Refugees

UN urges aid for Rohingya; group sighted in forest

Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday urged all involved countries to provide assistance to Rohingya people leaving Myanmar.

The UNHCR's senior regional public information officer, Vivian Tan, said the Rohingya people's journey out of their homeland was often full of risk, and hundreds had died along the way.

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"Many use small boats to travel over the sea for well over 10 days," she said.

She was speaking as she visited UNHCR officials along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The Rohingya are the Muslim minority in Myanmar, where many have reported being subjected to severe discrimination and brutality.

Last month, Thailand found an increasing number of Rohingya people illegally entering its territory.

Locals in Ban Chalung, Hat Yai district, Songkhla, yesterday reported spotting Rohingya people hiding in the forest. The local people were helping in the authorities' search for the migrants.

A number of Rohingya have reportedly hidden themselves at various camps in Thailand's forest lands waiting for illegal agents to send them to employers in Malaysia. After officials raided several camps, the agents left the Rohingya camps and many Rohingya found it hard to find food to survive.

At least 26 have already come forward to ask for help. However, many more are still in hiding.

"The Rohingya have told us their friends have not yet come forward," Hat Yai district chief Seree Panichkul said yesterday.

-- The Nation 2013-02-02

Health

Cigarette warning labels to get even bigger

Puangchompoo Prasert

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand will have world's largest warning labels on cigarette packs.

The size of the warnings, which are dominated by scary photos that show the unhealthy consequences of smoking, will be expanded to cover 85 per cent of the pack, up from the current 55 per cent, Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said yesterday.

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Bangkok Governor Race

Eight candidates, eight visions for city

Khanittha Thepphajorn

The Nation

Pollution, help for disabled, solutions for Rattanakosin Island on agenda

BANGKOK: -- Silpakorn University and Nation Channel allowed eight major candidates for Bangkok governor to air their visions on how to develop Rattanakosin Island, clean up polluted waterways and tackle social problems in the area, and improve the quality of life for the disabled.

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Baht

Ex-finance minister Suchart urges BOT to cut policy rate

Pranee Muenphangwaree

Tinnakorn Chaowachuen

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Former finance minister Suchart Thadadamrongvej yesterday added to the pressure mounting on the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to take steps to stem the appreciation of the baht, urging the central bank to trim its policy rate to stave off the torrent of capital flowing into the Kingdom's capital and asset markets.

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Investigation

SEC seeks DSI's opinion on skytrain case

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking for the Department of Special Investigation's opinion on the impending case against Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC). The opinion will be taken into account as the SEC is considering BTSC's proposal to set up an infrastructure fund, BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund (BTSGIF), which is estimated to worth about Bt50 billion.

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Editorial

He is damned, but then so is the rest of the country

The Nation

Long-time fugitive Kamnan Poh is captured in Bangkok , thus revealing, yet again, Thailand's weak or non-existent political ethics

BANGKOK: -- Sometimes we can easily perceive old ethical questions as new ones. The questions being asked in the aftermath of the arrest of one of Thailand's most infamous "godfathers" are all but obsolete. The issues being debated are as old as his conviction, surviving the years he spent in "hiding". We are not in a peculiar situation right now - we simply forgot we've been in it for a long time.

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Freed activist Ratree arrives home

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Nationalist activist Ratree Pipattanapaibul arrived at the Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday night, hours after being released from a Cambodian jail earlier in the day.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

St Gabriel's Foundation

Agencies consider embezzlement allegations

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation

DSI, AMLO asked to look into charges executives are 'unusually wealthy'

BANGKOK: -- The St Gabriel's Foundation and its executives have come under close scrutiny as authorities from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) consider requests to act on allegations that the foundation misused a fund entrusted to its care.

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Kamnan Poh's family may seek royal pardon, says his son, Minister Sonthaya

The Nation

Somchai Khunpluem appears at the Criminal Court yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- The Khunpluem family is considering whether to seek a royal pardon for its patriarch Somchai, Culture Minister Sonthaya Kunplome, Somchai's son, said yesterday.

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Natthawut lobbies PM on draft amnesty decree

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Commerce Minister Natthawut Saikua yesterday sought support from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for the red-shirt movement's draft executive decree to grant amnesty to political demonstrators.

