Thailand Live Sunday 4 Mar 2012

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Thailand Live Sunday 4 March 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 Saturday 3 Mar 2012

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[Lite Beer]

Bid to oust amendment supporters

The Nation on Sunday

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538080-bid-to-oust-amendment-supporters/page__view__findpost__p__5106395

[Lite Beer]

Thousands may be evacuated in haze-hit Mae Sai

Prapaporn Kreungew,

Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee,

Prateep Nanthaparp

The Nation on Sunday

CHIANG RAI:-- His Majesty the King is worried about the haze in the North and has instructed the president of the Rajaprajanigroh Foundation to visit affected areas, a senior official said yesterday.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__5106399

[Lite Beer]

Firemen injured battling blaze in Asoke high-rise

Wisit Chuanphiphat

The Nation on Sunday

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/537977-fire-on-7th-floor-of-fico-building-asoke-area-bangkok/page__view__findpost__p__5106406

[Lite Beer]

Nitirat campaign to continue despite bashing

The Nation on Sunday March 4, 2012 1:00 am

BANGKOK:-- The Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 (CCAA 112) yesterday dismissed a suggestion that the group stop the campaign after its key member was assaulted last week.

CCAA 112 member Suthachai Yimprasert said the group believed Thammasat University lecturer Somsak Chiamsakul made his suggestion out of good intention as he feared for the committee's safety. However, his group would not suspend its campaign and would continue gathering signatures to petition for the amendment of the lese majeste clause in the Criminal Code in Ubon Ratchathani and Rayong this weekend.

He said the campaign had met opposition from local politicians but there had not been any violent incident except the attack on Worachet Pakeerut, which he himself regarded as a minor drama.

"We have made progress this far, [but] we must continue and cannot stop in the middle, because otherwise, how can we explain to the people who gave their signatures to support the move?'' he said.

Twin brothers Supot and Supat Silarat confessed to police that they punched Worachet

in the Thammasat University car park, knowing full well that the attack would be caught on security cameras. The brothers, who make a living selling clothes, admitted they disliked Worachet for spearheading a public campaign to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code.

Supot has previously been arrested in a criminal case involving firearms, while Supat has faced physical assault charges on four separate occasions.

Meanwhile, Pol Lt-Colonel Nattakorn Kumsab, deputy superintendent at Chana Songkhram station, said Chao Phraya Hospital physicians had already endorsed their opinion about Worachet's injuries and police would receive their finding on Monday.

He said police might seek to increase the charge that the twins face depending on the doctors' opinion and the suspects' past criminal records. The case against the suspects would be filed at Dusit District Court this week.

-- The Nation 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

DEMOCRAT INITIATIVE

Abhisit urges PM to reassure Japanese over flood measures

The Nation on Sunday March 4, 2012 1:00 am

BANGKOK:-- Opposition leader talks up business sentiment during recent visit to Japan

Japanese businesses want to have clear details on Thailand's water management plan and measures to prevent flooding, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, who completed a three-day visit to Japan on Friday, said yesterday.

Abhisit urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who will make an official visit to Japan later this week, to try to reassure Japanese politicians and businesses about Thailand's seriousness in preventing a recurrence of last year's severe floods. He said the PM should have experts explain to the Japanese about Thailand's plans.

"The Japanese want specific details. It's the government's duty to try to gain confidence in its water management plan," he said. "Thai society does not want to see any big floods again."

During his trip to Japan, the Democrat Party leader said he met with leading Japanese politicians and executives of Japanese firms such as Mitsui, Honda and Marubeni. He also gave a speech at a local reporters' association, where he expressed his confidence that Thailand's economy was recovering after the floods.

Many Japanese companies with investments in Thailand suffered severely as their factories were damaged by the inundation, and their global supply-chain was badly affected.

Among the companies that suffered when heavy floods brought chaos to large parts of the country was auto giant Honda, which was forced to suspended operations at one of its factories in October.

The plant in central Ayutthaya province lost more than 1,000 cars when they were submerged in muddy waters that also swamped Bangkok, an image Abhisit on Friday said became "the symbol of the industrial damage from the flooding".

Honda said it plans to restart the Ayutthaya plant by the end of March and expects to have operations back to normal in early April.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, who accompanied Abhisit on the Japan visit, yesterday said time was running out for the government to restore confidence in Thailand following last year's flood crisis.

He said many Japanese businesspeople the Democrats met expressed their concern at the lack of clarity in the Thai government's flood-prevention plans.

In Tokyo, former premier Abhisit said he expected Thailand's economy to rebound in the first quarter of this year as firms will increase their output following last year's devastating floods. Abhisit made his comments during a meeting with industry leaders as part of a drive to reassure businesses thinking of fleeing the country following the disaster, Agence France-Presse reported. "I would say that the majority of companies have already resumed operations, many of them at the pre-crisis level," Abhisit told journalists in Tokyo.

"Yesterday, at my meeting with Honda, they confirmed that by the end of this month they will be back in operation. So we expect quite a strong rebound in the first quarter of this year."

Thailand suffered a double-digit contraction in the final three months of 2011, the sharpest on record, as the worst floods in half a century pummelled the nation's industrial sector.

The months-long floods took a heavy toll on Thailand's industrial heartland north of Bangkok, with many factories forced to close temporarily.

A recent survey showed that almost one in 10 Japanese manufacturers with operations in Thailand now plans to relocate out of the Kingdom.

Electronics companies were particularly hard hit, with more than half directly affected by the disaster, according to the poll of 1,345 companies by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce Bangkok (JCCB).

The JCCB has urged the Thai government to speed up implementation of a flood-control plan.

-- The Nation 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

Chatuchak vendors block traffic to protest rent hike

The Nation on Sunday

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538082-chatuchak-vendors-block-traffic-to-protest-rent-hike/page__view__findpost__p__5106422

[Lite Beer]

Pair arrested for attack on jail guard

The Nation on Sunday

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538094-pair-arrested-for-attack-on-jail-guard/page__view__findpost__p__5106553

[Lite Beer]

Police probe money straps in Rayong

The Nation on Sunday

RAYONG:-- Currency straps usually put around bundles of money - worth more than Bt3 million - were found yesterday in Rayong's Muang district.

Phanuwat Hunmatcha, 48, a local resident, found a huge amount of currency straps in a bin and on a road near his home. There were Bt100, Bt500 and Bt1,000 currency straps from Siam Commercial Bank and Bank of Ayudhya. Police calculated they had held bundles of cash that totalled Bt3.6 million.

Police also found paper with a list of bank branches where ATMs are located. As it was at weekend, police said they could not check with the banks to find out if the straps were left by officials who transported money to ATMs. They plan to contact the banks to investigate the case.

-- The Nation 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

Suspected insurgent nabbed in raid in South

Nakharin Chinworakomon,

Pares Lohasan

The Nation on Sunday

YALA:-- A 24-year-old suspected insurgent was arrested in Yala town early yesterday, while, in a separate case, Pattani Court issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect involved in the February 9 car bomb that killed one person and injured 12 others outside the Pattani health office.

Following a tip-off about an insurgent suspect's hideout and that insurgents were plotting to attack officials from March 6-8, about 60 police and troops raided a house in Ban Baluka in Tambon Lam Mai at 5am. The team - led by No 11 Yala special taskforce commander Col Thanut Pisalsithiwat and Lam Mai police station chief Pol Lt-Col Narong Thongkhao - arrested Ahmad Ussanibakoh, 24.

Ahmad, wanted on warrants for alleged attacks on state authorities and inciting unrest in the three southernmost provinces, was taken for interrogation at the Lam Mai police station.

The team also went to collect more evidence and DNA samples at another house in Moo 4 of Tambon Lammai, where another insurgent suspect, Hamdi Tolubo, who was arrested on February 22, used to stay.

The Pattani Court issued a warrant for the arrest of 34-year-old suspect Masore Deurama. He is alleged to have parked a car with a bomb in it that exploded outside the local public health office last month. Masore was wanted for national security cases, Pattani police chief Pichet Pitisetthapan said.

-- The Nation 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

Poacher shot dead

The Nation on Sunday

CHAIYAPHUM :-- Wildlife officials at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary in Chaiyaphum clashed yesterday with Vietnamese poachers, killing one man.

The officials had a gunfight with three men each of who were allegedly carrying a sack with eagle wood and carcasses in the forest sanctuary.

Officials said they found a gun near the man they shot dead and a personal document identifying him as Vietnamese. Cutting tools, the eagle wood and freshly cut deer antlers were found inside the sack. The two others were said to have escaped.

The incident was the fourth time officials have arrested or clashed with poachers at Phu Khieo. Most of them were Vietnamese.

In related news, police arrested a man allegedly transporting black wood worth Bt1.5 million from Khun Han district in Si Sa Ket to Sangkha and Prasat districts in Surin.

Phatthaya Naoprakhon, 29, confessed that he was paid Bt20,000 per trip.

-- The Nation 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

North still experiences cool weather; Northeast and East to see scattered thunderstorm while South faces heavy rain; BKK hot /TAN_Network

Mar 3-7 Makabucha event held at Sanam Luang from 7am-9pm /TAN_Network

45th fair by diplomats' wives at Royal Paragon Hall, 5th floor of Siam Paragon from 10am-8pm /TAN_Network

45th prison fair at Klongprem Prison on Ngamwongwan Rd until Mar 11 /TAN_Network

Ramkamhaeng Univ to hold graduation ceremony from Mar 5-9; parking not allowed on premises /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

Previously unknown Mozart piece of work discovered in Austria

VIENNA, Austria (BNO NEWS) -- A previously unknown musical piece by Mozart was discovered inside an eighteenth century music book in Austria, local media reported on Saturday.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538091-previously-unknown-mozart-piece-discovered-in-austria/page__view__findpost__p__5106517

[Lite Beer]

Deputy BKK Governor Thirachon refutes claims BMA was slow in putting out Fico building fire; no conclusion yet as to building's demolition. Thirachon calls on all older buildings to install sprinkler system to put out possible blaze /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

Dusit Poll: respondents worry charter amendment will spark conflict;asks committee vetting issue to consider public interest;want referendum/TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

Phuket Opinion: There's an Elephant in the Room

Phuket Gazette –

Phuket Opinion: Elephants are somewhat difficult to miss at checkpoints, but apparently it does happen.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__5106748

[Lite Beer]

ABAC Poll's happiness index is 6.42 out of 10; respondents most unhappy about politics and expensive goods' price /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

Ramkamhaeng Univ's Bangna campus's testing moved up to 11.30am-2.30pm; traffic now congested /TAN_Network

3 water trucks cleaning area in front of Fico building after yesterday's blaze, blocking left outbound lane on Asoke /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

PM accompanied by her son presided over launch of D.A.R.E. program against drugs at Natl Stadium /TAN_Network

PM presides over anti-drug event to prevent youth from becoming new drug users, young people join campaign vow to shun illegal drugs /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

Haze in Chiang Rai critically over safety standard for 6th day Sunday, outdoor burnings detected in neighbouring Myanmar /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

RT@Aim_NT: Fire broke at Oom Piem Refugee Centre in Tak due to candle lit unattended. The fire is now put off. Via @Rawangpai

[Lite Beer]

Phuket Heroines Memorial Fair underway

Phuket Gazette –

The event will take place at the Thalang Victory memorial Field in Phuket.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538138-phuket-heroines-memorial-fair-underway/page__view__findpost__p__5106939

[Lite Beer]

BMA orders Fico Place bldg off-limits after Saturday's fire, awaiting inspection;plans to issue strict regulations on sprinkler installation /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

