Thailand Live Friday 3 Oct 2014

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US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense
Washington, United States | AFP |

WASHINGTON: -- In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765428-us-lifts-40-year-arms-ban-to-boost-vietnam-sea-defense/

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Tour de Where? French organizers dismiss claim famous race coming to Thailand
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Richard S. Marks

Have you heard the one about the Tour de France breaking a century of tradition to move to Thailand next year? No, seriously.

BANGKOK: -- A day after tourism authority headlines unequivocally asserted "Tour de France to be held in Thailand next year," the race's organizers were forced to publicly repudiate the claim.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765433-tour-de-where-french-organizers-dismiss-claim-famous-race-coming-to-thailand/

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Meat found in 'vegetarian' food from China Town
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Watsamon Tri-yasakda

BANGKOK: -- Vegetarian Festival 2014 version 1.0 ended yesterday with the discovery of meat in yellow-flagged food ingredients from the Yaowarat area.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765436-bangkok-meat-found-in-vegetarian-food-from-china-town/

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Colorful jellyfish found drifting along shallow waters in Chanthaburi

CHANTHABURI, 3 October 2014 (NNT) - Enthusiastic tourists and locals alike have flocked to Laem Sing District, Chanthaburi Province, to see shoals of colorful jellyfish that have been floating in the bay.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765441-colorful-jellyfish-found-drifting-along-shallow-waters-in-chanthaburi/

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Three ministries meet to discuss water and waste management

BANGKOK, 3 October 2014 (NNT) - Three ministries are holding a meeting to discuss measures to tackle drought risks, water management and other pressing issues on the government’s agenda this year.

The Ministries of Interior, Agriculture and Cooperatives and Environment and Natural Resources have met to consider issues faced during the past three years and outlining aid measures for 2015.

Topics of discussion included the drought crisis, flood control action plans, waste management and the expropriation of land. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative also urged members of the public to use water sparingly to prepare for next year’s drought season.

The ministries are outlining future policies to tackle the problems in accordance with the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s plan to sustainably manage water resources for fiscal year 2015.


-- NNT 2014-10-03

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Smartphone users can check flood updates on an app now

BANGKOK, 3 October 2014 (NNT)-Mobile users will be able to get flood updates on their phones soon. The Royal Irrigation Department has launched an application called WMSC (or Water Watch and Monitoring System for Warning Center). It has been developed specifically for users of IOS smartphones and tablets.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765444-smartphone-users-can-check-flood-updates-on-an-app-now/

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UPDATE:

DNA testing matches two migrant workers



KOH TAO: -- The DNA testings of two of the three Myanmar migrant workers arrested by the police yesterday matched the DNA collected from the body of the British tourist raped and killed in Koh Tao on September 15.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765397-dna-samples-from-two-myanmar-workers-match-with-those-collected-from-british-victim/page-5?p=8476618#entry8476618

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Thailand Post starts free 'send postcard' week
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- To celebrate World Post Day, Thailand Post would like you to express your feelings on a postcard and send it for free at all post offices, starting today.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765446-thailand-post-starts-free-send-postcard-week/

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Police captain dies from explosion while directing traffic in Pattani



BANGKOK: -- A police officer was killed when a hidden bomb exploded while he was directing traffic in front if a school on the Pattani-Hat Yai road in Ming Chik district of Pattani this morning.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765449-police-captain-dies-from-explosion-while-directing-traffic-in-pattani/

[Lite Beer]

UPDATE:

Police Say Forensic Tests Implicate 2 Koh Tao Suspects

By Khaosod Eng.

SURAT THANI — Police say DNA tests reveal that two Burmese migrant workers were responsible for murder of two British backpackers in southern Thailand nearly three weeks ago.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765397-dna-samples-from-two-myanmar-workers-match-with-those-collected-from-british-victim/page-7?p=8476817#entry8476817

[Lite Beer]

Reenactment of two British nationals murders to be done today
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Oct 3 -- National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung is scheduled to take two Myanmar nationals suspected of murdering two British tourists nearly three weeks ago for a reenactment at the crime scene on Ko Tao, the small island in the Gulf of Thailand and off the coast of the southern province of Surat Thani, on Friday.

