Thailand Live Thursday 11 Aug 2011

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Thailand Live Thursday 11 August 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 10 Aug 2011

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Today's Thailand weather and forecasts:

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Bring peace, His Majesty the King tells Thai govt

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Bangkok's 'Super Skywalk' project halted

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Red shirts feelings mixed on Pheu Thai govt's denial of ministerial posts

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Thai foreign minister pleads for a chance, evasive on Thaksin

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MOTHER'S DAY

Crackdown victim set for tearful Mother's Day

By PONGPHON SARNSAMAK

THE NATION

This is the second year that Payao Akkhahad is celebrating Mother's Day without her precious daughter Kamolkade - a paramedic who was killed in Wat Pathum Wanaram during the military crackdown on May 19, last year.

Every year, Payao was given three jasmine garlands on Mother's Day - one from Kamolkade and one each from her two sons. This year, though, she will only get two garlands.

"Just like other mothers who have lost their daughters or sons in the crackdown, I offer a jasmine garland to my daughter's remains on Mother's Day," she said. "It's still difficult for me to forget about her death, but I know I have to stand up and fight for justice."

Payao has filed petitions with all involved agencies, including the Department of Special Investigation, the National Police Bureau and the National Human Rights Commission, for them to investigate her daughter's death. She has also filed a civil lawsuit seeking compensation from the government, which had ordered a military crackdown on red-shirt protesters.

So far, nobody has been held responsible for her daughter's death. "I will keep fighting until my daughter gets justice," the distraught mother insisted.

Apart from working to bring justice for her daughter, Payao has also set up a centre to help provide legal assistance to relatives of other victims of the crackdown.

She said she would ask the newly elected government to continue investigating the deaths caused by the crackdown and punish the wrongdoers.

"The government should find the truth about what really happened to my daughter and other victims and take legal action against the wrongdoers before going ahead with its reconciliation plans," she said.

She added that Yingluck Shinawatra, as the country's first female PM and mother of a nine-year-old, should understand a mother's plight.

"I will first ask her to remove DSI director-general Tarit Pengdith and other officials who have done little to help my daughter's case," she said.

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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SURVEY

Confidence to spur spending over long weekend

By Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation

The establishment of a new government and better confidence in the economy will spur spending during the upcoming long weekend, reaching Bt19 billion, according to a survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).

Spending on Mother's Day tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will grow by 13.6 per cent to Bt16.19 billion, while spending on the Chinese Ghost Festival, also this weekend, will grow by 5.2 per cent to Bt2.49 billion year on year.

"After the new Cabinet is settled, consumers feel more confidence to spend money as they have a positive outlook on growth," said Thanavath Phonvichai, director to the UTCC's Economic and Business Forecasting Centre.

He added that despite such negative factors as the global economic crunch, most people have not yet felt any impact.

The survey of 1,164 respondents indicated that people would have higher confidence to spend money during these upcoming special occasions. However, most people would spend more mainly because of higher goods prices rather than because of a change in purchasing behaviour since last year.

Products that have higher prices mainly are pork, fruits, desserts, poultry, and cooked food.

To deal with higher prices, 42 per cent of respondents said they would purchase less of some goods, mainly pork to other foods.

To boost consumer spending, the new government has an urgent task to solve the rising cost of living and boost people's incomes, Thanavath suggested.

Respondents to the survey said the urgent tasks of the new government included curbing rising prices of consumer goods and fuel, reducing household debt, increasing social unity, reducing the costs of necessities such as buses, water and electricity, and solving corruption.

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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EDITORIAL

Big challenges ahead for Yingluck govt

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Only a major overhaul can save the Democrat Party; Thai talk

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Iranian arrested at Suvarnabhumi with'ice' worth US$420,000

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PM Yingluck: Let us work for 6 months before criticising us

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BURNING ISSUE

Several heads on the block as Yingluck takes charge

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Bangkok Taxi Driver gets death for killing lover and her son

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Constitution Court president Chut steps down

By The Nation

Constitution Court President Chut Chonlavorn has kept his word and resigned and a peer vote on his successor is expected within 10 days

"Chut has stepped down as per his [stated] intention to serve for just three years," Justice Jaran Pukditanakul said yesterday.

Chut made the decision on his own accord without any outside pressure, he said.

Chut's departure has no connection with the video clip controversy involving his private secretary Pisit Sakdanarong last year, he said. Until his replacement is appointed, Chut would remain as caretaker president.

Of the nine judges on the Constitution Court bench, Wasant Soypisut is the most senior and would be favourite for the job.

Chut's leadership was marred when Pisit was named a key suspect in the leak of a video which was later posted on YouTube.

