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Thailand Live Thursday 7 Jul 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 6 Jul 2011

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Posted

Three arrested for squatter arson attack

By The Nation

Police have arrested three men who were part of a 200-strong group that vandalised and burned shacks built by poor villagers unlawfully on an expensive land plot near Bangkok that was recently sold to influential businessman Thammanat Prompao.

Arrest warrants are out on another three men suspected of involvement in the attack in addition to the three in custody, identified as brothers Somphong and Samrit Daengkham and Bunpheng Kaewphuang.

Speaking to reporters, Somphong said a stranger paid him Bt800 for an "eviction operation" and that he followed a group of men he didn't know to the plot.

Somphong said he operated merely as lookout while Samrit and Bunpheng vandalised the huts and others set them on fire.

Television footage of shacks on fire and men armed with farming tools fighting the invaders in last Saturday's attack sparked public and media criticism.

It resembled other notorious operations in which groups of men were hired to use force to drive away poor people illegally occupying expensive land plots.

Former Army captain Thammanat purchased the 616-rai plot, located in a prime area of Pathum Thani, for Bt3.2 billion and paid a Bt320-million deposit in May.

The land had been empty until farmers who were members of Assembly of the Poor built huts in the compound and stationed armed guards to protect the area.

Thammanat had earlier pleaded for "fairness" from the media at a press conference, saying that not all of the 200 men were employees from his security guard company.

He said his men wore uniforms similar to policemen with nametags, and that the supervisors dressed in black. Many of the men who attacked the plot wore green scarves, he said. "I don't known who those men are," he added.

He thanked squatters who had promised to leave the compound and said he would pay them Bt15,000 per hut, as well as their travel expenses to return to their homes in the provinces.

Thammanat turned himself in at a court on Tuesday and was released on bail after pleading not guilty to ordering arson and vandalism.

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-- The Nation 2011-07-07

Posted

Bangkokians warned of heavy floods

By The Nation

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Residents of Bangkok and lower central provinces were warned yesterday to brace for rainstorms and severe flooding from August-October.

Kriengsak Kowattana, from the National Disaster Warning Centre, told the 21st National Seminar on Epidemiology that this year would see more rainfall, partly because of the impact from La Nina in the Pacific earlier this year.

Bangkok as well as Sing Buri, Angthong, Ayutthaya and Chanthaburi would experience heavy flooding especially during the rainy season, he added.

In Sukhothai, Seksan Chattrakul, chief of Kong Kai Las district, reported that the province was still under water, 30,000 rai of farmland had been damaged and riverside homes had been affected.

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-- The Nation 2011-07-07

Posted

ID cards for children issued from July 10

By The Nation

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Authorities are preparing to visit schools from next week to issue national identification cards for children aged between seven and 14 years old there.

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Posted

Minnows make their mark

By HENRY LEWIS

THE NATION

Many curious people were surprised when prime minister-to-be Yingluck Shinawatra said Mahachon Party was one of five parties joining the Pheu Thai-led coalition government. It is one of the smallest parties to have gained a seat in this election.

Mahachon, along with the New Democracy Party, is among a new generation of small parties heading to to Parliament. Both parties got one seat each in Parliament.

Mahachon fielded only five candidates, all of them on the party list, and collected enough votes to give party head Apirat Sirinawin its only MP seat.

Mahachon still has strong ties with former leader Sanan Kachornprasart, the outgoing deputy prime minister in the Abhisit government, who left to join the Chart Thai Pattana Party in 2008.

It was because of Sanan, who remains friendly with Apirat, that Mahachon got a chance to join the next government, giving the ruling coalition an attractive 299 seats in Parliament.

Mahachon managed to gain 133,767 votes nationwide. In a TV interview, they said their party base is in the far South, where they have influential friends who had helped them in their campaign.

Another small party that had success in this election was the New Democracy Party. They garnered 125,781 votes, earning one seat.

Their MP will be Patcharin Manpan, 51, a retired teacher. She was second on the party list, but after the party leader filed for bankruptcy and forfeited his claim, she got the seat.

The party draws its support from the Northeast, especially Si Sa Ket, Buri Ram and Yasothon.

Patcharin is a newcomer to politics, and only entered the public sphere in this election, after being convinced by friends.

She campaigned by asking her former students from 30 years in the academic field for support, and plans to focus on education while in office.

Let's take a look at another rising star in the opposition.

The Rak Prathet Thai is commonly known as "Chuwit's party", referring to its leader Chuwit Kamolvisit. But when people learned that the party managed to bag four party-list MP seats, only a few knew who the other MPs-elect were.

