Thailand Live Tuesday 29 May 2012

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Police Expect Peaceful PAD Rally

BANGKOK: -- Police are prepared for a possible clash between different political groups at tomorrow's protest against the National Reconciliation Bill although the rally is expected to be peaceful.

Spokesperson for the National Police Office, Major General Piya Uthayo, has talked about the security measures prepared for the People's Alliance for Democracy's anti-reconciliation bill rally planned for tomorrow, pointing out that Commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Police Major General Winai Thongsong, has been assigned to look after peace and order at the rally site.

Related police units will also attend a meeting to prepare for the demonstration.

In case of a prolonged rally, the police will evaluate the situation on a daily basis.

At any rate, Major General Piya does not expect any violent incident.

Initially, 700 police officers will be deployed at the rally site with more in reserves.

The police will also set up an operation center at Dusit Zoo to command the forces positioned around the Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau has already assigned different tasks to all units in order to prevent possible confrontations among different political groups and facilitate traffic flow in and out of the Parliament.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-29

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PM satisfied with Australian official visit

SYDNEY, May 29 - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday expressed her satisfaction with the official visit to Australia as Canberra has agreed to consider lifting its ban on the importation of Thai chicken meat and frozen shrimp as requested.

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Thaksin's son praises Sonthi for 'unlocking nation'

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Tuesday praised former coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin for proposing a reconciliation bill.

Posting a message on his Facebook page, Panthongtae said he believed Sonthi's reconciliation bill would unlock the country out of the political impasse so that it could move on.

Panthongtae said Sonthi, who toppled his father's government in 2006, deserved the credit for the efforts to help the country move forward.

-- The Nation 2012-05-29

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NESDB: Employment rate lowered but household debts increase in 2012

BANGKOK, 29 May 2012 (NNT) - The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has revealed that even though unemployment rate has gone down this year, household debts have increased.

NESDB Secretary-General Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has announced that the unemployment rate in the first quarter stood at 0.73%, lower than that of the same period last year, which was at 0.83%. He cited that most workers have returned to the work since February although many factories are not fully recovered from the flood.

However, Mr Arkhom said up to 557,000 workers are not gainfully employed. Nearly 112,000 of them work less than 10 hours a week and need more jobs; around 450,000 of those are waiting for seasonal jobs.

According to the NESDB, household debt has increased as a result of the government’s flood rehabilitation, first car and first house loans. Other types of personal debts, such as credit card debts, have also increased.

-- NNT 2012-05-29

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Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Mahachai, Samut Sakhon, Wednesday to see working, living conditions of Myanmar migrant workers, visit National Verification Centre /MCOT

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Labor Ministry helps uplift Thai labour for ASEAN integration

BANGKOK, 29 May 2012 (NNT) – The Labor Ministry has held a seminar to help uplift Thai labour skills in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The ministry is cooperating with the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) to help improve labour skills in industries such as automobile, furniture, and metal, among others.

Permanent Secretary for Labour Somkiat Chayasriwong said the ministry will discuss with other ASEAN nations ways to improve standards of labour skill in this region as many countries, such as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, do not have labour skill assessment.

Under the project, workers will be tested for their academic knowledge, talents, and attitude to see if they are suitable for their respective fields and find ways to improve them.

-- NNT 2012-05-29

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Blockades of Parliament not permitted in new round of street rallies: Yuthasak

BANGKOK, May 29 -- Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa ordered police Tuesday to step up security measures in preparation for a planned mass gathering of the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) against the proposed reconciliation bill beginning Wednesday afternoon, vowing not to allow any blockade of Parliament.

Fill Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/558795-blockades-of-parliament-not-permitted-in-new-round-of-street-rallies-yuthasak/#entry5342015

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Banharn declares full support for reconciliation bill

BANGKOK:-- Banharn Silapa-archa, the de facto leader of the Chart Thai Pattana Party, Tuesday declared full support for the national reconciliation bill of Mathbhum Party leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

In his interview with reporters, Banharn said none of Chart Thai Pattana MPs would withdraw their names after they have signed to sponsor the bill.

Banharn said Sanan Kachornprasart, the chief party advisor, would not withdraw his name from sponsoring the bill either.

