Thailand Live Monday 19 May 2014

[webfact]

Thousands of tourists visiting famous sun flower field in Songkhla.

SONGKHLA, 19 May 2014 (NNT) - Tens of thousands of tourists are daily visiting the famous sun flower fields in Songkhla downtown.

The Songkhla sun flowers are blooming, for the last period of the year after having bloomed and withered twice earlier this year.

The site has been receiving tourists since April 26 and will be open for viewing until the end of May. It has now become a major tourist attraction in the province.


-- NNT 2014-05-19

[webfact]

Man Robs Bank, Buys Gold To Win Back Angry Wife
By Khaosod English


Police arrested a man who confessed to robbing a bank in Pathum Thani in order to buy gold necklace for his angry wife.

PATHUM THANI — Police have arrested a man who confessed to robbing a bank in Pathum Thani in order to buy a gold necklace for his angry wife.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727203-man-robs-bank-in-pathum-thani-buys-gold-to-win-back-angry-wife/

[webfact]

Push for political vacuum
The Nation


People

PDRC campaign 'will force ministers to resign' to pave the way for an unelected interim govt

BANGKOK: -- The Senate and anti-government protesters will push separately to create a "political vacuum" from today - with the latter attempting to hunt down the remaining ministers to force them to resign and pave the way for an unelected prime minister to run the country.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727204-push-for-political-vacuum-pdrc-campaign-will-force-ministers-to-resign/

[webfact]

NATION ANALYSIS
Senate, Suthep's big hope to topple govt
Attayuth Bootsripoom
The Nation


Red shirts continue descending on Utthayan Road in Nakhon Pathom yesterday to support the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship

PDRC's final battle will try to create a political vacuum to achieve its goal

BANGKOK: -- The People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and the Senate are obviously adopting the strategy of "take separate paths but join forces in the attack" in a bid to reach a common goal - install an interim government which is fully functional and led by a prime minister with full authority.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727205-senate-sutheps-big-hope-to-topple-govt/

[webfact]

Senator threatens to sue acting premier
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Senator Paiboon Nititawan yesterday threatened to take legal action against acting Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan if he insisted on scheduling the election date with the Election Commission (EC), as he did not have the authority.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727206-senator-threatens-to-sue-acting-thai-premier/

[webfact]

ENVIRONMENTAL DISPUTE
Call for CSD involvement
Boonchu Sritraipop
The Nation
Loei

LoeI villagers fear fresh attack

BANGKOK: -- Several networks are pressuring police to quickly nail the culprits behind a recent blatant and well-organised attack on villagers engaged in a long-running environmental dispute with a nearby mine.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727207-environmental-dispute-call-for-csd-involvement-in-loei/

[webfact]

Nation University English camp benefits many students
The Nation


Nation University organised a three-day English camp for high school students, who have registered to study at the university this year.

BANGKOK: -- Potential Nation University students have emerged from a three-day English camp more knowledgeable and confident.

Activities during the camp, according to the participants, were also fun.

"The Nation University provided a professional team. Teachers here made it easy and fun to learn English," Premwit Jirathaneeruangkij, 17, said.

Held at Siam Park City, the three-day camp finished yesterday and aimed to boost participants' English skills and introduce them to reporting.

The activities covered learning new vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation techniques, and story telling.

"At the end of the camp, I feel sure that I have chosen the right university for myself," Premwit said.

All the participants won the right to go to the camp because they have registered their intention to enrol at the university's Bang Na campus in the 2014 academic years.

Pimwipa Phorod, of Saint Joseph Thipawan School, said she had learnt many things about English during the camp and understood more about the work of reporters.

"Thanks to the camp I've realised that there's much to do before one can present TV news reports," she said.

"I've also learnt about the need to make necessary preparations for the upcoming AEC [Asean Economy Community]".

Nation University has organised a variety of activities for people who have registered to study there. For more information please call 02-338-3777 between 9am-6pm Monday to Friday or visit www.nation.ac.th.


-- The Nation 2014-05-19

[webfact]

SPECIAL REPORT
'Independent rice agency needed'
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The promotion of value-added rice may be an option for farmers, but in order to achieve a comprehensive and lasting solution, rice management should no longer be dependent on official policy-makers or any government - otherwise farmers will continue to be a political tool and the sector will never be developed.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727208-thai-report-independent-rice-agency-needed/

[webfact]

NPLS
High spending alerts TBank to watch for credit card NPLs
Sucheera Pinijparakarn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- After credit-card spending by its customers grew at a greater rate than the industry average in the first quarter, Thanachart Bank is keeping an eye on this trend to make sure it does not develop into a bad-debt situation.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727209-high-spending-alerts-thailands-tbank-to-watch-for-credit-card-npls/

[webfact]

Govt sends condolences to Laos
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Laotian authorities will today hold state funerals in the capital Vientiane for the four senior officials of the government and the ruling Communist Party who perished in the Air Force plane crash on Saturday morning.

Acting caretaker prime minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan and Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana, who oversees the Foreign Ministry, sent messages to their counterparts in Vientiane expressing deep regret for the great loss to the neighbouring country.

The funerals will be held at various places - That Luang grounds for Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Lt-General Douangchay Phichit and Public Security Minister Thongbanh Seng-aphone, That Phou temple for Vientiane mayor Soukhanh Mahalath and Tanmixay Temple in Saythany district for party propaganda chief Cheuang Sombounkhanh.

The funerals will start at 1pm, reported the state-run Lao News Agency.

To show gratitude and to mourn their passing, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, National Assembly, Laotian government and other agencies organised a wake and three days of mourning from Saturday to today, it said yesterday.

The Russian-made AN74TK300 of the Lao Air Force, carrying 17 passengers, mostly military and government officials, to a military ceremony in a northern province, crashed in Nadee village of Xiengkouang's Paek district.

Officials were yesterday still conducting an investigation into the cause of the accident and rescue works were on the ground.

Niwattumrong said in his letter to Vientiane that the senior officials who died in the plane crash had contributed to good relations between Thailand and Laos while they were in service.

"Thailand is familiar with all of them and feels deep sorrow for the loss to Laos and their families."


-- The Nation 2014-05-19

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Fight against hate speech begins at home
The Nation

The process must begin with oneself if we want to prevent another bloody episode in our history

BANGKOK: -- A lot has been said about "hate speech", but little has been really done about it. And the trickiest thing about "hate speech" is that even its proclaimed staunchest opponents can be drawn into its trap. In other words, haters of hate speech can unknowingly become its advocates.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727210-fight-against-hate-speech-begins-at-home-thai-editorial/

[webfact]

Mother continues to seek justice for slain daughter
Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation


Payao

BANGKOK: -- Four years after the killing of her daughter, slain nurse volunteer Kamolked Akkahad, Payao Akkahad, has vowed to continue to pursue the legal case to punish soldiers and the then head of the now-defunct Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) Suthep Thaugsuban.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727211-thai-mother-continues-to-seek-justice-for-slain-daughter/

[webfact]

Thai exceptionalism - a myth or reality?

BANGKOK: -- An important part of education is how we teach about our own country in a balanced in-depth way. When I studied US history in school, I never learned about President Roosevelt's executive order 9066 of 1942, which incarcerated innocent Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727212-thai-exceptionalism-a-myth-or-reality-opinion/

[webfact]

North Korea reports 'serious accident' after Pyongyang building collapses
By Jethro Mullen, CNN

(CNN) -- An apartment building in the North Korean capital collapsed in what state media described as a "serious accident" that caused an unspecified number of casualties.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727213-north-korea-reports-serious-accident-after-pyongyang-building-collapses/

[webfact]

Sir Jack Brabham dead
Peter McKay

SYDNEY: -- Three-time formula one world champion Sir Jack Brabham has died, aged 88.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727214-f1-legend-jack-brabham-dead-at-88/

[webfact]

Election Commissioner Angered By Pro-Election Lecture
By Khaosod English


Law lecturer and co-founder of the AFDD Worachet Pakeerut speaking at en vent on 17 May, 2014.

