News from Thailand – June 25, 2012
The net is slowly closing in on the man who stabbed Australian Michelle Smith (60) to death in Phuket last week when he and his mate tried to steal her purse.
After a 300.000 baht reward was offered for tips that could lead to their arrest, a sketch of the main suspect has now also been distributed. The police suspect that both men are members of a notorious motorcycle gang that operates in and around Phuket.
Michelle Smith was on her way back to their home with her friend on Wednesday night hotels when the men passed on a motorcycle. One of them tried to take her purse from the woman. When she resisted, he stabbed her in the chest. The woman died instantly. Her friend was injured.
Smith and her friend were part of a group of travel agents. She arrived on Wednesday and was to tour Phuket for a month.
Update: The net has now closed on both men. The man, who fatally injured Smith, was apprehended in Nakhon Si Thammarat, where he was hiding. The other was nabbed in Samut Songkhram. Officials and tourism industry representatives met in Phuket this morning to discuss the security situation. Tourists are increasingly the target of attacks.
– The US space agency Nasa has not yet brought aircraft and equipment to Naval Air Base U-tapao (Rayong). The claim of spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut of the opposition party Democrats that this has happened has been relegated to the realm of fiction by the Royal Thai Navy.
Chavanond based his claim on a post on Nasa's website. On May 4, equipment is said to have already been shipped to Thailand, but naval commander Kanat Thongpoon says he does not know this information. The American aircraft that call at U-tapao only come there to refuel, he says.
NASA has asked Thailand to use the base for a study of the climate in Southeast Asia. The cabinet must decide by tomorrow at the latest, otherwise Nasa will ignore Thailand. There is then too little time to supply and install the equipment. The cabinet postponed its decision last week. The application is controversial. The opposition suspects the government of a bargain: using U-tapao against granting a US visa to Thaksin. Academics wonder if the study might have military ulterior motives.
– The key witness to a shooting on Friday was shot dead on Saturday evening. The man witnessed two men on a motorcycle attacking a car in which a lottery agent and two friends were sitting. The officer driving the car was seriously injured. The police suspect that the purpose of the murder is to protect a drug gang. There would be a connection with a drug bust on May 2 in Bang Phlat district.
– The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has collected nearly 100.000 signatures – twice the number needed – for a petition to the Senate to impeach seven of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court. The UDD has been shot in the wings because the Court has halted the parliamentary discussion of a constitutional amendment. This amendment should open the way to the formation of a citizens' assembly that will revise the 2007 constitution (developed under military rule).
Yesterday it was 80 years ago that Thailand's absolute monarchy came to an end. It was then replaced by a constitutional monarchy. Thousands [the paper does not specify a precise number] of red shirts gathered at the Democracy Monument and were treated to some speeches. UDD president Tida Tawornseth called the rally a symbol of Thailand's path to democracy and a sign of strength for people who want "real" democracy.
– The Foundation for Consumers calls for a boycott of the products and services of GMM Grammy, which alone has the broadcasting rights of the European Football Championship 2012. More than 11 million television viewers are therefore missing out, because TrueVisions TV channels do not have access to the signal. Grammy fears being accused of breach of contract by Uefa if they allow True to broadcast or repeat the matches.
The consumer organization accuses Grammy of unfair tactics aimed at boosting sales of its own set-top box. Viewers can only follow the matches via this box. The consumer organization calls this a gross violation of consumer rights.
– Since the start of the European Football Championship 2012, the police have arrested 1.574 illegal gamblers. 50 of them are bookies. Seized documents show that 5,37 million baht was gambled.
- The police commissioner of the city of Pattaya has been transferred pending an investigation into his alleged obstruction of a raid on an illegal gambling establishment on Thursday. After police apprehended 74 suspects and seized equipment, the commissioner intervened and released the suspects without a police report or questioning.
– Twenty-one, mostly teenagers, have been admitted to Nakhon Ratchasima hospital with breathing difficulties after smoke inhalation during a fire at a tutorial center on Sunday. When the fire broke out, 150 students were sitting in the school benches. The students who were on the upper floors of the four-story building fled to the roof. It took firefighters 40 minutes to get the fire under control.
The center has been in operation for 10 years and does not have a permit. According to the deputy director of the Provincial Primary Education Zone 1 office, 150 tutorial centers are active in Nakhon Ratchasima and surrounding provinces. One third is illegal.
– Every Friday and Saturday night, young people on motorcycles hold a street race on the Kanchanaphisek Road in Bangkok. Last Saturday night the police put an end to it. She arrested 37 people, including a 13-year-old boy, and seized 34 motorcycles.
– Residents who experience health problems as a result of the coal-fired power plant Mae Mo should move, says Minister Arak Chonlatanon (Energy). He will present this to the cabinet. Paiboon Samsiripong, chairman of the Senate energy committee, conveyed this message on Saturday during a meeting with about a hundred residents living near the plant. The Senate committee has received complaints from 10 residents about, among other things, inadequate compensation for their poor health and damaged harvests. The culprit is the emission of sulfur dioxide. The operator of the plant installed filters in 1997, which is said to have led to better air quality.
www.dickvanderlugt – Source: Bangkok Post