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Killer of Marines dead
2008-06-08 10:16:00
A southern insurgent with a million-baht bounty on his head for the brutal 2005 murders of two kidnapped Marines died in a gunfight with government forces in Narathiwat province, police said on Saturday, after a night of insurgent terror attacks. Alinsan Nikaji was killed after 100 police and soldiers sealed off the village of Tanyong Limo in a hunt for a suspected militant hideout. A 20-minute gun battle broke out as government forces found four suspected rebels inside a home in the village. Alinsan, 25, was killed during the battle. Thai authorities had a 1 million baht ($30,000) reward for Alinsan, who was wanted in the hostage-taking that ended when he and accomplices beat the two Marines to death in Tanyong Limo in 2005. Two other men, each with 500,000-baht rewards on their heads, were arrested after the Friday night firefight, police said. In the hostage crisis in Tanyong Limo, hundreds of veiled women and young children dramatically faced down heavily armed ...
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THAI and SCB Introduce ATM e-Ticket Payment
2008-06-01 06:06:00
THAI Airways International Public Company Limited led by Danuj Bunnag, Vice President of Marketing Planning/ Revenue Management and Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited’s Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer Charamporn Jotikasthira recently organized a press conference at SCB head office to introduce ‘SCB ATM e-Ticket Payment ’, the latest truly online service for SCB customers using their ATM cards for THAI tickets payment on traveling within Thai land. SCB customers are able to make payment at over 5,000 ATMs across the country, simply make reservation at THAI Contact Center 0-2356-1111. Seen in photo from left are: 1. SCB presenter showing SCB ATM e-Ticket Payment 2. Mr.Grish Attagrish , SCB’s Executive Vice President, Head Corporate Division 2 3. Mr. Charamporn 4. Mr. Danuj 5. Ms.Ratanawalee Loharjun, THAI’s Director of Brand Management and Commercial Communications Dept 6. THAI presenter showing S...

PM issues ultimatum
2008-05-31 13:04:00
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Saturday ordered the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to end their street protest by nightfall because it is blocking normal movement. The supreme commander said troops have not been ordered to use force - yet. Core leaders of the protest movement were meeting Saturday afternoon to decide their next steps. They announced on Friday they would continue their protest in order to topple the government. Several thousand demonstrators remained at the protest site. In a nationally televised speech on Saturday morning, Mr Samak said the week-long protest had created troubles for other people, including blocking traffic. Demonstrators must leave the area "within today", said Mr Samak, and police and soldiers were on standby to act if needed. He said there was no question he would yield to protesters' demands to step down. Supreme Commander Boonsang Niampradit told reporters on Saturday morning that he had not ordered troops to prep...
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Police arrest key suspect in southern insurgency
2008-05-26 16:46:00
  A wanted insurgent suspect was arrested in Yala's Than To district yesterday. Acting on a tip from an informant, authorities scoured Jaropae village and found Masoguelee Asu, 30, a suspected leader of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil militant unit which is active in the area. The group is believed to be responsible for an ambush in the district on Feb 11 which injured four border patrol officers Mr Masoguelee was wanted on an arrest warrant for charges of attempted murder, criminal association and teaming up to oppose the authorities. In Narathiwat, Deputy Education Minister Boonlue Prasertsopha, who travelled to Muang district to hear first-hand about problems education institutions were facing, promised to propose that cabinet allocate 400 million baht for the construction of new buildings for community colleges in the three southernmost provinces. He said education was the best cure in the long run for security problems. As well, to solve a shortage of doctors ...
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Thailand Tourism Awards Launched
2008-05-25 07:55:00
HE Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently launched the first Thailand Tourism Awards aimed at giving recognition to those organisations which contribute to the country's sustainable tourism development. The awards comprise six categories and the winners will be selected by a panel of judges who have expertise in their respective fields of responsibility. According to TAT Governor Seree Wangpaichitr, the event is part of the TAT's commitment to sustainable tourism development. "Tourism is a business sector which depends very much on the sustainable management of resources. We have always realised this characteristic of the industry , and as a result the TAT has placed continuous emphasis on this issue. And because this year is so special, with Thailand celebrating the 50th anniversary of His Majesty the King's Accession to the Throne, as well it being the 36th anniversary of the TAT, we decided to organise this very special event, "he said. He added that the...
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Thaksin turns on Jakrapob
2008-05-21 15:36:00
PM's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair is now under fire from all sides after Thaksin Shinawatra demanded he take responsibility for a controversial speech considered by many as an attempt to challenge the royal institution. Mr Thaksin sent the message distancing himself from Mr Jakrapob through another former prime minister, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, during talks at the 76th birthday of the former army chief at his house in Nonthaburi last Thursday. Gen Chavalit unveiled Mr Thaksin's call yesterday, the same day police began investigating Mr Jakrapob's actions and the opposition moved for his replacement. The embattled minister also faces pressure from the People Power party (PPP) to resign to bring an end to the problem, but he is insisting on fighting to prove his innocence. ''Pol Lt-Col Thaksin is very concerned about what Mr Jakrapob said. I remember that Pol Lt-Col Thaksin said Mr Jakrapob would have to be responsible for the issue and should know what to ...

Thai help accepted
2008-05-14 16:19:00
On the 12th day of the Burmese cyclonedisaster, the military junta has agreed to welcome an all-Thai medicalrelief team sent by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkornto help the victims.PublicHealth Minister Chaiya Sasomsab said 30 volunteer doctors will helptreat Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated much ofRangoon and the southern rice delta on May 2 and 3. Psychiatrists are also part of theteam, and will be able to deal with trauma among the surivors, most ofwhom have been neglected for more than 10 days by the junta.The medical team is tol leave Thailand on Friday, and will be on duty in Burma for two weeks.On Tuesday, His Majesty the Kingurged Thai people to help Cyclone Nargis victims. The cabinet alsoapproved a grant of $500,000 (16 million baht) for Burma.According to World HealthOrganisation figures based on junta reports, 31,938 people were killed,1,403 injured and 29,770 were missing since the cyclone hit Burma.source from Bangkokpost

Surayud to fly to Burma to negotiate
2008-05-11 17:23:00
Privy Councillor and former prime minister Surayud Chulanont and a six-member entourage will reportedly fly to Burma 's new capital Naypyidaw today in an effort to convince the ruling junta to accept humanitarian aid for cyclone victims.Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama was reported to have told reporters in Japan that one of the missions of Gen Surayud's delegation was to convince the Burmese government to accept humanitarian aid from other countries and allow international aid workers into the cyclone-ravaged country.Gen Surayud's entourage includes air force commander-in-chief ACM Chalit Pookpasuk and Raja Prachanukroh Foundation secretary-general Prasong Phithunkijja. The foundation is under His Majesty the King's patronage.They will also present aid packages provided by the King to the Burmese generals today.The King yesterday instructed the foundation to send 2,000 bags of utensils and bedding weighing 10 tonnes to Burma.The 2,000 "subsistence" bags will be flown to Rangoon...

Hi-Thaksin website says 'bye' Thaksin
2008-04-29 17:00:00
The pro-Thaksin Shinawatra website hi-thaksin.net is being shut down at the request of the former prime minister, who says he wants to distance himself from politics. The website was set up by Mr Thaksin's supporters shortly after the Sept 19, 2006 coup which removed him from office. The site's webmaster, who identifies himself only as Pradab, said Mr Thaksin's personal spokesman Pongthep Thepkanchana has asked that Mr Thaksin's name not be used in any political context, because Mr Thaksin had already said he intended to stay right out of politics. The webmaster said he believed Mr Pongthep was conveying a message from Mr Thaksin. The website had to shut down to protect Mr Thaksin because it was recently accused of insulting a highly-respected institution, the webmaster said. He absolutely denied any wrongdoing. It had earlier been intended to continue the website until the 2007 constitution is amended. A message posted on the website yesterday announced it would ...
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PAD fights amendments
2008-04-20 09:27:00
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has threatened to hold a 20,000-signature collection campaign against MPs who join the bid by the government to amend the constitution. The campaign will kick off at the PAD's second political forum on Friday at Thammasat University. PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said the 20,000 signatures, which were expected to be gathered within 15 days, would be submitted to the Senate to impeach politicians supporting the move. The activist was speaking after a PAD meeting at the October 14 Memorial at the Kok Wua intersection yesterday. He said the group would also ask the Office of the Attorney-General to rule on the proposed amendments. The PAD said confrontations were unavoidable in the next two months as PAD networks nationwide mobilise in mass demonstrations to oppose charter amendments, while the government presses ahead with the move. The PAD said MPs joining the bid to change the constitution would be violating Article 122,...
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Girly Berry band too sexy for Anusorn
2008-04-17 17:43:00
Wearing skimpy outfits at a Songkran event may lead to the popular girl band Girly Berry being stripped of their role as the respectable young face of the Culture Ministry. Culture Minister Anusorn Wongwan expressed disappointment with the teenage girl band yesterday and threatened to ''blacklist'' them. The band, known for their revealing stage outfits and audacious dancing, were chosen to front the ministry's campaign for girls to dress modestly during the Songkran festival. They were paraded in traditional Thai costumes and posed for photographs as the campaign became the talk of the town with mixed reactions. But on Songkran day they again turned out in revealing tops and hot pants while performing amid the water-splashing chaos on Khao San road. Mr Anusorn said he had instructed ministry officials to find out why the entertainers chose such inappropriate outfits. The ministry would have to be more cautious with its choices next year, he added. Mr Anusorn sai...
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Riverside summit
2008-03-30 13:54:00
Prime Minster Samak Sundaravej headed to Laos again on Sunday as a six-nation Mekong River summit kicked off in the only capital actually located on the waterway. The meetings began on Sunday in land-locked Laos with a series of youth and business meetings, officials said. It is the third summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries: Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma and Vietnam, as well as Thailand. It began in Vientiane with meetings of a regional youth group and businessmen, Radio Laos reported in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok. The Mekong flows from China. It forms the Laos-Burma border north of Thailand, meanders into and beside Thailand and Laos, and then cuts through central Cambodia on its way to the sea via southern Vietnam's delta region. It meets the Tonle Sap River near the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, but Khmer refer to the river at that point as the Tonle Sap, not the Mekong. Khamthan Suthienamtha, secretary general of the Youth Union of the Lao Peopl...
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Sleepy Satun to be developed
2008-03-24 15:20:00
The persistent insurgency in the South may well result in sleepy Satun becoming the economic powerhouse of the southern border area, with the province already exploring its development potential. Satun has been chosen _ along with the vibrant Songkhla _ to be part of an economic revitalisation project led by the military. Adjacent to Satun and Songkhla are Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where insurgents have been very active. The insurgents have struck in parts of Songkhla, but rarely in Satun. The ongoing violence in the three provinces has slowed the overall economy in the border region to a trickle as tourism and commercial investments stagnate. Last week the government decided to try to boost the region's economy by promoting military-led investments in the border provinces. The economic development plan, which calls for military agencies to invest in private local businesses, will be first launched in Satun and Songkhla. The government hopes the success of the proje...

Military will lead investment bids to spur region's economy
2008-03-22 18:37:00
The military will lead a revival in investment in the restive southern border provinces to restore business confidence and help spur the region's economy, a high-level meeting decided yesterday. The meeting of a government committee on the special southern economic development zone, chaired by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, was held at Government House yesterday. Mr Samak, the nation's security chiefs and executives of agencies concerned looked at new ways of tackling the unrest, which has claimed about 3,000 lives over the past four years. The government is counting on investment from military agencies to help revive the troubled southern provinces, said the prime minister. Investment s will begin in Satun and Songkhla to convince people in the security hotspot provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat about the merits of such investments. Mr Samak said the far South is one of the poorest areas in the country, with economic growth averaging 1.8% per year, compared w...
More About: Economy , Military , Lead

Thai-Burma pact
2008-03-15 12:20:00
Naypyidaw, Burma - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has committed Thai land to an investment accord with Burma under which Thailand will try to boost the economy and help the military regime. Mr Samak and his Burmese counterpart Gen Thein Sein witnessed the signing of the investment pact during Mr Samak's one-day visit to Burma on Friday. The agreement was kept secret until Mr Samak arrived back in Thailand. The accord reportedly protects Thai investors, although Mr Samak's aides have not presented details on that part of the still confidential agreement. Thailand will discuss taking part in Burmese plans to built a deep sea port at Tavoey opposite Thailand's Andaman Sea coast, and commits the Thai government to press Thai business leaders to invest in the port project and other unspecified projects sponsored by the military regime. It was a major step forward to helping the so-called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) rulers. Previous Thai governments have ...

