Thailand Live Tuesday 15 January 2013

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.

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Related topic: Thailand Live Monday 14 Jan 2013

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ARMY CHIEF

Prayuth apologises to ASTV-Manager daily

Panya Thiosangwan

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday issued a public apology to the ASTV-Manager daily over his men holding a rally outside the paper's offices on Friday and Saturday.

Full story:

BURNING ISSUE

One battle the Army chief wants to avoid

Avudh Panananda

The Nation

File photo : Gen Prayuth

The row between General Prayuth Chan-ocha and Sondhi Limthongkul is a complex power game.

BANGKOK: -- Many may have thought that the Army chief is trying to gag the People's Alliance for Democracy leader. But the issue of press intimidation is just the tip of the iceberg.

Full story:

BANGKOK GOVERNOR CANDIDATES WARM UP FOR MARCH 3 POLL

Sukhumbhand vows to make Yaowaraj famous

TANATPONG KONGSAI,

ANAPAT DEECHUAY

THE NATION

Pongsapat aims for 'clean' bid to win March 3 poll

BANGKOK: -- Ex-Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday vowed to make Yaowaraj famous as the best Chinatown in Southeast Asia if he is re-elected in the poll to be held on March 3. The date for the election was announced yesterday.

Full story:

SOUTH CRISIS

Attacks expected after cameras torched in Yala

The Nation

YALA: -- Dozens of surveillance cameras were torched yesterday in Yala, likely by insurgents, authorities said, pointing to the possibility of forthcoming large-scale attacks or vehicular bombs in the province.

Full story:

Kittiratt pushes rating upgrade

Nakarin Srilert,

Suphanee Pootpisut

The Nation

Kittiratt

Infrastructure investment key, Moody's assured

BANGKOK: -- Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong placed the biggest bet on the Bt2.27-trillion infrastructure investment plan when trying to convince Moody's Investors Service that Thailand should win an upgrade in its sovereign credit rating.

Full story:

Bt50m fund to aid tourists to be set up

Kwanhathai Malakan

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A Bt50-million insurance fund will be set up on February 1, aimed at aiding foreign visitors in distress as the government strives to restore international confidence in tourism in Thailand.

Full story:

400,000 to get flu jabs

Duangkamon Sajirawattanakul,

Nongnaphat Maipanit,

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry is preparing to vaccinate 400,000 people in risky groups against the strain of influenza that has recently spread widely in certain parts of United States.

Full story:

Justice rejects amnesty commission idea

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Justice Ministry spokesman Sittisak Vanachakij said a proposal by academics to set up a commission to grant amnesty and solve the lingering political conflict stemming from the 2006-2010 military coup, was done with good intent.

Full story:

Foreign Ministry, Minister sued for providing false info on Preah Vihear

ANUPHAN CHANTANA,

PRAPHAN JINDALERTUDOMDEE

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Leaders of the Thai Patriotic Group - Chaiwat Sinsuwong, Wanwipha Burutrattanaphan and Somboon Thongburan - filed the lawsuit with the Criminal Court.

Full story:

PCD urged to hasten cleanup

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

KANCHANABURI: -- The state pollution control agency must urgently draw up a rehabilitation plan for the lead-tainted Klity creek in Kanchanaburi province's Thong Phu Phum district instead of waiting for the waterway to recover naturally, environmentalists said.

The demand comes after the Pollution Control Department (PCD) was ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court last week to make a recovery plan for the waterway. It must also monitor the recovery implementation for a year until the lead drops to standard levels.

The contamination was blamed on the Lead Concentrate Co, which operated a lead mine nearby for 30 years. After winning a concession in 1967, the company was forced to shut down in 1998.

When the PCD found the creek was contaminated, it built a rock check-dam to screen out lead sediment. It said dredging the creek would have a negative impact and spread the lead-tainted sediment.

"PCD's method has already been proved by the court to not have worked over the past 10 years," Surapong Klongchantuek, a member of the Klity creek rehabilitation monitoring working group, said.

The group wants PCD to urgently draw up a recovery plan and allow locals to participate in the process.

PCD's director-general Wichien Jungrungruang said his agency would follow the court's order instructing the department to draw up a rehabilitation plan.

He added the department would organise a conference and invite environmental experts and local people to brainstorm and draw up a plan to revive the tainted creek. The conference is expected in the next two months.

-- The Nation 2013-01-15

Education new strategy will be 'free of politics'

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Phongthep commits to enhancing knowledge, boosting standards

BANGKOK: -- Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana promised yesterday that he would not let politics interfere with the improvement of education in the country as his ministry was in the process of drafting a national education plan and strategy to enhance education and address current problems.

Full story:

Buyers of pre-paid SIMs must be registered: NBTC

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has ordered all telecom operators to register customers, who buy new pre-paid mobile phone SIM cards from January 18 onwards in order to regulate the pre-paid SIM cards.

Full story:

Husband and wife shoot each other in Huay Kwang

By Coconuts Bangkok

Lat Phrao Soi 48

Full story:

Sangmanee Sor Tienpo, the 15 Year Old Muay Thai Superstar With Olympic Aspirations

by James Goyder

BANGKOK: -- Sangmanee Sor Tienpo is a full time school boy who won’t be 16 for another two months but last year he became the first Nak Muay to win the ‘Fighter of the Year’ award at both Rajadamnern and Lumpinee Stadiums.

