IKEA launches 2012 catalogue ahead of first store

IKEA, the dominant Swedish home furnishing retailer, yesterday hosted the official launch of its catalogue, which will support the grand opening of its first store in Thailand on November 3.

Starting Monday, about one million copies of the IKEA 2012 catalogue will be distributed to homes across central Bangkok and neighbouring areas within two weeks.

Lars Svensson, marketing manager for Ikano (Thailand), said that the 376-page IKEA catalogue features 3,500 home furnishing products, which is half the range of products consumers can find in the store.

He said that the Thai-edition IKEA catalogue will be "locally relevant". It will be distributed in central Bangkok and neighbouring areas - such as Samut Prakan - which are within about 40 minutes drive-time from the store.

"The catalogue will offer solutions and ideas for consumers and help them to have a better everyday life at home," said Svensson.

He said that some IKEA English-version loan and give-away catalogues will be available at the IKEA store on the opening day.

"We have also launched a 16-page IKEA catalogue teaser to introduce people to the catalogue and the store opening. It is the first time we have sent out a catalogue teaser in a new market," Svensson said.

He said that a separate 12-page broadsheet catalogue would be launched to invite people to come to the opening.

"In my personal opinion, between 35,000 and 40,000 shoppers will visit the IKEA store on opening day," he added.

Svensson said that Ikano has plans to open two more IKEA stores in Bangkok within the next 10 years.

Giving out the IKEA catalogue is a way of bringing the IKEA store into the homes of many people. For over 60 years, the catalogue has been distributed in many markets around the world. About 208 million copies of the 2012 catalogue have been printed, which is believed to be the largest printing of a publication in the world.

Wall set up to protect Pathum Thani

Bangkok remains safe, floods worsen in 10 provinces along Chao Phraya

Officials in Bangkok's Don Muang district yesterday rushed to build a sandbag embankment in Pathum Thani once a major canal showed signs of overflowing.

The structure will not just help locals but will also protect the capital from flooding because Don Muang borders Pathum Thani. The Rangsit Prayoonsak Canal flows through Bangkok before emptying into the Chao Phraya River.

"About 40 officials from Don Muang are here to help. We have 60 soldiers on duty as well," Sompong Srianan, mayor of Pathum Thani Muang district's tambon Lak Hok Municipality, said.

He explained that the embankment along the rising Rangsit Prayoonsak Canal would allow locals to lead their lives as normal. Upstream runoffs are heading towards the Chao Phraya Basin, inundating many provinces along the way.

"Flooding caused by overflowing water has worsened in 10 provinces along the Chao Phraya River," Interior Ministry permanentsecretary Phranai Suwannarat said.

Bangkok remained safe as of press time, but some of its adjacent provinces like Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi were already submerged.

According to the Emergency Operations Centre for Floods, Storms and Landslides, 23 provinces have been ravaged by floods, with as many as 122 roads impassable. In Nakhon Sawan, nearly 30 centimetres of water covered a long stretch of the Nakhon SawanPhitsanulok Road yesterday, prompting traffic police to close it to traffic.

So far, the floodrelated death toll has risen to 180, with two people reported missing.

Wiboon Sanguanpong, directorgeneral of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, warned that continued downpours, flash floods and landslides might hit some spots in 43 provinces in the next few days.

"Keep abreast of weather forecasts and warnings," he warned.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap said all relevant agencies would focus on early warning and disaster prevention round the clock. "Warnings will reach people in risky areas very fast," he said.

He has also called on the three main mobilephone service providers, namely Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Corporation, to keep people updated via free text messages. The minister has been given the job of overseeing flood operations in Uthai Thani.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday signed an order requiring other ministers to oversee floodrelief operations in 12 provinces.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk and Deputy Finance Minister Boonsong Teriyaphirom were assigned Chiang Mai. PM's Office Minister Surawit Khonsomboon has been tasked with overseeing Phetchabun and Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan was assigned Phitsanulok. Deputy Commerce Minister Siriwat Kachornprasart has been assigned Phichit; Social Development and Human Security Minister Santi Promphat Phichit; Labour Minister Pol General Phadermchai Sasomsap tasked with Phichit; and Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut given Chai Nat.

Deputy Transport Minister Pol LtGeneral Chatt Kuldiloke will oversee Sing Buri; PM's Office Minister Kritsana Seehalak Angthong; Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala and Deputy Public Health Minister Torpong Chaiyasarn were assigned Lop Buri. Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri will oversee flood operations in Ayutthaya.

Pulo calls on Thai authorities to stop making false allegations

One of the long standing Malay Muslim separatist organisation, the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) lashed out at the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, accusing it of distorting the issue in the violence-plague deep South with the accusations that drug trades have become a part of the "liberation" movement.

In a statement to The Nation on Thursday, Pulo said the organisation does not dispute the fact that drug abuses and trafficking in the region and that it may involved ethnic Malays, as well as Thai. But it is misleading to say that the conflict in the three southernmost provinces and drug trafficking are one.

The statement also pointed to the high number of troops assigned to the deep South and wondered why they have not been able to curb the flow of drugs and suggested that it was possible that some of the authorities turned a blind eye to the illicit activities for various reasons.

The statement urged the Thai authorities to act more responsibly with its information campaign, adding that it should be based on factual information, not distortion.

In the statement sent by Pulo’s Foreign Affairs chief, Kasturi Mahkota, the movement slammed reports by Thai authorities suggeting that some sort of breakthrough was about to take place between separatist movement and the Thai state.

Kasturi was making reference to unconfirmed reports that senior members in the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) was trying to cut a deal with a self-proclaimed leader of a Patani Malay separatist movement.

C.I.A. Torture Chamber at Bangkok's International Airport?

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency may have used Bangkok's former Don Muang International Airport as its secret prison to torture a suspected Muslim terrorist, the first time a specific location has ever been described within Thailand, according to statements by the Libyan who survived.

It was impossible to immediately confirm Abdel Hakim Belhaj's allegations of being "hung," "injected," and refrigerated with "ice" at the airport, but if true, it is the first description of any site in Thailand pinpointed by a prisoner held the CIA.

Thai officials in this Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian country have consistently denied knowledge of any CIA secret prison.

London's Guardian newspaper reported on Sept. 5, however, that Britain's M16 intelligence agency helped the CIA in March 2004 arrest Mr. Belhaj, who is now a powerful commander in Tripoli for the anti-Moammar Gadhafi transitional government.

"Belhaj was detained by the CIA in Thailand in 2004 following an MI6 tip-off, allegedly tortured, then flown to Tripoli, where he says he suffered years of abuse in one of Muammar Gaddafi's prisons," the Guardian reported.

"MI6 had been able to tell the CIA of his whereabouts, after his associates informed British diplomats in Malaysia that he wished to claim asylum in the UK.

Fuhrer furore! Thai student Nazi dress-up day causes outrage

• Foreign parents and teachers appalled by the costumes
• Thai teachers 'did not understand' the controversy
• School asked to put the Holocaust on the curriculum

They had been meticulously planning their costumes for quite some time.The annual summer sports day had a long tradition of fancy dress and, eager to impress, the pupils of Sacred Heart Catholic School kept their outfits under wraps for weeks.
They wanted to surprise their parents and teachers as they made their entrance at the school in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
And surprise them they did. With a flourish and a fanfare, they revealed their costumes - to outraged gasps from the crowd.

Bad taste: A girl strides into her school at Chiang Mai dressed as Adolf Hitler, seemingly oblivious to the offensiveness of her costume

Shock: Smiling pupils carrying a Swastika flag were met with horror from foreign parents and teachers, who were left reeling at the bad taste of the procession

The smiling pupils arrived at the school dressed in full Nazi regalia and carrying large Swastika flags, leaving foreign parents and teachers open-mouthed.

Leading the march into the sports ground was a girl dressed as Adolf Hitler - complete with toothbrush moustache - seemingly unaware of the offence she had caused.

She was followed by a procession of pupils dressed as SS guards - brandishing plastic machine guns.
Stunned ex-pats were appalled. Surely the pupils were aware of what the Swastika and Nazis represented?

Under fire: Thailand's education system was criticised as it emerged that not even the teachers knew what Swastika and Nazi costumes represented

Apparently not, as it emerged that not even the Thai teachers at the school understood what all the fuss was about.
A teacher at the school said: 'It was all very embarrassing. Traditionally the students wear fancy dress on the summer sports day and they like to keep everything they are preparing quiet. Nobody saw any swastikas around the school before the event.
'But then on sports day when we saw these Nazi storm troopers we were appalled. We told the Thai teachers that this was not on. But they did not understand what was wrong with the display.'

History lesson: The school was asked to put the Holocaust - and Adolf Hitler - on the curriculum

Today, a delegation from the consulates of Britain, the United States, France and Germany descended on the school to protest about the controversy - and called on teachers to put modern history and the Holocaust on the curriculum.
They left the premises after the school told them no malice had been intended.
Chiang Mai is a popular retirement destination for many Europeans and Americans, some of whom lost relatives to the Nazis.
A British parent added: 'It could have been worse. They could have been marching to the 'Horst Wessel Song or Bomb Oh Bombs on England."
The school's principals did not want to comment about the incident, but a spokesman said: 'We did not know what the students had planned. No offence was intended.'
This is not the first incident of its kind in Thailand. In 2007 about 200 students from a Bangkok school dressed as Nazis for their summer sports day, Sieg Heiling as they strutted around.
Kanya Khemanan, a director of the Thewphaingarm School, was forced to apologise to the Los Angeles-based Holocaust museum Simon Wiesenthal Centre following the incident.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said at the time: 'We are long past the time when such incidents take place in Asia that can be excused due to "alleged" ignorance of the Nazis' atrocities during World War II.'

