Thailand Live Thursday 8 Dec 2011

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Thailand Live Thursday 8 December 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 7 Dec 2011

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Today's Thailand weather and forecasts:

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Arisman's bail plea rejected: Thialand

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BURNING ISSUE

Who will be the lucky ones?: Thai cabinet reshuffle

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AMNESTY DECREE

Early freedom for convicted murderer

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

High-profile murderer Serm Sakhonrat has had his prison sentence reduced and will be a free man on December 18, while the Corrections Department will today release 4,500 inmates jailed in Bangkok and nearby provinces under the amnesty decree.

The amnesty was to mark His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's seventh-cycle birthday on December 5.

Serm was sentenced in 1998 to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend, and had his jail term reduced five times after 2004. The latest amnesty further cuts his term. He will now be released on December 18.

Meanwhile, other inmates also received jail-term reductions, including former crime buster Lt-General Chalor Kerdtes, who was convicted for the double murder and abduction of Srithanakhan family members. His life sentence was reduced to 50 years.

Former Chulalongkorn Hospital doctor Wisut Boonkasemsanti, who initially got the death sentence for killing his wife Phassaporn Boonkasemsanti and then had his sentence commuted to life, will now have his prison term reduced to 21 years after this year's amnesty.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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FLOOD CRISIS

Battle on to reclaim Bhuddhamonthon Buddhist Park

THE NATION

Officials and volunteers from various organisations yesterday turned out in impressive numbers to begin cleaning up the flood-ravaged Bhuddhamonthon Buddhist Park in Nakhon Pathom.

Occupying more than 2,500 rai of land, the park is seen as an icon of Thai Buddhism and attracts thousands of worshippers on holy days for candle-lit processions around the Giant Buddha Statue.

"We are responding to the initiative of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and HRH Princess Srirasmi who wish to see the park restored as a centre of religious and traditional activities," said Nakhon Pathom deputy governor Nimit Jantarawimon.

More than 200 soldiers and volunteers yesterday began cleaning the area around the Giant Buddha Statue after flood waters receded. However, most parts of the park remain inundated, with underground electric cables and large trees suffering serious damage. Officials estimate a recovery bill of well over Bt500 million, while efforts to salvage the park must begin immediately if its trees are to survive.

"The government and the private sector will join hands for efforts to pump flood water out of the park," Nimit said.

He said the water would be drained into canals so as to prevent impacting local communities.

"We expect the operation to be completed before year-end."

National Office of Buddhism director Nopparat Benjewattananan said relevant authorities were asked to quickly drain flood water out of local communities into the Tha Chin River first.

"Then we can pump water out of Bhuddhamonthon Buddhist Park without affecting local residents," he said.

As of yesterday, flood water on the nearby Bhuddha Monthon IV Road was still between 40 and 50 centimetres deep. The beautiful road in front of the park was also flooded and remained impassable to small vehicles.

Nakhon Pathom and Bangkok were among several provinces ravaged by the worst flooding in decades this year.

Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency director Anond Snidvongs said yesterday that the volume of run-off water into Bangkok's western zone had reached a historic high this year.

"We will need to plan long-term solutions for the future," he said.

Anond assured everyone that the worst of the flood crisis had passed.

Today sees the launch of an exhibition on the courage and compassion shown by Thais during the crisis. Organised by the Culture Ministry, "Water+Empathy 2011" at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre comprises 213 photographs that depict both the severity of the disaster and the flow of help for victims in response.

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will preside over the opening ceremony of the exhibition at 5pm today.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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EDITORIAL

Corruption still deeply rooted in our political life: Thai opinion

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Why is the private sector more serious about ending graft?: Thai talk

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FACEBOOK

'Unfair' to blame Yingluck for error

The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should not be attacked for the royal blunder on her Facebook page because she was not to blame and did not try to play it down, the government spokeswoman said yesterday.

"Critics have been unfair to Yingluck by distorting her remarks and actions to find fault with her," Thitima Chaisang said.

Yingluck was not shirking her responsibility as alleged because she fired her Facebook team for posting the wrong picture with her message expressing best wishes for His Majesty the King on his birthday, Thitima said.

On Saturday, Yingluck's Facebook page briefly showed a different person before it was corrected.

