Thailand Live Tuesday 28 Aug 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 28 August 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 27 Aug 2012

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Crackdown on cabbies

The Nation

Passengers can take actions against cabbies who refuse to give them a ride.

BANGKOK: -- Cabbies who refuse to take passengers can now be arrested if those affected call the 1197 hotline or visit www.trafficpolice.go.th and provide the taxi's licence plate number, Pol Colonel Weerawit Watjanapukka of the Traffic Police Command said yesterday.

Full story:

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Kittiratt's 'white lies' did not get Yingluck's okay

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday defended Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong for his admission that he sometimes had to lie about the national economy to boost confidence.

Full story:

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Panel to issue data on water situation soon: PM

Anapat Deechuay

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC) will release data on the country's water situation later this week, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday in response to a query as to whether drought and flooding would wreak havoc this year.

Full story:

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Treasury Dept eyes property purchases in euro zone

Suphannee Pootpisut

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Treasury Department is interested in buying land and other property in the troubled euro zone due to the attractive prices currently available there.

Full story:

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SPECIAL

Three starters set for city poll

Tanatpong Kongsai

The Nation

Three gubernatorial candidates have kicked off their election campaign in the race to be the next Bangkok governor.

BANGKOK: -- The countdown is five months, and Bangkok residents will be in for a colourful gubernatorial contest which often becomes a political indicator of the country's political direction at national level. Looking back at previous races, candidates of various political ideologies sell their dreams of how they can run this large capital during the four-year term.

Full story:

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Top army officers transferred

The Nation

Sathien

Trio sent to inactive posts after Defence secretary complained about minister interfering in the reshuffle

BANGKOK: -- Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat yesterday abruptly transferred Defence permanent secretary General Sathien Permthong-in and two other senior officers to inactive posts at the Defence Minister's Office.

Full story:

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POOR EDUCATION RESULTS

Call for overhaul of science, maths

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Obec backs proposal at national conference to adjust teaching, tests

BANGKOK: -- Thailand has suffered a decline in academic results locally and internationally for many years because of uneven science and maths education provided to students over decades.It is time to start an overhaul to lift the quality of Thai science and maths education, a national conference was told yesterday.

Full story:

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BMA to install emergency boxes at 112 risky sites

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday announced that it would be installing emergency boxes at 112 dangerous locations in 22 districts to help people report crimes, emergencies or public annoyances round the clock. The law enforcers’ motorbikes would be equipped with a GPS to locate the problem area in time.

Full story:

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Bangkok police told to solve crime backlog

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok police have more than 50,000 unsolved cases in which suspects have not been arrested, Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol LtGeneral Khamronwit Thoopkrajang said yesterday.

Full story:

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Chinese, Taiwanese scammers jailed

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Some 22 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals who were members of a callcentre scam were sentenced yesterday to 18 months in jail for criminal conspiracy.

The 22 suspects, including 15 from China, were arrested in a raid on a house in Muang Thong Thani estate in Nonthaburi in March by a team of Department of Special Investigation, police and immigration officers, and CAT Telecom officials.

The suspects, including ringleader Shih Pao Cheng, a Taiwanese, were originally handed threeyear terms but the sentence was halved due to cooperation with police and confessions during the trial.

-- The Nation 2012-08-28

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Govt has failed to solve land inequity

Janjira Pongrai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The government's failure to resolve land problems has led to farmer's poverty, a seminar held by the Land Reform Network and Local Action Links was told yesterday.

Full story:

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Jobless numbers up and could go higher, says NESDB

Suriyan Panyawai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Unemployment has been rising in the wake of the 2011 flood crisis and the sharp hike in the minimum daily wage this year, according to National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) secretarygeneral Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

Full story:

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BURNING ISSUE

Row spotlights lack of trust between the Army and govt

Avudh Panananda

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The bickering between Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat and his permanent secretary, General Sathien Permtong-in, is just the tip of an iceberg, but fortunately the government has thwarted a potential collision with the military.

Full story:

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Pattaya Prison Shoot out, Thai special forces mobilised

By tommydee

PATTAYA: -- An elite Thai task force was dispatched to Pattaya Remand Prison in Banglamung on Monday, following an armed attack by an unknown number of gunmen on the Prison.

Full story:

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Ex-Thai PM grilled over protest crackdown

Bangkok, Aug 28, 2012 (AFP) - Former Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday faced fresh questioning by investigators over a deadly military crackdown on mass opposition protests in Bangkok in 2010.

Full story:

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Activist Tul Sittisomwong reports police hand grenade hung in paper bag on his car; says its only a threat /MCOT

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Newsroom in the new age

The Nation

Nation Multimedia chairman Suthichai Yoon, standing at centre, leads Nation Group editors in yesterday

BANGKOK: -- Top media professionals, academics and representatives of advertising agencies attended the launch of what Nation Multimedia Group described as one of its most revolutionary steps to date - a convergent newsroom.

The visitors witnessed how senior editors of all NMG media outlets work together in a sophisticated news centre and utilise the social media to improve both the pace and quality of content.

