Thailand Live Wednesday 19 Dec 2012

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Thailand Live Wednesday 19 December 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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Drink-binge British tourist, 47, 'dies in Thai hotel room after girlfriend flew home following row'

Full story:

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UPDATE

Abhisit, Suthep could face 700 charges of attempted murder: Tarit

Full story:

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GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION

Four Democrats seek city governor's post

ATAPOOM ONGKULNA

THE NATION

File photo : Sukhumbhand

BANGKOK: -- Four candidates from the Democrat Party have expressed their intention to run in the Bangkok gubernatorial race, a party source revealed yesterday.

Full story:

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Thai Govt Expected To Announce Steps To End The Dog Meat And Skin Trade In Thailand

Full story:

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CONTROVERSY

Grand old buildings under threat

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Conservationists and members of social media are demanding that plans to demolish a complex of buildings, including the former Supreme Court, near Sanam Luang be scrapped.

According to them, the new structures built to replace the historic buildings would be 32 metres high, twice the height legally allowed in the area.

On Facebook, a leading conservationist said the elegant Supreme Court building had won two titles from the Association of Siamese Architects under the patronage of His Majesty the King. The buildings come under the Fine Arts Department and cannot be renovated or demolished without the department's say so.

Wirat Chinwinijkul, secretary of the Court of Justice, said the demolition was part of a project initiated 20 years ago and that it had been started after a "consultation" with the Fine Arts Department and Culture Ministry.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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No formal change in Non-Imm B visas

Phuket Gazette -

There has been no formal change in policy concerning non-immigrant Business (“B”) visas issued in Malaysia. Photo: Gazette file

Full story:

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RHB STATEMENT

HRH Princess Sirindhorn recovering

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is recovering after chest surgery to remove a calcified mass, the Royal Household Bureau yesterday

Following the diagnosis during an annual check-up, the princess was admitted to Chulalongkorn Hospital on December 16. On the following day, the operation went well and she regained consciousness and normal body temperature. Pathological tests didn't find any tumour, the statement said.

Her physicians advised her to remain in the hospital to recuperate and suspend her royal commitments during this period.

On the same day, the Princess's personal affairs division sent a letter to Ubon Ratchathani University explaining that its graduates could not receive diplomas from the princess during the commencement on December 25 because she was receiving medical care and was advised to refrain from royal activities for two weeks.

The ceremony was rescheduled for April with the date and time to be notified later.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Two British Men Survive Plane Crash: Bangkok

Full story:

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STOPPAGE TIME

Charter change won't solve the root of our problems

Tulsathit Taptim

Full story:

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EDITORIAL

Violence begets violence in the troubled South

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- As the southern insurgency rages on, retaliatory killings by both sides have plunged the region into a worsening vicious circle of murder and revenge

Full story:

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Cabinet delays decision on plebiscite

THE NATION

New group to suggest method of referendum for charter change

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet yesterday postponed a decision on whether to hold a public referendum on constitutional amendment.

Full story:

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Abhisit calls on police to investigate attack on Rames Rattana

Full story:

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Busted penis prompts Phuket fighter to come forward

Full story:

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Tech-savvy Thai police to establish LINE network

Full story:

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Severe labour shortage looms

Suriyan Panyawai

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- In the next 10 years, four industries in Thailand will have some 300,000 vacancies for unskilled labour, the private sector said yesterday as it proposed that the retirement age of workers be extended from 55 to 60 years old.

Full story:

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Palm growers threaten border closure

The Nation

SONGKHLA: -- Nakhon Si Thammarat's Palm Farmers Association threatened yesterday to block the Sadao border checkpoint in Songkhla if the government fails to shore up palm-oil prices.

"We may also consider closing many other checkpoints," chairman Somporn Sripetch said.

The border-closure threat came after the Cabinet failed to address falling palm-oil prices.

Palm growers expected the Cabinet to peg the price at the minimum rate of Bt5 per kilogram. However, the matter didn't come up for discussion yesterday because Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was not present.

The government's representatives said they would meet tomorrow (Thursday)to discuss palm prices.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Lamphun free of tainted pork

The Nation

LAMPHUN: -- The Lamphun Livestock Development Office announced yesterday that it found no pork containing streptococcus group B bacteria in inspections in Ban Tha Pla Duk village in Mae Tha district and Ban Pa Teung Ngam in Muang district.

The inspections followed last month's death of a student who reportedly ate contaminated pork from Lamphun at a barbecue restaurant in Chiang Mai.

The office responded by banning animal transport, burying sick pigs within a five-kilometre radius, temporarily closing slaughterhouses and conducting a public-awareness campaign about the issue.

The Lamphun Livestock Development Office announced yesterday that it found no pork containing streptococcus group B bacteria in inspections in Ban Tha Pla Duk village in Mae Tha district and Ban Pa Teung Ngam in Muang district.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Three caught with yaba in South

The Nation

NARATHIWAT: -- Three suspected smugglers were caught with 321,800 yaba pills and Bt7 million cash by police in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district yesterday.

The trio was arrested in a pick-up truck at a checkpoint Tambon Pasemas at 5.30am, following a tip-off. Police said the men confessed to transporting the drugs from Nakhon Phanom, where the pills had been smuggled in from Laos. They were delivering them to a Malaysian customer at Sungai Kolok's Kor Pai Pier. Police estimated the Malaysian street value at Bt144.8 million.

The arrest prompted Thai authorities to ask for Malaysia's cooperation in sending police to work with the Thai Border Patrol to intercept drug smugglers along the 12-kilometre stretch of the Sungai Kolok River.

