Thailand Live Wednesday 11 Apr 2012

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Thailand Live Wednesday 11 April 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 Tuesday 10 Apr 2012

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Royal urn placed in Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- His Majesty the King yesterday assigned two of his children to bring a royal urn containing the ashes of HRH Princess Bejeratana, the only child of King Rama VI, into the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall.

The royal urn was placed at the Royal Crematorium in Sanam Luang after the royal cremation took place there on Monday.

HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn represented HM the King in joining the procession that carried the royal urn into the throne hall inside the compound of the Grand Palace.

Born on November 24, 1925, Princess Bejeratana passed away last July.

According to the assistant abbot of Wat Ratchabophit, the royal ceremony to place the ashes of the late Princess in Saovabha Praditsathan, a royalcemetery zone inside the royal temple, will be held on April 12.

Phra Phrommuni yesterday said pagodas and stupas around the royalcemetery zone had already been repainted. The Saovabha Praditsathan, in particular, has been neatly renovated.

"We will add some more decorations in the form of flowers. Most of the flowers will be redorange, the favourite hue of the princess," the senior monk said.

Saovabha Praditsathan has enshrined the ashes of many highranking royal members including HM Queen Saovabha, who was married to King Rama V. She was the mother of King Rama VI as well as King Rama VII.

The current Thai monarch is King Rama IX.

Meanwhile, Fine Arts Department director general Soamsuda Leeyawanich yesterday said the exquisite Royal Crematorium in Sanam Luang would be open to members of the public between 9am and 7pm from today till April 17.

"After 7pm, we will turn on the light around the Royal Crematorium till 10pm. Visitors can then take pictures at night too," she said.

She said her department would provide qualified guides to brief visitors about the royal crematorium.

Soamsuda said visitors should wear polite dress and follow officials' instructions.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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FOOD HYGINE

Food at bus terminals, train stations found below safety standards: Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Most of the food sold at passenger terminals has been found to be below safety standards or even poisonous, Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said yesterday.

Full story:

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CHARTER REVIEW

Thai Parliament members play name games with charter

Democrat MP Theptai Seanapong yesterday proposed "national fast-track charter for Thaksin" as the title for the amended Constitution.

BANGKOK: -- The parliamentary meeting became heated when it started considering changes to the first article of the Constitution and its name and then opposition MPs came up with various designations and directly attacked former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Full story:

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Facebook row makes Thai teacher a Household name

The Nation

Angkhana Sabangban

BANGKOK: -- Authorities yesterday sought to allay concerns about the misuse of technology after a video clip of a schoolboy venting anger over being "blocked" from a group's Facebook page spread like wildfire on the Internet.

Full story:

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PM Yingluck's Human Errors Not Important: Spokesman

Full story:

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Thai Finance Ministry Puts Off First-Home Plan

Full story:

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SOUTH CRISIS

Maximum security in Hat Yai

The Nation

HAT YAI: -- Hat Yai district in Songkhla province is under maximum security in the wake of last week's car bombing, with checkpoints being set up in several places in order to maintain safety during the threeday Songkran festival, which kicks off on Friday.

Praphas Inthanaprasart, a senior tourism official, said the number of tourists from Singapore and Malaysia is not expected to drop due to the bomb attack. Additional police officers have also been mobilised to man the checkpoints as well as set up separate outposts to check on cars, especially those from other provinces.

Meanwhile, an arrest warrant should be issued for Seri Waemamu, a fourth suspect identified in relation to the bombing.

In Yala, insurgents or their sympathisers have allegedly destroyed 42 security cameras in 25 locations, a local security official said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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INVESTMENT

Vague rules open door to non-Asean firms

Service sector most at risk of losing out: Experts

Full story:

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Songkran festival: Soaked and loving it

Bangkok

From dusk till dawn, we offer a guide to making the most out of summer's hottest days

THAILAND: -- Songkran, the traditional Thai new year, may be about going home but there's no denying that many people do in fact leave their homes to celebrate in other places. From Friday until Monday, the official Songkran holiday, all of Thailand will be celebrating this much-loved festival.

Full story:

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EDITORIAL

Land ownership problems are mostly local issues: Thai opinion

BANGKOK: -- Knee-jerk reactions against foreigners belie the fact that Thais suffer at the hands of each other, due to unfair and unclear laws and practices, when it comes to property

Full story:

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Gunman robs KBank in Bangkok Lat Krabang of Bt732,000

BANGKOK: -- A lone gunman yesterday walked into a branch of Kasikornbank in Bangkok and walked out 20 seconds later with Bt732,000 in stolen cash.

Full story:

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No Justice For Victims Of Thai Political Unrest: HRW

Full story:

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Student faces murder, theft charges

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Police have arrested a first-year university student for allegedly murdering a friend and setting fire to his room in order to cover up the crime.

