Thailand Live Tuesday 11 Sep 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 11 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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FLOODING

City system can't support flood test: deputy BKK governor

PRAPHAN JINDALERT-UDOMDEE, ANAPAT DEECHUAY

THE NATION

Teerachon

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Bangkok Governor Teerachon Manomaiphibul warned the government yesterday against plans to divert water from upriver through the heart of the capital to the sea.

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POLICE

Democrat seeks action against city police chief

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Democrat Party spokesman Ramet Rattanachaweng yesterday asked the national police chief to take action against Bangkok Police Chief Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang over his alleged dereliction of duty in paying a visit to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

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FATAL HIT AND RUN

Red Bull heir faces charge

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Red Bull heir Worrayuth Yoovidhya will meet police tomorrow to acknowledge that he faces an additional charge of drunk driving over the hit-and-run crash in which a policeman was killed last week, Thong Lor police said yesterday.

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ACCIDENT

Mall boosts safety after accident

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A near-fatal accident involving a young girl and an escalator at Future Park in Rangsit has spurred changes at the shopping mall in the north of Bangkok.

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Body parts found in Pattaya Suburb

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Female Police Captain involved in Chevrolet Showroom incident revealed as fake officer

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NBTC

TV operators can no longer charge content providers

Watchiranont Thongtep

The Nation

NBTC panel okays drafts for three classes of licences

BANGKOK: -- Satellite and cable TV operators offering channel-grouping services will no longer be allowed to charge content providers whose channels they air, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission has decreed in its new draft of regulations for broadcasting licences.

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Pattaya Policeman struck by car at midnight

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Thailand: police bribe caught on video

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BURNING ISSUE

Fight over leadership of the army backfired

Avudh Panananda

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- This year's military reshuffle is a curious outcome of unanticipated events which have deprived the government of its thunder.

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Rogue Journalists Pose As Cops to Extort Money

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New satellite map issued by ministry

PONGPHON SARNSAMAK

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- An official displays a new satellite map that will be used by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to help solve land conflicts.

Boundaries of national parks, forest reserves set out for key agencies

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry yesterday launched a new satellite map that will be used to resolve conflicts on forestland encroachment.

The new 1:4,000-scale map was introduced at a public forum focused on the problem of forest encroachment held by the ministry yesterday at Chulabhorn Research Institute.

The ministry first began making the map in 2009 in order to study areas being encroached on as well as reshape boundaries of forest reserves, national parks and state-owned land.

The ministry spent more than Bt2 billion, taken from the Global Environmental Fund, to have private firm ESRI Thailand study and draw up the map.

For the project, ESRI Thailand collected more than 187,699 satellite images, taken between 1952 and 2000 by several state agencies, to study the extent of encroachment on forest land and compare it with forest boundaries announced in 1941.

"This map will be used to prove land ownership in court in order to resolve conflicts. The map will show exactly where people live and if they are encroaching on forests," Sunant Arunnoppharat, director of the Environmental Quality Promotion Department, said. This map would only be available to state agencies such as the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and National Anti-Corruption Commission

(NACC) to investigate land conflicts.

ENDING CONFUSION

Previously, forest-protection agencies had used different maps to prove land rights for people living in areas

overlapping national parks and forest reserves, which has often caused confusion and created conflicts over the legal process. Now, the new map will become a tool for related agencies to prove land rights and end prolonged problems.

Chanvuth Or-udomyuth, from ESRI Thailand, said the company had learned of more than 7,000 cases nationwide in which local residents were found to be living on land overlapping state-owned areas.

The amount of land marked off as forest reserves in Thailand has dropped drastically from 171 million

rai in 1961 to 104 million rai in 2004 due to massive encroachment by farmers and acquisition via illegal

ownership papers.

The government issued a Cabinet resolution on June 30, 2008, allowing people living on areas that overlapped forest reserves or national parks, and those who were waiting to prove their ownership, to continue living in the area provided they did not extend further. However, forest-related agencies do not have records about the boundaries of reserve land under the 2008 Cabinet resolution.

An environment-protection official, who wished to remain anonymous, suggested that the ministry add information about reserve land boundaries in relation to the 2008 Cabinet resolution to this new map so officials know whether people are encroaching further. "This way we can arrest people who are encroaching on forests. At present we have no information to show that they have extended beyond permitted areas," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-09-11

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Suvarnabhumi Airport Will Not Be Flooded This Year: AoT

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Army had no rubber bullets in 2010, Weng says

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Pheu Thai Party MP Weng Tojirakarn yesterday dismissed Army Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha's statement that the military used rubber bullets during the red-shirt riots in 2010.

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Interior Ministry bans personal calls

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Interior Ministry has ordered provincial governors to prohibit government workers from using office telephones for personal calls.

The move follows the Interior Ministry's ban on staff using office computers for non-work-related Internet access and logging on to social-media sites like Facebook.

Regarding phone use, a memo signed by deputy permanent secretary Pracha Terat on August 31, cites rising phone bills as the reason for the ban. To make a long-distance or international call, the caller must write the number and purpose of the call in a logbook. To make urgent long-distance personal calls, the caller must pay for the expense. In both cases, a supervisor must give permission before the call is made.

