Thailand Live Tuesday 22 May 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 22 May 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 Monday 21 May 2012

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ANALYSIS

Thaksin at odds with reds over call for justice

Avudh Panananda

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The message on reconciliation from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is crystal clear but the outcome of any such efforts is still in a state of flux.

Full story: Full story:

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THAI president Piyasvasti gets golden handshake

Full story:

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Thailand's 2011 annual tourism income rises 30%

Full story:

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Australian man faces death penalty in Malaysia

Full story:

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REDS

Some red shirts feel it's time to go it alone

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

Thida

'Self-centred' Thaksin speech leaves some feeling leaders are out of touch

BANGKOK: -- Red shirts from various factions reached by The Nation reacted differently yesterday to Thaksin Shinawatra's speech, via video link on Saturday evening - marking the second anniversary of the bloody crackdown on red shirts which led to 91 deaths.

Full story:

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BUDGET DEBATE

Budget fails to target living costs, poverty: Abhisit

The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra talks with Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong during the 2013 Budget Bill debate in Parliament yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday assailed the government-sponsored Budget Bill for fiscal 2013, saying that it failed to address concerns about living conditions and poverty.

Full story:

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GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION

Re-election bid comment was a joke: Sukhumbhand

The Nation

Sukhumbhand

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday he was only joking when he announced to the US media that he would contest the next Bangkok governor election.

Full story:

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Studies into snails and ant larvae win Thais prizes at US' top science research contest

Jintana Panyaarvudh

The Nation

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

From left: Jatuporn Chaweepak, Nattapong Chinnara, Nantakan Longlod, and Kitthanaet Thanaroungrochthawee at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

PITTSBURGH: -- Studies into the effect of Siamese snails on rubber plants and the nutritional quality of weaver ant larvae by Thai students in science research projects won Grand Awards last week in this year's Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a major pre-college science research competition.

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Reconciliation bill 'just for Thaksin's benefit'

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday questioned the merit of a reconciliation law being pushed by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobumrung for amnesty for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Full story:

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Multiple entry visas to Japan

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Japanese Government will launch a multiple-entry visa for temporary visitors who are Thai nationals living in Thailand. This will start next month (June 1).

The move stems from a meeting in Japan on March 7 between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, according to an announcement by the Japanese Embassy in Thailand.

"We hope that implementation of the new multiple-entry visa will increase the number of Thai visitors to Japan, enhance business convenience and strengthen cooperation between both countries," it said.

-- The Nation 2012-05-22

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School agrees students can stay

Saowanee Nimpanpayungwong,

Supinda Na Mahachai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Officials at Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School yesterday agreed to take back more than 20 "old" students after some parents staged a days-long hunger strike in front of the Education Ministry.

Full story:

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Thai Inquest Opens For Japanese Cameraman Muramoto

Full story:

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Autopsies on foetuses will determine charges: police

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Criminal charges in a notorious case of a Taiwanese man suspected of illegal possession of six foetuses will be depend on autopsy results.

Full story:

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DSI queries validity of Skytrain contract

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday urged the interior minister and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to clarify whether the BMA was authorised to award a Bt190 billion contract to the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC).

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said the 58th coup announcement in 1992 authorised the Interior Minister to sign the Skytrain project with the winning bidder, Thanayong joint venture. But then interior minister, General Issarapong Noon-pakdee, seeing that the contract exceeded Bt1 billion and came under the Public-Private Joint Venture Act, tabled it for the Cabinet's approval first and then assigned the BMA governor to supervise the Skytrain. This led to Krungthep Thanakom (KT) being established as the city's business arm.

Tarit said the legal question was whether that authorisation was for that particular time - or for the BMA to act on the ministry's behalf in all related activities.

The DSI has sent letters to the Interior Minister, the BMA governor, BTSC and KT to ask:

1. If the concession-approving authority belonged to the interior minister only;

2. What are the limits on the BMA governor's power in this matter;

3. Whether it was legitimate for the BMA governor to sign a new/revised contract or concession extension without asking the Interior Minister's permission; and

4. If the concession extension through KT was doable without the interior minister's permission.

The interior minister was to reply by May 29 and the BMA governor by May 23, he said.