According to police, 19 year old Prasit Phanphala has confessed to allegedly attacking and killing Thossaphorn Liangjai, also 19, over a football bet when the duo met last Thursday at the victim's room, located off Ngarmwongwan Soi 52. The victim was a first year student at Kasetsart University.

Prasit then allegedly set fire to the body and the rest of the room, which resulted in the fire spreading to the rest of the building. The suspect also faces theft charges for allegedly taking the victim's notebook computer.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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Loans for luxury cars under scrutiny

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Five finance companies have been told to be cautious about the loans they have granted to firms importing luxury cars due to suspicions of tax evasion, the Office of Public Sector AntiCorruption Commission (PACC) said yesterday.

The commission says that four or five importers have allegedly wrongly reported the age of the cars as being older so they can enjoy a lower import tariff.

Dussadee Arayawuth, PACC secretarygeneral, went on to say that many of these secondhand cars were then modified to look new, with their chassis and engine numbers forged, to command a higher price.

The companies are set to import 300 luxury cars and the PACC is working with finance companies to verify documents submitted by the importers to determine if they are all authentic.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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Purchase of 1,000,000 computer tablets gets Thai Cabinet okay

ICT minister promises devices will be delivered to schools in June, though contract has yet to be signed

BANGKOK: -- Even though a contract with the Chinese firm has yet to be signed, the Cabinet last night approved the purchase of 1 million tablet computers for elementary students instead of the initial 900,000, Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap confirmed last night.

Full story:

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Police raid cold pill maker

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A pharmaceutical company in Lat Phrao district was raided yesterday after it was found to have manufactured pseudoephedrine cold pills for a Chiang Mai hospital and a clinic where tens of thousands were believed to have been diverted to ya ba labs.

Milano Factory cooperated with agents from the Public Health Ministry and the Food and Drugs Administration, said Phasit Sakdanarong, an adviser to the ministry.

The company produced authentic purchase orders for the medicine by Siam Rat Chiang Mai Hospital and Samphan Clinic, he said.

Those documents as well the clinic's would be verified, he said.

Samphan Clinic had bought 40,000 pseudoephedrinebased tablets from Milano and more of them from other companies, and now could not account for them.

"We are finding out whether a Milano representative who sold the tablets to the clinic has a connection with those other drugmaking companies," he said.

Following complaints from patients and pharma companies over the supply of the coldrelief medicine, he consulted with Public Health Minister Withaya Buranasiri over whether the ban against sales of pseudoephedrinebased medicines could be lifted after the situation had settled down, he said.

Sansern Palawatwichai, a deputy chief of the Department of Special Investigation, said it was now apparent that drugrelated crimes had been committed in the case of the three hospitals where huge numbers of pseudoephedrine tablets had gone missing.

Those involved could be charged with drugrelated offences once more evidence against them was gathered in the next round of interviews, he said.

The three hospitals are Udon Thani General Hospital, Thong Saen Khan Hospital in Uttaradit and an unidentified private institution in an unspecified province.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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Medics condemn selection process for new NHSO chief

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Medical workers at state hospitals nationwide yesterday demanded that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra cancel the ongoing selection process for the new National Health Security Office (NHSO)'s secretarygeneral, saying the process lacked transparency. Yingluck had previously chaired the NHSO's executive board.

Medics led by the Thai Federation of General and Central Hospital Doctors' chairperson Dr Prachumporn Boonchareon yesterday protested at state hospitals across the country, carrying banners with messages such as: "We do not want anyone with a troubled past as new NHSO chief".

The new NHSO secretarygeneral will be selected today by 30 board members. They will vote to select one of three persons shortlisted from nine original applicants by the selection committee. The successful candidate will oversee a budget of Bt100 billion to run the universal healthcare scheme. About 48 million of the country's 65 million people have registered under the scheme.

The three candidates are former NHSO secretarygeneral Dr Winai Sawasdivorn, Dr Somkiat Wattanasirichaikul of Srinakharinwirot University's Faculty of Medicine, and Dr Charnwit Tarathep, the Public Health Ministry's healthcare system development expert.

Dr Churdchoo Sriwattana, a chairperson of the Medical and Public Health Workers Alliance, said her agency had discovered that two selection committee members lacked legitimacy as they had a potential conflict of interest.

The two members "have been working closely with the NHSO. One of them was funded by the NHSO," she said.

A group of medical workers has now called on the PM to restart the selection process.

However, NHSO acting secretary general Dr Pratheep Thanakijchareon has insisted the selection process is transparent and will continue.

