Phuket underpass on target to open April 9

Tanyaluk Sakoot

The Sam Kong Underpass is on target to open to traffic on April 9. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot

PHUKET: -- More than a year behind its original deadline for completion, the Sam Kong Underpass on the bypass road is on schedule to open to traffic on April 9, the project’s lead engineer told The Phuket News today (Mar 11).

Full Story: http://www.thaivisa....o-open-april-9/

Thailand’s foreign reserves up 1.6 billion US dollars this week

BANGKOK: Thailand’s foreign reserves as of March 4 stood at US$169.6 billion or 6.008 trillion baht representing an increase of US$1.6 billion or 56 billion baht compared to last week’s.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902277-thailands-foreign-reserves-up-16-billion-us-dollars-this-week/?p=10519392

Oil prices to go up 40-60 satang tomorrow

BANGKOK: PTT Plc and Bangchak Refinery today announced the increase of pump price for benzene and diesel by 60 satang, except E85 by 40 satang. The new prices will be effective by 5 am on Saturday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902278-oil-prices-to-go-up-40-60-satang-tomorrow/?p=10519396

CDC chairman says he has to see written proposal on selected Senate first

BANGKOK: Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Meechai Ruchupan said Friday he was waiting for a formal proposal about non-elected Senate during the transition period from Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902279-cdc-chairman-says-he-has-to-see-written-proposal-on-selected-senate-first/?p=10519399

Government’s rubber purchasing plan has driven up market prices

BANGKOK: Rubber Authority of Thailand’s plan to purchase up to 100,000 tonnes of rubber from rubber farmers at a maximum price of 45 baht/kg has fallen far short of the target but the programme has driven up market prices.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902280-governments-rubber-purchasing-plan-has-driven-up-market-prices/?p=10519405

Two students nabbed for killing a taxi driver in Pathum Thani

BANGKOK: Two students were arrested by police for allegedly killing a taxi driver and injuring three others following a heated quarrel over a car incident.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902281-two-students-nabbed-for-killing-a-taxi-driver-in-pathum-thani/?p=10519411

Crackdown launched in Sakaew province

SAKAEW: A large combined police and army force raided 12 locations in Sakaew province as part of the government’s crackdown on influential criminal figures and syndicates on Friday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902284-crackdown-launched-in-sakaew-province/?p=10519428

Iranian Foreign Minister visits Thai PM

Surapan Laotharanarit

BANGKOK, 11 March 2016 (NNT) – The Thai Prime Minister has received Mr Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran, during the latter’s official visit to Thailand.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902285-iranian-foreign-minister-visits-thai-pm/

Iranian FM delivers a special speech at MFA

Pimchanok Ratanapises

BANGKOK- 11 March 2016 (NNT) - Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister today delivered a special lecture on the Paradigm shift from a Zero-sum game to a Win-Win solution: How best to Understand and Resolve Common Global Problems Emanating from Extremism, Based on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Experience, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902286-iranian-fm-delivers-a-special-speech-at-mfa/

Greece: 42,000 migrants and counting as European borders stay shut

With the door still firmly shut to thousands of migrants and refugees on the Macedonian border, we asked our Athens correspondent Stamatis Giannisis for a snapshot of the migrant situation in Greece.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902288-greece-42000-migrants-and-counting-as-european-borders-stay-shut/?p=10519474

Anti-migrant AfD tipped for success in Germany’s ‘Super Sunday’ elections

Regional elections in Germany this weekend – the first since the refugee crisis began – are expected to propel the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD, “Alternative für Deutschland”) party into state parliaments.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902289-anti-migrant-afd-tipped-for-success-in-germanys-super-sunday-elections/?p=10519484

Serbia hit by widespread flooding

By Catherine Hardy

A state of emergency has been declared in the wake of severe floods in Serbia.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902290-serbia-hit-by-widespread-flooding/

Arab League declares Hezbollah a ‘terrorist organization’

Reports from Egypt say the Arab League has labelled the Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah movement a terrorist organisation.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902293-arab-league-declares-hezbollah-a-terrorist-organization/

Friends, family say final farewells to Nancy Reagan

MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press


SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Mourners from the top ranks of Washington and Hollywood paid final tribute to Nancy Reagan on Friday, recalling at her funeral how the former first lady and her husband made up "two halves of a circle," with a legendary love that seemed to inspire everyone they met.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902294-friends-family-say-final-farewells-to-nancy-reagan/

Russian officials: Ex-Putin aide's death requests unanswered

JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian officials said Friday that they want more information from the U.S. about the mysterious death of a former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was found in a Washington hotel room last fall.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902295-russian-officials-ex-putin-aides-death-requests-unanswered/

