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Thailand Live Saturday 19 Nov 2011

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Thailand Live Saturday 19 November 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.

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Related topic: Thailand Live Friday 18 Nov 2011

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POLITICS

Censure motion on Pracha to be held within this month

The Nation

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The censure debate against Justice Minister Pracha Promnok will take place no later than November 28 followed by a vote on the no-confidence motion, House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranont said yesterday.

"I think a one-day, one-night debate would be enough for a single censure target," he said, adding that he would tentatively schedule the censure debate for November 27 and the vote on the following day.

He was speaking after chief opposition whip Jurin Laksanawisit lodged the no-confidence motion citing Pracha's failure in flood-control operation and his involvement in irregularities related to the relief supplies.

The censure debate is sanctioned by Article 159 of the Constitution.

Pracha will have about two weeks to prepare his rebuttals.

Jurin said 153 Democrat MPs had co-sponsored the no-confidence motion against Pracha, saying the grilling would be based on solid evidence linking the minister to the irregularities.

"I admit the censure debate may not oust Pracha due to the coalition majority, but I think the evidence would make it difficult for coalition MPs vote in support of him," he said, adding that he had no objection to the debate being kept to one day.

After the censure motion, the opposition will ask the Constitution Court to see if seven Pheu Thai MPs, including Pracha, are qualified to continue holding House seats.

The seven are accused of committing constitutional offence by transgressing the executive power they have been given related to the flood control.

The other six MPs are Karun Hosakul, Jirayu Huangsap, Thanusak Lekuthai, Sorachart Thienthong, Vicharn Minchainant and Vorachai Hemma.

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-- The Nation 2011-11-19

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Ruling the waves

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation

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Singers J Jetrin and Joey Boy are tireless in their efforts to bring help to flooded communities

Pop star Jetrin "J" Wattanasin and rapper Apisit "Joey Boy" Opasiampisit may be best known for the careers in the music industry but both are also champions in the world of sports.

Jetrin picked up top prize in the Timed Slalom race at the 1999 Jet Sports World Finals while Joey Boy is a member of Thailand's national paragliding team and will be taking part in the paramotor competition at next year's Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China.

With Central Thailand looking more like a river than dry land, they've both be putting those sporting skills to good use over the last weeks. Jetrin has been riding his jet ski round the sois to help those in need while Joey Boy has given up admiring the landscape from above and is cruising around the streets either in a large truck or a rubber dinghy.

"Most of people I've rescued are old, paralysed or suffer from kidney or heart disease," says Jetrin, who's now 41.

"Me too," says Joey, adding, "that's why I'm now known as grandma's pet."

Both have rescued and evacuated victims from almost all flood-affected areas but agree that the streets around Buddhamondhol and Lam Luk Ka are the most terrifying.

"The areas along buddhamondhol Road like Aksa, Thawee Watthana and Kanchanapisek have been the hardest because of the deep and fast-flowing floodwaters and all the small sois. Lam Luk Ka Khlong 2 and 3 were extremely difficult because they were still surprisingly full of people. The water was chest high.

"We recently joined up with a volunteer medical team from the First Army Area and went with four army trucks, four boats and two jet skis to Wat Udomrangsi School in Buddhamondhol Sai 3. That was hard," says Jetrin.

"I check news of the flooding in the morning to try and find how deep the water is. If it's very high, I use the boat. If it's waist deep or lower, I drive a big truck. But some areas like Buddhamondhol Sai 2 are both low and high, which makes getting around a lot more difficult," says Joey.

"I used my motor rubber dinghy to rescue people with the help of doctors from the military and from Sawang Prateep Foundation. J transported a doctor on his jet ski and sometimes the doctor was giving shots to sick people in front of their houses," he adds.

The garbage and pollution have taken their poll on both jet ski and dinghy though Jetrin points out that he isn't using a competition standard jet ski for rescue operations but a more solid, factory standard model. He's grateful to Tri Petch for their donation of an Isuzu D-max pick-up.

