Thailand Live Wednesday 5 Sep 2012

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Thailand Live Wednesday 5 September 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 Tuesday 4 2012

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FLOOD DRAINAGE TEST

Test to be stopped if it goes wrong

Jutharat Thipnampha

The Nation

PM concerned about forecast for heavy rain; four monitoring sites

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday promised to call a halt to today's flood drainage test in Bangkok within five minutes if something goes awry amid nagging concerns about overflows.

Full story:

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Residents near canals brace for flood

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Workers build a 450-metre long and 3m high wall to protect the Bunawas temple community located along the Mahasawas canal from flooding.

BANGKOK: -- People living along canals in Bangkok are worried that the drainage test - run today by the national water protection agency - will affect their homes and fields.

Full story:

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HIT-AND-RUN CRASH

Red Bull heir may face manslaughter charge

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Krating Daeng managing director Worrayuth Yoovidhya may face a charge of manslaughter over the hit-and-run crash that killed a Thong Lor policeman, Deputy Premier Chalerm Yoobamrung and senior police said yesterday.

Full story:

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1-week demolition deadline for illegal Samet resorts

THE NATION

RAYONG: -- Owners of illegally built resorts on the tourist island of Samet in Rayong province have to dismantle their installations within this week or forest rangers will have to step in, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation announced yesterday.

Full story:

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Creepy Thai doctor fined by police for filming nurses using ladies restroom

Full story:

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Chiang Mai Governor who vowed to crack down on red-shirt protesters sidelined

Full story:

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Asian 'peace council' is born

Vijitra Duangdee

The Nation

From left: Former Malaysia prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer, Nation Multimedia Group chairman Suthichai Yoon, former Timor-Leste president Jose Ramos-Horta, former Thai deputy prime minister Surakiart

Former statesmen to announce new body, seeking to reduce conflict, today

BANGKOK: -- Asian statesmen and leading international public policy figures will finalise a historic plan in Bangkok today to set up an Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council. The body is intended to help regional peace efforts in a fast-moving and more complex world.

Full story:

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THE 2010 UNREST

Former NSC chief postpones testimony

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Thawil Pliensri, former chief of the National Security Council (NSC), has postponed his testimony with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in its investigation into the 91 deaths during the 2010 political unrest.

Thawil was scheduled to testify today, according to Pol Colonel Prawet Moonpramuk, a DSI deputy director-general who heads the investigation team. Thawil is now set to appear next Wednesday.

Thawil served as the NSC secretary-general and was also secretary-general of the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) set up by the Democrat-led government to deal with increased violence during the 10 weeks of protests by the red shirts beginning in mid-March 2010.

The DSI wants to ask Thawil about the CRES's orders for operations by security officials.

Thawil was moved to become a prime ministerial adviser shortly after the pro-red Pheu Thai Party came to power last year.

The DSI also plans to summon Senator Gen Lertrat Ratanawanit for questioning about his role in negotiating with red-shirt leaders on May 18, 2010, according to Prawet, who said investigators wanted to go into detail about the results of those talks.

Prawet said the DSI had sent a written request to the Army to produce the CRES orders it received during the political unrest.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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French tourist killed, another comatose in Phuket motorbike crash

Phuket Gazette

Scrape marks on the road show the direction the bike traveled after hitting the curb and projecting the two riders toward the retaining wall.

Mr Heras struck the wall and dropped into a dry pool, while Mr Donny struck the low wall in the foreground, bounced over and fell down into a concrete drainage ditch.

PHUKET: -- One French tourist is dead and another remains in coma after the motorbike they were riding crashed on the beach road in Karon before dawn yesterday.

Full story:

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All silent on 'insecticide' causing deaths of Canadian sisters

Phuket Gazette

Forensics experts and Thai police are observing the family's request to not reveal details of the investigation into the deaths of Canadian sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger. Photo: Facebook

PHUKET: -- A spokesperson at the forensic laboratory at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok today declined to confirm or deny reports that insecticide containing DEET had been identified as the cause of death of Audrey and Noemi Belanger.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....phi-phi-island/

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DNA tests confirm French tourist as Tiger Disco fire victim

Phuket Gazette

DNA tests by forensics officers have confirmed that the fourth - and final - victim of the Tiger Disco fire to be identified was French tourist Emmanuel Becard. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- The Royal Thai Police Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok has confirmed that the fourth – and last – victim to be identified from the Tiger Discotheque fire in Phuket on August 17 is that of French tourist Emmanuel Becard, aged 30.

