Thailand Live Tuesday 9 Oct 2012

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Thailand Live Tuesday 9 October 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 8 Oct 2012

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GAEMI

Depression Gaemi Loses Fury

Pimnara Pradubwit,

Jutarat Thipnumpa

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Tropical storm Gaemi - the source of much anxiety across the country, thanks to severe warnings by government officials - had weakened to a tropical depression by the time it hit Thailand late on Sunday.

Full story:

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BAAC gets cash amid more heat over rice scheme

CHAMMAN NOISAMRAN,

PIYANART SRIVALO,

KHANITTHA THEPPAJORN

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The government gave the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) close to Bt92 billion yesterday to finance its rice subsidy scheme. The move followed a complaint of insufficient funding, a senior bank executive said.

Full story:

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PHEU THAI PARTY

Transport minister 'expected to be next leader'

The Nation

Pheu Thai caretaker executives vote for deputy party leader Viroj Pao-in, centre, to be caretaker party leader. The 17 executive members had to be out of their posts after Yongyuth Wichaidit quit his party leader post last week.

Charupong believed to have a good image and similar characteristics as Yongyuth

BANGKOK: -- Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan, who is also Pheu Thai Party's secretary-general, is expected to take over as party leader, a highly placed party source said yesterday.

Full story:

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CRIME

Police doctor claims his brother murdered missing couple

The Nation

PHETCHABURI: -- Dr Suphat Laohawattana, a former Police General Hospital doctor, yesterday released an open letter to the media, accusing his brother of framing him in the alleged murder of a missing local couple in Phetchaburi.

Full story:

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POLITICS

Minister jumps into BMA sandbags row

Thanatpong Kongsai,

Prapan Jindalerd-udomdee

The Nation

File photo : Sukhumbhand

BANGKOK: -- Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit and officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) pull a sandbag out of a drainage pipe on Srinakarin Road.

Full story:

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SOUTH CRISIS

All-Malay broadcasts in the South

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) will next year entirely switch to broadcasting in the Malay dialect on its TV and radio stations in the South, Prime Minister's Office Minister Nivatthamrong Boonsongpaisal said yesterday.

Currently, NBT's deep South stations broadcast in the Malay dialect for only a few hours a day.

Nivatthamrong, whose office operates the NBT under the government's Public Relations Department, said he would instruct the stations to broadcast in the Malay dialect round-the-clock from January.

Most residents of the Muslim-majority border provinces speak the Malay dialect.

The Malay programming on Channel 11 in the South would include documentaries and entertainment from other TV stations, Nivatthamrong said, adding that the Malay programmes would help listeners and viewers in the South by providing information from the government as well as work opportunities.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

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Nukes 'must be part' of energy policy

Suriyan Panyawai

The Nation

Govt strategy unrealistic, lacks direction: experts

BANGKOK: -- Nuclear energy has to be studied seriously by the government as a low-cost option in formulating a renewable-energy policy amid dwindling supplies of carbon-based resources, especially natural gas, academics said yesterday.

Full story:

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11 'call-centre' suspects return

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- China has extradited 11 out of 13 suspected scammers from a Thai 'call-centre', for prosecution in Thailand. The two other accused had to serve 22 months in jail in China first, the Economic Crime Division Police said yesterday.

Thai police received six men, aged from 18 to 41, and five women, aged from 26 to 43, at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday.

After complaints from people who said they were duped by a China-based "call centre", the Central Investigation Bureau sent officials to work with Chinese police. This led to an April 8, 2010 bust in Guangdong in which 13 Thais and two Taiwanese were arrested. Arrest warrants were also issued for 34 other suspects.

Suwaporn Riabriang, 39, said she had been lured to work for a tour company in China and was promised Bt10,000 a month plus commission. However, she said she and the other Thais, lured in a similarly way to China, were held by the two Taiwanese and ordered to do as they were told or they would be assaulted.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

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Update:

Woman re-enacts killing, dismembering husband

PATINYA IAMTAN

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Police yesterday took a woman who allegedly killed and cut up the body of her ailing husband on Sunday to re-enact the crime at their rented apartment in Bangkok Noi.

