Thailand Live Friday 23 Jan 2015

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KOH TAO

Thailand backpacker death: Christina Annesley in mystery death on double Brit-murder island

Tragic: Christina, left, was found dead on the same island where David and Hannah were killed

KOH TAO: -- The 23-year-old Londoner's body was found yesterday after she had tweeted pictures from Koh Tao where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were killed last September

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794040-thailand-backpacker-death-christina-annesley-in-mystery-death-on-double-brit-murder-island/

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IMPEACHMENT
Judgement day
The Nation


Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra receives flowers from supporters after presenting her closing statement before the National Legislative Assembly as part of the impeachment process against her at Parliament yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- Pressure is mounting on the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), which votes today on whether to impeach former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and two former parliamentary speakers accused of wrongdoings.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794109-impeachment-judgement-day/

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Call for public to co-regulate media sector
Watchiranont Thongtep
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A consumer rights advocate and National Reform Council member has called for more public participation in regulating the media to better protect consumer rights while another NRC member wants media literacy to be taught early at school.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794110-call-for-thai-public-to-co-regulate-media-sector/

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UPDATE:

Man surrenders after being charged with killing dog 'without reason'
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- THE MURDER of a dog, even if it's a stray, will now matter in Thailand thanks to the newly enforced animal protection law. A 32-year-old man gave himself up to police yesterday to fight charges of killing a street dog late on January 13 as he was driving out of the Imperial Lat Phrao shopping mall.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794014-suspected-drive-by-dog-shooter-surrenders-to-thai-police/page-2?p=8972647#entry8972647

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Strategies to manage water 'faulty'
Janjira Pongrai
The Nation

Focus on budget rather than solutions

BANGKOK: -- A KEY subcommittee of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) has attacked the National Water Resources Policy Committee's water management strategy ahead of it being presented to Cabinet for consideration next month.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794111-engineering-institute-of-thailand-strategies-to-manage-water-faulty/

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CONSTITUTION WATCH
Charter drafters delete hate-speech restriction
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Constitution Drafting Committee yesterday decided to remove a hate-speech restriction from Provision 20 of the charter draft following a media backlash, CDC spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn said yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794112-thai-charter-drafters-delete-hate-speech-restriction/

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China-backed Thai railway construction to begin in September
Bangkok, Thailand | AFP |

BANGKOK: -- Construction on a $12 billion Chinese-backed railway through Thailand will begin in September, officials said Thursday, as part of a grand vision to overhaul the country's notoriously creaking network.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794113-china-backed-thai-railway-construction-to-begin-in-september/

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NBTC
New NBTC rules in place to block radio, TV domination
Watchiranont Thongtep
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The new regulations governing mergers and acquisitions, cross-holdings and domination in the radio and broadcasting industry are now in effect after publication in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794114-new-nbtc-rules-in-place-to-block-radio-tv-domination/

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EDITORIAL
Window-dressing isn't the same as democracy

If the junta really staged the coup to reform the country and strengthen democracy, it has to demonstrate the truth of those intentions with action

BANGKOK: -- Ever since they launched their coup in May last year, our latest crop of junta leaders had been keen to arrange photo opportunities with foreign statesmen. Their hope was that the hugs and handshakes would demonstrate to the Thai public that the world approves of them.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794115-thai-editorial-window-dressing-isnt-the-same-as-democracy/

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OVERDRIVE
West speeding towards point of no return with Russia
Thanong Khanthong

BANGKOK: -- Along with ISIS, President Barack Obama has singled out Russia as an enemy that the United States will have to deal with decisively. In his address on the state of the Union this week, Obama sought to demonstrate his global leadership amid the escalating stand-off between the US and Russia.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794116-west-speeding-towards-point-of-no-return-with-russia-opinion/

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1 dead, 15 injured in horrific East Pattaya Road Crash



PATTAYA: -- One man was killed and 15 others were seriously injured, including one man who suffered a traumatic amputation of his foot, in a late-night road crash on the notoriously dangerous Highway 36 in the Eastern outskirts of Pattaya on Thursday Night.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794117-1-dead-15-injured-in-horrific-east-pattaya-road-crash/

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East Pattaya Municipal Officers rewarded for return of lost purse

PATTAYA: -- Two Municipal Security Officers received thanks from a member of the Nongprue Community on Wednesday after they found her purse at an East Pattaya Market and used their detective skills to return the lost purse containing money and bank cards to its rightful owner.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794118-east-pattaya-municipal-officers-rewarded-for-return-of-lost-purse/

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New liquor sale restriction comes into force



BANGKOK: -- The new restriction on sale of alcoholic drinks has come into force throughout the country as of January 7.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794119-thailand-new-liquor-sale-restriction-comes-into-force/

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999,000 tonnes of rice are put on sale by auction on Jan 29



BANGKOK: -- The Foreign Trade Department will open an auction on January 29 for 999,000 tonnes of 54% white rice and Hom Mali fragrant rice worth at least 1.16 billion baht.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794120-999000-tonnes-of-rice-are-put-on-sale-by-auction-on-jan-29/

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Suvarnabhumi taxi drivers suggest baggage charges
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Sugree Phatanapherom

BANGKOK: -- If people carrying many heavy bags want them to use the meter, a group of Suvarnabhumi airport taxi drivers said they should have to pay a baggage charge.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794121-suvarnabhumi-taxi-drivers-suggest-baggage-charges/

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BURNING ISSUE
Only positive scenarios for Pheu Thai rivals
NITIPOL KIRAVANICH

BANGKOK: -- Once the lengthy impeachment process against three Pheu Thai politicians finally comes to an end today, their opponents can make moves to further nail them down. The three will, after all, be at their most vulnerable.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794122-only-positive-scenarios-for-pheu-thai-rivals/

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UPDATE:

Former Ukip youth leader dies in Thailand

Libertarian 'free spirit' found by resort staff after seeking treatment for chest infection

LONDON: -- A 23-year-old libertarian campaigner and Ukip supporter has died on a backpacking holiday in Thailand.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794040-thailand-backpacker-death-christina-annesley-in-mystery-death-on-double-brit-murder-island/page-13?p=8972797#entry8972797

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Indictment decision questioned
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's lawyers will today file a petition with the Office of the Attorney-General questioning the decision of the joint panel of public prosecutors and anti-graft officials to indict her over the rice-pledging scheme.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794124-decision-to-indict-yingluck-questioned/

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Article prompts Prawit to order probe into police action
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- In response to an article in Time magazine about Thai police's extensive extortion tactics and mistreatment of foreign tourists, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that he had ordered Royal Thai Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung yesterday to scrutinise and deal with the issue.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794125-time-article-prompts-prawit-to-order-probe-into-thai-police-action/

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Interpol asked to issue arrest warrant in KMITL case
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- POLICE HAVE asked Interpol to issue a "red" money laundering arrest warrant for Kittisak Mattujad, a key suspect in the Bt1.5 billion embezzlement at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Latkrabang (KMITL).

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794127-interpol-asked-to-issue-arrest-warrant-in-kmitl-case/

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DNP ordered to return 21 elephants to Sai Yok camp
The Nation



KANCHANABURI: -- The Kanchanaburi Court on Wednesday ordered the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to return 21 elephants to the Sai Yok Elephant Camp. However, as of press time yesterday, the elephants had not been returned to the camp, while another camp called Thaweechai in Muang district had received five elephants on January 17.

The Department took some 50 elephants in early 2012 for inspection in a move to stop people from using the identity papers of dead elephants and pass them off as those of elephants captured from the wild.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/DNP-ordered-to-return-21-elephants-to-Sai-Yok-camp-30252484.html


-- The Nation 2015-01-23

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Saudi state TV reports: King Abdullah has died at 90
AYA BATRAWY, Associated Press
ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI, Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington's fight against al-Qaida and sought to modernize the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women, has died, according to Saudi state TV. He was 90.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794137-saudi-arabias-king-abdullah-dies-at-90/

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Radical Left political outsiders prepare for power in Greece
DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Dressed in an open-collar shirt and blue suede shoes, Alexis Tsipras arrives at his party's headquarters for a live Q-and-A session on Twitter. The session is moderated by a leftwing newspaper that normally sells less than 2,000 copies a day. But Tsipras is reaching a much bigger audience: Foreign camera crews pack the tiny studio, and soon the hashtag #asktsipras is trending worldwide.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794138-radical-left-political-outsiders-prepare-for-power-in-greece/

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Euro plunges, but European brands are not on sale in US
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans hoping to save on European goods thanks to a falling euro shouldn't rush to uncork that bottle of French Bordeaux. There's very little to celebrate.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794139-euro-plunges-but-european-brands-are-not-on-sale-in-us/

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US officials detail Islamic State kills, but hard part ahead
By KEN DILANIAN and LOLITA C. BALDOR

LONDON (AP) — The U.S. and its allies sought to put a good face on the coalition's deliberate campaign to roll back the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, boasting of having killed thousands of militants while acknowledging that ousting the group from key cities remains a distant aspiration.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794143-us-officials-detail-islamic-state-kills-but-hard-part-ahead/

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France tackles inequalities, extremism after attacks
By ELAINE GANLEY and SYLVIE CORBET

MONTFERMEIL, France (AP) — As France's prime minister kicks off a new plan to fix troubled schools and restive suburbs, the people he's trying to help are more skeptical than hopeful. They've heard these promises before.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794144-france-tackles-inequalities-extremism-after-attacks/

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Powerful New York politician arrested on bribery charges
By TOM HAYS and DAVID KLEPPER

NEW YORK (AP) — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who bent state government to his will for more than 20 years as one of New York's most powerful and canny politicians, was arrested Thursday on charges of taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794145-powerful-new-york-politician-arrested-on-bribery-charges/

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European Central Bank to keep eurozone interest rates at record low level of 0.05% which ECB has maintained since Sept 2014. /The Nation

European Central Bank to inject at least 1.1 tn euro into ailing eurozone economy; ECB will buy bonds worth 60 bn euro a month until end-Sept 2016. /The Nation

The Mass Transit Authority of Thailand set up a panel to look into a contract dispute surrounding the construction of an extension of its Blue Line rail route. /Bangkok Post

The US has pledged to continue its military cooperation with Thailand, especially the Cobra Gold annual military exercise with a record 29 countries. /Bangkok Post

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ECB unleashes its most aggressive effort to revive economy
DAVID McHUGH, AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe's ailing economy will get a major dose of stimulus from the European Central Bank — a bond buying program designed to make loans and exports cheaper so companies can hire and expand.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794161-trillion-euro-bank-plan-for-eurozone/

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Overworked Japanese Legally Forced to Take Leave

JAPAN: -- Death is not an occupational hazard that you’d associate with being a bus conductor, tailor, or a bank executive. But in Japan it is, and many instances of sudden death from being overworked have been recorded in Japan, so much that overworked Japanese have a word for such deaths — karoshi.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/794166-overworked-japanese-legally-forced-to-take-leave/