Thailand Live Friday 8 Jul 2011

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Thailand Live Friday 8 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 Thursday 7 Jul 2011

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Today's Thailand weather and forecasts:

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AFP: UN court decision on Thailand, Cambodia due July 18

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Phuket shock allegation: police pandering alien prostitutes

THAT'S SIAM: The allegation claims that some police officers use

the basement shop area of upscale shopping complex Jungceylon

as a venue to arrange 'meetings'.

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Forget amnesty, help those in jail: Thai TRC

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Thai students intelligence quotient (IQ) below global average

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TOT, AIS strike 3G roaming deal

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ENERGY POLICY

Pheu Thai to go for revamp of energy policy

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Red-shirt chairperson Thida ready to step down

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Managing victory will prove tougher than winning election; Thai Talk

By Suthichai Yoon

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Media bribery claims must be urgently probed; Thai opinion

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Malfunctioning car runs over Thai 7 students, killing one

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Customs Dept trumpets seizures

By The Nation

The Customs Department has recently seized five luxury cars worth Bt65 million, processed wood worth Bt7 million and illicit drugs worth Bt7.2 million.

Prasong Poonthanes, director-general of the department, told a news conference yesterday that two grey-market importers had improperly declared customs duties on the five Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Nissan and Bentley automobiles and had to yield them to authorities.

In the second case, Customs and Port Authority of Thailand officials found a cargo container at Chon Buri's Laem Chabang Port that was declared as carrying dried pineapple skin but actually contained Bt4 million worth of wood.

They dispatched a patrol boat to search two fishing boats in Udon Bay and seized Bt3 million worth of processed wood pieces from the two vessels and detained the six crew members for interrogation.

In the third case, customs officials at Suvarnabhumi Airport caught two Iranian men, aged 20 and 21, smuggling 2,080 grams of crystal methamphetamine worth Bt7.2 million by swallowing sachets of the substance.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Chuwit dares Yingluck over husband's assets

By The Nation

Opposition MP-elect Chuwit Kamolvisit said yesterday he would dare the designate prime minister to declare her common-law husband's wealth.

"It is a fact that Yingluck Shinawatra is living with Anusorn Amornchat," he said.

Even though the graft law has no provision for asset declaration by a common-law spouse, Yingluck should demonstrate her good intentions by acting above and beyond the legal requirements, he said.

Chuwit said, as a member of the opposition, he would focus on four issues: credentials of newly-appointed ministers; the Pheu Thai-led reconciliation progress and truth behind the red-shirt riots; the implementation of Pheu Thai campaign pledges; and addressing people's income issues.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Door still open for red-shirt leaders in Thai Cabinet

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First House meeting may be delayed

By THE NATION

The new House of Representatives is unlikely to convene its first meeting next Tuesday as the number of MPs to be endorsed by the Election Commission is expected to be fewer than the 95 per cent required by the Constitution, an EC source said yesterday.

Election commissioner Prapun Naigowit said yesterday that he expected the EC to endorse all but about 50 candidates who are accused of violating electoral law. He said election officials were investigating complaints of electoral fraud against the suspect candidates.

At least 475 of 500 MPs are required to convene the first meeting of the Lower House.

Prapun said he expected the EC to endorse more MPs when they were cleared of the fraud charges so that all of them would be endorsed within the legal limit of 30 days.

The EC is required to endorse candidates facing no complaints within seven working days of the election, which falls on Tuesday.

Prapun said the EC had not considered whether to endorse red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan, who is an MP-elect for the Pheu Thai Party. He said the election commissioners would meet on Tuesday to discuss whether Jatuporn was qualified to become an MP.

Jatuporn, now on remand in connection with last year's unrest and rioting, is eighth on Pheu Thai's party list. Questions have been raised about his qualifications, including whether he had lost his party membership before registering to contest the election.

Prapun said Pheu Thai had dropped a party regulation that any member detained by court lost his membership automatically. He said the EC would look into this change.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima's election director Santirat Mahanthanachart said local election authorities were investigating four complaints, one of which involved Pheu Thai's prime minister-elect Yingluck Shinawatra. Yingluck has been accused of illegally wooing votes by giving away the fried noodles she cooked while on the campaign trail in the Northeastern province.

