Thailand Live Tuesday 26 Jul 2011

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Thailand Live Tuesday 26 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 25 Jul 2011

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UPDATE

GERMANY

No basis for 2nd grab of royal plane : PM

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Bangkok Mulls Skywalk across Chao Phraya

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KANG KRACHAN TRAGEDY

Crashes: Army downplays chance of human error

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Students want Chiang Mai dean to step down

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WAGES

CP group ready to hike pay and boost growth

By PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI

THE NATION

Charoen Pokphand Group, the country's largest agro-business conglomerate, said yesterday that it stood ready to increase minimum wages to Bt300 and new graduates' salaries to Bt15,000 in line with the incoming government's policy pledges, in order to drive the country's growth and domestic consumption.

The company also suggested the new government should seriously invest in infrastructure development as well as in research and development, revamp the tax structure, and increase efficiency of the management of the Kingdom's assets so as to ensure competitiveness and maximise benefits from investment.

Suparut Kawatkul, CP Group's vice chairman, Finance and Investment Committee, said Thailand should no longer rely on low wages, as such a policy had dampened the country's growth for too long.

"The economy has grown at a low rate due to low investment and low returns from the agricultural sector, and has relied more on exports. The country should focus more on attracting new investment and boosting the domestic economy, in particular the farming sector as it involves a major part of the population," he said.

He added that minimum wages had increased slowly over the past 20 years. For instance, from 1997-2010, the daily minimum wage rose 1.31-fold from Bt157 to Bt206 per worker, while inflation rose 1.42-fold, and the average income per capita went up 1.92-fold.

The figures show that Thai labourers' incomes are too low when compared with other workers and the overall economy. This has created a social problem and a widening of the gap between those in the lower and upper classes, Suparut said.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom's revenue proportion from the farming sector dropped from 20 per cent in 1980 to 8 per cent last year. The sector employs more than 16.95 million workers, accounting for 43 per cent of overall employment.

Despite these numbers, the agricultural sector has been subject to low development in the past several years, he said.

To boost the country's growth, he said the new government should focus more on increasing farm sector incomes, in particular in terms of crop values, research and development, irrigation systems and logistics development.

Currently, only 0.25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product is allocated for R&D, which is very low when compared with countries such as Malaysia, for which the figure is 0.64 per cent, China (1.44 per cent) and Singapore (2.52 per cent).

Suparat added that the incoming Pheu Thai-led government's promised policies meant careful management of the budget deficit would be required to support its projects. The government should borrow more money, which will increase its public debt, but it should not exceed 55 per cent of GDP, compared with 41 per cent currently.

He expressed concern that the government would allocate budget spending higher than the level of the investment budget, which would lead to a delay in the disbursement of funds for investment purposes. He said the administration should stimulate private investment by supporting companies via tax-policy facilitation.

The government should also set up a fund for increasing financial liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises, he said. A restructuring of the tax system is also needed in order to promote investment overseas as well as attracting more foreign investment to the country.

To better promote inward investment, Suparut said the government should adjust its current conditions to facilitate investment and promote Thailand as regional headquarters for firms in the Asean Economic Community.

Moreover, the executive said the government should allocate some of the foreign reserves for setting up a sovereign wealth fund, to generate better returns from the Kingdom's financial assets in the long run.

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

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EDITORIAL

'Graft is good': a wake-up call to take issue seriously; Thai opinion

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Iranians and Africans arrested for drug-trafficking

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Jatuporn a Pheu Thai Party member, lawyer tells EC

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Somyos faces criminal court trial

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

The Criminal Court decided yesterday to take up two lese majeste cases against Red Power magazine editor Somyos Prueksakasemsuk, who insists he is innocent.

Somyos was quietly taken from Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday morning, where he had been detained for the past three months, to be presented to the Criminal Court.

Suwit Thongnuan, his defence lawyer, told The Nation that Somyos ought to be given bail now that his case had been taken up by the court.

Suwit said the case was "not ordinary for any lawyer" as it involved serious allegations that could land Somyos in jail for as long as 30 years.

He is accused of allowing two articles written by someone using the pen name of 'Jit Polachan' - who produced a fictitious character in the articles construed by the now-defunct Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) as being a defamatory reference to His Majesty the King - to appear in the magazine.

"It is about the interpretation of the written words," Suwit said.

Somyos has refused to reveal the true identity of 'Jit' who wrote the two articles published by the now-banned Voice of Taksin magazine in February and March 2010.

According to Suwit, Somyos was not even the registered editor and publisher by law.

This person, the lawyer alleges, is a former Thai Rak Thai MP for Uthai Thani, Prasaeng Mongkolsiri, who was not charged by CRES.

The court will examine the lists of evidence and witnesses on September 12 in the case, which Suwit expects will last at least a year.

A number of labour rights groups abroad have campaigned for the release of Somyos, who's a former labour activist. Protesters in South Korea were the most recent to demonstrate in front of the Thai Embassy.

