2,300 refugees left homeless
THE NATION ON SUNDAY

At least 35 dead at camp in Mae Hong Son as search for bodies continues

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628120-2300-refugees-left-homeless/

Whips ready for Bt2-trillion loan bill, charter amendment proposals
Khanittha Thepphajorn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A team of whips has been set up to coordinate parliamentarians for the upcoming joint House-Senate convention to discuss the Bt2-trillion loan bill for infrastructure development and amendments for the Constitution proposed by government MPs and some senators.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628122-whips-ready-for-bt2-trillion-loan-bill-charter-amendment-proposals/

Top Democrats admit revamp needed if party to win at polls
Tanatpong Kongsai
The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK: -- Abhisit calls for unity, vows to keep eye on govt

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628123-top-democrats-admit-revamp-needed-if-party-to-win-at-polls/

SPECIAL REPORT
Verdicts in CentralWorld arson case tomorrow
Kesinee Taengkhiao
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court, tomorrow, will hand down a verdict in relation to the arson attacks during the 2010 political turmoil.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628125-verdicts-in-centralworld-arson-case-tomorrow/

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Sister of Italian journalist slain in 2010 seeks truth, not revenge
Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Elisabetta Polenghi, the sister of slain Italian cameraman Fabio Polenghi, has made about 10 trips to Bangkok since mid-2010, although she's lost count of the exact number. But when it comes to the details of how her older brother was killed on the morning of May 19, 2010 near Ratchaprasong Intersection, she is obsessive, even pedantic at times.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628126-sister-of-italian-journalist-slain-in-2010-seeks-truth-not-revenge/

RT@RichardBarrow: Five soldiers hurt by road bomb in South; No let up in attacks ahead of peace talks (Bangkok Post)

Aerial anti-haze operations conducted in North
The Nation on Sunday

PHRAE: -- With fine-particle dust levels in the air in many upper northern provinces continuing to exceed safe levels, the Northern Royal Rainmaking Centre yesterday dispatched planes to fight haze for a second consecutive day, centre director Song Klinprathum said.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628127-aerial-anti-haze-operations-conducted-in-north/

Fire damages rice mill in Saraburi
The Nation on Sunday

A fire at a rice mill in Saraburi's Sao Hai district destroyed 400 tonnes of jasmine rice and damaged some machinery on Friday night, police said yesterday.

The fire, suspected to have been the result of a short circuit, occurred at former local politician Chalithep Phobai's 5-rai Sao Hai Rice Mill Branch 1 in tambon Sao Hai at around 9pm. Fire-fighters took two hours to control the blaze because the entrance to the mill was a narrow alley.

-- The Nation 2013-03-24

Ranong takes steps to save energy
The Nation on Sunday March 24, 2013 1:00 am

RANONG: -- With Myanmar scheduled to suspend gas supplies to Thai power-generating facilities in order to conduct annual maintenance from April 5-14, Ranong Governor Cherdsak Jampathes has ordered officials in five districts to save energy by keeping air-conditioners at 25-26 degrees Celsius and using elevators on a rotating basis so that not all are in use at the same time. He also suggested government vehicles use gasohol along with NGV (natural gas for vehicles).

Meanwhile, to show support for the Thai government's energy-saving campaign, 60 communities of Myanmar nationals in Ranong turned off their lights between 1pm and 2pm yesterday. They also vowed to help save energy in many ways, including turning off unnecessary lighting and unplugging electrical appliances after use.

-- The Nation 2013-03-24

Firemen killed and injured in Mae Hong Son
Janjira Jarusupawat
The Nation

A six-wheel truck, transporting 11 Chachoengsao firefighters to help put off forest fire in Mae Hong Son, plunged into a 10-metre-deep roadside abyss in Pai district yesterday, killing two people and injuring nine, Pai investigator Pol Lt Sithit Amthanom said.

The accident took place on the notorious "100-body" sharp curve on the Chiang Mai-Pai Road in Tambon Mae Hi at 12.50pm. The dead were identified as Amnat Doungsa-ngad, 35, and Suthi Yong-ram, 41. The nine injured were rushed to Pai Hospital, two of them in a critical condition.

Police suspected the driver wasn't familiar with the curvy route and lost control of the vehicle, which overturned and plunged into the abyss.

-- The Nation 2013-03-24

Ministry officials involved in exam cheating, DSI suspects
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai
The Nation on Sunday

The Department of Special Investigation suspects that central administrative officials were involved in cheating in the teacher assistants' exam, a source at the DSI said yesterday.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628128-ministry-officials-involved-in-exam-cheating-d-s-i-suspects/

Politicians cause conflict: poll
The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK: -- Most people agree that conflicts are normal in a democratic society but they view politicians as a major cause of the disputes in Thailand, a public opinion survey has found.

Some 85 per cent of people viewed conflicts as a normal occurrence but 83 per cent said politicians when asked what they thought was the cause of conflicts in Thailand, according to results of a survey by Assumption University's Abac Poll.

Another 41 per cent of those surveyed blamed military coups, 36 per cent said people in general, 35 per cent blamed the mass media, and 34 per cent blamed state officials. Almost 32 per cent named Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as a major cause of conflict, followed by police (30.3 per cent), independent agencies (30.1), the Constitution and the law (29.8), academics (27.2), and the military (24 per cent).

The survey was conducted with 2,159 people in 17 provinces in all regions between March 10 and 22.