NMG chairman Suthichai Yoon told the visitors the key to success in launching the convergent newsroom was persuading journalists from different platforms to work together with consumers' best interest in mind.

The convergent newsroom serves two basic needs of news consumers - fast and accurate breaking news, as well as value-added content that follows initial reports.

Suthichai insisted that the system, the most comprehensive in Asia, will encourage creativity as journalists involved must constantly think "outside the box" in order to fulfil their tasks for each platform, not least their own.

"When they worked separately, there were greater chances of them trying to do what they guessed their peers were doing. They wanted to be in that comfort zone. Not anymore. Now that they really know what the others are doing, the journalists will automatically become creative to avoid looking just the same as the others," Suthichai said.

NMG's convergent newsroom brings together print, online and broadcast editors. It's a two-way news management centre that receives a constant stream of information and hands out assignments after thorough discussion among the experienced journalists.

Suthichai said NMG's strong synergy culture allowed it to implement what other big media companies may consider difficult or impossible. The convergent newsroom was launched ahead of the upcoming Krungthep Turakij TV, a comprehensive business news channel, which will officially go on air on September 9.

-- The Nation 2012-08-28

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RT @USEmbassyBKK: Live today! 8-8:45pm TH time, @TravelGov will host a twitter Q&A to answer your Q’s about voting while overseas. Send Q’s using

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,234.46, up 0.73 points /MCOT

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Thailand mulls barter trade with sanctioned Iran

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Tehran

BANGKOK: -- Thailand mulled barter trade with Iran to avoid the consequence of the United States economic sanction against Tehran's nuclear ambition, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said.

Full story:

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Drug-free ASEAN in 3 years affirmed

BANGKOK, Aug 28 - Ten ASEAN member countries will reaffirm a joint intention to evolve Southeast Asia as a drug-free region in 2015—the year the ASEAN Economic Community is officially launched.

Full story:

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829 applications, combined worth of Bt330 billion, submitted to Board of Investment privileges in first 7 months;62% increase in value, Japan top investor /MCOT

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Over 90,000 people purchase catastrophe insurances

BANGKOK, 28 August 2012 (NNT) – According to the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC), over 90,000 people have already purchased catastrophe insurance, while 80,000 victims have already been compensated for flood damages.

Secretary General of Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) Pravej Ongartsittigul has stated that this is the first year catastrophe insurance sector has expanded more than life insurance influenced by the impact of last year’s flood. According to the statistics of August 10th, around 90,000 people purchased catastrophe insurances with the total coverage of 9.4 billion baht; at 65 million baht premium. Mr. Pravej expects around 720,000 people to buy the catastrophe insuruance throughout the year. The coverage is expected to be at 329 billion baht and the premium will be around 3.6 billion baht.

The Secretary General said further that as of August 15th, the insurance sector has paid out approximately 294 billion baht in damage claims to over 80,000 victims from 2011’s flood.

Mr. Pravej added that insurance business in the first 6 months of 2012 grew by 19.36 percent year-on-year. Life insurance increased by 18 percent, while catastrophe insurance increased by 23 percent. He also expects the growth in the last quarter to be close to that of the second quarter of 2012.

-- NNT 2012-08-28

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ICT to create learning apps for school kids

BANGKOK, 28 August 2012 (TTN) – The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is planning to develop a series of educational applications for tablet computers, enabling students from upcountry to acquire the same source of information as those in the big cities.

Full story:

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Admission fees of 29 Thai national parks will be raised this Oct 1 due to rising costs of facilities maintenance, forest protection /The Nation

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Sirinat National Park seeks charges against more resort operators

PHUKET, 28 August 2012 (NNT) - Sirinat Marine National Park officials are filing another lawsuit against a luxury resort operator for encroaching on national park land.

According to Sirinat Marine National Park chief Cheewaparb Cheewatham, officials will be taking legal action against the owners of Peninsula Spa and Resort for building a 9-rai resort within the Marine National Park's boundary.

Advisor to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation chief Soonthorn Watcharakuldilok, the resort is one of the 11 operators the agency is investigating for possible land encroachment. Charges have already been filed against 3 operators for illegally occupying 7 rai of forest land.

He added that the department is further probing the issuance of land title deeds for the use of land to prevent extensive damage on the park’s ecological system.

According to statements issued earlier by the department, several resort operators in Phuket do not have the title deeds to certify their ownership of the land because the Royal Forestry Department had revoked all title deeds in the area before it was declared a national park in 1981.

-- NNT 2012-08-28

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Police brutality complaint filed over drug suspect arrest

Phuket Gazette

Mr Prapakorn showing the abrasions caused by police handcuffs. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

The bruising to Mr Prapakorn’s body is fading after four days; two of which were spent at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- A man who claims his nephew was severely beaten by five Thalang police officers trying to extract more information after they had arrested him for drug possession has filed a complaint at the Phuket Damrongtham Center (ombudsman’s office).

Full story:

[george]

DTAC mobile network failure across Thailand.

Is your DTAC mobile dead today?

Full story, poll: http://www.thaivisa....cross-thailand/