Thailand Live Monday 1 Aug 2011

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One soldier dead, two wounded in Pattani bombing

PATTANI, Aug 1 – A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded two others in Pattani’s Yarang district on Monday morning.

Six soldiers from teacher protection unit were patrolling the Saipreekee-Khokyakha road in Yarang district when the roadside bomb exploded.

Cpl Attapol Hongdam, 23 was killed and Sgt Prachak Wisetrat, 27, and Pte Assawin Poonphan, 21, were wounded.

The remote-controlled bomb in an iron box was placed at a signpost and was triggered by battery when military patrol passed by.

Three soldiers were wounded and rushed to hospital. Cpl Attapol suffered severe wounds and died in hospital, while the others are being treated for lesser wounds. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2011-08-01

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Suan Dusit Poll: People waiting for cabinet list

BANGKOK, 1 August 2011 (NNT) – The public are waiting to see the list of the new cabinet led by incoming Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, according to a recent survey by Suan Dusit Poll of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.

Top five ministries receiving the highest public attention are the Ministry of Interior, at 77.89% as its role is key to maintaining order in the nation, the Ministry of Finance, at 72.03% as it deals with the country’s financial status and people’s ways of living and the Ministry of Defence, at 70% as it oversees territorial stability. Two other ministries are Education and Finance.

As for expectation on the new cabinet, 52.91% of respondents are quite positive that the government has knowledgeable MPs with sufficient experience to be ministerial candidates, but 21.97% are quite negative since they believe that the cabinet formation is pre-planned, not decided by the majority of government MPs.

13.01% are very optimistic that the new cabinet will be the best because good selection of cabinet members will be able to reduce friction while 12.11% are very pessimistic because they have no confidence in the stability of the new government at all.

As for the desirable qualification of new ministers, 42.55% of the respondents want people with honesty and ethics. 23.62% want persons with knowledge, capability, leadership and vision while 14.9% want ministers with determination to work for the nation.

-- NNT 2011-08-01

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Police Hunts for Private Who Murdered His Commander in South

Police say an investigation regarding a military officer in the South is underway following a murder they suspect involved personal conflict.

Yala police are searching for the 21-year-old military officer, identified as Private Surasak Bunchu, who shot dead his commander, First Lieutenant Suwan Mudee, in a truck in Songkhla Province yesterday.

An initial probe suggests the suspect attacked the victim on a highway before robbing and killing another victim, identified as Abdulkarim Mate, to snatch a motorcycle to flee the scene.

A bystander was also injured in the attack.

Police said they have installed checkpoints on roads they believed the private has used.

However, investigators say the suspect may have ditched the vehicle and run away.

As for the motive, police believe it likely involved a personal conflict between the killer and the victim.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-01

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Democrat candidate wins Yala by-election

YALA, Aug 1 - Democrat Party candidate Abdulkarim Denggarina won yesterday’s Yala Constituency 2 By-election with 530 votes over Sugarno Mata of Pheu Thai Party, according to Yala provincial election commission chief Boonyasit Suwannarat.

The Election Commission ordered a ballot recount in Yala Constituency 2 after the Pheu Thai candidate who earlier lost to the Democrat candidate by 48 votes lodged a complaint about alleged irregularities concerning wrong tallies, extra ballots being provided to eligible voters and vote counting at polling stations not matching the voter turnout.

In the election re-run, the Democrat candidate substantially widened the margin when compared to his performance in the first election.

Announcing the result of Sunday's by-election, Mr Boonyasit said Mr Abdulkarim won with 28,495 votes or 530 votes over his main rival from the Pheu Thai party, with 27,965 votes. There were a total of 10,043 spoiled ballots.

The Pheu Thai party won 265 seats in the July 3 general election, while the ruling Democrat party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took only 159 seats.

Last week, the Election Commission endorsed dozens of winning candidates, bringing the total number of MPs certified to 496 of the overall complement of 500 MPs, which paved the way for the first house sitting Monday. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2011-08-01

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Mid-day trade sees SET in the plus of 12.29 points to stand at 1145.82. Volume reached 17.35 billion baht /TAN_Network

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Yingluck urged to take dual posts in Cabinet

BANGKOK, 1 August 2011 (NNT) – Incoming Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is encouraged to take the helm of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (SDHS) by herself as social development is crucial to political and economic development.

Secretary General of the Foundation for the Better Life of Children and former senator for Bangkok Wanlop Tangkhananurak stated that so far he still cannot see anyone in the Pheu Thai Party who will be more suitable to the post than Ms Yingluck.

Mr Wanlop admitted that the society usually gives priority to big ministries and just views the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security as a small piece of jigsaw which can be taken care of by anyone although it is the foundation of national development.

The secretary-general, also a well known child activist, noted that politicians mostly put interests in the front. He said however if Ms Yingluck sees the importance of the society, she must take the helm of the SDHS Ministry.