The footage was allegedly doctored to depict the judges meeting in a private chamber to discuss the Democrat Party dissolution case.

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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Police submit charges in Muk case

By The Nation

Police yesterday submitted to the Bangkok Military Court prosecutor the case report recommending that Colonel Saksit Phuklan be charged with attempted murder relating to a "road rage" incident on June 4 that left Phra Mongkut Army Hospital doctor Hathaiporn "Mor Muk" Imwitthaya severely injured.

After the three-hour procedure, Pol Lt-Colonel Wichai Daengpradap of Phayathai police said the military prosecutor would consider the evidence and then decide whether to file a case in court or request further investigation.

Saksit, director of the administrative office of the Royal Thai Armed Forces' Comptroller-General's Department, went to the court at 7am for the procedure and left without comment.

Colonel Peerapol Pokpong, director of the Phra Mongkut Army Hospital's department of trauma and emergency medicine, said Hathaiporn was X-rayed yesterday in preparation for an artificial skull cap to be inserted in October.

He said she could count but still had some speech difficulties. Based on other patients with similar injuries who had recovered fully and returned to their professions, he believed Hathaiporn could do the same.

While Hathaiporn's mother declined to comment on the case, Muk's cousin Kosalang Wannarospak said they didn't agree totally with police conclusions. Suspicions remained, such as where Saksit parked his car that night, why police didn't charge those inside the car with him, and whether he was truly the "hit-and-run" driver.

However, they said it was too late to argue and the silver lining for them was that Hathaiporn was recovering. If she returned to normal, then she would reveal the truth, he added.

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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Empowered by court forest officials on scouring mission

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No agreement yet over House sessions

By The Nation

The Speaker of the House of Representatives yesterday postponed for a week a meeting on how long each House session should last.

A decision on the length of each session could not be reached by participating MPs, because House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranon said, the government whips were "novices" and were not efficient in their jobs.

However, opposition Democrat MP Warong Dejkitwikrom said this could be because some coalition MPs were dissatisfied about the allocation of Cabinet seats among factions in coalition parties, particularly Pheu Thai.

At yesterday's House meeting, which was chaired by Somsak, Pheu Thai MP Paijit Sriworakhan from the Northeast province of Nakhon Phanom, suggested that House meetings should kick off at 1.30pm on Wednesdays and at 10.30am on Thursdays, with the adjournment to be decided by the chairperson.

Earlier, there were reports that Pheu Thai MPs from the Northeast were dissatisfied with the small allocation of Cabinet seats despite the fact that the majority of seats had been won in the region.

In response to Paijit's proposal, opposition MPs from Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties raised objections, arguing that House meetings should start no later than 9am.

Opposition MP Warong said that by starting early, the Lower House would have more time and be more efficient.

Bhum Jai Thai MP Boonjong Wongtrairat said he agreed that the House meeting should be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but that the sessions should start from 9am and be adjourned at 7pm on Wednesdays and at 5pm on Thursdays.

"We, the MPs, have been given a raise, so we should work harder," he said.

Somsak said both coalition and opposition whips had met on Tuesday and agreed that House sessions would start at 10.30am and end at 5.30pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. However, he added that the three largest parties - Pheu Thai, Democrat, and Bhum Jai Thai - did not adhere to the agreement reached by their whips on Tuesday.

The House Speaker, meanwhile, has called on both sides to find a solution and meet again next week for a final decision. "We still have time. The government has 15 days before it needs to declare its policies [to Parliament]," he said.

Democrat MP Rangsima Rodrassamee from Samut Songkhram said MPs were now being paid more than Bt100,000 a month each - thanks to a more than Bt9,000 increase.

"MPs should do their work so it is worth the taxpayers' money," she said, adding that she admired India's House of Representatives, because it met five days a week. "Don't be so lazy. Your salary hike comes from the taxpayers' money."

She added that House committees should meet on days that are different from the House meetings.

The Speaker, meanwhile, adjourned the House yesterday at 11am and postponed the next session until next Wednesday until the length of each session can be decided upon.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit disagreed with the Speaker's decision, adding that the solution can be sought through votes.

The spokesman said he thought the timings proposed by Paijit would help avoid the problem of a lack of quorum as often experienced by the previous House.

Deputy House Speaker Charoen Jankomol said he believed the disagreement between the coalition and the opposition would be decided by voting.

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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UN envoy probes situation of human trafficking in Thailand

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Mahidol honours great mothers

By WANNAPA KHAOPA

THE NATION

It's difficult being a mother, especially when the child is disabled. However, nothing can compare to the happiness the mother feels when she sees her child doing well.