Four dead, five injured as pickup truck slams into Phuket tourist van

Phuket Gazette –

The van full of tourists was heading to Phuket when the accident occurred. Photo: Warisa Temram

The five Phuket tourists injured were rushed to Tai Muang Hospital. Photo: Warisa Temram

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538175-four-dead-five-injured-as-pickup-truck-slams-into-phuket-tourist-van/page__view__findpost__p__5107168

[Lite Beer]

3.0-magnitude quake hits Thongpaphum, Kanchanaburi; district chief assures Vajiralongkorn Dam not affected

/TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

Haze still critical in Chiang Rai, compounded by drought

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/538081-thousands-may-be-evacuated-in-haze-hit-mae-sai/page__view__findpost__p__5107216

[Lite Beer]

Thai navy stepped up clampdown on cross-border narcotics trade

BANGKOK, 4 March 2012 (NNT) - Thai security officials along the Mekong River is stepping up measures to clamp down on narcotics trade around the border area.

According to the Mekong River Operation Unit of the Royal Thai navy in northeastern Nakhon Phanom Province, the level of water in Mekong River that has fallen drastically lately is affecting the clampdown on drug smuggling and illegal activities in the area.

The emergence of broad sand bar in the Mekong River has reportedly enabled drug smugglers to easily transport narcotics into Thai soil via Nakhon Phanom.

With limited personnel, the Navy's Mekong River patrols have been unable to thoroughly inspect all suspicious activities, which have been cunningly engineered to evade the Thai authorities.

Therefore, more personnel and new operations, including land patrols and inspections of all risk areas, are being launched to cover all areas believed to be used by drug smugglers along the Thai border.

-- NNT 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

Commerce Minister: State cassava pledging scheme achieved significant progress

BANGKOK, 4 March 2012 (NNT) - The Commerce Ministry has reported a significant progress on the government-initiated cassava pledging scheme, while forecasting the 2012 export target for tapioca at no less than 24 million tons.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom stressed during his appearance on the weekly Prime Minister Yingluck Government Meets the Public TV program that the current administration considers cassava the country's major economic crop and expects this year's yields to be higher than last year's.

Thailand is currently the world's leading cassava supplier thanks to domestic oversupply.

Mr. Boonsong said that since the government launched the cassava pledging program, there have been more than 600 tapioca processing plants, with approximately 700,000 tons of cassava, joining in the scheme.

However, he conceded that Thai exports of tapioca have suffered some setbacks and as a result, it is forecasted that this year's export volume will be between 24-25 million tons.

Concerning the pledging scheme, the Commerce Minister expects at least 8 million tons to be harvested for the current growing season, with around 6 million tons likely to be pledged with the government.

He went on to say that the government has instructed all related state offices to clamp down on all irregularities related to the cassava pledging program

-- NNT 2012-03-04

[Lite Beer]

Power consumption to be higher than ever

BANGKOK, 4 March 2012 (NNT) - The peak power consumption volume in 2012 is projected to rise by nearly 8 percent from that of the previous year due to an unusually intense heat, according to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

EGAT Governor Suthat Pattamasiriwat has estimated that this year’s peak electricity consumption would rise to the new record level of 25,784 megawatts, an increase of 1,884 megawatts or 7.88 percent over 2011's. He added that a forecasted power demand would also increase by 4.2 billion units or 2.67 percent. The main causes were the much hotter weather and an overall positive development in the economy.

Mr. Suthat was certain that the EGAT would be able to handle this skyrocketing power demand, thanks to its 20-percent power supply back-up.

As for the EGAT’s water management, Mr. Suthat stressed that it had been carried out in line with the government’s plan, which puts major attention on preventing floods.

The authority has been discharging 60 and 40 million cubic meters of water per day from the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams respectively, while the total remaining capacity is 7.3 billion cubic meters. In April, both dams should be able to hold more of 12 billion cubic meters of water as planned, added the Governor.

-- NNT 2012-03-04