Full story: http://combat-asia.com/index.php/exclusive-interview-with-15-year-old-fighter-of-the-year-sangmanee-sor-tienpo/sangmanee/

Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 5 Year Old Step-Daughter At South Pattaya Home

Full story:

260,000 residents in Chiang Mai,Mae Hong Son affected by below 15C cold weather for past 5 days; 22 districts declared as cold disaster zones /The Nation

Thai stock index opens on Tuesday at 1,430.92, up 5.85 points /MCOT

'Rich' man draws online ire for attempted hit-and-run

By Coconuts Bangkok

Photo: Facebook

BANGKOK: -- Thai internet users are expressing outrage at a “rich” man who first rear-ended another vehicle, then threatened that vehicle’s driver before attempting to flee the scene.

Full story:

RT @191Thailand: Policeman on a motorcycle was hit & crushed to death by an oil tanker on Asian Highway yesterday. Driver fled the scene but later arrested.

Update:

NBTC tells mobile phone operators to scrap expiration date on prepaid users

BANGKOK, 15 January 2013 (NNT) - The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has designated January 18th as the deadline for mobile phone operators to stop imposing expiration dates on prepaid mobile credits. The NBTC has called five mobile phone operators, namely TOT, CAT Telecom, AIS, DTAC, and True Move to a meeting to hear the new regulations.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....t/#entry6020773

Thais told not to panic about flu epidemic in US

BANGKOK, 15 January 2013 (NNT) - The Public Health Minister has told Thai residents not to panic over the flu epidemic in the US as the situation is now under control and the virus found is not a new type.

Full story:

ASEAN's largest observatory to be unveiled in Chiang Mai

BANGKOK, 15 January 2013 (NNT) - ASEAN’s largest observatory is set to be unveiled in Chiang Mai Province on January 22nd, 2013.

Full story:

Thai finance ministry set to seek Bt2 trillion loan

By English News

BANGKOK, Jan 15 – The cabinet will be asked to approve a Bt2 trillion loan to develop mega projects on infrastructure to uplift Thailand as the communication hub of Southeast Asia, the finance minister said.

Full story:

Endangered exotic birds rescued in Buri Ram

By English News

BURI RAM, Jan 15 -- A thousand endangered birds have been rescued in a raid at a petrol station in Thailand's northeastern province of Buri Ram.

Police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, in a joint operation with Nang Rong district police and livestock officials, raided a filling station on Nang Rong-Non Ki Road on Buri Ram's Nang Rong district after receiving a court's search warrant.

In the search, the authorities found nearly 1,000 birds, mainly endangered special imported from overseas such as Macaws, Sun Conures (wild parrots), Golden Pheasants and Indian Peacocks, all protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)'s list of endangered species.

The owner of the petrol station asserted that all birds were imported legally and that the trading was run according to the law but he could not produce legal documents for the authorities, who seized the birds to hold for inspection.

If the owner does not produce proof of legal ownership, they said, he can be prosecuted. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-01-15

Cambodia prepares to release Thai female prisoner on Feb 1

By English News

BANGKOK, Jan 15 – The Cambodian embassy in Bangkok has informed the Thai Foreign Ministry on arrangements for the release of Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, charged with espionage and illegal entry, on Feb 1.

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said the foreign ministry was asked to coordinate with Ms Ratree’s family to see if they would travel to Cambodia to welcome her on her release.

The Cambodian authorities will facilitate her relatives while officials at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh will be there to meet Ms Ratree, he said.

Mr Surapong said Ms Ratri’s freedom is the result of Thailand’s confidential diplomacy with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Veera Somkwamkid, imprisoned in relation to the same incident, will remain in jail but will have his sentence reduced in the future.

Ms Ratree and Mr Veera were arrested for illegal entry into Cambodia in 2011 and accused of spying on military facilities in Banteay Meanchey province. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-01-15

Four wounded in 'Light of Hope' Sek-Carabao concert brawl

By Praj Kiatpongsan

BANGKOK: -- Yesterday night, polytechnic students got into a serious fight with Khlong Toei youngsters at the “Light of Hope Sek-Bao charity concert” at Thai Port FC’s PAT Stadium. Four people were injured in the incident and 50 were detained.

Full story:

UPDATE:

Court for alleged killer of Kiwi in Thailand

By Kim Fulton of the Westport News

The alleged killer of Westport man Charles Jones was due to reappear in court in Thailand today.

Full story:

3kg cocaine worth Bt10 million seized in Thai-Lao cross border bus.

By Digital Media

NONG KHAI, Jan 15 - Thai customs officials seized nearly 3 kilogrammes of cocaine worth Bt10 million during a search of a Thai-Lao cross border bus heading to Bangkok.

Narcotics Suppression Bureau deputy director Rakob Srisupa-at made the announcement at a news conference in the border province of Nong Khai on transnational drug busting operations.

He said that Thai customs department officers at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge on a routine search of Vientiane-Bangkok buses coming from the Lao PDR made the discovery.

During the search, the officials found three folders bound together tightly with adhesive tape and left at the steps of the bus. The customs officers seized the folders when no one claimed ownership.

The folders contained 2.6kg of pure cocaine with an estimated street value at Bt10 million.

Customs officials believed the seized drug was produced in a South American country and that the drug traffickers changed their smuggling route to Thailand's neighbouring country after customs at Suvarnabhumi Airport and Phuket International Airport stepped up security measures.

The cocaine was believed to be have been smuggled from the Lao PDR with Nong Khai as a way station before delivery for further distribution in Bangkok. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2013-01-15