many of these communities and we are trying to get in touch with this silent force as much as we can," she said.

Chitpas says it remains her dream to become Thailand's first female prime minister. But her priority now is to win the hearts of voters in her constituency.

The constituents will decide on July 3 who will become their representative.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

Court throws out Pheu Thai ballot plea

By The Nation

The Supreme Administrative Court has cited lack of judicial purview as grounds for declining to intervene and order a redesign of election ballots, throwing out a petition filed by the Pheu Thai Party last Thursday.

Pheu Thai said the ballot design was unfair for two reasons - the party's logo was too small and the layout of the ballot made it confusing for voters.

The party voiced concern that ballots cast might become invalid.

In explaining the judicial decision, Election Commission (EC) secretary-general Suthiphon Taveechaiyagarn said the court dismissed the case because Pheu Thai sought a court injunction but failed to outline how and why the ballot design had deviated from prescribed regulations.

Furthermore, Pheu Thai asked for the judicial intervention to validate yet-to-be cast ballots that might subsequently be deemed invalid, Suthiphon said, pointing out that this was a postulation beyond judicial purview and that the mandate for administrative litigation did not cover sorting between valid and invalid ballots.

In another development, the EC has reminded absentee voters who failed to cast advance ballots last Sunday that they are obliged to fill out a form at their district office explaining their absence by July 10.

Otherwise, an unjustified no-show would result in the mandatory forfeit of certain rights, such as sponsoring legislation and contesting the elections.

No-show absentee voters will not be able to cast ballots on election day if they registered to vote outside their designated polling station.

Those registered at a designated constituency will have a second chance to vote on Sunday.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-30

Posted

UN secretary-general issues statement calling for fair and democratic election in Thailand

Channel 7 actor Stefan crashes his sports car into a pick-up truck but no one was injured

Abhisit campaigns at Srinakarinwirot Prasarnmit Univ's market in Asoke area this morning

/TAN_Network

Posted

Nan sees floodwater recede and should return to normal today making Sunday election possible; Sukothai sees critical flooding /TAN_Network

PAD to hold press conference on end of 5 month long protest at Makawan Rangsan Bridge at 10am /TAN_Network

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