Muslim protest
2008-03-12 17:10:00
Around 800 Thai Muslim s claiming to represent the Bangkok Islamic community burnt a Danish flag and marched on the country's embassy on Wednesday to protest the reprinting of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad by Danish newspapers. Members of the Thailand-based Muslims Group for Peace rallied outside the embassy, shouting "Allah Akbar," (God is great"), burnt a flag and photos of the Danish prime minister Anders Fosh Rasmussen and Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. They called on all Thai Muslims to boycott Danish goods. There also were demonstrations in Pakistan, where young people burnt tyres and blocked roads in Multan to protest the reprinting of the cartoons. In Bangkok, leaders of the group denied reports they were organised or supported by the Iranian embassy in Bangkok. They said that the protesters came from Nong Chok district in Minburi, a Muslim neighbourhood in Bangkok, but were Sunni Muslims with no affiliation to Iran. They also denied...
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That's 'Real PM Samak' to you
2008-03-06 16:37:00
Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday urged Thais to stop talking about two leaders, because Samak Sundaravej is the only prime minister around. "Please be more constructive," said Mr Thaksin in his first media appearance since the day of his return to Thailand a week ago. "Stop instigating conflicts in society." He appeared before reporters after chairing a meeting of the Professional Golf Association of Thailand at the Thai Com Foundation - formerly the headquarters of his banned Thai Rak Thai party. Mr Thaksin added that he had not met face-to-face with Mr Samak since his return, but has talked with him "a few times" on the telephone. "We did not talk about politics. I did not give him any advice on politics, because I am not in the political arena any more. I came back to dedicate myself for charity work focusing on sports and education development." The former premier, deposed by a bloodless military coup on Sept 19, 2006, when he was...
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Four soldiers hurt in blast in NARATHIWAT
2008-03-05 17:05:00
  Four soldiers were injured, two of them critically, in a bomb explosion at a school in Tak Bai district yesterday afternoon. The bomb, triggered by mobile phone, went off at Ban Sripa-ngan school about 3pm. The device was hidden under a bench near where the four soldiers were waiting to escort teachers home. The mobile phone signal reportedly came through a Malaysian network. Meanwhile, two suspected rebels were arrested in separate raids on villages in Yi-ngo and Rueso districts early yesterday morning. They were Masofee Taenima and Ma-uzman Niingjehhae, who face charges from insurgency to illegal firearms possession of firearms. They denied all allegations. Meanwhile, 10 soldiers on patrol escaped unharmed following a bomb attack in Rangae district yesterday morning. The bomb went off on the Yurupareh-Torlang road in tambon Tanyong Limo while the soldiers in two jeeps were patrolling the neighbourhood. In Yala, governor Theera Minthrasak gave cash to four soldie...
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TRUE SUPPORTS "CHIM PAI BON PAI" EVENT TO PROMOTE THAI CUISINE
2008-03-03 03:33:00
Mr. Kittinut Tikawan, General Manager of True Lifestyle Retail Ltd, receives an honorary plaque from HE Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej following the company’s support of the “Chim Pai Bon Pai” event held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center to promote Thai cuisine. At the “Chim Pai Bon Pai” event, visitors were able to enjoy a wide variety of True Coffee pastries as well as True Coffee hot and cold beverages. For more information, please contact: Corporate Communications - True Group Sisadhi Reuben Tel: +66 (0) 2699 2782 Email: sisadhi_reu@truecorp.co.th Nattakorn Plubprasit Tel: +66 (0) 2669 2773 Email: nattakorn_plu@truecorp.co.th Thana Burin Asia Pacific Ltd Kasemsri K Eufemio Tel: +66 (0) 2231 6158-9 +66 (0) 8 1611 4696 Email: kasemsri@thanaburin.co.th Angkana Teerapornamornrat Tel: +66 (0) 2231 6158-9 +66 (0) 8 1721 7523 Email: angkana@thanaburin.co.th Source from http://www.thailand4.com
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Thaksin kisses Thai soil
2008-03-01 09:37:00
Ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra ended 17 months of exile abroad by falling to his knees and kissing Thai ground at Suvarnabhumi airport. Thousands greeted him with banners and signs but Mr Thaksin said he wanted to be an "ordinary citizen." His wife Khunying Potjaman, youngest daughter Paethongtan and Mr Thaksin's sister Yingluck went to receive him. Their son Panthongtae came back with Mr Thaksin from Hong Kong. Mr Thaksin emerged from the airport VIP exit at 10:13. He fell to his knees and kissed Thai ground.  A huge roar went up from the waiting crowd. The ex-premier looked sombre as he gave a traditional wai of greeting. Dressed in a dark suit, Mr Thaksin spent just 10 seconds greeting the crowd before boarding a car in a convoy of vehicles with a police escort, which whisked him out of the airport and towards Bangkok. Mr Thaksin's first date in the country was to be before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. ...