About 5,000 seeking help each day for flood woes, illnesses

Ministry makes child vaccinations top priority for mobile units

With an average of 5,000 people seeking help for floodrelated diseases and other health problems across the country each day, the Public Health Ministry has adjusted the operations of its mobile medical units, permanent secretary Phaijit Warachit said yesterday.

Patients have been prioritised into three groups: small children in need of immediate vaccination, who will be visited and administered injections right away; those requiring sustained care, such as pregnant women or those with disabilities, who will be visited periodically; and those with less serious problems, who are already catered to daily by 200 mobile units.

To minimise postflood outbreaks, villagers are being advised on diseasecontainment methods, such as installing sufficient latrines or putting garbage in plastic bags before disposal, he said.

According to a ministry report, 367,656 people had become sick and sought treatment during 2,889 visits by mobile units, with a daily average of about 5,000 people seeking treatment.

The most common complaints, in descending order, are: foot diseases, colds, muscle pains, skin rashes and stress.

Severe cases of stress disorder were found in 1,451 people, and 3,161 milder cases were found. A total of 375 cases - comprising people in both groups - were considered suicidal and provided with special care, while another 530 were being monitored.

Mudslide and flashflood warnings remain in effect in nine of the 26 flooded provinces, according to the government's new Flood Relief and Coordination Centre. The nine provinces are Lampang, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Ubon Ratchathani, Trat, Chanthaburi, Nakhon Nayok, Rayong and Ranong.

The official death toll stood at 158, with three people missing, yesterday. The number of people affected was 1,927,120. A total of 8,088 villages in 141 districts of 26 provinces are inundated.

The possibility of heavy rain remained high across the country, according to a weather forecast yesterday, with Bangkok and the three heavily flooded Central provinces of Lop Buri, Saraburi and Ayutthaya facing a 70percent chance of rain, along with Ubon Ratchathani in the Northeast. In other areas where rain was forecast, the likelihood was put at 60 per cent.

A Dusit Poll survey found that the public was happier with floodrelief efforts undertaken by the media and the private sector than they were with authorities' efforts. The 2,019 respondents, surveyed from September 1924, gave a 27percent approval rating to the media's efforts and a 25.5percent approval rating to authorities.

Approval rates, by source of assistance, were as follows, from highest to lowest: local businesses, local administrative bodies and local authorities. Percentages were not provided.

Angry Chai Nat flood victims destroy sandbag barrier protecting Suphan Buri

BMA officials open gates to let river water into city canals
More than 500 flood victims in Chai Nat yesterday demolished sandbag walls that officials had erected to limit the amount of water flowing into neighbouring Suphan Buri province.

"We have lived with floodwater for a month now. We can't put up with this any longer," said a flood victim who identified herself only as Kung.

She and her comrades at first closed the Wat Sing - Uthai Thani Road in Mueang Chai Nat district to force officials at the Phon Thep Irrigation Project to come out and negotiate with them. However, after the officials refused to come out, the local flood victims simply demolished the sandbag walls.

"The first floor of local houses are flooded. Have you thought about people whose houses have just one floor? Three locals have drowned. Our children are suffering from athlete's foot," Kung said.

The project's chief, Worachai Bamrungphon, later said his team had released some water but the locals were still not happy.

"I think within two days, water from here will reach Suphan Buri," he added.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), meanwhile, decided to open water gates to let water from the Chao Phraya River into some of Bangkok's canals.

Sanya Sheenimit, chief of the BMA's Department of Drainage and Sewerage, said the move would ease flood problems in Nonthaburi.

Previously, farmers in Bangkok's adjacent provinces lamented that the authorities' efforts to fully protect the capital came at their expense.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Pornthep Techapaiboon urged the government yesterday to quickly compensate affected people in Pathum Thani, a province adjacent to Bangkok.

Two young children, including an eight-month-old baby, were among the latest casualties of floods that now look set to hit even wider areas.

The baby, Siripop Khamroon, and his three-year-old brother Weerapop were found dead yesterday after a flash flood swept through their village in Chiang Mai's Fang district late on Friday night.

"The disaster also seriously damaged 30 houses there," Fang district chief Prakasit Mahasing said.

He said flood torrents were so powerful the whole road to the village was damaged and five bridges destroyed.

Pong Namron Horticulture Experiment Station sustained serious damage too. "The damage is estimated at over Bt50 million," Prakasit said.

Fang district was among areas at risk identified by the National Disaster Warning Centre, which yesterday warned that landslides and flash floods could hit some northern provinces this weekend due to expected downpours.

The centre said many districts of Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Maha Sarakham in the Northeast were also at risks of flash floods and overflows this weekend.

Central provinces such as Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Bangkok might also face downpours and possible flash floods today and tomorrow, it added.

Eastern provinces like Prachin Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat would also face these risks from tomorrow till Friday, it warned.

As for the South, there would be risks between Tuesday and Friday. Popular tourist destinations like Krabi and Phuket were also facing adverse weather.

"People in risky areas must be on alert," the centre said.

According to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, floods have now raged in 23 provinces. None of these was in the South, however.

The official death toll stood at 153 as of yesterday morning. Three other victims were reported missing. But more deaths were reported later yesterday.

Uthai Thani Governor Wanchai Hosukhonsap said Prateep Sukiam, 57, was the latest flood victim to have drowned in his province.

"He drowned while trying to wade through floodwater to visit his elderly dad, who lived just 150 metres away," Wanchai said.

Floods

Rain clouds approach the city centre of Thailand's capital Bangkok . Monsoon rains, floods and mudslides have killed at least 140 people since July, authorities said.

Red-shirt villages to join up

Residents of red-shirt villages are planning to create a national federation to boost unity and facilitate expansion nationwide.

Anon Saennan, secretary of the Udon Thani red-shirt movement who initiated the creation of these villages, said yesterday that the chiefs of these villages would meet at a hotel in the northeastern province on October 5. At the meeting, they will elect the chairman and members of the federation's board, which will be formally announced later.

He said the federation's headquarters will be located in the same building that houses the 111 Thai Rak Thai Foundation formed by executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, including former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

"The formation of the federation will help enhance unity within the movement," Anon explained. He added that after the first red-shirt village was set up in Udon Thani last December, more than 3,000 of them have sprouted across the country. He expressed confidence that in two years, many more villages in all provinces of the country will become part of the red-shirt movement.

Anon said at a meeting in Cambodia last Sunday, Thaksin told him personally that he had never told the ruling Pheu Thai Party to dissolve red-shirt villages.

"The former prime minister said that in addition to strengthening the red-shirt movement, he wants these red-shirt villages to create jobs for residents. He also wants us to work with the Interior Ministry to keep these villages free of drugs," Anon said.

Hundreds of Thaksin supporters have been crossing the border from Si Sa Ket province into Cambodia to watch a friendly football match between red-shirt politicians and members of the Cambodian cabinet, which is scheduled to take place today at the Olympics Stadium in Phnom Penh.

Sompoj Prasartthai, a red-shirt leader from Nakhon Ratchasima, said he expected the football match to boost ties between the two countries. However, many red-shirt from the North chose not to travel to Cambodia after hearing that Thaksin had left the country and would not be present at the match.

Suvarnabhumi Airport to stamp out rogue taxi drivers

BANGKOK, 23 September 2011 (NNT)-The Airports of Thailand (AoT) Public Company Limited has boasted its security measure against illegal taxi drivers around Suvarnabhumi Airport by holding a seminar for police, hoping their operation would stamp out rogue taxi drivers completely.

With a new batch of police force who came to work at the airport since 2 July this year, training was necessary to prepare them to work on the airport compound, which is in a commercial and transport environment. The seminar was held yesterday to assure the efficiency of the operation and to make sure AoT staff and the police officers are working in the same direction.

Other efforts by the AoT include signs and posters to remind passengers or tourists to use the taxi service in the designated zone outside of the passenger terminal on the ground floor. The record on taxi drivers and destinations will be kept each time the passenger is using the service for easy tracking.

Tourists are warned not to trust anyone who approach them and claim to provide a taxi service as they are not registered taxi drivers. Since 2009, 8 suspects have been arrested where 5 of them have already been jailed.

To prevent illegal taxi drivers, the AoT has also forced any sign holders to get their signs inspected and approved under a precautionary measure to prevent a rogue business operation from preying on the tourists.

In addition, a new technology will be introduced in the near future in which the vehicle’s license will be examined. Those that are not authorized vehicles will be notified to authorities.

Ex-Massage Parlor Tycoon Rubs Away Thailand's Police Chief

BANGKOK, Thailand -- When voters recently elected a crude, joke-cracking, former massage parlor tycoon to parliament, no one expected him to immediately unleash a video sting against Thailand's biggest illegal casino, and topple the country's chief of police, plus the military-installed head of the National Security Council.

"I have been removed for a reason which has nothing to do with my ability or my shortcomings," Thawil Pliensri, the ousted National Security Council secretary-general, said on September 7.

All the chaos and drama is thanks to the wise guy tactics of Chuvit Kamolvisit, who has even upset the U.S. State Department.

The American Embassy refused to issue Mr. Chuvit a visa to meet his two daughters and former wife in San Diego, California, because he previously owned several huge Bangkok massage parlors packed with sex workers and openly admitted to bribing police, he said.

"I stopped my massage parlors," a reformed Mr. Chuvit said in an interview while waxing nostalgic about his life in America in 1985 when he worked as a doorman at a sleazy sex club in New York City's Times Square.

"I miss my kids, who are American," he said, describing two California daughters, 24 and 26, from his first of three marriages.

The U.S. Embassy gave him a visa four years ago, he said, but "they don't give me the human right" to have another visa.

Now, instead of bribing cops, he is using his new seat in parliament to expose police who allegedly profit from lavish, illegal gambling dens equipped with baccarat tables, roulette wheels, card games and other betting games.

Most gambling is illegal in this Buddhist-majority country, though lotteries are permitted.

Mr. Chuvit, who boasts of being a hedonist, favors legalizing gambling and heads a tiny, four-man opposition Rak Thailand ("Love Thailand") party, which he uses as a personal soapbox.

After winning a July election, he stunned parliament in August by displaying an elaborate video sting he arranged which allegedly showed Thailand's biggest illegal casino was protected by police.

There are more than 170 illegal gambling dens of various sizes in Bangkok, winning a total of up to $6 billion each year -- with five to 20 percent of the profits allegedly paid to bribe police -- according to Rajabhat University's Good Governance program.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal gambling sites exist throughout Thailand.

Mr. Chuvit said he exposed the biggest one, which raked in about $500,000 every night from 1,000 gamblers in the heart of Bangkok.

"So it becomes about 450 million baht ($15 million) per month," in profit for police and others to share from just that one casino, Mr. Chuvit said, grinning with delight that his surprise "anti-corruption" crusade is wildly popular with Thailand's media and public.

"Let me tell you roughly about the illegal casino," he said, mimicking the voice of an imaginary policeman conspiring with cronies:

"These two tables, I give to you. You give me (bribes). These five tables, I give to that guy. Three tables, I give to that guy. And I charge you per table."

Asked who operated most of Thailand's illegal casinos, Mr. Chuvit replied, "I think 100 percent are with the police getting money from the illegal casinos."

Anyone else who wants to open an illegal gambling den has to pay off the cops, he said.

"They cannot open without the permission of the police. If you are the big guy from the army, you have to still be paying the police."

Amazingly, Mr. Chuvit expects to survive in this Southeast Asian nation where contract killings are common, despite exposing lucrative kickbacks.

"The media protects me. That keeps me alive. Because I am still in the spotlight," he said in the interview on August 31.

Others speculate that he protects himself by possessing evidence of much wider corruption and illegal activity, which could be published if he were murdered.

His video sting against the illegal casino appeared to be cleverly planned.

Mr. Chuvit showed his first video in parliament on August 23, which reportedly revealed the lush interior of a huge, expensively equipped illegal casino packed with gamblers.

He voiced mock outrage that police had not closed down Thailand's biggest casino, alleging that the cops were corrupt.

Despite that spotlight, police waited three days before staging a raid, and then announced that Mr. Chuvit was wrong because the building was empty.

"I know the police will be late," Mr. Chuvit said at a news conference earlier on August 31, describing his two-part sting.

So, Mr. Chuvit whipped out his second video, purportedly shot from a nearby rooftop, showing men and trucks emptying the casino's gambling tables and equipment during the three days while the police hesitated.

"Every night, they move everything. The ceiling, the carpets, the tables, the chairs, everything...They can move it in three days. Unbelievable," he said.

As a result of Mr. Chuvit's videos, National Police Chief Gen. Wichean Potephosree was forced to resign last week.

A Royal Thai Police Office committee began investigating 10 other senior police officers for alleged involvement in the case.

"It is impossible that a large casino can open in the heart of Bangkok, and top-ranking police officers are not aware of it, and do not give a nod to the casino operator," said Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, a fearsome former police captain.

Gen. Wichean's downfall pleased newly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra because the police chief was perceived as biased against her supporters during the past several months.

Mrs. Yingluck replaced him with Gen. Wichean's deputy, Police Gen. Priewpan Damapong, who is the elder brother of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-wife.

Mr. Thaksin is Mrs. Yingluck's brother.

The military overthrew him in a 2006 coup and he is now a fugitive based in Dubai, dodging a two-year jail sentence for corruption.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council's secretary-general, Mr. Thawil, was also ousted so Gen. Wichean could have his job.

Mr. Thawil was apparently targeted because last year he helped the military crush anti-coup Red Shirt protesters who support Mrs. Yingluck and Mr. Thaksin.

"You need an expert, the expert to fight about corruption," Mr. Chuvit said at the news conference.

"Have you ever seen 'Catch Me If You Can'?" he asked, referring to the Hollywood film portraying the true story of an American con artist -- played by Leonardo DiCaprio -- who, after arrest, worked for the FBI to bust forgers.

"I can become the specialist about corruption because I know the corruption.

"I used to pay," he said, referring to $5 million in bribes, spread over 10 years, that he paid to corrupt officials to prevent raids on his massage parlors which had employed a total of 20,000 women.

Corruption is part of Thailand's "system" because "everybody pays," he said.

"If 95 people pay, and only five people don't pay, you become the minority. The majority pay."

He defended his former legally licensed massage parlors, which included the Copacabana, Victoria's Secret, Honolulu, Hi Class, Emmanuel, and Julianna.

"I say, 'What's wrong about the massage parlor? What's wrong? People who don't have sex is wrong.' It's not about the massage parlor is wrong.

"Yes, this is Thailand. I accept that the massage parlor is the biggest sex business in the world."

But the government and public remain hypocritical.

