Thailand Live Wednesday 17 Sep 2014

[webfact]

Thai Consular service starts passport speed post, sending passports back to owners within 3 days

BANGKOK, 17 September 2014 (NNT) -- Mr. Tongchai Chasawat, the Director General of the Thai Consular service, has announced that the Consular office has started Passport Speed Post, the expedited passport return process, which allows owners to get their passports back within three days from the date of application.

This will be in place first up at Changwattana Consular office, for addresses in Bangkok and areas on the outskirts. The Passport Speed Post fee is sixty baht, while the EMS fee is forty baht. The latter takes five days for Bangkok addresses and seven days for provincial addresses.

Mr. Sanya Tongsapak, Assistant to the Managing Director of the Thai Post Office, noted that the Thai post system has high security and clear process. So passports won't get lost or destroyed in the mail. As well, passport owners can track their package. If a passport is lost in transit, the owner can request a new one from the Consular office at no cost.

-- NNT 2014-09-17

[webfact]

LATEST:

Hunt for killers of British pair goes on after Thai police free Myanmar suspects
by Preeti JHA

BANGKOK, September 17, 2014 (AFP) - Thai police Tuesday ruled out three Myanmar workers in connection with the murder of two young British tourists, as Thailand's military ruler appeared to call into question the "behaviour" of the victims themselves.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761069-hunt-for-killers-of-british-pair-goes-on-after-thai-police-free-myanmar-suspects/

[webfact]

University Bans Annual Commemoration of 1976 Student Massacre
By Khaosod English


The public commemorating the 6 Oct 1976 massacre of student activists at Thammasat University on 6 Oct, 2013.

BANGKOK — Thammasat University's administrators have preemptively banned any political events commemorating the 1976 massacre that took place inside the university on 6 October, presumably to comply with the military junta’s ban on all political activities.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761065-thammasat-university-bans-annual-commemoration-of-1976-student-massacre/

[webfact]

Family of Disappeared Karen Activist Files Court Appeal
By Khaosod English


Activists discuss Billy's disappearance on 11 May, 2014.

PETCHABURI — The family of a Karen activist who went missing five months ago is urging a provincial court for the second time to investigate his mysterious disappearance.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761068-family-of-disappeared-karen-activist-billy-files-court-appeal/

[webfact]

SPECIAL REPORT
PM is Thailand's 'Lord of the Rings'
The Nation


Photo : Vorawit Pumpuang

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha flirted with the media after his first official Cabinet meeting yesterday, saying they were among his best friends.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761070-pm-prayuth-is-thailands-lord-of-the-rings/

[webfact]

UPDATE:

AUDIO CONTROVERSY
Premier orders inquiry into pricey mics, has them removed
Anapat Deechuay
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday ordered the suspension and removal of high-end audio-visual systems installed recently at Government House, and set up a panel to look at whether they are appropriate.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/760917-pm-prayuth-orders-suspension-of-conference-av-system-installations/page-2#entry8395628

[webfact]

NEW TAX SYSTEM
Income tax to drop
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Cabinet yesterday approved the reduction of personal income tax to 5-35 per cent from 10-37 per cent, while corporate income tax has been set at 20 per cent of net profit.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761071-personal-income-tax-to-drop/

[webfact]

POLITICS
Don't erect big images of me: Prayuth
The Nation


PM General Prayuth Chan-ocha, wearing a prarajathan silk shirt, shows and explains each of his rings to reporters after his first official Cabinet meeting at Government House yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- BEFORE PRIME Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the flood-affected province of Sukhothai last Friday evening, local officials set up a big cut-out with a larger-than-life image to welcome the new PM.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761072-dont-erect-big-images-of-me-prayuth/

[webfact]

TOURISM
Experts pinpoint tourism setbacks
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION


A Thai Airways plane is about to land at Suvarnabhumi International airport as it passes a huge billboard on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 08 September 2014. Thailands tourism income has dropped by some 9.1 percent in the first half of 2014

BANGKOK: -- Experts with long experience in the tourism industry have outlined two major problems that have been holding back the sector for many years and need to be reformed for long-term competitiveness.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761073-experts-pinpoint-thai-tourism-setbacks/

[webfact]

RICE DEBT
7 years needed to clear rice debts: BAAC
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives believes it will take about seven years to clear the Bt755 billion in debts related to the previous governments' rice-pledging projects.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761074-7-years-needed-to-clear-thai-rice-pledging-debts-baac/

[webfact]

ECONOMIC
Premier promises recovery of economy in fourth quarter
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The economy will recover next quarter, said Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who indicated that a planned inheritance tax would have no negative impact on low-income earners.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761076-premier-promises-recovery-of-thai-economy-in-fourth-quarter/

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Unfair law enforcement, political bias fuel social division
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The delay in arresting suspects for the 2010 violence is just the latest example of a country overwhelmed by double standards

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761077-thai-editorial-unfair-law-enforcement-political-bias-fuel-social-division/

[webfact]

STOPPAGE TIME
Death deserves our full respect
Tulsathit Taptim

BANGKOK: -- I don't remember all the details, but that scene from a very old movie goes more or less like this: A father and young son, on a boat, discuss where people go after they die. The man takes a glass and fills it with water. "This is life," he tells the boy, showing the glass. Then he pours the water into the river. "And this is death."

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761078-thai-opinion-death-deserves-our-full-respect/

[webfact]

Cambodian General Arrested in Thailand after Murdering Wife and 6 Year Old Daughter


Cambodian police escort Major General Kim Marintha through a checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey after Thai authorities handed the suspect over on Saturday.

BANGKOK – A two-star military general wanted for the brutal murder of his wife and 6-year-old daughter was arrested in Thailand on Saturday and sent back to Phnom Penh, where he was charged with premeditated murder Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761079-cambodian-general-arrested-in-thailand-after-murdering-wife-and-6-year-old-daughter/

[webfact]

Foreign Drunk Driver accused of poor parking at Pattaya Market

PATTAYA: -- On Tuesday Morning, Traffic Police were called to the Soi Buakhao Market in South Pattaya by a Traffic Police Volunteer who witnessed a drunken man, thought to be a foreign national, park his car in the middle of the market, blocking the road.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761080-foreign-drunk-driver-accused-of-poor-parking-at-pattaya-market/

[webfact]

Mystery of Double Dog Murder in East Pattaya



PATTAYA: -- Two dogs were found hanging from rope tied to a steel structure in a car park behind an NGV Gas Station in East Pattaya on Tuesday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761081-mystery-of-double-dog-murder-in-east-pattaya/

[webfact]

Street brawl leaves one vocational student wounded

BANGKOK: -- One vocational student was wounded in a street brawl between rival vocational students on Rama III road, Bangkok Metropolis, Tuesday afternoon.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761083-bangkok-street-brawl-leaves-one-vocational-student-wounded/

[webfact]

Vendors forced out of Chatuchak pavements

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has installed barricades on pedestrian pavements from Morchit terminal of the BTS and MRT systems to Kamphaeng Phet road to prevent some 300 vendors from using the pavements to sell their merchandise.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761085-vendors-forced-out-of-bangkoks-chatuchak-pavements/

[webfact]

Bid for warnings on alcohol bottles
Poungchompoo Prasert
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry's Disease Control Department aims on pushing for the draft law to have a warning image and message on alcohol bottles and a draft law for a strict ban of alcoholic beverages on trains.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761087-bid-for-warnings-on-alcohol-bottles/

[webfact]

UPDATE:

Thaksin exclusion 'not intentional'
TANPISIT LERDBAMRUNGCHAI,
KRIS BHROMSUTHI
THE NATION

OMISSION FROM HISTORY TEXTBOOK CALLED AN 'ABERRATION', BUT CRITICS BLAST MOVE

BANGKOK: -- EDUCATION authorities yesterday dismissed a report that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was intentionally deleted from high-school history textbooks, claiming that international media had misquoted an official.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/760915-loved-and-hated-former-pm-thaksin-is-erased-from-textbook/page-5?p=8395789#entry8395789

[webfact]

Crime networks 'running free'
PIYANUT TAMNUKASETCHAI
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- A RECENT study shows that Thai people's general lenient attitude and the country's lax law-enforcement measures has led to the Kingdom becoming a hub of transnational criminals.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761091-thailand-becoming-a-hub-of-transnational-criminals/

[webfact]

UPDATE:

Thailand deaths: Police have 'number of suspects'

