Thailand Live Friday 23 Mar 2012

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Thailand Live Friday 23 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 Thursday 22 Mar 2012

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Bangkok BTS apologises for guard's clash with Irish passenger

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), the operator of the Skytrain, yesterday apologised to a foreign passenger who claimed he was attacked by a security guard for breaching a rule banning gas-filled balloons on the rail system.

Full story:

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Eerie Silence Cloaks The Phuket Death Of A Swedish Tourist

Full story:

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Capital Punishment: Chalerm Pushes For 15 Day Execution Of Drug Convicts

Full story:

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Return of banned Thai politicians will create 'dream team'

BANGKOK: -- Veteran politician Suwat Liptapanlop tells The Nation's Somroutai Sapsomboon that a major Cabinet reshuffle is inevitable, but believes that reconciliation can be achieved if all parties talk to each other

Full story:

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Bangkok orders demolition of 14,000 phone booths

BANGKOK: -- Ordering the demolition of 14,000 phone booths whose permits have expired, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) deputy governor Theerachon Manomaipibul said yesterday that this and other measures would have Bangkok looking much more orderly by December 5 this year.

Full story:

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SURVEY

Parents brace for higher uniform costs

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Parents will face higher expenses for student uniforms, one of the 41 products on the government's price-control list. The retail price of uniforms will soon rise in line with the coming hike in the minimum wage to Bt300 per day.

A survey by The Nation found that uniforms are currently quoted at Bt300-Bt500 per set. However, the price is expected to rise by 5-10 per cent after the new wage minimum comes into effect early next month.

The government-mandated wage increase is scheduled to take effect on April 1 in seven provinces.

Wongchan, a parent of a pupil at Bangkok's Prathomuksa Thamma-sat School, said she would need to earn more income or even go to the pawnshop in preparation for the new school term.

"I will freeze some spending for my children as one child will need to change uniforms. I will need at least Bt1,500 for new uniforms, while another child must wear the old uniform as the prices are expected to increase," she said.

A study by the Internal Trade Department of the Commerce Ministry showed that student uniforms, paper pulp, and plywood would be heavily affected by the higher minimum wage.

Other products will be slightly affected as wages account for only 1-5 per cent of production costs, the study suggests.

Vatchari Vimooktayon, director-general of the department, said the wage increase would have only a small impact on goods prices, while consumers will have more purchasing power as they have higher incomes.

She said she hoped enterprises would increase management efficiency rather than directly push the cost burden on to consumers.

The department's study also found that higher fuel prices would push up goods prices by only 0.05 per cent, as fuel accounts for 0-5 per cent of production costs. Construc-tion materials will be hit hardest, as fuel accounts for 5 per cent of their production cost.

An expected rise in the price of natural gas for vehicles by 12 per cent and of diesel by 8 per cent will increase the cost of transport by 0.44 per cent.

Meanwhile, the department has failed to prevent a drop in the price of eggs, since major producers including Betagro have said they must sell at low prices because of excessive production currently.

Egg farmers have previously called for the department to deal with the price drop, blaming giant egg producers for dumping on the market and cutting retail prices below production costs.

The retail price is currently Bt2.40 per egg, down from Bt2.60-Bt2.70 last month.

-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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RECONCILIATION

Sonthi's ironic reconciliation role gets PM's boost

TULSATHIT TAPTIM

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Yingluck's backing for ad-hoc House committee could mean its future recommendations would form the core of the blueprint for national peace

It was Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's characteristic one-sentence response to a big question. However, her statement yesterday that her government was trusting the ad-hoc House committee headed by former coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin to take the lead towards national reconciliation could signal something quite significant.

The statement may yield some clues as to what happens next. Yingluck possibly meant to say that the ad-hoc House committee's conclusion on reconciliatory measures would form the core of the national blueprint to restore peace. Those measures are likely to include an amnesty bill that may incorporate ideas proposed by King Prajadhipok's Institute researchers who were commissioned by the House panel.

That Sonthi led the 2006 coup that toppled Yingluck's big brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was, on one hand, ironic. On the other hand, Sonthi's key presence in the "reconciliation" efforts gives it some sort of political legitimacy. It shouldn't be a big surprise, therefore, that Sonthi and the ruling Pheu Thai Party have been quite cordial toward one another lately.

General Sonthi found himself in an unfamiliar situation yesterday, having to respond to reporters' questions on whether he was part of a plan to help Thaksin return to Thailand a free man. He gave his usual answer, one he has been resorting to since deciding to join parliamentary politics. "Don't talk about the past," he said. "Let's think about the present and build the future together."