"I damaged a propeller one night in the Lam Luk Ka area. It was about 9pm and very dark because there was no power. I was jittery because two crocodiles had escaped from a flooded farm. When I'd been there before I'd heard chickens clucking. It turned out okay though, but when I went back the next day to deliver 300 survival kits, the chickens weren't clucking anymore," says Jetrin. "Now, I have to carry a weapon to protect myself against crocodiles!"

Both Jetrin and Joey have been making full use of Facebook and Twitter to communicate and spread news of what is needed.

"Twitter is very effective. Today, I have 170,000 Twitter followers and expect 15 per cent of them to spread my information to other people, says Jetrin, whose followers on Twitter include Dome Pakorn Lump and TV hosts Patcharasri "Kalamare" Benjamas and Woody Milintachinda.

"I personally follow media people like Suthichai Yoon, Jomquan Laopet and Sarocha Pornudomsak. Tweeting is great," says Jetrin, who also uploads photos and video clips to his own website JJetrin.com.

Joey Boy too is an avid Twitter fan. "I always check news of flooding through my Twitter account @joeybangkokboy," he says. "I set up my fund, 'Ya Yom Na', meaning don't lose courage, and take donations from my Twitter followers."

Jetrin and Joey often join forces with other volunteer teams, among them Smile, Jetrin's own Flood Fight, Sawang Prateep Sriracha, and Nok Air chief Patee Sarasin.

"We regularly make an appointment for 7am then move after an hour, because it can taken three or four hours to get to a flood-affected area, which would take 30 minutes in normal times. We use Google Maps to check the directions and when we get there I scout around the area on my jet ski then suggest the best route for the boats to take," says Jetrin.

With the water now receding in some areas, Jetrin and Joey are now planning for to help the recovery efforts.

"I will be raising money for the flood-affected victims and helping to meet their needs for bottled water and canned food. I will produce a second set of 1,000 'Flood Fight 2' t-shirts. The new set will be distributed to all NYLA branches at Siam, Esplanade and centralworld," says Jetrin. "We used the money from sales of the first set to maintain the equipment and buy survival kits. I'd like to thanks the Twitter follower who donated 200 packs of water and the owner of the khao kha moo shop at Ram-Indra km10 who provides me with 300 packs every day."

What lessons should Thais learn from this year's floods?

"We need a good water management system, that's for sure," says Jetrin.

"Thai people should be more aware about the dangers of global warming," says Joey.

While both will part company pretty soon after flooding is over, they will be back on stage together early in 2012 at "Sea-Mix on the Beach". It takes place at Ocean Marina Yacht Club Pattaya on February 25.

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-- The Nation 2011-11-19

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Special Bt100 notes to mark King's birthday

Seetalavajit Sabayjai

The Nation

The Bank of Thailand yesterday unveiled a commemorative Bt100 banknote issued to celebrate His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's seventh-cycle birthday on December 5.

A total of 9.9 million special Bt100 bills have been printed for distribution to the general public, said BOT Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul. All revenue after expense from the bank notes will be given to the King while all revenue after expense will be provided to the Chaipattana Foundation.

The special bills can be purchased with a hard-paper cover for Bt200 each, or with a hard-paper cover and a bag at Bt500, he said.

The back of the banknotes feature depictions of some of the King's well-known activities in such fields as water-resource development and management, science and technology, and His Majesty's remarkable musical talent, Prasarn said. A special feature - a first for a Thai banknote - is a horizontal bright gold bar that appears to move up and down the denomination numerals when the note is tilted.

Reservations for the banknotes can be made at branches of commercial banks, the Government Savings Bank, the Government Housing Bank, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and the Islamic Bank of Thailand from Monday (November 21). All of the notes will be distributed on December 21.

The central bank will also organise an exhibition celebrating the King's seventh-cycle birthday at the Bangkhunprom Palace, which houses the Bank of Thailand Museum, from December 6 through January 13.

