Thailand Live Thursday 26 Apr 2012

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Thailand Live Thursday 26 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 Wednesday 25 Apr 2012

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Abhisit vows to back probe into 91 deaths

BANGKOK: -- Every Thai is responsible, in one way or another, for the death of 91 people and thousands others being injured in April-May 2010, Opposition leader and then-premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Full story:

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Probe Underway for Phitsanulok Underground Fire

PHITSANULOK: -- Relevant officials yesterday rushed to examine a spot in Phitsanulok's Nakhon Thai district where fire has reportedly been raging underground. The fire has also reportedly burned four dogs to death.

Full story:

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Raid on huge resort in national park

BANGKOK: -- A taskforce yesterday raided one of the biggest alleged illegal resorts in Thaplan National Park. Phuwaree Resort, with 47 structures on 63 rai of land, is one of more than 100 resorts and second homes found earlier this year to have allegedly been built against the law within the protected park.

Full story:

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'Curb power' of House Speaker: Thai Democrat

Democrat wants Article giving Speaker major role in CDA selection procedure scrapped; meeting on Monday

BANGKOK: -- The House-Senate joint meeting on the second reading of the constitution amendment bill would be postponed from today and resume on Monday, House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont announced yesterday. The postponement would enable MPs to consider other unfinished legislative business, explained Somsak.

Full story:

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Officials find another order for billions of tablets

Shipping firms to be charged for falsely declaring shipment in custom

BANGKOK: -- Investigators checking the premises of an electronicsparts importing company found an order to purchase 10 billion tablets from China. The firm is believed to have been involved in making false customs declarations to smuggle 40 tonnes of pseudoephedrine drugs from South Korea previously.

Full story:

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ANALYSIS

Debt moratorium will sow seeds of destruction for credit culture

BANGKOK: - The latest populist scheme to be approved by the Cabinet, a debt moratorium for borrowers with a good repayment record, will damage the country's credit culture and be a waste of taxpayers' money.

Full story:

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PM Yingluck's adviser Virabongsa to join race for central bank chairman

PM's adviser to join race for central bank chairman; announces plans for mega-projects using forex reserves

BANGKOK: -- Virabongsa Ramangkura officially announced his nomination for the post of Bank of Thailand chairman, with forceful spending plans that fuel fears among conservationists about long-term economic stability.

Full story:

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THAI TALK

Business as usual for the govt as Thai rice loses business

Suthichai Yoon

Kobsuk Iamsuri, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association

BANGKOK: -- The bad news from out there from the foot soldiers in the battlefield is that we are losing the fight and the commanders in the war room had better change the strategy.

Full story:

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EDITORIAL

Jails as centres of crime for drug syndicates

Drug abuse is widespread in Thai prisons because law enforcement officials are complicit in, and are profiting from, the problem.

BANGKOK: -- The recent "unannounced" search by the authorities at the Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison has led to a perhaps not so shocking revelation about what is happening in Thai jails. The authorities in the southern prison uncovered cell phones and gambling equipment as well as 1,700 methamphetamine tablets and one kilo of crystal methamphetamine or "ice".

Full story:

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BURNING ISSUE

It's a hard road home for Thaksin

BANGKOK: -- It is widely known that the ultimate goal of the ruling Pheu Thai Party's reconciliation drive is to bring fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra home scot-free. But it appears that the road to his return is not strewn with rose petals. While Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is trying hard to restore reconciliation in the country, she should not forget that her core supporters could turn against her.

Full story:

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Court will see 'absentee voting' Parliament videos

BANGKOK: -- Chuwit Kamolvisit, an outspoken MP and leader of the opposition Rak Prathet Thai party, said yesterday that he had collected six videos of MPs voting on behalf of absent colleagues that he would submit as evidence to the Constitution Court.

Full story:

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Red shirts want decisive say in the choice of Chiang Mai candidate

CHIANG MAI: -- The red shirts in Chiang Mai yesterday demanded that the ruling Pheu Thai Party take their opinion into account before nominating a candidate for the upcoming by-election in the city, warning the party could otherwise suffer another humiliating loss like it did in Pathum Thani.

Full story:

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7,000 arrested for drunk driving in 2012

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Metropolitan Police Bureau, reporting on the results of its strict traffic disciplinary measures over the past three months, said that 7,204 people out of the 30,000 tested have been found guilty of drunk driving.

