Thailand Live Tuesday 19 Jul 2011

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Thailand Live Tuesday 19 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 Monday 18 Jul 2011

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Today's Thailand weather and forecasts:

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Demilitarised zone

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Yingluck, Abhisit expected 'to get EC nod'

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Pheu Thai: 'We can keep all our election promises'

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Dealer shot dead in Chiang Rai, 1m pills found

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PTT sets global leadership goal in bioplastics industry

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US hopes Thai-Cambodia rift solved peacefully

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Developers face suits for encroachment

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EDITORIAL

Thailand's road to democracy: Greed is the obstacle

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Road rage in Bangkok ends in fatal stabbing

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OPINION

Plane stupid: the damage is done

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Police seek 4 for teashop murders

By The Nation

Arrest warrants have been issued for four residents of Yala's Than To district for their alleged involvement in the May 3 gun attack on a teashop in Bannang Sata district, in which four villagers were killed and 16 injured.

Bannang Sata police superintendent Colonel Suwat Wongpaiboon said yesterday the drive-by shooting at Ban Kasod teashop was related to an earlier incident in which Ban Khiri Khet resident Sombat Pandam was shot dead.

Police later asked a court to issue arrest warrants for suspects for Sombat's murder. Suwat said the shooting at the teashop reportedly took place in revenge for Sombat's death.

He said police would ask the suspects to surrender after the court issues the warrants for the four Than To suspects, including Peerapol Pandam, 24, whose Isuzu pickup was allegedly used in the drive-by. He said that if the suspects surrender to appear in court, police would allow them to receive bail. The condition would apply to both Buddhist and Muslim Thais.

In another incident, a village defence volunteer was shot dead in a Bangorana Ville orchard yesterday afternoon in Narathiwat's Ra Ngae district.

Yagariya Damae, 32, was fatally shot three times in the chest while he and two friends were cutting fruit trees. Police suspect the murder was part of ongoing violence in the restive region.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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Top MP's secret: Never forget your voters

By Kornchanok Raksaseri

The Nation

Now that Democrat Phang Nga MP Kantawan Tanthien Kuljanyavivat has garnered the most votes in the July 3 election, she is thanking the legacy of her late father Borom, who always stressed to her the importance of visiting local people.

Reacting to the 108,599 votes she received, Kantawan said 70 per cent of the success came from Phang Nga people's loyalty to the Democrat Party. The rest was up to the candidates.

Kantawan is the only candidate in the country who received over 100,000 votes in the July 3 poll.

"My father made me promise I would regularly visit people, talk to them and learn their problems," Kantawan said, referring to the late Social Action Party MP Borom Tanthien, who was deputy minister for many ministries and a two-time senator.

He also told her to help solve people's problems and, if she could not do it, explain immediately.

"I have to always keep Phang Nga people informed about the truth. Southern people are interested in politics and they have good access to news and information. Politicians are just one of their sources to information. Politicians can never fool them," she said.

Her father had already retired from politics when the Democrat Party contacted him to be its candidate when the number of Phang Nga MPs was increased from one to two. He passed on the chance to his third daughter, whom he believed had a character most similar to his. When joining him on visits, she could join in the event and talk to people naturally without feeling or appearing awkward, she said.

Borom did not join her first poll campaigns but let her do it herself.

Kantawan first ran for election in 2001. With 41,570 votes, she became an MP for Phang Nga constituency 1.

The MP regularly visits constituents on weekends while Parliament is sitting, but stays in Bangkok from Tuesday to Thursday to attend party and House meetings.

Borom was her political coach and mentor for only one term before he, and her 3-year-old second son, were swept away in the tsunami in late 2004. Her sister took charge of the family's resort business.

Despite physical and mental injuries from the tsunami, Kantawan continued her election campaign for the 2005 election about a month later. The number of votes she won rose to 47,798 in the 2005 election.