"If you ask them, 'Does Thailand have the sex business?' They will say, 'No'. 'Does Thailand do the illegal casino?' They say, 'Oh no, we are the Buddhists, we cannot do anything like that'."

Santika Club owner sentenced to 3 years in jail

Thailand's Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced the owner of the former Santika Club to three years in jail for recklessness causing multiple deaths and injuries following the New Year’s celebration fire which killed 66 party-goers two years ago.

The court read the verdict as prosecutors earlier indicted Santika Club executive Wisuth Setsawat, aka "Sia Khao" and other six people.

Others charged include the Focus Light System company, which provided special effects for the New Year countdown, Thawatchai Srithumma, the club's operations manager, Pongthep Chinda, entertainment manager, Putthipong Wilakkree, marketing manager, and Sarawut Ariya, lead singer of the club's band, "Burn", who lit fireworks during his performance and Boonchoo Laosinat, owner of the Focus Light System.

All seven were charged with recklessness causing other people's deaths and severe injury, as well as holding a light and sound performance without any signage of the building plan and fire emergency exits.

The court found three persons -- Mr Wisuth, the Focus Light System company, and Mr Boonchoo, the light and sound company's executive -- guilty of recklessness and gave them the highest penalty possible under Thailand’s Criminal Code, Article 290.

Mr Wisuth and Mr Boonchoo were handed three-year jail terms while Focus Light System was fined Bt20,000.

The three defendants were ordered to pay Bt87 million in compensation as requested by the plaintiffs.

Mr Wisuth said he would appeal the court decision.

Airport Rail Link Seeks 1.8 Billion Baht for Cash Flow

The Airport Rail Link has submitted a request to the Cabinet, asking for 1.86 billion baht to increase the company's cash reserves to 2 billion baht.

Deputy Governor of the State Railway of Thailand Pakorn Tungjedsakaow, who is also the acting president of the Airport Rail Link reported that the Public Debt Management Office has already submitted a request to the Secretariat of the Cabinet, asking for 1.86 billion baht in additional budget to cover the company's operating costs.

Pakorn said that the issue is being considered along with other related agencies and they expect the request to be passed along to the Cabinet for its consideration on September 27.

The budget request is consistent with the previous government's plan to raise the Airport Rail Link's registered capital from 140 million baht to 2 billion baht, as was decided on April 12 this year.

If approved by the current administration, the first loan package of 410 baht will be integrated into the company's 2012 fiscal year budget.

At the moment, the company is more than 7 billion baht in debt.

Currently, the Airport Rail Link's City Line has about 37,000 riders daily, and generates about 1.14 million baht per day.

The company is considering running more trains, and shortening the interval time between trains, which is now 15 minutes, to accommodate the increasing number of riders, especially during rush hours.

Troops adjusted but yet to be withdrawn: Yutthasak

The Thai military has adjusted its troops in border areas near Preah Vihear Temple, but they have not withdrawn in accordance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s order, Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said yesterday.

Redeployment of troops over recent weeks was a normal rotation of armed forces to enable military personnel who stayed for a long time on the border to get a chance to relax, the minister said.
Some equipment and weapons also needed maintenance, he said.
Withdrawing troops in accordance with the ICJ's injunction would require an order from the government, he said.
"So far, the government has not yet given an order to withdraw our troops from the border area," Yutthasak said.
The minister gave the explanation after news reports suggested Thailand had withdrawn troops from areas near the disputed area after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reached an agreement with her Cambodian leader Hun Sen to comply with the ICJ's order.
The court ordered Thailand and Cambodia in July to withdraw military personnel from a ICJ-determined demilitarised zone near Preah Vihear, pending an interpretation of the 1962 judgement.
Yutthasak said he would have an informal meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh when he visits Phnom Penh on Friday. In fact, the matter should be discussed in the General Border Committee (GBC) which is co-chaired by defence ministers of the two countries, but the GBC had yet to be convened.
"The GBC requires a Cabinet decision but the previous government did not make any decision, so we have to have some negotiation framework from the government first," he said. "Perhaps, some issues also need to be passed by the Parliament."
Yutthasak said he would talk with Tea Banh on preparations for a GBC meeting, pending for backing from the Thai Cabinet.
"What I have to do is to create a good atmosphere between the two countries to restore peace for people along the border.
"As far as I know, Cambodia has already withdrawn 1,000 troops and equipment from the area but we cannot do the same yet as we have a little bit longer internal legal procedures than Cambodia. When the GBC is ready and the government approves, we will do it immediately to improve and develop relations," he said.
Relations with Cambodia have been in the spotlight since an official introductory visit by Prime Minister Yingluck last week, which was followed by a visit by her brother, the fugitive former PM. Thaksin gave a lecture on economics at a conference in Phnom Penh yesterday. He suggested countries in Asia boost consumption to spur growth.

Police ready to deal with Red Shirt gathering

BANGKOK, 18 September 2011 (NNT)- About 1,300 police force have been dispatched to the Democracy Monument to ensure security as the gathering of Red Shirt people is scheduled today.