Yingluck immediately instructed PM's secretary-general Bandhoon Supakavanich to compose a formal apology and seek His Majesty's pardon via the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary, Thitima added.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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Bangkok bomb scare 'politically motivated': Chalerm

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Prime minister heads to Singapore to cement ties

THE NATION

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will today make a one-day visit to Singapore to cement bilateral ties after the new government under her leadership took office, a government official said yesterday.

Singapore will be the seventh of 10 Asean countries Yingluck intends to visit on a self-introduction mission.

Yingluck has made a series of introductory visits to Asean countries since September, beginning with Brunei, but needed to delay her plans following major floods in many provinces and the capital.

She would begin her trip to Singapore in the afternoon. Upon her arrival in the city state, Yingluck would visit an orchid park to attend a ceremony to name an orchid before an official greeting ceremony, a meeting with her counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and a courtesy call on Singapore's President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

She would attend a panel meeting with her counterpart on bilateral affairs. The agenda for the meeting covers a wide range of cooperation, including trade and investment, notably cooperation under Singapore-Thailand Enhance Economic Relations (STEER) scheme. Yingluck would emphasise close relations with Singapore to build the Asean community in 2015, the official said.

She would join a dinner with Singaporean PM Lee before departing for Bangkok late in the evening the same day.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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41 killed, 47 injured in deep South in Nov 2011: Thailand

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Millions in drugs seized, four suspects arrested

The Nation

Three drug suspects were arrested with 200,000 ya ba tablets worth Bt60 million in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district, while another suspect was apprehended with 3.8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth Bt12 million in Surat Thani's Muang district, police said yesterday.

The arrests of Saravuth Noopan, 23, Umar Ali, 23, and Banleusak Manma, 24, in Narathiwat came after Narcotics Control Board officials with the help of Sungai Kolok police searched a house in tambon Pamesa.

The officials had followed Saravuth after he picked up the ya ba in Bangkok in the hope of storing it at a house pending distribution to Thai and Malaysian dealers, police said. The officials also extended their search to cover Saravuth's home in Songkhla's Muang district, where they allegedly found another 100,000 ya ba tablets. The three men claimed they were innocent and that the drugs belonged to a friend. They were charged with possessing ya ba with the intention to sell the drug.

Meanwhile, officers of Surat Thani Border Patrol Police Region 417 arrested Rawee Kaewsom, 40, as he was allegedly about to deliver 3.8kg of crystal meth to a customer at a Makro car park on Tuesday. Rawee told police he was hired for Bt15,000 to pick up the drugs from Surat Thani train station. The arrest came after police learned that a drug ring led by an inmate at Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison would deliver the drugs to dealers in Surat Thani.

Rawee had just served six years and four months in jail for possessing 180 ya ba tablets in 2004. He had also allegedly delivered 3kg of crystal meth to a dealer at a Big C outlet before, but made good his escape before police were about to arrest him. Rawee was reportedly involved with the Bang Song drug ring, whose 10 members were nabbed along with a large amount of drugs and military weapons last week.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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BMA to waive garbage collection fees

The Nation

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) would temporarily stop collecting fees for garbage collection and management for at least four months until the floods in many areas of Bangkok had subsided.

He said the BMA wanted to give Bangkokians a New Year's gift.

He said the BMA would consider again if the fee exemption should be extended further.

Sukhumbhand would hold a meeting with the Bangkok Metropolitan Council in early January to consider when the exemption should take effect.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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LABOUR

Workers at two flood-hit firms claim unfair treatment

THE NATION

Some 150 employees from two flood-soaked companies in Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya yesterday filed a complaint at the Labour Ministry about unfair pay and unemployment.

They called on Arthit Isamo, director-general of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, to force their employers to pay them wages and compensation as prescribed by labour laws.

Phatcharee Sricharoen, 28, an engineer representing employees from ISCM Technology (Thailand) Co in Pathum Thani, said the company had told its 500 employees to sign an agreement to relocate to a new factory in Malaysia.

The company would pay those who registered 50 per cent of their full wages and the remaining 50 per cent when they worked in Malaysia, but anyone refusing to sign would not be paid. Fewer than 100 of them signed.

"We don't want to work in Malaysia, but the employers must pay us compensation following the Labour Protection Act," she said.

Chaiyadit Meeluedan said Normerica (Thailand) Co in Ayutthaya laid off him and 60 workers late last month without paying 75 per cent of full wages while its factory halted operations during the flooding and separation compensation. He said the employer claimed the factory was damaged by floods so it could not keep them any more.

However, the factory was not hit hard, as the water was only 10-15 centimetres deep and no heavy machines were flooded, he said.