Meanwhile in Chiang Mai, Mae Taeng district police arrested two women, ages 22 and 28, and seized 60,000 yaba tablets and Bt3.6 million cash, national police deputy chief Somyos Pumpannoung said. In another case, Fang district police conducting a sting operation at a mall arrested three Myanmar nationals and seized 60,000 yaba tablets.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Women seen as force for peace in the South

Saowanee Nimpanpayungwong

The Nation

Several organisations are working to boost the role of women in helping solve the unrest in the deep South.

BANGKOK: -- Since the new wave of violence erupted in Thailand's southernmost region in 2003, it has killed more than 5,000 people and injured more than 9,000 others. During the same period, more than 5,000 children have been orphaned and 3,000 women have become widows.

Full story:

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Snoop Dogg to smoke out Together Festival in Bangkok

Full story:

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New parks chief appointed

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet yesterday appointed Manopat Huamuangkaew as the new director-general of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP). Manopat vowed to continue his predecessor's crackdown on park encroachment by resorts and to promote public participation in conservation efforts.

Supot Jermsawatdipong was promoted to the top post at the Groundwater Resources Department, while Somchai Tiamboonprasert was promoted to deputy permanent secretary for Science and Technology.

The DNP's top post has been vacant since the retirement of Damrong Phidet in September. Other senior officials had sought to take the post but eventually Manopat, a deputy director-general, was nominated.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Concern grows as Laos denies knowledge of missing activist

SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE

THE NATION

VIENTIANE: -- Lao authorities said yesterday they were not aware of the disappearance of high-profile Thai Magsaysay award-winner, Som-bath Somphone, who went miss?ing on his way home from his office in Vientiane last Saturday.

Social activist Sombath was last seen when he left the office by car at around 5pm in the Lao capital.

Family members said he had not returned home and they had no information on his whereabouts.

Sombath, founder and former director of the Participatory Development Training Centre, is respected in the field of education and development as a result of his work.

He received the international Ramon Magsaysay award in 2005 for community leadership.

A group of Thai civil-society organisations yesterday sent an urgent letter to several agencies in Vientiane, including the PM's Office, the National Assembly, the Foreign Ministry and Public Security Ministry, requesting an investigation into his disappear?ance.

"We, civil-society organisations in Thailand, urge concerned Lao authorities to take every urgent action with regard to Sombath's disappearance. We look forward to hearing that all necessary efforts are made to search for his where?abouts and investigate the cause of his disappearance," the letter read.

Thais acquainted with Sombath have found the news shocking and are now concerned about his safe?ty, said the letter signed by 61 non-government organisations.

Speaking from Vientiane, a sen?ior official at the Lao Foreign Ministry said his agency had not been informed about Sombath's disappearance.

His family members said they had already informed local police about his disappearance and believe that he might be in the cus?tody of an unknown state agency because of his high-profile work.

Human-rights activists in Thailand who know Sombath believe he might have some conflict with the Lao state authorities, as he has opposed many government development projects with a seri?ous social or environmental impact.

Laos, which has been under communist rule since 1975, limits the number and role of civic groups and non-government organisa?tions, which in recent years have been active in a number of fields, notably development and environ?mental conservation.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Next House meeting slated for December 26

Khanittha Thepphajorn

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The House is scheduled to convene its first meeting on December 26 following the resumption of the legislative session.

The government yesterday released the Royal command for resuming the legislative session effective Friday after a month-long recess.

Lawmakers are expected to debate some 40 bills left incomplete in the previous session.

Among the key items on the agenda is the final passage of legislation for the prevention and suppression of international criminal organisations.

Coalition chief whip Udomdej Rattanasatien said the coalition would not push to revive the debate on the controversial reconciliation bill.

The bill was put on hold early this year due to strong opposition fuelled by suspicions of an ulterior motive to grant amnesty to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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Chumpol recovering after collapsing at meeting

KHANITTHA THEPPHAJORN

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa has responded well to medical treatment for a cardiovascular disorder, his brother, former premier Banharn, said yesterday.

Chumpol, who is also the tourism and sports minister, had to undergo a coronary angioplasty after collapsing on Monday during a meeting on Thailand's bid to host the World Expo 2020.

Banharn, chief adviser to Chumpol as the Chart Thai Pattana Party leader, said Chumpol will be kept under close medical supervision as doctors are concerned about possible complications, especially to his kidneys, from pulmonary oedema, or fluid accumulation in his lungs, during the time he was unconscious. His heart condition is not worrying now.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she would to look into setting up a health clinic at Government House.

Chart Thai Pattana's chief adviser Sanan Kachornprasart, who has been at Siriraj Hospital for almost a month after suffering a severe emphysema attack, is still in stable condition, said Udom Kachintorn, dean of the medical school at the hospital.

Veteran politician Sanan had not fully regained consciousness and was still being treated at Siriraj as of November 23.

-- The Nation 2012-12-19

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BURNING ISSUE

It's time to take a close look at our country

PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- With New Year round the corner once again, many people are probably spending time reflecting or reviewing their actions over the past 12 months.

Full story:

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RT @KristieKenney: US citizens in Phuket - our team comes to you tomorrow (Thursday). Follow @ACSBKK for more information.

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Thai woman attempts to carry $850k worth of 'Ice' through Singapore

Full story:

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RT @ukinthailand: British Ambassador @KentBKK sends his best wishes for #Christmas & #NewYear to Thais & British nationals in Thailand. http://bit.ly/12yTosI