Thailand Live Monday 19 Mar 2012

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Thailand Live Monday 19 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 Sunday 18 Mar 2012

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Poor no longer willing to be told to sacrifice by wealthy: Theerayuth

BANGKOK: -- There is no short-term solution to Thailand's ongoing political conflict, but long-term measures could be taken up to arrive at a solution in the future, well-known Thammasat University sociologist Theerayuth Boonme said.

Full story:

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As queues at Suvarnabhumi grow, airport debate rages

Congestion at Suvarnabhumi airport is due to overload passengers surpassing its capacity and temporary closure of an immigration gate.

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok's "single" airport controversy has returned to haunt all participants in the travel sector, especially air passengers who are most likely to suffer from rising congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Full story:

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Smog returns in Thailand's Upper North

CHIANG MAI: -- Artificial rainmaking flights resumed in Chiang Mai yesterday after being suspended on Saturday and haze returned to cover the province, Thai news agencies reported yesterday.

Full story:

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Coastal development destroying reefs off Phuket

An aerial photograph taken recently by the Phuket Marine Biological Centre shows the largescale property development on Cape Panwa. / Courtesy of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre

PHUKET: -- Massive land development in Phuket province will be strictly controlled by environmental regulations after findings that large amounts of sediment caused by construction has destroyed a large area of coral reefs and marine ecosystems.

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Hitech flood fight In all key rivers

Royol Jitdon

BANGKOK: -- Devices to measure water levels being installed in all basins in North, Centre and around Bangkok

Full story:

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Abhisit pans KPI's report as one-sided

'Facts distorted to present positive picture of PT govt, instead of solution'

BANGKOK: -- Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday slammed the reconciliation report by King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI), saying the independent think tank distorted the facts to present a positive picture of the Pheu Thai-led government.

Full story:

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EVT developing Thailand's first electronic road car

Thailand's first electric road car is to be introduced in Bangkok in the near future by Electric Vehicles (Thailand).

BANGKOK: -- EVT makes a variety of electric cars for use in limited spaces such as airports, hospitals, hotels and resorts, universities and golf courses. The company also makes green-energy tuk-tuks and motorbikes.

Full story:

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EDITORIAL

Can the PM win over a foreign audience?: Thai opinion

Doubts expressed over Yingluck's ability to 'think on her feet'

BANGKOK: -- Top bureaucrats are going through some nail-biting moments as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra contemplates an invitation to attend an upcoming summit, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in Qatar later next month.

Full story:

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Chalerm vows to hunt down drug ring suspects

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung yesterday vowed to smash a suspected methamphetaminedistribution network after possibly millions of "precursor" pills went missing from many state hospitals.

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Abhisit: Energy policy 'fuelling price rises'

BANGKOK: -- Opposition Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called on the government to review its energy policies, which he said would cause oil-price speculation, leading to a rise in the price of consumer products.

Full story:

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Local groups giving educators a boost: Thailand

Studies show benefits of outside help, networking

BANGKOK: -- People researching learning need to act more as coordinators to attract help from a wide sector of the community - to put their studies into practice and help their students, a discussion on education was told last week.

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Sports challenge makes a point on Women's Day

Rojana Manowalailao

Unesco, Bangkok

Special to The Nation

Football claims equal rights of boys and girls on International Women

BANGKOK: -- Student crowds at Bangkok International Preparatory and Secondary School (Bangkok Prep) let out great cheers around the football field during a friendly mixed match of boys and girls to promote International Women's Day on March 8.

When girls gained the ball and scored a goal, the crowd cheered even louder.

"Boys usually think they are better than girls," said Kim Bui, an AustralianVietnamese Year 7 female student of Bangkok Prep. "So today is a good day for girls to get attention and respect."

To celebrate International Women's Day this year, UNESCO Bangkok used physical education and sport to encourage boys and girls to play together, and to demonstrate that by playing together everybody wins on the sports field.

The mixed football match 'Only Girls Can Score' consisted of Bangkok Prep student teams with equal numbers of boy and girl players. The rules are that only girls can score. Only girls can be the goalkeeper. And only girl goals are allowed in the net. So a team can only win by valuing and supporting their female team members.

"I feel a bit bored and uncomfortable to not be able to shoot at goal," said Smith Uthaichalanond, a ThaiAmerican Year 7 male student of the school.

"But it's fun. I'd need to try every way to make the girls get the ball and score. And when they can score, I'm happy too," said the boy.

This interactive youth session highlighting the role that sport can play in connecting girls and inspiring futures, which was the theme of this year's International Women's Day, promotes gender equality on the sports field and beyond by valuing female participation.

"We're here in Thailand and we're lucky as boys and girls have both the possibilities to play sport," said UNESCO Bangkok's Deputy Director Etienne Clement. "Girls and women in many countries, including some in this region in Asia, can't do sports."

"Claiming rights for girls and women should not only be on Women's Day, but every day. When you get a position in a society to be whatever you want to become, I'd like you to carry in mind that equal rights is for everybody, men and women, boys and girls," Clement said to the students during his speech.