Over 10,000 Red Shirt members are expected to join the 5th anniversary of the coup and to commemorate those who lost their lives in the crowd dispersal 15 months ago.

Police have no plan to close off the roads around the Democracy Monument unless the crowd has spilled onto them.

Participants have been warned to refrain from using inappropriate language.

Thailand tourist park hunts for escaped crocodiles

The owners of a tourist park just outside the Thai beach resort of Pattaya are scrambling to track down missing crocodiles after dozens escaped when floods swept the area over the weekend.

The park put on daily acts with the crocodiles 

Suthawut Temtub, a spokesman for the Million Years Stone Park and Crocodile Farm, said Tuesday that 28 crocodiles have been recaptured since breaking away from a park enclosure on Sunday night.

He said the farm houses more than 2,000 crocodiles and it is not yet known how many are missing.

Suthawut says the crocodiles range from 6.5 to 13 feet (2 to 4 meters) in length.

Heavy downpours over the weekend caused flooding in Thailand's east, including areas around Pattaya.

Thaksin's return is overdue : Yongyuth

In one of the clearest statements of intent from the Yingluck government in regard to the plan to bring back Thaksin Shinawatra, Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit yesterday defended the former PM's potential return as somewhat overdue.

The Pheu Thai Party leader told The Nation in an exclusive interview that when people slammed the new government for scrambling to bring Thaksin home, they forgot that "nothing happened" when his political enemies were in power."When justice is concerned, a one-day delay matters as much as any longer delay," he said. "If you look at it using the same old perspective, then this government is moving so quick in a bid to help Thaksin. But the fact that nothing happened under the previous government is overlooked."
Yongyuth reiterated Pheu Thai's argument that Thaksin's exile was a result of injustice that brought Thailand to the brink of a major national tragedy last year. Giving an analogy for the country's political divide, he said two trains - one an anti-Thaksin brigade and the other his grass-root supporters - brushed against each other last year, but they would definitely collide if nothing was done.
"These two trains are supposed to run, or even race, side by side. Undeniably, there are people who still don't like Thaksin, but their number has not increased or is even declining. The other side, on the other hand, is getting bigger and bigger in an alarming manner," he said, pointing to the July 3 poll result.
Asked how the government planned to bring back Thaksin, Yongyuth refused to elaborate, saying only that the Yingluck administration would not resort to legal changes or take any action that could be perceived as serving just one man.
He strongly implied that helping Thaksin would not be seen by the red shirts as using the election mandate to assist just one man. Absolving Thaksin had become a common symbol of justice for the reds, he said.
A high-ranking Pheu Thai source who is close to Thaksin backed Yongyuth, saying the rush to get the former PM home was linked to the party's election pledge. As well as promising economic and welfare programmes, Pheu Thai candidates won support because they promised people that a Pheu Thai government would make it a priority to bring Thaksin back, the source claimed.
The source said Thaksin still insists he will only return to Thailand if his jail sentence is revoked. "He always said he wouldn't spend even a day in prison, and that remains his stance as of today.
"Personally, I don't think Thaksin is ready to return right now, when a lot of matters are still waiting to be sorted out."
Legally speaking, the quickest way for Thaksin to return to Thailand is for him to be included in the annual royal pardon from His Majesty the King. Otherwise, the Yingluck government will have to include Thaksin in a blanket amnesty deal that benefits all involved in the Thai political crisis, a scheme that might need at least a year to complete.

Flood woes spread to Pattaya; evacuations in Krabi, the South

Resort 'waistdeep' in water after two days of heavy rain; death toll hits 80

Heavy flooding spread to new areas of the country amid heavy rain over the weekend, with the seaside town of Pattaya in the East the latest hit, and largescale evacuations were ordered in Krabi and neighbouring provinces in the South.
Waisthigh flooding in many areas of North and South Pattaya in Chon Buri province followed two days and two nights of heavy rain, while Central Pattaya was inundated. Relief operations and water drainage were underway, but no casualties were reported.
Five of Chanthaburi's 10 districts were flooded, with an estimated 5,000 residents affected, while warnings of possible landslides in hilly areas were maintained.
Adjacent to Krabi, Phang Nga yesterday saw emergency evacuation of 500 people in Takua Pa district in the middle of the night, while residents and tourists in neighbouring Ranong were advised to avoid national parks and waterfalls, though no official restrictions were announced.
The floodrelated death toll rose to 80, and a large number of people were reported to be suffering mental distress. The body of a French mountainbiker identified merely as Reimi, 30, was found in Prachin Buri. He disappeared Saturday night while cycling alone near Eto National Park. Flash floods also inundated a large number of homes in Mueang and Sri Maha Pho districts.
In an official update of the flood damage released yesterday, 465,792 residents of 2,820 villages in 69 districts of 16 provinces have been affected, while 3,681,912 rai of farmland and 29 key roads have been flooded or damaged.
Heavy rain and likely flash floods are forecast in another 32 provinces within this week, while warnings of landslides are being maintained in Uttaradit.
Eight of 12 people missing in the province's Nam Pat district since Friday were accounted for yesterday. They went missing when flash floods ploughed into three villages killing three people. Relief assistance was being provided to 2,028 people and repairs were underway on roads and bridges damaged by the strong currents.
A total of 705 homes were damaged or washed away in the province, along with a school, four roads and six bridges. One person remained in serious conditions. The payment to families for each floodrelated death from authorities has been set at Bt25,000, or Bt50,000 for breadwinners.
Heavy rain was forecast throughout the country, along with high seas in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Residents of coastal areas where rain is likely are being warned to brace for flash flooding due to the seasonal peak tide, authorities said.