-- The Nation 2012-05-29

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Thaksin's son praises Sonthi for 'unlocking nation'

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Tuesday praised former coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin for proposing a reconciliation bill.

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PAD to go ahead with protest

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Leaders of the yellow shirts movement on Tuesday insisted that they will organise a rally tomorrow against the government's draft reconciliation law, even though the law would benefit them if it passes.

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Aung San Suu Kyi's itinerary in Thailand

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- After landing at 9.45pm today, Myanmar's Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans numerous activities in Thailand in four days, including visits to Myanmarese camps and unconfirmed talk with Thailand's opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

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Agencies to Probe Financial Records of School Directors over Tea Money Scandal

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission are looking into financial records of the directors of 20 schools, following complaints over tea money.

Secretary General for the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Police Colonel Seehanart Prayoonrat, Director General of the Department of Special Investigation, or DSI, Tharit Phengdit, and Secretary General for the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, or PACC, Police Colonel Dusadee Arayawut, have met to discuss a probe into the financial records of the directors of 20 selected schools and resolved to appoint a working team to look into the matter and question witnesses, including school directors, students and their parents.

A preliminary investigation has found suspicious activities in some of the schools but there is no concrete evidence pointing to state officials' involvement.

The DSI chief said that his agency will launch a full investigation and probe financial records of the school directors, should it find any clues indicating possible wrongdoings.

-- The Nation 2012-05-29

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Suspect of 1.4 Mil Baht Theft Still at Large

BANGKOK: -- A car believed to belong to a suspect of a larceny in which 1.4 million baht in cash was stolen has been discovered at a bus terminal in Kanchanaburi Province.

Yesterday, Kanchanaburi Provincial Police received a report of a larceny in front of a Siam Commercial Bank branch in Muang District.

At the scene, 69-year-old Sutham Maneewong, who is the victim, told the police that a man had snatched his bag containing bank notes worth 1.4 million baht from his car and fled the scene in another blue car.

The suspect's car was later found near a bus terminal in the area. However, there was no sign of the man.

The victim added that he was carrying the money from a land sale to be deposited at the bank before it was stolen.

The police are now reviewing the footage recorded on the bank's and the bus terminal's surveillance cameras for more leads to the suspect.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-29

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Dep Education Min Backs On-bus Security Cameras

BANGKOK: -- The deputy education minister has confirmed the plan to install security cameras on public buses to prevent crimes against students, while urging schools to promote social awareness among freshmen.

Deputy Education Minister Sakda Kongpetch said that his ministry is planning to install security cameras both inside and outside public buses, and reintroduce a volunteer police program to prevent student brawls.

He added that the ministry has also asked educational institutions to promote activities that would raise students' social awareness especially during the freshman initiation and monitor violence.

Regarding the alleged corruption in the purchase of educational materials at vocational schools, Sakda said that the ministry will be discussing the matter with the Office of the Attorney-General.

All swindled assets are expected to be seized and and returned to the teachers' cooperatives in one year.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-29

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Top Democrat Slams Reconciliation Law

BANGKOK: -- A veteran Democrat MP vows to counter the government's push for the draft reconciliation law, saying the move is putting the country's judicial system in peril.

Democrat MP for Surat Thani Suthep Thaugsuban said the submission of all four reconciliation bills for the House's deliberation will only benefit fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cronies.

Suthep branded the move as use of legislative power to overthrow the judicial power while saying he will join people across the country to oppose enactment of the reconciliation law.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said he will not submit his own version of reconciliation bill given other Pheu Thai MPs have planned to propose the law to the House.

Chalerm asked the Opposition to accept and respect the parliamentary decision.

-- Tan Network 2012-05-29

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Help sought for morbidly obese woman in Krabi

Phuket Gazette

Ms Wanphen survived brain surgery as a teen without serious mental side effects, but the physical challenge of her untreatable hormonal condition remains and is more than her elderly mother can bear. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: - The elderly mother of a morbidly obese woman in Krabi province is seeking assistance to get her daughter the medical help and living assistance they need to survive.