-- The Nation 2012-09-11

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Sukhothai business district flooded

Full story:

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Update:

Rush to 'bag' heart of Sukhothai

THE NATION

Gap in Yom River barrier swamps areas up to 1m-deep

SUKHOTHAI: -- Crews rushed to pack "big bags" in a gap in the Yom River flood barrier last night to stem serious flooding in the heart of Sukhothai.

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'Suspicious circumstances' surround death of Pawana Chanajit, the 'Pearl of Asia'

THE NATION

NAKHON PATHOM: -- In her roles in many classic movies, former actress Pawana Chanajit often played a girl in love with much older men. But the 'Pearl of Asia' was living with a younger man until her body was found yesterday in a pond at her Nakhon Pathom home.

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Two arrested with yaba pills

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Two men aged 34 were arrested and 39,400 yaba pills seized on Sunday in Klong Sam Wa district in Bangkok, Metropolitan Police Bureau 4 deputy chief Pol Col Saroj Soonsab announced yesterday.

Thai-Danish man Denis Paulsen and Pornchai Sing-urai told police they bought the drugs from a Rayong prison inmate.

Also yesterday, a long-tail boat was found at around 4am in Ubon Ratchathani's Khemmarat district with 38,000 yaba pills in two backpacks and two kilograms of crystal meth. Three men who were on the boat fled into the woods.

-- The Nation 2012-09-11

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MP's nephew charged in shooting

The Nation

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: -- Uthai Thani MP Chada Thaiseth's nephew Suriya Thaiseth has been charged over the August 20 "car rage" gunfight in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district that left Chada's son Farut dead.

Suriya, who police say took part in a gunfight between vehicles in a road-rage incident, is charged

with attempted murder, carrying a gun in public and firing the gun.

Meanwhile, police expanded their search for the 9mm pistol that they say suspect Mun Pulsap

used and threw away. There is also a Bt10,000 reward for the gun. Mun, 40, told police he was fired at first.

Police yesterday interviewed five witnesses in Farut's car for more information and filed the

charges against Suriya before releasing him.

They also said test results should be complete in one week for a 3D-graphic on the ballistics evidence.

-- The Nation 2012-09-11

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King Power, The Mall win Don Mueang deals

Nongnapas Maipanich

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- King Power Duty Free Co and The Mall Group have won concessions to operate commercial space at Don Mueang Airport, in exchange for annual returns of Bt900 million to Airports of Thailand.

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Phuket Food Festival goes 'booze-free', but lays on the entertainment

Phuket Gazette

On center stage at Saphan Hin, 'Dear At Ten' (in gold top) will entertain the ‘dry’ visitors at the 15th Phuket Food Festival in Phuket Town. Photo Facebook

PHUKET: -- For the first time in its 15-year history, the annual Phuket Good Taste Food Festival at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town this year will be held specifically without any alcohol for sale and with no plastic food containers.

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New B153mn indoor sports center opens in Phuket Town

Phuket Gazette

Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana explains that the new indoor sports arena will be available to local sports associations. Photo: Kritsada Meuanhawong

Wacky games including a '3G [three generations of ages] human centipede race' was part of the fun during the opening ceremony. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- Sports fans and spectators packed the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin to the rafters on Saturday for the new venue’s official opening ceremony.

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Piddling blast

The Nation

NARATHIWAT: -- A motorcyclist who stopped by the road to urinate stepped on a bomb yesterday in Narathiwat Rangae district.

Worha Baeloh, 42, suffered injuries to his feet and face. He was riding his motorbike on Tanyong-Ngee Ngor Road when he stopped to answer the call of nature and triggered a booby trap at the base of a tree.Police believe the bomb was aimed at soldiers.

He is the fourth victim in recent weeks of booby-trap bombs. Muslim and Buddhist leaders yesterday visited and donated money to three other victims: Charoen Dangtae, 64, who lost his left leg, Jiraporn Rattanaprom, 41, who lost her leg, and Muhammad Lahteh, 9, who also lost his left leg.

Narathiwat deputy governor Pradit Sukhonthasawat visited Muhammad and presented the boy with a Bt500,000 scholarship.

-- The Nation 2012-09-11

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Ayutthaya placed on flood watch

BANGKOK, Sept 11 – The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department warned of potential flooding in six Ayutthaya districts due to heavy rain and northern run-off.

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Don Mueang Airport to be flood-free this year

BANGKOK, Sept 11 – Don Mueang Airport, one of Bangkok’s two international airports which were badly damaged by floods last year, will definitely stay dry this year, according to a high-ranking airport official.

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,250.50, down 0.43 points /MCOT

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Phuket Governor to retire September 30, but replacement yet to be named

Phuket Gazette

Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha will retire on September 30, but his replacement has yet to be named. Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: -- Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is set to retire from civil service on September 30, just 19 days away, but his replacement has yet to be named, the Phuket Gazette has learned.

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