Arthit said his department had made an appointment for tomorrow with Normerica management and the employees to seek a compromise, while ISCM Technology management would meet with their employees next Thursday.

Teams of 50 officials from the department have been deployed to meet with and help workers in areas that are still inundated or who have been treated unfairly. Anyone needing assistance can call 1546.

-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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-- The Nation 2011-12-08

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Big banks in better shape to thrive in AEC: Prasarn

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Meteorological Dept: Upper Thailand to see temperature drop 4-6 degrees and strong wind; South to see rain /

Former actress 'Tai' Saitarn Niyomkarn files complaint with police against 2-month boyfriend for assault /

Transport Co resumes service from bus depot in Rangsit today; call 1490 for more info /

Bangplad police close uturn in front of Soi Charansanidwongse 86/1 from 6-8am,3-6pm to solve congestion;motorists can uturn at soi 74 /

Vocational students to provide check up and repair services for flooded cars and motorcycles at Don Muang Airport until Dec 25 /

Corrections Dept to release prisoners granted royal pardon on occasion of King's birthday today at Klongprem Prison;PM to preside over event /

Former deputy PM Suthep to give his testimony to Metropolitan police on last year's red-shirt crackdown today;former PM Abhisit due tomorrow /

/TANN

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Spring News forced to cease broadcast after repair to air-conditioner in main studio caused fire last night;broadcast should resume today /TANN

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EU to cut aid from 2014 to 19 countries including Thailand to bring about shift in relations with emerging countries, focus of aid on poorest countries /MCOT

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RT @RichardBarrow: 8:35am Thai PM at official ceremony at Klong Prem to release prisoners pardoned by the king http://bit.ly/syXvxD

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Thai court to rule on US man in royal insult case

BANGKOK, December 8, 2011 (AFP) - A Thai court will deliver its verdict Thursday to a US citizen who has pleaded guilty to insulting the monarchy, hoping for leniency over charges punishable by up to 15 years in prison, his lawyer said.

Thai-born Joe Wichai Commart Gordon was arrested in May on a visit to the kingdom and accused of translating a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej into Thai and publishing it online while living in the United States.

"I estimate that the court will give him three to five years imprisonment," his lawyer Arnon Nampa told AFP.

"If he receives three years in jail, he may get a suspended sentence. That's what I hope for, even if it is unlikely to happen."

Gordon, a 55-year-old car salesman who has lived in Colorado for more than 20 years, told Bangkok's Criminal Court in October that he did not wish to fight the case.

Under Thailand's lese majeste legislation, which has been internationally criticised for suppressing freedom of expression, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

In the latest conviction to alarm activists, 61-year-old Ampon Tangnoppakul was jailed last month for 20 years on four counts of sending messages to the private secretary of then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in May 2010.

The European Union said it was "deeply concerned" about the Thai man's sentence and the United States has since voiced alarm over lese majeste prosecutions in Thailand.

A group of activists opposed to the legislation plan a "fearlessness walk" in Bangkok on Saturday in support of Ampon and other political prisoners.

The government said Wednesday it had set up a committee to clamp down on websites considered insulting to the monarchy.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung said he would chair the first meeting of the group this week, including representatives from the police, the interior ministry and

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-12-08

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Thai court jails US citizen for royal insult

by Janesara Fugal

BANGKOK, December 8, 2011 (AFP) - A court in Thailand on Thursday jailed a Thai-born American for two-and-a-half years for defaming the monarchy -- a sentence that the United States criticised as "severe".

The conviction of Joe Wichai Commart Gordon -- who appeared in court in shackles -- is the latest in a series of cases under the kingdom's strict lese majeste laws, which rights campaigners say are used to stifle free speech.

The Criminal Court sentenced Gordon to five years in prison, but halved the term as the car salesman from Colorado pleaded guilty to publishing online a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej that he translated into Thai.

"Joe decided not to appeal this case but will ask for a royal pardon," his lawyer Arnon Nampa told reporters in Bangkok.

"In this case the court gave the lightest jail term for a lese majeste case. He's been in prison six months already. The worst case is two more years in jail but I hope that he'll receive a royal pardon."

Gordon, 55, was arrested in May on a visit to the kingdom and accused of posting the material deemed offensive while living in the United States.

Under Thailand's lese majeste legislation, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

A US official said Gordon should not have been jailed at all.

