Thailand Live Tuesday 20 Sep 2011

[webfact]

Thailand Live Tuesday 20 September 2011

News, Bits and Tweets

with webfact

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.

FOLLOW US:

You can also follow us on

- Twitter: http://twitter.com/georgebkk

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThaiVisaNews

- Google+: http://plus.google.com/116866638430460700577/

- Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/564113621/

- Breaking News via SMS text messages to your mobile phone or handheld device

To subscribe dial *424010011 on AIS, One-2-Call, DTAC or True Move networks

14 days complementary subscription for Thaivisa members.

If you have questions about the Breaking News SMS service,

email: sms [at] thaivisa.com

________________________________________________________________________________

Thailand's current weather and forecasts: http://weather.thaivisa.com/

________________________________________________________________________________

Related topic: Thailand Live Monday 19 September 2011

[webfact]

Today's Thailand weather and forecasts:

Follow this link: http://weather.thaivisa.com/

[webfact]

Tax deductions for up to Bt500.000: First time home buyers

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Plan to expunge coup moves backed

Follow this link:

[webfact]

FLOOD

Most rain in 30 years, government records show: Thailand

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Troops near Preah Vihear adjusted but yet to be withdrawn: Yutthasak

Follow this link:

[webfact]

PM Yingluck enjoys House canteen to to quash 'Bt200.000 a meal' rumours

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Good intention is not necessarily good policy: Thai opinion

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Many Surveillance cameras are 'fake', Bangkok authorities admit

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Abhisit gets Royal nod

By The Nation

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has been officially appointed as opposition leader.

A Royal command signed by His Majesty the King on Friday was delivered to Abhisit via House secretary-general Pithoon Pumhiran yesterday at 3pm.

Abhisit said he would work for the advancement of the people and country.

-- The Nation 2011-09-20

[webfact]

Mahidol urged to dump alcohol logo

By The Nation

The Stop Drinking Network yesterday urged Mahidol University (MU) and its Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital to remove the logo of an alcohol company from posters and material promoting Mahidol Day.

Mahidol Day is celebrated on September 24 every year to remember Prince Mahidol, who is dubbed the Father of Modern Medicine in Thailand. The late prince is the father of the current monarch.

"As a medical school, the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital should not allow the logo of an alcohol company to appear in material promoting Mahidol Day," the network's manager Thira Watcharapranee said.

He said more than 116 activists from non-government organisations and the Buddhist sector had sent a joint letter to the faculty dean, university president, and MU Council president to make the point.

Thira said the university and its Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital should stop accepting any sponsor whose logo was the same or similar to that of alcohol products.

"Other educational institutes should not recruit alcohol companies as sponsors either," he said.

Thira said if health organisations were duped into promoting the logos of alcohol companies, it would become hard for people in general to realise the danger of alcohol. He said 26,000 people were killed by alcohol in Thailand every year.

-- The Nation 2011-09-20

[webfact]

Bangkok Santika Pub Fire Verdict Today

Follow this link:

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE

Legal opponents of the coup need to look deeper: Thai opinion

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Thai Activist Seng - Fighting for the forest, battling against the dam

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Education Ministry seek bt470 billion

By Supinda Na Mahachai

The Nation

The Education Ministry is seeking Bt470-billion for its operations in the 2012 fiscal year. This is Bt60 billion more than the initial budget plan.

"We have tried to keep the requested budget amount within the initial framework but there are many projects that we need to implement," Education Minister Woravat Au-apinyakul explained yesterday.

One of the projects was the One Tablet PC Per Child. He said this project would need Bt3.7 billion in the 2012 year. Of this, Bt700 million would be for the Office of Private Education Commission.

"But children in the private education sector will be given a choice. If they don't want tablet PCs from the state, they can choose something else from the list of items we are going to offer," Woravat said.

Previously, he said each tablet PC would range between Bt2,000 and Bt3,000 in price and Pathom-1 students would get the devices first.

Woravat said the request had already been given to the Budget Bureau, and it "may revise it down".

The Budget Bureau said the Basic Education Commission has requested Bt279.46 billion while the Vocational Education Commission has asked for Bt30.03 billion. The Higher Education Commission has sought Bt110.5 billion, the Education Council has requested Bt404 million, and the Ministry's Office of the Permanent Secretary has asked for Bt47.98 billion.

-- The Nation 2011-09-20

[webfact]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Thai Anti-graft body works without agenda or bias: NACC's Methee

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Mosques in South help to treat addict

By THE NATION

HM the Queen proposed that imams, officials cooperate to reduce drug abuse

The deep South has widespread drug abuse, with about 200,000 users, but a new royal project using religious bonding to attract voluntary rehabilitation promises to reduce the problem, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri told a Pattani press conference yesterday.

The users are mainly from 15-24 years of age and tend to refuse to seek treatment or detoxification at government hospitals, prompting long-term addiction.

This has concerned Her Majesty the Queen, who has proposed the idea of seeking cooperation from imams to use mosques as centres to encourage drug addicts to seek treatment.

Under the royally-initiated scheme, mosque officials and imams work jointly with local or Muslim public health volunteers to ensure continuous treatment and post-detox follow-up.

Now 13 mosques are taking part in the scheme, which saw a large number of rehabilitated drug users taking part, with only 7 per cent returning to their old habit.

A minimum of one mosque in all districts in the three southernmost provinces will be operating under this scheme by the end of next year, Witthaya said.

Among the other measures is a strictly-enforced ban on the sale of many chemicals or medicine used as reactants to illegal drugs, such as certain brands of cough medicine or pseudoephedrine, without a doctor's prescription.

In reference to the ongoing violence and three bomb attacks last Friday, Yongyuth Wichaidit, a deputy prime minister and interior minister, said the motivation should not be seen as the new government taking power.

Muslims in the South were not interested in separatism but still felt uneasy with some sense of injustice or the lack of possessions, he said.

Illegal businesses have been operating for years in the South, ranging from goods and oil smuggling, gambling and drug dealing, which also benefited corrupt officials, he said.

Responding to news reports about the possible appointment of General Panlop Pinmanee as director of the Internal Security Operations Command, where he had served during the Thaksin Shinawatra government, Yongyuth said it was just an idea.

He had not seen a statement |saying Panlop's appointment could not be made in terms of legal |technicalities.

He also dismissed reports about Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew, the new secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, serving concurrently as director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre.

Witthaya said two more people have died since Friday, bringing the total to five, while 25 were still receiving hospital treatment among the 115 wounded in the three bomb attacks.

-- The Nation 2011-09-20

[webfact]

Satellite TV: 2.5 billion Baht from 1st of 1 Sky: Grammy

Follow this link:

[webfact]

TAT drives for more arrivals from China

By SUCHAT SRITAMA

THE NATION

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is eyeing the Chinese market, as it will soon become the largest source of tourists for Thailand.

TAT and the government are planning a series of marketing measures and activities specifically targeting China, including relaxed visa regulations, new campaigns and promotions, and investment negotiations.

Suraphon Svetasreni, governor of TAT, said last week that the Chinese would outnumber Malaysians, who were the biggest in arrivals last year. Nearly one million Chinese visited Thailand last year and more than a million are expected this year. Accord-ing to TAT figures, international visitors increased 12.63 per cent to 15 million last year, of whom 3.6 million or 20 per cent were from East Asia.

The top five East Asian markets from January-May this year were China at 793,266, up 68.2 per cent; Japan at 573,271, up 20.6 per cent; Korea at 517,725, up 35.4 per cent; Hong Kong at 206,935, up 58.9 per cent; and Taiwan at 252,170, up 26.8 per cent.

In turn, China is becoming one of the most popular destinations abroad for Thai tourists. More than five million Thais ventured overseas last year, with 630,000 heading to China.

The Thai and Chinese governments are talking about tourism cooperation as well as investment.

Tourism has grown rapidly in China. It is spending bundles of money promoting tourism and loosening laws governing the industry.

Over the coming years, Asia is supposed to experience the greatest growth in tourism, with the lion's share occurring in China.

In 2007, China ranked fifth in the world in tourism revenues with 55 million visitors generating US$42 million. Some predict revenues will reach $300 million by 2015 when China becomes the world's most popular tourist destination.

-- The Nation 2011-09-20

[webfact]

Central, Lower Northeast and Southwest warned of possible flash flood from heavy rain /TAN_Network

[webfact]

Criminal Court to hand down verdict on Santika pub blaze on Jan 1, 2009 against 7 defendants who pleaded not guilty today /

Pheu Thai MPs to take part in charity football match to raise funds for flood victims at Port Authority stadium at 5pm /

Red-shirt lawyer to petition for court's permission to let red-shirt terrorist suspects leave country for football match in Cambodia /

Prosecutor to decide whether to file charges against yellow-shirts for airports seizure at 9am /

/TAN_Network

[webfact]

Irrigation Dept chief assures all dams are in good condition despite huge volume of water and that BKK won't see flooding /TAN_Network

[webfact]

Four Thai researchers get L'Oreal's nod 'For Women in Science' awards

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,018.05, up 0.86 points /MCOT

[webfact]

AFP feature: Troops outnumber monks at temples in Thai south

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Govt: No Extrajudicial Killings in Drug Crackdown

Follow this link:

[webfact]

Abhisit Officially Appointed Opposition Leader

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has been officially endorsed as the Opposition leader.

He pledges to protect the nation's interest and perform his duties with utmost honesty.

Secretary-General of the House of Representatives, Pitoon Pumhiran presented a royal command to Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva appointing him the Opposition leader.

After receiving the royal command, the party leader said he is honored to have been appointed the leader of the Opposition and that he is committed to protecting the nation's interest and to work with utmost honesty.

Acknowledging that the country is still experiencing a number of problems, including natural disasters and internal conflicts, Abhisit said he and his party will work to ensure that the country is moving in the right direction to bring happiness to the public.

Meanwhile, Priscilla Hayner, an expert on truth commissions and transitional justice, held a meeting with the Democrat Party leader to discuss guidelines for bringing about national reconciliation.

Abhisit assured that he is ready to cooperate with the independent truth and reconciliation committee.

Regarding the request to postpone prosecution of the red-shirt demonstrators, he noted that groups that commit political and criminal offenses must not be considered in the same manner.

If they are, it could lead to the misrepresentation of facts.

He expressed minimal concern about reports that the Department of Special Investigation will forward the case concerning the death of the 13 protesters during last year's rally to police, saying that no one can change the truth, while also urging investigators to carry out their duties transparently.

-- Tan Network 2011-09-20

[webfact]

Democrat senior member Suthep voices concern red-shirts may take over country in 3 years /TAN_Network

[webfact]

BKK governor affirms no corruption in 100,000 CCTVs installation; ready to tackle overflow of Chao Phraya River in capital /TAN_Network

Nong Khai provincial seat under floodwater due to heavy rain; schools in Trang province closed as forest-runoff hits 3 districts /MCOT

[webfact]

US: Web giant debuts mobile payment system Google Wallet

Follow this link: