SURAT THANI, July 3 – Ten persons died and 17 others were injured when an inter-provincial bus carrying Thais and foreign tourists left the road and crashed into an electric power transmission pole Tuesday at dawn.
The driver lost control of the first-class, air-conditioned Transport Co. Ltd vehicle and it crashed into an electric power transmission pole on Surat Thani-Nakhon Si Thammarat Road in Kanchanadit district.
Ten people including the driver and Amit Jain, an Indian, were killed in the crash. Five bodies were unidentified and were sent for autopsies at Surat Thani Hospital.
Another 17 persons including Thais and foreigners were injured and are being treated in local hospitals.
The bus carried 24 passengers, the driver and two bus attendants, leaving Bangkok at 7.50 pm on Monday en route to Phangan Island in the southern province of Surat Thani.
According to the initial investigation, the front right tire burst, causing the driver to lose control and the bus hit the electric pole at full speed.
Electric transmission wires were ripped apart and gas was leaking from the disabled bus. Local authorities cut the electricity, while a responding fire truck stood by at the crash site. (MCOT online news)
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Chuwit: PM should ask family about gambling den
THE NATION
BANGKOK: -- An illegal gambling den located off Soi Phetchaburi 5 in central Bangkok has been operated by a relative of "an important person based in Dubai", Rak Thailand Party leader Chuwit Kamolvisit alleged yesterday.
He also called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as a sister of former premier Thaksin, to ask her relatives whether any of them knew of the den, known widely among gamblers in Bangkok as Je Pheo's den, which had been operating for more than 20 years.
Chuvit said he would lodge this issue as an agenda item in any future no-confidence debate against the Yingluck government. He also called on Bangkok police chief Pol Maj-General Khamronwit Thoopkrajang to inspect the area around Soi Phetchaburi 5 to locate the den, but said he would not be surprised if Khamronwit or area police said later that they had not found it.
"Gambling dens are a major source of income of policemen. Everyone knows it," he added.
The flamboyant MP also named other dens in Bangkok: Otto Den, Phatthanakan 77 Den and King Phet Den, whose operation he said was recorded on Monday night in a video clip.
In an exclusive story on Je Pheo's den in Kom Chad Luek daily newspaper, it was reported that clients who drive to the den use a valet service to park their cars in the next alley, Soi 7. Those who park on Phetchaburi Road would have their vehicles marked with yellow stickers, to let police know not to issue parking tickets for them. There is one entry to the den, a door located near a spirit house, with clients required to leave their mobile phones and purses or wallets.
"Those passing through this gate can carry only cash, at a minimum Bt10,000," said the Thai-language daily, quoting a former client as an unnamed source. Newcomers must be accompanied by regulars who are familiar with the guards. Clients walk through metal detectors, before going upstairs to enter a large room, where there are nine card tables, a VIP room for baccarat games, another space of 10 baccarat tables and a number of traditional gambling games.
Card or game tables are run by individual operators, who pay daily fees and commissions to the den owners, the source added.
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Blast at Bangkok oil refinery triggers huge blaze
Bangkok, July 4, 2012 (AFP) - An explosion at an oil refinery in an industrial area of Bangkok sparked a massive fire early Wednesday, sending a thick column of smoke into the air that could be seen across the Thai capital.
No one appeared to have been injured in the blaze, which began after a loud blast at around 7.30 am local time (0030 GMT), according to a spokeswoman for the refinery firm.
"We are investigating the cause of fire and will inform the public immediately," said Chaveewan Kiatchokchaikul of Bangchak Petroleum, who said the fire had been brought under control.
Emergency services deployed to the scene said there had been no casualties reported so far.
"There is not much oil so people should not panic," said a local Bangkok fire fighter on Thai television.
The Bangchak oil refinery, which employs around 600 people, is located in a large industrial estate in a sprawling suburb.
It is among the country's biggest refineries and 120,000 barrels of oil are processed at the site every day, a company official told AFP.
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Science Minister: Bangkok will not be flooded this year
BANGKOK, 5 July 2012 (NNT) - Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi has assured that Bangkok and key economic zones will not be flooded this year.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today presided over the meeting of Water Resources Management and Flood Control Committee, with Mr Plodprasop and other flood-related agencies in attendance.
During the meeting, Ms Yingluck instructed the Hydrographic Department and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department to ensure effective management of disaster alert systems. Mr Plodprasop also stressed at the meeting that a community-level centralized health, evacuation, and disaster alert is needed so accurate and timely warnings can be issued to affected areas.
The Science Minister expressed his belief that there is only a one-percent chance of floods of last year’s magnitude taking place in Thailand this year. River plains, banks and previously flooded areas across the country are more likely to be flooded this year, but the degree of severity will be no match to last year’s crisis.
He has reaffirmed that Bangkok and its vicinity will not be submerged in floodwaters this year.
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Thaksin gets US visa: Noppadon
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has, for the past few months, sought and received visa to enter the United States, his legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said on Friday.
"The granting of visa has no linkage to the Nasa request to use U-tapao air base for conducting weather research," he said.
Noppadon said he did not make an earlier confirmation due to concern that the Democrats would politicise the visa issue.
He did not comment whether Thaksin had immediate plans to travel to the US.
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European conmen arrested in $10 million Thai scam
BANGKOK, July 6, 2012 (AFP) - A gang of international fraudsters who duped European victims into investing eight million euros ($9.9 million) in fake funds have been arrested in Bangkok, Thai immigration police said Friday.
The 15 foreigners, among them six Britons, two Americans, a South African and a German, told their victims they were brokers for high-return funds and lured them into transferring cash into a Swiss bank account.
They were arrested on Thursday in central Bangkok, according to Police Major General Preecha Thimamontri, of Thai immigration police, adding that they may have made millions more euros from the scam.
A statement from immigration police said the gang sourced their victims from research companies and told customers they "could make 65 percent profit in (a) short time" by investing in gold and cash funds.
"Police seized 16 computers, printers, copy-machine and other equipment to connect to the Internet and documents with victims' information," the statement seen by AFP said.
