Thailand Live Wednesday 24 Oct 2012

[webfact]

Thailand Live Wednesday 24 October 2012

News, Bits and Tweets

with webfact

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.

FOLLOW US:

You can also follow us on

- Twitter: http://twitter.com/georgebkk

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThaiVisaNews

- Google+: http://plus.google.com/116866638430460700577/

- Breaking News via SMS text messages to your mobile phone or handheld device

To subscribe dial *424010011 on AIS, One-2-Call, DTAC or True Move networks

14 days complementary subscription for Thaivisa members.

If you have questions about the Breaking News SMS service,

email: sms [at] thaivisa.com

________________________________________________________________________________

Thailand's current weather and forecasts: http://weather.thaivisa.com/

________________________________________________________________________________

Related topic: Thailand Live Tuesday 23 Oct 2012

[webfact]

THAIVISA CONNECT

Thaivisa Forum Apps for your mobile or tablet

"Thaivisa Connect" for iPhone, iPad and iPod:

iTunes App Store:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thaivisa-connect-thailand/id492600537

"Thaivisa Connect" for Android:

Android Market

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.quoord.tapatalkthaivisa.activity

OR

For QR code just go here with your desktop or mobile:

http://apps.thaivisa.com

[webfact]

BANGKOK

City set to launch bike rentals

ANUPAN CHANTANA

THE NATION

Plan envisions 50 stations with 330 bicycles in bid to cut traffic congestion

BANGKOK: -- In less than a week, the first 100 bicycles will be ready to rent as part of a project in the heart of Bangkok designed to get commuters to use pedal power, making ours a greener world and reducing traffic congestion.

Full story:

[webfact]

Many people would like to ride bikes: enthusiast

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation

Nonlany

BANGKOK: -- Bike enthusiast Nonlany "Nan" Ungwiwatkul, at the still youthful age of 33, has opened a special coffee shop called Café Velodome at a corner of Thammasat University's Prachan campus.

Full story:

[webfact]

TELECOMMUNICATION

Senators to urge NACC probe of 3G

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Senate committee on good governance will today pay a visit to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to call for an investigation into the bidding process that led to the awarding of nine licences to provide third-generation (3G) mobile telephone services to three firms.

Full story:

[webfact]

FUTSAL WORLD CUP

Stadium will be ready: governor

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday he would take responsibility if the Futsal World Cup stadium was not ready in time. The event will be held from November 1-18.

Full story:

[webfact]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

DSI chief Tarit rejects 'chameleon' tag

Attayuth Butrsripoom,

Somthawin Thepsawat,

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

Tarit

BANGKOK: -- Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director-general Tarit Pengdith, whose stance on many matters has been questioned by the media, told The Nation he is a civil servant trained to work in any situation, with every political camp and government.

Full story:

[webfact]

CONTROVERSIAL PLAN

Some Amphawa locals back hotel

KAMPANART KHANTRAKUL

THE NATION

AMPHAWA: -- Residents of Amphawa, famous for its authentic floating market and canal lifestyle of a bygone era, will today hand a petition to the governor of Samut Songkhram in support of controversial plans to construct a European-style hotel.

Full story:

[webfact]

STOPPAGE TIME

Jury still out on 3G bidding 'farce'

Tulsathit Taptim

BANGKOK: -- Critics of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission might have missed the point. And so might critics of the critics of the NBTC. But it doesn't matter. It's our right to criticise and force the people involved to do something about it that counts. This is what differentiates today from the pre-NBTC era.

Full story:

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Thailand upstaged at Cobra Gold

The Nation

A soldier gets to grips with a cobra

By inviting Myanmar to join the annual military exercise, the US has signalled it has a new No 1 partner in Southeast Asia

BANGKOK: -- It was inevitable that the US would eventually initiate some form of military cooperation with Myanmar, but few expected that it would come so early. Washington's invitation for Nay Pyi Taw to join the annual Cobra Gold US-Thai military exercise is a reward for Myanmar's rapid process of reform. It also demonstrates just how desperate the US is to make trade inroads into a country that has been isolated from the international community for the past five decades.

Full story:

[webfact]

Corrupt govt should be ousted, Pitak Siam leader says

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Pheu Thai government has so many flaws it should have been overthrown, Pitak Siam leader Boonlert Kaewprasit said yesterday, before quickly adding there was no coup in the making at this juncture.