Most of the wrongdoers caught are men aged between 20 and 30. Police say that the biggest concern is that the violators all know that it is against the law to drink and drive.

However, the report also showed that road accidents had dropped in number with fewer deaths and injuries. The main causes of accidents still remain driving too close to other cars and speeding.

-- The Nation 2012-04-26

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Book notes CIA-Thai link

BANGKOK: -- Book to reveal CIA's "Hard Measures", a book due to be released on April 30, will reveal more about the US authorities' "torture" of prisoners outside American soil and possibly rekindle the controversy about a "secret prison" in Thailand.

Full story:

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Thai govt to crack down on scammers claiming a cut in compensation

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa yesterday said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had urged three state agencies to crack down on scammers threatening to pocket 20 percent of compensation payments earmarked for violence victims in the South.

Full story:

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Death of migrant workers trigger humanrights issue

The Nation

TAK: -- Myanmar labour leader Mojo, who is based in Tak province, said he was very concerned about the death of two illegal migrant workers who died while being deported back to their country.

The workers Mong Zo and Meela suffocated to death because the truck they were in was far too crowded and was travelling a very long distance from Songkhla to Tak.

Mojo said the Myanmar labour union was very upset about the deaths and wanted Thai authorities to take responsibility even though the victims were illegal migrants. He added that this was a humanrights violation and that he would take the case to the United Nation's International Labour Organisation and the Thai humanrights commission.

-- The Nation 2012-04-26

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AIRLINES

THAI chairman promises a turn-around

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International chairman Ampon Kittiampon has told shareholders of his determination to see a strong financial performance from the national carrier this year, after it suffered a loss of more than Bt10 billion last year.

Full story:

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Smuggled African ivory seized at Suvarnabhumi Airport

BANGKOK, April 26 – The authorities in the Thai capital’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Wednesday intercepted and seized 22 contraband African elephant tusks, and 44 sawn pieces of ivory worth more than Bt3 million in a shipment from Nigeria.

Customs Department Director of Investigation and Suppression Rakob Srisupa-at told a news conference that the confiscated ivory weighed 58.54 kg and with a market value of more than Bt3 million (nearly US$100,000).

The tusks were found at Suvarnabhumi Airport in boxes falsely declared as gemstones and the shipment indicated the goods were shipped from Nigeria.

The authorities confiscated all the ivory as the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has banned all international ivory trade since 1989. The shipment also breaches Thailand's Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act of BE2535 (CE1992)

Meanwhile, customs officials also apprehended Chij Kumar Gurung, a 31-year-old Indian national, for smuggling illicit drugs into Thailand.

Mr Gurung was detained for secreting one kilogramme of hashish worth Bt100,000 in his stomach. He said he was hired to smuggle the substance from India's Kolkata to deliver to an agent in Thailand.

He took Thai Airways to Thailand and arrived Suvarnabhumi airport at 5.50am today.

Hashish is a form of cannabis produced by collecting and compressing the most potent material from cannabis plants into varied forms, such as balls, cakes, or cookie-like sheets. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-26

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Thai stock index opens on Thursday at 1,204.64, up 3.28 points /MCOT

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Civil Aviation Training Center Thailand told to produce more pilots in preparation for AEC

BANGKOK, 25 April 2012 (NNT) – Deputy Transport Minister Mr. Chatchart Sithipan is urging the Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC) to increase the production of pilots before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) takes place in 2015.

Full story:

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Plans unveiled for new Phuket water purification plant

Patong Mayor Pian Keesin is pushing for Phuket’s premier tourist resort town to have its own water-purification plant. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- Patong Municipality has announced a plan to build a 300-million-baht reverse-osmosis (RO) water treatment plant to increase municipal water supply and cut down on the volume of wastewater released into Patong Bay, on Phuket’s west coast.

Full story:

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Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta dates announced

Phuket Raceweek has gained a reputation for its competitive sailing and fun parties, earning it the Best Asian Regatta of the Year accolade at the Asia Boating Awards 2011

PHUKET: -- The organizers of the Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta have confirmed that this year's event will go ahead, specifically from July 18-22.

Full story:

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Security Units to Monitor Krue Se Mosque Massacre's 8th Anniversary

BANGKOK: - The director-general of the Social Development and Welfare Department was dispatched to visit bomb victims in Yala Province, while security units in the area are closely monitoring the situation during the eighth anniversary of the Krue Se Mosque massacre.

