Transport Ministry speeds up Airport Link extension; sees completion in 3 years

BANGKOK, Oct 4 – Thailand’s Ministry of Transportis speeding up an Airport Link route extension to be completed within three years with an investment of over Bt30 billion.

Deputy Minister of Transport Pol Lt-Gen Chat Kuldiloke said the ministry is extending the route from Phayathai to Don Mueang station as Don Mueang Airport resumed full commercial services on October 1.

He spoke after presiding at a ceremony on bikeriding to help stop global warming at the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) headquarters as part of the government's policy to promote energy and environment conservation measures.

Studies on impact on the environment will take six months before the bidding process begins.

Initially, the Chitrlada station is to be adjusted to be incorporated as part of the underground system, while routes are to be designed to not duplicate Red electric rail line service. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-04

Unsafe buildings? Call 1166 to report unsafe structures

BANGKOK, Oct 4 – Thailand’s Consumer Protection Board (CPB) launched its building safety programme today, urging the public to call its hotline on risk, damage or possible accidents from buildings.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/588897-unsafe-buildings-call-1166-to-report-unsafe-structures/#entry5723672

Police seize 1,000 year-old Khmer statues at border

SA KAEO, Oct 4 - Thai police have seized five Khmer sandstone sculptures believed to be about 1,000 years old, and that they were smuggled from Cambodia into Thailand's Sa Kaeo border province.

Combined unit of police and soldiers intercepted a suspicious pickup truck and arrested its driver in Aranyaprathet district.

Searching the vehicle, police found five 70cm tall Khmer-style statues, believed to be ancient, covered by fertiliser bags without the documents that normally are supposed to

accompany antique objects being carried across borders.

Driver Panupong Sukkho was detained for questioning. He confessed to intending to deliver the statues to a businessman in Bangkok for resale to tourists. The driver claimed that the artefacts are newly-made.

The sculptures have been turned over to the Fine Arts Department to verify if they are ancient statues or not. However, they were believed to be about 1,200 years old, according to the police. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-04

RT@tulsathit: Yongyuth has announced resignation as Pheu Thai leader and MP.

RT@tulsathit: Yongyuth to media and political opponents: Pls stop saying I evade scrutiny.

RT@tulsathit: Yongyuth says he has informed Thaksin of his decision.

Yongyuth annouces resignation as Pheu Thai Party leader, party listed MP, citing Alpine land scandal ethics; denies pressure to decide. /MCOT

Pheu Thai leader Yongyuth resigns

BANGKOK: -- ​Yongyuth Wichaidit has declared resignation as an MP and Pheu Thai Party's leader on Thursday. The resignation is effective immediately.

Yongyuth resigned from the posts of the first deputy prime minister and interior minister on Friday after National Anti-Corruption Commission indicted him in June as malfeasance in the Alpine scandal.

Interior Ministry on September 20 ordered to retroactively expel Yongyuth as the then deputy permanent secretary of interior in 2002.

-- TNA 2012-10-04

RT@RichardBarrow: Thai police close case on Canadian sisters' deaths on Phi Phi in June. Cause of death listed as "Unknown" (BkkPost)

Report: Apple begins production of iPad mini

SAN FRANCISCO: -- Apple has started production of the iPadmini, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, a new device that will feature a smaller, lower-resolution screen than the company's genre-defining tablet computer.

Full story:

Phuket police seize heroin at Phuket checkpoint

Phuket Gazette

Ya ba pills and heroin were found after the Phuket Police officers searched 42-year-old Polrut Jitnawee. Photo: Thawit Bilabdullar

PHUKET: -- Phuket police making a routine stop at a checkpoint in Thalang early yesterday morning seized 33 grams of heroin after searching a car that was not fitted with any license plates.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....ket-checkpoint/

Phuket officials tackle water shortages, floods

Phuket Gazette

Phuket authorities believe that many small water projects would be more effective at solving current water problems than one big project. Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: -- Despite heavy rain forecast for the coming few days, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) this week held its second public meeting to discuss possible solutions to stave off chronic water shortages.

Full story:

CONFERENCE

Fitch to host conference on Thailand's rating outlook

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Ltd will hold its annual conference in Bangkok on October 10, 2012, with focus on global economic and banking risks and the rating outlook for Thailand.

Full story:

SET index closed at 1306.63, down 0.92; Bt/USD30.45; GBP48.98; AUD31.05; EUR39.33; CAD30.73; HKD3.92; SGD24.64; JPY38.52

Australian, 93, faces sexual assault charges

Ron Corben

BANGKOK: -- A verdict in the case of a 93-year-old Australian man facing pedophile charges in northern Thailand is expected by December after prosecutors this week concluded their case against him.

Full story:

PM regrets Yongyuth decides to quit as Pheu Thai Party leader, denies pressuring him to leave /MCOT

Ex-police officer shot dead in Yala insurgent attack

YALA, Oct 4 - A retired police officer was shot dead early today, while a former assistant village headman was seriously wounded in separate attacks in this restive southern border province.

Retired Pol Lt Ingsaree Doroning, 53, formerly of Raman police station was riding his motorcycle home after sending his child to school when two presumed insurgents, also on a motorcycle, followed and shot him. The victim was pronounced dead when he was sent to a nearby hospital.

Former assistant village head Suting Hama, 62, was shot, and seriously wounded, as he rode his motorcycle home in the same vicinity.

Meanwhile, defence ministry spokesman Col Thanatip Sawangsaeng said the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) will begin more pro-active operations across the deep South, increase its efficiency in gathering intelligence, and improve its search and raiding operations in targeted areas.

The spokesman said the authorities will open more opportunities for talks with insurgents who want to end their attacks, while some 5,000 decommissioned former border patrol police and soldiers will be recruited as police in the insurgency-torn areas by April next year. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-04

Phuket Police hunt serial masturbator

Phuket Gazette

Police have scoured Phuket Town nightclub car parks, but have come up empty-handed in apprehending the masturbating man. Photo: CCTV image

PHUKET: -- Phuket City Police are now searching for a man wanted for sexually harassing restaurant staff in Phuket Town after he exposed himself and masturbated in front of them four times in three days.

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Thailand Live Friday 5 Oct 2012