Thailand Live Monday 11 Mar 2013

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Waterspout warning for coastal areas
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The weather bureau has warned the public to beware of waterspouts that commonly strike during the summer after a freak funnel ripped the roofs off several homes in Chon Buri's old Laem Chabang fishing village yesterday.

"They usually last about 25 minutes and sometimes move onto the coast. We will see these whirlwinds several times this season," said Somchai Baimoung, deputy director-general of the Meteorological Department.

Waterspouts are caused by the southeast monsoon and will create havoc for people living along the seashore, he said.

The waterspout yesterday formed over the sea and moved onshore, damaging many houses. Residents were seen panicking and running for cover.

The department cannot predict where and when a waterspout will be spotted, he said.

People should observe the air temperature each day.

If the weather is extremely hot for many days and a black cloud develops above the sea that means a waterspout is coming, he added.


-- The Nation 2013-03-11

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EDUCATION REFORM
Students win a cut in hours
Supinda na Mahachai,
Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation



Education chiefs agree to reduce classes by 200 hours a year

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625038-thai-education-reform-students-win-a-cut-in-hours/

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RECONCILIATION
Pheu Thai gives its backing to Charoen's mission
The Nation

Prompong urges Democrats to reconsider stand on amnesty; Suriyasai doubts deputy speaker's credentials

BANGKOK: -- The Pheu Thai Party yesterday reaffirmed its support for Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol's reconciliation campaign ahead of today's scheduled mediation meeting.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625039-reconciliation-pheu-thai-gives-its-backing-to-charoens-mission/

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Thirachai warns against off-budget loan
The Nation


Thirachai

BANGKOK: -- Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, the first finance minister of the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, yesterday warned against the government's move to seek a Bt2-trillion "off-budget" loan for its mega-infrastructure plan.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625040-former-thai-finance-minister-thirachai-warns-against-off-budget-loan/

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SPECIAL REPORT
Bhutanese flock to Bangkok for medical tourism
Nidup Gyeltshen
Special to The Nation


Wangmo, her husband and their 3-year-old son.

An increasing number of Bhutanese mothers prefer to give birth to their babies in Thailand as it is cleaner, safer and reliable, despite the expense

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625041-bhutanese-flock-to-bangkok-for-medical-tourism/

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World Bank urges action against tiger poaching
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- The World Bank is pressing Thailand to tighten its control over illegal poaching and trading in wildlife after finding that the country is a hub of the illicit tiger trade.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625042-world-bank-is-pressing-thailand-to-tighten-its-control-over-tiger-poaching/

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REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Amnesty for all, at what cost?
Kavi Chongkittavorn


Worachai Hema submits amnesty bill to House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranon.

BANGKOK: -- On the surface, "damned if you do; damned if you don't" very much sums up the sentiment in the raging debate over the amnesty bills. But deep down, this is not the Catch-22 situation it may appear to be, with as many as eight different potential bills being pushed forward, causing diversion and confusion. The focus is now on the latest draft, submitted to Parliament last week by 42 Pheu Thai Party MPs headed by Worachai Hema from Samut Prakan.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625043-amnesty-for-all-at-what-cost-thai-opinion/

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Top red shirts buoyed by court verdict on arson
Opas Boonlom
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Red-shirt leaders' spirits have been lifted by the recent Ratchadaphisek Civil Court ruling that the arson attacks at CentralWorld and Zen Department Stores were not acts of terrorism while ordering Deves Insurance to pay more than Bt5 billion in compensation to Central group.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625044-top-red-shirts-buoyed-by-thai-court-verdict-on-arson/

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Suu Kyi Elected Nld Chairperson At Historic Congress

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/624995-myanmar-suu-kyi-elected-nld-chairperson-at-historic-congress/

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Intake of pupils declines
Supinda na Mahachai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Many of the 200 most popular schools are recruiting fewer Mathayom 1 students this year in response to the Basic Education Commission's policy to allow more students to continue on to Mathayom 4 at the same school.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625045-intake-of-pupils-declines-thailand/

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Two killed in Chiang Rai after drugs bust shootout
Nattawat Laping
The Nation
Chiang Rai

CHIANG RAI: -- Police clashed with suspected drug traffickers yesterday evening in Chiang Rai, killing two and making four arrests. Two million methamphetamine tablets and 50 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, worth well over Bt650 million in total, were found in the suspects' possession.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625046-two-killed-in-chiang-rai-after-drugs-bust-shootout/

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Three slain in Pattani
The Nation

PATTANI: -- Four insurgent attacks in Pattani yesterday left three dead, including a local official, with another local official wounded.