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Frenchman Busted With 97 Fake Credit Cards At Pattaya ATM
A Frenchman was arrested at a SCB Bank’s ATM machine on North Pattaya Road while attempting to withdraw cash using fake credit cards. Police seized 97 fake credit cards, mostly belonging to victims in France. The man also had a Google Earth map to locate ATM machines in Pattaya.
PATTAYA – July 7, 2012 [PDN]; At 11 a.m., Pol. Maj.Gen. Jamnong Rattanakul, Commissioner, Chonburi province; Pol. Col. Panthana Nuchanart; Pol. Lt. Col. Kierttisak Sathongoy, Deputy Superintendent; Pol. Lt. Col. Chitdecha Songhong, Inspector, along with the police team, reported arresting Mr. Anthony Marc Christophe Claude, 24, a Frenchman. The seized evidence included 97 fake electronic cards and a Google Earth map to locate ATM machines in Pattaya.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Jamnong said on the afternoon of July 6, Pattaya police were notified from an officer of SCB bank that a foreigner had tried to use a fake electronic card to withdraw money from the bank’s ATM machine at North Pattaya, Moo 5 Tambon Na Kleu, Amphur Banglamung, Chonburi province.
Police rushed to the scene and found Mr. Anthony standing at the ATM machine. The police restrained him and searched his handbag, finding a printout of the Google Earth map showing the locations of ATMs in Pattaya, as well as the 97 fake electronic cards.
Full story: http://www.pattayada...at-pattaya-atm/
-- Pattaya Daily News 2012-07-09
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Man is held over vicious attack on teacher Adam Pickles in ThailandBy Michael Black
BANGKOK: -- A 43-year-old Briton has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a road rage attack in Thailand which left a Keighley teacher in a coma.
Sean Henry Tinsley has been remanded in custody for the attempted murder of Adam Pickles, 40, after being arrested at Bangkok International Airport.
It is alleged that he attacked Mr Pickles with a wheelbrace after a vehicle incident in which a car was scraped.
Tinsley had left Thailand after the alleged attack on Mr Pickles, a former Bradford Grammar School student, in the resort of Pattaya – 80 miles east of Bangkok.
Tinsley, from Wolverhampton, was arrested on his return late on Friday and remanded in custody on Saturday at Pattaya Provincial Court.
Mr Pickles – who grew up in Riddlesden and is married with a nine- month-old son – is thought to have been attacked following an incident in which he scraped another vehicle while getting out of a parking spot in the resort city.
After six weeks Mr Pickles, the head of English at the Regent’s International School in Pattaya, was brought back home to the UK when a local and international appeal received a massive response for funds.
Full story: http://www.thetelegr...es_in_Thailand/
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Pattaya Ladyboy Gang Beats Three People And Chases Them On Motorbikes
PATTAYA:--Two women were beaten up in the restroom of a pub in Third Pattaya Road by a group of people led by 2 ladyboys. The victims were later assaulted again in the parking lot, along with a male friend who had come to pick up his girlfriend. The gang also chased the fleeing victims on motorbikes before escaping.
PATTAYA – July 8, 2012 [PDN]; At 11 a.m., two women and a man reported to Pol. Lt. Col. Chaiporn Thongnapean,investigating officer, Banglamung police station, Chonburi province, that they had been beaten by 2 ladyboys and more than 10 men and women in the restroom of a pub on Third Pattaya Road near Moom Aroi Restaurant.
Ms.Cholthicha Khamla-ead, 23, a female clerk in well-known department store, suffered a broken nose; Ms. Suthasinee Karnngarm, 20, suffered injuries to both eyes; and Mr. Sitthiphol Leangjampa, 20, suffered injuries to both eyes and his forehead and left cheek.
They reported that the gang had also followed them in motorbikes to beat and kick at their motorbikes, and also tried to pull off the victim’s necklace. Fortunately, several bystanders assisted the victims and brought them to the hospital.
Full story:http://www.pattayada...-on-motorbikes/
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Thai pardon for US citizen jailed for royal insult
BANGKOK, July 11, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand on Wednesday said a Thai-born US citizen jailed for insulting the kingdom's revered monarch had been granted a royal pardon, in a move welcomed by the United States.
Joe Wichai Commart Gordon, a car salesman from Colorado, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in December under the kingdom's strict lese majeste laws, which rights campaigners say are used to stifle freedom of expression.
Gordon "was granted a royal pardon yesterday", a senior Corrections Department official told AFP on Wednesday. Bangkok Remand Prison said he left the jail late Tuesday.
The 55-year-old was arrested in May on a visit to the kingdom and accused of posting the material deemed offensive online -- a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej that he translated into Thai -- while living in the United States.
His conviction drew protest from the US, which said he was exercising his right to free speech.
Gordon's release comes just days before a planned meeting between Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a US business forum in Cambodia.
"We are pleased that US citizen Joe Gordon was granted a royal pardon which allows him to be released from prison," said US embassy official Walter Braunohler.
"We urge Thai authorities on a regular basis both privately and publicly to ensure that freedom of expression is protected in accordance with international obligations."
Gordon was taken to the US embassy on release, according to his lawyer Anon Numpa.
He said Gordon was one of four prisoners who have sought royal pardons in lese majeste cases, but so far only his case has been approved.
Under Thailand's lese majeste legislation, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.
Gordon was initially sentenced to five years in prison, but the Thai Criminal Court halved the term because he pleaded guilty to publishing the banned biography online.
Speaking to AFP in prison just hours before his release on Tuesday, Gordon said he had heard that he could be freed but could not quite believe it.
"It's good... I had heard that yesterday," he said. "But it could still be a rumour."
The royal family is a highly sensitive topic in politically turbulent Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is revered as a demi-god by many Thais, has been hospitalised since September 2009.
Gordon's conviction put the international spotlight on Thailand's increasingly controversial lese majeste prosecutions, which observers say have surged following a coup that removed fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.