Yesterday, Pheu Thai members, also finding themselves doing the previously unthinkable, continued to heap praise on the general. Party spokesman Prompong Nopparat hailed him as a "real soldier" who was ready to admit and correct his own mistakes.

Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat is another key government figure to join the Sonthi fan club.

Yingluck's statement yesterday could become a mini time-bomb for Chalerm Yoobamrung in the future. The deputy prime minister announced several weeks ago that his "reconciliation" bill was complete. Although Chalerm has since tried to portray it as a bill sponsored by MPs, a move that had nothing to do with the government, it would be almost impossible to distance a bill initiated by a deputy prime minister from the administration.

Chalerm could come under fire for jumping the gun. That would be the minimum damage. The worst-case scenario has the whole government getting entangled with a bill from Chalerm that mocked what Yingluck said yesterday.

Since the Pheu Thai Party took power, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand has not seemed to play any big role in the peace process. If the Yingluck government cannot give the commission its absolute trust, that's understandable. First of all, the commission was set up by the Abhisit government. Secondly, but perhaps more importantly, the commission doesn't appear to favour a total absolution for Thaksin.

King Prajadhipok's Institute researchers have proposed total absolution, or blanket amnesty, as one of the reconciliation options. This has drawn attacks from Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and the anti-Thaksin yellow shirts. The timing chosen by former democracy leader Thirayuth Boonmee to come out to identify Thaksin's alleged wrongdoings as a main cause of the political crisis also prompted speculation that he was trying to rebut the King Prajadhipok's Institute study.

Despite his strong criticism of the other side in the political divide, Thirayuth has alienated himself from the ruling camp and the red shirts by questioning claims that Thaksin was the de-facto leader of a growing democracy movement in Thailand. Thaksin's personal aide Noppadon Pattama has called Thirayuth "totally biased" and "unprofessional", while the red shirts have attacked him for not giving their movement the credit they think it deserves.

No matter who is right, Thirayuth or the red-shirt movement, a new battle-line seems to have been drawn. On one side are those who think peace can return to Thailand only when there is a total amnesty in which everyone, including Thaksin, is absolved. On the other are those who don't believe that pardoning Thaksin is the answer, and feel that doing so may only make things worse.

It will be a "Let bygones be bygones" principle, which General Sonthi has been advocating so vocally, up against charges that everything is being done to help just one man. Abhisit has written on his Facebook page in detail of how he thought the King Prajadhipok's Institute study was lopsided in putting most, if not all, of the blame on Thaksin's political rivals.

Despite having to endure criticism for their stands, Thirayuth and Abhisit appear spot-on on one thing. They predict that the road to reconciliation certainly looks long and bumpy. That appears to be a fact that even Prime Minister Yingluck's short addressing of the issue yesterday cannot hide.

-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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Thailand's deep South lacks civil defence volunteers

Civil defence volunteers are being recruited and mobilised in the deep South to take over for soldiers and marines who will soon return home.

Full story:

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-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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Pollution exceeds safety limits in three Thai provinces

BANGKOK: -- Excessive exhaust fumes have blanketed three major provinces in carcinogenic petrolbased toxic particles exceeding safety limits, the Pollution Control Department said yesterday.

Full story:

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Ministry aims to cut down TB-related deaths

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand has 130,000 tuberculosis (TB) patients, of whom 80 per cent suffer from pulmonary TB, and up to 11,000 patients die from the disease every year, Public Health Ministry statistics showed yesterday.

The ministry aims to implement three strategies this year to keep TB deaths at under 6,000 cases per year. The strategies are finding TB patients among risky groups in time, ensuring that patients keep up with their medication and developing a shorterperiod medication system, as well as developing new technology such as better TB vaccines.

Ahead of World TB Day, Disease Control Department chief Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsan told a meeting with Thailand Stop TB partnership members that there were 8.8 million new TB patients globally in 2010 and that the death rate stood at 1.4 million per year according to World Health Organisation statistics.

World TB Day will be marked tomorrow.

Thailand, one of the 22 countries suffering from severe TB, has up to 94,000 new TB patients per year - which grew by 3 to 4 per cent per year - and 50 per cent of these patients were in the contagious stage. The TB situation in Thailand has worsened due to the HIV outbreak and a growing number of drugresistant strains. There are 1,920 TB patients in the Kingdom who are resistant to several drugs.

The ministry and its allies will hold an antiTB campaign at Hua Lampong Train Station tomorrow, providing free health checks and an education exhibition.

