Thailand Live Sunday 18 Mar 2012

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It takes time to end conflict: Theerayuth

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

BANGKOK:-- There is no short-term solution to ending Thailand's on-going political conflict but long-term measures can be taken up in order to arrive at a solution in a more distant future, said well-known Thammasat University sociologist Theerayuth Boonmee.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__5144348

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Kalasin police to prosecute Kalasin Hospital officials for disappearance of pseudoephedrine-based cold medication /TAN_Network

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Over 1 million Thais are infected with HIV/AIDs

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry reports that the number of HIV/AIDs patients in Thailand is on the rise with over 1 million patients currently.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/541692-over-1-million-thais-are-infected-with-hivaids/page__view__findpost__p__5144410

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Dusit Poll:59% have confidence in PM;46% don't have confidence in reconciliation process;60% say govt failed to solve goods prices TAN_Network

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Govt to be asked to pay for THB1 bil compensation to BTSC

BANGKOK, 18 March 2012 (NNT) - The Ministry of Finance will ask the cabinet to provide compensations to the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC) for the construction of a BTS sky train depot and maintenance centre.

Last year, the Administrative Court has ruled in favor of the BTSC over the legal case between the company and the Treasury Department on the project to build a shopping mall and a BTS depot within the compound of Mor Chit Bus Terminal.

The project was eventually scrapped due to its unlawfulness and the court has ordered the Treasury Department to be responsible for compensations worth 1 billion baht advanced by the BTSC, the operator of the BTS sky train.

Director-General of the Treasury Department Naris Chaiyasut said that the Finance Ministry would propose to the cabinet to allocate the necessary budget for the compensation as ordered by the court.

According to Mr. Naris, the scrutinizing committee has found that some current and retired civil servants in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration were involved in the irregularity of the project, and it will thus set up a committee to take disciplinary action against the culprits.

-- NNT 2012-03-18

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Grocery shop owner killed, village defence volunteer badly injured in Pattani shooting /MCOT

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Rain-making task resumes to fight new round of haze

CHIANG MAI, March 18 - The Chiang Mai on Sunday resumed artificial rain making operations after suspension on Saturday after haze returned to cover the province.

Song Klinprathum, director of the royal rain-making operations centre in the upper north said six flights were set to carry out the task to reduce haze in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.

Banpote Khantasen, a natural resources and environment official in Chiang Mai said haze has thickened again, partly because of a cold air mass blanketing the North. The air quality at the Chiang Mai City Hall was measured at 132 microgrammes per cubic metre, over the safety standard of 120 microgrammes per cubic metre.

The province has strictly controlled outdoor burning and kept monitoring the situation. The level of dust particles normally reaches the highest level from March 22-26 every year.

In Chiang Rai, the haze problem also reemerged. Particulate matter smaller than 10 microns was measured at 336.5 microgrammes per cubic metre in Mae Sai district and 201.7 microgrammes per cubic metre in the provincial seat.

Visibility has dropped to less than one kilometre and municipal officials mobilized fire trucks to spray water in the air to ease the haze problem.

Thanin Supasaen, Chiang Rai governor said a new round of haze was caused by forest burning in a neighbouring country and cold air mass prevailing in the area, forcing haze to gather in the lower atmosphere.

He ordered local authorities of four border districts to sprinkle water in an attempt to block haze from the neighbouring country. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-03-18

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One killed, one badly hurt in Pattani shooting attack

PATTANI, March 18 - A grocery shop owner was gunned down and a village defence volunteer severely wounded in a shooting on Sunday in Pattani, according to local police.

Maleeseng Gajay, a 41-year-old grocer, was shot dead at his shop in Mayo district and Rosa E-daobudee was seriously injured when an unknown number of assailants sprayed bullets into the grocery shop, according to Pol Lt Col Suwat Tulathorn, deputy superintendent of Mayo police station.

A preliminary investigation found that a group of attackers parked a sedan and a pickup truck in front of Mr Maleeseng’s grocery shop and then shot him dead.

In the meantime, Mr Rosa exchanged gunfire with the gunmen but he eventually suffered severe gunshot wounds.

Responding to the gun attack, security officials set up checkpoints to search for the two suspicious vehicles. So far, no clues have been found.

The resurgence of the insurgency in the deep South in 2004 has claimed more than 5,000 lives of residents, government officials and suspected insurgents themselves. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-03-18

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Two men nabbed with over 700,000 meth pills in Sakon Nakhon

SAKON NAKHON, March 18 --- Sakon Nakhon police on Sunday arrested two men en route to deliver methamphetamine pills, worth some Bt76 million (over US$2.53 million) to the southern province of Narathiwat.

Phet Saneha and Yingyod Sukaha were captured at a police checkpoint in Wanon Niwat district of this northeastern province with 762,000 speed pills.

The arrest came after the police were tipped off. They stopped a suspicious pick-up truck at a checkpoint and discovered a massive haul of speed pills during the vehicle search.

The two suspected drug traffickers said that they were hired for Bt20,000 (more than US$600) to deliver the meth pills to customers in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat.

The police will expand its investigation to find the drug syndicate possibly behind the trafficking.

In a related development, five drug suspects on Sunday were apprehended in the southern province of Chumphon with 40,000 meth pills hidden in a pickup truck, said the police.

The suspects reportedly tried to escape the arrest but their pickup truck crashed into a six-wheeled truck on the Asian Highway in Thung Tako district. The police detained all of them to Lang Suan police station for investigation.

They confessed that the drug shipment was from the central region and would be delivered to customers in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The police also confiscated five cell phones, two machetes and a metal-cutting snip found in the vehicle.

Illicit drug suppression was one of the government policies announced during the election campaign of Pheu Thai Party.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung, in his capacity as Director of the National Command Center for Drugs (NCCD), addressed in the weekly TV programme "Yingluck Government Meets the People" which aired on Jan 28 that the drug problem was on the national agenda and he intended to root it out of Thailand. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-03-18

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Thailand Live Monday 19 Mar 2012