"The whole selection process complied with the law. We checked the profiles, qualifications and CVs of all candidates before proposing their names to the executive board members to make a decision," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-11

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PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

Democrats battle to delay charter meeting: Thailand

Somsak

BANGKOK: - House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont says he worked through Chakri Day to put the charter amendment on the agenda as time was running out before scheduled study trips abroad by MPs and senators.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....eting-thailand/

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More to reconciliation than amnesty: slain Thai officer's wife

BANGKOK: -- The wife of an Army commander killed in a clash two years ago yesterday during a red shirt anti-government protest urged the government not to make granting amnesty the sole focus of efforts to achieve reconciliation

Full story:

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AUTO TALK

How Thailand can become the 'Detroit of Asia'

Full story:

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Phayathai Road at Siam Discovery Center collapses, subsiding nearly 1 metre; authorities rush to inspect /MCOT

click thumbs to enlarge

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Chalerm: Separatists behind southern unrest

BANGKOK, 11 April 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung has voiced belief that most of the southern violence was caused by separatists while dismissing the rumors that former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has talked to leaders of a separatist group.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm had an interview with the press on Tuesday regarding the southern unrest. He said he had an idea to set up a new unit under the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center to integrate intelligence for the police and other agencies. Mr. Chalerm said it was terrorists who incited most of the violent incidents in the Deep South and expressed confidence that there were no moles inside the government.

Following the Opposition’s disclosure that Mr. Thaksin had met with leaders of a separatist group called the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), the deputy prime minister said he could confirm that it was not true. He declined to comment when asked if any former politicians representing the region were involved with separatist groups.

Security in the southern border provinces has been increased, especially in high risk areas, after the car bombs in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, at the end of last month.

-- NNT 2012-04-11

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Public Health Ministry to introduce alcohol patrols during Songkran

BANGKOK, 11 April 2012 (NNT) – The Public Health Ministry is poised to launch special patrol teams to keep alcohol consumption under control during the Songkran holidays.

Full story:

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DPM Chalerm instructs high security in deep South throughout Songkran holidays

BANGKOK, 11 April 2012 (NNT) – Deputy PM Chalerm Yubumrung is set to hold a special meeting to discuss the setting up of a more systematic team to handle violence-plagued deep South.

Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubumrung said that he will chair, on Wednesday, a meeting to discuss an operation center to be responsible for southern unrest.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, all related intelligence officials will be attending the meeting to share all information and to discuss the issue via video conference with senior police officers in the deep South before southern MPs will be invited to help contribute to solutions in the region.

Deputy PM Chalerm conceded that security forces failed to prevent recent blast attacks in Thailand's South because of the lack of coordination among related units, despite earlier warnings from the Office of Narcotics Control Board Secretary-General, Police General Adul Sangsingkeo, about possible violent assaults.

Concerning the surveillance program in the troubled region, the deputy prime minister said that security officers have been instructed to step up their inspection on all vehicles passing through the area until the Songkran holidays are over.

-- NNT 2012-04-11

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Transport Co.: More than 500,000 has left Bangkok during the past long weekend alone

BANGKOK, 11 April 2012 (NNT) – More than half a million people have left Bangkok for the upcountry during the past long weekend, according to information from the country's major provincial bus operator.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__5208644

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Cabinet approves Mae Wong dam construction

BANGKOK, 11 April 2012 (NNT) – The Cabinet has approved a budget of THB 13 bil for the long-suspended Mae Wong dam project in Nakhon Sawan in a latest bid to deal with natural disaster.

According to Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, the dam is intended to solve flood and drought problems.

Mae Wong dam is part of the Sakaekrang Basin development project which is included in the Fifth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1982-1986). The construction, which is expected to take eight years, will be undertaken by the Irrigation Department.

The Mae Wong project earlier met with opposition from environmental activists who fear thousands of rai of fertile land would disappear.

With a capacity of storing 300 million cubic meters of water, the dam will cover three basins, namely Mae Wong, Khlong Pho, and Huay Thap Salao which merge at the Sakaekrang River in Nakhon Sawan.

The government will speed up six plans prior to the project, including implementation of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study, designation of the construction site and reforestation.

-- NNT 2012-04-11

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Thai stock index opens on Wednesday at 1,155.88, down 9.73 points /MCOT

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Free MRT rides for elderly during Songkran

BANGKOK: -- Underground train services will be offered free of charge for the elderly during the Songkran holiday.

Chartchai Praditpong, the Corporate Relations Director of Bangkok Metro Public Company Limited, or BMCL, which operates the MRT underground train service, said that the number of people using the MRT during the Songkran holiday is expected to rise from 70,000 to 80,000 per day.

He noted that the company has adopted several measures to facilitate increasing passengers. The elderly from 60 years of age can take a free ride during April 13 to 15 at all 18 subway stations.

Chartchai added that besides the free ride campaign, there are other activities to be organized by the company to mark the traditional Thai New Year.

One of those activities is sprinkling water onto a Buddha image at Hua Lampong, Silom, Sukhumvit, Rama IX, Thailand Cultural Centre, Lat Phrao, Phahon Yothin, Chatuchak, and Bang Sue stations during April 10 to 15.

-- Tan Network 2012-04-11