Thailand Live Saturday 11 Oct 2014

[Lite Beer]

Prayut says Thais should prefer rice over bread

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Friday that he would like Thais to prefer rice over bread.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa....ice-over-bread/

[Lite Beer]

1599 hotline service to help police deal with stress problem

BANGKOK: -- The Police Hospital has opened a hotline service to allow policemen who are stressed to speak to a psychiatrist or someone who are willing to listen to them and to give them counseling to ease their stress.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa....stress-problem/

[Lite Beer]

Ensure 'fair probe' for suspects, says Thein Sein
The Nation

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visits Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon as part of his official visit to Myanmar yesterday.

YANGON: -- Raises Koh Tao case in talks with Prayut; Myanmar people in Yangon, Tokyo protest

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767387-ensure-fair-probe-for-suspects-says-thein-sein/

[Lite Beer]

Prayut vows to push ahead with Dawei and border economic projects
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand and Myanmar have agreed during Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to mobilise all means available to move ahead with the Dawei Special Economic Zone mega-project for the benefit of Asean as a whole and border development.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767388-prayut-vows-to-push-ahead-with-dawei-and-border-economic-projects/

[Lite Beer]

NACC, prosecutors to meet again over Yingluck impeachment case
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Fail to agree that anti-graft agency's criminal petition is ready for court

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767389-nacc-prosecutors-to-meet-again-over-yingluck-impeachment-case/

[Lite Beer]

AMLO may seize assets of firms in futsal scam
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai,
Prasit Tangprasert,
Jitima Janphrom
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- More than 100 schools in 17 provinces facing investigation

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767391-amlo-may-seize-assets-of-firms-in-futsal-scam/

[Lite Beer]

Convicted rapists' retrial denied
The Nation


Mongkhol Thothong and Nulom Adma, convicted of raping a minor detainee seven years ago and sentenced to 20 years

BANGKOK: -- The Court of Appeals yesterday rejected a request for a retrial made by two former Bangkok-based policemen who were both handed 20-year prison terms for raping a minor while in custody seven years ago.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767392-convicted-rapists-retrial-denied/

[Lite Beer]

OTEP head accused of abusing his authority
The Nation

CHIANG MAI: -- The chief of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel (OTEP) has been accused of abusing his authority in relation to the construction project for a teacher-development centre in Chiang Mai province.

Kasem Kammungkun, president of the Club of Official Teachers and Education Personnel, and National Thai Teachers Union adviser Yiamyod Srimantra filed a complaint at the Crime Suppression Division yesterday against OTEP chief Somsak Tachai and others.

Yiamyod, a former OTEP member, said the commission had approved the construction of four teacher-development centres nationwide under a Bt2-billion budget.

The agency then signed a contract with a contractor in May 2011 to build a centre in Chiang Mai at a cost of Bt360 million. However, the contract was amended three times and construction at the site was never completed, he said.

On September 9, the contractor sued at the Administrative Court for contract cancellation and Bt79 million - plus 7.5-per-cent interest until full payment is made - in compensation from the OTEP, claiming the contract amendments as the reason for annulling the deal, he added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/OTEP-head-accused-of-abusing-30245230.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-11

[Lite Beer]

Myanmar women arrested over illegal phone-call service
The Nation

RANONG: -- Eight Myanmar women have been arrested in Ranong province in connection with the case of a phone signal being hijacked to provide an illegal worldwide call service.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767393-myanmar-women-arrested-over-illegal-phone-call-service/

[Lite Beer]

Bill prohibiting animal cruelty easily passes first reading
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The long-awaited bill for the prevention of cruelty against animals passed first reading in the National Legislative Assembly yesterday, with the overwhelming support of 200 members.

Three NLA members abstained. A special committee will be set up to vet the bill within 30 days.

Among other things, the bill seeks to require owners of pets and other animals to take good care of them without abandoning them. Owners who abandon pets are liable to one year in jail and/or a fine of Bt20,000.

Many members of the 250-strong NLA debated the issue before approving the bill in principle.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Bill-prohibiting-animal-cruelty-easily-passes-firs-30245238.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-11

[Lite Beer]

Exercise caution in criticising the government, says activist
Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thais should not be too afraid to criticise the military junta but should tread carefully and incrementally expand the limits of freedom of expression, said Yingcheep Atchanont, a freedom-of-speech activist and project manager at iLaw, a non-governmental organisation supporting democratic legal reform.

"Let us try to expand [the space for criticism] little by little. Don't be too afraid but don't be too brash," he said.

More than four months after the May 22 coup and after massive media censorship by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) as well as self-censorship, Yingcheep said people were still being restricted.

Censorship is not decreasing but is stabilising, he told The Nation.

"We now know what we cannot criticise directly and strongly, but doing so indirectly is permissible."

Although people are now using abusive words against junta leader and Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and making fun of him on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, a number of prominent Facebook users have closed down their accounts. One prominent Thammasat University lecturer, who has closed his real-name Facebook account, now expresses his views under an account with a funny Japanese pseudonym instead, said another source close to the lecturer who asked not to be named.

"The NCPO has created a climate of fear in the aftermath of the coup," said Yingcheep, adding that at least one anti-coup protester was arrested after he posted the picture of his protest on his Facebook.

"We don't know when they're going to [crack down]," Yingcheep said.

Meanwhile, a source from Voice TV, which is owned by Thaksin Shinawatra's son Panthongtae Shinawatra, said the station had suffered a massive loss of viewership since it was allowed to reopen by the NCPO but became very soft on the junta. Now, said the source who asked not to be named, the station is beginning to air critical content and has been attracting some viewers back.

Ten armed soldiers, however, were still stationed in front of Voice TV station on Vibhavadee Rangsit Road in Bangkok as of yesterday.

A satellite-TV executive, who also asked not to be named for fear of straining the already fragile relationship with the NCPO, said the station had a blackout for an hour last month after it became too critical of the junta.

Yingcheep urged the NCPO to stop arresting people for merely expressing peaceful political views against the military junta. He warned that such repression was not a solution and would likely lead to occasional outbursts of political anger in the long term.

The space for on-the-street anti-coup protest is now non-existent, he noted.

"It's zero. And a massive number of websites are being blocked."

Yingcheep added that even those websites with the three-finger "Hunger Games" salute were being indiscriminately blocked, as the symbol has been used to oppose the coup.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Exercise-caution-in-criticising-the-government-say-30245235.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-11

[Lite Beer]

NLA sets up whips committee
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The National Legislative Assembly yesterday set up a special committee to coordinate its affairs.

The committee, or whips, will have no more than 28 members.

The members include the NLA president, its two vice presidents, acting Senate secretary-general Norarat Pimsen, who is acting as NLA secretary-general, and PM's Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, as well as 16 representatives from 16 NLA standing committees and seven members selected by the chamber.

The seven members selected yesterday are General Noppadol Inthapanya, Yutthana Thapcharoen, General Sirichai Disthakul, Somchai Sawaengkarn, Suwimol Phumsingharat, Air Chief Marshal Kanis Muensawat and ACM Itthaporn Supawong.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NLA-sets-up-whips-committee-30245242.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-11

[Lite Beer]

Women's rights activists object
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Women rights' advocates have objected to the draft law on gender equality, which is due to be referred to the National Legislative Assembly, on the grounds that some of the definitions in the draft are reportedly not in line with the international principles.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767394-womens-rights-activists-object/

[Lite Beer]

Farmers taught to cope with soil salinity
Phumpetch Roumjit
THE NATION

A mind map is drawn by Siam Cement Group employees to summarise the idea behind the Pluk Kid Pun Suk learning centre in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA:-- A big hurdle for northeastern farmers has been lowered thanks to the success of a Nakhon Ratchasima learning centre that provides knowledge about soil salinity management.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767395-farmers-taught-to-cope-with-soil-salinity/

[Lite Beer]

Prayut tells NRC to follow Defence Ministry proposals
The Nation

Newly appointed members of the National Reform Council report to work at Parliament yesterday. A total of 163 members of the 250-strong NRC had done so as of yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday told the National Reform Council (NRC) to use the proposals of the Defence Ministry as guidelines for national reforms.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767396-prayut-tells-nrc-to-follow-defence-ministry-proposals/

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Are smartphones making fools of us?
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Investing in an upgrade is always a dodgy proposition, but the tech firms want to keep us guessing

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767397-are-smartphones-making-fools-of-us/

[Lite Beer]

NLA passed third reading of the draft amendment of the Government Pension Act 1951

BANGKOK, 9 October 2014 (NNT) - The National Legislative Assembly has passed the third reading of the draft amendment of the Government Pension Act 1951, which will enable hundreds of thousands of Government Pension Fund members to switch to enjoy more benefits.

On Thursday, 203 NLA members have voted to pass the third reading of the amended Government Pension Act 1951. Accordingly, the decades-old law will be put into effect again within 30 days after it is published in the Royal Gazette.

As a result of the passing of this draft, around 600,000-700,000 out of some 1.2 million Government Pension Fund members, who started working for the government before March 27, 1997, will be able to choose to switch to be covered and enjoy more benefits offered by this law from 1951, when compared with the current law.

Those who wish to make a switch can do so after the latest amended law becomes effective.

-- NNT 2014-10-10

[Lite Beer]

Farmers to receive financial compensation as early as 20 Oct

BANGKOK, 10 October 2014 (NNT) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is pushing for the Cabinet's recently approved measures to help farmers by urgently inspecting the registration of farmers and giving them financial compensation starting this 20 October.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767398-farmers-to-receive-financial-compensation-as-early-as-20-oct/

[Lite Beer]

First Ever World Egg Day is celebrated in Thailand

BANGKOK, 10 Oct 2014 (NNT) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in cooperation with Thailand’s Egg Board and the International Egg Commission is organizing World Egg Day celebrations from 10-14 October, at Siam Square One shopping center. The event, which is the first of its kind in this country, is held to encourage Thais to eat more chicken eggs which is the Egg Board’s goal.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767399-first-ever-world-egg-day-is-celebrated-in-thailand/

[Lite Beer]

Party funeral for British tourist murdered in Thailand
London | AFP | Friday 10/10/2014

Family and friends staged a party funeral on Friday to bid farewell to Hannah Witheridge, one of two British tourists murdered on a Thai holiday island.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767405-party-funeral-for-british-tourist-murdered-in-thailand/

[Lite Beer]

National parks up entrance fees

BANGKOK, 10 October 2014: Visits to Ko Surin and Similan marine national parks will be more expensive for international tourists, following a decision by Thailand’s national parks to raise the entrance fee to THB500 per day from the current THB400 fee.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767404-national-parks-up-entrance-fees/

[Lite Beer]

Wanted man and his girlfriend shot behind Pattaya School

PATTAYA:--Early on Friday Morning a 19 year old man wanted for murder, and his 17 year old girlfriend were shot and seriously injured.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767412-wanted-man-and-his-girlfriend-shot-behind-pattaya-school/

[Lite Beer]

Pre-High Season Police Parade on Pattaya Beach

PATTAYA:--As local Police divisions attempt to persuade Thai and Foreign tourists that Pattaya is a safe place to be, a parade took place on Pattaya Beach on Friday afternoon.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767413-pre-high-season-police-parade-on-pattaya-beach/

[Lite Beer]

RT @RichardBarrow: Adventure Expo 2014 at CentralWorld #Bangkok from 23-26 October http://t.co/HFg7MBuIrO

[Lite Beer]

Commerce Ministry to meet on holding commodity goods fair at year's end

BANGKOK, 11 Oct 2014, (NNT) - Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikanlaya said his ministry and numerous goods manufacturers and vendors nationwide are to meet next week to plan a major commodity sales event at the end of the year, as a new year gift for the people of Thailand.

The Minister also revealed that during yesterday’s meeting on the prices of goods and services, the meeting decided to ease the regulation on moving agricultural goods including rice, corn and tapioca.

Previously the code prohibited the transfer of agricultural goods between provinces, preventing the duplication on the pledging program.

As the Government no longer supports any pledging schemes for the agricultural products, it therefore allows the inter-province transfer of the 3 products, with an exception of the districts located along the border, General Chatchai further explained.

He said these districts must seek permissions from the provincial authority to move the goods of more than 10 tons.

-- NNT 2014-10-11

[Lite Beer]

Suvarnabhumi Airport to continue improvement drive as it heads into 9th year

BANGKOK, 11 October 2014 (NNT) – Airports of Thailand executives responsible for the management of Suvarnabhumi International Airport have pledged to continue making improvements to accommodate the country's integration into the ASEAN Economic Community next year.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767425-suvarnabhumi-airport-to-continue-improvement-drive-as-it-heads-into-9th-year/

[Lite Beer]

UPDATE:

Myanmar, Thailand renew vows to resume Dawei SEZ

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha met with Myanmar President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw on Thursday, when the two military-turned-civilian leaders agreed once more to restart the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project, The Irrawaddy reported.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767388-prayut-vows-to-push-ahead-with-dawei-and-border-economic-projects/#entry8516563

[Lite Beer]

Interior Ministry to discuss with PM on conducting artificial rains

BANGKOK, 11 Oct 2014, (NNT) - Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda has said he has discussed with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha the prospect of conducting royal rainmaking operations in drought-hit provinces.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767427-interior-ministry-to-discuss-with-pm-on-conducting-artificial-rains/

[Lite Beer]

Thousands of venomous spiders force family from upscale Missouri home

WELDON SPRING, Mo. -- A family was driven from their suburban St. Louis home by thousands of venomous spiders that fell from the ceiling and oozed from the walls.

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/767429-thousands-of-venomous-spiders-force-family-from-upscale-missouri-home/

[Lite Beer]

Smattering of Yangon protests greet Thai PM over Koh Tao murder case

YANGON: -- A small number of Myanmar activists held two days of protests against the arrest of a pair of Myanmar migrants accused of murdering two tourists on southern Thailand’s Koh Tao island last month, as Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha arrived in Yangon on Friday for the second day of his first overseas trip since taking the helm of the military-ruled country.

A group of about 20 protesters led by the Movement for Democracy Current Force held a protest and prayer vigil at downtown Yangon’ s Sule Pagoda on Thursday evening, holding placards that urged the former general turned prime minister “to let the accused two Myanmar receive the benefit of the doubt.”

“We just want justice for them,” said Ba Myint, one of the leaders of Thursday’s protest. “We are not asking for their unconditional acquittal in the case.”

Another sign called for “the Myanmar President and Thai Prime Minister to protect the two Myanmar in accordance with the rule of law.”

A group led by Nay Myo Zin, a social activist, held a separate demonstration in front of nearby Mahabandoola Park on Friday morning. They were denied permission to protest in front of the Thai embassy and at Yangon International Airport after discussions with Yangon Division’s border security minister proved unsuccessful in securing the OK, Nay Myo Zin said.

Friday’s protest brought only a handful of activists out, with organizers saying turnout was affected by the short amount of time that they had secured for the event.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/smattering-yangon-protestes-greet-thai-pm-koh-tao-murder-case/

-- Thai PBS 2014-10-11