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-- The Nation 2011-11-19

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'Life will return to normal by Dec 1'

The Nation

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Nonthaburi governor says people will be able to go home soon

Nonthaburi Governor Wichien Phuttiwinyu promised a gathering of angry residents yesterday that most of them should resume life as normal by December 1.

"There might be some flooding, but you should be able to return to your homes by then," he said.

He was speaking after about 1,000 Nonthaburi residents gathered at the city hall to demand that he tackle the crisis right away.

People in the province's Bang Bua Thong, Bang Yai, Bang Kruay and Pak Kret districts have been struggling with serious flooding for more than a month.

After listening to the residents' complaints and speaking to them, Wichien promised to get at least 1,000 pumps as soon as possible to drain the flood water.

Pheu Thai MP for Nonthaburi Chalong Riawraeng, who was also present at the gathering, backed Wichien's promise.

The governor said: "Flood levels should drop by more than 20 centimetres." He added that Bang Bua Thong should see the results first, though Sai Noi would continue being heavily flooded beyond December 1.

Wichien also said he would ask Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra to allow more water through the sluice gate in Mahasawas Canal as well as consider building a dam around the border between the two provinces.

"You can return on Sunday to hear the conclusion," he said.

Meanwhile, Chalong said that if the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) did not respond, Nonthaburi residents could take the matter in their own hands.

The residents got together yesterday after networking via Facebook.

'Dried at others' expense'

In a separate move, representatives from more than 10 neighbourhoods in Bang Bua Thong district demanded that Wichien block government efforts to dry Highway 340, which they say is making matters worse for them.

The government has been trying to drain flood waters from Highway 340 to make it passable, since it can be an alternative route if Rama II Road, which links the capital to the South, gets flooded.

Dissent among flood-affected residents has been rising, especially in areas where barriers have been put up.

On Thursday, a flood defence along the border of Bangkok's Sai Mai district and Pathum Thani's Khukot area was blown apart with firecrackers.

Sukhumbhand said representatives of the people affected by floods and the government's Flood Relief Operation Centre will meet for talks today.

"I won't be present because I don't want to be seen as taking sides. I will assign BMA officials to take part in the negotiations instead," he said, adding that he disagreed with any plans to remove the sandbag barriers.

He said as much as 4 million cubic metres of water would rush into Bangkok's Sai Mai district daily if the barrier were removed.

"If such huge volumes of water flow in, the flooding might drag into 2012," he said.

He was speaking after visiting Sai Mai residents, who asked him to stop people living in Khukot from tearing down more parts of the flood barrier. At press time, about 20 metres of the barrier had been damaged, allowing run-offs from Pathum Thani to rage into the area.

However, the level of Lat Phrao Canal, which runs through Sai Mai, dropped by 2-4cm yesterday. The level of key canals in the capital's east also dropped, as did the level of several canals in the west, though huge volumes of water from Nakhon Pathom's tambon Salaya still flowed into Bangkok.

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-- The Nation 2011-11-19

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Five cities in running to host 2020 Universal Expo

PARIS, November 18, 2011 (AFP) - Izmir in Turkey, Ayutthaya in Thailand, Sao Paolo in Brazil, Ekaterinburg in Russia and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were named Friday as candidate cities to host the 2020 Universal Exposition.

The five rivals will present their bids to an assembly of the 157 member states of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the winner will be announced in November 2013 after a vote.

Last year Shanghai in China hosted the World Expo, billed as the world's largest celebration of human progress, and another will be held in 2015 in the Italian city of Milan.

Smaller three-month long "International Expositions" are held in between the five-yearly six-month-long Universal Expositions, the next being in 2012 in South Korea's Yeosu.

Next week's BIE assembly will also study bids to host the 2017 International Exposition. Two candidates, Kazahkstan's Astana and Belgium's Liege are known, but more may come forward before a December 10 deadline.

The first Universal Exposition was staged in London in 1851 and since then they have served to showcase technology, architecture and culture, while attracting visitors to host cities and generating business.

