Thailand Live Tuesday 31 Jan 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 31 January 2012

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 Monday 30 Jan 2012

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POLITICS

'Plot' rumours are govt fiction: Democrats

THE NATION

Full story:

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Drug convicts to be concentrated in Ratchaburi

The Nation

Full story:

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FLOOD PREVENTION

Thai PM Yingluck to head new flood agency

Full story:

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PM'S UPCOUNTRY HOMESTAY

Yingluck plans to meet locals

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....to-meet-locals/

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LESE MAJESTE LAW

No campus campaigns, Nitirat told

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Thammasat denies group use of its facilities; rector's Facebook page erupts as critics, supporters square off

Thammasat University yesterday banned the use of its facilities to campaign against the lese majeste law in a move that would likely apply more heat on the controversial Nitirat group and cause an uproar among the group's supporters.

"The university is a state agency. If we allow [them to continue their campaign], people may understand that Thammasat agrees with or disagrees with the campaign. [The campaign] could also cause severe conflicts inside the university campus [and] we may not be able to care for the safety of staff and property," rector Somkid Lertpaithoon wrote on his Facebook page yesterday.

A hotbed of political activism in the 1970s, Thammasat is now in an awkward position as its students, faculty and alumni are bitterly split over Article 112 of the Penal Code.

The Nitirat group, which includes many lecturers from the university, is crusading against this law.

The university's bombshell decision immediately drew both support and a huge outcry.

An hour after Somkid's Facebook update, more than 100 comments had been posted. Critics cited the university's historic role in politics as evidence of an ideology betrayed.

Human rights activist Pokpong Lawansiri said it was a "sad and embarrassing" day. The university - every square inch of it - has been the battleground for freedom for a long time, he said.

"Why don't you just destroy the statue of university founder Pridi Banomyong, former rector Puay Ungpakorn and the heroes of the October 14/October 6 incidents altogether?" he said.

Se Serinism said on the Facebook page that it's understandable that the university is under pressure but it's too much to have such an instruction to obstruct freedom on the campus.

Jaranwat Yainirat said it's very common for there to be differences at Thammasat but people on campus always respect the opinions of others.

"I came to study here because of this reason but what happens to my university now?" he said.

Squilla Blooming said she disagreed with the Nitirat group but never thought the rector would decide to suppress their opinion.

Chartbhun Saipradit supported Somkid's decision, saying the university is a place for knowledge. It should not allow political propaganda.

Thammasat political science lecturer Kasian Tejapira posted on Facebook that it was a backward step for Thammasat alumni who oppose the push for a change or revocation to the laws related to lese majeste.

He said it should be debated clearly how the campaign violates the Constitution.

He said the Constitution advocated freedom of education, research and the publication of academic research as long as it does not contravene civil duties or morality.

Kasian said Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat staged a coup in 2501 BE, which was the same year as the group of 2501 Thammasat alumni and they might now agree with the toppling of the Constitution.

Spokesmen from both the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties asked the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to probe the operations of illegal websites including those violating the lese majeste law.

Mallika Boonmeetrakul from the Democrats and Prompong Nopparit from Pheu Thai greeted each other as they filed their petitions.

Mallika also called on the DSI to take action against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung and ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap for malfeasance, claiming that such illegal websites had even mushroomed over the past two months.

She said there were 280 URLs before but now there are 483 URLs. The ICT minister hardly takes legal action against the wrongdoers, she said, adding she found only four cases had gone to court.

Pravesana Mulpramook, deputy director-general of the DSI, who received the petitions, said the agency would look into the case. If it finds grounds for malfeasance, it would pass the case on to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The DSI has established a special anti-lese majeste websites unit, he said.

Pol General Worapong Chiewpree-cha, who is in charge of a panel monitoring illegal distribution of information through ICT, said that from December 7-January 24, the committee blocked 1,156 URLs.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Innocence of Pattani shooting victims doubted

Full story:

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GUEST COLUMN

Thailand in pole position on Burma

Alexander Mohr

Brussels

Full story:

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Request for another 300,000 tablet PCs

SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet will consider today a budget request for Bt800 million-Bt900 million so that 300,000 more tablet PCs can be handed out to schoolchildren.