In May a Thai online editor was handed a suspended jail term for failing to remove a comment critical of the revered monarchy on her website, prompting Google to issue a stark warning over Internet freedom in the kingdom. She faces decades in a separate case that has yet to be tried.
Scrutiny of the law has intensified since the death of a 62-year-old Thai man this month while serving a 20-year sentence for committing lese majeste.
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Teen Girl Sexually Assaulted By Three Police Officers, A Taxi Driver And Her Father
In a shameful case of sexual crimes, a ninth grade girl reported being raped by three policemen, and later raped by the taxi driver whom she had fled to for help. She also later revealed to police that she had been raped by her father since the age of 7.
PATHUMTHANI – July 10, 2012 [PDN]; Mr. Sinlapachai Kenpa, authority of the Ministry of Social development and Human Security, brought “Miss Jane”(alias), age 15, a ninth grade student of a Patumthani school, to the Nongsuea police station to notify police that she had been repeatedly raped by her father since she was 7 years old. The father, Mr. Somnuek (surname withheld), is 41 years old.
Miss Jane also revealed to the police other recent rapes: by three policeman and a taxi driver. The rapes occurred after she joined the traffic volunteer project of Pratoo Chulalongkorn police station in Thanyaburi , to help people in rush hour traffic. Three policemen had befriended her and gave her money, and she thought she could trust them completely.
She did not know their real names, as they told her to call them “Ja Por,” “Ja Sor,” and a third man whose name she did not know. They treated her to meals and she did not think it was suspicious, because they were policemen and she thought they were just being kind. While she was eating they convinced her to drink alcohol, which she drank and felt dizzy and drunk. So the three volunteered to take her home, but on the way they brought her to a motel and raped her.
Full story: http://www.pattayada...and-her-father/
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Korkaew warns of civil war if court rules against amendments
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- Pheu Thai party-list MP and red-shirt leader Korkaew Pikulthong Wednesday warned that a civil war would break out if the Constitution Court ruled against charter amendments.
But Korkaew expressed confidence that the court would not rule that the amendments were tantamount to attempts to toppling the ruling system and in violation of article 68.
Korkaew said he expected that the court would rule that the amendments could be made on an article-by-article basis.
He said that in the worst case scenario, the court would rule that the amendments were efforts to topple the Constitutional Monarchy.
If that proved to be the cases, civil war would erupt, he said.
Korkaew said the government would not accept such a ruling and the government’s supporters would retaliate against Constitution Court judges by filing complaints with the police accusing the judges of sedition.
He said if police refused to arrest the judges, the people would take the law into their own hands and try to arrest the judges.
Korkaew said the elite would mobilise their supporters to protect the judges and the people of the two sides would clash.
Korkaew said police would not be able to control the situation so the military would stage a coup. After the coup, the people would come out to wage a civil war against the military, Korkaew added.
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Dishonest cop sees sentence reduced from 1,765 years to 50
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced a Bangkok policeman to a total of 1,765 years in prison for embezzling Bt512,342 in fines, but reduced that to the legal maximum jail term of 50 years.
The lawsuit stated Pol SgtKosol Jompol, 41, a former administrative Bueng Kum district policeman, had failed to pay the fines into state bank accounts but instead put the money into his own pocket on 353 occasions from February 10, 2003 to April 30, 2004.
The primary court had ruled on November 19, 2010 that Kosol was guilty and gave him a 1,765-year prison term, which was halved due to his useful confession and then reduced to the maximum jail term of 50 years along with an order to return Bt512,342 to the state.
After the Appeal Court upheld the ruling in September 2011, the defendant, who had been detained throughout the trial, appealed further for a reduced sentence. He claimed that he didn’t realise the consequences of his action, that he had no financial expertise, that he had to take care of his ailing mother and that he had already returned the embazzled money to the state.
However, the Supreme Court did not consider there were sufficient grounds for reducing the sentence, which the lower courts had appropriately passed, and thus upheld the ruling, which will see the former policeman stay in jail the maximum 50 years.
After hearing the verdict, Kosol appeared calm and without emotion. None of his family members was present for the verdict.
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Snakes and baby monkey seized at Thai airport Bangkok (AFP) -
BANGKOK: -- Thai airport authorities Wednesday found 11 pythons and a baby monkey among an array of creatures hidden in the suitcase of a Kuwaiti woman trying to board a flight from Bangkok, wildlife officials said.
A total of 24 live animals were found stashed in the woman's suitcase after she tried to check it in as oversized luggage on a flight to Kuwait, said Narongrit Sookprakarn, an official of the Thai Department of of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation based at Suvarnabhumi airport.
He said the woman fled the scene when asked to open her suitcase but police were able to identify her from her luggage tag and have issued an arrest warrant.
The baby monkey had been put in a box with holes for it to breathe through, while officials also discovered 12 tarsiers -- a small tree dwelling primate.
"We believe that the animals were going to be sold as pets," Narongrit said.
Thailand, a hub of international smuggling, makes regular grisly wildlife discoveries as traffickers feed a voracious demand for unusual pets and traditional medicines made from animal parts.
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German Resident drugged and robbed at his Jomtien apartment
PATTAYA:--A German resident in Jomtien was allegedly drugged and robbed by three women he had met earlier on Jomtien Beach.
Police were called to View Talay Residence in Soi 5 off Jomtien Beach early on Wednesday Morning and spoke with Mr. Georg Otto Eigner aged 71 who was in a dazed state but was able to explain how he met the women, thought to be in their thirties, and invited them back to his room where they were asked to provide him with a massage.
They were also told they could spend the night in the room if they wished. The four drank together inside his apartment and Mr. Eigner soon became sleepy and eventually passed-out. He woke up later on Wednesday morning and the women had gone and stole 1 Million Baht and 30,000 Euro’s which he claimed was left inside a wardrobe.
Full story:http://www.pattayaon...tien-apartment/
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Phuket Customs director: Illegal diesel probably used to support terrorism
Phuket Gazette
Director of the Investigation and Suppression Bureau, Customs Department, Rakob Srisupa, with the illegal fuel. Photo: Chutharat Plerin
The 141 gross ton ship, Nok Nan Nam, was illegally importing 230,000 liters of fuel. Photo: Chutharat Plerin
PHUKET: -- Customs officials who seized over 200,000 liters of smuggled diesel fuel off Phuket on Monday suspect the profits from such sales are likely being channeled to support terrorist activities.
“Customs have been cracking down on illegally imported goods, especially fuel, which is probably being used to support terrorism,” said Rakob Srisupa, director of the Customs Department Marine Investigation and Suppression Bureau Region 2 office at Phuket Deep Sea Port.
The comments came at a press conference on Tuesday, when Mr Rakob announced the seizure at 3:30am the night before of the 141-tonne vessel Nok Nan Nam about 10 kilometers east of Koh Racha Noi.
The vessel was laden with about 230,000 liters of illegal diesel with an estimated black market value of approximately 6.9 million baht, the press was told.
The Burmese captain, Lin Au, and his six Burmese crew members were arrested.
“The suspects confessed that they were hired to smuggle fuel from Phuket to Ranong,” said Director Rakob.
“They told us that the boat owner was Thai,” he added.
The suspects have been charged for delivering goods with the intention of defrauding the government by failure to pay taxes.
Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle16400.html
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Iranian man arrested allegedly with 3.9 kgs of 'ice'
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- An Iranian man was arrested along with 3,980 grams of crystal meth worth Bt14 million at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Royal Thai Customs Department's Investigation and Suppression Bureau chief Rakop Srisupaart announced Thursday.
Customs officials searched the suspicious passenger Rasoul Boroumand, 34, after he landed from Teharan and Dubai on Wednesday evening and found the drugs hidden in his luggage.
The man reportedly confessed to do the drug transport for Thai drug dealers eight times before, each time of which he got paid Bt300,000, and the drugs would be distributed in Bangkok's Nana area and Pattaya City.
He said he himself stayed and sold coffee in Pratunam area for three years.
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Spanish man blogs Bangkok suicide on Facebook: police
BANGKOK, July 12, 2012 (AFP) - A Spanish man found dead in his apartment in downtown Bangkok on the eve of his 37th birthday had live-blogged his suicide on his Facebook page, Thai police said Thursday.
Police were alerted after midnight on Wednesday when friends in Spain became worried by his desperate posts on the social network and a photograph of a potentially fatal drug.
"His friends alerted us after he posted a photo of a glass full of some kind of drug," Lieutenant Colonel Apichan Sawasdibud, who is leading the probe into the death, told AFP.
"His friend's sister, who is a pharmacist, warned them that it was a dangerous drug that could cause death."
Apichan said friends and neighbours described the dead man, who had been working for a telecoms company in Thailand for around a year, as a generally cheerful person.
Around 30 minutes before committing suicide he had emailed his resignation to his boss, telling him to contact his friends for an explanation.
"It's clear that he committed suicide because his room was locked from inside," Apichan said, adding that the man would have turned 37 on Thursday.
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Cambodian troops 'fire at passenger jet': Thai army
BANGKOK, July 12, 2012 (AFP) - Cambodian troops fired shots at a passenger aircraft flying near the country's disputed border with Thailand, believing it to be a spy plane, the Thai army said Thursday.
"The Cambodian military fired because there was a Thai passenger plane -- Bangkok Airways -- which could not land at Siem Reap airport because of bad weather," said deputy army spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.
"It was misunderstood by Cambodia to be spy plane," he said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident near the northern Cambodian tourist destination of Siem Reap.
Cambodian military at the border -- the site of deadly territorial clashes between the neighbouring countries last year -- confirmed troops had opened fire at an aircraft.
"It was dark so we could not see what type of plane it was. But it was circling many times and then our soldiers fired 18 shots from a machine gun, but it missed the plane because it was flying very high," Commander Seng Phearin told AFP.
"I think a passenger plane would not fly around the border. We suspected it was a spy plane, so we fired to defend our airspace," he said, adding the aircraft had been around 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Cambodia.
He said the incident happened at 19:00 local time (1200GMT) on Wednesday, although the Thai authorities said it occurred Thursday morning.
AFP was unable to immediately contact Bangkok Airways.
Cambodia and Thailand traded heavy arms fire over a disputed border in early 2011 under the previous Thai government, but ties have warmed significantly since Yingluck Shinawatra took power in Thailand.
Yingluck, whose brother Thaksin has remained close to Phnom Penh strongman Hun Sen since being deposed from power in a 2006 coup, is due to meet the Cambodian leader for talks in Siem Reap on Friday.
The meeting will be on the sidelines of the largest ever gathering of American businesses in Asia hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and attended by a score of regional dignitaries.
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Thailand's king treated for brain bleed: palace
BANGKOK, July 13, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand's deeply revered king, the world's longest reigning monarch, was treated for a minor brain bleed in the hospital where he has lived since 2009, the palace said Friday.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej's heartbeat and blood pressure had returned to normal following the incident, but doctors advised him to suspend public activities for the time being, the royal Household Bureau said in statement.
A team of royal physicians treated the 84-year-old on Thursday evening after he was observed with a "spasming of his right hand" and a "slightly faster heartbeat".
"Doctors used x-rays to examine his brain and found a small amount of blood had percolated through the left side of the meninges (the membrane around the brain)," the statement said. The king was treated with "medicine intravenously and after that the spasm stopped".
The king's illness comes at a particularly sensitive time in politically turbulent Thailand, after a Constitutional Court ruling on Friday that threatened to reignite inflammatory divides in the nation.
The court, which had been surrounded by security forces ahead of the ruling, dismissed an opposition complaint against the governing party, which had faced a possible dissolution in the crunch verdict.
The king was admitted to hospital in September 2009 for treatment of a respiratory condition.
His latest public appearance was Saturday July 7, when he toured the Chao Phraya river on a navy boat. His plans to travel to the central province of Ratchaburi on Sunday have been postponed.
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Top Bangkok primary school closes due to hand, foot and mouth disease
BANGKOK, July 17- Bangkok’s top-rated Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Elementary School (Satit Chula School) suspended classes from today through Friday after a number of students were infected with hand, foot and mouth disease.
Asst Prof Chalermpol Daoruang, the school’s deputy director, said that the temporary closure came after an unspecified number of Grade 1 and 2 students were diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
Suspending classes is intended to help halt the spread of the contagious disease among students and school staff as well as to allow the infected children to rest and receive medical treatment.
The school has a total of 1,500 primary students in Grades 1-6 and will resume classes normally on Monday, Asst Prof Chalermpol said.
In a related development, Chulalongkorn Hospital clinical virology expert Yong Phuworawan said that the virus carriers of the hand, foot and mouth disease currently affecting Thailand are different from the past and that several types and strains of the virus have been identified.
The HFMD found in the country were commonly caused by Enterovirus 71 and Coxsackie virus A16 which are not severe virus carriers, Dr Yong explained.
Yet, the ongoing disease in the country was caused by Coxsackie Virus A6 and Enterovirus 71 C4, which are the same strains found in neighbouring Cambodia, as well as Enterovirus 71 B5.
In Thailand, treatment depends on patient symptoms. Some countries have more experience with and research regarding hand, foot and mouth disease, the virologist said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed concern over the spread of the disease in schools, and assigned the public health and education ministries to jointly respond to the threat. (MCOT online news)
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Thailand seizes half-tonne of ivory from Kenya
Bangkok, July 17, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand has seized nearly half a tonne of ivory worth an estimated $725,000 smuggled from Kenya in boxes labelled handicrafts, a senior customs officer at Bangkok's main airport said Tuesday.
Some 160 pieces of ivory, weighing 456 kilogrammes, were found in a random search in six wooden boxes on a jet from Kenya -- a hub for smuggled ivory -- according to Tawal Rodjit, director of customs at Suvarnabhumi airport.
"The boxes/chests were from Kenya... the items had been labelled 'Goods to Declare' as handicrafts," he said, adding he believed the ivory was destined to be converted into accessories.
The July 13 seizure of the boxes, which were addressed to a fake company in Thailand, is the third haul of ivory being smuggled in or out of the country through the airport since January, he added.
Police have launched a probe into the seizure, which breaks international laws on trafficking endangered species or their parts.
"The penalty is up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine four times the value of the items seized," Tawal added.
Experts say traffickers use Thailand to smuggle ivory, rough or carved, into nearby China -- where it is ground up in traditional medicine -- and Japan.
But some also ends up in the United States and Europe.
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Grandmother confesses to killing her grandson
SUPARAT IAMTAN
THE NATION
BANGKOK: -- The grandmother of Bangkok schoolboy found dead in a flat in Bangkok's Prawet district last week, confessed yesterday that she had an argument with the boy and unintentionally killed him when she struck him on the head.
The boy's body was found in a fire escape at the Yongcharoen Complex building D last Friday. Police at first suspected the boy may have been killed because he witnessed a drug deal.
City police chief Pol Major-General Khamronwit Thoopkra-chang told a press conference yesterday grandmother, Somjit Jampadee, 55, confessed to fatally striking the boy.
The police chief said evidence against Somjit included blood traces, security camera footage and the blanket used in disposing the body.
She was a suspect because of her suspicious testimony but police didn't summons her as they were waiting for her to complete the boy's funeral, the chief said.
In her confession, Somjit said she and her grandson had got into an argument and that her grandson had assaulted her. After, she hit her grandson over the back of head while he was sleeping.
Charges against Somjit were pending further interrogation with other people because the case falls within the framework of the Family Act, the police chief said.
Somjit fatally shot her husband in 1993 and was found not guilty in a court battle because she testified that her husband had assaulted her, Khamronwit said.
Somjit tearfully said that the boy, having just moved to a new school for two or three months, often got into fistfights with schoolmates. She told him to stop fighting and their argument became heated.
The boy asked her for Bt500, and when she refused to give him the money right away, she said the boy grabbed a knife to threaten her.
The grandmother said the boy often hurt her, shoving her chest and punching her, but she never told the boy's mother out of fear it would break her heart. Somjit said she raised the boy since he was two years old when his dad died, but she didn't know if he was involved with drugs.
She tearfully said she only hit him once to teach him a lesson and was sorry he was dead.
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Evidence in cabbie's death 'points to security forces'
THE NATION
BANGKOK: -- A Department of Special Investigation (DSI) official told the Criminal Court yesterday that a taxi driver killed during Bangkok unrest in May 2010 was shot dead with a powerful gun belonging to state security officers.
Sanporn Chaiyao, who is a DSI investigator, said he and |officials from the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of |Forensic Science twice examined the location where Phan Khamkong, a taxi driver from Yasothon, died on May 15, 2010, during a crackdown by security forces. He also questioned| some people who claimed to have been there at the time |of incident.
Sanporn said witnesses and a video recording supported a theory that the man was killed with a high-speed bullet normally fired from weapons issued to government security forces. The official said some witnesses claimed security force members were responsible for the death.
The taxi driver, who took part in a street protest by the red shirts, was killed near the Ratchaprarop Airport Link station.
Yesterday's hearing was part of a court trial held at the request of public prosecutors into a number of deaths during the unrest in which the perpetrators remain unknown.
Another DSI investigator, Pol Lt-Colonel Anon Untarichan, told the court yesterday he was assigned to investigate the death of a boy during the 2010 unrest. He said it was found the victim was killed when a van was repeatedly shot at near the Airport Link station. According to the official, the van's driver, who was injured in the shooting, was among those questioned about the incident.
Anon said a photographer from Nation TV handed a video recording of the van shootout to the DSI investigators. A one-minute video clip of the incident was played during yesterday's court hearing.
The court continues with the hearing of more witnesses this morning.
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29 schools in Bangkok cancel classes
THANATPONG KONGSAI,
PUANGCHOMPOO PRASERT,
JEERAPONG PRASERTPONKRANG
THE NATION
Highest incidence of hand, foot and mouth for years; no deaths reported
BANGKOK: -- At least 29 schools in Bangkok have suspended some of their classes or shut down their whole facilities in the wake of the hand, foot, and mouth disease - or HFMD outbreak.
"In Bangkok, most patients are young children aged not over four years old," Dr Wongwat Liewlak said yesterday. He is head of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) Communicable Diseases Control Division.
According to the Public Health Ministry, some 12,581 people got the disease in Thailand between January 1 and July 9 this year. There is no report of any deaths.
Prof Yong Poovorawan, a virus expert from Chulalongkorn University (CU), said the most common strain of HFMD spreading in Thailand now was CA6 (Coxsackie A6) - not CA16 anymore.
"At this point, it seems the incidences of HFMD are the highest in three decades," he said.
In Bangkok alone, 2,322 people had caught the disease. All up 18 schools in the capital have totally shut down, while 11 others have had to suspend some classes.
The prestigious CU demonstration primary school is among schools being closed temporarily due to the spread of HFMD among its students.
"We have found that 22 students came down with the disease," the university's president Dr Pirom Kamol-Ratanakul said yesterday.
The school closure - which started yesterday - will run till Friday including two days closed for CU's commencement ceremony.
"I believe the temporary closure will not hurt children's studies," Pirom said.
FOUR STUDENTS DIAGNOSED
The school's director Assoc Prof Supranee Jiranarong said four students were diagnosed with the disease on July 12, and four days later 18 more students caught the same disease.
"So, we have decided to close down the school temporarily and contacted a nearby public-health service centre to spray proper disinfectant across classrooms," she said.
Pirom urged the public to not get panicked about the spread of HFMD.
"If we follow the Public Health Ministry's guidelines, we will be |able to control the situation," he said.
The HFMD has raised serious concerns lately because a recent outbreak in Cambodia claimed more than 50 lives.
However, Thai officials have explained that the HFMD strain in Cambodia was more dangerous than the one commonly found in Thailand.
According to Deputy Government Spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard, the Public Health Ministry has now called on nurseries and schools to strictly maintain hygiene standards at their facilities.
Yong said department stores should clean playground zones more often too so as to reduce |the incidence of HFMD.
"There is no medicine and vaccine available to cure this disease. We can only prescribe the medicine to ease symptoms," he said.
According to him, 60 per cent of Thai children aged under five have no immunity against the disease. But most Thais aged over 12 years old do have immunity against the disease.
"A 'war room' must be set up at a provincial level with the provincial governor as the chair if there are more than 10 cases of HFMD found each day," Anusorn said.
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Police explain mistaken identity
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol MajGeneral Pisit Pisutsak said yesterday that though police had initially arrested the wrong man over robbery charges, they were not at fault because the five victims had identified cab driver Charin Chamket, 35, as the thief.
City police chief Khamronwit Thoopkrajang apologised to Charin on behalf of his subordinates yesterday and provided Bt20,000 compensation. Charin said that he wouldn’t sue the police beacuse he understood the circumstance and regraded this as his own bad luck.
Charin said he wouldn’t drive taxi anymore and that he only drove taxi as a sideline from his full-time job as an IT official at a Bangkok hotel to take care of his mother and his two children.
After the cabbie turned himself in on July 2, he was detained for nine days at Min Buri prison and released after police nabbed the real culprit Thinnapat Sirisopa, 36.
The suspect had robbed 16 taxi passengers and even raped some of them. Thinnapat's taxi carried the fake licence number Mor Jor621, which actually belonged to Charin's taxi.
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Foreign inmate boasts of drug activity in Bang Khwang on YouTube
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- A video clip posted on YouTube showing a Western inmate at Bang Khwang maximum-security prison doing drugs and telling stories about how he and other inmates are able to freely use the Internet and make phone calls is genuine, Corrections Department director general Suchart Wonganantachai said yesterday.
He said the inmate in question was an American, identifying him merely as "Jessie". The inmate offers no information on how he shot the clip or who uploaded it to the popular website.
"The clip was shot some time around last October, before I took this position," Suchart said. He did not confirm the activities by other inmates mentioned by "Jessie".
"The clip was uploaded by a person based in the United States and we do not know how it was taken out of the Bang Khwang prison and given to the uploader," he said.
Officials have seized the mobile phone used to shoot the clip, which was made before a recent crackdown on inprison drug dealing and possession of contraband items, he said.
Meanwhile, police arrested five suspects and seized 64,000 amphetamine tablets and two kilos of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", from them as one of them was preparing to travel to the South to deliver the narcotics.
A suspect, truck driver Jehmuhammad Jeharong, said he was ordered by an inmate at Songkhla Provincial Prison through telephone calls to pick up the drugs at a home in northern Bangkok, and deliver them to an address in the South. Jehmuhammad said he had run drugs for Sandi Jehwae four times and been paid Bt200,000 each run.
The other four suspects are all based in the South. Sirirat Phoonkaew is accused of receiving the "ice" and reselling it, while Abdulhamae Hama, his wife Ceeti Sara Yeh and Russalan Seng buy the tablets and resell them, police said. Police are finding out whether the drug money was used to fund terror attacks in the deep South.
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Gun-Toting British “Doctor” Arrested In Parking Dispute
PATTAYA:--A 56-year-old British man with a university doctorate degree was arrested for using a gun to scare people. They had been parking in front of his house near Soi Khao Noi fresh market. He was charged with illegally carrying a firearm as a foreigner, which is against the law in Thailand.
PATTAYA – July 21, 2012 [PDN]; an arrest of a British man was announced by Pol. Lt. Col. Supachat Piammanas, vice director of Banglamoong police station; Pol. Lt. Col. Pongrapee Loysai-or, suppression inspector, the head of Nongprue branch; Pol. Maj. Capt. Pornchana Uncharern, vice suppression inspector; along with police forces and police volunteers.