Full story:

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Put rapists to death, Isaan folk say

THE NATION

Most residents in the Northeast believe rapists should be sentenced to death, a poll conducted by the Isaan Centre for Business and Economic Research at Khon Kaen University revealed yesterday.

A survey of 810 respondents from 20 provinces in the Northeast, conducted on September 29 and 30, showed 43 per cent worried that they or people close to them could become victims. About 35 per cent said they wanted the authorities to punish sex offenders by sentencing them to death, while 32 per cent suggested life in prison. Around 18 per cent said they wanted the offender's sexual organ cut off, while 13 per cent suggested they be imprisoned for 10 years.

To reduce sex offences, 64 per cent suggested laws be amended to ensure severe punishment, while 17 per cent said drug abuse was the root cause of sexual crimes, and 14 per cent blamed the media for showing improper images. Up to 88 per cent said sex crimes often took place in isolated areas, 6 per cent said rapes usually took place on public transport, while 1 per cent said such crimes often happened at home.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

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BURNING ISSUE

Wanted: Yes-man to be Thaksin's next fall guy

Avudh Panananda

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Excitement over the naming of Pheu Thai's new leader is much overrated - given it's largely a matter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra choosing one "yes-man" over others.

Full story:

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Military: arms seized by reds missing

Olan Lertrattanadamrongkul

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Among the Army's weapons confiscated by red-shirt protesters in April 2010, only one M-16 rifle has been returned to the military, the rest are still missing, Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkam-nerd said in testimony yesterday.

Full story:

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Thai Rak Thai's Pongpol set to join Chart Thai Pattana

Khanittha Thepphajorn

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Pongpol Adireksarn, one of the 111 banned Thai Rak Thai politicians, will join the Chart Thai Pattana Party, his son Porapol Adireksarn said yesterday.

Banharn Silapa-archa persuaded Pongpol to join Chart Thai Pattana after his political ban was lifted, Porapol said.

Pongpol, who served as an MP and cabinet member in the governments of Thaksin Shinawatra, had been a co-founder of the Chart Thai Party. He is also a novelist, having written several books under the pen name Paul Adirex.

Spokesman Watchara Kannika said having both father and son in the party's ranks would strengthen Chart Thai Pattana, thanks to Pongpol's many political connections and Porapol's promising future as a bright young politician. Party leaders would soon decide about what positions the Adireksarns would take.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

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Debate govt failings: senators

Jeerapong Prasertpolkrung

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A group of Senators yesterday filed a motion with Senate Speaker Nikom Wairatpanit seeking a general debate on the government's "alleged failure in running the country".

Full story:

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New Phuket Police chief ramps up island security

Phuket Gazette

A camera at the Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint records a truck entering Phuket. New Phuket Police chief Maj Gen Choti Chavaviwat has ordered more stringent checks on all vehicles – and persons – passing through the ‘gateway’. Photo: Gazette file

Of course you’re welcome – but be good, or you may never escape, warns Maj Gen Choti. Photo: Chutharat Plerin

PHUKET: -- Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavaviwat today announced that inspections of vehicles passing through the Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint – located on the only road linking Phuket with mainland Thailand – will be subjected to more stringent searches in order to boost security.

Full story:

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Where do the wealthiest expatriates live?

SINGAPORE: -- A small island state in Southeast Asia has come out tops in a listing of countries that boast of the richest expatriates.

Full story:

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PM firms on branding Thailand as monetary hub

BANGKOK, Oct 9 – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra stressed Thailand’s ambition to become a Southeast Asian hub for foreign investment as part of its preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....s-monetary-hub/

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Runoff from border mountains floods Kanchanaburi

KANCHANABURI, Oct 9 – Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi was hit by flashflood due to forest runoff and water that flow from nearby province of Ratchaburi.

