Thailand Live Friday 1 Mar 2013

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DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
Phuket Gazette

The DSI is now assisting with investigations initiated by former DNP Director-General Damrong (center) into illegal land titles in Phuket. Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: -- The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622724-d-s-i-launches-fresh-attack-on-illegally-issued-phuket-land-title-deeds/

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PM promises streamlining of process in sending Thai workers to work at Malaysian Tom Yum Kung shops

BANGKOK, 1 March 2013 (NNT) – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met with owners of Tom Yum Kung eateries in Malaysia and promised to see to a streamlining of the process in sending Thai workers to work at their shops.

Ms. Yingluck met with the representatives of Tom Yum Kung business operators on the sideline of her visit to Malaysia for the 5th Thai-Malaysia Annual Consultation, in Putrajaya. The operators asked for the Thai premiere to oversee streamlining of the procedure required in sending Thai workers into Malaysia. They also asked for a fund to be established to assist the operators of Tom Yum Kung shops.

Prime Minister Yingluck said she has talked with the Malaysian prime minister about the streamlining of the process of sending Thais to work in Malaysia, and she will make sure it gets implemented. As for the fund requested by the Tom Yum Kung businesses, Ms. Yingluck indicated that Ministry of Interior will handle the request.

The prime minister has also asked Malaysian business operators to help establish centers for sales of Thai OTOP goods in Malaysia.


-- NNT 2013-03-01

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Thai PM unrelenting on southern peace process
By English News

BANGKOK, March 1 – A bomb blast in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat early this morning was not a retaliation against a preliminary peace deal between the government and a Muslim insurgent group, the Thai prime minister said today.

Yingluck Shinawatra said the explosion was a normal incident in the ongoing insurgency and that the agreement with a southern militant group in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday will not instantly resolve the unrest in the far South.

A blast near a fresh market in Narathiwat early this morning injured a soldier and six civilians. Investigating police found a motorcycle which they thought had held the bomb. The motorcycle's owner filed a complaint with police in Ra-ngae district in December that it was stolen.

The Thai prime minister said the agreement signed by the National Security Council (NSC) and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) militant group on Thursday was a starting point for further talks to resolve the southern crisis without any legal obligation.

“The NSC and southern authorities will be in charge of the talks while the government takes a supervisory role,” she said. “The process can be called off if it is unsuccessful.”

Regarding opposition criticism of the Kuala Lumpur agreement, Ms Yingluck said the attempt should not be interpreted as a political agenda. The opposition is welcome to join in the peace process. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-03-01

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Bomb in pickup explodes opposite Narathiwat police station; no casualties reported /MCOT

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Export Business Index expands less than 1% in January
By English News

BANGKOK, March 1 - Thailand's export business index in January expanded marginally at less than one per cent at 0.93, compared to the index in December 2011 and despite the 16.9-per cent growth of exports overall in January, according to the Thai National Shippers' Council.

Council chairman Paiboon Ponsuwanna said the figure demonstrated that export expansion was still low.

He added that imports increased in gold, capital goods, machinery, and other factors for production.

According to Mr Paiboon, only 18 industries had a higher expansion ratio of their export values-- steel, furniture, chemicals, construction materials, motor vehicles, kitchenware, and chicken meat.

Seven industries saw a reduction in their exports --frozen processed prawns, rubber products, petroleum, sugar, electric appliances, jewellery and accessories, and paper.

Factors affecting positive Thai exports were signs of economic recovery from the European Union, economic revitalisation measures from Thailand's main trading partners, while factors impacting lower exports were the direction of Thai baht currency exchange and Thailand's monetary policy, which was still unclear.

Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers' Council's president added the industrial and production sector takes up the highest percentage of 36 per cent of the country's overall energy usage.

He urged the government to have policies and prevention measures to sustainably deal with energy shortage, provide continuous energy security, monitor and control energy costs appropriately, have measures to support energy savings, and practically promote the use of renewable energy. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-03-01

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Pattaya fire safety much improved since deadly 1997 hotel fire

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622738-pattaya-fire-safety-much-improved-since-deadly-1997-hotel-fire/

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Pattaya officials begin Songkran planning

PATTAYA:--Songkran still may be two months away, but Pattaya officials already are making plans to bring at least some sanity to Thai New Year bedlam.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622736-pattaya-officials-begin-songkran-planning/

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China executes four over Mekong murders

BEIJING: -- China executed alleged Golden Triangle drug lord Nor Kham and three accomplices on Friday after they were convicted of murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River in October 2011.

The executions were carried out by lethal injection by a court in Kunming, capital of the south-western border province of Yunnan, state media quoted local officials as saying.

Thai citizen Hsang Kham, Lao citizen Zha Xika, and Yi Lai, who was stateless, were executed along with Nor Kham after the nation’s highest court approved their death sentences.


-- The Nation 2013-03-01

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Nine owners charged with encroaching Phuket park
Nattha Thepbamrung

Manopat Huamuangkaew, Damrong “the Demolisher” Pidech’s successor as head of the DNP (black suit), enjoys a day on the beach at Nai Yang.

PHUKET: -- The current owners of nine parcels of land along the northwest coast of Phuket have been charged by police with encroachment into Sirinart Marine National Park, a meeting at the park’s headquarters at Nai Yang Beach heard yesterday (February 28).

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622724-d-s-i-launches-fresh-attack-on-illegally-issued-phuket-land-title-deeds/#entry6161685

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STUDYING ABROAD
Thai Embassy in Beijing warns Thai students not to use brokers
Marisa Chimprabha
The Nation

BEIJING: -- The Thai Embassy in Beijing has warned parents and students wishing to study in China or apply for scholarship not to work through brokers.