More than 200 anti-riot and plainclothes police will be deployed during the reenactment which will be held after a press conference.

Police said a third Myanmar man, believed to be a close friend of those two suspects, will be asked to stand as a witness because he did not join in the rape and murder.

The reenactment of the crime will be held after police said results of DNA tests on semen found on Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 23, matched with the two suspects.

Ms Witheridge and David William Miller, 24, were brutally murdered on a Ko Tao beach early on September 15.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister/Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan told journalists that the suspects were "not scapegoats" and evidence obtained by police showed that they were connected with the murder.

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said he had received information from the police that three Myanmar nationals had been arrested by police. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-10-03

[Lite Beer]

Deputy PM, Army Chief travel to deep south
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Oct 3 -- Deputy Prime Minister/Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan flew to Thailand's insurgency-impacted deep south today to meet with senior army officers in the region, aimed at ending the bloody violence there which resumed more than a decade ago.

Accompanied by newly appointed army chief Gen Udomdej Sitabutr and Anusit Kunakorn, secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), Gen Prawit will first attend a meeting with high-ranking army officers at Sirindhorn Army Camp in Pattani's Yarang district.

He is scheduled to present operations policy to the army officers before proceeding to inspect army operations in nearby Yala province.

Gen. Prawit told journalists before his departure that resolving unrest in the southern border provinces is in line with the order given by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

He said army chief Gen Udomdej, as deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command, is tasked with supervising operations in the deep South.

Touching on the appointment of the Thai government team negotiating with representatives of insurgent groups, aimed at ending the renewed violence centred in the three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat since January 2004, Gen Prawit said the cabinet, NSC and the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre must first discuss and decide whether the chief of the team should be a military officer or an NSC official.

Eventually, Prime Minister Gen Prayut will make the final decision, he said, adding that so far such a meeting has not been held. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-10-03

[Lite Beer]

Phuket's new top cop lays down the law

Saran Mitrarat

PHUKET: The island's new police chief has vowed to continue cracking down on the taxi mafia and beach clearing, while improving security for Phuket's residents tourists.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765456-phukets-new-top-cop-lays-down-the-law/

[Lite Beer]

200 policemen deployed to guard two Myanmar men on Koh Tao

KOH TAO: -- About 200 policemen were deployed to guard two Myanmar suspects during a reenactment of their alleged murder of two British tourists.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765467-murder-reenactment-200-policemen-deployed-to-guard-two-myanmar-men-on-koh-tao

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NACC reveals assets of NLA members



BANGKOK: -- The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), today revealed the assets and liabilities of 195 members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) today with the chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and Board of Trade of Thailand (BOT) being the richest man.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765464-nacc-reveals-assets-of-nla-members/

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Microsoft Thailand to kill off Windows 7 support on October 31, 2014

Synnex Thailand announces the end of Windows 7

BANGKOK: -- Microsoft Thailand is pulling the plug on mainstream support for Windows 7 from October 31, 2014, as the product "reach EOL".

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765469-microsoft-thailand-to-kill-off-windows-7-support-on-october-31-2014/

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Street vendors face jail time for 'occupying' Bang Rak
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- Dozens of protesting street vendors staged their own Occupy Bang Rak yesterday by sealing government workers inside their own office.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765478-street-vendors-face-jail-time-for-occupying-bang-rak/

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Chiang Mai feels the arrival of winter

CHIANG MAI, 3 October 2014 (NNT) – Chiang Mai province has experienced mild winter in the morning. The early arrival of winter has prompted people to seek donations of warm clothes before the temperature begins to plunge.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765480-chiang-mai-feels-the-arrival-of-winter/

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UPDATE:

NACC urges two NLA members to declare their assets

BANGKOK, 3 October 2014 (NNT) - The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has insisted that two members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) provide details regarding their assets and liabilities by October 3rd.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765464-nacc-reveals-assets-of-nla-members/#entry8477386

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Phuket Town water to be cut off for 7 hours this weekend
Tanyaluk Sakoot


Photo: mrhayata/Flickr

PHUKET: -- Main water supplies in Phuket Town will be turned off for seven hours from Saturday night (October 4) into Sunday morning (October 5).