Heavy downpour from influence of tropical depression Gaemi turned low pressure cell in Kanchanaburi, forest runoff from the Tennsaserim Hills (called the Tanaosi Hills in Thai), and volumes of water from earlier heavy rain in Ratchaburi has accumulated in waterways which eventually overflow to flood the western province.

Rainfall measured at 130 mm/hour raised the level of Pachee Creek in Kanchanaburi's Dan Makham Tia district above the critical point, but an automated flood alarm alerted residents to evacuate to higher ground.

Overflowing embankments, homes and farms were flooded. Many roads are under more than one metre of water which had cut access of many villages to the outside world.

Villagers moved valuables to higher ground with difficulty due to the strong flow of water.

Local authorities said that the water was quickly flowing into all parts of Dan Makham Tia district.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department said that the low pressure cell downgraded from tropical depression Gaemi has moved west and now covers Myanmar’s Gulf of Martaban.

Heavy rain continues in many areas of western Thailand, with particular warnings for low-lying areas of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi for another one or two days. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-09

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Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,310.94, up 6.23 points /MCOT

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Tax jump causes cigarette sales slump

BANGKOK, Oct 8 – Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) managers and workers are getting the jitters after a recent increase in excise tax slashed sales of locally-produced cigarettes by half.

Full story:

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Phuket Airport to suffer overcrowding during expansion project

Phuket Gazette

Airport director Prathuang Sornkham and AOT Executive Vice President Naris Yoadchan speak to the media at Phuket International Airport’s 24th anniversary. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- Phuket International Airport director Prathuang Sornkham, speaking at the airport’s 24th anniversary yesterday, offered an advance apology for passenger delays anticipated while the complex undergoes expansion and renovation over the next three years.

Full story:

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Cleavage Alert: Young women uploading boob shots for 'likes' on Facebook

By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is experiencing an unfortunate epidemic of young women posting photos of their breasts on Facebook pages simply to garner attention and “likes” from boys.

Full story:

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Health volunteer gunned down in Narathiwat, couple shot dead in Pattani rubber plantation /MCOT

RT @mpoppel: AP: Protestants lose majority status in the U.S. as number of Americans with no religious affiliation is on the rise.

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Eleven dead in Thai militant attacks: police

BANGKOK, Oct 9, 2012 (AFP) - Suspected Muslim militants have shot dead 11 people including three paramilitary rangers in a single day of bloodshed in Thailand's insurgency-plagued deep south, police said Tuesday.

Full story:

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Urban and life challenges stressing Bangkokians

BANGKOK, Oct 9 – Immediate problems including exorbitant commodity prices, higher cost of living, floods and traffic congestion have put Bangkokians under severe strain, according to a survey by Bangkok University.

Full story:

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RT @RichardBarrow: After the “success” last year of pushing water faster down the canals, the BMA now have these raft (Pic @Pacharapapon) http://twitpic.com/b2gpv3

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Brazen Phuket snatch artist targets Russian tourist

Phuket Gazette

During her statement to Phuket City Police, Ms Telecheva said she was unaware of what was happening. Photo: Natthawoot Laorsuwan

PHUKET: -- A Russian tourist in Phuket Town became the latest victim of a snatch theft yesterday when an unidentified man stole her bag in broad daylight.

Full story:

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US Navy in Phuket to splash out B2mn a day

Phuket Gazette

From 1,500 to 2,000 sailors a day from the aircraft carrier USS 'John C Stennis' and the USS 'Mobile Bay' will be rotated on shore leave while in Phuket. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

The USS 'John C Stennis' viewed broadside. The nuclear-powered strike group carrier may soon be deployed to the Middle East. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) Vice President Bhurit Maswongsa today estimated that the US Navy sailors currently visiting Phuket are expected to spend 10 million baht during their five-day stay on the island.

Full story: