Thailand Live Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

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Thai Army Denies Rumor of Spying on Cambodia

The army spokesman has come out to deny that a spy operation is being carried out in Cambodia.

Army Spokesman, Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, has come out to deny the rumor after a Cambodian newspaper wrote that a Thai aircraft suspected of spying on Cambodia crashed in Cambodian territory.

Sansern insisted the rumor has not been supported by any credible sources.

Sansern went on the question Cambodia's motif for making up such a story.

The Region 2 Army Spokeman, Prawith Hookaew reiterated that no spy aircrafts have been commissioned along the Thai-Cambodia border.

He affirms that there is no need for espionage, as the border situation is now peaceful.

Regarding troop withdrawls to comply with the ruling by the International Court of Justice, he said Thailand and Cambodia will discuss the matter again at the upcoming General Border Committee meeting or GBC, to be held next month.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-17

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Yingluck denies linkage between Thaksin and Thai govt

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Thai composite stocks index at midday Wednesday at 1,094.63, up 17.61 points, or 1.64 per cent amid Bt 18.40 billion turnover /Nation

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Phitsanulok hard hit by flooding; warning issued for 40 provinces this week

PHITSANULOK, Aug 17 - Flooding in the lower northern province of Phitsanulok is still critical while the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation issued a warning for possible flash floods and landslides in the North, the Northeast and the East this week.

In Phitsanulok, villagers moved their household belongings to higher ground after heavy rain caused the Yom River to overflow its banks by some two metres.

Nine schools were forced to close indefinitely after being flooded, and many roads are under water. Parts of the provincial seat, Phrom Phiram and Bang Rakam districts were hard hit, with residents evacuating their flooded homes.

The disaster response department warned of possible flash floods and landslides Aug 17-21 in the foothills, low-lying areas and areas near waterways in 40 provinces in the North, Northeast and East, Director-General Viboon Sanguanpong said.

The department concluded the floods on Wednesday affected 3,178,695 people in 27 provinces.

Some 320 homes were damaged and 1,838,000 rais (some 735,000 acres) of crops were destroyed, while 5,256 roads have been damaged. Twenty-nine deaths were reported in ten provinces and one person went missing in a landslide in Mae Hong Son.

Flooding continues in 12 provinces, affecting some 215,000 people and has eased in 15 provinces, including Sukhothai, Uttaradit, Phichit, Phisanulok, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Nayok, Ayutthaya, Mukdaharn, Roi Et, Kalasin and Ubon Ratchathani.

Relief supplies were distributed to flood victims, and drinking water trucks, flat-bottomed boats and machines were sent to flood-stricken areas. Government emergency workers have surveyed the damage to determine what further assistance can be issued under Ministry of Finance regulations. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-08-17

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House to meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays

By The Nation

The House of Representatives on Wednesday decided by a majority vote to convene twice per week - on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Pheu Thai MP Cholnan Srikaew sponsored the motion specifying the Wednesday session to start from 1.00 pm to 9.00 pm and the Thursday session from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.

Following a two-hour debate, the coalition lawmakers approved the motion by 273 votes.

Pheu Thai MP Paijit Sreewarakan then pushed through his motion for the House session to last from August 21 to April 16.

-- The Nation 2011-08-17

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No purge of security officials: Kowit

By The Nation

Deputy Prime Minister Kowit Wattana on Wednesday confirmed he would not change job assignments of top security officials, including National Security Council secretary general Tawin Pleansri.

"There will be no purge of security officials at this juncture and Tawin is a capable man devoted to his job," he said.

Kowit said the prime minister entrusted him to take charge of security affairs, supervising the NSC and the National Intelligence Agency.

Issues related to drug suppression and justice will be under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, he said.

-- The Nation 2011-08-17

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Four shot dead in Thai south

NARATHIWAT, August 17, 2011 (AFP) - Gunmen have shot and killed four people, including an elderly school bus driver, in separate attacks across the violence-plagued Thai south, police said Wednesday.

A Muslim rubber tapper, 34, was gunned down during an ambush inside the plantation where he worked in Narathiwat early Wednesday, one of three southern provinces near the Malaysian border afflicted by a long-running insurgency.

Two other attacks on Muslims in different parts of the province on Tuesday, both drive-by shootings, killed a 28-year-old man returning from evening market and a 33-year-old woman who was travelling on a motorbike with her husband.

Also on Tuesday in neighbouring Pattani province, a 68-year-old Buddhist man, who drives a school bus and owns a local shop, was shot dead while on a morning bicycle ride.

More than 4,700 people have been killed since rebels launched an uprising in early 2004, according to the latest figures from Deep South Watch, which monitors the conflict.

The organisation says more than half of the victims are Muslims, many apparently targeted because they are seen as traitors for cooperating with the local authorities.

Rights groups say the militants are rebelling against a long history of perceived discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims in the deep south by governments in the Buddhist-majority nation.

However the militants keep a low profile and have not publicly stated their goals.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-08-17

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ABAC Poll: 13.4% of Bkk youth engage in drugs

BANGKOK, 17 August 2011 (NNT) – Over 13.4% of youth in Bangkok and vicinities are estimated to engage themselves in narcotic drugs, according to a recent survey by Assumption University Research Centre (ABAC Poll).

The survey was conducted with 1,815 samples of youth out of a total of 1,606,286 youngsters aged from 12 to 24 years old in Bangkok and vicinities, with the standard deviation of 7%. The study was carried out from 1 to 15 August 2011 as part of the Monitoring the Quality of Thai Youth project.