In a related development, on Sunday, what appeared to be a ruling statement by the Constitution Court on whether the trial in secret - in camera - of Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul (aka "Da Torpedo") by the Court of First Instance was constitutional or not, appeared on the Court's website prior to the ruling scheduled for October 17.

The ruling, first reported by prachatai.com online newspaper, stated that the secret trial over lese majeste charges against Daranee was constitutional since it did not affect the essence of rights and liberty in a significant manner.

Earlier this year, on February 9, the Appeals Court reviewed the original ruling of the Court of First Instance and questioned whether a trial in camera could be constitutional or not. The Constitution Court's ruling added that such a trial did not severely affect the proceedings since both the defendant and her lawyer were present during the trial.

No members of the public were allowed to observe it, however. The trial by the lower court ended with Daranee receiving an 18-year jail term for lese majeste speeches.

Reactions following the early posting of the verdict scheduled for October by readers on prachatai news website were swift and full of resentment.

"Strange but true, the judicial process dares not conduct its trial openly and dares not allow the public to know that they are so just," wrote a poster in Thai language.

Yesterday, a writer on prachatai.com by the name of Elizabeth Fitzgerald wrote a note in English asking whether the Constitution Court's ruling was sound or not.

"It is worth asking what it means when the public is excluded from observing a trial - in a democracy, or a state which claims to be one, is the public not relevant and involved party to a court case?"

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

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Bangkok Fire-truck scandal: NACC files charges against Apirak

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Appeal Court upheld life sentence for 3 students

By The Nation

Kesinee Teangkhieo

The Appeal Court yesterday upheld a lower court's ruling to sentence three former students of Pathumwan Institute of Technology to life in jail for the brutal murder of Benjapol Wiriyarampa, a student from Rajamangala University of Technology's Uthen Thawai campus in the Lat Phrao Soi 124 area in August 2006.

Suthinant Wanghomklang, Mongkol Sripool, and Chatri Juwanna - none of who have been arrested yet - were also ordered to pay Bt4.25 million to the victim's mother in compensation, plus 7.5 per cent interest a year till the full sum is paid.

The lower court had previously sentenced each of the three men to life for Benjapol's murder plus two years in jail and a Bt60 fine for possession of an illegal gun. It also ordered them to pay the victim's mother Bt4.25 million.

Yesterday's Appeal Court verdict was read in the absence of the three defendants, who previously failed to attend the initial hearing. The Appeal Court issued warrants for the arrest of the men, saying the three were guilty as charged.

The senior court upheld the lower court ruling but doubled the penalty for possession of an illegal gun to a Bt120 fine, each.

After the verdict was read, Benajpol's mother Ternjit said she wanted police and related agencies to arrest the three, so they and their accomplices face justice. She said she was still grieving over her son's death. She had tried to forgive the killers but they had never apologised to her.

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

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NHRC gets sidetracked in red-shirt riot probe

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Caretaker govt opposes Phnom Penh call on meeting with Thailand

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DSI asked to probe Loei lottery scam

By The Nation

A group of government teachers claiming to be victims of a pyramid scheme based on the government lottery yesterday asked the Department of Special Investigation to take over the case from local police in Loei.

Tharit Phengdit, director general of the DSI, promised to look into the lottery-ticket racket after the special cases committee gives the department jurisdiction over the case, possibly in the near future.

The group supplied him with copies of their contracts from the scheme's operator.

Nirand Atulyasak, deputy DSI chief, said the fraud had been supported by influential figures and national politicians, without giving details.

Loei police had said the suspect, Kalayanee Kaewwoharn, now in court custody, had denied any wrongdoing, claiming that she was running a money-lending business and had run out of liquidity. She pledged to return the money to "all investors" after she left the provincial prison.

The victims have claimed that they had lost about Bt3 billion to Kalayanee and their "upliners", while police estimate the damage at tens of millions of baht.

The con game emerged in Loei a few months ago, preying on |mostly government teachers, and later sought expansion funds |from investors mostly in the Northeast.

According to press reports, Kalayanee had obtained hundreds of lottery-ticket booklets through a limited quota and earned commissions of up to Bt7 per ticket. She promised the investors to share this profit with them if they advanced more money to get more tickets for each draw. The lottery is held every 15 days.

A victim said he had initially put in Bt1.5 million and got nearly Bt3 million back before the payments stopped last month. Some of his friends were out Bt13 million altogether, the unidentified teacher said.

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

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MWA buildings for homeless people, officials say

By The Nation

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday agreed in principle to the idea of renting the former Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) buildings in Maen Sri area - for use as a screening centre for homeless people affected by landscaping at Sanam Luang.

City executives also asked Promprap Sattrupai district officials to survey, design, make a budget and hire contractors to improve the 4.3-rai block so it can be rented for 30 years, the BMA spokesperson Jate Sopitpongstorn said.

The three-storey building would be a screening centre for homeless people, and the six-storey building would be used by BMA agencies, while the "conservation" building would be used as a library, tourism information centre and community art and culture hall.

The water tower would be used as a viewing tower and a restaurant at the bottom and the surrounding plaza would be used for outdoor activities, he said. The city would write to the Crown Property Bureau about renting the property, he said, so the rental fee had yet to be determined.

-- The Nation 2011-07-26

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PACC To probe hotels, mansions in Muaklek, Pakchong

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Dane's death accidental: Phuket police

Rescue workers remove Mr Schmidt’s body from the Kamala hotel.

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Japanese to power up Phuket offshore students

A-Wing donated four 500-watt wind turbines in February to Koh Paluay

in Surat Thani as part of a Ministry of Energy initiative.

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All bars, restaurants, hotels, cafes in Beijing now must install surveillance if they offer wi-fi: http://nyti.ms/ovEloR /via@melissakchan

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Thaksin vows not to meddle in Yingluck’s cabinet formation

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Free flu shots provided by BMA in August

ฺBANGKOK, 26 July 2011 (NNT)-Bangkok Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra has encouraged people to receive free flu shots with altogether 79,000 doses made available to mark Her Majesty the Queen 79th Birthday on 12 August 2011.

According to Bangkok Governor, flu is a disease that can be found in any age groups and causes respiratory problems. It is important to reduce the likelihood and the outbreak of the flu. The Governor stressed that people likely to contract the flu include 7 month old pregnant women, overweight people of 100 kilograms or more, the elderly who are 65 years old and above and babies of 6 months to 2 years old.

Medical services of Wachira Hospital and public health offices around Bangkok will be providing free flu shots from 10-30 August, 2011. Meanwhile a team of doctors will be vaccinating flu shots free of charge from 16.00 hrs – 20.00 hrs. at Sanam Luang.

-- NNT 2011-07-26

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TM the King and Queen express profound sadness to Norwegian King

BANGKOK, 26 July 2011 (NNT) - Following the acts of terrorism in Oslo and a savage attack in the youth camp on Utoeya island of Norway, Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand have sent a message expressing their deep sadness over the tragedy to the King of Norway.

The message said that Their Majesties the King and Queen were deeply distressed by the reports of the bombing in Oslo followed by a massacre on Utoeya Island, resulting in a large toll of death and injuries. They convey their profound sadness to the King of Norway and the Norwegian people, as well as the bereft family members of the victims.

-- NNT 2011-07-26

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Abhisit: Suthep not lobbying for Apirak

BANGKOK, 26 July 2011 (NNT) – Acting Democrat Party Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has brushed off the rumour that Acting Secretary-General of the party Suthep Thaugsuban is intervening in the selection of the party’s secretary-general.

Mr Abhisit downplayed the rumour that Mr Suthep has been lobbying the party’s MPs, especially in the southern region, to vote for Democrat key member and former Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin to replace him in the post.

The acting leader said Mr Suthep really met southern MPs but just to tell them not to make any movements about the selection and to convey his opinion that the post is unnecessarily reserved for southern MPs.

Mr Abhisit added that the list of nominees for the mentioned position has not been finalized yet, and party members have the right to express their opinions freely; however, consideration will only be based on candidates’ qualifications.

-- NNT 2011-07-26

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,128.72, up 1.14 points /MCOT

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EC to consider endorsement of Jatuporn, Nutthawut's election win and asks red-shirts not to pressure it /TAN_Network

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Yingluck: Foreign Minister to be Chosen on Ability

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EC Dismisses Misconduct Complaints over MP Endorsement

The Election Commissioners have downplayed complaints that some of their peers have been lobbied by politicians to facilitate the MP endorsement process while insisting that any members found to have been involved in misconduct will be deposed and subject to criminal prosecution.

Election Commissioner Sodsri Sattayatham dismissed reports that a member of Election Commission, or EC, allegedly joined a golf outing with a politician, claiming that none of the Election Commissioners play golf.

She reaffirmed her agency's commitment to transparency and said any EC members found guilty of malfeasance will be removed from post and criminally prosecuted.

Today, the panel is set to look into 20 election-related complaints.

EC Chairman Apichart Sukhakkanont said his agency will continue to consider complaints against MP-elects, including the red-shirt MP candidates, and will endorse 95 percent of the total MPs within the week.

He insisted that the EC is not considering replacing party-list MP-elects who are pending endorsement with other candidates.

Election Commissioner in charge of fraud investigation, Somchai Jeungprasert refuted allegations that an Election Commission member was engaged in bribery, saying that there have been many attempts to discredit his agency beginning before the election.

He noted that a team of investigators will be appointed should the panel receive such a complaint.

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Pheu Thai Party list MP-elect Jatuporn Phromphan, who is still being held on remand, submitted a letter and related documents to the EC explaining that Jatuporn was still a member of the Pheu Thai Party before he was put in prison and before the deadline for submitting the candidate's application.

As of today, 365 of the 402 endorsed MPs have reported to Parliament.

Among the latest were Democrat Party's MP for Bangkok Samart Maluleem and Pheu Thai MP for Lamphun Sathaporn Maneerat.

-- Tan Network 2011-07-26

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Thai Govt to Sue German Contractor over Royal Plane Seizure

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