Two years later, she received 95,000 votes in the 2007 election, in which each eligible voter in the province could vote for two constituency candidates.

In the July 3 election, the system was changed back to one MP per constituency and there were fewer constituency MPs than before.

Phang Nga now has only 1 MP and the seat was won by Kantawan.

The four-time MP said she would continue pushing to promote tourism in Phang Nga. The Tourism Authority of Thailand's office overlooking the province used to be under the same office in charge of Phuket.

"Phuket tourism competition is strong already. Tourists often mistakenly think the Surin Islands of Phang Nga belong to Phuket," she said.

Now 39, Kantawan, has a degree in education from Chulalongkorn University and a Master of Business Administration from Sasin. She had to put on hold her long-time wish to open a kindergarten because of her job as an MP. She must also make sure she does not upset her family - husband and two children - while looking after her electorate.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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Hunt for 4-5 on 'hit team' who killed Surat politician

By Suwannee Bantisak

The Nation

Surat Thani

Police have set up a special taskforce to hunt down gunmen involved in the fatal shooting of a high-profile local politician in Surat Thani late on Sunday night.

"The team has already been dispatched to gather intelligence in target areas. But we cannot disclose details," Kanchanadit Police Station superintendent Colonel Jamnote Kaewkhao said yesterday.

According to an informed source, the team has already obtained information about the gunmen and reported they are now hiding in Don Sak district close to the provincial border with Nakhon Si Thammarat.

"Four or five men might have been involved," Jamnote said, "It's a blatant crime."

The attack took place at a temple festival in Kanchanadit district at about 11pm on Sunday.

Surat Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation councillor Songwut Noppakhun, 52, was presenting awards to performers on stage when he was shot in the head.

Witnesses said two men went on to the stage during the award presentation and one suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Songwut.

After the shooting, an exchange of gunfire erupted between Songwut's supporters and his attackers, which saw many bystanders hit by a hail the bullets. A five-year-old girl, Pornpatcha Thamsangwan, was also killed during the wild shootout.

Both Songwut and the young girl succumbed to their injuries at Surat Thani Hospital.

Songwut's nine-year-old daughter, Wilasinee Noppakhun, was among 10 others injured.

Police say there were three possible motives behind the slaying: personal conflict, a political conflict, or a business conflict.

Songwut had been a key canvasser for Pheu Thai Party in Surat Thani. His elder brother Charnyut Noppakhun ran for an MP seat in the July 3 election under the Pheu Thai banner.

"Songwut was very straightforward. He was not afraid of mafia-style figures," Charnyut said of his brother.

Songwut also played a key role against the spread of drugs and the exploitation of natural resources, he said.

Another source said Songwut was close to local people and state officials.

"But he had run into conflict with an influential figure lately. So, he was on alert at all the times but still faced this attack," the source said.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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Dengue widespread, Doctors warn

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544 Burmese detained in Mae Sot, off Ranong

By The Nation

Thai Navy officers rounded up 44 Burmese on a long-tail boat off Koh Phayam in Ranong yesterday, while police arrested 500 migrants at an empty factory in Mae Sot suspected to be an illegal holding centre to supply workers to Bangkok.

Third Naval Area chief Vice Admiral Choomnoom Ardwong said the crew of a gunboat patrolling the border off Koh Phayam saw a suspicious long-tail boat entering Thai waters. It had 30 men, 12 women and two children from Burma on board without proper papers.

The Burmese boat driver, identified only as Toey, 43, said he was paid Bt5,000 per trip to transport people from Koh Song in Burma to a Thai client in Phang Nga's Khura Buri district. The migrants hoped to find work in Phuket, Toey told the officers. Je Sa, 23, said she hoped to get a job in a Phuket tailor shop, as an agency told her she would get a Bt6,500 monthly salary plus accommodation, so she paid a Bt20,000 fee to an agent to travel to Thailand.

