Friday 'D Day' for new Phuket bus service
Naraporn Tuarob

PHUKET: -- The new and much-debated bus service from Phuket International Airport to Patong will launch on Friday (July 19) at 9am, with some lingering doubt as to whether there will be a negative reaction from some of Patong’s highly territorial tuk-tuk and taxi drivers.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654047-friday-d-day-for-new-phuket-bus-service/

Olympian breaks down after being denied bail
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- A member of the Thai pistol shooting team at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Jakkrit Panichpatikum, broke into tears after learning that he will be detained for another 12 days on domestic battery charges following the court’s rejection of his bail application.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654055-thai-pistol-shooting-team-olympian-breaks-down-after-being-denied-bail/

ECONOMY
No indication for rating cut: Kittiratt


A file photo on June 13 shows Kittiratt and Prasarn at a seminar in Bangkok.

BANGKOK: -- There is no indication that Moody's Investors Service may lower Thailand's sovereign rating, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654071-moodys-concerned-over-thailands-rice-pledging-scheme/#entry6617340

Rubber tapper gunned down in Yala.
.By English News

YALA, July 16 - A rubber tapper was shot dead while riding to work in his rubber plantation in Bannang Sata district of this southern border province early Tuesday, while two anti-military banners found in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district.

The victim was identified as Mayahari Ali, a resident of Bannang Sata. He was shot many times.

His family told police that Mr Mayahari took his motorcycle to the rubber plantation as usual, but an unknown number of gunmen followed and shot him.

He was sent to hospital but later pronounced dead.

Police believed it was insurgency-involved incident but did not rule out personal conflict.

Meanwhile, in the nearby province of Narathiwat, Si Sakhon district police said two anti-military cloth banners were found early morning at two locations in the district.

The banners were hung at the roadside in Choeng Khiri subdistrict.

They were written in Thai with red paint referring to the Thai military and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional militant group (BRN).

The authorities later pulled the banners down. They will be sent to the forensic office in Narathiwat to identify latent fingerprints which may lead to the people behind the incident. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2013-07-16

Govt to embed microchips in rice sacks to prevent corruption
By English News

BANGKOK, July 17 - Commerce Ministry will embed microchips in rice sacks to prevent corruption, according to Deputy Prime Minister/Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654072-thai-govt-to-embed-microchips-in-rice-sacks-to-prevent-corruption/

Eighty Lao-bound canines seized in Nakhon Phanom.
.By English News

SAKON NAKHON, July 16 - Eighty dogs bound for cross-border transport to Lao and beyond were seized in Thailand's northerneastern province of Nakhon Phanom today.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654069-eighty-lao-bound-canines-seized-in-nakhon-phanom/

Thai judge to face judicial discipline after going berserk

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654074-thai-judge-to-face-judicial-discipline-after-going-berserk/

Election Commission unanimously endorses Tankhun Jitt-Issara of Democrat Party as elected MP in June 16 by-election in BKK's Don Mueang /MCOT

TOURISM
DSI help sought to crack down mafia in Phuket
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak filed a petition to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Tuesday, asking for its help in cracking down mafia gangs in Phuket.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654106-dsi-help-sought-to-crack-down-mafia-in-phuket/

CONTROVERSIAL MONK
Former monk given 30 days to appeal judgement
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Wirapol Sukpol, better known as Luang Pu Nenkham, has 30 days to appeal the Si Sa Ket monastic council's ruling that ousted him from monkshood for reportedly having sexual relationship with a woman.

Wirapol must appeal the ruling in person within the set time frame, otherwise the monastic council's judgement would be final, the Office of National Buddhism’s director-general Nopparat Benjawatananun said yesterday, warning that the ex monk could face punishment if he insisted on wearing the robes.

Nopparat said Wirapol's request to be transferred to the supervision of an overseas temple was impossible because temples overseas weren’t under Thai law or the Buddhist Order Act.

Songkran Atchariyasap, chairman of a group calling itself the "Facebook network against acts that destroy the nation, religion and the royal institution" yesterday submitted to the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), Wirapol's pamphlets designed to raise funds to build a hospital in Roi Et and for gold donations to build replicas of the Emerald Buddha image.


-- The Nation 2013-07-16

Whiskey Bottle Fight At Karaoke Bar Leaves 1 Dead

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654113-whiskey-bottle-fight-at-thai-karaoke-bar-leaves-1-dead/

Families of 2010 Crackdown Victims Push Their Own Amnesty Bill

BANGKOK: -- Some relatives of civilians caught in the deadly crossfire during 2010 military operation against the Redshirt protests have come up with their own version of amnesty bill and are urging the government to accept it.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654111-families-of-2010-crackdown-victims-push-their-own-amnesty-bill/

SET index closed at 1,451.45, down 3.95; Bt/USD30.93; GBP46.65; AUD28.24; EUR40.33; CAD29.52; HKD3.98; SGD24.41; JPY30.82

Nen Kham's wife set to demand child support worth 40 mill baht

SI SA KET, 16 July 2013 (NNT) - Defrocked monk Wiraphol Sukphol’s wife is suing him for child support worth 40 million baht in family court.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654125-defrocked-monk-wiraphols-wife-set-to-demand-child-support-worth-40-mill-baht/

UPDATE

Thai police chief orders probe of Bangkok's top cop
By English News



BANGKOK, July 16 - Thailand's national police chief has ordered an investigation into the meeting between the capital's Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Khamronwit Thoopkrachang and ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Hong Kong last year.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654022-explanation-sought-on-senior-police-officers-meet-with-fugitive-ex-pm-thaksin/page-2#entry6618114

Phuket braces for more strong wind, heavy thundershowers
Phuket Gazette


TMD officer urges islanders to brace themselves for the weather on Thursday. Photo: Chutharat Plerin

PHUKET: -- The erratic stormy weather across Phuket today, with heavy showers and gusts of wind reaching up to 35km/hr, is no cause for alarm, says the local weather office.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654131-phuket-braces-for-more-strong-wind-heavy-thundershowers/

RT@veen_NT: Breaking: Wasan Soypisudh has resigned as President of the Constitutional Court. (via @NewVerapat )

Phuket beach rescue saves Japanese surfer from strong surf
Phuket Gazette -

Uten Singsom, head of the Kata-Karon Lifeguard Club, says the Japanese man rescued from strong surf at Phuket's Kata Noi Beach this afternoon is alive and recovering. Photo: Chutharat Plerin

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654179-phuket-beach-rescue-saves-japanese-surfer-from-strong-surf/

Phuket motorbike arson re-ignites, three bikes torched in Patong
Phuket Gazette -

PHUKET: Police suspect arson in the latest Phuket motorbike blaze in which one motorbike was destroyed and two others damaged in Patong early this morning.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654181-phuket-motorbike-arson-re-ignites-three-bikes-torched-in-patong/

to continue:

Thailand Live Wednesday 17 Jul 2013

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654249-thailand-live-wednesday-17-jul-2013/