South African teen finds possible MH370 plane debris

LYNSEY CHUTEL, Associated Press


JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African teenager vacationing in Mozambique may have found part of a wing from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which his family dismissed as "rubbish" and his mother nearly threw away, he said Friday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902296-south-african-teen-finds-possible-mh370-plane-debris/

Reporter tells police she was battered at Trump event

TERRY SPENCER, Associated Press


FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — A reporter for a conservative news website filed a police report Friday alleging that she was battered at a Donald Trump press conference in Florida.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902297-reporter-tells-police-she-was-battered-at-trump-event/

Brazil's embattled president says she will not resign

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Friday said she will not resign despite mounting pressure to do so and that there is no legal justification backing efforts to impeach her.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902298-brazils-embattled-president-says-she-will-not-resign/

Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer dies at 71

ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died, his longtime partner announced Friday. He was 71.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902299-keith-emerson-of-emerson-lake-and-palmer-dies-at-71/

Video of Thai bus driver dangerously overtaking truck causes outrage

BANGKOK:-- Officials from the Nakhon Chai Air coach company have promised to launch an investigation after one its drivers was filmed driving recklessly and endangering the lives of other motorists.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902302-video-of-thai-bus-driver-dangerously-overtaking-truck-causes-outrage/

Horrified Japan Apologizes for ‘Deplorable’ Thai Skinny Dipping Incident

By Simon Duncan
Assistant Editor

‘At the high class resort of Hua Hin, Thailand, a group of Japanese men got totally naked,’ reads the graphic in a still image from a Wednesday report on Japan’s NNN news channel.

HUA HIN — When photos of naked Japanese men frolicking in the surf in Hua Hin ended up on Twitter last Saturday, they briefly went viral before being shrugged off as harmless, drunken tomfoolery.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902304-horrified-japan-apologizes-for-deplorable-thai-skinny-dipping-incident/

NLA passes draft act on improvement of ministries, state agencies

Thammarat Thadaphrom

BANGKOK, 12 March 2016 (NNT) – The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) endorsed a draft act on the improvement of ministries and state agencies, passing it into law with a unanimous decision.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902320-nla-passes-draft-act-on-improvement-of-ministries-state-agencies/

Dutch pedo Pieter Ceulen arrested in Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian police on Friday took fugitive Dutch pedophile Pieter Ceulen into custody after brokering his surrender via his lawyers, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902321-dutch-pedo-pieter-ceulen-arrested-in-phnom-penh/

CDC review composition of senate next week

Thammarat Thadaphrom

BANGKOK, 12 March 2016 (NNT) – The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) is expected to discuss the composition of the senate next week.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902323-cdc-review-composition-of-senate-next-week/

Danish children’s rights campaigner found guilty of smuggling

By Catherine Hardy

A court in Denmark has fined a prominent children’s rights campaigner for giving a family of Syrian migrants a lift across the country to Sweden.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902335-danish-childrens-rights-campaigner-found-guilty-of-smuggling/

Erdogan warns Turkey’s top courts over freed journalists

Turkey’s president warned the country’s top court that it’s survival would be up for debate if it repeated rulings that were against the country. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was refering to a decision that led to the release of two detained newspaper editors.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902336-erdogan-warns-turkeys-top-courts-over-freed-journalists/

Tsipi Livni urges moderate Muslims to unite against extremism

By Catherine Hardy

Israeli former foreign minister Tsipi Livni has urged moderate Muslims to unite to tackle the threat posed by extremism.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902337-tsipi-livni-urges-moderate-muslims-to-unite-against-extremism/

Last man in Fukushima: Matsumura Naoto

Japan has been marking five years since a massive earthquake and tsunami destroyed towns and triggered the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in the 1980s.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902339-last-man-in-fukushima-matsumura-naoto/

Hillary Clinton chided for praising Nancy Reagan's AIDS role

DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer


NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Clinton apologized Friday after gay-rights and AIDS activists assailed her for saying Nancy Reagan helped start a "national conversation" about AIDS in the 1980s, when protesters were struggling to get more federal help in fighting the disease.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902341-hillary-clinton-chided-for-praising-nancy-reagans-aids-role/

GOP candidate Trump calls off rally due to security concerns

JILL COLVIN, Associated Press
MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press


CHICAGO (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump canceled one of his signature rallies on Friday, calling off the event in Chicago due to safety concerns after protesters packed the arena where it was to take place.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/902344-gop-candidate-trump-calls-off-rally-due-to-security-concerns/