Thailand Live Wednesday 17 Oct 2012

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Thailand Live Wednesday 17 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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Thailand raises $1.4 bln in 3G mobile auction

BANGKOK, Oct 17, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand raised 41.6 billion baht ($1.4 billion) Tuesday in a long-awaited auction of third-generation (3G) mobile telephone operating licences, regulators said.

Full story:

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PC TABLETS

Audit panels to check purchase

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Education Ministry has set up five audit committees to ensure transparency in the procurement of more than 1.2 million PC tablets for the next academic year.

Full story:

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Thais consume too much salt: Survey

Full story:

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RICE SCANDAL

Senators want court to examine rice deals

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A group of senators yesterday asked the Senate to seek a Constitution Court ruling on whether the government violated the Constitution when entering into agreements to sell 7.32 million tonnes of rice to foreign countries.

Full story:

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Search turns up more evidence at police doctor's ranch

The Nation

PHATCHABURI: -- In the presence of workers from Myanmar, police obtained key information during a search yesterday of the Phetchaburi ranch of a police doctor suspected of murdering a worker from the neighbouring country found buried on the property.

Full story:

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Ministry to give answers for nurses by next month

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Protesters say govt has three months to give them job security or they will quit state hospitals

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry has said that it will start looking for a way to solve the shortage of nursing staff and see if the 17,000 nurses working on temporary contracts can be given permanent status by next month.

Full story:

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EDITORIAL

Game over for Newin? Maybe not

The Nation

If few believe the emotional announcement of his retirement, the 'political chameleon' has no one to blame but himself

Full story:

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Red-shirt woman and UDD guard jailed for alleged offences against soldiers in 2009

Full story:

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STOPPAGE TIME

Thank you, Thais, from the bottom of my heart

Tulsathit Taptim

BANGKOK: -- I'm flattered. I always knew that you lot, more than anybody else in the world, had accommodated me, but to come out in full force like that in opinion polls is simply touching. You find me, Corruption, acceptable when it benefits you. Critics call that shameful; I call it smart and courageous.

Full story:

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ANALYSIS

Ombudsman's office stands up and shows some claws

Chanikarn Phumhiran,

Atapoom Ongkulna

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- With a series of high-profile probes launched over the past year, many believe the Ombudsman's Office is a "sleeping giant" finally awoken, but only time will tell if the agency can truly work independently, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.

Full story:

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Thailand ready to become regional leader in energy, food

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is ready to play a leading role in making Asia better-connected in terms of energy and food security, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told delegates at the opening of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Kuwait yesterday.

Full story:

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UPDATE

ICAC 'dropped' illegal money transfer case

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) detected an illegal money transfer from Thailand but decided to drop the case because Thai authorities had failed to file a complaint, a graft buster said yesterday.

Full story:

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BURNING ISSUE

Key differences between Deep South and the Moro rebellion

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The truce in the Philippines between Moro Muslims and authorities in Manila might spark hope among peace-lovers in Thailand to put more effort into seeking a similar solution for Malay Muslims in the Deep South.

Full story:

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Guns, ammo seized at ex-cop's house

The Nation

KANCHANABURI: -- Three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized by police yesterday at the home of a for?mer police officer in Kanchanaburi's Mueang district.

A police investigation found that Pol Senior Sgt-Major Samart Saengsin, 46, had stockpiled the weapons. He was dismissed from the Civil Service in 1998.

Police also conducted urine tests on Samart and three subordinates, with two of the subordinates yielding positive results of drug use.

In Bangkok, Narcotics Suppression Police announced the arrest of a Mae Hong Son man and the seizure of 9.45 kilograms of heroin and 570,000 yaba tablets. The man, Worpaol Laomoo, 22, was arrested on Ramkhamhaeng Soi 26.

-- The Nation 2012-10-17

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Basic school terms won't change for AEC

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Primary and secondary school terms in Thailand won't be changed to open in September under the Asean Economic Community 2015, Chinnapat Bhumirat, chief of the Office of the Basic Education Commission, said yesterday.

There had been talk of elementary and high schools changing their schedules to match univer?sities in the Asean bloc, but after discussions with the nine neighbouring coun?tries, Chinnapat said it wasn't needed because basic-education institutions rarely see students transferring from country to country like they do for universities.

The Obec chief said basic-school terms around the region are varied, and can mostly be divided into two groups: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, which run from January to November, while others, including Thailand, open around May, June or July; Cambodian schools open in October.

-- The Nation 2012-10-17

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217,972 immigrant workers subscribe to Social Security

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Only 217,972 immigrant workers who registered their nationalities subscribed to the Social Security Office (SSO) to receive the same seven benefits as Thai workers, SSO chief Jeerasak Sukhonthachart said yesterday.

They were 8,826 Laotians, 103,799 Myanmar, 40,935 Cambodians and 64,412 workers of other nationali?ties.

Employment Department director-general Prawit Khiangpol said 1.3 million out of 1.7 million Myanmar, Cambodian and Laotian workers completed the nationality identification while the rest would be done by December 14.