In the first incident, a man riding on a motorcycle shot dead Nipaporn Phromphet, the wife of squad leader Pramuk Phetkaew from the Border Patrol Police 444th Office, while she was driving her motorcycle home from the market in Mayo district.

She was hit twice -in the left eye and in the right chest.

Next, two men ambushed Maposi Aware, a younger brother of kamnan Mana, in Nong Chik district.

They opened fire with AK and M-16 assault rifles, spraying more than 50 bullets at Maposi and his sedan, killing him instantly.

In Sai Buri district, village headman Mahamalayeng Waedamae was driving his motorcycle out of the construction site for his new home when an unknown number of men killed him with assault rifles.

In the last incident, Abdul Kodir hayi Saleh sustained serious wounds in the groin after two men with two pistols fired three shots at him in Yaring district as he was getting out of his vehicle near his home.


-- The Nation 2013-03-11

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TRAVEL INDEX
Thailand one of the top 10
Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit
The Nation

S'pore, KL more competitive: TTCI

BANGKOK: -- Thailand was ranked ninth in the Asia-Pacific region and 43rd globally on the 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), a study released last week by the World Economic Forum showed.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625047-thailand-one-of-the-top-10-travel-index/

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Smartphone robbery
The Nation

Police prepares actions against motorcyclist robbers who target Chulalongkorn University students

BANGKOK: -- Some students posted their complaints on the university’s web site that they have been robbed for smartphones while waiting at the bus stop on Phya Thai Road. These robbers wore helmets and came with friends. Those resisting risked physical attacks.

An official at Pathumwan Police Station said that according to security guards, these robbers came in their blue Honda motocycle. The police is checking CCTV in nearby areas and will increase the patrol frequency.


-- The Nation 2013-03-11

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BROADCASTING
Number of bidders to play role in determining TV channel starting bid price
Usanee Mongkolporn,
Watchiranont Thongtep
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The number of bidders and the final number of high-definition (HD) variety-TV channel licences will be among the factors to determine the starting bid price for the upcoming auction of 24 licences to operate commercial terrestrial digital TV channels, according to a proposal by Chulalongkorn University's Economics Faculty to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

The NBTC will not call for bids for licences in a category where the number of bidders are the same as or lower than the number of available licences in that category. This is to prevent possible criticism of low competition in the bidding, said an NBTC source. For example, if there are five bidders for five available news channel licences, the NBTC will not auction the news licences.

The NBTC broadcasting committee will meet today to decide whether to expand the number of HD variety-channel licences to five or to maintain at it at the present four. The NBTC source said that if the committee decides to expand the licence numbers to five, it would have to reduce the number of standard definition (SD) variety-channel licences to 9 from the present 10.

At present, the NBTC has allocated four licences for the HD variety category, 10 licences for the SD variety category, five licences for the SD news channel category, and five licences for the SD children's channel category.

If it is finalised at five HD variety-channel licences, the committee might ask Chulalongkorn University's Economic Faculty to revise the price range of the reserve price of these HD and SD variety licences, which were proposed by the faculty.

The broadcasting committee has hired the university's faculty to study the price range of the licence reserve price for all 24 licences. According to the study, the price range of the licence reserve price for an SD variety channel is between Bt702 million to Bt2.85 billion; that of an SD news channel is between Bt274 million to Bt2.35 billion; an SD children's channel between Bt123 million to Bt2.02 billion; and that of licence for an HD variety channel is between Bt2.94 billion to Bt15.48 billion.

After the broadcasting trial of digital terrestrial TV service by the Royal Thai Army, MCOT and Thai Public Broadcasting Service, the NBTC found that it was technically possible to make available five HD variety-channel licences, instead of four.

As part of the faculty's proposal, the higher the number of the bidders, the lower will be the starting price of the licences. If there are a certain high number of participating bidders in each of the four licence categories, the minimum reserve price of the licences will be discounted by a certain percentage for a lower starting price. The discount scheme will encourage many potential bidders to take part in the auction.

For example, the minimum licence reserve price of a SD variety channel is Bt702 million. The proposal suggests that if there are 11 bidders for these 10 licences, the reserve price will be discounted by 8.1 per cent to become a starting bid price of Bt645 million. If 20 bidders take part, the price will be discounted by 38.8 per cent to become a starting bid price of Bt 430 million. The proposal determines many discount rates depending on the number of bidders.

The broadcasting committee has a plan to auction all 24 licences at the same time on the same day. The auction may be delayed to the fourth quarter this year from the original date in August as the public-hearing process on related regulations may take time.

The ranges of licence reserve prices were calculated from total revenue and expenditure of existing analog terrestrial TV broadcasters, BEC's Channel 3, Royal Army's Channel 5, BBTV Channel 7, MCOT's Modernine TV and the Public Relations Department's Channel 11. It is also based on the estimated advertising revenue of the digital TV channels.

According to the same study, the total proceeds of the upcoming licence auction will be a minimum Bt20.79 billion. The licence term is 15 years. The broadcasting committee will convert the proceeds from the auctions into coupons, which will be distributed to 22 million households to help subsidise their purchase of digital TV set-top boxes. This is to ensure the smooth transition of Thailand to the digital TV era from the analog one.

The broadcasting committee will soon also finalise the limited number of overall licences one bidder can grab from all these four categories. It is mulling whether to allow each bidder to grab one licence from each of only two or three categories.

Industrialists viewed that not only will the move to digital television create billions of baht in investment for the broadcasting business, the advertising industry will also benefit if the new technology results in high-quality content. Of more than Bt135 billion spent per year on advertising, 60 per cent goes into free TV commercials, and that figure does not include cable and satellite television. The expansion in the next couple of years from the current six analog free-TV channels to 24 digital-TV operators will open many more doors for advertisers.


-- The Nation 2013-03-11

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Bloomberg News
Thai Ratings Raised by Fitch on Yingluck Stability
By Shamim Adam and Daniel Ten Kate

BANGKOK: -- Thailand’s credit rating was restored to BBB+ by Fitch Ratings four years after political turmoil prompted a cut, signaling confidence in Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s ability to maintain social stability.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625051-thai-ratings-raised-by-fitch-on-yingluck-stability/

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Italy, Britain Confirm Deaths of Hostages in Nigeria

ROME/MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti) Seven foreign hostages have been killed by a Nigerian Islamist group, Western governments said on Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625052-italy-britain-confirm-deaths-of-hostages-in-nigeria/

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Swedish princess Lilian dies at 97

STOCKHOLM: -- Welsh-born Princess Lilian of Sweden, whose decades-long love story with the king's uncle was one of the better kept secrets of the royal household, has died. She was 97.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625053-swedish-princess-lilian-dies-at-97/

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Australia offers Indonesia Corby parole guarantees

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia on Sunday said it had offered Indonesia a formal guarantee that drug trafficker Schapelle Corby would comply with parole in a letter supporting her release from prison.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625054-australia-offers-indonesia-schapelle-corby-parole-guarantees/

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RT @mpoppel: REU: MAIN ACCUSED IN INDIA GANG RAPE CASE COMMITS SUICIDE IN NEW

DELHI JAIL - TV

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Delhi sexual assault accused Ram Singh hangs himself in jail

(Reuters) - The driver of the bus in which a young Indian woman was gang-raped and murdered three months ago hanged himself in New Delhi's Tihar jail on Monday, TV news reports said.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625070-delhi-sexual-assault-accused-ram-singh-hangs-himself-in-jail/

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Thai stock index opens on Monday at 1,574.08, up 7.16 points /MCOT

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Corby promise to be queried in parliament
Tim Clarke

The unprecedented government guarantee offered to try to secure parole for convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby will be queried when federal parliament resumes this week.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625054-australia-offers-indonesia-schapelle-corby-parole-guarantees/#entry6192492

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Thailand's southern residents want bigger role in peace talks
By English News



NARATHIWAT, March 11 – A group of residents including a Democrat MP has proposed a three-point demand to the government on resolutions of the crisis in Thailand’s far South.

Surachet Wae-asae and representatives of the Narathiwat public held a news conference on Sunday, calling on the government to abolish the Emergency Decree in some southern areas where violence has diminished and, instead, use the Internal Security Act in areas such as Betong and Than To districts of Yala, Kapho and Mai Kaen districts of Pattani and Sukhirin, Waeng, Su-ngai Kolok and Tak Bai districts of Narathiwat.

