Thailand Live Wednesday 10 Oct 2012

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Security beefup in far South this Friday: Yuthasak

BANGKOK, Oct 10 - Deputy Prime Minister Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapa instructed the army chief to step up security measures in the three southern border provinces as today is an anniversary of the establishment of one of the anti-government insurgent groups on the Thai-Malay border.

As national security is in his portfolio, the deputy premier said he asked army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha to step up security measures in the region following threats of attacks at marketplaces and business areas on Fridays.

Gen Yuthasak reasoned that the extra security was necessary as today is the anniversary of the establishment of Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN).

The deputy premier said he believed the situation on this coming Friday will improve, but authorities must boost the confidence of local residents.

Merchants and shoppers in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and some districts of Songkhla are still fearful of the anonymous threats that opening for business on Fridays would make them potential targets of insurgent violence. Many shopkeepers decided to close their businesses on Friday during the past two weeks.

"The government will not declare Fridays as a holiday, I call on the public not to believe the distributed flyers as this is not the government's policy," Gen Yuthasak asserted.

He pointed out that 15 locations in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat are under close watch. Most of them are in the provincial seats.

The authorities recently detained persons suspected of distributing the flyers, he said. The arrests succeeded with the help of local residents provided information to the authorities that led to the arrests.

“This is a good sign that the public has begun to trust the authorities and that the government will communicate with them via the soon-to-be launched Yawi dialect television channel,” Gen Yuthasak said. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-10

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Court rejects academics’ petition against rice pledging scheme

BANGKOK, Oct 10 – The Constitution Court today rejected a petition by academics at a leading Thai development institute seeking an injunction to halt the government’s rice pledging scheme.

Pimon Thampitakpong, Constitution Court spokesperson, said the judges would not accept the petition for consideration as the court is not empowered by the constitution or the law to act on the petition.

Stressing that the issue is beyond the power of the court, the panel reportedly said that the petitioners’ rights and freedoms were not breached by the law. They added that the petition was not in accord with Article 212 of the constitution.

Mr Pimon said the petition involves the state’s fundamental policy, which is beyond the authority of the Constitution Court. He advised that the petitioners should further study regarding which agency is entitled to decide on the policy issue.

The petitioners are academics of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-10

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Narathiwat campaign to allay fear of attacks; special 'blue-flag market’ offers reduced prices to shoppers on Friday /MCOT

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Icelander in Thailand Prison Released

Richard Barrow

Icelandic citizen Brynjar Mettinisson has been released from prison in Thailand after having been in custody since May 2011. Brynjar had been accused of drug offenses but was found innocent in August.

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Academic seeks Administrative Court injunction to suspend 3G bids

BANGKOK, Oct 10 – A telecoms academic petitioned the Administrative Court today, seeking an injunction to suspend Tuesday’s auction of third-generation (3G) wireless licenses by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

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Call for blood donations ahead of Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Phuket Gazette

A minder tends to a 'mah song' devotee during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, during which blood stocks fall dramatically low. Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: -- Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is calling for a boost in blood donations ahead of the upcoming Vegetarian Festival, which begins on Sunday.

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ECONOMY

German Finance Minister in Bangkok next week

The Nation

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble

BANGKOK: -- German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble will be in Bangkok next week, as the guest speaker of Bank of Thailand's second Policy Forum.

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Four paramilitary rangers on patrol wounded in Yala roadside bomb ambush /MCOT

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Armed Officials catch Illegal Fishing team

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SET index closed at 1289.35, down 3.13; Bt/USD30.56; GBP48.83; AUD31.21; EUR39.25; CAD31.10; HKD3.94; SGD24.70; JPY38.81

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Thai court upholds contentious royal slur law

BANGKOK, Oct 10, 2012 (AFP) - Two Thai "royal insult" suspects on Wednesday lost a landmark legal case against the kingdom's controversial lese majeste rules as a court ruled the law was in line with the constitution.

The pair, a former magazine publisher and a CD vendor, were the first to challenge the tough legislation in the Constitutional Court, as part of their defence against charges that could result in long prison terms.

The judges unanimously agreed that the rules -- which carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail on each count -- were in line with the charter, according to a court statement.

"The constitution upholds and protects the institution of the monarchy which is part of Thailand's constitutional democracy," it said.

It was the tribunal's first ruling on the constitutionality of Article 112 of the Thai criminal code, said Karom Polpornklang, a lawyer for one of the two suspects, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk.

Somyot was arrested in April 2011 for two articles deemed critical of the royals which appeared in a magazine he edited.

The second suspect, Aekkachai Hongkangwan, was detained a month earlier for allegedly selling CDs containing content considered offensive to the monarchy.

The royal family is an extremely sensitive subject in politically turbulent Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 84, is revered by many Thais but has been in hospital since September 2009.

Rights campaigners say the lese majeste law has been politicised. They say many of those charged are linked to the "Red Shirts" movement, whose street protests in Bangkok in 2010 sparked a military crackdown that left about 90 people dead.

The Red Shirts are broadly loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by royalist generals in 2006 and lives overseas to avoid a prison term for corruption that he contends is politically motivated.

His sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who took office last year after a landslide election win by Thaksin's allies, has said she will not seek to change the royal defamation law.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-10-10

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RT @BNONews: Americans Lefkowitz and Kobilka were awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors.

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Phuket misses out on Miss Tourism World 2012

Phuket Gazette

The 60 Miss Tourism World 2012 finalists will not be coming to Phuket. Photo: MissTourismWorld.com

Already familiar with Thailand, Alina Ciorogariu, Miss Tourism World Romania 2003, attends an event to honour HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkon's 60th birthday. Photo: MissTourismWorld.com

PHUKET: -- To give other tourist destinations the chance to promote themselves, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has decided that Phuket will not be on the list of places the bevy of beauties from Miss Tourism World 2012 will be visiting.

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DSI accepts Skytrain, flooddonation cases

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Wednesday agreed to take up cases involving the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s extension of the BTS Skytrain concession and flood-donation money going into a Democrat Party bank account.

Announcing the results of a meeting of the DSI's Special Case Committee, department chief Tharit Pengdit said the panel unanimously agreed to take up eight cases involving potential violations of the criminal code.

-- The Nation 2012-10-10

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Constitution Court rejected challenge to govt's rice mortgage scheme as it not under its jursdiction /The Nation

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Thailand Live Thursday 11 Oct 2012