The warning follows complaints by an increasing number of Thais who have been asked by brokers for a high commission fee with the promise of finding a school or university but who have failed to do so.

In many cases, the ill-fated students travelled to China but had no place to study or discovered the brokers had not paid the tuition fees. Many of them ended up being fined and deported.

In some cases, the brokers did not inform students in advance that if they were under 20 years of age, they needed to have a guardian in China. Students travelled to China only to find that if they did not satisfy this rule, they would be sent back.

Many Thais sought help from brokers because they could not communicate in Chinese and this opened opportunity for the illegal network.

The embassy also emphasised that Thais wanting to study in China must have the proper visa of they would be fined Bt2,500/day and deported.

No scholarships are provided through brokers, the embassy added. There are two kinds of scholarship providers; the Chinese government's China Scholarship Council and private companies. The Council provides scholarships to Thai students through the Office of the Higher Education Commission. Students wanting information about scholarships should make direct contact with the university at which they want to study.

The Thai Embassy also suggested students and those who plan to stay in China for a period of time take out health insurance, as medical expenses in China are relatively high. In Beijing, there are many hospitals and medical clinics that are popular among foreigners. These include Beijing United Family and Clinics, Hong Kong International Medical Clinics, IMC Beijing SOS International and Vista Clinic.


-- The Nation 2013-03-01

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SET index closed at 1539.6, down 1.98; Bt/USD29.62; GBP44.82; AUD30.13; EUR38.60; CAD28.59; HKD3.81; SGD23.80; JPY31.85

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THAI will recruit 247 new flight attendants, who will replace retiring ones and serve new aircraft. Selection process to start later this month. /The Nation

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Despite 16.9% exports growth in Jan.2013,Thai exports business index in Jan. 2013 expanded at only 0.93% over Dec.2011 index /The Nation

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Manchester Utd-Singha All Star XI to play exhibition match at Rajamangala Stadium,Bkk,Jul.13,as part of 2013 pre-season tour /The Nation

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China prisoners paraded on live TV before execution

BEIJING, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - Four gang members from Southeast Asian countries were executed in China Friday for the murder of 13 sailors on the Mekong river, after being paraded on live state television.

Naw Kham, a Myanmar drug gang leader, and three of his accomplices faced lethal injection with a mixture of defiance and fear in the broadcast on CCTV which showed them being taken from prison to the execution cite.

The four, along with two other accused, admitted intentional homicide, drug trafficking, kidnapping and hijacking at their trial last year, state news agency Xinhua said, over a raid on two Chinese riverboats in October 2011.

Xinhua described Naw Kham as "the boss of the largest armed drug trafficking gang" on the river which flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, adding that he was nicknamed "the Godfather".

The incident sparked outrage in China, where photographs of the gagged and blindfolded victims circulated online, and the progress of the case has been given prominent coverage in state media.

In the broadcast Naw Kham, 43, smiled slightly before grimacing as a restraining rope was tied around him in the prison in Kunming, in the southern province of Yunnan.

He then emerged into bright sunlight and a bank of television cameras, before being put into a van and driven away.

His fellow inmates, named by state media as Hsang Kham, 61 from Thailand, Yi Lai, 55, stateless, and Zha Xika, 28, from Laos, followed. The two older men looked grim-faced, while the younger convict's features crumpled.

CCTV cut to interviews with police officials outside the prison before returning to a studio discussion on the case. "He's eaten well, he's slept well, he's looking better than when he was arrested," said one of the panel.

Before the conclusion of the programme, which ran for almost two hours, a statement on the Yunnan provincial security bureau's website said all four had been executed.

Interviewed by CCTV earlier this week, Naw Kham said: "I miss my mother. Good people will turn bad in the Golden Triangle, you can't resist the temptation.

"I hope my children will not follow my example. I wish them a good future and hope they will study hard."

Shown a picture of the families of the dead, he said: "I have sent money to the relatives of the victims. Their pains are just like mine, I have children, I want to be with them when I get old.

"I want to live, I don't want to die."

Recent reports in Chinese state media said that officials considered killing him with a drone strike in Myanmar during the hunt but instead decided to capture him alive. In the event he was arrested in Laos and flown to China.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-03-01

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PCD issues warning on haze threat

CHIANG RAI, 1 March 2013 (NNT) - The Pollution Control Department (PCD) has issued air quality alerts in the North and warned residents about health risks.

The PCD warned that recent tests found the levels of particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (PM10) in the northern region of Thailand to have exceeded the safety level of 120 micrograms per cubic meter.

Chiang Rai, one of the affected provinces, recently launched a public campaign to combat haze pollution. The campaign was backed by over 1,000 supporters from the private and public sectors.

Chiang Rai Governor Pongsak Wangsamer said the annual haze crisis between February and April has had a negative impact on the tourism, transport and economic sectors of nine northern provinces, which include Phayao, Phrae, Nan and Chiang Rai. In 2012, the PM10 level in Chiang Rai province exceeded the safety standard for 55 consecutive days, reaching as high as 470.8 micrograms per cubic meter.

In a bid to ease the haze problem in the region, the PCD and Chiang Rai authorities urged relevant state agencies to strictly enforce a ban on all burning activities in haze-prone provinces.

-- NNT 2013-03-01

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to continue:

Thailand Live Saturday 2 Mar 2013

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/622899-thailand-live-saturday-2-mar-2013/