BANGKOK — The agency responsible for organising elections in Thailand has threatened disciplinary action against state-owned Channel 11 for broadcasting a lecture about the need to hold elections.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727216-thai-election-commissioner-angered-by-pro-election-lecture/

[webfact]

Tour guide 'killed and ate' German tourist

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727233-tour-guide-killed-and-ate-german-tourist/

[webfact]

PDRC to march along Phan Fah Bridge, Memorial Bridge, Pahurat area at 10am; UDD stays put at Aksa Road /MCOT

[webfact]

Jaturon: Ministers will not step down

BANGKOK, 19 May 2014-- Education Minister Jaturong Chaisang has vowed that he and the 11 other ministers urged to step down to make ways for the section 7 appointed interim prime minister, will not do so.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727236-thai-education-minister-jaturon-ministers-will-not-step-down/

[webfact]

1 dead, 1 injured in Highway 7 crash close to Pattaya

PATTAYA:--On Saturday Night a truck carrying paint hit a street pylon in a ditch close to the Banglamung/Rayong turn-off on Highway 7, resulting in the destruction of the truck and death of its passenger.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727235-1-dead-1-injured-in-highway-7-crash-close-to-pattaya/

[webfact]

Pheu Thai Party is skeptical about Suthep's claim

BANGKOK, 19 May 2014, (NNT) -The Pheu Thai Party is skeptical about the claim of the People’ Democratic Reform Committee Secretary General Suthep Thugsuban to surrender on Tuesday May 27th, if his planned 1-week-long mass rally fails to fulfill his group’s objective.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727238-pheu-thai-party-is-skeptical-about-sutheps-claim/

[webfact]

One freed, 121 still held hostage in Brazil prison

ARACAJU: -- Negotiators persuaded inmates holding hostages seized during a prison riot in Brazil to free a guard Sunday, but were still working to free three more guards and 118 prisoners' relatives, AFP reports.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727241-one-freed-121-still-held-hostage-in-brazil-prison/

[webfact]

Three suspects charged over Turkey's coalmine disaster
Humeyra Pamuk

Soma, Turkey: Turkish prosecutors have charged three people with reckless manslaughter over a mining disaster that left 301 dead and sparked fury at the government and company officials.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727243-three-suspects-charged-over-turkeys-coalmine-disaster/

[webfact]

Switzerland rejects world's highest minimum wage

SWITZERLAND: -- Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to introduce what would have been the highest minimum wage in the world in a referendum.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727244-switzerland-rejects-worlds-highest-minimum-wage/

[webfact]

Thai stock index opens on Monday at 1,405.53, gains 0.27 points /MCOT

[webfact]

One wounded in attack on Narathiwat teacher protection unit; Anti-govt banners hung at 4 locations in Songkhla's Thepha district /MCOT

[webfact]

Dusit Poll: People wish the EC would quickly hold the general election

BANGKOK, 19 May 2014 (NNT) – Thai people have a great concern over the current state of the politics and wish the Election Commission (EC) would quickly hold the general election, according to a recent survey by Dusit Poll.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727245-dusit-poll-people-wish-the-ec-would-quickly-hold-the-general-election/

[webfact]

Number of newly registered businesses drops 19% last month

BANGKOK, 19 May 2014 (NNT) – The number of newly registered businesses in the month of April declined by 19 percent, thanks to the ongoing conflict that has dragged on for over six months.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727247-nattawut-number-of-newly-registered-businesses-drops-19-in-april/

[webfact]

Lampang Province faces heavy rain

LAMPANG, 19 May 2014 (NNT) - Lampang Province was battered by heavy rains on Sunday (May 18), causing a number of roads in the Lampang City Municipality to become flooded.

Authorities were quickly dispatched to remove piles of leaves and debris that have been clogging up the drain pipes after a thunderstorm yesterday produced a downpour that lasted for more than an hour.

The storm came with gusty winds and heavy rains that flooded several roads in the city. Some roads had pooled up water that was 20 centimeters deep such as the Suren Road.

Reports also indicate that the thunderstorm had caused lightning strikes and power outages throughout the hour-long raining. Fortunately, the situation has returned to normal and the authorities are now doing whatever they can to remove the debris that has been clogging up the drain pipes.


-- NNT 2014-05-19

[webfact]

Danish woman robbed by European-looking man

CHIANG MAI: -- A Danish woman was robbed of THB10,000 after a European-looking man threatened to hurt her unless she handed over the money she had just withdraw from a cash machine at a busy Chiang Mai shopping mall on May 18, according to local police.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/727250-danish-woman-robbed-in-chiang-mai-by-european-looking-man/