Yesterday, Director-General of the Social Development and Welfare Department Pakorn Pantu, along with inspector general of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry Preecha Sorawisuit, visited bomb victims at Yala Hospital in Yala's Muang District.

Six victims were wounded in the Yala bomb blasts on Ruam Mitr Road on March 31. All victims still remain at Yala Hospital and are in stable condition.

Pakorn and Preecha represented Social Development and Human Security Minister Santi Prompat in providing 200,000 baht in relief fund to the six victims.

Meanwhile, with April 28 as the eighth anniversary of the Krue Se Mosque massacre, security units in the area are closely monitoring the situation in the southern provinces. Stricter measures have been put in place to prevent chaos.

Yala Governor Decharat Simsiri disclosed that security officials have established measures to closely watch all main and minor roads during April 25 to 30.

Checkpoints have been set up along 35 inbound and outbound routes in Yala's downtown, and officials are working around the clock to make sure no violence occurs.

-- Tan Network 2012-04-26

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Phuket tourists, jet-ski operator scramble to stave off dolphin beaching

One of the two dolphins that nearly beached in Patong Bay yesterday morning. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

The relative sizes and behavior of the two dolphins led most who saw them to suspect they were mother and calf. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- A pair of dolphins came dangerously close to beaching themselves on Patong Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday morning, but were successfully herded back out to deeper water.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....lphin-beaching/

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Disaster insurance to cover Phuket quakes, floods, landslides

A resident in Kamala keeps an eye on a landslide that pummeled his house following heavy rains in September last year. Photo: Royal Thai Army

PHUKET: -- Insurance coverage for homes and businesses damaged by natural disasters, including floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes and even tumbling boulders is now available in Phuket and the rest of Thailand again following the government’s creation of the National Catastrophe Insurance Fund (NCIF).

Full story:

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PM presides over police commission meeting at Govt House to discuss southern insurgency, narcotics crackdown /TANN

Summer storm warning for today-Saturday; Upper Thailand to see rain, wind and hail /TANN

SET ends up by 7.13 points at 1,208.49 with value of Bt14.66 bn during midday Thursday break /TANN

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Artificial Rain Needed to Ease Drought in Buri Ram

BURI RAM: -- The Buri Ram Irrigation Office submitted requests asking for artificial rain from the Provincial Agriculture and Cooperatives Office to help raise the water level at reservoirs after droughts have caused them to dry up.

Director of the Irrigation Project in Buri Ram Province Yongsak Prapapanthasak said the water level in four reservoirs, namely Huay Jorakemak, Huay Talad, Huay Sawai, Lam Takhong, which are used as raw water supplies for drinking water production, is currently less than that of last year.

Yongsak noted that with concerns over inadequate water for consumption during the dry season, the Irrigation Office submitted a request to the Provincial Agriculture and Cooperatives Office, asking it to create artificial rain to fill up water into the reservoirs.

He added that the office also requested a budget for dredging the reservoirs in order to increase their storage capacity.

-- Tan Network 2012-04-26

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Hat Yai hotel bombing probe makes headway: Police

SONGKHLA, April 26 - Police are continuing their search for a key suspect in the car bombing of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai’s commercial district who still remains at large, despite investigation of the incident having made much progress, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.

Pol Maj-Gen Suwit Chernsiri, Songkhla provincial police chief, said an arrest warrant in the effect for Seri Waemamu regarding the hotel bombing and that he is reportedly hiding in Pattani province.

As for the remaining suspects, Gen Suwat said the National Police Operations Center has been asked to help locate them, though arrest warrants have not yet been issued as the suspects were the same assailants who attacked a paramilitary ranger operations base in Songkhla's Thepa district last August.

Gen Suwit said investigation has progressed as 200 eyewitnesses have given testimony and police are now speeding up collecting evidence.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 500 were injured in a string of mid-day car bombings in Yala and Songkhla on March 31.

Saturday is the eighth anniversary of April 28, 2004 Krue Sae incident in which 32 people were killed in clashes between authorities and suspected insurgents at a Narathiwat mosque. Gen Suwit said the authorities have been instructed to tighten security measures to prevent any recurrence of violence.

He said security officials have been ordered on high alert in the Hat Yai commercial district, security operations bases and all checkpoints in four Songkhla districts bordering Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces. (MCOT online news)

-- Tan Network 2012-04-26