Police say they are prepared for Bangkok countdown events



BANGKOK, 30 December 2015 (NNT) – Police in Bangkok say that they are prepared and will be ready to provide security during at the major new year countdown locations.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882565-police-say-they-are-prepared-for-bangkok-countdown-events/

Nong Khai Immigration provides friendly service in holidays

NONG KHAI, 30 December 2015 (NNT) – Nong Khai Province's immigration unit is now aiming to provide service coverage to travelers at the Thailand-Laos border, says the division chief.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882567-nong-khai-immigration-provides-friendly-service-in-holidays/

Cabinet gives green light to increased compensation for rice traders

BANGKOK, 30 December 2015 (NNT) - The Cabinet on Tuesday approved an increase in compensation for rice traders in 2016 by 204 million baht. It also decided to extend the Village Fund program to 3 March next year or until the program's budget is depleted.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882569-thai-cabinet-gives-green-light-to-increased-compensation-for-rice-traders/

2016
Prayers across Asean borders to welcome new year
The Nation



CROSS-BORDER prayer ceremonies

BANGKOK: -- Dubbed "Asean prayers", the campaign aims to boost Thailand's ties with neighbouring countries through friendly exchanges via the religious dimension, Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat said yesterday. This is the first time the Religious Affairs Department has extended this New Year activity to the border provinces of Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Tak, Loei, Nong Khai, Bung Kan, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, Ubon Ratchathani, Si Sa Ket, Sa Kaew, Surin, Ranong and Songkhla, he said.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882570-prayers-across-asean-borders-to-welcome-new-year-2016/

UPDATE:

MISSING LAWYER
Ruling disappoints family
The Nation


Angkhana Neelapaijit, right, and her daughter emerge from court yesterday after hearing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Appeals Court’s |dismissal of the charges against all defendants implicated in the disappearance of her husband

Supreme Court upholds acquittal of police accused of abduction of lawyer Somchai

BANGKOK: -- THE WIFE of missing human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit said she was sad and disappointed after the Supreme Court yesterday upheld the acquittal of five police officers accused of conspiring to abduct him in 2004.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882412-supreme-court-acquits-five-police-officers-of-charges-in-missing-human-rights-lawyer-case/page-3?p=10249897#entry10249897

2010 CRACKDOWN
NACC clears Abhisit, Suthep and Anupong
THE NATION


Abhisit

BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday dismissed charges of malfeasance against former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and others in connection with the crackdown on red-shirt rallies during the 2010 political protests.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882516-nacc-clears-abhisit-suthep-and-anupong/#entry10249902

FOREIGN LABOUR
Labour Ministry denies presence of illegal Chinese workers
THE NATION

NO ILLEGAL Chinese workers have been found by the Nakhon Ratchasima Job Placement Office

BANGKOK: -- Theerapol was responding to former Democrat party-list MP Watchara Petthong, who said he had received complaints from residents that Chinese companies were employing Chinese engineers, including 800 workers in Nakhon Ratchasima, 600 in Buri Ram, and unspecified numbers in Kanchanaburi and Sa Kaew.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882572-thai-labour-ministry-denies-presence-of-illegal-chinese-workers/

LAWSUIT
Villagers protest against idea for girl to apologise to mining firm
Visarut Sankham
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- ABOUT 40 villagers gathered yesterday to show their support for a schoolgirl who was reportedly asked by a school director to apologise to a gold-mining firm that is threatening to sue her and the school.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882573-thai-villagers-protest-against-idea-for-girl-to-apologize-to-gold-mining-firm/

SMES MEASURE
SMEs that agree to join tax system to enjoy one-year exemption
Erich Parpart
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Small and medium-sized enterprises will be exempted from income tax for one year and subject to a reduced rate of 10 per cent for another year if they agree to pay taxes properly in the future.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882574-smes-that-agree-to-join-tax-system-to-enjoy-one-year-exemption/

SPENDING
People spending more on food despite low inflation, survey finds
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Despite continued declines in the prices of fuel and raw materials, Thais have been spending more on purchasing food and dining out, according to a survey by the Commerce Ministry’s Policies and Trade Strategies Bureau.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882575-thai-people-spending-more-on-food-despite-low-inflation-survey-finds/

YEAR-END SPECIAL
Construction companies doing more business abroad
Somluck Srimalee
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Investing more overseas is the trend for Thailand’s construction and property firms as they have seen business opportunities and a need to balance their portfolios.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882577-thai-construction-companies-doing-more-business-abroad/

Two drug couriers killed in pre-dawn clash
The Nation

CHIANG MAI: -- Two drug suspects were killed yesterday in a pre-dawn clash between a team of drug couriers and rangers from the Pha Muang Task Force in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district. The rangers also seized 20,000 yaba pills and two guns from the dead couriers

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882578-two-drug-couriers-killed-in-pre-dawn-clash-in-chiang-mai/

BMA has no law on paying compensation, official says
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- There is no city regulation or law to support payment of compensation to a man who sustained a wound requiring 100 stitches after falling down a water-drainage pipe in Ratchadaphisek Soi 26 last month, the permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Peerapong Saicheu, said yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882579-bangkok-administration-has-no-law-on-paying-compensation-official-says/

Cabinet approves special assistance for fishermen
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- THE CABINET yesterday approved two measures to help fishermen suffering from the increased enforcement of laws and measures to deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882580-thai-cabinet-approves-special-assistance-for-fishermen/

UPDATE:

'No change to health schemes'
Pratch Rujivanarom
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- But minister says a panel will look at funding ideas

THE Public Health Minister has said there will be no change to the three major health schemes next year - but a ministry committee will be set up to consider suggestions on how to improve the schemes.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882015-no-major-change-to-thai-health-scheme/#entry10249946

Prayut reveals he has back-up plan for poll
ANAPAT DEECHUAY,
WASAMON AUDJARINT
THE NATION


PM Prayut Chan-o-cha takes the driver’s seat of a tuk-tuk with Miss Thailand Universe Aniporn Chalermburanawong as a passenger yesterday, before driving the vehicle around a Government House building. The beauty queen, winner of the best national costume

BANGKOK: -- PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha’s New Year resolution is to stage the long-awaited election according to the junta’s “road map to democracy” even if the new charter is rejected in the national referendum.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882581-prayut-reveals-he-has-back-up-plan-for-poll/

Nine Rajabhakti Park activists skip police summons again
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- NINE ACTIVISTS who took part in a trip to Rajabhakti Park to “check out allegations of corruption” this month have postponed meeting authorities for the second time, police said yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882583-nine-rajabhakti-park-activists-skip-police-summons-again/

EDITORIAL
Vehicle seizure a smart way to sober up drivers
The Nation

Checkpoints manned by police and soldiers are confiscating cars during the holidays

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's strict new law against driving while intoxicated during the New Year holidays is one of the few on the books that's actually designed to save lives directly, and as such it should be loudly advertised - and just as strictly enforced.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882584-vehicle-seizure-a-smart-way-to-sober-up-drivers-thai-editorial/

Southern insurgency: Islamic schools next in firing line?
Don Pathan
Special to The Nation
Pattani

Bangkok ruling over renowned ponok in Pattani could be a bleak precedent for the peace process

PATTANI: -- Two weeks ago a Bangkok court ruled that the 14-rai grounds of Jihad Withya School at Tha Dan village be confiscated as state property - an order that dismayed local Muslims in Pattani.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882585-southern-insurgency-islamic-schools-next-in-firing-line/

Police raid Russian Go-Go Bars in South Pattaya



PATTAYA: -- In the early hours of Tuesday, the Tourist Police, in conjunction with the Crime Suppression Police from Bangkok conducted raids on two Russian Go-Go Bars on Walking Street.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882586-police-raid-russian-go-go-bars-in-south-pattaya/

Chinese man caught with holstered semi-automatic gun in South Pattaya



PATTAYA: -- Police arrested a 31-year-old Chinese man in the early hours of Tuesday at a Police Checkpoint in South Pattaya after he was caught with a holstered semi-automatic handgun and two cartridges full of bullets.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882587-chinese-man-caught-with-holstered-semi-automatic-gun-in-south-pattaya/

Vendors Protest about tent ban on Pattaya Beach for Countdown Festival



PATTAYA: -- A group of 30 vendors, who intended to pitch tents along Pattaya Beach Road during the New Year Countdown Festival, as they have done in previous years, conducted a protest in front of Pattaya City Hall on Tuesday after they were told that tents were banned this year.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882588-vendors-protest-about-tent-ban-on-pattaya-beach-for-countdown-festival/

German Killed Blowing up Condom Machine

SCHOPPINGEN – A German man was killed on Christmas Day while attempting to break into a condom machine after his bomb exploded prematurely.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882589-german-killed-blowing-up-condom-machine/

Thai Prime Minister Say's he Won’t Tolerate Biased Criticisms from Irresponsible Journalists

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has told reporters that he will no longer tolerate biased criticisms from irresponsible newspaper columnists and has instructed security officers to invite them for talks aka an attitude adjustment at a military facility.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882590-thai-prime-minister-says-he-wont-tolerate-biased-criticisms-from-irresponsible-journalists/

Japan transport minister visits Thai rail projects
BY LARRY BANKS



BANGKOK: -- Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister, Keiichi Ishii, visited Japanese rail projects in Thailand today while en route from Laos to Japan, a Thai official said as reported in the Bangkok Post.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882591-japan-transport-minister-visits-thai-rail-projects/

No charges for Cleveland police officers in shooting death of Tamir Rice
BY BNO NEWS

CLEVELAND: -- An Ohio grand jury has declined to bring criminal charges against two Cleveland police officers in the 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced on Monday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882592-no-charges-for-cleveland-police-officers-in-shooting-death-of-tamir-rice/

Protests grow in Myanmar against Thai beach murder verdict

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Hundreds of people in Myanmar protested for a fifth day Tuesday against death sentences issued in Thailand to two Myanmar men convicted of murdering a pair of British backpackers, but who are seen by many here as scapegoats.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882593-protests-grow-in-myanmar-against-thai-beach-murder-verdict/

Myanmar pledges efforts to keep anti-verdict protests under control
OLAN LERTRUDTANADUMRONGKUL,
NATTHAPAT PHROMKAEW
THE NATION

Thailand reassures neighbour Thai Koh Tao murder sentences can be appealed.

BANGKOK: -- MYANMAR'S foreign minister has assured his Thai counterpart that he will do his best to rein in his compatriots' anger over the death sentences given to two Myanmar migrants involved in the Koh Tao murder case.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882594-myanmar-pledges-efforts-to-keep-anti-koh-tao-verdict-protests-under-control/

Islamic State issues 15 rules on sex with slaves
Jonathan Landay, Warren Strobel and Phil Stewart

Washington: Islamic State theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when "owners" of women and children captured by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb "violations" in the "treatment of female slaves".

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882595-islamic-state-issues-15-rules-on-sex-with-slaves/

Gains in Iraqi city vindicate US-led strategy, at high cost
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN and SUSANNAH GEORGE

BAGHDAD (AP) — The advance of Iraqi forces into the heart of Ramadi, a restive city that fell to the Islamic State group earlier this year, in some ways vindicated the U.S.-led coalition's strategy for rolling back the extremists -- but victory has come at a high cost, and the same tactics might not work elsewhere.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882596-gains-in-iraqi-city-vindicate-us-led-strategy-at-high-cost/