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Phuket tourism takes a hit over 'Trashing Racha'

Phuket Gazette

Koh Racha Yai, an island about 25 nautical miles south of Phuket that is popular with day trippers, snorkelers and scuba divers, is being destroyed by greedy developers and tourism operators, say environmentalists. Photo: DMCR

Bottles continue to pile up as no one wants to take on the job of recycling them. The man who used to do the job died more than a year ago. Photo: DMCR

PHUKET: -- The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) was forced to start taking steps to redress the growing concerns voiced in Phuket about the environmental destruction of Koh Racha Yai by negligent tour operators and tourism business owners.

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Calls grow for reform of strict Thai royal insult law

BANGKOK, May 29, 2012 (AFP) - A petition signed by almost 27,000 people urging reform of Thailand's strict royal insult law was submitted to parliament Tuesday, campaigners said, amid growing clamour for the rules to be changed.

The large collection of signatures is the first of its kind calling for amendments to the controversial lese majeste law, according to petition organisers the Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 (CCAA).

Scrutiny of the law, which carries a 15-year jail term for each count of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent, has intensified since the death of a 62-year-old Thai man this month while serving a 20-year sentence for committing lese majeste.

His death renewed calls for reform, with critics saying the law is used as political tool to stifle free speech.

The influential Nitirat group of Thai legal experts has also galvanised public opposition to the section 112, as it is known, urging authorities to prosecute fewer people and cut sentences.

"A letter with 26,968 signatures together with draft amendments (proposed) by the Nitirat group has been submitted to parliament for the first time ever," Pueangthong Pawakapan, of the CCAA, told AFP.

She said around 200 people had gathered to present the petition to parliament.

Thailand's parliament is not obliged to debate the petition and political parties have so far resisted reform, with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently ruling out pushing for an amendment.

The royal family is a hugely sensitive subject in politically turbulent Thailand, where 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej is revered as a demi-god by many Thais.

The world's longest-reigning monarch has been in hospital since September 2009, although he made a rare trip out last week leaving Bangkok for the first time in more than two years to briefly visit the ancient capital of Ayutthaya.

Thailand expert Paul Chambers of the Payap University in Chiang Mai said the size of the petition represents a "symbolic victory" for the law's opponents, particularly as the signatories joined ranks despite fears of prosecution.

"The campaign to amend the law is clearly just: the law stifles free expression; imprisons people for the faintest of evidence; and has been used as a political tool to counter political foes," he added.

The issue is likely to surge to the top of the agenda on Wednesday when a Thai criminal court is expected to rule on the case of a web editor accused over remarks about the monarchy posted by other people on her website.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-05-29

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Phuket yellow shirts bus to Bangkok to join protest

Phuket Gazette –

The PAD supporters left Phuket this afternoon to join the yellow shirt rally in Bangkok tomorrow. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: Phuket members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), also known as the yellow shirts, piled into three buses headed to Bangkok this afternoon to join their PAD counterparts in protest.

The PAD will stage a mass rally in the capital tomorrow to protest the reconciliation bill and other bills designed to expunge post-coup court verdicts and offer general amnesty to people involved in the recent political conflict.

“We will all gather at the King Rama V Equestrian Monument at about 1pm, and then at 3pm we will proceed to the Parliament,” Phuket yellow-shirt coordinator Don Limnunthaphisit told the Phuket Gazette.

Mr Don said he was unsure how long the rally would be, but his supporters were prepared to stay in the capital for several days.

“I have not been told how many people are expected to join the rally, but I’m sure there will be lots of people from across the country,” he said.

Three separate reconciliation bills submitted by MPs from the ruling Pheu Thai Party – and one submitted by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin – will be raised for debate in the House of Representatives tomorrow, Deputy House Speaker Charoen Jankomol said yesterday.

The one bill submitted by Pheu Thai Party List MP Natthawut Saikua is supported by 74 Pheu Thai MPs, many of whom are linked to the red-shirt movement.

Mr Natthawut, currently a deputy agriculture minister, said his bill was similar to that submitted by Gen Sonthi, but his version includes a clause to exclude amnesty for people involved in terrorism and crimes that resulted in deaths.

The move by Pheu Thai to introduce the bills comes amid mounting criticism of the reconciliation bill proposed earlier by Gen Sonthi, the former coup leader who now chairs a House committee on national reconciliation.

The move is also widely believed to pave the way to allowing fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, elder brother to current PM Yingluck Shinawatra, to return to Thailand.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article16067.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-05-29

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Thailand Live Wednesday 30 May 2012