Thailand Live Sunday 22 Apr 2012

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Thailand Live Sunday 22 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 Saturday 21 Apr 2012

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[Lite Beer]

Group drums up support for anti-dam law

By Janjira Pongrai

The Nation on Sunday

A group of anti-government protesters rally near the Army

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549637-group-drums-up-support-for-anti-dam-law/#entry5239478

[Lite Beer]

Police seize 880 dogs from suspected smugglers

The Nation on Sunday

MUKDAHAN:-- Police yesterday seized 630 dogs discovered in a warehouse in Mukdahan's Wan Yai district and another 250 dogs found in cages left in a wooded area of Muang district.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549638-police-seize-880-dogs-from-suspected-smugglers/#entry5239480

[Lite Beer]

Senate election rules likely to be used for CDA

The Nation on Sunday

The meeting of the joint Houses of Parliament yesterday showed signs that it may adopt regulations governing the election of senate members for the election of members to the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) instead of using electoral regulations for MPs.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549639-senate-election-rules-likely-to-be-used-for-cda/#entry5239485

[Lite Beer]

SOUTHERN VIOLENCE

Restaurant owner pleads innocence

Supitcha Rattana

The Nation on Sunday

KUALA LUMPHUR:--Thai owners in Malaysia say their interests were hurt after media wrongly portrayed association chief as militant head

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549641-restaurant-owner-pleads-innocence/#entry5239494

[Lite Beer]

Govt vows fair hearing for FTI proposals

By Samatcha Hunsara

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK:-- The government is willing to listen to proposals put forward by the Federation of Thai Industries, including the postponement of the Bt300 minimum wage in 70 provinces for another two years, acting government spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said yesterday.

In an e-mail to media, Anusorn also said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's official visit to China and her participation in the Mekong River Basin leaders' meeting with Japanese officials in Tokyo last week were successful, as they promoted cooperation in various spheres including railway, energy, communications, agriculture and Mekong River patrols. He said Thailand and China wanted to see the value of trade and investment in the Mekong region exceed US$100 billion (Bt3.09 trillion) in 2015, up from $65 billion in 2011.

Regarding the Thai business sector's nine-point proposal, which included the minimum wage postponement to 2015 and the establishment of a Bt10 billion-Bt20 billion fund to provide low-interest loans to SMEs, Anusorn thanked FTI president Payoongsak Chartsuttipol for working closely with the government on the recommendations. The government was willing to listen because the industrial sector had helped push the Thai economy forward, he said.

However, he added that the government thought its Bt300 minimum wage policy would keep the labour sector competitive with other countries while helping workers. Saying the government sympathised with all sides, he urged the rich to sympathise with labourers, too.

[Lite Beer]

PM urges Japan to back Dawei plan

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK:-- Yingluck calls for cooperation in huge deep-sea project to be built across the Thai-Myanmar border

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549642-pm-urges-japan-to-back-dawei-plan/#entry5239503

[Lite Beer]

Wind projects 'successful': Ratch

The Nation

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding recently celebrated the success of the Huay Bong 2 and 3 wind farm projects, part of the company's bid to diversify to more renewable energy.

To Noppol Milinthanggoon, chief executive officer, the two projects mark the establishment of the largest wind farm in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Winning support from the government, the private sector and communities, the projects will respond to the government's renewable energy policy and help reduce CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming, as well as lessen dependence on fossil fuels.

Thailand targets power generation from renewable energy totalling 9,201 megawatts in 2021. Of this amount, 1,200 MW will come from wind energy alone.

Huay Bong 2 and 3 Wind Farm projects are located in Nakhon Ratchasima, requiring investment of Bt6.1 billion and Bt6.5 billion, respectively. Each has a generating capacity of 103.5 MW and will produce 175 million units of electricity.

RATCH, Aeolus Power Co Ltd and Chubu Electric Power Korat BV hold 20, 60 and 20 per cent stakes respectively in both companies. Both enjoy a 10-year subsidy of Bt3.50 per unit adder tariff from the Power Department Fund Management Division at the Office of the Energy Regulatory Commission. The commercial operation of Huay Bong 3 is expected to begin this year, whereas Huay Bong 2 will start operating next year.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

Floods force evacuations in Krabi

The Nation on Sunday

KRABI:-- Twenty families fled their homes in Krabi's Muang district yesterday as two tambon were hit by forest run-off water after a night of heavy downpours.

Some 20 rescue workers and police officers assisted the flood victims in Tubprik and Muang sub-districts at 6am. The kamnan of Tubprik sub-district, Suppachai Kerdsuk, said that following heavy rain since 6pm, he and village headmen alerted residents to move their belongings and prepare for evacuation as the area was flood-prone. A huge water mass early yesterday morning flowed down the mountain to flood 20 homes in five villages, leave several local roads impassable in places and damage three bridges.

Phang Nga province was also affected by the flood. Petchakasem Road between Takuopa district and Thai Mueang district was flooded, as were many villages in the two districts. The situation in Phang Nga was back to normal yesterday morning.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL

Charter change debate takes on an eerie calm

The Nation

BANGKOK:-- The administration has opted not to push the process too quickly, but how long will the quiet last?