The suspect, Mr. Steve Spooner, 56, from England, lives at 15/223-224 moo 5, Nongprue, Banglamung Chonburi. Police seized the evidence of an automatic 9 mm gun, registration # 10/5200030, serial number KF11964, and a magazine of 8 bullets, along with a PACSAFE brand black bag.
He was arrested near his house in front of Nana Coffee, opposite of the Soi Khao Noi fresh market, moo 5 Nongprue. The police brought him to Banglamoong police station, Nongprue branch. Pol.Lt.Col.Supachat said that police had received a report from the market people that a bald man wearing sun glasses was walking in front of Nana coffee shop, carrying a black bag that appeared to contain a gun.
Full story:http://www.pattayada...arking-dispute/
--PATTAYA DAILY NEWS 2012-07-22
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Thailand - Land of smiles or tourist trap?
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two Canadian sisters die mysteriously in their rented bungalow on an idyllic Thai island, believed poisoned. Less than week later, a 60-year-old Australian woman is stabbed to death in botched robbery outside a luxury resort in Phuket.
Their deaths are the latest in a tumult of violence and intrigue to shake tourism in postcard-perfect Thailand, raising questions over whether it is squandering a prized asset by failing to protect travelers arriving in record numbers.
Other headlines are less dramatic but equally troubling: taxi driver mafias, transvestite thieves, pollution, tourist brawls, traffic accidents, and at airports, radar glitches, flight delays and long immigration queues.
"The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) think numbers are going up so people must like it here, but the problem is the quality of their visit has gone down," said Larry Cunningham, Australia's Honorary Consul to Phuket, an island described by travel guide Lonely Planet as "one of the world's most famous dream destinations".
The government has vowed to tackle "mafias" in tourist areas, while in February, Cunningham appealed to Phuket's government to stop jet-ski operators who hire thugs and demand compensation for equipment damage renters did not cause.
Last year, a German television show broadcast footage of sewage pumped into the sea at popular Kata and Karon beaches. [more...]
Full story: http://www.cnbc.com/id/48278695
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Special Report: Bangkok receives World's Best City Award 2012
BANGKOK: -- Bangkok has for the third time in as many years been named the World’s Best City 2012 by the globally renowned travel magazine Travel & Leisure.
Based on the Travel & Leisure’s annual survey conducted on its readers’ opinions regarding the best travel destinations in the world, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra announced that the the Thai capital of Bangkok was ranked first on the list and was granted the World’s Best Award 2012. This is the third year in a row that Bangkok has received the prestigious award.
Travel & Leisure is one of the most famous travel magazines in the US, boasting at least 30,000 readerships from around the world. Factors taken into account by respondents in the survey included location, scenery, art and culture, food, shopping, hospitality and cost-worthiness.
The Governor traveled to New York to receive the award on behalf of Bangkok on July 19th. According to him, the award is the pride of Bangkokians. He added that, besides beautiful scenery, the capital has its unique features such as lifestyle, culture, tradition and various choices of food.
MR Sukhumbhand further elaborated that the award shows that Thais have been good hosts for foreigners, adding that Thai hospitality, honesty, and friendly gestures with the tourists also help claim the award for the third consecutive year.
He asked all Thais to help preserve the city as a lively place and extend a warm welcome to tourists so that Bangkok will continue to receive the World’s Best City award for years to come.
For other awards, New York City holds on to its title for the 12th year in a row as the Best City in the U.S. and Canada, and ranks No. 7 among top cities overall. Boracay in the Philippines is voted World’s Best Island. Singapore Airlines is the World’s best international airlines.
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Starbucks Thailand tells teachers "order more coffee or get lost"
BANGKOK: -- Starbucks Thailand has issued a public notice telling private tutors taking advantage of their seats and wifi to order more coffee, or get lost.
Apparently Starbucks are tired of private tutors holding their lessons in their airconditioned coffee shops for hours using wifi and occupying seats.
Freeloaders, be aware!
Source (Pantip.com Thai language)
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Thailand tops Australian death listBy Will Jackson, ninemsn
More Australians die in Thailand than in any other foreign country.
Figures released by the Department of Foreign Affairs for the period 2006 to 2011 show 430 Australian citizens died in the popular tourist destination.
Of those, 163 died of illness, 69 in accidents, and 66 of natural causes, while the cause of death was unknown or unlisted in 132 cases.
Vietnam was the country with the second highest number of deaths with 300 and Greece had the third highest with 284.
Most of Vietnam's deaths were from illness (151) while the majority in Greece were from natural causes (197).
A spokeswoman from DFAT said there were as many as 96,000 Australians living in or visiting Greece last year.
"The numbers of natural deaths need to be viewed in that context," she said.
South-East Asia has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons this year following several tourists' deaths in Laos and the stabbing murder of Perth travel agent Michelle Smith in Phuket.
According to the statistics Laos makes up only a small percentage of overseas travel deaths, with 56 deaths listed in the country between 2006 and 2011.
Over the same period a total of 4,552 Australians died in overseas locations.
A DFAT spokeswoman said that in cases where the data could potentially identify a specific person and breach the Privacy act, the cause of death was listed as "other".
Source and charts: http://news.ninemsn....ller-death-list
-- ninemsn.com.au 2012-07-26
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41 students detained in anti-brawl measure
The Nation
BANGKOK: -- City police yesterday rounded up 41 students at Krungthon Technology School from a crowded bus in front of the Dao Khanong Market in Bangkok's Thon Buri area. A search found 25 students were carrying knives, which they claimed was for self-defence against rival students who often ambushed them.
As the arrests were made as part of measures to prevent student brawls, police fined the 25 students for carrying knives in a public place without a good reason and contacted the school and the parents of 41 students to pick them up at Bukhalo police station.
Police also issued a general warning to parents not to allow their children to ride modified motorbikes or race bikes on city streets, as police now had a policy of arresting suspected street racers before they actually start racing.
The alleged street racers' parents and schools would also be notified and warned to keep their kids in line - or face punishment if kids broke the law.