"We consider the sentence severe because he was given the sentence for his right of expression," US Consul General Elizabeth Pratt told reporters.

"We continue to respect the Thai monarchy but we also support the right of expression which is internationally recognised as a human right."

Washington, which counts Thailand as one of its oldest allies, on Tuesday voiced alarm over a series of court cases in the kingdom over speech deemed to be offensive to the monarchy.

Critics say that Thailand has increased use of its lese majeste legislation as a way to suppress freedom of expression, particularly under the last government, which was supported by the Bangkok-based elite.

Observers say the new administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who took power in August, has yet to improve the situation.

In a conviction that alarmed activists, 61-year-old Ampon Tangnoppakul was jailed last month for 20 years on four counts of sending messages to the private secretary of the then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in May 2010.

The European Union said it was "deeply concerned" about that sentence.

A group of activists opposed to the legislation plan a "fearlessness walk" in Bangkok on Saturday in support of Ampon and other political prisoners.

Despite the protests, the Thai government said Wednesday it had set up a committee to clamp down on websites considered insulting to the monarchy.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung said he would chair the first meeting of the group this week, including representatives from the police, the interior ministry and other related agencies.

Thailand's frail king, who turned 84 on Monday, has reigned for 65 years but has been in hospital since September 2009.

Any discussion of the royal family is extremely sensitive in the politically turbulent nation, where the palace has also been silent over the organisation of the king's

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-12-08

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Red-Shirt Village to Open in Satun Province

Red-shirt people in Satun Province have gathered to open a Red-Shirt Village, saying their aim was to preserve democracy.

Prasong Boorapong, Darunee Kritboonyalai, and Anon Saennan, who is the Secretary of the Udon Thani red-shirt movement, together chaired a ceremony to open a Red-Shirt Village in Satun Province at Ban Plak Wa, Ban Mud, and Ban Na Kaew in Tah Pae Sub-district.

More than 100 red-shirt people from provinces such as Satun, Nakon Sri Thammarat, Phang Nga, Pattalung, and Songkla's Jana District attended the opening ceremony.

A staged rally was set up for the representative to declare the aim of building the village, which is not war, but to strengthen the red-shirt group and protect democracy.

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship is open to recruit new members and will accept donations to be used as funds to support activities.

T-shirts imprinted with the face of the red-shirt strongman, former Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra, and his sister, the current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra were sold at the event.

-- Tan Network 2011-12-08

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Thai stock index opens on Thursday at 1,041.79, down 4.94 points /MCOT

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Traffic police report only Boromratchachonnanee and Buddha Monthol 3 roads still closed off to traffic because of flooding /TANN

8.38am 3.3 magnitude felt in Myanmar, close to Fang, Chiang Mai /TANN

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12,000 inmates nationwide released in 1st round of royal pardon on occasion of HM the King's 84th birthday /TANN

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Royal Thai Navy 1 leads Phuket King's Cup Regatta after day three

FOR KING AND COUNTRY: Royal Thai Navy 1 exploited the strong winds to surge into the lead of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta on day three. Photo Guy Nowell

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ANALYSIS

Chalerm holding red and green cards: a bluff or a win

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AEROTHAI Reinstalls its System during Post Floods

AEROTHAI has set a plan to repair its air navigation system with a 60-million baht budget, after its flight control tower was flooded.

Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, or AEROTHAI, Managing Director Prajak Sajjasophon revealed that AEROTHAI has set a 60-million baht budget to repair its air navigation systems, electrical systems and infrastructures, as well as its flight control tower, all of which were severely damaged by the floods that hit Don Muang Airport.

Prajak added that the insurance company will reimburse an additional 30 million baht.

He said that AEROTHAI is importing spare parts and other necessary tools to reinstall the system within the next two months.

The company will then test the system to ensure its safety before resuming its services.

Prajak stated that the floods caused extensive damage to the company.

However, the government has already made an appropriate compensation.

Consequently, the company will not file a lawsuit against the Airports of Thai Public Company Limited or AOT for further compensation.

Prajak also reported on the progress of the recent development project approved by previous Transport Minister Sophon Salam.

He said the project aims to develop ASEAN air travel.

In the initial stage, the project requires about 4.46 billion baht.

In the second and third stages, AEROTHAI will borrow an additional 3 billion baht from domestic lenders.

Prajak strongly believes the project will transform Thailand into an aviation and air transportation hub.

The project is expected to be completed in 2014.

-- Tan Network 2011-12-08