The tablet policy management committee last week agreed to increase the distribution of tablets for the upcoming academic year from more than 600,000 units to 900,000.

As a result, all Prathom 1 (Grade 1) students under various ministries and some Prathom 4 (Grade 4) students can get a tablet.

The committee set the original budget for 700,000 tablets at Bt1.9 billion. Education Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvech said yesterday the government had told the Foreign Ministry to negotiate with China to supply the tablets under a government-to-government deal.

Olarn Chaipravat, an adviser to the prime minister, would oversee the contents and software that would be loaded on the tablets.

"The tablets need Internet access so students can search for information from the wider world. The students should be allowed to take them home.

"I've also planned a project that will give tablets to some parents so they can use them to gain more knowledge," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Four hospitals to lead rehab policy

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry is focusing more attention on the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, as their number increases by 100,000 every year.

Starting next month, four major hospitals in four provinces will actively guide disabled people and their families on how to improve their health.

Under a new project launched by the ministry's Sirindhorn National Medical Rehabilitation Centre, these hospitals will become role models in the field of rehabilitation for people with disabilities.

They are Na Yai Am Hospital in Chanthaburi, Mae Lao Hospital in Chiang Rai, Tha Sae Hospital in Chumphon and the Dan Sai Crown Prince Hospital in Loei.

"The hospitals will assign their staff members to follow up on the rehabilitation for disabled people. Care for the disabled should improve at home and reduce any complications that may arise," Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said yesterday.

He noted that proper care should be able to reduce incidences of bedsores and atrophy.

Witthaya said the ministry expected to expand the project's goals to major hospitals in every district next year.

He made the comments while speaking at Nakhon Phanom University during a ceremony to receive the donation of useful tools for the disabled, such as wheelchairs from four charity organisations - Joni and Friends, Wheel of Hope, Wheelchairs of Hope (Japan), and Helping Hands, from Norway. The donated items are worth over Bt10 million. Witthaya said there were now 1,207,833 disabled people in Thailand. Some 457,877 of them had lived in the Northeast. And every year, the number of disabled rose by about 100,000 mainly because of road accidents.

"Other common causes are paralysis arising out of complications from chronic diseases," he said.

Witthaya said disabled people needed medical rehabilitation and job opportunities. "If communities help with rehabilitation efforts, society would be a pleasant place to live in."

He said the health ministry was also working on another plan to directly aid people maimed in road accidents.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Health scheme 'at risk from NHSO carve-up'

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The universal health scheme is under attack from five distinct groups who want to profit from its budget allocation through corruption, a board member of the National Health Security Office (NHSO) claimed today.

Dr Wichai Chokewiwat said these identities aimed to achieve this through reform of the NHSO in a way that would give them power.

Wichai named the groups as: first - old powers in the Public Health Ministry leadership; second - foreign pharmaceutical giants; third - private hospitals under NHSO contracts; fourth - doctors and medical personnel wanting to benefit from post-NHSO deals with medical firms and private hospitals; and fifth - corrupt politicians.

Wichai's statement yesterday echoed a warning earlier this month by Rural Doctors Foundation chairman Dr Kriangsak Watcharanukoolkiat. He said some politicians were trying to abort the scheme, which was initiated as Bt30 universal healthcare and is currently regulated by the NHSO as the gold-care healthcare scheme.

Wichai said old-school senior officials wanted to resume power to allocate the budget for and run the independent NHSO as the ministry's subordinate unit. The foreign medical firms did not want to sell drugs at lower prices to Thailand, especially anti-Aids/HIV drugs, or through compulsory licensing.

Private hospitals believed that a per-head subsidy through the NHSO scheme would be higher if it was run under a new structure, which would be detrimental to the public but would benefit organisations run by corrupt figures, Wichai said.

The doctor said the World Health Organisation was watching the progress of Thailand's health security system and monitoring an upcoming election of the NHSO board and its sub-panel.

The NHSO will soon elect members of a new board. Wichai said members representing the public or doctors serving the people's benefit were likely to be replaced by those wanting to grab power.

