News from Thailand – December 16, 2013

Ten days after he kidnapped, assaulted and strangled a 6-year-old girl, the suspect of this heinous act was arrested yesterday afternoon in Nong Khai. The police tracked him down thanks to camera images and a call and photo of the girl on the internet.

The father was on December 6 with friends and his daughter to a luk thung performance at BTS Bearing in Bangkok. After an hour he left his daughter in the pickup truck they had come with because she was sleepy. When he returned an hour later, the girl was gone.

Yesterday afternoon, the police were alerted to a human skull in a vacant lot near the station. In addition to the skull, police found the girl's shorts and later, with the help of dogs, more human remains and a T-shirt. Seeing the T-shirt, the father burst into tears.

The suspect, who worked as an assistant at the company, has confessed to luring the girl along. He told a bottle lao khao and drinking four cans of beer. The man has previously been convicted of kidnapping.

– The fourth quarter is normally a golden period for Bangkok's two airports, but this year the number of tourists from China is disappointing. Between October 28 and December 12, 140.000 tourists arrived per day, an average growth of 2 percent compared to a forecast of 6 percent.

Suvarnabhumi director Rawewan Netrakavesna blames the political unrest as more than XNUMX countries have issued travel warnings for Thailand. In addition, China has put the brakes on cheap package holidays, with customers in Thailand still facing all kinds of extra costs. In recent years, Chinese have formed the majority of foreign tourists.

Don Mueang also remains well below forecast. An 8 percent growth was expected, but it turned out to be 1 percent. The number of charter flights fell by 30 percent, while the number of other flights increased, but did not make any difference. The number of domestic passengers remained stable.

– According to a source at the opposition party Democrats, Abhisit will be re-elected as party leader. The party's chief adviser, Chuan Leekpai, and others phu yai  (party bosses, shall we say) still support him because of his expertise and political experience.

Thailand's main opposition party is holding a general meeting today and tomorrow. Apart from a party leader, the new secretary-general is elected, the second most important position. The previous one should probably give way to another. There is also talk of restructuring the party organization and electing a new general board. The board elects the party leader and also determines whether to participate in the elections. There are more functions to forgive, but I will leave them unmentioned for the sake of clarity.

– In Raman (Yala) a couple was shot dead yesterday. They were on their way to their rubber plantation when they came under fire from a passing motorcycle.

– About a hundred red shirts yesterday in protest against the anti-government movement blocked a road in front of the home of a (former, because parliament has been dissolved) Democratic MP. They burned portraits of action leader Suthep and the president of the PAO (Provincial Council), whom they accuse of sponsoring the movement.

– Studying seems to be no fun, because a third of the teenagers who seek help from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Rajanagarindra Institute attribute the problems to study pressure. Five percent say they have concentration problems and lack learning skills.

According to psychiatrist Thipawan Buranasin, 15 to 20 percent suffer from depression and this number is rising by 3 percent every year. She urges parents to give their children moral support and help them cope with stress. They should spend more time with their children, encourage them and show them that there is a way out.

– Within four years, the municipality of Bangkok will equip 220 crossing points with sound signals for the blind and visually impaired. A tricky problem is that traffic in the left lane is allowed to drive through a red light to turn left. The signal then indicates safe.

-Ten people were killed in Waeng Noi (Khon Kaen) and one was seriously injured when a truck hit a motorcycle carrying two people and a farm wagon carrying nine people. The car flipped over on impact.

– Storm and rain yesterday wreaked havoc in some parts of the northern provinces of Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Damage has been reported to parked cars, buildings and crops. Trees also fell over roads. The temperature is expected to drop to 8 to 10 degrees C until Thursday. The Meteorological Department advises: put on thick clothes and that seems to me to be very sensible advice.

– Independent organizations should hold reconciliation forums to end political tensions, say a majority of respondents in a poll by Suan Dusit Rajabhar University. 20,7 percent cite government services; 13,9 percent educational institutions and 10,5 percent the private sector.

– Are you missing news from the action front? That may be right, because you will find that in the post 'Forum supports elections; students threaten to occupy US embassy'.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post