Nong Khai resident Supaporn Tansoontorn, 40, told The Nation that she was happy even though looking after her six-year-old son Moo Noi, who has Down's syndrome, was the toughest job she has ever had to do.

This month, Supaporn and 15 other mothers were honoured by Mahidol University.

Her problems started nine years ago, when she realised that her eldest son Leo, who was two then, could not speak. So she took him to see specialists in Khon Kaen for six months.

Determined to make her son speak, Supaporn helped him practise every day. Since she also works at a hospital in Nong Khai, holding a full-time job as well as taking care of her son was very tiring. Yet with constant practice for six months, Leo finally uttered his first word.

"He said 'Coke' when he saw the logo. I shed tears of happiness even though he had not said the word mae as other mothers hear from their children," Supaporn said.

Two years later, this mother found herself in another tough position - her youngest son was born with Down's syndrome.

"I used to think about killing myself and my sons, but when I looked at them, I told myself I needed to work harder," she said.

Apart from Down's syndrome, Moo Noi also has problems with his thyroid gland and suffers from leukaemia. For seven months both her sons were in the same hospital, and Supaporn had to turn to her older sister for a helping hand.

Now, her hard work has paid off. Leo, despite his early problems speaking, is now a bit of a bookworm and is earning good grades in school. She is also sending Moo Noi to school because she wants him to lead as normal a life as possible. The boy is able to eat, brush his teeth and get dressed on his own.

"Moo Noi is a cheerful boy. Many in school love him," she said.

"Thanks to Moo Noi, our family has come closer. My older sister, who helped me take care of him earlier, offers me a lot of moral support. I feel as if she is my mother."

-- The Nation 2011-08-11

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Yuthasak wants to mend fences with the military

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North, Northeast, and East to see heavy rain and possible flash floods; Phitsanulok and Prae still heavily flooded /TAN_Network

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Apple surpasses Exxon as world's most valuable company

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PTT and Bangchak to cut gasoline and gasohol prices by 50 satang/lr and E85 by 30 satang/lr effective tomorrow at 5am /TAN_Network

1st Cabinet meeting active; PM insists Foreign Minister Surapong suitable for post /TAN_Network

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Tourism event to be held next week will create 400 million THB in the country

BANGKOK, 11 August 2011 (NNT)-The Thai Travel Agent Association (TTAA) is gearing up to host a tourism event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center with 400 million THB expected to be generated from tour packages sold during this event.

President of TTAA Mr.Charoen Wang-amanon said this event would be the first of its kind to be held during the low season. It will take place from 18-21 August, 2011.

Promotions and services will be offered by 800 participants who are local tour operators as well as local and international airlines. 300,000 visitors are expected to visit this event.

-- NNT 2011-08-11

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Thai stock index opens on Thursday at 1,054.39, down 5.82 points /MCOT

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Internal Trade Department Monitors Pork Prices

After the Internal Trade Department capped pork price at 152 baht per kilogram, inspections have been carried out at various markets across the country.

Police have already apprehended one pork seller at a fresh market in Bangkok for selling overpriced pork.

Director-general of the Internal Trade Department or ITD, Watcharee Vimuktayon said after inspections at various markets in Bangkok that most vendors are selling pork at 152 baht per kilogram, which is in line with the Commerce Ministry's capped price.

Watcharee noted that only one pork vendor at Wang Hin market was found to be selling pork at 155 baht per kilogram.

The pork vendor was arrested and criminally charged for illegal overpricing, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment, a 100,000 baht fine, or both.

She further said that the Commerce Ministry has joined forces with relevant agencies and police to conduct random inspections of live pig and pork prices at farms and fresh markets, after the ministry declared a cap on pork prices nationwide, effective as ofAugust 6, as part of its measures to combat the current price hike.

Watcharee added that if any irregularities are found, the department will take immediate action.

Anyone who witnesses hoarding or overpricing is urged to call the ITD's hotline, 1569, at once.

The ministry has ordered a cap on live pig prices, at 81 baht per kilogram in the central, eastern, and western regions, 85 baht per kilogram in the North and Northeast, and 87 baht per kilogram in the South.

As for retail prices, the ministry has limited the price to 152 baht per kilogram for the central, eastern and western regions, 157 baht per kilogram for the North and Northeast, and 162 baht per kilogram for the South.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-11

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Thailand: Deposit Protection Act Comes into Effect Today

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Foreign Ministry Contest Thailand's Terror Risk Ranking

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Strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hits 23 kilometers north of Calayan, the Philippines - seismologists /via@mpoppel