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British Ambassador Repeats His Call For Uk Nationals To Exercise Caution When Travelling To Thailand
Phuket Gazette
In recent years Thailand has maintained an average of 12,000 deaths per year from road traffic accidents; most involve motorbikes. Photo: Thawit Bilabdullar
Make sure you read the small print: riding a motorbike or other activities could invalidate the insurance policy, cautioned British Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad. Photo: Gazette file
PHUKET: -- British Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahamd has repeated his call for UK nationals to exercise caution when travelling to Thailand and to make sure they have adequate insurance coverage when they do visit.
“I have seen the sadness and anguish of victims and relatives after incidents which, if thought through, are entirely avoidable. Like the majority of visitors and residents in Thailand, I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys their time in the country,” Asif Ahmad said.
“Thailand rightly remains an attractive tourist destination and a significant number of people have chosen to become long-term residents. Good planning is the best way to avoid hazards, and insurance for travel and health is essential,” he added.
The ambassador’s comments follows the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) listing Thailand as the second most likely country where British nationals would need consular assistance, after the Philippines.
In its annual British Behaviour Abroad Report for 2012 – compiled from data gathered from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012 – the FCO noted that British nationals were most likely to be hospitalized in Greece, followed by Thailand. They were most likely to be detained in Spain, followed by the USA, then Thailand.
The report, released last week, shows that the number of British consular assistance cases globally increased by 3%, the number of rapes reported to consular staff increased by 10%, the number of deaths was up by 3% and the number of applications for Emergency Travel Documents rose by 10%.
Of the 296 deaths of Britons in Thailand over the past year, about 75% were residents, many of whom had retired in Thailand.
After natural causes, the second most frequent cause of death was road traffic accidents.
In recent years in Thailand, there has been an average of 12,000 deaths per year from road traffic accidents, of which about 70% involved motorbikes. Many accidents are due to poor safety standards of vehicles and drivers. Travelling at night in private or by public transport increases the risk of death or injury on the roads, the report said.
“Medical bills can run to thousands of pounds and the ordinary British taxpayer cannot meet the uninsured costs of fellow citizens who have chosen to venture abroad,” said Amb Ahmad.
“Make sure you read the small print – riding a motorbike or other activities could invalidate the insurance policy. Reading the FCO’s Thailand Travel Advice will help visitors familiarize themselves with local laws and customs, and become aware of scams and potential risks.
“We do recommend travellers to check health requirements to ensure they’ve had all the necessary vaccinations.” he added.
Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle16518.html
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Shoppers hurt in Tesco ceiling collapse
The Nation
AYUTTHAYA: -- A section of the ceiling at a Tesco Lotus outlet in Ayutthaya collapsed yesterday, injuring many shoppers, one of them seriously.
The 20metre section of ceiling was in front of a sukiyaki eatery. An initial inspection found that the collapse occurred when a large piece of an airconditioning vent broke free from the fixture holding it in place, causing it to rest on the section of ceiling, which gave way.
One person was sent to hospital and many others sustained minor injuries. The area has been declared off limits while inspections continue. Legal action might be taken in the case, a local politician said.
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72-year-old Briton found dead in Chon Buri house
The Nation
CHON BURI: -- A 72-year-old Briton was found dead Monday afternoon in Sattaheep district of this eastern coastal province, police said.
David Farrel's body was found on the first floor of the house in Ban Bang Sare Market at 2:30 pm. Police believed he was killed two days earlier.
There was a serious wound on his left temple and his body had several bruises.
There were blood traces on the stairs and the wall of the three-storey house.
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Police guilty of murdering youth, 17
The Criminal Court Monday handed down a guilty verdict to five former Kalasin-based policemen for their involvement in the extrajudicial killing of a 17-year-old boy in 2004.
Three of them were sentenced to death, another to life imprisonment, and the other to seven years in jail.
The death sentence was meted out against three police Senior Sergeant-Majors Angkarn Kammoonna, Sudtinan Noanting and Pansin Uppana. They are 48, 43, and 42 years old respectively. They were also found guilty of trying to cover up their crime.
Pol Lt Colonel Sumit Nansatit, who was serving as Deputy Superintendent of Muang Kalasin station at the time of the murder, was convicted of collaborating in the premeditated murder.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
His supervisor Pol Colonel Montri Sriboonleu, the former Superintendent of Muang Kalasin Police, was found guilty of trying to help his subordinates escape the reach of the law.
He was ordered to serve a seven-year jail term.
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Elephant stomps Thai man to death
Bangkok - An elephant stomped a man to death near a Buddhist ceremony venue in the presence of Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Monday. The incident occurred in the morning, about 200 metres from where the prime minister was to offer alms to monks seated on the backs of elephants.
It happened after an unidentified man climbed onto a tree, located about 20 metres from where Yingluck would offer alms. When the police asked the man to climb down, he jumped onto the ground and began playing with one of the elephants.
The elephant grabbed the man with his trunk and hurled him on to the ground before stomping on his body. The man later died at the hospital.
Continues:
http://www.newkerala...ml#.UBaR2ZjAFvY
July 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti)
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Belgian 'Most Wanted' arrested in Phuket
Phuket Gazette
Thai National Police chief Damapong Priewpan, who ordered the investigation that led to the arrest of Marc de Schutter in Phuket yesterday. Photo: Gazette file
PHUKET: -- A top-secret investigation has led to the arrest of one of Belgium’s most-wanted criminals in Phuket.
The suspect, named as Marc de Schutter, was reportedly wanted for murder, money laundering and economic crimes in his native Belgium.
His arrest by some 30 officers of the Crime Suppression Division and Chalong Police followed a one-month investigation launched at the request of the Belgian Embassy in Bangkok to Thai national police chief Priewpan Damapong.
A command center was established in Phuket to track down Mr Schutter, for whom an arrest warrant was issued on July 27.
Following a lengthy stakeout, Mr Schutter was finally taken into custody in a home off Saiyuan Road in Rawai early yesterday afternoon and immediately sent to Bangkok.
A press conference to reveal more details of the investigation and arrest is expected to take place later today in Bangkok.
Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle16553.html
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