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Waiting for Thaksin
2008-02-26 16:22:00
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama says ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be back within one to five days by private jet. Friendly websites predicted his return on Thursday by the Thai national carrier. Mr Thaksin's lead lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who would accompany the former premier to court to hear graft charges, said Mr Thaksin was "poised to return" on Tuesday. Two websites run by Thaksin supporters, Hi-Thaksin.net and TrueThaksin.com, both said the ex-premier would fly into Suvarnabhumi airport at 9a.m. on Thursday from Hong Kong, aboard a Thai Airways International flight. Mr Noppadonm, meanwhile, said he met the former prime minister last weekend in China and discussed legal work which would be handed over to a new legal adviser. The foreign minister earlier said he relinquished his role as legal advisor to Mr Thaksin after his appointment as foreign minister early this month. Asked if he could confirm that Mr. Thaksin would return home Thursday a...
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PM, Dems clash over Oct 6
2008-02-19 15:40:00
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej locked horns with the Democrat party yesterday over his role in shutting down newspapers when he was interior minister in the wake of the Oct 6, 1976 student uprising at Thammasat University. Mr Samak denied any links to the massacre of student protesters and denied he had a role in silencing the media. Instead, he said, he was the one who pushed for the newspapers to re-open. During the debate on the government's policies in parliament yesterday, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, as leader of the opposition, called on the government to respect the media's role in monitoring the government. Mr Abhisit spoke of the time when Mr Samak was interior minister in the wake of the Oct 6 massacre. ''During that period a lot of newspapers were ordered closed,'' Mr Abhisit said. The present government must make sure nothing similar would happen again. Mr Abhisit said ways of interfering with the media at that time, such as closing newspapers, we...
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PM cool to fast return of Thaksin
2008-02-09 18:07:00
  Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej indicated yesterday that there was no real need for deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return to Thailand earlier than originally planned. ''I think the political situation has returned to normalcy. The entire world has congratulated us on this. They are happy for us. ''So, I will not discuss [about Mr Thaksin's return]. Let the matter take its course,'' Mr Samak said when asked if the present situation was conducive to Mr Thaksin's return from self-imposed exile. The comment was deemed slightly out of character for Mr Samak who is known to sympathise with the former prime minister who is facing abuse of power and corruption charges. Mr Samak insisted his administration would not provide special treatment for the ousted prime minister. ''I see him as an ordinary Thai who has the right to come back to fight the charges [against him]. He will be under police protection and the cabinet ministers will not interfere,'...
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Three officers, 3 villagers hurt in roadside bomb blast in Yala
2008-02-05 15:04:00
Yala _ Six people, including three policemen, were wounded in a roadside bomb attack near a police station in Muang district yesterday. The blast took place in front of a shop about 100 metres from Lammai police station on Phetkasem road. Three police officers and three villagers were injured in the blast. They were being treated at Yala regional hospital. Investigators said a homemade bomb was attached to a motorcycle and detonated by mobile phone. The targets were the three policemen who were about to set up a road checkpoint. A bomb disposal squad used a mobile phone jammer to disrupt signals in the area to prevent another bomb attack while they inspected the scene. Security forces launched a manhunt for the bombers in Muang district and its vicinity. They took five teenagers into custody after spotting them at the blast scene. The suspects were later sent to be checked for traces of explosives. Their mobile phones were also seized. In Pattani, an agricultural expert...
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Victims just keep on coming
2008-02-02 18:36:00
Five more people on Friday said they were innocent victims of a gang of Border Patrol Police officers who forced them to make false confessions to drug charges and extorted money from them. The gang and leader Nat Chonnithiwanit also face allegations of torture, and claims that victims were imprisoned with false testimony if they failed to pay the ransom. Chaiwiwat Bunkua, a 33-year-old from Phuket, lodged a complaint with Crime Suppression police on Friday, saying Pol Capt Nat's gang had physically assaulted and detained him and his two friends in September 2006. Mr Chaiwiwat claimed the gang arrested him along with his friends Sirithep Mingpicharn, 33, and Rewat Rongmuang, 22, on Sept 12, 2006, in Phangnga province, accusing them of trafficking methamphetamines. Mr Chaiwiwat said he and his friends had never been involved with drugs. He claimed the three were taken to a hotel where they were beaten and tortured until they agreed to make false confessions that they had metham...