If the interior minister decided that the BMA governor was an operating official without the authority to do this, the recently signed contract would be incomplete and unauthorised. But if it were decided otherwise, related legal points would be studied to determine if this action was legitimate.

Tarit dismissed the city's claim the Council of State's ruling backed its action by saying the ruling didn't relate to this matter; it was about a joint venture but this was about the authorisation to act.

-- The Nation 2012-05-22

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French tourist drowns off Freedom Beach, Phuket

Phuket Gazette

A strong rip current prevented locals and Mr Dacosta's friends from rescueing him yeserday afternoon.

PHUKET: -- The body of Stephane Dacosta, a 33-year-old French national, thought to have drowned yesterday, was recovered from the waters off Freedom Beach this morning.

Full story:

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Funding concern over Futsal stadium: BMA

Thanatpong Kongsai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday urged the Comptroller General's Department to explain the failure to allocate funds to build a stadium for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup this November.

After a meeting yesterday of city executives, Jate Sopitpongstorn, an adviser to the BMA governor, told reporters the department failed to approve a third-instalment of Bt100 million to build the Bangkok Futsal Arena. This was despite the fact that it had previously allocated Bt300 million out of the Bt1.24-billion budget needed. This would affect the construction, which should complete by November when the tournament will take place, he said.

Deputy city clerk Jumpol Sampaopol and BMA departments were assigned to issue an urgent letter to the department about the matter and would require a written response. The city would also send a letter to the government to notify it about what happened, as the city did not believe the government would block such funding, because this would affect the project as well as the city's and the country's image, Jate said.

BMA executives discussed an initial solution of using the city's money to pay upfront, to keep the project going and ensure it is done by November.

Earlier in the morning, deputy governor Taya Teepsuwan posted on Twitter (@TayaTeepsuwan) that city executives were discussing why the department wouldn't pay the third funding instalment for the stadium construction, saying the city would seek urgent funds to build the stadium because this a national event that shouldn't be politicised and that everyone should work together to get the stadium built by November.

-- The Nation 2012-05-22

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What It's Like In Thailand's Deadliest Prison

by T. M. Hoy

BANGKOK: -- Thai prison, like all prisons, reveals the dark side of a person's soul. It is how people behave when there are no constraints and outside limits are nonexistent. All the fury of the Thai people against the neo-colonial economic imperialism of the West is directed fully at Western prisoners; in the provincial prisons, at least, where little or no oversight exists.

Full story:

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,149.16, up 14.00 points /MCOT

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Four complaints aimed at dissolving Pheu Thai Party

The Nation

BANGKOK: - The Election Commission has completed one check and is investigating three other complaints which can lead to the disbandment of the Pheu Thai Party.

Full story:

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Thump-up for first day of budget debate: whips

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Coalition and opposition whips on Tuesday voiced satisfaction for the orderly conduct of MPs from both benches yesterday, the first day of the budget debate.

"The debate is going well. There is no snide, no protest and no disorderly conduct on the House floor," chief coalition whip Udomdej Rattanasatien said.

Udomdej said he was optimistic that the debate would progress and conclude in the orderly manner within the three-day deadline.

Chief opposition whip Jurin Laksanawisit said he was satisfied with the first-day debate because the Democrats could point out what they saw as flaws in the budgetary allocations.

"This government has been in power just for months but incurs more than Bt1 trillion in public debt," he said.

For today's debate, Jurin said the Democrats would focus on the lopsided allocations for populist policies.

-- The Nation 2012-05-22

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Sea Gypsy Cultural Center to open in Phuket this year

Phuket Gazette

The Sea Gypsy Cultural Center claims to be the first of its kind in Asia. Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

Rassada chief of administration Dachakanee Leelanon hopes to have the center and its displays completed and ready before the end of the year. Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

PHUKET: -- The long-anticipated Sea Gypsy Cultural Center, or Urak Lawoi Culture Center, is now scheduled to open toward the end of this year.

Full story:

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MP's Claims Prompt Police Probe into Alleged Gambling Den near Makkasan Station

BANGKOK: -- Police have carried out an inspection of an area around Makkasan Intersection, following an MP's claim of illegal gambling activities there, but have found nothing.

Railway Police have carried out an inspection in the area around Makkasan Railway Station , following a claim made by Rak Prathet Thai MP Chuwit Kamolvisit that there was an illegal gambling den there.

Investigators have found a white room similar to the one in the video clip shown by the outspoken MP during a parliamentary session, but there was no evidence indicating that the room was indeed used for gambling.

Commander of the Railway Police Division, Police Colonel Dumrongsak Kaewsomnuk, said that the police arrested a gambler in the area in February and have continued regular inspections since, but have not yet found any gambling activities.

He added that another inspection will be carried out today.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-22

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Dolphin blood-test results reveal serious infection

Phuket Gazette

The dolphin is so weak that it often needs to be held while it swims. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

The dolphin received an injection to prevent it from going into shock while being transferred to the PMBC. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- Blood tests have revealed that the stranded striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) rescued in Phuket waters Sunday morning has a serious infection and only a 10 to 30 per cent chance of survival.

Full story:

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4 provinces removed from drought list

BANGKOK, 22 May 2012 (NNT) - The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has announced that four provinces have been removed from the list of drought disaster zones.

DDPM Director-General Wiboon Sanguanpong said Phrae, Lamphun, Uttaradit, and Chanthaburi provinces are no longer drought-struck zones; leaving 47 provinces on the list, 28 of which are still facing severe drought with over 12 million suffering from the drought crisis.

Mr Wiboon stated that large reservoirs in the country are holding around 53 percent of their total capacity, which is less than what they contained during this period in 2011.

Large dams such as Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams are holding 47 and 49 percent of their total capacity respectively.

-- NNT 2012-05-22

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Irrigation Office Blamed for Flooding in Angthong

ANGTHONG: -- Residents in Sala Daeng Subdistrict of Ang Thong Province has blamed the irrigation office for causing the flooding that has put more than ten houses under 20-centimeter-deep water.

Residents in Sala Daeng Subdistrict of Ang Thong Province have to pump water out of their flooded homes after the local irrigation office left a sluice gate slightly open.

More than ten houses have been hit by 20-centimeter-deep floodwater. There was a two-meter difference in the water levels between both sides of the sluice gate.

The affected residents have blamed the irrigation office for mismanaging water flow and causing the flood.

The irrigation office said that it had recently increased the water supply upon request by farmers in Norasingh Subdistrict, but during the period, there was heavy rain that subsequently caused the flooding.

The office has to reduce the water supply and open the sluice gate in Sala Daeng Subdistrict to ease the problem.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-22

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DSI Investigates Toxic Waste Dumped in Chonburi Province

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation and local authorities are investigating the toxic waste dumped in Chonburi Province.

Director General of the Department of Special Investigation, Tharit Pengdit, and Deputy Governor of Chonburi Province, Pakaratorn Tienchai, have jointly launched an investigation into a report of toxic waste dumping in Nong Ri Subdistrict of Muang District.

So far, the investigation has been able to implicate an offender who owns the land where the waste was dumped.

As it has been discovered that the landowner is a Chinese national, the investigation team will also look into how a foreigner came to possess the piece of land.

The Department of Special Investigation director-general reported that three violations have been constituted, including an unauthorized disposal of toxic materials, an unauthorized landfill operation and a distribution of fake lubricant made from toxic waste.

The case is now under the department's direct supervision.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-22

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Phuket rescue services to hold earthquake drill

Phuket Gazette

Emergency rescue personnel gather outside the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall during the evacuation drill last Thursday. Photo: Kritsada Meuanhawong

PHUKET: -- Emergency rescue personnel from across Phuket will join local officials in Thalang district to conduct an earthquake rescue drill tomorrow, starting at 2pm.

Full story:

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PTT & TOT launches free Wifi in 200 gas stations

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/556908-ptt-tot-launches-free-wifi-in-200-gas-stations/