Board member Nimit Thian-udom said decisions by a new NHSO board could have wide-ranging effects: "For example, if a decision is given for a Bt1 rise in per-head subsidy, it will result in an increase of Bt48 million each year," he added.

An amendment to the existing law means the public would be better represented on the NHSO's board, and have more say in the election of sub-panels. "This is not the public grabbing power in the NHSO for themselves, but a more balanced counterweight to the NHSO's administration," he added.

Another member, Suntharee Sengking, said none of the candidates for members and advisers to the sub-panels were experts in health security, but all were nominees of owners of private hospitals or politicians.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Replica pagoda to be built in US

PAKAMARD JAICHALARD

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Plans have been unveiled for a Thai pagoda to be built in the United States similar to Phra That Phanom, with a budget of about Bt3 billion.

Construction is due to be completed by 2014 to celebrate the 87th birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The original Phra That Phanom, located in Nakhon Phanom, has a history that goes back to BC535. The sacred structure is 57 metres high.

The assistant abbot of Wat Phra That Phanom Wora Mahawihan, Phra Maha Lerdej Worawangso disclosed yesterday that the replica of would not be as high as the popular temple in the Northeast.

"Lightning hits every new pagoda that is built based on Phra That Phanom but attempts to be higher," the senior monk said. He said the plan to build a replica of Phra That Phanom came up after Buddhists in the US donated a 25-rai plot of land for its construction.

"The Buddhists there have much faith in Wat Phra That Phanom's abbot Phra Thep Woramuni, who delivered sermons in Los Angeles in 2010," the assistant abbot said.

The donated plot was spread over a small hill and a perfect site to build a pagoda. The landscape was also similar to Nakhon Phanom, he said.

Chawadon Yuenyong, director of the replica project, said the temple in the US would seek some parts of the Lord Buddha's relics and parts of the 2,500-year-old original pagoda.

"The original parts are still kept even though restoration works has been done," he said.

He said donations would be sought from people, the private sector, and state agencies for the new pagoda. It would be built mainly in Thailand and components shipped to the US for installation.

Chawadon said Bt3 billion would be needed for the project, so Wat Phra That Phanom was going to produce and sell amulets to help raise funds for the construction.

Meanwhile, he said the temple planned to celebrate the Year of Dragon this year by constructing a seven-headed Naga statue down to the Mekong River.

"The Naga structure will be about 555 metres long," Chawadon said, "It's going to be the longest Naga statue in the world. We will invite the Guinness World of Records team to verify this fact."

Chawadon said a dragon was very much like a Naga in Thai beliefs. Construction of the structure would start early next month and be completed on April 11.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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BURNING ISSUE

Pheu Thai and red shirts split on changes to the charter

Full story:

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Thai water expert denies reports he is quitting

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....he-is-quitting/

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Concern on decrees being delayed

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Top Pheu Thai figures worried that court scrutiny will set back two of four executive decrees by up to a month

Senior figures in the government yesterday expressed concern that the executive decrees authorising borrowing to fund flood-prevention projects would be delayed after the opposition Democrat Party petitioned the Constitution Court to rule on whether they violate the charter.

Coalition whips were engaged in a tense meeting yesterday after a group of Democrat MPs led by former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij petitioned House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranond, asking him to seek the Constitution Court's interpretation of whether two of the four emergency decrees endorsed by the Cabinet were constitutional.

The petition, supported by 128 opposition MPs, focused on two of the four decrees: one that would empower the Finance Ministry to borrow Bt350 billion to fund flood-prevention projects, and another that would shift the Bt1.14 trillion public debt incurred during the 1997 financial crisis to the central bank.

Korn said he believed it was unconstitutional for the Cabinet to empower the Finance Ministry to borrow such a large amount of money without careful consideration by the legislature.

Democrat MP Wirat Kalayasiri said the House speaker was expected to forward the opposition MPs' petition to the court within three days. He said it was likely that the government would have to put its borrowing plan on hold while waiting for a court ruling.

Article 184 of the Constitution states that an emergency decree may be issued for the purpose of maintaining national or public safety or national economic security, or averting a public calamity. Such an emergency decree may be issued only when the Cabinet agrees that an emergency exists, making the measure unavoidable.

Speaking after yesterday's meeting of coalition whips, senior Pheu Thai figure Surapong Towichukchaikul, who is also the foreign minister, said he was unsure if the House meeting scheduled for tomorrow(Feb 1) to discuss the four executive decrees would proceed in light of the Democrat petition.

"If the Constitution Court agrees to rule on the matter, all the processes will have to stop. We are going to discuss what to do about this," he said.

Coalition whip Woravat Auapinyakul, who is now a Prime Minister's Office minister, said the coalition whips were concerned the petition could delay government projects to prevent flooding.

Pheu Thai MP Korkaew Pikulthong, another coalition whip, said he expected the House to debate the two other decrees first, while the two that are the subject of the petition would wait.

"We will wait for the Constitution Court's verdict. The court is expected to spend no more than one month considering this matter," he said.

Constitution Court spokesman Pimol Thampithakpong said yesterday that the House Speaker was expected to forward the petition to the court within three days. He declined to predict when the court would announce its interpretation, but said the court normally spent no longer than two months considering such petitions.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut yesterday challenged Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong to step down if the court ruled that the decrees were unconstitutional. "The decrees go against the Constitution on many points," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Phuket Police appeal to public over unidentified body

The body of the Asian man was found beside the main road to Phuket's famed Phromthep Cape.

The man was dressed in dark jeans and a blue worker's shirt.

Full story:

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-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Russians trapped in Pattaya following collapse of Tour Company

Full story:

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Rangers behind the shooting death of funeral goers: Nong Chik villagers

Full story:

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A 10-km stretch of an ancient wall at Mahatat Temple in Ayutthaya has collapsed, most likely caused by land subsidence from heavy flooding /TANN

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Korat Resident Believes the Naga Lives in His Pool

Full story:

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Chalerm orders police to step up vice suppression in Bangkok's entertainment venues

Full story:

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Thai Govt Set to Help Tourism Sector for Launch of ASEAN Economic Community

Full story:

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,080.35, up 5.64 points /MCOT

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Thaksin worried about royal insult

The Nation

DUBAI: -- Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was worrying about the abuse of the lese majeste law as a political tool, a Pheu Thai MP said on Tuesday.

"Thaksin sees the problem caused by the other side using the lese majeste clause as the political tool against its opponents," Philaphan Phalusuk said.

Philaphan said Thaksin did not view the provision on royal insult as problematic. He hinted at Thaksin's stand in contrast to the call by the Nitirat academic group to amend the law.

He was speaking upon his return from Dubai, where he paid a visit to the former PM.

He also said Thaksin has, in principle, supported the formation of the Constitution Drafting Assembly to take charge of the charter change although the coalition has yet to finalise the details of the CDA.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31

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Phuket hotel CEO says 'No more payouts'

Phuket Gazette

Phuket's Andaman Beach Suites CEO Sommai Phasee. Photos: Atchaa Khamlo

LUCKY LAST: Jim Nagi, who was reimbursed for valuables he argued were stolen from his hotel room.

Full story:

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CRACKDOWN

Chalerm Orders Police To Step Up Vice Suppression In Bangkok's Entertainment Venues

Full story:

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Cabinet approves Monday April 9 as special holiday for royal cremation of HRH Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda /MCOT

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Reconciliation law ready by this year: Chalerm

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung on Tuesday revealed he would push for the enactment of a legislation on reconciliation by this year.

"I have completed drafting all six provisions by myself," he said.

Chalerm said his draft legislation should not be confused with the amnesty issue, arguing the draft was designed to resolve all issues taken place since the coup on September 19, 2006.

He said he expected the ruling Pheu Thai Party to sponsor the bill which would be circulated to solicit the public opinions before the parliamentary debate.

He refused to disclose when he planned to unveil the draft, though he said he was upbeat about the majority support for the passage of his draft.

He also denied he was helping fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return home, saying his draft would apply to all sides and not a specific individual.

-- The Nation 2012-01-31