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Samak shows he's no puppet
2008-01-31 16:58:00
Steps in and changes cabinet list, says source POST REPORTERS Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej went some way to dispelling rumours he is just a puppet leader when he stepped in yesterday to alter the proposed cabinet line-up, according to a People Power party (PPP) source. At yesterday's meeting with core PPP members, Mr Samak said certain portfolios should be revised before he submits the cabinet list for royal endorsement. ''I have to be sure that every cabinet minister is up to doing his job, so I have to consider suitability,'' he told the PPP core members, according to the source. Mr Samak's show of power in choosing the cabinet line-up, which was prepared by PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat and PPP secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee, came as a surprise to some observers, as many people feel the former Bangkok governor is just the political nominee of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In a statement he delivered after receiving royal endorsemen...
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Samak also eyes defence post
2008-01-29 16:16:00
Samak Sundaravej will double up as prime minister and defence minister in the new cabinet to be dominated by factions under deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Newin Chidchob. The decision to take on the Defence Ministry by Mr Samak comes despite strong opposition from the armed forces and now-defunct Council for National Security (CNS), who have made it clear their choice for the new defence chief should have a military background instead of being an outsider. Three key players in the People Power party (PPP) were of the view that the party does not need to listen to the voices of the armed forces over the key post, given that the election results showed the coup makers had lost the battle to prevent their party from rising to power, party sources said yesterday. The three were Mr Samak, party secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee and Mr Newin, a close aide to Mr Thaksin who was banned from politics for five years but remains influential in the party. Mr Samak wa...
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AEC asks taxman to seize assets of Thaksin children
2007-11-19 16:22:00
The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) on Monday resolved to ask the Revenue Department to seize the assets of the children of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra totalling Bt1. 035 billion after they failed to pay back taxes and fines totalling Bt12 billion. AEC spokesman Sak Korsangrueang said the committee would submit a letter to the department asking it to confiscate the assets of Mr. Panthongthae and Ms. Pinthongta, son and daughter respectively, of the ousted prime minister, whether in the form of land, shares or other assets. "The revenue department must take action immediately, or the delay could result in the siphoning off of the assets to somewhere else," the spokesman said. Although the department is authorised to proceed with assets seizure, it may ask the AEC to act instead as is allowed in the coupmakers' 2006 order, he added. Mr. Sak explained that the Bt1.035 billion has nothing to do with the Bt17 billion earlier frozen by the AEC. The Tha...
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Army lets suspects go home
2007-11-18 17:12:00
Election, haj given as reasons to lift ban on returning to southern provinces The Fourth Army has agreed to lift a six-month ban on 384 Muslim men suspected of being involved in the separatist insurgency from re-entering the four violence-plagued southern provinces, effective as of yesterday. According to a letter to Surat Thani governor Winai Buapradit, Fourth Army chief Lt-Gen Wiroj Buacharoon said the ban was lifted for the sake of the Dec 23 election and the annual haj pilgrimage to Mecca. As Thai citizens, those who were banned from re-entering the restive southern provinces should be allowed to exercise their voting rights and go on their spiritual pilgrimage to the holy city in Saudi Arabia, he said. The order, banning entry to Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, as well as Chana, Na Thawi, Saba Yoi and Thepa districts in Songkhla, had been in place since July 22. The ban was aimed at preventing the insurgent suspects from being drawn back into the separatist movement, sa...
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UN envoy: Burma admits killing 15
2007-11-17 17:05:00
The Burmese military government has reported a higher death toll during the recent democracy demonstrations than it had previously acknowledged. The United Nations envoy to the isolated regime, human rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said on Friday at Bangkok's UN regional headquarters the admitted death toll by the military dictatorship has inched up to 14 Burmese nationals plus a Japanese photojournalist. The predominantly Buddhist country, Thailand's neighbour to the west, rocketed to international notoriety in September when its military opened fire on peacefully protestors in the former capital on Rangoon. Pinheiro, who ended a five-day mission to Burma on Thursday, said the military authorities insisted that no Buddhist monks were killed during the peaceful marches. On the road to peace in a troubled country which has been under military control for 45 years, Pinheiro said his visit evidenced more openness than previously. The Brazilian academic said that the acc...
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