Thailand Live Friday 9 Mar 2012

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Thailand Live Friday 9 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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COURT

Verdict upheld against Bangkok bus company over death of student

BANGKOK: -- The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a lower court's verdict ordering the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, operator of bus No 207, and the driver to pay Bt9,856,000 plus interest to the father of a university student who plunged to her death from a 207 bus seven years ago.

Full story:

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One Killed, 10 Injured In Bangkok Hotel Fire

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Thailand Seizes Tigers, Lions In Wildlife Bust

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Deputy PM Chalerm Vows to Bring Thaksin Back Home This Year

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Fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Longs for National Reconciliation This Year

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AirAsia plans to list Thai unit in second quarter

Full story:

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GENERAL AMNESTY

Institute defends general amnesty proposal: Thailand

BANGKOK: -- The King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI) yesterday defended its report that proposed general amnesty and voiding of all legal impacts of the post-coup cases already ruled on by the court, saying that the reconciliation proposals were not aimed at bringing any fugitive back to Thailand.

Full story:

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Women in Thailand 'feel ignored by this govt'

BANGKOK: -- The Friends of Women Foundation said yesterday that 27,000 victims of violence had been admitted to the Public Health Ministry's One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC), while some 500 others have sought help in the first three months of this year.

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MYSTERIOUS CASH

Supoth claims millions earned from second job

Full story:

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VALENTINE'S DAY BOMBS

Iran urged to hand over women linked to explosions

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Authorities are urging their Iranian counterparts to send over the two women who were allegedly linked to the Valentine's Day explosions in Bangkok to face criminal charges, Deputy PM Yuthasak Sasiprapha said yesterday.

However, he said, Tehran has not responded yet. Yuthasak did not provide details on the identities of the two women, nor did he confirm if one of them was Leila Rohani, who has been heavily linked with telling evidence produced by police and is now reportedly in Iran.

Yuthasak said Malaysia had allowed the Thai side to interview Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, one of five identified suspects.

"Malaysia has not denied to hand this suspect over to us," he added, referring to reports that Malaysian authorities would "take care of Sedaghatzadeh" themselves.

He said police had obtained more evidence on the suspects, including a recording of phone conversations with a group of suspects based in India.

DNA test results also showed that two of them - Saeid Moradi, who lost both legs to grenades that backfired, and Mohammad Hazai - were in a rented house in Bangkok where the first accidental explosion occurred on February 14.

Senior police commander Pol MajGeneral Phisit Phisutsak said officers would be penalised if they can't find some footage from security cameras, especially since an extra 6,000 cameras were installed at the request of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

There are currently 17,000 units installed throughout the capital.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Thai media group inconclusive over Kanok's surprise visit by red shirts

BANGKOK: -- The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association yesterday said it would need further information before concluding whether a television host was threatened by the red shirts when they "called on" him at his workplace last Friday night.

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EDITORIAL

Popular, yes, but at what cost to Thailand?

BANGKOK: -- Opinion polls show the government maintaining widespread support in the Northeast due to its populist policies, but complacency could lead to future economic trouble

Full story:

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Tense day for charter panel

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Yesterday saw a fiery debate in the House committee in charge of vetting the charter amendment bill, as coalition and opposition lawmakers tried to outwit one another on the framework for a new charter.

A deadlock ensued as both sides refused to yield, prompting an agreement to resume the debate at a later date.

After the day-long debate, the committee completed vetting two draft provisions, one of which concerned the bill's name.

Panel chairman Samart Kaew-mechai kicked off the meeting by proposing that all parties ratify an agreement explicitly exclud-ing royal provisions from the charter amendments.

Samart's proposal was meant to appease the Democrats, who have called for a formal ban on amending the royal provisions.

Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakarn voiced support for the proposal, saying it would help to dispel Democrats' concerns about giving "a blank cheque" to charter writers.

Democrat MP Suthas Ngern-muen said if all parties agreed to leave the monarchy out, the draft bill should set a clear mandate on what the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) can and cannot do. He said the ratification proposal was unacceptable, since it would not be a binding document for the CDA.

As the opposing sides insisted on their respective stands, Samart put the debate on hold by informing members of the appointment of red-shirt chairwoman Thida Thawornseth as the committee's adviser.

Then the debate resumed with the Democrats reiterating that any charter amendments should avoid touching on the monarchy, the judiciary or independent organisations. The Democrats included Wiratana Kalayasiri and Warong Dechgitvigrom.

Pheu Thai MPs, including Cholnan Srikaew and Sanguan Pongmanee, countered that the panel had no mandate to deviate from the government-sponsored bill, which does not bar the CDA from touching on those three institutions.