Full story:

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Court decides today on Yoswarit's bail

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Criminal Court will decide today whether to allow red-shirt leader Yoswarit Chuklom to be released on bail again.

Full story:

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Justice official not removed for finding graft: PM

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday dismissed allegations that a senior justice official was kicked upstairs for rooting out graft violations linked to flood-relief projects.

Full story:

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Flood warnings for at-risk areas in North and Isaan

Kannikar Wijitsakonkarn,

Prasit Tangprasert,

Janjira jarusupawat

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Residents in 20 provinces in areas at possible risk of disaster in the North and Northeast were warned yesterday that heavy rain could cause flash floods and forest runoff from yesterday up to tomorrow.

Some parts of Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Nakhon Ratchasima are already inundated.

A weather forecast station in Lamphun issued a warning yesterday urging residents living on mountain slopes and low-lying areas in some provinces in the upper and lower North and Northeast to prepare for floods.

Heavy rain on Monday caused a flood 30-40 centimetres deep at the Phimai Historical Park in Nakhon Ratchasima. Park officials rushed to pump water out of the stone building to prevent damage. Students at Phimai Damrong Wittayakom School nearby had to sweep up the debris and mud after a 50-centimetre deluge receded.

Meanwhile, more than 8,000 families were affected by floods in Mae Tha, Ban Thi, Pa Sang and Li districts of Lamphun, but waters had receded at press time.

In Chiang Mai province, heavy downpours on Monday night caused forest runoff to flow into canals in Fang district. Overflowing canals flooded roads to many villages and local agricultural areas. Water was around 50 centimetres deep.

Landslides also partly blocked some roads, including the link to Doi Angkhang and a road to Chai Prakan district.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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Princess joins diplomatic corps as envoy

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Her Royal Highness Princess Bajra Kitiyabha will become Thai Ambassador to Austria, the Cabinet said yesterday.

The princess will also remain chairperson of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and Alternate Permanent Representative of Thailand to the International Organisations in Vienna until the term finishes in December this year.

Reshuffles in Foreign Ministry included Thai envoy to Vienna Somsak Suriyawongse who will now head for France, and Waravuth Chuvirat, minister of the Thai Embassy in Beijing who will become the ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

The ministry's deputy spokesman Sek Wannamethee will become director general of the America and South Pacific department.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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Testing service chief wants bad students to repeat grades

Chuleeporn Aramnet

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Academically-poor students may be required to repeat their class, if the chairman of National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) can push his idea ahead.

Full story:

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New unit to fight drug transport

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet yesterday approved in principle to establish a new division to stop drug transport.

Deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chantharubeksa said the new unit would be under the Drug Suppression Command.

The Drug Suppression Command would thus comprise the administration division, drug suppression Bureaux 1 to 4, the narcotics intelligence division, the special operations division and the new drug transport suppression division.

Also yesterday, Bangkok police chief Kamronwit Thoopkrajang announced the arrest of two suspects with 40,000 yaba pills and 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, worth Bt42 million.

Apichat Sengthong, 35, and Mayuree Phetnil, 36, were arrested while allegedly transporting the crystal meth into a rented house in Lat Krabang district. A subsequent search at another house turned up the pills. They told police they got the drugs from the gangs in Bang Kwang and Udon Thani prisons and were storing them before distribution in the South.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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Mine expansion opposed

The Nation

PHICHIT: -- A public forum hosted by the Independent Commission on Environment and Health (ICEH) yesterday found that most people disagree with the expansion of operations at the Akara Mining gold mine in Phichit's Thab Khlo district.

The forum at the Phichit Plaza Hotel, detailing the company's plans to expand its annual production capacity from 2.3 million tonnes to 5 million, was attended by about 500 people, including gold-mine operators.

The attendees were divided into three groups - the people, public agencies and organisations, and mining operators and industry representatives. Most people said they disagreed with the expansion out of fear of negative impact on the environment and people's health and livelihoods, ICEH chairman Professor Piamsak Manasawet said.

The ICEH will gather information and visit the affected areas before reporting to the authorities, including the Federation of Thai Industries.

Akara Mining, which has operated since 2001, had initiated a Phase 2 expansion, leading to complaints with the Administrative Court in March.

The court dismissed the people's objections and let the firm continue operations. But now Akara has asked to double its production.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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3D imaging used in investigation

The Nation

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: -- Forensics police yesterday brought a 3D camera to Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district to create a virtual crime scene for ballistics testing on the two vehicles involved in the August 20 shooting that killed a politician's son. Investigators aim to determine who shot first and the size of bullet that killed Farut Thaiseth, son of Uthai Thani MP Chada Thaiseth.