They said army troops in the South should be reduced to be replaced by police and civilian forces, adding that the southern operations should be carried out in accord with the 2012-2014 policy on administration and development policy for the southern border provinces, set by the National Security Council (NSC).

Regarding the NSC’s recent agreement with a southern insurgent group for peace talks, they said all parties concerned including political, economic and social representatives as well as southern people should join the negotiations.

It should not be left only to the Wadah group to join the talks, they said. The Wadah group, representing MPs and Muslim representatives in the South, was appointed by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung to give its advice on resolution to the southern unrest.

Mr Surachet said the government should create understanding among southern people concerning the peace process so that people support the government’s move. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-03-11

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Saudi Arabia Mulls Replacing Public Beheadings with Shooting

MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - A ministerial committee in Saudi Arabia is considering to formally drop public beheadings as a method of the capital punishment in the kingdom, Al Jazeera reported citing Saudi Arabian newspapers.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625073-saudi-arabia-mulls-replacing-public-beheadings-with-shooting/

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Easterners protest deep seaport expansion



CHONBURI, March 11 – Civic groups in Thailand’s eastern provinces demonstrated near Laem Chabang deep seaport here Sunday to protest against the government’s delayed announcement of a city plan for the region.

The network of the people and civic groups in eight eastern provinces charged the government with dawdling in its enforcement of a combined city plan which covers Chonburi, Rayong, Chachoengsao, Chantaburi, Trat and Sa Kaeo.

They also disapprove of the planned expansion of Laem Chabang deep seaport Phase 3, saying the project will affect fisheries on the Ao Udom, Lam Chabang and Banglamung shorelines.

Problems arising from Phases 1 and 2 of the project have yet to be solved while an expansion of the deep seaport will worsen the situation, they said.

They said they had repeatedly called on the prime minister, interior minister, public works and city planning director general to speed up implementation of the combined city plan, claiming that a delay will lead to misuse of the land.

Rangsan Somboon, leader of a fishing group in Lam Chabang, said a delay in promulgating the combined city plan has led to land speculation and hoarding, adding that the city plan, approved by the City Plan Board on Dec 13 last year, should be implemented as soon as possible.

Somnuk Chongmevasin, an independent academic, said the protesters will intensify their movement if Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan fails to give his clarification on the issue. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-03-11

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RT @RichardBarrow: Picture of revenue officer who wanted me to bribe him has already been retweeted 62 times & reached 621,634 people http://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/310971927122563072/photo/1

@RichardBarrpw: Unbelievable. This revenue officer wants me to pay him 1,000B before he will release my tax documents. I've refused pic.twitter.com/59tbIhlX3r

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Phuket: Rohingya 'drowned, not shot'
Nattha Thepbamrung

PHANG NGA: -- Two Rohingya refugees are confirmed as having drowned after jumping out of their overloaded boat in a panic sparked by Thai Navy sailors opening fire in an attempt to frighten them away from Thai waters.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/625089-phuket-rohingya-drowned-not-shot/

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Thais warned of dengue fever threat

Nakhon Ratchasima, 11 March 2013 (NNT) – Nakhonratchasima Health Provincial Office is warning its residents to watch out for a possible threat of dengue fever during summer.

According to Nakhon Ratchasima's Public Health Chief Officer Doctor Wichai Kattiyawittayakul, as summer storm is hitting many areas of the province, there is a high risk of people catching dengue fever. 460 Have reportedly come down with the disease since January 1st of this year; fortunately, none of the case is fatal. There were 144 cases, with one death, reported last year, the doctor said.

Looking on the bright side, although the number of infections this year is three times as high as last year's, no one has died of the viral disease. He said the majority of the patients are children aged between 10-14 years old.

As a precaution, the governor of Nakhon Ratchasima has ordered all related agencies in all areas to keep a close watch on the situation and warned kids about the danger of mosquito bites and the infection.


-- NNT 2013-03-11

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Earthquake reported in Prae this morning

PRAE, 11 March 2013 (NNT)-The Seismological Bureau Thailand has reported an earthquake of 2.9 magnitude on the Richter scale in Prae province at 09.14 hrs in Song district.

No damage or injuries have been reported.


-- NNT 2013-03-11