Based on the study analysis, between 202,392 and 327,682 young people in Bangkok and vicinities, or 13.4% of the total population, are estimated to engage themselves in narcotic drugs, excluding liquor and tobacco.

ABAC Poll suggested that social networks should be created to suppress narcotic drugs and crime continuously and seriously. Notifications from the police should be sent out to citizens, encouraging them to monitor and prevent narcotic drug trafficking and other crimes.

In addition, a grand-scale search should be conducted through all communities and premises with a fine-tooth comb, which will help cut the ring of narcotic drug dealers and their supporters.

The last suggestion is to reform the rehabilitation for drug addicts by using a transparent screening process to ensure that no drug dealers would mingle with addicts in custody and form drug trafficking networks inside rehabilitation houses.

Treated addicts should also be monitored for at least five years to ensure that they really have become good citizens of the society, work in honest jobs, do no harm to the society and have stability in their lives.

-- NNT 2011-08-17

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PM denies trying to fix Constitution quickly for her brother

BANGKOK, 17 August 2011 (NNT)-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has indicated that constitutional amendments are not an urgent matter to be finished within 3 months or one year. Her comment came in response to a rumor about Pheu Thai’s attempt to make speedy amendments to the Constitution.

Ms. Yingluck explained that the length of the Constitution amendment process would be deliberated by the House of Representatives. Public opinions would be taken into account, according to Ms. Yingluck, adding that the intention to change the Constitution was not to wipe the slate clean for her brother, Pol Lt Col Thaksin Shinawatra, but for the benefit of Thai people.

Meanwhile, she also denied that her brother was traveling to Cambodia as a representative of the Thai government, saying that he was on a personal trip.

-- NNT 2011-08-17

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Weng pushing forward charter rewrite

BANGKOK, 17 August 2011 (NNT) – Pheu Thai party-listed MP Medical Doctor Weng Tojirakarn has announced that a charter amendment will be pushed forward immediately after the government elucidates its policy statement to Parliament.

Medical Doctor Weng, also key figure of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), told the press that the party will push forward the charter amendment which has been given a green light by party executives and included in the policy statement.

The MP went on to say that at present, the party is in the preparation process which might take a couple of months.

Medical Doctor Weng added that Section 291 of the charter must be amended first to open for appointment of a Constitutional Drafting Assembly, and then public referendum will be conducted to ask people which of the constitutions, the 1997 or 2007 editions, they prefer to use as the model for rewrite.

The MP explained further that after the new charter draft is completed, people will be asked in a referendum again if they agree with the completed charter or not. He believed that the two referendums will not be viewed as a waste of budge as long as they are conducted efficiently.

The UDD key figure stressed that the amendment will be beneficial for the nation since people want democracy. He noted that all independent organisations created under the 2007 Constitution will be terminated after the new charter which aims to free the country from the influence of the old coup d’état becomes effective.

-- NNT 2011-08-17

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Jatuporn to waiver immunity and face lese majeste charge

By The Nation

Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan on Wednesday said he would not invoke his parliamentary immunity after acknowledging offence against the monarchy in connection with his April 2 speech at the red-shirt rally.

Jatuporn said he would report to the Department of Special Investion and sign a consent form to surrender himself tor the legal proceedings without invokving his immunity.

He would also notify the House speaker about his intent not to use the immunity as shield from prosecution.

"By waivering immunity, I want to prove my innocence," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-08-17

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Fire breaks out in condominium in downtown Bangkok's Sukhumvit 24; Firefighters trying to rescue trapped residents, traffic closed /MCOT

Soi 24 fire as viewed from BTS platform, 200m away. Street closed off. http://mypict.me/m0pnc /via@thaicam

Sukhumvit Soi 24 Fire - photo set on Flickr, taken by Andy Zingo http://bit.ly/q7N0dk /via@veen_NT /via@Tulip_Oum

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SHINAWATRA GOVERNMENT

Defence minister defends Thaksin's visit to Phnom Penh

By The Nation

Defence Minister Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapa came out on Wednesday to defend the visit of ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to Cambodia, saying Thaksin's visit is personal and did not represent the Thai government.

Thaksin, brother of PM Yingluck and ex-economic adviser to Cambodian government, will visit Cambodia this Friday to meet with leaders and investors in Phnom Penh.

A Pheu Thai source has claimed Thaksin will discuss an oil-and-gas concession in the Gulf of Thailand where claims overlap.

Yingluck had earlier claimed her brother did not represent the Thai government.

Thaksin, expected to be in Phnom Penh for two days, will take some foreign investors to meet and play golf with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defence Minister Tea Banh to make the business deal.

Yutthasak claimed Thaksin's visited to Cambodia was to meet the business community, and was not involved with the Thai government.

The minister said he will visit Thai-Cambodian border Friday and will stay on Thai soil to view areas under supervision of the 2nd Army Area Command.

He also denied a Cambodian report that an unmanned Thai spy plane had crashed in Cambodia.

The 2nd Army Area Command asserted that Thailand's armed forces do not have such aircraft and the crash site was reported to be some 20 km from border, so it was impossible that this country's aircraft would proceed that far into Cambodian airspace.

-- The Nation 2011-08-17

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Scotland Yard: 1,733 people arrested & 1,005 charged in connection with London riots. /via@SkyNewsBreak

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SET index closed at 1093.51, up 16.49; Bt/USD29.76; GBP48.73; AUD31.16; EUR42.78; CAD30.18; HKD3.81; SGD24.57; JPY38.62

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German found dead in Jomtien condo

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Thailand Live Thursday 18 Aug 2011

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