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765484-phuket-town-water-to-be-cut-off-for-7-hours-this-weekend/

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Nine South Koreans, one Myanmar arrested for operating gambling website

BANGKOK: -- Police have arrested nine South Koreans and one Myanmar for renting a Bangkok condominium to operate a football gambling website.

The ten were arrested at the Wasu Condominium on Soi Thonglor on Thursday. Among seized evidences were ten desktop computers, three notebook computers, 16 mobile phones and 87 electronic transaction devices.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Nine-South-Koreans-one-Myanmar-arrested-for-operat-30244691.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-03

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Australian PM orders parliamentary burka ban rethink

CANBERRA: -- Australian PM Tony Abbott has urged the Speaker of parliament to reverse plans to ban women who cover their faces from sitting in the main public galleries.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765493-australian-pm-orders-parliamentary-burka-ban-rethink/

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WHO asks for Ebola anti-body from Siriraj for lab test

BANGKOK: -- The World Health Organisation has requested for a sample of therapeutic antibody for Ebola virus from Siriraj Hospital, clinical Prof Dr Udom Kachintorn, dean of Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, said Friday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765497-who-asks-for-ebola-anti-body-from-bangkoks-siriraj-for-lab-test/

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Police indict surrogacy clinic doctor



BANGKOK: -- Lumpini station police officially indicted Dr Pisit Tantiwattanakul, owner of All IVF Clinic, on Friday with two charges in connection with the surrogacy cases involving a Japanese young businessman reported to father 15 babies.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765499-bangkok-police-indict-surrogacy-clinic-doctor/

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thai Immigration boss warns of fake extension stamps

BANGKOK:-- Today Police Lieutenant General Sakda Chuenpakdee, the Commissioner, of The Royal Thai Police Immigration Bureau, has through Police Colonel Voravat Amornvivat, Deputy Commander of Investigations, requested Thaivisa.com to give the following warning to all foreigners in Thailand.

Read the full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765498-thai-immigration-boss-warns-of-fake-extension-stamps/

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Rape murder suspects reenact crimes under tight protection



KOH TAO: -- The two Myanmar rapist murderer suspects were flown by helicopter from Surat Thani to Koh Tao to reenact their crimes at the scenes.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765467-murder-reenactment-200-policemen-deployed-to-guard-two-myanmar-men-on-koh-tao/page-4?p=8478066#entry8478066

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SET index closed 1,570.28, up 0.55; Bt/USD32.33; GBP52.04; AUD28.26; EUR40.75; CAD28.80; HKD4.16; SGD25.26; JPY29.55

[Lite Beer]

Surrogacy doctor indicted

BANGKOK: -- A doctor associated with a number of unauthorised surrogacies, who has been accused of violating laws against unauthorised medical practices, was Friday indicted for two offences after acknowledging the crimes to public prosecutors, before being released on bail.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765568-surrogacy-doctor-indicted/

[Lite Beer]

‘Nigerian Email Scammer’ Arrested By Thai Police

BANGKOK: -- Thai police say they have arrested a Nigerian man who allegedly conned over one million baht from a Thai woman through an elaborate online scam.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765569-nigerian-email-scammer-arrested-by-thai-police/

[Lite Beer]

Fake bomb detector husband jailed for three years

LONDON: -- A man who claimed plastic devices he made in his garden shed could detect bombs and find missing Madeleine McCann has been jailed.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/765570-fake-bomb-detector-husband-jailed-for-three-years/