Full story:

[webfact]

FLOOD RECOVERY PROJECT

Irregularities found in planting scheme

Janjira Pongrai

The Nation

Inspectors find trees, vetiver grass overpriced; planted in wrong areas

BANGKOK: -- Environmentalists and natural resource inspectors are scheduled to look into irregularities at a young tree and vetiver grass plantation later this week.

Full story:

[webfact]

Poor water in many machines

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Random checks of water-vending machines nationwide by the Department of Medical Sciences found that more than a third -38 per cent - had substandard water quality, DMS chief Dr Nipon Phopattanachai said on Monday.

Full story:

[webfact]

Drug bust leads to hunt for officer

The Nation

Police escort eight Hmong suspects

BANGKOK: -- Alongside a manhunt for a Bangkok-based junior traffic policeman in connection with a major drugs bust in Lampang on Monday, police have obtained arrest warrants for six others believed to have been members of his alleged drugs racket.

Full story:

[webfact]

Yuthasak and Prayuth in South today

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha, who oversees national security affairs, and Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha will visit the deep South today to try to lift people's morale after a series of attacks in the strife-torn region in recent days.

Yuthasak said he planned to give instructions on various issues to related agencies during his visit and that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had urged him to boost officials' morale and review the set-up of checkpoints, as well as equipment being used, and report back to her.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Tak Bai drama in 2004, when 85 men died after a mass protest at the police station turned into a riot. Most of the victims suffocated in the back of trucks while being transported to an Army base after being arrested.

In Tak Bai yesterday, police were checking security camera footage before issuing warrants to arrest people involved in attacks at five locations in the district of Narathiwat province last Saturday night, which led to the death of one insurgent, Abdul-Hadim Mama, and three others being injured.

Initially, they found four suspicious men on two bikes, including Abdul-Hadim's elder brother Mustofa Mama, 30, who was already wanted for national security cases, Tak Bai superintendent Pol Colonel Saneh Janyasathit said. But they had yet to see footage of Abdul-Hadim and another man on a third motorcycle.

Tak Bai district chief Somsak Sitthiworakan alleged that illegal gasoline merchants who had lost money from Thai officials' heavy crackdown on the illegal trade in the region hired leading members of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) terror group to launch attacks on October 20. Abdul-Hadim, a Tambon Koh Saton resident also wanted for many security cases in Tak Bai, had worked in illegal fuel trafficking for an investor, so the crackdown-affected illegal oil investors might have hired his group to launch attacks in Tak Bai, he said.

Marine Police 4 Station was hit by a gun and grenade attack last Saturday but officers survived, partly because two M26 grenades thrown at the station didn't go off. Yesterday they set up a bunker made of cement, pipes and sand around the station building to block attacks in the future.

Meanwhile, a State Railway official was shot dead in Khok Pho in Pattani yesterday. Two men on a motorbike shot at Likhit Insingthong, 41, six times while he rode his motorbike to work at Tambon Na Pradu Train Station at 8.10am, killing him instantly.

Police suspect insurgents did this to avenge the death of Aliya Paete, 23, who was killed by Thai security officials on Sunday during an attempt to arrest suspects in Khok Pho.

-- The Nation 2012-10-24

[webfact]

Temple prepares for Royal Krathin

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The landscape of Bangkok's Wat Arun is being adjusted and rehearsals held for the Royal Krathin Ceremony on November 9, while the Fine Arts Department is aiming to finish repairs of a statue on the southeast stupa that was damaged by lightning, before month's end.

Assistant abbot Phrakhru Arunthammanuwat said temple officials had started decorating the ceremonial area. City officials were providing decorative plants and trees, while the navy was working on the pier.

Once Buddhist Lent ends on October 30, monks will start rehearsing chanting of the krathin canon at least three times a day. The abbot said Wat Arun had always set the standard for other temples for the Royal Krathin ceremony.

Craftsmen will reconnect the head to the torso of the statue today. It should take three days to finish and scaffolding should be removed by November 1.

-- The Nation 2012-10-24

[webfact]

Foreigner nabbed with marijuana in possession

SAMUT PRAKAN, Oct 24 – The police arrest one Zambian national with 11 grammes of marijuana along with three other foreigners for violating immigration law.

Somsak Puaphan, Muang Samut Prakan chief district and Pol Col Sithatkhet Kruwattanaset, superintendent of the Samrong Nua police station told a news conference about the arrest of Mr Mwanza Bauleni Kanyambilo, 35, from Zambia after the police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia at his room in an apartment in Soi Bearing.