The meeting proceeded to vet the first and second draft provisions. The meeting adjourned after the Democrats and Pheu Thai MPs locked horns again. The opposing sides clashed on two issues - whether all CDA members should be elected, and whether to drop the people-sponsored bills on charter amendments and rely solely on the government-sponsored draft.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Family swept to death in Songkhla

The Nation

SONGKHLA: -- Heavy rains and severe flooding in Songkhla's Sadao district swept a pickup truck with a family of four onboard into a canal and their bodies were found inside the overturned truck after a sixhour search.

Mhadasan Mhadsa, 33, reportedly tried to cross the Ban Ton SaiBan Rai Tok bridge in Sadao's Tambon Samnak Kham, even though 30 other vehicles were waiting for the strong currents to die down before crossing over. He had his wife Khanittha, 36, nineyearold son and fiveyearold daughter onboard. Halfway across the bridge, the truck's engine died and it was swept away in the strong currents.

Severe flooding forced motorists using Kanchanawanich Road near the Sadao border checkpoint to use one lane, while shops in the Ban Dan Nok Market and homes nearby were inundated, a source said.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Hunt on for more drug gang members

The Nation

PATHUM THANI: -- After arresting Nipon Kanchat, believed to be a member of the NhooChern drug gang, and seizing 3 million ya ba tablets, 71 kilograms of crystal meth and other items in Pathum Thani on January 7, police have issued arrest warrants for 54 other suspects. So far, 10 of these suspects have been nabbed and some Bt104 million worth of assets seized.

Acting Provincial Police Region 1 commander Khamronwit Thupkrachang said yesterday that police had also issued summonses for 128 other persons allegedly involved in drug trafficking. This group includes drug retailers and those hired to open bank accounts for illicit transactions. The commander said that since this case dealt with transnational drug trafficking, police were using the antimoney laundering act and related laws to seize assets.

Khamronwit said some 22 major drugdealing networks in Bangkok and in areas under jurisdiction of the Provincial Police Region 1 were under investigation, adding that each of these networks had a cash flow of about Bt1 million per day. He said five key members of these networks were being detained at Khlong Prem, Bang Kwang and Khao Bin prisons.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Police speak to Fico Place tenants

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- As part of their investigation police interviewed tenants of the Fico Place building in Sukhumvit Soi 21 in a bid to determine what caused the fire on Saturday, which damaged floors seven to nine.

Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol MajGeneral Anuchai Lekbamrung said the investigators, led by Thong Lor deputy superintendent Pol LtColonel Thanakorn Konkaew, were hearing testimonies from representatives of tenants. Police are also waiting for Scientific Crime Detection Division's test results, which will help them determine the real cause of the fire and see if it was caused by recklessness or if it was an accident and if any wrongdoers need to be arrested.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Forest office orders hunt for those behind fires in Thailand's North

MAE HONG SON: -- After struggling with a month of severe pollution caused by manmade fires in the North, the Mae Hong Son forest office ordered a hunt for the arsonists yesterday.

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Yuthasak says lapse to blame for death of soldiers

The Nation

Bomb attack that killed four might force 'extension of emergency'

NARATHIWAT: -- Four soldiers were killed and another severely wounded when their vehicle was blown up by a bomb blamed on insurgents while they were returning after providing security for a Makha Bucha observance in Narathiwat.

The unit was travelling on a road beside the railway in Yaba village in Rusoh district's Tambon Rusoh when the homemade device was detonated at 10.40pm by remote control.

Police found a wire more than 100 metres long at the scene.

The vehicle carrying the five soldiers was blown to bits, with pieces found scattered four metres away, while the blast created a crater one metre deep and three metres wide in the road.

Police said the unit was returning to its base in two vehicles after being deployed at Rat Samosorn Temple, where Buddhists were performing the wian tian candlelit ceremony to mark Makha Bucha Day on Wednesday evening.

Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa said the emergency decree in the South might have to be extended in light of the deadly explosion.

A military lapse was partly to blame, he said.

"Soldiers on patrol should adjust their routes and schedule quite often to avoid being targeted by militants in risky areas such as bridges and intersections," he said.

Narathiwat police said the attack was likely the work of an active insurgent leader identified as Rohpaein Useng, who was possibly behind a grenade attack on a tea shop on March 1, which wounded 10 people.

In Yala, police shot dead a suspected insurgent during a raid on a village in Muang district on Wednesday afternoon. The dead insurgent was a 17yearold boy. Five other men fled after a brief gunfight.

The sixman group is part of a cell led by Abiding Padi, a man wanted for several attacks including an ambush on a vehicle of a junior policeman which killed his wife and a young child, and an M79 attack on the Lam Mai Police Station in Yala.

LtGeneral Udomchai Thammasarojrat, commandergeneral of the Fourth Army Area, expressed grief over the death of the four victims and vowed to arrest the killers. The frequent attacks were in response to proactive operations by the military to win over the local communities, he said.

Yuthasak said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is on an official visit to Japan, had called him to ask him to take good care of the families of those four killed.

"A full military funeral is being prepared for them before all welfare conditions follow," he added.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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3,000 mobiles found in prison raids so far

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Raids in 142 prisons across the nation since February have yielded about 3,000 cellphones as well as some narcotic substances, a senior official said yesterday.

Corrections Department deputy chief Kobkiat Kasiwat said every raid yielded about 20 to 30 mobile phones and that if these impromptu searches continued, inmates would no longer be able to smuggle prohibited items.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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Turmoil victims get to seek reimbursement

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

AMNART CHAROEN: -- After waiting for three years since her husband was killed during the military crackdown on redshirt demonstrators, 38yearold Amnart Charoen resident Boonsuay Chanha has finally been able to apply for government compensation.

Her husband Somsak Kaewsan, one of the 93 people killed during the AprilMay 2010 conflict, was shot in the chest during the deadly crackdown at Khok Wua intersection on April 10.

Boonsuay left her husband's hometown in Bung Kan province with her three children on Wednesday night and arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning to join the 500 others waiting to register for compensation at the Department of Social Development and Welfare's Rajvithi Child Welfare Home.

Yesterday was the first day that the government allowed victims of political unrest since 2005 to register for reimbursement.

The government will be paying those who lost their relatives or sustained injuries since late 2005, when the yellow shirts rallied against thenPM Thaksin Shinawatra, to May 2010 when the red shirts staged street protests against the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The authorities estimate that the families of about 100 people killed and 2,000 injured will be eligible for compensation. The relatives of those killed will be granted Bt7.9 million.

"It's not about the money, its about justice," Boonsuay said. "I have three children to take care of."

The mother of three helps cut down eucalyptus trees and can only earn about Bt500 every three days.

"When my husband was alive, I had enough money since he earned well as a taxi driver. Now nobody helps me," she said holding her late husband's photograph. "I cry when I look at his picture. It is difficult for me to get over his death even though it's been three years."

However, she said, the compensation was not as important as bringing those behind the crackdown to justice. "I will continue fighting against the previous government because I really want to know who ordered the attack," she said.

Koonkij Suriyakaensai, whose husband Wasu sustained injuries to his right leg, said nursing charges cost her about Bt1,000 a day and that she can no longer afford it.

"I don't want my husband to be disabled," she lamented.

Pol Senior SgtMajor Supakorn Thongsrinuan, who was injured during the crackdown on yellow shirts on October 7, 2005, also put his name down for compensation yesterday. "The payoff is fair and good for me," he said.

However, Naree Sanprasert, whose son Mana was shot dead while trying to help others, said the money could not cover her loss. She said she wanted her son back.

-- The Nation 2012-03-09

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12 soldiers wounded by M79 fire in two insurgent attacks at Narathiwat's Bacho district base /MCOT

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UPDATE

Electrical short circuit may be cause of Grand Park Avenue Hotel fire: Police

BANGKOK, March 9 -- Police believed that fire at the Grand Park Avenue Hotel in Sukhumvit 22 may have been caused by an electrical short circuit, according to Bangkok Metropolitan Police deputy commander Pol Maj-Gen Anuchai Lekbumrung.

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AFP: One dead, 20 hurt in Bangkok hotel blaze: officials

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Thai stock index opens on Friday at 1,169.01, up 0.70 points /MCOT

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Newsweek Names Thai PM Yingluck One of World's 150 Fearless Women

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Coke's recipe to stay, despite scare claim

ATLANTA: -- Coca-Cola says it will not be altering their top secret recipe, despite widespread reports to the contrary.

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Thai Traffic Kills another Swede

KANTHARALAK: -- It has been a terrible 2012 when it comes to tragic road accidents claiming the lives of Swedish citizens. But it does not seem to stop as Wednesday saw another Swede losing his life on the Thai roads, this time in Kantharalak in the East of Thailand.

Full story:

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Pattaya Thieves Attack Russian and His Pregnant Wife

A Russian couple was robbed by two Pattaya thieves. The wife was bashed on her head. The victims plead to the police to check the CCTV footage.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....-pregnant-wife/