Mr Wanlop noted that Ms Yingluck's feminine qualities are very suitable to take care of social work covering children, juveniles, the underprivileged, and enhancement of gender equality.

-- NNT 2011-08-01

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Missing Aussie tourist found alive and well in Phuket

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Banking giant HSBC confirms 5,000 jobs will be axed worldwide as it announces £7 billion pre-tax profit for 1st half of year - Sky News /via@BreakingNews

Stuart Gulliver confirms that 25,000 jobs to go at HSBC by end of 2013 on top of 5,000 that have already gone this year. /via@MarkKleinman /via@mpoppel

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Cabinet approves Bt100 mln budget, names committee for royal funeral of late Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda /

Inflation in July rose 4.08%, 3.64% on average, for first 7 months, targeted at 3.2-3.7% for whole year: Commerce Ministry /

/MCOT

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Pheu Thai defends its 1 student 1 tablet policy

BANGKOK, 1 August 2011 (NNT) – The Pheu Thai Party has defended its one student, one tablet policy, saying that tablets can help students improve their literacy skills.

In his capacity as a policy drafter of the Pheu Thai Party, Prof Dr Pavich Thongroj explained that tablets are just one component to help boost learning capabilities of students. He asked all sides not to think that learning will depend only on tablets after they are distributed to students.

The Pheu Thai education team member explained that teachers will still play a great role in education, but tablets will provide them with faster and all-time access to information.

Dr Pavich elaborated that the party had given tablets to grade-1 students in Chiang Mai province on an experimental basis, and results showed that the students changed their learning behaviours upon use of tablets. The party is considering giving tablets to other students in grades 4, 7 and 9 as well.

As for the 15-year free education scheme, Dr Pavich said he will have comprehensive discussion with Office of the Basic Education Commission Secretary-General Chinnapat Bhumirat, especially on the allocation of budgets for small schools and schools with special needs.

Dr Pavich noted that Pheu Thai Party will also revive the Income Contingent Loan (ICL) scheme after it was replaced with the Student Loan Fund. He said repayment method to the ICL scheme will be readjusted to allow students to pay back loans only when they have earn adequate incomes to do so.

-- NNT 2011-08-01

[george]

New content in our Hua Hin portal:

Education in Hua Hin

Read more: http://huahin.thaivisa.com/education-in-hua-hin/

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Cabinet approves Bt100 million for royal cremation

The outgoing Cabinet's special meeting Monday has approved an initial budget of Bt100 million to organize the Royal Cremation of HRH Princess Bejraratana.

The Cabinet also approved the cremation-organizing committee and assigned the Fine Arts Department to design and build the royal crematorium from August 2011 to March 2012.

HRH Princess Bejraratana, the only child of King Rama VI and Queen Suvadhana, passed away on July 27 at the age of 85.

Outgoing Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat said after the meeting that outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had signed the Prime Minister's Office order to appoint the royal cremation-organising committee, which would be chaired by Abhisit himself, and approved the Bt100 million budget.

-- The Nation 2011-08-01

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Flight Terminal Change Confuses Passengers

Many air travelers have missed their flights as they were unaware that the Airport of Thailand has redirected all domestic flights to Terminal 1 of Don Muang Airport.

News reports said that earlier today, many passengers have missed their flights because they were unaware that the Airport of Thailand, or AOT, has redirected all domestic flights to Terminal 1 of Don Muang Airport for scheduled maintenance of the current domestic terminal.

Nok Air's flights from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat, Udon Thani and Ubon Ratchathani provinces will be among the first three flights departing from Terminal 1.

The AOT has suggested domestic flight passengers be dropped off at the third floor of Terminal 1.

Passengers can also park their cars at the adjacent 720-capacity parking building or use other means of transport, including taxi, rental car and limousine, available in front of the arrival zone on the first floor.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-01

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Transsexual accused of phone and passport theft from Russian Tourist on Pattaya Beach

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Couple accused of necklace snatch in East Pattaya

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Pattaya City Hall worker accused of theft from three hotels

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Russian falls to his death at condominium in Jomtien

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Arisman to surrender later this year: wife

Pheu Thai party-list MP Rapiphan Pongruangrong said Monday that her husband, Arisaman, would surrender later this year.

Rapiphan said Arisaman insisted that he was not a terrorist as charged by the outgoing government.

-- The Nation 2011-08-01

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SET index closed at 1144.14, up 10.61; Bt/USD29.60; GBP48.62; AUD32.57; EUR42.46; CAD30.95; HKD3.79; SGD24.47; JPY37.80

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AFP: Thai inflation up marginally in July

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James Blunt all set for Bangkok show

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UDD denies threatening EC to certify Jatuporn’s MP status

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COAL SHIPMENT

Samut Sakhon shipment to be halted on court injunction

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Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn presides over state ceremony to open House of Representatives at Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall /MCOT

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to continue:

Thailand Live Tuesday 2 Aug 2011

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