Meanwhile, Tak police raided an unnamed establishment on Sri Panich Road in Mae Sot and rounded up 500 Burmese workers. Initial police inquiries found that the site, an empty factory with unknown owners, was used to hide workers before they were registered and sent to Bangkok.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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BURNING ISSUE

Rumour mill rife but leaders expected to get provisional go-ahead

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Thailand satisfied with World Court ruling on Thai-Cambodian border

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Delay at crash site

By The Nation

A team will try to transport the remains of the five soldiers killed in a helicopter crash near the Burmese border on Saturday out of the jungle to a Kanchana-buri temple before noon today, a source said yesterday.

Many families were disappointed by the news that the bodies still could not be |carried out of Phetchaburi's Kaeng Krachan National Park because of the continuing bad weather.

The families had been told that the crash victims would be taken to Thung Ladya Temple in Mueang district for a funeral before being turned over to the families.

The families and guests including relatives were sitting inside the temple's pavilion since 3.20pm, waiting for the bathing ceremony to start. An hour later, the Army informed them that the bodies could not be moved until the weather cleared up enough, so everyone returned home.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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The Vatican and Malaysia have agreed to establish diplomatic ties, following a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the PM Najib Razak. /via@ASEAN_NEWSROOM

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PM meets with security agencies' heads this morning to discuss Intl Court's ruling; Yingluck affirms Thailand must not lose sovereignty /TAN_Network

Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,084.78, up 0.84 points /MCOT

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Yingluck voices confidence in EC's impartiality as she waits to be endorsed as MP; EC to announce more endorsements later today /TAN_Network

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Second-largest US bookstore chain to liquidate

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Many groups- red, yellow shirts and state enterprise workers- now flocking Election Commission HQ front. /via@Rangsima_s /via@Aim_NT

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Take it easy folks. World court just issued temporary issues to restore peace, not take away anyone's sovereignty. /via@supalakg_nt /via@tulsathit

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EC begins deliberation on balloting endorsement

The Election Commission has convened on Tuesday at 10.00 am to deliberate on the balloting endorsement of a second batch of MPs-elect. Its decision is expected in the afternoon.

EC member Sodsri Satayathum said the EC would proceed to check and endorse the balloting outcome within the 30-day deadline. She said she would not bow to any pressure.

Today's key agendas include whether to issue yellow cards and call a revote in three constituencies located in Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Udon Thani.

The EC is also expected to rule whether to grant a provisional endorsement for Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva and Pheu Thai's Yingluck Shinawatra.

Last week the EC endorsed the first batch of MPs to fill 358 of 500 House seats. It is obliged to fill 475 seats, to achieve the House quorum of 95 per cent before the House of Representatives could convene its first session, tentatively scheduled for August 3.

-- The Nation 2011-07-19

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Thailand ready to talk with Cambodia on troop withdrawals

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Thai PM chair meeting to consider World Court's rulings

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Burma's Lift on Import Bans to Benefit Thailand

The Burmese Commerce Ministry has lifted an import ban on 15 Thai products, which Tak's private sector says is great news for Thai traders.

They are urging the new government to negotiate with Myanmar to reopen the trade border in the province.

Following the Burmese Commerce Ministry's announcement to lift the import ban on 15 Thai products such as canned foods, instant noodles, alcohol, beer and fruit juice, Tak Chamber of Commerce Chairman Banphat Korkiatcharoen said that the lift was announced because Myanmar is preparing to become a member of the ASEAN free trade area.

He believes the move will benefit the future of commerce in Thailand, but the closure of the Mae Sot border pass for more than a year has affected border trade as exports have fallen 20 percent.

He is urging the new government to enter talks with Myanmar and quickly establish a special commercial zone for Mae Sot District.

The Mae Sot commercial zone proposal was already approved by the Cabinet in March 2011 and designates 5,600 rai of land specially zones for import, export and industrial purposes and will incorporate private investment and government sponsorship.

-- Tan Network 2011-07-19