Thailand Live Monday 20 Apr 2015

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R-Cheewa Robot contest 2015 kicks off at Zeer Rangsit



BANGKOK, 10 April 2015 (NNT) - R-Cheewa Robot contest 2015 for royal trophies of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn kicked off at Zeer Rangsit with an official opening ceremony presided over by Aganit Klungsang, Deputy Secretary General of the Office of the Vocational Education Commission.

The national contest is aimed at inspiring Thai students to develop robots which can be used in reality especially in industrial and medical sectors and rescue operations. It is also seen to help draw greater attention from students to study robotic engineering.

The contest runs from 18-22 April 2015. It is divided into several categories. One of them is the ABU Robot Contest held under the theme of “Badminton Robot”. The best team from the competition will join others at an international competition in Indonesia. Other categories include a Rescue Robot competition designed to replace human in risky work, the competition of Mechanical Arm Robots for Industry, and the contest of robotic arms and hands to improve the quality of life of disabled persons.


-- NNT 2015-04-20

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Survey:

Will Thailand Regain its Lead as a Regional Economic Leader?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818404-survey-will-thailand-regain-its-lead-as-a-regional-economic-leader/

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UPDATE:

'UNUSUALLY RICH': NACC
Ex-DSI chief hit with assets freeze
The Nation

NACC says Tarit pengdith is 'unusually rich' but he denies concealing assets

BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday announced that it had temporarily frozen nearly Bt60 million in assets of former Department of Special Investigation director-general Tarit Pengdith and a former academic attached to the Revenue Department, Suwat Charumaniroj, pending probes into the source of their wealth.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818485-nacc-seizes-assets-of-ex-dsi-chief/page-3#entry9321216

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EDUCATION
Teachers changing their methods: allowing students to learn by doing
Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation



'Greater pupil involvement has given students more confidence

BANGKOK: -- SOME TEACHERS have been changing the way they teach through their participation in project-based learning and its advanced versions.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818607-teachers-changing-their-methods-allowing-students-to-learn-by-doing/

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Boonsong faces trial on June 29
Kesinee Taengkhieo
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Supreme Court has pencilled in June 29 to commence the first trial in the case involving former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and 20 others in relation to alleged corruption in government-to-government rice deals under the Yingluck government's controversial rice-pledging scheme.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818608-thai-rice-deals-boonsong-faces-trial-on-june-29/

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Reformers, drafters ready for review
The Nation

80 council members expected to speak on parts of new charter

BANGKOK: -- The National Reform Council is prepared to start a week-long debate on the draft charter today, with 80 of its 208 members signing up for a speaking slot.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818609-thai-charter-reformers-drafters-ready-for-review/

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Parks chief asks temple to allow transfer of tigers
The Nation

146 bIg cats due to be handed over to state centres on Friday

BANGKOK: -- DEPARTMENT of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Concervation has asked Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua Foundation - the body overseeing the "Tiger Temple" in Kanchanaburi - to hand over 146 tigers to authorities this coming Friday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818610-parks-chief-asks-kanchanaburi-temple-to-allow-transfer-of-tigers/

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Govt urged to help SMEs, farmers
ERICH PARPART
THE NATION


Supant Mongkolsuthree, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries

BANGKOK: -- REPRESENTATIVES from the |private sector have urged the government to concentrate on helping farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the next six months in order to boost domestic consumption at a time |of export sluggishness, while state and private investment is expected to be more apparent from this quarter on.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818612-thai-govt-urged-to-help-smes-farmers/

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OBITUARY
He changed the face of Thai aviation and did it with style
The Nation

Chatrachai Bunya-Ananta, November 6, 1932-April 18, 2015: Chatrachai turned thai airways international into a world-leading carrier

BANGKOK: -- Chatrachai Bunya-Ananta, who died in Bangkok early on Saturday aged 82, was a towering figure in Thai civil aviation.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818614-obituary-he-changed-the-face-of-thai-aviation-and-did-it-with-style/

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Pattaya at capacity as the City celebrates Songkran



PATTAYA: -- It was the day that many look forward to and is a day some describe as complete chaos, but plenty of fun was had by hundreds of thousands of Thais and Foreigners as Pattaya celebrated Songkran.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818615-pattaya-at-capacity-as-the-city-celebrates-songkran/

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WHAT OTHERS SAY
Global stakes in US presidential race
The Straits Times
Asia News Network
Singapore

SINGAPORE: -- The announcement by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton of her candidacy for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination has brought US domestic politics to the global fore yet again. Clinton, whose credentials are impressive, is being joined in the nomination fray by several other Democrats.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818616-global-stakes-in-us-presidential-race/

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AIT ranked 'top international university' in the world
The Nation

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand has tied for the title of the world's top international university in the U-Multirank 2015 Institutional Ranking released last week.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818618-ait-ranked-top-international-university-in-the-world/

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Number of UFUN complaints rises to 46, damage claims hit Bt22m
Kornkamol Aksorndej
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- MORE THAN 30 people yesterday lodged fraud complaints with police against UFUN Thailand, bringing the total to 46, with damage claims soaring past Bt22 million.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818619-number-of-ufun-complaints-rises-to-46-damage-claims-hit-bt22m/

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Phuket police arrest woman with million baht’s worth of drugs

Eakkapop Thongtub

Amporn was arrested on Friday.

PHUKET: -- A 27-year-old woman was arrested on Friday (April 17) for possession of drugs worth B1.8 million after police received a tip-off.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818620-phuket-police-arrest-woman-with-million-bahts-worth-of-drugs/

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18-year-old accidentally shoots himself in the leg in Phuket
Eakkapop Thongtub


Anupong accidentally shot himself in the leg.

PHUKET: -- An 18-year-old man was taken to hospital on Saturday (April 18) after he accidently shot himself in the leg while assembling a homemade handgun at his home.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818621-18-year-old-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-the-leg-in-phuket/

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Three vehicles broken into in Phuket Town
Darawan Naknakhon


The grey Toyota Fortuner.

PHUKET: -- Police are searching for a group of thieves who stole items from three vehicles in Phuket Town last night (April 18).

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818622-three-vehicles-broken-into-in-phuket-town/

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Water supply in Rassada to be cut off

Eakkapop Thongtub

Water supply in Rassada to be cut off

PHUKET: -- Water supply in Rassada will be cut off on Tuesday (April 21) as Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) staff work to connect another pipe into the mains in front of Baan Wanitch.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818623-water-supply-in-rassada-to-be-cut-off/

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Poland summons US envoy over FBI head's Holocaust comments
MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's Foreign Ministry urgently summoned U.S. Ambassador Stephen Mull on Sunday to "protest and demand an apology," saying the head of the FBI suggested that Poles were accomplices in the Holocaust.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818624-poland-fury-at-holocaust-comment-by-fbis-james-comey/

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Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya
By JON GAMBRELL and ELIAS MESERET

CAIRO (AP) — Islamic State militants in Libya shot and beheaded groups of captive Ethiopian Christians, a video purportedly from the extremists showed Sunday. The attack widens the circle of nations affected by the group's atrocities while showing its growth beyond a self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818625-islamic-state-kills-ethiopian-christians-in-libya/

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Empty chairs honor 168 victims of Oklahoma City bombing
TIM TALLEY, Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Several thousand people gathered Sunday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people, which was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil until the Sept. 11 attacks six years later.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818626-empty-chairs-honor-168-victims-of-oklahoma-city-bombing/

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Survivor: Smugglers locked hundreds in hold of capsized boat
FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818627-mediterranean-migrant-deaths-eu-faces-renewed-pressure/

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Turin Shroud goes back on display for faithful and curious

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Turin's archbishop says interest in the Shroud of Turin is so keen that many pilgrims who already saw the burial cloth some believe covered Jesus are returning to see the linen again when it goes back on display starting Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818628-turin-shroud-goes-back-on-display/

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Opposition centrists win Finland election, face tough talks
MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — The opposition Center Party has won Finland's parliamentary election but its new leader faces tough talks on forming a government following the success of the populist, anti-establishment Finns Party that placed ahead of the main government partners, the conservatives and Social Democrats.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818629-opposition-centrists-win-finland-election-face-tough-talks/

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Thai couple freeze daughter's body

Bangkok:-A Thai couple has decided to have the body of their beloved daughter frozen in a hope that a future medical technology may be able to revive her.

Born in February 2012, the girl or Matheryn Naovaratpon had suffered from brain cancer. Despite chemotherapy and several surgeries

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818631-thai-couple-freeze-daughters-body/

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Broken-hearted trans woman takes own life

Amnat Charoen: –Police reported a suicide involving a trans woman who hung herself who appeared very festive after joining the water-splashing festival for the last time before her death.

Captain Jen Wisetrum of Amnat Charoen police station checked the scene after the family alerted police to the untimely death.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818632-broken-hearted-trans-woman-takes-own-life/

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Retailers and wholesalers flock to set up shops at border provinces

BANGKOK, 20 April 2015, (NNT) - More and more retailers as well as wholesalers have set up their shops at the border provinces, welcoming the government’s border trade boosting policy and the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry’s Spokesperson Duangkamol Jiambutr said her ministry aimed to increase border trade value from 900 billion baht a year to 1.5 trillion baht this year.

According to her, items in demand are commodity products and construction materials, saying the neighboring countries recognize the quality and reasonable prices of goods from Thailand.

Aside from promoting goods at the border provinces, the Ministry of Commerce is prepared to enhance border trade in terms of logistics, tourism and healthcare as well as education services.

The move would greatly tighten connectivity between the border provinces to neighboring countries' major cities or economic zones, she claimed.


-- NNT 2015-04-20

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Commerce Minister to visit China to discuss rice and rubber trade

BANGKOK, 20 April 2015, (NNT) - The Commerce Minister, General Chatchai Sarikanya, will be in China between May 7th - 9th to discuss rice and rubber deals.

The minister is scheduled to attend the 2nd meeting on Thailand-China cooperation on agricultural trade in Kunming. The first meeting saw the two countries ink a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which the Chinese government agreed buy from Thailand 1 million tons of newly harvested grains and one million tons of rice in the government's stockpile. China also agreed in principle to buy 200,000 tons of rubber at discount friendship prices.

According to the minister, he expects to sign the rice deal, based on the MOU, with China during this visit, adding that the talk on the rubber deal which has been ongoing should be concluded too.


-- NNT 2015-04-20

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Asiatique restaurant fined Bt460,000 for showing beer bottles in menus

Bangkok:- In a case that could serve as a warning for farang expatriates who have restaurants and bars in Thailand, showing pictures of beer bottles and glass with beer or liquor brands could lead to a fine of Bt1,000 a day.

A precedent ruling has been made against the Kacha Kacha restaurant at Asiatique in Bangkok.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818637-asiatique-restaurant-fined-bt460000-for-showing-beer-bottles-in-menus/

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Two taxi drivers banned for life from Suvarnabhumi

Samut Prakan:-The Suvarnabhumi Airport has banned two taxi drivers from taking up passengers from the airport ever again after they were found charging flat rates on Japanese tourists instead of using their meter.

Dalat Assawet, deputy director of the airport, announced the ban against Nirut Phosri and Phanomyong Kaewamart on Sunday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/818646-two-taxi-drivers-banned-for-life-from-suvarnabhumi/

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TOKYO (AP) - Japan issues warning for small tsunami after magnitude 6.8 quake south of Okinawa.