(BBC) Police investigating the deaths of two Britons in Thailand say they are looking for a number of suspects - but have ruled out other British tourists.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761069-hunt-for-killers-of-british-pair-goes-on-after-thai-police-free-myanmar-suspects/?p=8395822#entry8395822

[webfact]

Obama says Ebola outbreak a 'global security threat'

(BBC) President Barack Obama has called the West Africa Ebola outbreak "a threat to global security" as he announced a larger US role in fighting the virus.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761101-ebola-global-security-threat-obama/

[webfact]

US general: Ground troops option if anti-IS strategy fails

WASHINGTON: -- US ground forces could be deployed against Islamic State (IS) militants if the current US-led strategy fails, top US General Martin Dempsey has said.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761102-us-general-ground-troops-option-if-anti-is-strategy-fails/

[webfact]

Motorists urged to avoid Silom road Saturday, Sunday, Monday

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration urged motorists to avoid Silom Road from Saturday to Monday when the road of the business area in the heart of Bangkok will be closed to traffic to celebrate the Car Free day.

On Saturday, two lanes from Saladaeng Intersection to Narathiwat Intersection will be closed from noon to 10 pm and then the entire road will be closed to traffic until 6 am of Monday.

A parade of cyclists will be held from Sanam Luang to Silom Road on Saturday as well. The cyclists will ride on Rajdamnone Road to Si Ayutthaya Road and make a right turn to Rajprarop and Rajdamri roads heading to Silom.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Motorists-urged-to-avoid-Silom-road-Saturday-Sunda-30243458.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-17

[webfact]

Thai stock index opens on Wednesday at 1,572.98, gains 7.57 points /MCOT

[webfact]

UN Appoints Leonardo DiCaprio as Messenger of Peace on Climate Issues

UNITED NATIONS, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has been appointed as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalists at a press conference Tuesday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761113-un-appoints-leonardo-dicaprio-as-messenger-of-peace-on-climate-issues/

[webfact]

Norwegian killed in motorcycle accident in Bangkok


Motorcyclists in Bangkok. Photo: Roland Dobbins @ WikiCommons

BANGKOK: -- A 52 year old Norwegian for man from Steinkjer Norway lost his life in a motorcycle accident this Saturday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761118-norwegian-killed-in-motorcycle-accident-in-bangkok/

[webfact]

UPDATE:

Police question backpacker as focus shifts to blonde hair found in victim's hand
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- Police are questioning another Western backpacker while they attempt to establish whether a single strand of blonde hair found in the hand of Koh Tao murder victim Hannah Witheridge belongs to the person who killed her and David Miller.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761069-hunt-for-killers-of-british-pair-goes-on-after-thai-police-free-myanmar-suspects/page-6?p=8396679#entry8396679

[webfact]

Typhoon KALMAEGI downgraded to tropical storm, more rain expected

BANGKOK, 17 September 2014 (NNT) – According to the Meteorological Department's daily weather forecast, more rain, with some heavy falls, can be expected today and tomorrow, especially in the North and the Northeast region of the country.

Today at 4.00 a.m., typhoon “KALMAEGI” descended on upper Vietnam but was downgraded to a tropical storm. The storm is now centered west of Hanoi, Vietnam, at latitude 22.0 degree North, longitude 105.5 degree East. The storm with a sustained wind speed of 100 km/hr was moving west at a speed of 30 km/hr. It is heading to upper Laos and is subjected to a further downgrade to a tropical depression by tonight.

People in the provinces of Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nong Nong Bua Lam Phu, Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Khon Kaen and Chaiyaphum should beware of approaching heavy rain and strong winds.

The Meteorological Department added that along with the active southwest monsoon which prevails over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, torrential rain with heavy to very heavy falls is likely in the East and the Southern region of the country.

People in the provinces of Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Chanthaburi, Trat, Ranong, Chumphon, Phang-nga, Phuket and Krabi can also expect heavy rain. Waves of 2 to 4 meters high can be expected in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea due to the strong winds. All ships are advised to proceed with caution.

In the Bangkok metropolitan area, residents can expect cloudy skies with an 80% chance of fairly widespread thundershowers.

Temperatures throughout the country will range between 23-34 degrees during Wednesday.


-- NNT 2014-09-17

weather forecasts for all Thai provinces: http://weather.thaivisa.com