In a related development, Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit yesterday said the party would call a meeting of its MPs-elect on Tuesday to discuss the party's future moves. He said a House meeting to elect the speaker and deputies was expected to be called no later than August 3, and the meeting to elect the prime minister no later than August 10.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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'Progressive' reds call for restructuring of DAAD

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Chiang Rai EC to investigate no-voting protesters

By THE NATION

A kamnan and two village heads have been questioned by the provincial Election Commission in Chiang Rai after all 1,200 eligible voters living in their area agreed not to cast their votes in last Sunday's general election.

Office chief Phongphan Rewthongthawee said yesterday that the no-voting protest had been motivated by someone who could have benefited from villagers in tambon Huay Chomphoo in Muang district not casting their votes.

Kamnan Preecha Kanoknartakul, the tambon chief, denied his part in the residents' no-vote protest, saying villagers were contemptuous of authorities' failure to build roads and provide electricity in their areas, despite years of pleading for such basic infrastructure.

"They have lived in the Muang district, the heart of Chiang Rai, for more than 100 years, and now feel they have been neglected by authorities over the absence of roads and electricity," he said.

Phongphan said it seemed impossible to him that all voters had agreed to launch such an en-masse protest without leaders or organisation. An investigation into the matter is underway to identify any person behind the move, and charges will be pressed against anyone found to have encouraged the protest, he added.

He said protesting by not casting a vote was not the right way to solve the absence of infrastructure, which Preecha had claimed was their rightful excuse for not going out to vote last Sunday.

There are 11 villages in tambon Huay Chomphoo. The tambon is in a remote area difficult to access because of the poor surface of the only road linking it to the outside. Travel during the wet season is almost impossible without all-terrain or four-wheel-drive vehicles.

The protesting voters live in Ville 3 and Ville 11 of the tambon. The two village heads are Preecha Kanoknartkul and Phithan Yeluku.

Preecha said earlier that the no-voting protest was a way for villagers to express themselves over the negligence of authorities, while other areas and neighbouring districts were well equipped with good roads and electricity.

Lorju Laecherku, 32, a resident, said voters had agreed not to exercise their rights on July 3 because elections were useless to them after they had made repeated requests for roads and electricity for more than 20 years.

Arpae Merleku, another resident, said the voters had agreed among themselves to use the protest to send a message to senior leadership of the provincial authorities and attract attention to their cause and their request for basic infrastructure.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Senator questions difference in ballots

By The Nation

Leader of a senatorial committee yesterday demanded that the Election Commission explain the large difference in constituency and party-list ballots.

Senator Jittipoj Viriyaroj, who represents the Northeast province of Si Sa Ket, said that at a meeting yesterday, the panel noted that there was a difference of 83,000 in the number of people who voted to elect constituency MPs and those who voted in the party-list election. He said the difference was so large that there might be some irregularities that the EC had to explain to the public.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Man arrested for five burglaries

By The Nation

A construction worker was arrested yesterday on suspicion of burgling five homes in Saphan Sung district.

Pol Colonel Saravuth Jitrabeab, superintendent of Bangchan Police Station, said Supatchai Pasitreportedly, 19, reportedly broke into homes in Sammakorn Ville on Ramkhamhaeng Soi 162/1 several times with the help of a security guard and continued alone after his friend left his job.

On the night of June 16, Supatchai was caught on a security camera, which led to his capture.

Supatchai reportedly confessed to sneaking into homes at night and grabbing mobile phones, cash and transportable valuables to raise money to buy ya ba for his own use.

Varinthorn "Varintara" Taranitritdech, a TV drama scriptwriter and one of the victims, said the man snatched her iPhone 4 and Bt350 before punching, choking and threatening her with a knife and fleeing.

Orapin Suyaphot, 77, said her university-student niece was threatened with a knife to her throat before the thief fled with two mobile phones and Bt3,000 cash.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Police hunt cop-killer

By The Nation

Police are hunting a man who shot dead an officer from Nong Khaem police station and wounded another in Bangkok late Wednesday night.

Pol Snr Sgt-Major Chookij Jaroenthanarak, 42, was killed instantly at the scene near Phetkasem Soi 81 while Pol Sgt-Major Prasert Klamsri, 45, was wounded after a man they attempted to frisk opened fire.

Citing radio records, police said the officers reported seeing a tall man standing in the dark and asked to search him.

Prasert said he was shot first, then Chookij was hit while running for cover.

The empty magazine of an 11mm pistol, likely belonging to the gunman, was found at the scene.

Nong Khaem police said all patrol officers would be told to use extra caution when approaching suspects.

Chookij's superiors said he was an honest and hard-working officer. He will be posthumously promoted and his family receiver money, following normal procedure.