The party got 998,527 votes for party-list MPs. The other MPs-elect are Chaiwat Krairiksh, Protepran Tohrahnee and Pongsak Ruanngern - Nos 2 to 4 on the party list.

Chaiwat, 49, was Chuwit's legal adviser and has worked for many political parties before becoming Rak Prathet Thai's secretary-general. Among the parties Chaiwat was involved with were New Aspiration, Social Action, Rak Thin Thai, Soo Puea Thai and the First Thai Nation Party, which was also formed by Chuwit.

Chaiwat earned a bachelor's in law from Ramkhamhaeng University and a master of arts from the National Institute of Development Administration.

Chaiwat said his party's success was the result of its well-planned work.

"We had our goal in the election. We did not win by chance or a fluke. If we had hoped for just one MP seat we wouldn't have campaigned in the provinces too," he said.

Rak Thailand's third party-list MP-elect Protepran is the 31-year-old chairman of the party's branch in Phatthalung.

He graduated in political science from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University before obtaining a master of public and private sector leadership from Ramkhamhaeng University.

He was a deputy editor of the Muslim Thai magazine, an advising instructor at Rattanabundit University and an executive of Thammasat Wittaya Foundation School in Phatthalung. He was a secretary to Phatthalung Senator Charoen Pakdeewanich.

"A few political parties had asked me to be their candidate but I refused as I was not ready and liked being behind the scenes. But when Chuwit asked me, I just couldn't turn him down as I like him," Protepran said.

Pongsak, the fourth party-list MP, is an engineer at Sombat Tontrakul, a company owned by Chuwit. Now 45, he expects to help Chuwit in scrutinising construction projects, especially for mass transit.

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-- The Nation 2011-07-07

Posted

Top Thai language speakers honoured

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US ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney's command of the Thai language has received both official recognition and praise. This year, the Culture Ministry has named her as one of two foreigners with outstanding proficiency in Thai.

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Posted

Nongkaem police patrol killed and another seriously injured while patrolling Soi Petchkasem 81 /

1st day of Chulalongkorn graduation ceremony and last day of Kasetsat's graduation practice cause traffic congestion /

ID cards for 7-yr-olds and above to be launched on July 11; 600,000 expected to be issued /

/TAN_Network

Posted

If Yingluck did say next Thai foreign minister must b someone acceptable to Cambodia, it's strange. /via @thepchaiyong /via@tulsathit

Sources say Abhisit started his Government House packing since July 1. /via @suthichai /via@tulsathit

Posted

Cabinet doors still open: Yingluck

By The Nation

Designate Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reaffirmed on Thursday she would pick her ministers based on their track records and professional qualifications.

Yingluck was reacting to remarks made by Pheu Thai's Snoh Thienthong who opposed the allocation of Cabinet seats to the red shirts.

"Pheu Thai will give an equal opportunity for insiders and outsiders who are capable," she said.

She said she would start forming the Cabinet after completing the drafting of the government's policy statement.

She also admitted that she had not finalised her decision on the Defence portfolio.

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-- The Nation 2011-07-07

Posted

Couple Seeks Protection over Alleged Threats Related to Vote-buying

A couple from Panasnikom District of Chonburi Province has filed a complaint to police asking for protection after having been threatened for not agreeing to bear witness in vote-buying allegations against a local political party.

A couple from Panasnikom District of Chonburi Province, Pathomporn and Phurit Phetchaisakul, filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division asking for protection as they alleged to have been coerced by a personal assistant to the Pheu Thai Party's MP candidate for Constituency 3 of Chonburi to report to election investigators that they sold votes to a candidate of the Palang Chon Party.

Pathomporn said a person purporting to be a secretary to an MP candidate contacted her on June 27 asking to see home purchase documents. She added that on July 1, she received a call from a person claiming to be an Electoral Commission official, who said she and her husband and a friend of hers had made complaints about vote-buying; complaints they actually never made.

Last Sunday, the same person came to give the couple 10,000 baht in cash and promised to give them 390,000 baht more if they agree to testify in the vote-buying claim. The day after the election, a group of ten men came to her home and tried to get her and her husband into the car to bear witness.

The couple decided to seek protection from police after having received more threatening phone calls afterwards.

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-- Tan Network 2011-07-07

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Posted

Yingluck denies scrapping Oil Fund to lower fuel prices but stops contributions temporarily; asserts closely monitoring inflation /MCOT

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