Thailand Live Sunday 1 Apr 2012

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Don Mueang Airport to accommodate more low cost airlines

BANGKOK, 1 April 2012 (NNT) – The Airports of Thailand (AoT) has been assigned to set up incentive measures to attract low cost airlines to use facilities at Don Mueang Airport as well as reconsider the airport’s commercial development plans.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544888-don-mueang-airport-to-accommodate-more-low-cost-airlines/page__view__findpost__p__5182438

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Songkhla governor: death toll from Lee Garden bombing at 3, 416 injured, damage at Bt500 mn; Yala car bomb death toll at 11 with 127 injured /TAN_Network

Songkhla provincial governor identifies Malaysian tourist who died in Saturday's Hat Yai hotel car bomb as Mr Low Tsain Hock /MCOT

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RT@RichardBarrow: 1st April: From today, Bangkok passenger vans must have RFID devices to monitor speed & all seats to have seat-belts

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Commerce Ministry expects 15% export growth this year; admits minimum wage hike to Bt300/day will increase SMEs' costs /TAN_Network

Tomorrow monks from Dhammakaya Temple will start walk around BKK from 9.45am-5.15pm with road closure on Phaholyodhin in front of temple /TAN_Network

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RT@tulsathit: Abhisit visiting Yala, good idea. His shirt, not so sure. RT @idongphoto: http://t.co/IIKr61rf

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RT@tulsathit: TR @nikhon_: Investigators suspect that vehicle used in Lee Garden bomb attack was Honda Civic used in last yr's robbery in Narathiwat

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Police: Stolen sedan used in Hat Yai bombing belonged to local official shot dead in Narathiwat last year /MCOT

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Small dust particles in Mae Hong Son measure at 399 micrograms today, highest in whole year; Chiang Rai at 183 while Phrae at 146 /TAN_Network

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4 Democrat MPs who are member of House committee to vet charter change will discuss with party on Tues about resigning from panel /TAN_Network

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Weather dept says tropical storm Pakhar won't enter Thailand; North to see temperature drop 2-3 degrees Celsius while South will see rain /TAN_Network

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Deputy PM Yuthasak calls security meeting following Yala car bombs; blames security lapse on lack of emergency law enforcement /MCOT

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Singapore’s Foreign Ministry advised Singaporeans to postpone non-essential travel to Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla in southern Thailand temporarily: Bernama /MCOT

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Democrat says govt blocks party meeting tape from going on air on Modernine

The Democrat Party Sunday threatened to take action against the government for "censoring" the broadcast of its party caucus on staterun Modernine TV.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the station did not leave the party enough time to lease airtime on other TV channels after refusing to air the recorded proceedings of the party's general meeting.

"It seemed they intended to cause this blunder because they informed us of the cancellation only one hour before the airing," he said.

The Democrats wanted to show the proceedings of Saturday's general assembly from 1011am on Sunday and was willing to pay for the airtime.

The party had complied with the requirement of MCOT Plc, which operates Modernine TV, to submit the tape to the station before 6pm on Saturday for checking, he said.

MCOT told the party that the tape did not pass its screening but failed to mention which part was not approved, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-01

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Death toll climbs to 14 in southern Thailand bomb attacks

Pattani - The death toll from coordinated bombings in Thailand's strife-torn far south increased to 14, with hundreds wounded, police said Sunday.

Saturday’s bomb attacks were coordinated across three provinces and included the fire at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai, national police chief Priewpan Damapong said.

Police had initially reported that the fire that killed three people at the hotel was caused by a gas pipe explosion.

But Priewpan confirmed on Sunday that it was because of a car bomb in the underground parking lot, the government news service reported.

Police revised that death toll down to three, from four, at the hotel in Hat Yai, about 930 kilometres south of Bangkok. The victims included one Malaysian tourist.

The death toll from three bombs detonated in Yala town stood at 11 Sunday, with 10 of the wounded in serious condition, the government news service reported.

Three bombs exploded just minutes apart on Saturday afternoon in different parts of Yala’s central business district, Army Colonel Parinya Chaydilok said.

In a separate attack Saturday in neighbouring Pattani province, a police officer was wounded by a bomb, officials said

-- The Nation 2012-04-01

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Insurgent group responsible for Yala, Hat Yai bombings: Yuthasak

BANGKOK, April 1 - Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa said on Sunday that Saturday's car bombs in Yala and Hat Yai might be the work of the same group of insurgents aiming to discredit and pressure the government.

Fourteen people were killed and more than 500 were injured in a string of mid-day car bombs in the two southern border provinces of Yala and Songkhla. Among those killed was a Malaysian male tourist who died from a car bomb in the basement of Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai, the heart of the south frequented by Malaysian and Singaporean tourists.

Speaking after a security meeting, Gen Yuthasak, who oversees national security, said he could not disclose details of the insurgent group but things will become clearer within the next few days.

Security will be stepped up in at-risk areas, in particular the southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat with integrated work among police, military and the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC), the deputy premier said.

There will be no troop reinforcements in the region, he added.

Prior to the security meeting, Gen Yuthasak blamed the security lapse on the lack of emergency law enforcement that partly resulted in Yala car bombs which killed 11 people.

Meanwhile, police investigators said a sedan used in the hotel blast was the same one stolen from a local official who was shot dead last year in insurgency-torn Narathiwat.

Level 3 security at Hat Yai Airport, 15 km from bombed hotel, have remained in place since the bomb incidents in Bangkok's Sukhumvit in February. Checkpoints have been set up along the road to the airport to ensure safety to air travelers, according to Group Captain Noranit Pholkanond, general manager of Hat Yai International Airport.

He said there was no cancellation of 38 daily flights at the airport, which serves an average of 5,000 passengers per day.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Singaporeans to postpone non-essential travel to Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla in southern Thailand temporarily, Malaysian Bernama news agency reported on Sunday.

“Our Embassy in Bangkok has been in contact with 31 Singaporeans in Hat Yai, including 10 were at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, and has established that they are safe, the ministry spokesman was quoted as saying. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-01

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Myanmar icon Aung San Suu Kyi wins parliamentary seat

Yangon - Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday won a parliamentary seat in a by-election that was heading for a clear victory for her National League for Democracy party.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544966-myanmar-icon-aung-san-suu-kyi-wins-parliamentary-seat/page__view__findpost__p__5183376

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Thailand Live Monday 2 Apr 2012