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549644-charter-change-debate-takes-on-an-eerie-calm-editorial/

[Lite Beer]

Storm damages 71 homes in Uthai Thani

The Nation on Sunday

UTHAI THANI:-- A woman was killed by a falling tree and 71 homes were damaged when a storm struck a village in Uthai Thani's Lansak district on Friday night.

Ten homes were completely destroyed when the storm hit Moo 17 Ville of tambon Rabum. The wind blew off the roofs and knocked down the walls of many houses.

One of the victims, Chantra Srimok, said that fortunately no one was in the houses that collapsed. Every year the village is hit by summer storms but this year was the worst, he said.

Amka Singhaarg was struck and killed by a large tree that was uprooted as she was riding a motorcycle through the storm.

Meanwhile, Kalasin man Supak Bannamon, 46, was killed by a falling tree in Muang district as he rode a motorcycle on Kalsin-Somdet Road through stormy weather yesterday afternoon.

In related news, police in Ubon Ratchathani's Khemmarat district yesterday insisted that Friday's explosion on a road being paved in rural Khok Sawang Ville was due to the interaction of heat and gas. The explosion caused a two-meter-wide crack but didn't harm anyone.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

Pills smuggled from Korea

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK:-- The Department of Special Investigation is looking into the suspicious transport of 850 million pseudoephedrine-based cold medicine tablets from South Korea into Thailand via various airlines, DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said yesterday.

Cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine had been transported into Thailand on nine occasions in 2010, falsely declared as other items, Tharit said, adding that the shipping company responsible was under investigation.

The suspected smuggling of medicines from South Korea would be probed separately from the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of pseudoephedrine-based medicine from hospitals, he said.

The DSI's board will consider whether to take up the hospitals case at a meeting on Wednesday.

Tharit said 11 hospital directors had provided testimony to the DSI, whose investigators would visit the North and Northeast to interview drug-storage officials and pharmacists at hospitals reporting suspiciously high demand for such medicine.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb wakes from coma

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has woken from a coma after more than a week and begun to show signs of recovery.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/547913-bee-gees-robin-gibb-in-coma/#entry5239555

[Lite Beer]

Phuket quake victims to be compensated this week

The Nation on Sunday

PHUKET:-- Authorities in Phuket are speeding up their assessments of property damage caused by the 4.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the southern resort province on April 16.

Meanwhile, a veteran Thai engineer working for the US space agency Nasa has warned that a large earthquake could strike in the next one to four days due to solar storms.

Dr Kongpop U-yen wrote in his Facebook page that people living near geological fault lines will be especially vulnerable to large-scale earthquakes in the coming days.

The world faced an increased likelihood of natural disasters because of massive energy shifts in space as well as the solar storms, which have a significant impact on the global climate and geological conditions, according to Dr Kongpop.

Regarding the recent earthquake in Phuket, governor Tri Arkara-decha said authorities would make the first compensation payments to more than 200 affected households in Talang district by Wednesday.

The 4.3-magnitude quake and its aftershocks damaged the walls and ceilings of many houses.

Meanwhile, Rachin Thong-mak-sook, president of the Patong Beach Hotels Association, said the recent quake and the rumours that followed it had resulted in room cancellations.

In addition, some hotel workers had moved out of the resort province due to fears of more quakes, Rachin said.

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said the government is prepared to cope with natural disasters and will ensure that early-warning systems and evacuation plans work properly.

Somsak Khao-suwan, head of the national disaster warning agency, said the April 16 quake in Phuket was not a major event compared to those that had occurred recently in Japan, New Zealand or Chile, so there was no reason to panic.

-- The Nation 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

RT@RichardBarrow: 2 dead & 3 injured in drive-by shooting & explosion late last night on Kallaprapruk Rd, Bang Khae district of Bangkok.

[Lite Beer]

Tropical storm warning for North and Northeast with strong wind and hail; South to see heavy rain /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

RT@RichardBarrow: Highest temperature in Thailand in last 10 years was 44C in Mae Hong Son in 2010. Hottest this year so far 41.2C in Tak

[Lite Beer]

Suspected insurgent shot dead, policeman injured in police raid in Narathiwat’s Ruso district /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

Buses roll out of Phuket Bus Terminal 2

Phuket Gazette –

PHUKET: The Phuket Bus Terminal 2 finally went into operation this morning – more than 28 months after the completion of the structure.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549678-buses-roll-out-of-phuket-bus-terminal-2/#entry5239911

[Lite Beer]

Phuket to be 'Atlantis of the East'? Not on Gov Tri’s watch

Phuket Gazette –

Phuket’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office chief Wiroj Suwanwong files a complaint with Phuket City Police duty officer Capt Chaleaw Taihu. The governor hopes the complaint will spur an investigation into who instigated "doomsday" rumors that have been circulating recently. Photo by Kritsada Mueanhawong.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549462-thai-experts-confirm-phuket-will-never-sink-even-if-it-is-hit-by-a-strong-earthquake/#entry5239925