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Prateep disqualified from city race for failing to vote

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A Bangkok gubernatorial election candidate was yesterday disqualified for failing to vote in the last general election.

But the No 14 candidate, Prateep Watcharachokkasem, insisted he voted on July 3, 2011 and vowed to appeal against his disqualification.

Bangkok City Clerk Ninnart Chalitanon, director of the Bangkok election, yesterday announced the list of qualified candidates.

She said Prateep was disqualified because the record showed he did not vote, and had not informed the authorities of any reason.

Ninnart said the candidacy numbers would not be changed because of Prateep's disqualification. She said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) would skip the number 14 on the ballot sheets.

Prateep could appeal to the Election Commission (EC) within three days, she said.

Prateep insisted he had voted in all elections and said he would file a complaint with the EC to reinstate his election rights. He said he might file a defamation suit against the BMA.

Upon hearing Prateep's argument, Ninnart said Prateep would have to support his claim with evidence because the record of the Household Registration Department of the BMA did not show Prateep as having voted on July 3, 2011.

In a related development, the BMA clerk asked the gubernatorial candidates not to put up campaign signs in a way that blocked traffic and traffic lights, or that could harm people.

Ninnart said the candidates would be told to remove street signs that violated the order of the BMA immediately.

-- The Nation 2013-02-02

Court: Varathep can keep his job

Chanikarn Phumhirun, Jeerapong Prasertpolkrung

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- PM's Office Minister Varathep Ratanakorn yesterday heaved a sigh of relief after the Constitution Court ruled he could keep his job.

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EC urges candidates to avoid divisiveness, play by rules

Atapoom Ongkulna

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok Election Commission (EC) yesterday urged gubernatorial candidates to campaign under the theme of "reconciliation" so as to prevent animosity and avoid protests against the outcome of the vote.

The commission also reminded the candidates to fully comply with electoral rules, such as the requirements to disclose the identities of their canvassers and to release campaign financing information.

Bangkok EC chairman Thaweesak Tuchinda organised a meeting of candidates to outline rules and issues related to campaigning in order to ensure compliance with the electoral law.

Thus far, only six of 25 candidates have completed notifying the commission about the details of their canvassing activities as per the legal requirements, Thaweesak said.

He said compliance with the electoral rules would benefit the candidates because their rivals would not have grounds to dispute the balloting.

The chairman went on to suggest that candidates unveil their respective teams of 18 administrators, who will work with them should they be elected. This would help voters to form their decision, he said.

He said candidates should offer platforms that could be practically implemented under the jurisdiction of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, rather than churn out empty promises.

At this juncture, no complaints of campaign violations had been filed, he said.

-- The Nation 2013-02-02

German tourist dies after fall on rocks at Khao Lak

Phuket Gazette

Police and medical personnel on the beach after Mr Ovegov drowned. The rock from which he fell is in the background. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- A German tourist with a heart condition fell on some rocks and drowned yesterday at Khao Lak.

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Honest Phuket van driver returns B120,000

Tanyaluk Sakoot

24-year old van driver Sarawut Sompan.

PHUKET: -- A 24-year old van driver Sarawut Sompan is being praised for his honesty after he handed in around B132,000 worth of cash belonging to an Indonesian official.

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Clinton formally steps down as U.S. secretary of state

Hillary Rodham Clinton.File photo, source: wikimedia

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Hillary Clinton on Friday formally stepped down as the 67th U.S. Secretary of State, ending her four- year tenure as the country's chief diplomat.

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Pattaya Airport may expand and get Second Runway

By Staff Reporter

PATTAYA: -- U-Tapao airport, south of the city of Pattaya, is set for further expansion including a second runway in plans launched by the Transport Ministry this week

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Sweden retrial for 'serial killer' Sture Bergwall

STOCKHOLM: -- A man once considered Sweden's worst serial killer has won retrials for three murders after withdrawing confessions made in the 1990s.

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Health Minister on PM weekly TV programme, clarifies hospital medical fee increase, asserts move reflects real cost, will not affect patients /MCOT

Cambodia

Sihanouk's body moved to cremation site

Agencies,

Phnom Penh

A chariot carrying the coffin of Cambodia

PHNOM PENH: -- Thousands of mourners accompanied a gilded chariot carrying the body of former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk - the dominant figure of the country's modern history - in a funeral procession yesterday to a cremation ground next to the palace where he was crowned more than 70 years ago.

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Twitter hit by 'sophisticated' cyber attack

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Twitter said it had been hit by a "sophisticated" cyber attack similar to those that recently hit major Western news outlets, and that the passwords of about 250,000 users were stolen.

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Thailand mulls world’s largest health warnings on cigarette packages

By Digital Media

BANGKOK, Feb 2 – The Thai Public Health Ministry is proposing legislation to require more prominent health warnings on cigarette packages, likely the largest in the world, according to the minister.

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Finance minister upset with inaction on Thai baht, policy interest rate

By Digital Media

BANGKOK, Feb 2 – Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong has expressed displeasure over the sharp appreciation of the Thai baht and the high policy interest rate fixed by the Bank of Thailand (BoT).

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7 killed, 3 hurt in Korat van crash /Bangkok Post

National corruption probe into police housing arrives in Phuket

Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- Royal Thai Police Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director-General Tharit Pengdit arrived in Phuket yesterday as part of his investigation into the stalled construction of 163 police housing apartment blocks across the country.

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Phuket van driver rewarded for returning tourist's lost B124k

Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: -- A Phuket tour driver has received high praise from the governor for returning 124,000 baht that an Indonesian tourist left behind in his tour van.

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China approves HSBC's $9.4 bn Ping An stake sale

by Bill Savadove

SHANGHAI, Feb 2, 2013 (AFP) - China said Friday it had approved British bank HSBC's sale of its stake in insurance giant Ping An to a Thai conglomerate for $9.4 billion, ending speculation that the deal was on the verge of collapse.

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Soopsip

Burglars' union to sue Pancake

The Nation

Pancake and her mother Nuananong

BANGKOK: -- The retail industry's "queen of the celebrity presenters", actress Khemanit "Pancake" Jamikorn, also apparently wears a drama queen's crown.

It was (sort of) big news when one of her houses was burglarised, but yesterday Pancake, her mum Nuananong and some cops called a press conference to announce that, hey, you know what? There was no burglary. The items believed stolen - a Rolex watch and diamond earrings - were simply misplaced and now they're found again.

It was all a misunderstanding, Nuananong said. "I don't want to go into details about whether there were any footprints or not." Word had gone around that there were footprints on the toilet seat. Whose those might be, if indeed there were any, remains a mystery, but no apology was forthcoming for Bangkok's unjustly accused thieves.

The less the family said, of course, the more the social media were forced to speculate. There'd been a lot of impolite giggling online because Pancake hawks a home security system but evidently doesn't actually use one at her home. Now the chatter switched to the fact that Pancake didn't display the rediscovered watch and earrings at the press conference. It's anyone's guess.

Other leg pulled

You can't believe what celebrities say anyway, like the couples who break up and then reunite. Pakorn "Dome" Lum and Jiratanin "Guzjung" Pitakporntrakul did that. Now Mario Mauer says he no longer has time for his long-time girlfriend Sumonthip "Gubgib" Leungthai and their relationship "isn't the same".

"I can't exactly call it a break-up. I think it's more correct to say we're no longer boyfriend and girlfriend. But we still feel good about each other."

Gubgib confirmed they have less time together, "but the good feelings still remain, regardless of what we call each other. We still keep in touch." In fact, the actress said it would be impossible to replace Mario and "time will tell if we get together again or not".

Whadya think? Bit of a scam to promote Gubgib's forthcoming autobiography, "Diary Bantuek Cheewit"?

-- The Nation 2013-02-02

RT @RichardBarrow: Live at the Scala, 7-9 Feb from 7pm-9:30pm. 3 nights featuring 6 acts of cutting edge contemporary live performances from the UK. 100 Baht.

RT@RichardBarrow: Voranai from the Bangkok Post: Tourists are mugged, robbed, raped, scammed & charged double pricing, but still they come

RT@RichardBarrow: Voranai: Bangkok’s streets are festooned with vendors, prostitutes, robbers, stray dogs and their feces. But still the tourists come.