Thailand Live Tuesday 9 Oct 2012

[webfact]

GAEMI

Kanchanaburi faces flooding as Gaemi moves west

The Nation

KANCHANABURI: -- Kanchanaburi has been hit by flashfloods as a result of forest runoff and water flow from the nearby province of Ratchaburi.

Heavy downpours caused by the influence of Gaemi, forest runoff from the Tennsaserim Hills (known as the Tanaosi Hills in Thai), and earlier heavy rain in Ratchaburi that accumulated in waterways and eventually overflowed, combined to bring flooding to this 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.

Homes and farms were flooded. Many roads are under more than one metre of water, making access to many villages impossible. Villagers faced difficulties in moving valuables to higher ground due to the fast flowing 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 was now over 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.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

[webfact]

MURDER

Suspect in 1993 Japanese killing arrested in Thailand

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Crime Suppression Division has arrested a Thai man, who allegedly murdered a Japanese woman then fled the country and returned to Thailand where he has lived for almost 20 years.

Full story:

[Lite Beer]

Three rubber tappers killed in southern Thai provinces

NARATHIWAT, Oct 9 - A public health volunteer was gunned down in Narathiwat, and a couple was shot dead in Pattani on Tuesday.

Health volunteer Suena Seng, 44, was shot three times by a gunman on a motorcycle while she and her husband drove a motorcycle to tap rubber. Fatally hit in the head, she died while being taken to hospital. Her husband was not wounded.

Meanwhile in Pattani, two gunmen in a rubber plantation ambushed a couple coming by motorcycle to tap rubber.

Both Khon Phetchsorn and his wife Nit died immediately at the scene, one kilometre from their home. The gunman took the husband’s gun before leaving the scene of the killing.

Police believed the shootings were done by insurgents. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-09

[Lite Beer]

Hangars may become rice warehouses, if feasible

BANGKOK, Oct 9 – Faced with storage problems for large amounts of rice which are being purchased at more than market rates, Thailand’s Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) and Transport Ministry will together inspect aircraft hangars at airports nationwide to determine if they can be turned into warehouses to stockpile rice.

PWO deputy director Somsak Wongwatanasarn said today that the airport survey is in light of an earlier proposal by former transport minister Sukumpol Suwanatat, now defence minister, that unoccupied hangars in some provincial airports may be suitable for stockpiling paddy from the government’s rice pledging scheme, if necessary.

He said a thorough hangar-to-warehouse study is needed to ensure the acceptability of each structure which will have to accommodate tens of thousands of tonnes of rice.

“If the hangar structure is unsuitable or if it negatively affects aviation, we will suspend the move,” he said, noting that rice stocks normally attract flies, insects and rodents.

He gave assurances that PWO-owned warehouses are still capable of stocking rice and the airport survey is merely in response to the Transport Ministry’s proposal.

Mr Somsak said the warehouse organisation is ready to stock additional paddy from next year’s rice pledging scheme despite rice from this year’s harvest still stored in PWO warehouses.

Private millers are allowed to join the plan, he said. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-09

[Lite Beer]

SET Index at noon rose 0.32% to 1,308.83pts, despite poor economic forecasts by World Bank/IMF. /Nation

[webfact]

POLITICS

Nuttawut meets Thaksin in Hong Kong but politics "not on agenda"

The Nation

File photo : Nuttawut

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Agricultural Minister Nuttawut Saikua on Tuesday admitted he met fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra in Hong Kong last weekend but says politics did not enter into their discussions.

Full story:

[webfact]

One Dead, Thirty-Seven Injured in Coach crash in Northern outskirts of Pattaya

PATTAYA: -- One pedestrian was killed and Thirty-seven others were injured, seven seriously, as a coach travelling from Bangkok to Trat Province came off the main Sukhumvit Road into a ditch,in the Northern outskirts of Pattaya.

Full story:

[webfact]

THAI THAI BY RICKY

Thai restaurant owner faces charges against juveniles

Ricky Seubsanh//WGNO news

COVINGTON: -- The Thai owner of a popular "Thai Thai by Ricky" restaurant near Covington, busted on drug charges has now been booked with engaging in oral sex with juveniles, along with other sex-related offenses, authorities said.

Full story:

[webfact]

SET index closed at 1292.48, down 12.23; Bt/USD30.54; GBP48.82; AUD31.06; EUR39.35; CAD31.13; HKD3.93; SGD24.67; JPY38.7

[webfact]

Thai-Cambodian border fenced against illegal migrants

SA KAEO, Oct 9 – A 165 metre stretch of the Thai-Cambodian border in this eastern province will be sealed with barbed wire to stop illegal entry from the neighbouring country, an army officer announced today.

Burapha Task Force Ranger commander Capt Apinan Songkramchai said the border from the Thai-Cambodian friendship bridge to Rong Klua market was formerly unfenced as a relaxation for Cambodians to cross the border to work in Thai rice fields on daily basis.

The section of the boundary has been fenced in the wake of escalating illegal entry which is detrimental to Thailand’s security and affects local employment, he said.

Residents of both sides of the border can travel through the permanent checkpoint at Ban Klong Luek in Aranyaprthet district, and three trading checkpoints at Bung Takuan in Ta Phraya district, Ban Nong Prue in Aranyaprathet and Ban Kao Din in Klong Had district—all in Sa Kaeo.

Burapha Task Force deputy commander Col Kukiat Srinaka said the border will be closed unless state agencies otherwise impose measures to prevent the illegal entry of Cambodian labour. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-09

[webfact]

Yuthasak rules out designating Friday as holiday

BANGKOK, Oct 9 -- Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa said Tuesday that it is not possible to designate Friday as holiday but said security personnel will be reinforced to ensure security for the public on Fridays.

Merchants and shoppers in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and some districts of Songkhla are still fearful of the anonymous threats that opening for business on Fridays would make market vendors or business operators potential targets of insurgent violence.

The deputy premier who oversees national security said the government would restore confidence among local residents about their safety in the southernmost provinces as a security plan has been prepared for Fridays.

Gen Yuthasak said he is confident that the situation this week will be better than last week and definitely gradually improve for the coming Fridays as it is impossible to make Fridays holidays.

Other Muslim countries also have days off on Saturdays and Sundays not Fridays, he said.

No one could force traders to stop their businesses, he said, adding that until now it is still not known who made the threat.

The public should not value the people who even not dare to show themselves, he added.

Threats of attacks—bombings and shootings—by word of mouth and in leaflets, have been distributed throughout southern Thailand’s three Muslim-predominant provinces for several weeks. Many shops in and around busy marketplaces were closed on Friday during the past two weeks.

Most traders in the three southernmost provinces said they would rather be safe than take a chance of being targeted by violence. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-09

[webfact]

Bangkok not safe yet: Royol

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok will still need to keep its guards against an existing flood risk, a prominent expert said Tuesday.

Working under the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC), Royol Jitdon said his subcommittee on water-situation analysis had now requested pumps from the Royal Thai Army and the Royal Thai Navy to boost the capital's ability to facilitate the water flow out to the sea.

"There are 62 pumps in eastern Bangkok," he said in his capacity as the chair of the subcommittee.

Although Gaemi storm has already been downgraded into a low-pressure cell, it had still spread rain and sometimes downpour over a wide area of Thailand.

-- The Nation 2012-10-09

[Lite Beer]

Thailand to hold long-awaited 3G auction next week

BANGKOK, Oct 9, 2012 (AFP) - After years of delays, Thailand's top three mobile telephone operators will bid next week for licences to provide third-generation (3G) services in the kingdom, regulators said Tuesday.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/590073-thailand-to-hold-long-awaited-3g-auction-next-week/#entry5738799

[webfact]

to continue:

Thailand Live Wednesday 10 Oct 2012