-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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Award-winning director of hospital faces transfer

The Nation

SI SA KET: -- The director of a Si Sa Ket hospital might get transferred after initial investigation found that 100,000 pseudoephedrinebased pills have gone missing.

Phoo Sing is one of the 10 hospitals in the Northeast province that have been placing large orders for cold medicines on a regular basis, Public Health Ministry adviser Phasit Sakdanarong said, adding that the investigation should be completed in the next two weeks.

Dr Prawi Amphan, chief of the provincial public health office, defended Dr Kittiphoom Juthasamit, saying that he personally believed the hospital director had nothing to do with the missing tablets. He said that Kittiphoom had been with the hospital for nearly two decades now and had no record of wrongdoing.

Prawi also defended an unnamed pharmacist, who might possibly get implicated, saying: "It's not worth it, what could he earn from just 100,000 tablets? It doesn't make sense. We must give them a chance to clarify."

After hearing about the initial finding, Kittiphoom said that he was barred by his superiors from giving interviews and would make a public statement once he was given permission.

Kittiphoom, who was named Outstanding Doctor of the Year by the Rural Doctors Foundation just two days ago, reportedly lives a modest life. He has reportedly not bought a car or a house during his 20 years in service and is well liked by his staff.

Meanwhile, investigation at two Chiang Mai hospitals discovered that two orders for a total of 60,000 pseudoephedrinebased tablets had been placed by an unnamed chief pharmacist on behalf of the Doi Lor Hospital, apparently without the authorisation of hospital director Dr Sathit Kimsiri, and these pills have gone missing. Sathit could not be reached by reporters or Department of Special Investigation agents yesterday.

At Hot Hospital, 50,000 pseudoephedrine tablets have been missing since last June and members of the staff are unable to explain it. Hospital director Dr Danawat Chunhawanich said he was not authorised to give interviews until the initial probe was completed.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said that a link had been detected between pharmacists at several hospitals with the missing tablets - apparently, the pharmacists are either graduates from the same university or former classmates. However, he would not provide details about the hospitals or the universities.

A teleconference between key ministry officials and directors of government hospitals nationwide will be held today to discuss the problem and progress of the investigation.

When asked why the pseudoephedrine pills were mostly found missing in hospitals at community level, the Public Health Ministry's permanent secretary, Dr Phaijit Warachit, said pharmacists at these hospitals had full authority to purchase or order medicines, while executive staff and directors were involved in the process at larger hospitals.

-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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Red shirt chairwoman Thida: No need for experts in constitution drafting assembly

BANGKOK: -- The chairwoman of the red-shirt movement yesterday proposed a constitution drafting assembly (CDA) consisting of 100 elected members, and called for a new constitution that represents the interests of all political groups.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....fting-assembly/

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Encroachment cases in DSI's hands

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Following the redshirt movement's call for progress in the investigation into the alleged encroachment on Surat Thani's Khao Phaeng mountain, Justice Minister Pracha Phromnok said yesterday that the case came under the authority of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Office of Public Sector AntiCorruption Commission (PACC).

He said that it was up to DSI chief Tarit Pengdith to table this case for the Special Case Committee's consideration. He went on to say that the land encroachment issue was especially severe in the South, especially in the Phang Nga and Phuket provinces where many illegitimate land title deeds were issued.

-- The Nation 2012-03-23

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All Thai healthcare schemes need to be equalised: experts

BANGKOK: -- The National Health Security Office (NHSO) needs to urgently address two major issues - making the three national healthcare programmes equal and improving primary care - if the Kingdom is serious about pushing its healthcare coverage to the next level and provide benefits to every citizen, experts said at a seminar yesterday.

Full story:

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RT @RichardBarrow: Dramatic pic of truck explosion in Bangkok this morning. Flames 4 stories high TR @Hui_Nation_kcl http://bit.ly/GHM41F

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Pattanakarn Road closed after LPG truck hits bridge; fire engulfs truck after gas leaks; one hurt /MCOT

RT @Aim_NT: Pic of d gas truck on Pattanakan rd 8.13am. Via @js100radio: http://bit.ly/GP4EZX

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At least 10 dead, 3 missing in Burma ferry accident

Full story:

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LPG tanker explosion on Bangkok's Pattanakarn Road

BANGKOK: -- Traffic around Pattanakarn 20 Road where a LPG tanker crashed into a bridge railing and exploded is still closed and people are suggested to evacuate from the site.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....ttanakarn-road/

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Thai stock index opens on Friday at 1,192.73, up 1.73 points /MCOT

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MRTA Urged to Expedite Construction of 10 New Skytrain Routes

BANGKOK: -- The Transport Minister called on the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand to expedite the construction of ten additional skytrain routes.

Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan yesterday provided a brief policy to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand or MRTA.

On this occasion, the committee chairman Rachanee Tripipatkul, acting governor Ronnachit Yaemsaard, along with the Board of Directors have welcomed him.

Jarupong said after a meeting that he followed up the construction progress of ten additional skytrain routes, insisting that all new railways would be completed during the four-year administration of the Pheu Thai government.

Regarding the 20-baht flat fare per trip for electric trains, Jarupong said the policy would come into effect once all 10 skytrain routes have reached completion.

He instructed the MRTA to study details in depth and publicize the information to the public to prevent any misunderstanding that the government could not fulfill its promise given during the election campaign.

In addition, he suggested the MRTA to establish an ad-hoc committee to oversee the electric railways construction. The MRTA is due to send the detailed plan and construction progress report to the Transport Ministry by next week.

The Acting Governor reported that the Purple Line Project linking Bang Yai and Bang Sue Section has been progressed by 41.37 percent. The service is expected to launch in 2015.

Meanwhile, 12.72 percent of the Blue Line Project connecting Hua Lam Phong to Bang Khae, Bang Sue, and Tha Phra has been completed and would be ready for operation by 2016.

Also, the MRTA began to construct the Green Line Project from Bearing to Samut Prakan section on March 1. The Green Line will be finished by 2017.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-23

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Assaulted Foreign Teacher Claims BTS Guard Overdid His Duty

BANGKOK: -- An Irish English teacher who was assaulted by a security guard at a BTS skytrain station claimed no wrongdoing.

Full story:

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American business giant meets PM

BANGKOK, 23 March 2012 (NNT) - Dow Chemical Company Chairman and CEO Andrew N. Liveris has met with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at the Government House on the occasion of his visit to Thailand.

In her welcoming speech, the premier congratulted the giant conglomerate on its having been a good business partner with the country for the past 45 years. She said the government is ready and willing to assist American private sector to invest and expand their businesses in Thailand.

The Dow Chemical Company Chairman showed his appreciation for the government’s efforts in getting the country back on its feet in the face of political turmoil and last year's devastating flood.

Mr Liveris also praised Thai people for their creativities, talents, and skills, adding that the Dow Chemical Company has been hiring many competent Thai workers.

On this occasion, the Chairman also invited the Prime Minister to observe the Dow Chemical's system and environmental-friendly technologies at the company headquarters in the US.

-- NNT 2012-03-23

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Phuket landlord takes his own life

PHUKET: -- A wealthy Phuket landlord took his life by hanging yesterday while his two sons were asleep upstairs, according to a local news report.

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Weather bureau issues 4th warning for tropical storm in Northeast with strong wind and hail today /TANN

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Trat Tourists Excited as Dolphins Feed in Nearby Bay

TRAT: -- Trat residents and tourists were excited to see dolphins arrive at the province's shore. Their presence are expected to boost tourist numbers.

Trat tourism has been bustling. President of the Business Travel Association of Trat Province, Commander Sombat Boonkerdpanich disclosed that from December last year to February this year, Chang, and Kood islands saw their high season.

A large number of tourists traveled to the two islands by ferry everyday, and the atmosphere was bustling, especially on weekends and holidays. Traffic was congested at both inbound and outbound routes and rooms were at full occupancy almost everyday.

Sombat further said that the province saw more than 100,000 tourists per month. Moreover, more than 90 percent of rooms were already booked for March and April. Most customers are foreigners.

Meanwhile, at the Center Point Ferry Port in Klong Yai Subdistrict of Laem Ngob District, visitors on the ferry have informed the Natural Resources and Environment officials that five to six dolphins were sighted feeding in the nearby bay.

Officials have blocked the dolphins from coming closer to the shore for safety reasons.

Village headmen in Laem Ngob Subdistrict Boonsong Tisa said that dolphins most often hunt in groups of eight to 12. The dolphins are in the area to feed on the abundant mackerel population.

Officials have urged locals and fishermen to be on the lookout for dolphins moving close to fishing nets as they can die if tangled in one.

-- Tan Network 2012-03-23

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RT @RichardBarrow: British Embassy Bangkok will be closed on Friday 30 March for staff training http://bit.ly/GRgSwp /via @ukinthailand