UNESCO Bangkok organised this friendly mixed match with support of Right To Play, Thailand and Bangkok Prep.

-- The Nation 2012-03-19

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Tonga King Tupou V dies at Hong Kong hospital

Full story:

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Alleged drug kingpin hiding in Thailand

Full story:

[Lite Beer]

RT@RichardBarrow: Picture: Rehearsal for the funeral procession of the late princess in Bangkok yesterday (ThaiRath) http://t.co/oeyDZfcc

[Lite Beer]

The Royal Crematorium for Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana

The Committee on the Organizing of the Royal Cremation Ceremony for Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana has assigned the Fine Arts Department to design and construct the Royal Crematorium and other components.

The Department has invited Air Vice Marshal Arvuth Ngoenchuklin, former Director-General of the Fine Arts Department and National Artist in the Field of Architecture, to serve as designer and advisor for the construction of the Royal Crematorium and other related structures.

The Royal Crematorium began construction after His Majesty the King had approved the design. It is built in the form of a religious structure with a wooden top, facing the west. The structure is in the shape of a four-sided castle, with modified corners, decorated at the top with a seven-tiered white umbrella of state. The principal colors for the Royal Crematorium are gold and pink. The pink color represents Tuesday, the birthday of Princess Bejaratana.

The Royal Crematorium is modeled after the imaginary Mount Sumeru, the center of the universe in Buddhist cosmology. In the ancient Thai kingdom, the concept of a divine king was firmly established and institutionalized. This concept was influenced by deism, Hinduism, and Khmer beliefs. The king was thought to be a demi-god whose celestial abode was on Mount Sumeru. Though born on the earth, when he died he would return to his heavenly dwelling on Mount Sumeru, where all gods and goddesses lived their eternal lives. To represent this concept, the artists and architects used their imagination in the construction of the Royal Crematorium.

This structure is on a square base, surrounded by supplementary structures, in the form of a temple hall with corridors, called Thap Kaset, and Sang or Samsang, the four corner pavilions for monks reciting prayers. Opposite the royal crematorium is the royal pavilion for His Majesty the King. All these structures are located at Sanam Luang ceremonial ground in Bangkok.

The Royal Crematorium is where the urn is placed on the funeral pyre for the cremation. Traditionally, it was built as a temporary construction in the middle of the city for cremating a deceased king or queen, and appeared for the first time in the Ayutthaya period.

The form of the royal cremation for Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana is modeled after that for Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra in November 2008.

Construction of the Royal Crematorium for Princess Bejaratana is being accelerated, so that it will be completed by the end of March 2012, in time for the royal cremation, scheduled for April 9.

Foreign Office, The Government Public Relations Department

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Rama IV Road traffic reopens after BMA completes repair work after road collaspes; five-metre wide, one-metre deep crater in middle of road Sun night /MCOT

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PM leads ministers to Phuket for Cabinet 'retreat'

BANGKOK, March 19 -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left Bangkok on Monday for the southern resort province of Phuket for the third Cabinet 'retreat' on Tuesday, with more than a dozen development projects in the five southern provinces will be on the agenda for consideration.

The Phuket meeting is the third in the onsite upcountry meetings which began with Chiang Mai Jan 15 and Udon Thani Feb 22.

Ms Yingluck and her Cabinet were scheduled to leave Bangkok from Don Mueang military airport at 8.30am by a Royal Thai Air Force aircraft to Phuket.

The premier and ministers will visit Phang-nga and Phuket today before she chairs the Cabinet meeting at Prince of Songkhla University's, Phuket campus on Tuesday.

Upon arrival, Ms Yingluck will go to Phang Nga to chair a meeting to clarify government policy on the Thai Women's Empowerment Fund to women's organisations in the South.

She will later visit the tsunami memorial, Police Vessel Tor 813 at Ban Bang Niang in Phang-nga before heading to Phuket to inspect a road construction project and preside over the One Tambon One Product OTOP Fair.

Ms Yingluck was scheduled to chair the Regional Joint Public/Private Sector Consultative Committee and it was expected that the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking of the three private institutions (JSCCIB), comprising the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Bankers' Association would propose development projects for five coastal Andaman Sea provinces -- Ranong, Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang and Phuket.

The projects include the expansion of Highway No 4 along the Andaman Sea coast, a dual track railway to the southern provinces (Bangkok-Chumphon-Su-ngai Kolok- Padang Besar); measures to promote para wood industry, artificial coral project, and tourism industry development.

The private sector proposal will be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration Tuesday.

-- TNA 2012-03-19

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Thai stock index opens on Monday at 1,196.42, up 6.86 points /MCOT

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Transport Ministry to Discuss Fare Hike with Taxi and Bus Operators on March 21

BANGKOK: -- The Transport Ministry is planning to discuss a possible price hike for all taxis and public bus operators on March 21. The ministry is also expected to decide whether to increase the starting fare for taxis by the end of this month.

Deputy Transport Minister Chatchart Sittiphan has ordered the Department of Land Transport to conclude a study on a possible fare adjustment for all public vehicles.

On March 21, the Transport Ministry will go over the costs of public vehicle operation, fuel, and labor costs to decide whether to approve the price increase. Chatchart has promised that the decision will be fair for all parties.

The ministry will also decide by the end of this month whether to raise the meter start rate for taxis before the NGV price goes up again in April.

As for the buses operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the government has already been subsidizing the cost and may continue to do so to help commuters cope with the rising cost of living.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, Opas Petchmunee, said even though the diesel price has exceeded 32 baht per liter, the fare will remain unchanged. However, the company will compose a report on the actual operating costs and submit it to the Transport Ministry.

Moreover, Chatchart presided over the unveiling ceremony to begin a campaign to promote road safety during the Songkran Holidays.

The ministry has secured cooperation from state agencies and private businesses in providing free vehicle inspections and roadside assistance services on main highways throughout the country.

This year, the government is hoping to reduce the number of road accidents to 14 percent fewer than last year.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-19

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Some 200 protesters rally at outside Phuket airport ahead of PM's visit

The Nation

PHUKET: -- Some 200 people from Songkhla and other Andaman-coastal communities rallies outside the Phuket airport to submit their demand to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Monday morning.

The prime minister is scheduled to visit the province to chair a mobile Cabinet meeting.

The protesters from five Andaman-coastal provinces sought help from the prime minister on their farmland problems and effects from government's projects in the provinces.

Five companies of police were deployed to keep security at the airport.

-- The Nation 2012-03-19

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Beware of overstay - new deportation policy

Full story:

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Man fights for life after Phuket motorbike crash

Phuket Gazette

Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers at the scene. Photo: Wichai Witthawat

PHUKET: -- A man is in critical condition after his motorbike was hit by a car at a u-turn on Thepkrasattri Road in Phuket early this morning.

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On duty village protection volunteer shot dead in Pattani's Yarang by gunmen on motorcycle; .22 pistol stolen by killers /MCOT

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Tropical Storms Strike Southern Provinces

BANGKOK: -- Tropical storms have ravaged a number of residential areas and rubber plantations in many southern provinces.

In Chumphon Province, tropical storms have ravaged four subdistricts within the Lang Suan District, including Wang Takor, Hat Yai, Tah Mapra, and Kuan subdistricts.

More than ten residents have suffered damage to their homes, as well as their rubber plantations, durian gardens, palm plantations, and orchards. The latest update reported that related units have already inspected storm-hit areas to aid affected residents.

In Surat Thani’s Chaiya District, violent summer storms lasted for hours, and wrecked more than 30 homes in six villages. Rubber trees collapsed over the power lines along a ten-kilometer stretch of road.

Pak Mak’s Subdistrict Administration Organization Mayor Jakkrapong Sukmee deployed officials to examine the damages. According to the initial investigation, more than 30 homes have been damaged from the storms, along with two barracks, and a temple wall.

More than ten electricity posts have fallen, causing a blackout in a village of 1,000 households and cutting off communication. More than 300 rais of rubber plantations have also been destroyed.

In Krabi Province, many parts of Khao Phanom District were ravaged by tropical storms. More than 20 homes have been affected, while more than 100 rais of rubber plantations have been destroyed, mainly in Khao Din and Na Kao subdistricts.

Fallen trees brought down electricity posts, causing a blackout for more than 12 hours, and telecommunications in the area were disrupted. Officials were dispatched to the areas to repair the problems.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-19

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Many provinces face tropical storms

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN, 19 March 2012 (NNT) – Several provinces across Thailand have been facing severe tropical storms, damaging houses and infrastructures.

The Prachuap Khiri Khan Governor is inspecting the area in Hua Hin district, after a hail storm has damaged over 100 houses. Roof tiles are found scattered on the floor as a result of the storm. Some billboards and trees have collapsed over electrical poles and telephone lines.

The province and its officials are urgently assessing the damage to request an assistance budget for residents and reconstruction of their houses and public utilities.

Surat Thani province also has experienced a similar incident in which electrical poles and trees fell all over the roads, some of which have been blocking traffic. A tropical storm had hit the province for several hours, damaging over 30 houses and 300 rai of para rubber plantations.

-- NNT 2012-03-19

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RT @RichardBarrow: All flights to Mae Hong Son suspended until further notice due to smog - TR @TATcHIANGmAI

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Vespa Marks 65th Anniversary

BANGKOK: -- Vespa, a prominent scooter manufacturing company in Thailand, celebrates its 65th anniversary by hosting its own company fair which is Asia's largest rally of scooters in Thailand.

A caravan of 2,000 of Vespa and Piagio scooters on Saturday rallied from the Royal Plaza to many important venues around there in the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the world's most popular scooter. The event was also a biggest gathering of Vespa scooters in Asia.

Managing Director for Vespinario Thailand Pornnada Techapaiboon said her company returned to the Thai market three years ago and has posted sales of more than 5,000 units so far. She said starting prices for Vespa and Piagio scooters range from 80,000 to 100,000 baht.

Meanwhile, some Vespa enthusiasts maintained that they will continue riding their scooters despite rising energy prices. The event's participants also donated safety helmets to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for handout to children.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-19