Prasert is safe but will require surgery to remove the bullet that hit him and broke his collarbone. This affected his spinal cord and resulted in temporary paralysis in his legs.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Indonesians visit disputed border area

By Nuntida Puangthong

The Nation

Indonesian officials visiting Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district on Wednesday were not the survey team mandated by the Jakarta-sponsored peace package but rather embassy officials collecting basic information on the ground, Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said yesterday.

They visited the border district near the controversial Preah Vihear temple to collect information for the Indonesian observation team. Their mission was under recognition and facilitated by the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the Army, Thani said.

The team was briefed on the situation and border management after the February skirmishes by the Si Sa Ket-based Suranaree Task Force. The embassy mission stemmed from the peace package brokered by Jakarta in early May, Thani said.

According to the package agreed upon by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, the survey team for the observers would visit the border areas on the Thai and Cambodian sides only after both countries had officially admitted the team and an announcement was made at a General Border Committee or Joint Boundary Commission meeting.

The Indonesian observer team is supposed to monitor a permanent ceasefire after clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops in February.

Phnom Penh has accepted the terms of reference for the observer team but Bangkok had been reluctant to do so, as the military disagrees with the plan to have foreign observers in the border area near Preah Vihear.

The outgoing Thai government under Abhisit Vejjajiva employed delay tactics by setting a precondition of having Cambodian troops withdraw from the disputed border area first. Cambodia rejected the conditions.

The peace package was brokered on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Jakarta in May.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08

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Job stability makes Thai civil servants the happiest

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Forest-fire smog envelops South

By The Nation

Haze from Indonesian forest fires has blanketed the Southern province of Trang, causing residents to develop eye and respiratory irritations and prompting the Trang public health authority to warn people with allergies to stay indoors and wear face masks.

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Drug task force to be posted at Phuket Airport

With millions of innocent tourists arriving on the island each year,

Phuket Airport is becoming a travel portal of choice among drug mules.

Photo: Gazette file

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Bangkok Career Expo 2011 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center until 9 July /via@RichardBarrow

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Thai stock index opens on Friday at 1,087.37, up 4.29 points /MCOT

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Northeastern MPs-elect demand 10 Cabinet seats

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Love Thailand Party Introduces MPs-elect

The Love Thailand Party has announced its readiness to work as an opposition party.

Its first task would be to examine the qualifications of those who will take ministerial portfolios.

Love Thailand Party leader Chuvit Kamolvisit held a press conference to introduce the party's party-list MPs-elect.

They are the party's Secretary General Chaiwat Kraireuk, Protepran Tohlanee, Pongsak Ruenngoen, numbers two to four on the party list.

Chuvit affirmed his party's readiness to work as an opposition party and said the first task would be to examine the qualifications of those who will take ministerial portfolios.

He stated that the selection of potential candidates for various ministerial portfolios should take qualifications and work experience into consideration.

He noted that members of MPs' families should not be considered for the positions as was done in the Thai Rak Thai-led government.

Chuvit expressed belief that the negotiation for Cabinet seats has begun.

The Love Thailand Party leader called on Pheu Thai top party-list MP-elect Yingluck Shinawatra to keep the promises she had made during her election campaign.

He noted that he will give Yingluck and her Cabinet time to prove themselves.

Meanwhile, the outspoken politician said the possibility that Yingluck would seek amnesty for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is highly unlikely.

-- Tan Network 2011-07-08

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Somsak extending olive branch for Pheu Thai

By The Nation.

Matchima faction leader Somsak Thepsuthin on Friday urged Bhum Jai Thai Party to elect Pheu Thai's Yingluck Shinawatra as prime minister in a gesture of reconciliation to advance the country forward.

"The people have spoken clearly and there is no point for stubbornness," he said.

Somsak said all sides should heed the balloting outcome and that the winning party should be given a chance to work and prove itself.

Commenting on the allocation of Cabinet seats, he said Pheu Thai did not invite him to join the coalition bandwagon. He said in his personal view, the Cabinet should not be formed before knowing the number of winning candidates to face disqualifications.

The Friends of Newin faction, which forms the core of Bhum Jai Thai Party, speculated that Somsak tried to pave way to join the coalition alliance at a future date.

The chance for Matchima faction to team up with Phue thai appeared remote due to a fierce fight for Cabinet seats. But the faction might hope for an opening to join the coalition alliance if the Cabinet has to be reshuffled in the next six months to shore up stability.

-- The Nation 2011-07-08