[Lite Beer]

Unofficial results of by-election in Pathum Thani's Constituency 5 sees Democrat candidate win 27,981 votes while Pheu Thai won 24,119 votes /TAN_Network

Raid of Nakhon Si Thammarat prison by 500 police officers netted speed pills and hundreds of tablet PCs, iPads and iPhones /TAN_Network

[Lite Beer]

RT@RichardBarrow: The Royal Crematorium on Sanam Luang is only open to the public until Wednesday 25 April http://t.co/4BhuZ1NW

[Lite Beer]

Suspected insurgent shot dead, policeman injured in Narathiwat raid

NARATHIWAT, April 22 – A suspected insurgent was shot dead and a policeman injured during a police raid in Narathiwat on Sunday morning.

About 30 border patrol police officers raided a house in Ruso district after learning that Tuwae-anun Nima, a member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) insurgency group, evading an arrest warrant for collusion in an attempt to kill an official, was staying there.

When the police entered the house, the suspect, hiding on the roof, fired at the police, injuring one police officer.

The police then fired back at him and he died immediately.

His body was moved to Ruso hospital, awaiting relatives to retrieve for religious ceremony. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

PM observes high-speed train at Hakata station in Fukuoka before heading to Kumamoto by Shinkansen train to see local product project /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

Govt shuns request to postpone wage hike policy to 2015

BANGKOK, 22 April 2012 (NNT) – The government has decided to turn down the private sector’s request for postponement in the implementation of the minimum wage hike policy to 2015, reasoning that the policy will enhance the competitiveness of the Thai workforce.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549426-thai-govt-urged-to-defer-wage-hike-until-2015/page__st__50#entry5240355

[Lite Beer]

Public Health Ministry recommends 6 herbal drinks during extreme heat

BANGKOK, 22 April 2012 (NNT) – The Public Health Health Ministry has instructed its provincial offices to be on high alert for illnesses and fatalities caused by the extreme summer heat, while recommending 6 kinds of herbal drinks to beat the heat.

According to Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri , he has instructed the ministry's provincial offices to closely monitor risk groups, which include the elderly as well as those suffering from heart disease, hypertension and kidney disease, during the times of drought and heat given it might lead to an illness or even death. At the same time, provincial authorities are to inform the public to avoid outdoor activities or working during extreme heat.

Additionally, the people should be encouraged to wear thin clothes whicht could absorb perspiration and prevent direct heat from the body, to consume healthy food, fruits and vegetables, to avoid alcoholic drinks as it could lead to death, and to drink at least 10 glasses of water each day.

The minister has also suggested that local herbal beverages could ward off the heat. The drinks can be easily made by boiling herbs found in the local area, without adding sugar to it. Mr. Wittaya explained that there are six kinds of herbal drinks which can quench thirst and reduce heat, including bael, pandan, Asiatic pennywort, sappan, chrysanthemum, and “Tre-Pala”, which is a combination of three herbs: Myrabolan Wood, Beleric myrobalan and Indian gooseberry.

-- NNT 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

Tech guru predicts end for tablets and smartphones

Taipei - The founding editor of Wired Magazine has predicted that tablets and smartphones will become obsolete as the internet spreads into everyday products and people gain more points of access to their data.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/549711-tech-guru-predicts-end-for-tablets-and-smartphones/#entry5240305

[Lite Beer]

Thai PM observes Japan’s bullet train operations and local product project

TOKYO, April 22 - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday observed the operations of Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed train and local products businesses before returning home from Japan late Sunday.

Ms Yingluck is visiting Japan over April 19-22 to attend the Japan-Mekong Summit in Tokyo.

The prime minister was welcome by Seijiro Hatttori, deputy governor of Fukuoka prefecture, on her visit to the Hakata train station to be briefed on high speed train operations and security on Sunday morning.

She later travelled by Shinkansen bullet train to Kumamoto prefecture to see a local products project and to visit the landmark Kumamoto castle.

Ms Yingluck said she wanted to learn more about development of the local products project after she saw it once when it started, aiming to improve Thai local products and promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) businesses.

The prime minister is scheduled to arrive back at Suvarnabhumi Airport before midnight on Sunday. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-22

[Lite Beer]

Thais & foreigners have flocked to admire the beauty of the Royal Crematorium

BANGKOK, 22 April 2012 – Thais and foreigners alike have continued to visit Sanam Luang in Bangkok to admire the magnificent beauty of the Royal Crematorium.

The Fine Arts Department and the Prime Minister's Office have allowed the public to visit the Royal Crematorium built for the royal funeral of HRH Princess Bejaratana from April 11th.

To date, it is reported that more than 200,000 people have come to see with their own eyes the magnificently-built structure that is rare to be seen.

It is expected that more people will visit Sanam Luang to admire this exquisite beauty despite the scorning heat of summer.

The public is also invited to visit the Royal Crematorium that will be open for free viewing until April 25th, as it is scheduled be dismantled on April 27th.

-- NNT 2012-04-22