Employers of workers whose nationalities haven't been proven could in the meantime apply for the Public Health Ministry's Bt1,300-per-head health insurance and a private company's Bt500-per-year insurance covering injuries from work, Prawit said. However, this option isn't mandatory, so only 5,200 immigrant workers have the insurance.

-- The Nation 2012-10-17

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DSI seizes industrial waste in Chon Buri

Attapoom Ongkulna

The Nation

CHON BURI: -- The Department of Special Investigation yesterday raided a warehouse in Chon Buri and seized industrial waste reportedly worth Bt1 billion.

The warehouse in tambon Nong Pirun of Ban Bung district was initially charged with possessing the material without a permit in violation of the Factory Act, Minerals Act and Poisonous Substance Act.

Pol Colonel Yannapol Yangyeun, deputy director-general of the DSI, who led the team to search the 20-rai (3.2-hectare) facility, said the piles of red ore that they found could reportedly yield 1,000 tonnes of zinc worth Bt1 billion, as zinc could be sold for Bt30,000 per tonne.

Officials will further inspect the piles, he said. Their origin was unknown but their destination might be China via Laem Chabang Port for zinc extraction.

Kosit Pathomwaruttanapong, 31, the warehouse caretaker, said a man identified only as <deleted> rented the building from his uncle to store some minerals. Container trucks would come occasionally to pick up the minerals. Noppadol Chewa-issarakul, director of the Chon Buri Industry Office's Industrial Mineral and Mining Division, who joined the inspection, said it was unlikely that the piles were minerals as the DSI had claimed.

They were likely slag left over from base-metal smelting with some zinc and nickel mixed in, which factories normally stored before doing another round of smelting.

But this could be a breach of the Factory Act because the depot kept hazardous wastes without a permit, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-10-17

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End distortion of rice trade: Abhisit tells govt

NAKARIN SRILERT

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has urged the government to provide a direct subsidy to farmers instead of continuing the loss-making rice-pledging scheme, as their incomes would then be improved without destroying the market mechanism.

Full story:

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COMMERCE MINISTRY

Don Mueang rice plan dropped

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI,

PIYANART SRIVALO

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Commerce Ministry has abandoned its plan to use Don Mueang International Airport to hold pledged rice, as its unused warehouse is not suitable while there are still adequate storage facilities elsewhere.

Full story:

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RT @newley: Anyone have thoughts on this mystery? New York City Fire Hydrant Poles Marked ‘Thailand’: http://buff.ly/QkmHYs

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TDRI chief says Thailand's loss from 3G auction 'gigantic'

BANGKOK, Oct 17 - Thailand lost at least Bt16 billion from the Tuesday's auction of 3G licences organised by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) president Somkiat Tangkitvanich charged today.

Full story:

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Bangkok 'grows lungs', expands green zones

BANGKOK, Oct 17 - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Thai capital’s city hall, has declared its success in creating green zones accessible to city residents during the past four years, according to a senior environment official.

Full story:

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RT @CBSNews: BREAKING: CBS NEWS INSTANT POLL Who won debate? OBAMA: 37%; ROMNEY: 30%, TIE: 33% (Margin of Error: 4 pts.) http://CBSNews.com

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Thai stock index opens on Wednesday at 1,291.88, up 4.39 points /MCOT

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More Bangkok’s try vegetarianism

BANGKOK, Oct 17 – Seven in ten Bangkokians are experimenting with becoming vegetarian during the 10-day Chinese vegetarian festival, according to a survey by Bangkok University.

The university research centre said that 69 per cent of the 1,243 city residents responding said they decided to abstain from eating meat of all kinds during the traditional celebration, also known as the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.

Only 23 per cent of the interviewees vowed to become full-fledged vegetarians, completely refraining from consuming meat for the entire 10 days, while 32 per cent said they go meatless for some meals, and 7 per cent would avoid meat for only three days.

Their inspiration to become vegetarian was indicated from varied sources: 41 per cent said they wanted to be kind to animals, 25 per cent cited health reasons and 13 per cent said they have observed the ritual every year.

The favourite vegetarian food is stir-fried yellow noodles, followed by simmered vegetables, stir-fried vermicelli noodles, deep-fried tofu, shredded taro and turnips.

More than half complained that the prices of vegetarian foods and raw materials are higher this year while only one in four preferred to cook at home.

Only a small percentage of 3.4 per cent bought frozen vegetarian foods at convenience stores. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-17

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RT @KristieKenney: Morning spent on campaign to raise awareness of illegal wildlife trafficking. If left unchecked, 42% SEAsia species gone by 2100.

RT @KristieKenney: Please don't buy products from illegally trafficked wildlife. When the buying stops, the killing does too.

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2 of 3 wooden houses were destroyed,an elderly woman killed by fireworks explosion in Ayutthaya early Tue /The Nation

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DSI set Bt1 million reward for information leading to arrest of 'black clad men' involved in 7 cases including deaths of Japanese cameraman, Red Shirt Seh Daeng /MCOT