Thailand Live Tuesday 14 Feb 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 14 February 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 13 Feb 2012

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Thai Cabinet Endorses Charter Amendment

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Thailand risks watch-list downgrade: Money laundering

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Fish truck driver kills five, gets bail

kills 4 Swedish tourists, 1 Thai

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Tourist Police arrest illegal Russian Tour Company Worker in Central Pattaya

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Ghanaian National Arrested With 1.5 kg Of 'Ice' At Suvarnabhumi Airport

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Red-Shirts To Elect Official Leader

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A simple meal put PM Yingluck in the limelight for all the wrong reasons

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Thai Education Minister Suchart welcomes 'donations' to schools

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PM Yingluck wants computer tablets given out by March

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People in flood-prone regions want more than just smiles: Thailand

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LESE MAJESTE LAWS

TU lifts ban on campus campaigns

Atthaphoom Ongkulna

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thammasat University's board yesterday made a U-turn on its earlier decision to prohibit the use of its campus for campaigns against the lese majeste laws.

A statement issued after an executive committee meeting stated that in principle, the university allowed all campaigns on its campus - but organisers of the campaigns must be responsible that activities are conducted within the legal framework. They must not provoke violence among people of different opinions, and must end as scheduled and not obstruct traffic or cause trouble.

The board also announced that if any activity on campus appeared to create confrontation, the university would need to take certain measures to prevent violence.

"Thammasat still has freedom in every square inch. The land of Thammasat is still full of academic freedom as well as freedom of expression," the statement read.

'Not discriminatory'

The board said strict rules on using its campus issued by the board were not discriminatory but would apply to both sides in any debate.

The Thammasat University board decided two weeks ago to ban the use of its facilities by campaigners against the lese majeste law - a move that applied more heat to the controversial Nitirat group and caused an uproar among the group’s supporters. The reason behind the decision was the fear of conflict and chaos on the campus. The university since then has been urged to review the decision as it was seen to affect freedom of expression.

Asked whether the Nitirat group, which advocates changes to the law, will be allowed to continue its activities regarding Article 112 of the Penal Code, deputy rector Pornchai Trakul-waranont said during the conference that the university committee would consider cases individually. "Everyone can hold activities on the campus as long as the activities don't lead to chaos or confrontation but are expressions of purely academic views," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-02-14

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Sex education and the age-old issue of teen pregnancy: Thai editorial

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PM'S MYSTERIOUS VISIT

Ombudsmen asked to look into PM Yingluck's conduct at Bangkok hotel

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Thailand: Schools 'should be held accountable'

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Urban flood controls must be regional priority: World Bank

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Yingluck mulls flood proposals

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation

PHITSANULOK: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra kicked off her five-day flood-inspection tour yesterday with several water-management proposals, including the controversial one on Kaeng Sua Ten Dam, in her hand.

At a meeting in Phitsanulok, Yingluck and her entourage were briefed about flood-prevention projects in 10 provinces located in the upper Central and the lower North regions. Phrae proposed 10 restoration projects and 196 schemes that need urgent implementation worth Bt582 million.

Government spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said one of Yingluck's main duties was to keep track of the Bt120 billion sought for several projects, including the Bt40 billion sought for ones that still lacked details and specifications. He said she had ordered Cabinet members to inspect these projects and scrap them if they are found not to be relevant or lacking in details.

The budget allocated for projects that end up being scrapped would be added to a communal fund that can be used for more important schemes. A budget clinic would be set up at Government House to regulate funds and consider incoming requests, he said.

Anusorn quoted Yingluck as saying that only projects under the government or local administrative bodies such as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration that are permanent, substantial and practical would be approved.

He said Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee, who was present at the Phitsanulok meeting, slammed the BMA for seeking Bt319 million to dredge Bangkok's 18 canals, saying it was far too much money for an easy job.

However, the spokesman did not give details about how the government responded to the proposed Kaeng Sua Ten Dam project in Phrae province, which local residents say would result in a large portion of the country's most fertile forests being flooded while doing little to prevent the yearly inundation.

Yingluck's team will be visiting several locations in the country, particularly key river basins that are frequently flooded. The team is preparing to design new projects for overall flood and water management while intending to improve those existing to make sure they would cope with the problem better in coming years.

-- The Nation 2012-02-14

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DSI seeks 'missing' Bt14m in book deal

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

UDON THANI: -- A teachers' business organisation was at fault for signing a publishing deal with a local administrative body in Udon Thani to print more than 3.5 million notebooks at prices higher than usual, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said yesterday.

The Udon Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) paid the Bt31.9-million contract value to the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Education Personnel (OTEP). But DSI chief Tharit Phengdit said Bt14 million of this could have been saved - and the DSI was working to find out who pocketed it.

The OTEP had secured the deal for Bt31,999,995 from the PAO, but hired three companies, without bidding as required, to do the job for Bt17,776,352.78. It then failed to return the Bt14 million in difference to the PAO.

"There would be more notebooks published for schoolchildren if the OTEP had performed its role in a transparent way," he said. The DSI is probing similar contracts worth Bt208 million the OTEP has been dealing with in the past five years.

OTEP secretary-general Kasem Klangying and 10 other officials have been indicted for violating a Cabinet directive over the special bidding process and the DSI's recommendation for criminal prosecution has been submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The 11 officials could be charged additionally with violating anti-bid rigging laws if more evidence was produced against them, Tharit said.

The contract value was set at Bt9 apiece, a rate estimated by the Finance Ministry, but the median price ruled by the Office of Auditor General is lower at Bt6 - a rate DSI deputy chief Thanin Preepree said could have been lower.

-- The Nation 2012-02-14

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Panel resumes border talks

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The fifth meeting of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission began in Bangkok yesterday, with a focus on demarcation issues and ways to avoid conflict.

This session will discuss demarcation of Area 5 along Surin province's border with Cambodia, from Border Markers 1 to 23. Delegates will also discuss the progress of aerial photography of the area, and the proposed establishment of new permanent border checkpoints by Cambodian authorities in Banteay Meanchey, across from Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaew province, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Thanee Thongkhakdee.

Cambodian Senior Minister Var Kim Hong, also the Cambodian chairman of the JBC, led Cambodian delegates while the Thai side is led by Banthit Sothipalarit, the Thai chairman of the JBC. The Thai officials are from the Foreign Ministry and the Royal Thai Survey Department.

The meeting, which will also resume discussion of topics raised at the fourth session held in Indonesia, ends today. The two sides are scheduled to announce the results of the meeting at 2.30pm.

-- The Nation 2012-02-14

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Jail for Thailand sex tours

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ITALY

Swiss Billionaire, Belgian baron get 16 years for asbestos deaths

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Bangrak District, which means village of love, sees lots of couples registering marriage on Valentine's; flower market quiet /TANN

House speaker affirms new charter to be ready in 13 months; House to deliberate govt and Pheu Thai's charter amendment motions next week /TANN

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Another Lewd Thai Music VDO Goes Viral

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,115.12, down 2.28 points /MCOT

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RT @mpoppel: RT @LTLV613: Sony allegedly increased price of Whitney Houston albums only an hour after her death - http://bit.ly/wrfTas

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Thai Tourism Industry To Be Prosperous Despite Terror Warning And Last Year's Flood Crisis

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Thousand Couples Register Marriage at Bangrak

BANGKOK: -- Around a thousand couples showed up at Bangrak District, whose name means village of love, to register their marriage on Valentine's Day. The district handed out gold marriage certificates to 11 lucky couples and other souvenirs.

Meanwhile, district offices around the capital saw a greater number of couples register their marriages with special souvenirs offered today.

Pakklong Talad fresh flower market in Bangkok wasn't as bustling as usual on Valentine's due to high rose prices and declining output because of the volatile weather.

-- Tan Network 2012-02-14

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14 Arrested, 100 Million Baht Assets Seized in Eastern Drug Bust

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation and the Provincial Police Region 2 arrested 14 suspects and seized assets worth nearly a hundred million baht in a major drug bust in the eastern region.

Police officers from the Department of Special Investigation or DSI held a press conference to announce a major drug bust involving 14 suspects and nearly a hundred million baht worth of seized items.

Region 2 Police Commissioner Police Lieutenant General Panya Mamen said the drug bust was part of the effort to eradicate a drug network in eastern provinces including Rayong and Chonburi that is orchestrated by Krairerk Nakpathom, who is currently a detainee at Khao Bin Central Prison in Ratchaburi Province.

More than 300 police officers, DSI officials, and others from the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board conducted the raid at 27 locations, including three in Lampang, two in Rayong and 22 in Chonburi, with arrest warrants being issued for six suspects.

Four suspects wanted by the police were arrested along with ten other gang members. The authorities also seized a van, 18 cars, 13 motorcycles, 1.8 million baht in cash, 30 baht-weight of gold bars, 12 land plots, and 53 billion baht in bank deposits.

DSI Deputy Director-General Police Colonel Yarnpol Yangyuen attributed the successful operation to coordinated efforts between various agencies and said the police will bring those involved in the drug ring in for prosecution and pursue confiscating their property.

He noted that people who opened bank accounts that are believed to be funded with drug money will also be considered suspects.

-- Tan Network 2012-02-14

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Ten Security Officers Wounded in Yala Bomb Attack

YALA: -- Southern unrest continues as a bomb attack in Yala's Bannangstar District injures 10 paramilitary troopers.

Security officials inspected the scene of an attack where a group of 10 paramilitary troopers were injured in a bomb attack in Yala's Bannangstar District.

Unknown insurgents detonated a bomb weighing approximately 15 kilograms, while the group of paramilitary troopers were driving out from their base. The bomb was buried on the side of a local road and was detonated with a car battery.

Ten security officers were injured in the explosion, with four of them seriously wounded. All of them were rushed to the Yala Central Hospital.

Two teenage suspects, aged 17 and 18, were arrested at the scene. Authorities believe that a local Yala Runda Kampalan Kecil or RKK militant group was behind the attack.

-- Tan Network 2012-02-14