The arrest occurred when the police randomly searched six apartments in the Samrong Nua area.

Three others including two Nigerian nationals and one South African were detained for having no passports or carrying expired passports.

All of them have been detained for further questioning. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-24

[webfact]

Construction industry faces labour shortage

BANGKOK, Oct 24 - Thailand's construction industry is now facing labour shortage resulting in stagnancy of new projects, according to the Construction Institute of Thailand.

Full story:

[webfact]

Asia's Archaic Sex Work Laws

Written by Richard S. Ehrlich

In Asia they do more harm than good, the UN says

Across almost all of Asia, laws, policies and practices put in place to regulate prostitution do more harm than good, driving sex workers underground and increasing their vulnerability to HIV and a long string of other socially transmissible diseases.

Full story:

[webfact]

Phuket mother returns to nurse abandoned newborn

Phuket Gazette

The baby, born last Friday, remains healthy and in care at Thalang Hospital. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

The mother, who remains in financial distress, has yet to decide whether or not to keep the baby. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- The mother who abandoned her newborn girl, delivered into the world at Thalang Hospital last Friday, has returned to the hospital to nurse her child.

Full story:

[webfact]

Nissan Motor to spend $376 mln on new Thai plant-Nikkei

BANGKOK: -- Oct 24 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co plans to spend about 30 billion yen ($376 million) on a new plant in Thailand in 2014 to diversify production in the wake of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China last month, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.

Full story:

[webfact]

Thai stock index opens on Wednesday at 1,304.74, down 5.68 point /MCOT

[webfact]

Thai rice mountain casts shadow over world market

by Apilaporn Vechakij

BANGKOK, Oct 24, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand's status as the world's top rice exporter is under threat from a controversial scheme to boost farmer incomes that has resulted in a growing mountain of unsold stocks, experts warn.

Full story:

[webfact]

Heavy rain warning for the South Wed-Thur; 2 m. waves in Gulf of Thailand 1-2 days; cooler, morning fog in N, NE /The Nation

[webfact]

NBTC submits 3G auction documents for examination

BANGKOK, Oct 24 - Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general has handed over papers concerning the auction of 3G mobile spectrum bandwidth to key state agencies for examination.

Full story:

[webfact]

update:

Pitak Siam group to stage anti-government mass rally on Sunday

BANGKOK, Oct 24 -- Pitak Siam or Protecting Siam, led by retired Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, will organise an anti-government mass rally at the Royal Turf Club in Bangkok’s Nang Lerng on Sunday.

Full story:

[webfact]

Indonesia emerges as vital new Thai fruit export market

CHANTABURI, Oct 24 – Indonesia becomes Thailand's newest potential export destination for Thai fruit from the eastern province of Chantaburi.

Songkram Ooncharoenpanich, chairman of a longan growers group in Chantaburi said longan yield from two border districts of Soidao and Pong Nam Ron have been released to local markets and exported to Indonesia for the first year in addition to China, a major market for Thai longan.

The Indonesia market is emerging as the new lucrative market with continuous orders of at least two billion baht.

He said although Indonesia’s orders are not as high as China’s, Indonesia is becoming an important fruit export destination, with further orders of Chantaburi’s other fruit having been received for produce ready for harvest and export next year. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-24

[webfact]

Defence Minister, National Police Chief remain unperturbed by upcoming anti-govt rally on Sunday, say there is no cause for concern /MCOT

[Lite Beer]

Mild quake jolts Chiang Rai

CHIANG RAI, Oct 24 - The Thai Meteorological Department reported that an earthquake of light intensity measuring 2.9 on the Richter scale rattled Mae Chan district of the northernmost province of Chiang Rai bordering Myanmar at 5.23am Wednesday.

There were no reports of casualty or damage.

Residents in the district could not feel the tremor and there were no effect on any buildings as the epicentre of the quake was in a deep forest.

The meteorological department reported four mild quakes hitting Mae Chan and Chiang San districts

between Oct 22-23. Among those, three were recorded in Mae Chan. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-24

[webfact]

Three dead as family car returning from Vegetarian Festival slams into tree

Phuket Gazette

The family were heading home to Surat Thani after attending the Phuket Vegetarian Festival when the car slammed into the tree. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- Three people are dead and a mother and her two children are in hospital after the car they were traveling home in from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival slammed into a tree late yesterday afternoon.

Full story: