Thailand Live Monday 30 Mar 2015

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Thais to be evacuated from Yemen over unrest
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Thai Embassy in Oman, which covers Yemen, is preparing to evacuate Thai residents there as Saudi Arabia escalates air strikes against Iran-allied Houthi fighters.

The embassy is concerned that the violence in Yemen has increased and has a high tendency of worsening, as scores of lives have been lost and many people maimed as hostilities intensify. Thai nationals could be airlifted to Thailand or bivouacked in Oman to wait and see how the situation unfolded.

In the statement released on Saturday, the embassy asked those wanting to leave to contact it immediately and provide their name, telephone number and necessary information to the embassy's e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]. The embassy's hotline is (+968) 9649 4733 or (+968) 9927 3440.

The embassy would assume that those making no contact with it wished to remain in Yemen. Staff will make help available for them but the mission could not guarantee their safety.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thais-to-be-evacuated-from-Yemen-over-unrest-30257030.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-30

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Displaced community wants to reserve land along canal
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
THE NATION



City planners to wIden lat phrao canal by 38 metres, buIld embankment to aId drainage

BANGKOK: -- COMMUNITIES SET to be affected by the impending widening of the Lat Phrao Canal have called for a 12-metre-wide strip of land to be reserved for them along the canal.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813083-displaced-bangkok-community-wants-to-reserve-land-along-canal/

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SURVEY:

Are foreigners in Thailand more negative than people in their home country?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/812885-survey-are-foreigners-in-thailand-more-negative-than-people-in-their-home-country/

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ARTICLE 44
'Absolute power' move could haunt Prayut: NHRC
THE NATION

Concerns mount if premier grabs power over executive, legislative and judicial branches

BANGKOK: -- NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara has entered the ongoing debate on Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's decision to put an end to martial law by invoking Article 44 of the post-coup provisional charter by warning the former Army chief that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813085-absolute-power-move-could-haunt-prayut-nhrc/

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Senior judges protest over limited roles
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- A NUMBER of senior judges whose retirement had been extended to cope with the backlog in the courts will today launch a campaign against a policy by the National Reform Council to limit their duties to the lower court.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813086-senior-thai-judges-protest-over-limited-roles/

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Rag picker wins praises from online users

Bangkok:- A video clip showing a rag picker chatting in English with a foreign tourist has become a talk of the town and earned him a lot of praises.

The clip was posted by a Facebook user, called Narin Nice, on Saturday. He said he spotted the rag picker in his neighborhood speaking to a foreign tourist in fluent English so he became impressive and shot the clip to share.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813060-rag-picker-wins-praises-from-online-users/

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Australian businessman killed in condo fall

Bangkok:- A 56-year-old Australian businessman fell to his death from the rooftop of a Bangkok condominium in what believed to be a suicide, police said.

Pol Lt Preecha Polsa, an interrogator on duty of Thung Mahamek police station, identified the Australian as Ellis Moate.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813050-australian-businessman-killed-in-condo-fall/

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Revealing the truth is still a vital part of achieving reconciliation, groups say
NITIPOL KIRAVANICH
THE NATION

WENG SCEPTICAL ABOUT NEW BODY'S CHANCE OF SUCCESS, BUT ALL SAY IT IS IMPORTANT

BANGKOK: -- DESPITE attempting to promote reconciliation via the new charter, political stakeholders have voiced serious doubts about the independent body being set up for that purpose. Some said revealing truth to the public would be of equal importance in achieving that goal.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813092-revealing-the-truth-is-still-a-vital-part-of-achieving-reconciliation-groups-say/

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Stability secured with synchronised system of special economic zones
WIRAJ SRIPONG
THE NATION


Arkhom Termpittayapaisith

BANGKOK: -- MARTIAL LAW, which had raised concerns among local and international investors as increasing business risk for them, was in fact one of the factors that boosted confidence in the special economic zones in border areas, Deputy Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said last week.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813094-stability-secured-with-synchronised-system-of-special-economic-zones/

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Chinese investors eye tourism
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Chinese firms are interested in investing in tourism and medical care in Thailand to serve high-end markets following their success in Cambodia and South Africa.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813095-chinese-investors-eye-thai-tourism/

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REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Thailand ponders digging Kra Isthmus - again!
Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- No issue in Thailand's history has generated such a long and inconclusive debate as the one surrounding the fate of Kra Isthmus. For the past 358 years, since the time of King Narai (1633-1688) when it was first raised with France, the desire to dig the country's small 50-kilometre strip of land down south continues unabated and peppered with John le Carre-liked conspiracy.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813096-thailand-ponders-digging-kra-isthmus-again/

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Chinese Tourists Critical after jumping off Baht Bus in Central Pattaya

PATTAYA: -- A 25 year old Chinese Tourist is currently in a coma after he inexplicably jumped off the back of a travelling Baht Bus in Central Pattaya in the early hours of Monday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813098-chinese-tourists-critical-after-jumping-off-baht-bus-in-central-pattaya/

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Ladyboy Pickpockets caught on camera in Pattaya Soi 7

PATTAYA: -- In the early hours of Saturday Police assisted an intoxicated foreign man, aged in his mid-twenties, after he was pickpocketed by two Ladyboy’s inside Soi 7 off Pattaya Beach Road.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813099-ladyboy-pickpockets-caught-on-camera-in-pattaya-soi-7/

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Police Officer arrested following fatal road crash in South Pattaya



PATTAYA: -- A senior non-commissioned officer, working at Chonburi Police Headquarters, was arrested by Pattaya Police in the early hours of Sunday after he was involved in a fatal road crash where he is suspected of driving through a red traffic light at a high rate of speed.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813100-police-officer-arrested-following-fatal-road-crash-in-south-pattaya/

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Man arrested over alleged killing of 2-year-old stepson
THE NATION


Anont Phimnoo

BANGKOK: -- A MAN WAS arrested yesterday for violently assaulting his two-year-old stepson, who later died of his injuries in Klong Sam Wa district.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813102-man-arrested-in-bangkok-over-alleged-killing-of-2-year-old-stepson/

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EDUCATION
Parents note Swiss role in education
KITTIPONG THAVEVONG
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- SWITZERLAND has become the country of choice for many parents who want a good education for their children in a safe environment with high academic standards.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813103-parents-note-swiss-role-in-education/

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Govt defends record on abuse of fishermen
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- SOME media outlets have been reporting "half-truths" about the government's move to stamp out human trafficking in the fishing industry, Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd, deputy government spokesman, said yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813104-thai-govt-defends-record-on-abuse-of-fishermen/

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Arab League unveils joint military force amid Yemen crisis
By HAMZA HENDAWI

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — A two-day Arab summit ended Sunday with a vow to defeat Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen and the formal unveiling of plans to form a joint Arab intervention force, setting the stage for a potentially dangerous clash between U.S.-allied Arab states and Tehran over influence in the region.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813105-arab-league-unveils-joint-military-force-amid-yemen-crisis/

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Officials: Iran nuke talks solving some issues, not others
By GEORGE JAHN and MATTHEW LEE

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Iran is considering demands for further cuts to its uranium enrichment program but is pushing back on how long it must limit technology it could use to make atomic arms, Western officials involved in the nuclear talks said Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813106-officials-iran-nuke-talks-solving-some-issues-not-others/

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AP Exclusive: Before leak, NSA mulled ending phone program
By KEN DILANIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency considered abandoning its secret program to collect and store American calling records in the months before leaker Edward Snowden revealed the practice, current and former intelligence officials say, because some officials believed the costs outweighed the meager counterterrorism benefits.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813107-ap-exclusive-before-leak-nsa-mulled-ending-phone-program/

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Air Canada plane makes hard landing short of Halifax runway

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — An Air Canada plane made a hard landing short of the runway at the Halifax airport during a snowstorm, crashing into a bank of antennas and shearing off its main landing gear, nose cone, and an engine as it skidded on its belly, officials said. The airline said Sunday that 25 people were taken to hospitals for observation and treatment of minor injuries.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813108-air-canada-plane-makes-hard-landing-short-of-halifax-runway/

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Songwriter injured in California crash; motorcyclist killed

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A singer-songwriter behind the 1969 rock hit "Spirit in the Sky" has been critically injured in a Northern California car accident that killed a motorcyclist.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813109-songwriter-norman-greenbaum-injured-in-california-crash;-motorcyclist-killed/

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Police: 2nd body found 3 days after NYC blast
By MEGHAN BARR

NEW YORK (AP) — Emergency workers found a second body Sunday in the mass of rubble left behind by an apparent gas explosion three days earlier in Manhattan's East Village, police said.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813111-police-2nd-body-found-3-days-after-nyc-blast/

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More restrictive spring break pondered after party shooting
By MELISSA NELSON-GABRIEL and MATT SEDENSKY

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A house party that dissolved into a hail of gunfire and left seven young people hurt has officials on the Florida Panhandle pondering what to do with a spring break season they say has gotten out of control.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813112-more-restrictive-spring-break-pondered-after-florida-party-shooting/

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CSD police investigating the death of drug suspect

Songkhla: – A team of Crime Suppression Police investigators have been dispatched to Hat Yai district to look into the suspicious death of drug suspect Theerapat Serikiatdilok, 33.

The case came to light after Theerapat’s father Somchai Serikiatdilok, 55, lodged a complaint last week voicing suspicions on police brutality and on his son’s cause of death.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813113-csd-police-investigating-the-death-of-drug-suspect/

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UPDATE:

Two-year-old boy beat and killed by stepfather

Bangkok: – Police have arrested and charged Anon Phimnu, 28, for physical assault causing death of his stepson Natcha Boonruam, aged 2.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813114-two-year-old-boy-beat-and-killed-by-stepfather/

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SYDNEY (AP) - Powerful earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea; tsunami warning issued for parts of Pacific.

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UPDATE:

Tsunami warning issued for parts of Pacific after earthquake

SYDNEY (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck near the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea on Monday, prompting officials to warn that hazardous tsunami waves could affect some coastlines in the Pacific.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813120-powerful-earthquake-strikes-papua-new-guinea;-tsunami-warning-issued-for-parts-of-pacific/#entry9246658

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UPDATE:

Chinese tourist injured in Pattaya

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- A Chinese tourist was severely injured after he jumped off from a songtaew bus on a Pattaya road early Monday, police said.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813126-chinese-tourist-injured-in-pattaya/

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More Chinese speaking tour guides needed

BANGKOK, 30 Mar 2015, (NNT) - The Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association (TCTA) has urged the government, particularly local administration offices, to recruit more tour guides who can speak Chinese, in order to facilitate the increasing number of Chinese tourists who travel by themselves.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813129-more-chinese-speaking-tour-guides-needed/