Thailand Live Monday 12 Jan 2015

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Killing is not the answer
Wong Chun Wai
The Star
Asia News Network
Kuala Lumpur


People attend before a rally in Rennes, western France, on Sunday, as tens of thousands of people stage rallies across France following four days of terror and twin siege dramas. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER

But the fact remains: mocking a sacred religious figure is dangerous, as the charlie hebdo attack has shown

KUALA LUMPUR: -- There is outrage sweeping across newsrooms throughout the world over the heinous murder of 12 people, 10 of whom were journalists, in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris on Wednesday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791135-charlie-hebdo-attack-killing-is-not-the-answer/

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JK Rowling assails Murdoch tweet about Muslims

NEW YORK (AP) — J.K. Rowling had a few words for Rupert Murdoch.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791137-jk-rowling-assails-murdoch-tweet-about-muslims/

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Malaysian cops gun down three robbers after dramatic car chase



IPOH: -- Three robbers who had been terrorising their victims since July last year finally paid with their lives during a shootout with the police, according to The Star Online.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791139-malaysia-cops-gun-down-three-robbers-after-dramatic-car-chase/

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Road link between Thailand and Cambodia will open in Si Sa Ket at the end of 2015

SI SA KET, 12 January 2014 (NNT) - The construction of a road linking Thailand and Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province is expected to be finished in November and ready for tourism in the AEC era.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791140-road-link-between-thailand-and-cambodia-will-open-in-si-sa-ket-at-the-end-of-2015/

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Vic wife sells cheating husband's Porsche
AAP

MELBOURNE: -- REVENGE is sweet, and so is selling your cheating husband's Porsche at a bargain basement price.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791144-australia-vic-wife-sells-cheating-husbands-porsche/

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Phuket relaxes ban on private jets


Phuket International Airport has issued a new set of restrictions on private jets

PHUKET: -- Private jets continue to face restrictions at Phuket airport, albeit to a lesser degree than during the recent holiday season.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791158-phuket-relaxes-ban-on-private-jets/

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Western runway of Suvarnabhumi airport to be closed for maintenance daily from 1-6 am until February 14 /The Nation

Opposition challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was elected Croatia's 1st woman president in a tight contest. /The Nation

Indonesian divers found black box of AirAsia plane which crashed into Java Sea 2 weeks ago w/ 162 people aboard. /The Nation

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6.0-magnitude quake jolts parts of Luzon, Metro Manila



A 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook people out of bed when it struck parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, at 3:31am Sunday.
Inquirer Libre sports editor Dennis Eroa, who lives in Olongapo City, said he and his son, Matthaus, were roused from sleep by the quake.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791160-60-magnitude-quake-jolts-parts-of-luzon-metro-manila/

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Divers retrieve 1 of 2 black boxes from crashed AirAsia jet

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — Divers retrieved one of the black boxes Monday from the AirAsia plane that plummeted more than two weeks ago into the Java Sea, a major breakthrough in the slow-moving hunt to recover bodies and wreckage.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791162-divers-retrieve-1-of-2-black-boxes-from-crashed-airasia-jet/

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Thai stock index opens on Monday at 1,524.18, falls 5.24 points /MCOT

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Yingluck must come to answer questions in NLA on January 16



BANGKOK: -- Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra must appear at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to answer questions about her rice-pledging scheme, NLA vice president Surachai Liangboonlertchai said yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791165-yingluck-must-come-to-answer-questions-in-nla-on-january-16/

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UPDATE:

Navy divers find AirAsia black box: Transportation Ministry



JAKARTA: -- The Jakarta Globe reported, citing a transport ministry official, that Indonesian divers on Sunday found the black box of the AirAsia plane which crashed in the Java Sea a fortnight ago with 162 people aboard, but they failed to retrieve it because it was stuck under debris from the main body of the plane.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791162-divers-retrieve-1-of-2-black-boxes-from-crashed-airasia-jet/#entry8927007

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Summit on fight against "violent extremism" to be held in Washington
English.news.cn

PARIS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A summit on fight against "violent extremism" will be held in Washington DC, after deadly terrorist attacks happened in Paris, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said here on Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791170-summit-on-fight-against-violent-extremism-to-be-held-in-washington/

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Middlemen keeping fresh food prices high despite lower oil prices

BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - Retailers are asking the government for help as commodity prices remain high despite lower oil prices.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791172-middlemen-keeping-fresh-food-prices-high-despite-lower-oil-prices/

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NRC to decide how elections could be organized fairly

BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - The National Reform Council (NRC) will hold a meeting today to seek ways to establish a fair and transparent election in Thailand.

According to NRC President Thienchay Keeranan, the NRC will be holding a 2-day meeting today and tomorrow. Today’s meeting will concentrate on the NRC standing committee’s report on its public survey findings regarding the national reform.

NRC members are also expected to share their opinions on how the general election could be set up transparently on the same day.

On Tuesday, they will deliberate on the 21st petroleum concession auction which provides concessions to private companies under Thailand Plus3 System.

As the system has been criticized for unfair profit distribution, particularly to the country, the NRC will decide whether the production sharing method should be adopted. Their deliberation will be forwarded to the government for consideration.


-- NNT 2015-01-12

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Golden Globes: Jared Leto, HFPA President Join Charlie Hebdo Tribute
By Jen Yamato

BEVERLY HILLS: -- Golden Globes attendees rose to their feet tonight for Dutch journalist and Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Theo Kingma, who saluted the HFPA’s fallen brethren at French newspaper Charlie Hebdo onstage during the awards telecast.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791176-golden-globes-jared-leto-hfpa-president-join-charlie-hebdo-tribute/

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Cooler temperatures this week in North and Northeast



BANGKOK: -- The Meteorological Department forecast dropping temperatures of 4-6 degrees Celsius this week in the North and the Northeast as cold snap from China continues to blanket the areas.

In its latest forecast Monday, the department said the westerly wind is still blowing pass the North into the upper northeastern region.

The combination of wind and cold spell will result in turbulent weather in both regions this week, and torrential rains.

It said after the rains temperatures in the upper region of the country will drop 4-6 degrees.

Meanwhile the moderate northeasterly monsoon is still covering the South and the Gulf of Thailand, thus causing scattered rains from Nakhon Si Thammarat downwards, and 2-3 metres high waves in the lower areas of Gulf.

For Bangkok and surrounding provinces, cloudy sky and scattered light rains were expected covering 10 percent of areas, and lowest temperatures were between 20-23 degrees and maximum temperatures at 29-30 degrees.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/cooler-temperatures-week-north-northeast


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-12

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Phuket road hole that killed little Molly now fixed
Eakkapop Thongtub


The repaired road. Inset, crash victim Molly Bailey.

PHUKET: -- The huge hole in a back road near the Bang Jo Prison has now been fixed – but only after it killed eight-year-old Molly Bailey.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791179-phuket-road-hole-that-killed-little-molly-now-fixed/

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200 villagers rallied against palm oil plant construction in Saraburi

SARABURI, 12 January 2014 (NNT) - Hundreds of villagers in the central province of Saraburi has staged a protest against the construction of a palm oil plant in the area.

Villagers said they were concerned about the effects on environment in the surrounding area of the plant, including their villages. Representatives of the project claimed they held a public hearing in November last year as required by the law for a mega project. However, villagers alleged that they were not invited to express their concerns.

During a renewed public hearing yesterday, the situation became tense and escalated to the level of confrontation between protesters and local authorities who were responsible for hearing and giving permission to the construction project. However, a local military force which was assigned to observe the situation intervened and calm the two sides down, after which the meeting continued .

Protesters dispersed when all parties involved agreed to open another hearing on January 18 and residents in villages close to the project would be all invited.


-- NNT 2015-01-12

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NLA: No obstacles encountered so far in impeachment cases

BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) said it has yet to draw a conclusion on the number of questions to be raised in the pending impeachment cases against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and former House and Senate speakers.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791181-nla-no-obstacles-encountered-so-far-in-impeachment-cases/

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Finance Ministry to take another year to complete tax reforms which will widen tax collection base, shuts loophole, deter state officials from frauds. /The Nation

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CDC subcommittee to begin public-input road trip on 17 January

BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - A subcommittee within the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) will begin its campaign to gather suggestions and information from people across the nation regarding the drafting of the new constitution, with its first destination being Suphanburi province this 17-18 of January.

Dr. Tawinwadee Burikul is the chairwoman of the CDC subcommittee for the participation and the gathering of opinions from the public. She announced that her subcommittee will start in Suphanburi province on the 17-18 of January to gather information from its locals as well as its nearby provinces. The subcommittee will then be in Roi-et province on the 24-25 of January.

She said the purpose of the campaign is to encourage the public to voice their say on what they think are important matters for the country, such as having sincere politicians, reconciliation measures or efforts to reduce social inequality.

Dr. Tawinwadee expressed the subcommittee’s desire to gather information from diverse opinions and was confident that the subcommittee would be able to reach conclusions on what the general consensus towards important matters were before submitting them to the Constitution Drafting Committee.


-- NNT 2015-01-12

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ASEAN becomes largest importer of Thai food and agricultural products



BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - The cross-border trade of agricultural commodities and foods between Thailand and its four neighboring countries has a tendency to grow in both value and volume thanks to the on-going regional collaboration in reducing trade barriers.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791187-asean-becomes-largest-importer-of-thai-food-and-agricultural-products/

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Sea water is threatening the source of tap water



BANGKOK: -- Bangkokians may have to consume brackish water in February and March unless the government takes action immediately to address the problem by ordering more water to be discharged from the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams to push back the invasion of seawater into the Chao Phraya and Tha Chin rivers.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791189-bangkok-sea-water-is-threatening-the-source-of-tap-water/

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UPDATE:

Poll rejects Interior, Education to hold general elections



BANGKOK: -- Dusit Poll released its latest poll showing the majority of people it asked have voiced opposition to the proposal for the Ministries of Interior and Education to jointly take charge of holding the next general elections.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/790964-poll-people-still-want-ec-to-organize-elections/#entry8927349

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DITP keeps eye on Thai-Chinese trade in the wake of oil price slump



BANGKOK, 12 January 2015 (NNT) - The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce, has been monitoring the pros and cons of the falling crude oil price on the Thai economy as well as the performance of Thai trade with China, one of its biggest economic partners.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791197-ditp-keeps-eye-on-thai-chinese-trade-in-the-wake-of-oil-price-slump/

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Android users watch more adult content than iOS users

Something for the weekend, sir? For anyone that’s sick and tired of the endless tirade of new gadgets, wearables and drones that are released every week and grab the headlines, perhaps a little light relief might be in order? After some extensive research by the editorial team, it turns out that Android users view more adult content than iOS users do!

Read more: http://tech.thaivisa.com/android-users-watch-adult-content-ios-users/2568/

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Top 10 Must Have iOS Photography Apps

Check out ThaiTech’s top 10 must have iOS photography apps. Some you may have heard of, others you may have not.

Take a look at the full list here: http://tech.thaivisa.com/top-10-must-ios-photography-apps/2550/

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Thai Navy Rescues Fishermen From Police Fusillade
By Khaosod English


Thongbai Thamthong's ship, "Gao Baramee Por," was hit by more than 30 bullets on 8 December by policemen in the Andaman Sea.

PHANG NGA — A fisherman in southern Thailand says a police patrol ship opened fire on his boat without provocation in the Andaman Sea last week.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791215-ranong-thai-navy-rescues-fishermen-from-police-fusillade/

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No-name murder victim found floating in Phuket mangroves
Eakkapop Thongtub

PHUKET -- The body of an unidentified murder victim washed up last night (January 11) among mangroves in front of a fishing community in Mai Khao.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/791216-no-name-murder-victim-found-floating-in-phuket-mangroves/