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-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-11-19

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Water Pump Trucks to Be Used to Salvage Industrial Estates

10 high-powered water pump trucks from Japan will be used to help drain water and salvage 7 industrial estates that have been submerged under flood water.

The Japanese government has dispatched a total of 10 high-powered water pump trucks valued at over 200 million baht to help salvage industrial estates that are submerged under flood water. The Japanese govenrment has also sent with the trucks, experts and engineers to help coordinate with the Thai authorities to ensure the water is drained from the flooded industrial parks as efficiently and as soon as possible.

Each truck is capable of draining as much as 1,800 cubic meters of water per hour, or 43,200CBM of water per day. The trucks will be used to drain the water from 7 flooded industrial estates starting from today. The trucks will be used to drain water from Hi-tech Industrial Estate for 10 days and Rojana Estate in Ayutthaya Province for another 10 days.

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-- Tan Network 2011-11-19

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Jailed Brit swindler Paul Ridden free of Phuket charges

Phuket Gazette

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Former Phuket expat Paul Ridden behind bars at Chalong Police Station earlier this year.

He will not face any charges for any alleged fraud committed in Phuket, say police.

Follow this link:

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PM says Thailand will benefit from ASEAN Summit

BANGKOK, Nov 19 -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday said Thailand would benefit from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit while political stability would return Thailand to a leading role in ASEAN again.

Meanwhile, the premier affirmed that inner Bangkok would definitely be spared from floods while the government would speed up the process of compensating flood victims.

Addressing the public on her weekly TV and Radio programme, "Yingluck Government meets the People," Ms Yingluck said that ASEAN has clear intention to link countries in the region under the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, including public-private partnership, which would contribute to ASEAN competitiveness and integration in all aspects.

Thailand would benefit from attending the summit, with the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea also joining the gathering, she said.

Ms Yingluck called from Bali, Indonesia where she is attending the ASEAN summit and related meetings.

The premier said that during the meeting, she reaffirmed Thailand's political stability, which would enable Thailand to play an active role in ASEAN.

Ms Yingluck also briefed the meetings about Thailand's flood rehabilitation plan to regain confidence among foreign investors and proposed ASEAN enhance cooperation in the management of flood disasters and water resources.

In this regard, ASEAN leaders adopted the Statement on Cooperation in Flood Prevention, Mitigation, Relief, Recovery, and Rehabilitation, which was proposed by Thailand. ASEAN Member States expressed appreciation for Thailand’s initiative on this important matter.

In addition, Ms Yingluck voiced support for ASEAN to play a more proactive role in the global community, pursuing a “forward strategy” to deal with global challenges more effectively.

During the meetings and bilateral talks, Ms Yingluck said more progress has been seen in the cooperation with Myanmar on their Dewai deep sea port which would facilitate logistics shipping from ports in the Andaman Sea to Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri.

On the North-South Economic Corridor project, a 4-lane 1,800-kilometre highway network connecting Kunming with Bangkok, she said many of Thailand's provinces would benefit from the plan including Tak, Phitsanulok and Khon Kaen.

Ms Yingluck also said that she has discussed with China's Prime Minsiter Wen Jiabao on a high-speed train project in Thailand and additional talks on the project were expected.

On the flooding situation in Thailand, the premier affirmed that inner Bangkok would be spared from flooding and the government would speed up the process of compensating flood victims.

She said that flood-hit provincial governors were assigned to inspect and evaluate damages and to restore facilities within 45 days. (MCOT online news)

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-- TNA 2011-11-19

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+26 water pumps installed in Thonburi side, +14 more in 2 days to speed up drainage effort into Tha Cheen River via @pr_bangkok

Currently 5 million CBM of water enters Thonburi side on a daily basis, must speed up drainage into Maha Sawas Canal @pr_bangkok /TANN

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RT @Tulip_Oum: 12pm Eastern outer ring at Thanyaburi has 2 lanes opened. Flowy traffic outbound after the tollbooth, inbound jammed.

Public Health to distribute 150,000 copies of guide on post flood cleaning and sanitary for free. /TANN

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