News from Thailand – April 22, 2013
Starting tomorrow, Bangkok will be World Book Capital for a year, the thirteenth capital to be given this honorary title by Unesco. The plans of the city council include the construction of a comic strip museum, a central library and an expansion of the number of neighborhood libraries.
In its campaign to promote reading, the municipality has the support of 98 partners, including the public transport company, district offices and coffee shops. They will set up reading corners in their shop.
Bangkok has 37 public libraries and plans to add 10 more each year. The new central library will be ready within 2 years, Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra expects. Some libraries specialize. A library in Huai Khwang has a large collection of comic books and a library in Ratchathewi has a lot of classic literature.
In addition to the 37 large libraries, Bangkok has 116 smaller neighborhood libraries. Of these, 20 must be added per year. The city also has seven mobile libraries.
– It was expected and predicted. Yaowapa Wongsawat, the younger sister of Thaksin and elder sister of Prime Minister Yingluck, has won the vacated parliamentary seat in Chiang Mai. She scored three times as many votes as her main rival, Democrat Kingkan Na Chiang Mai, in an unexpectedly high turnout of 74,5 percent.
But not everyone is happy with the return to politics of Yaowapa, who was banned for five years when Thaksin's party Thai Rak Thai was dissolved. Some expect her to spark more resistance against the ruling Pheu Thai party and the Shinawatra family.
Several members of parliament are also not happy with her within her own party. Thaksin has tasked her with keeping Pheu Thai faction members in line, but some are unhappy at the prospect of being forced to vote for controversial bills. These are the proposal to amend the constitution, the amnesty proposal and the proposal to borrow 2 trillion baht for infrastructure works.
Less attention draws a second by-election in Ranong. Bangkok Post just spend a little notice on it. Chaipatara Setthayukanont was elected to the Senate with a turnout of 43,6 percent. He is taking the place of the late Pornpote Kangwan, and has pledged to continue his work, including Pornpote's advocacy for the construction of a 4-lane road between Ranong and Chumphon to improve connectivity with Myanmar.
– Before the summer holidays end next month, schools must remove stagnant water and destroy mosquito eggs and larvae. Water tanks should also be cleaned. The Ministry of Health advises that in a campaign to prevent the spread of dengue fever (dengue fever).
Since January, 22.495 cases of dengue fever detected in 16 provinces in the Northeast and South. Twenty-five people have succumbed to it. Most of the victims were under the age of 15. During the rainy season that starts next month, the number is likely to rise.
– The district of Ngao (Lampang) and Pong (Phayao) were hit yesterday by five light earthquakes with a magnitude of 1,7 to 3,1 on the Richter scale. Damage and casualties have not been reported.
– The body parts found on Thursday in a dry canal in Manorom (Chai Nat) belong to a 24-year-old man from Bangkok who worked at a commercial bank in Lat Phrao. The victim's father identified him. At the Lat Yao hospital in Nakhon Sawan, the police have now found the car of the victim.
– The police believe they have arrested the man responsible for the deaths of three police officers including the deputy chief of police of Rueso. Ismae-ae Useng was handcuffed during a raid on his home in Muang (Yala) yesterday morning.
He is suspected of detonating a bomb on March 15 as the vehicle carrying the three officers was about to cross a canal. The explosion was so powerful that the car ended up in the canal.
An employee of the Tabing TAO (Tambon Administration Organization) was shot dead while praying on the balcony of a mosque in Sai Buri, Pattani. Two men had entered the mosque and opened fire on him. They made the other Muslims crouch, then they walked over to the victim and shot him in the head. Some Muslims fled the mosque in panic.
A 42-year-old woman was shot dead and another wounded in an attack in Khok Pho. They rode home on the motorcycle and were fired upon from a passing motorcycle.
– Under a luxurious villa on Koh Samui, Hungarian private detectives and police found the skeleton of a Hungarian businessman who had been missing for 2 years. The detectives and police were hired by the family. A tip from the wife of a Hungarian suspect led them to the location. That man was arrested in Phuket last year. He is suspected of murdering another Hungarian businessman.
– He can't tell the story anymore, but you better keep your hands off a grenade you found. A 19-year-old boy found a grenade on the canopy of a snooker hall in Tha Hin (Lop Buri) and thought he could play with it. The thing exploded, killing not only him but also an 18-year-old boy and injuring five others.
– Government party Pheu Thai distances itself from an action by (own) MPs and senators, who want to challenge the judges of the Constitutional Court. Party spokesperson Prompong Nopparit says this is an action by individual party members. The politicians concerned believe that the Court has exceeded its powers by hearing a particular petition [I omit the details].
– Three soldiers were injured when an anti-tank mortar exploded in the army ammunition depot in Dusit (Bangkok) yesterday. The explosion occurred while the soldiers were cleaning up. Possible cause: human error or the heat.
– Sixteen South Korean tourists were injured, including two seriously, in a collision between two speedboats that took them to Tawaen beach on Koh Larn (Pattaya). One Korean lost a leg, the other suffered serious leg injuries. The two drivers fled after the collision.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post