Pol Lt-Colonel Areerat Rimmai, ballistics expert from Forensic Science Centre 3, said police had the initial information on ballistics, the guns used and both sides' behaviour, but because of the case's high profile, the high-tech test was needed to study the ballistics in more detail.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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Workers' medical cover raised to Bt1m

THAMMARAT KITCHALONG

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The government has increased medical coverage for each worker from Bt300,000 to Bt1 million, Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said yesterday.

The Social Security Office (SSO) and Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) will also work together to ensure that Thai and migrant employees harmed during their duties receive medical treatment under the Workmen's Compen-sation Fund (WCF), Phadermchai said.

Currently, some employers prohibit their workers from accessing the WCF so as to avoid having to contribute to the fund.

"On September 5, I will meet with Office of the Permanent Secretary, Department of Skill Development, Department of Employment, SSO and DLPW to discuss how to address this problem," Phadermchai said.

WCF officials will also launch a campaign aimed at cutting the number of accidents in the workplace. About 11 per cent of the fund's investment profits will be allocated to run the campaign," Phadermchai said.

SSO deputy secretary-general Arak Prommani said about 300,000 employers paid yearly contributions totalling Bt2 billion to the fund. Last year, the WFC paid Bt1.6 billion in compensation to nearly 130,000 employees. About 1,200 medical facilities are covered by the WCF, 1,000 of which are state-owned and 200 private.

Dr Chatree Banchuen, head of the WFC medical panel, said the fund was mulling the use of a DRG (diagnosis-related group) payment system as the new criteria for compensation awards in order to limit the amount paid out for treatment of severe diseases.

The WCF has accumulated more than Bt35 billion, with 93 per cent invested in low-risk securities and the remaining 7 per cent in high-risk securities. The fund earned Bt733 million from the investment over the first six months of this year.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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Chaovarat resigns as Bhum Jai Thai leader

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Chaovarat Chanweerakul has resigned as leader of the Bhum Jai Thai Party, spokesman Supachai Jaisamut said yesterday after a party meeting.

Chaovarat, 76, submitted his resignation letter last Wednesday(August 29), citing his age as a reason and his wish to open opportunities for new-generation party members. He will continue to serve as an MP and party adviser. Supachai said the party will call a meeting early next month to select a new leader and a new party executive committee.

-- The Nation 2012-09-05

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SRT workers urgently repairing broken rails at Lampang after forest runoff damages track; some northern services suspended /MCOT

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Thailand wins second gold medal in Paralympic Games

BANGKOK, 5 September 2012 (NNT) - Thai boccia players last night won Thailand’s second gold medal at the Paralympic Games in London after beating China 10-5 in the Mixed Team - BC1-2 gold medal match.

Thailand’s boccia team who was ranked wolrd's number 2 beat Great Britain in the semi-finals on Monday and went on to claim a gold medal in last night's victory over China who was ranked number 7, but had performed above expectations to reach the final. Thai players, however, were in a different class and beat China 10-5 to win the gold medal in boccia mixed team, BC1 and BC2. The Thai boccia players include Pattaya Tadtong, Witsanu Huadpradit, and Watcharaphon Vongsa.

-- NNT 2012-09-05

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Thai stock index opens on Wednesday at 1,231.49, down 4.82 points /MCOT

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Body of Burmese worker found at Phuket construction site

Phuket Gazette

Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation workers remove the body from the grounds of the Tariq Genius School, a private nursery for Muslim children in Thalang. Photo: Thawit Bilabdullar

PHUKET: -- The decomposing body of a worker from Myanmar was left undiscovered at a Phuket construction site for at least three days before being found late yesterday afternoon.

Full story:

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Northern trains resume normal service after SRT staff complete repairs of 30 metres of Lampang track damaged by flood /MCOT

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One more gold, silver for Thailand in London Paralympic Games

LONDON, Sept 5 -- Thailand took a gold medal in the Mixed Team Boccia while wheelchair racer Prawat Mahoram grabbed a silver medal in the 1500m wheelchair race at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Full story:

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RT @BreakingNews: Just in: Quebec's premier-elect Pauline Marois rushed off stage during acceptance speech; shot reportedly fired -

RT @mpoppel: PHOTO: Quebec premier-elect Marois pulled from stage as gunman opens fire - http://tinyurl.com/bqmhgfe