-- The Nation 2013-03-24

INFRASTRUCTURE
Govt vows transparency in Bt2-tn loans
The Nation on Sunday March 24, 2013 1:00 am

BANGKOK: -- The government yesterday said projects under the Bt2-trillion loan plan to develop the country's infrastructure will be carried out in a transparent manner, while urging all sectors to check the use of funds and ensure that money is used efficiently and without corruption.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628129-govt-vows-transparency-in-bt2-tn-loans/

EDITORIAL
For Thai education, grand vision needs consistent policies
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Govt must give its latest minister the time to achieve some real results

Every Thai education minister enters the stage with a bang and, in quick succession, leaves with a whimper. Editorials have been written and warnings sounded, but the powers-that-be still see Thai education as a political revolving-door playground. More than 10 education ministers have come and gone in the governments associated with Thaksin Shinawatra alone. That number speaks for itself of the failure of political will and sincerity to upgrade the quality of our schools, teachers and students.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628130-for-thai-education-grand-vision-needs-consistent-policies/

RT@RichardBarrow: Pictures of the smog in Northern Thailand buff.ly/YmyfnT

RT@KristieKenney: Today is World TB Day. In Bangkok, stop by MBK mall where @USAIDAsia and many more tell how you can help stop TB.

RT@RichardBarrow: Disney on Ice at Impact Arena today at 11am, 3pm & 7pm, and Monday at 3pm & 7pm. Tickets 600-2,000B from Thai Ticket Major.

RT@RichardBarrow: Bangkok Earth Hour 2013 saved 1,699 megawatts of electricity, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 1,073 tonnes & saved 6.65 million baht

Phuket Opinion: Draining Phuket turtle power
Phuket Gazette -

Sea turtles are an integral, but fast disappearing, part of Phuket’s natural heritage. Image: Gazette Graphics

PHUKET: It would be difficult to find a more depressing issue than the plight of the various sea turtle species that face extinction in local waters, some of which are also at risk of disappearing from the planet completely

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628144-phuket-opinion-draining-phuket-turtle-power/

Defence volunteer in Narathiwat shot dead en route to tap rubber Sunday morning, his wife also severely injured /MCOT

Phuket sets safety plans for Songkran
Phuket Gazette -

PHUKET: Police checkpoints and water-play zones will be set up to increase safety on Phuket during the Seven Days of Danger for Songkran, April 11 to April 17.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628149-phuket-sets-safety-plans-for-songkran/

Defense volunteer killed, his wife severely wounded in Narathiwat.
By Digital Media

NARATHIWAT, March 24 - A defense volunteer was shot dead while he and his wife were on the way to tap rubber Sunday morning.

Esalor Hayeemu, the 54th, shot several times throughout his body, was found in a rubber Plantation in Rueso, as his wife Rorseeda Hayeemu, 50th, was rushed to the Hospital. They were ambushed by an unknown Number of Gunmen who Fired them before fleeing. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2013-03-24

Searches end at Myanmar refugee camp destroyed by fire
By Digital Media

Mae Hong Son, March 24 – A search operation for the bodies of fire victims at the Mae Surin camp in Mae Hong Son's Khun Yuam district have ended as the death toll is recorded at 36, said the provincial governor Narumol Paravat.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628120-2300-refugees-left-homeless/#entry6234744

RT@RichardBarrow: You may want to re-think a holiday to Chiang Mai - RT @pp_pingpong: อากาศที่เชียงใหม่ค่ะ แย่มากกกกก ควันทั้งนั้นค่ะ pic.twitter.com/HYs2QmGlo7

Phuket: Future uncertain for Rohingya children
Nattha Thepbamrung

PHUKET: 102 Rohingya people fleeing persecution in the Arakan (Rakhine) State of Burma were discovered in Phuket yesterday.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628154-phuket-future-uncertain-for-rohingya-children/

Penis erected against ‘widow ghost’
Phuket Gazette

Visitors to Nong Yai in Rayong, on Thailand's Eastern Seaboard, might wonder why residents have set up a shrine featuring a large wooden penis in the middle of their village.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628180-penis-erected-against-widow-ghost/

Govt: “THB2.2 trillion loan will not drive public debt to exceed 50% of GDP”

BANGKOK, 24 MARCH 2013 (NNT) – The government has repeatedly affirmed that the planned 2.2 trillion baht loan for infrastructure investment will not drive the Thailand’s public debt level above the agreed ceiling of the GDP.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628129-govt-vows-transparency-in-bt2-tn-loans/#entry6235014

PRD-VOV tightens media broadcast cooperation

CHANTHABURI, 24 March 2013 (NNT) – Eight journalists from Voice of Vietnam (VOV) have recently visited Thailand as parts of the collaboration with the Public Relations of Thailand (PRD) to strengthen ties and to exchange knowledge and information on mass media and broadcasting.

All VOV representatives visited Chanthaburi Province, where they had an opportunity to see the Thai government’s water sources conservation project. The project is aimed at promoting the agricultural sector and local economy as well as helping generate revenue during the dry season while conserving the environment.

Ms. Wanpen Upton, Director of International Cooperation Division, Public Relations Department, pointed out that the trip also reflected close collaboration between PRD and VOV in disseminating news on economics, trade and social affairs of both Thailand and Vietnam to their respective audiences.

Ms. Wanpen added that the cooperation between the two national agencies is hoped to promote better understanding between the peoples of both ASEAN neighbors.

The VOV representatives also had a chance to visit Thai Gem & Jewelry Traders Association.

-- NNT 2013-03-24

Sufficient power guaranteed during Myanmar gas suspension

KANCHANABURI, 24 MARCH 2013 (NNT) – The director of Srinakarind Dam has assured sufficient electricity generation to meet the national demand during Myanmar’s planned gas cutback in April.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/628189-sufficient-power-guaranteed-during-myanmar-gas-suspension/

Seven army rangers wounded in motorcycle bomb blast in Pattani's Sai Buri district while en route to military base /MCOT