PM pledges to eradicate 80% of drugs within one year

BANGKOK, Sept 11 - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday launched an anti-narcotics operation as a national agenda with the aim to eradicate 80 per cent of drug use and drug trafficking within one year.

Ms Yingluck inaugurated the national agenda operation Sunday morning. The event was also attended by Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha and representatives from other concerned agencies.

The premier said the current drug situation is more severe than in 2007 when some 400,000 people were arrested on drug-related charges. In 2011 narcotics reportedly spread to 80,000 villages across the country and the number of persons involved with drugs has reached 1.3 million.

The government will suppress drug trafficking and use aiming to reduce the problem by 80 per cent within a year under the seven plans such as law enforcement, international cooperation, interception of drug traffickers along the borders and strengthening local community power to fight against drugs, according to the prime minister.

Ms Yingluck said that four aspects which will be improved are the intelligence work, the role of concerned officials, law and regulations and the attitude of the local community towards drugs.

The premier has appointed Deputy Premier Chalerm to head the centre for the administration of anti-narcotics operations.

Mr Chalerm on Sunday said the government's target to eliminate drugs in one year does not mean that drug problems will be totally eradicated but that the operations will reduce risks to the wider community and reduce the number of drug addicts.

The deputy premier stated the government also needs cooperation from the army to help prevent drugs trafficking along the borders, at the same time, lay out measures to bar substrates and trade on drugs.

The operations will be based on mercy, the rule of law and area-centred problem-solving, he said.

The launching of the anti-narcotics operations came only a few days after a military border task force seized an unusually large number of illicit drugs including 3.4 kilogrammes of heroin and 95 kg of crystal methamphetamine, worth some US$33 million.

The drugs were believed to be smuggled from neighbour Myanmar. The eastern part of the neighbouring country is home to ethnic minorities, some of whom are believed to be major heroin and methamphetamine traffickers.

Bangkok at risk of sinking into the sea

Flooded out: a woman cleans the floor of a flooded market in Bangkok in 2010 after the worst floods in decades.

Among the pressing challenges facing the new government of Thailand, brought to power by the 3 July elections, is the inescapable fact that Bangkok is steadily sinking. The gloomiest forecasts suggest parts of the Thai capital may be underwater by 2030, but experts are also critical of the lack of any clear policy to prevent impending disaster.
Several factors – climate change, rising sea level, coastal erosion, shifting clay soil – are threatening the great city on the Chao Phraya delta, founded in April 1782 by the first monarch belonging to the Chakri dynasty, still ruling today.
The population has greatly increased, with about 10 million people now living in the city and its suburbs. Even the weight of the skyscrapers, constantly on the rise in a conurbation in the throes of perpetual change, is contributing to Bangkok's gradual immersion. Much of the metropolis is now below sea level and the ground is subsiding by 1.5 to 5cm a year.
In the medium to long term more than 1m buildings, 90% of which are residential, are under threat from the rising sea level. In due course the ground floors of buildings could be awash with 10cm of water for part of the year, according to the Asian Institute of Technology.
In the port of Samunt Prakan, about 15 km downstream from the capital, the residents of detached houses along the river already spend several months a year up to their ankles in water.
A joint report published in December by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and Japan's International Co-operation Agency highlighted the threat from climate change to three Asian mega-cities: Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila.
Illegal tapping of groundwater is one of the causes of the capital's misfortunes, according to Jan Bojo, a World Bank expert based there. Not all the specialists endorse this view, but they do agree the situation is bound to deteriorate over the next few years. Smith Dharmasaroja, the head of the National Disaster Warning Centre, is predicting that by 2100 Bangkok will have become a new Atlantis. However gloomy this may seem, Dharmasaroja's forecasts are taken seriously. In the 1990s he predicted the fearful tsunami which devastated countries round the Indian Ocean in 2004.
Dharmasaroja maintains that "no decision has been taken" at government level "to stop the problem". And, he adds, if nothing is done Bangkok could be underwater by 2030.
One of the solutions he has suggested is to build a series of dykes along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, a scheme which would cost well over $2bn. He says work should start immediately, otherwise it will be too late to halt the chain of events leading to disaster.
Anond Snidvongs, an oceanographer and specialist on climate-change impacts in southeast Asia, takes a more cautious line. "No one can predict how long it will take for Bangkok to be flooded and how this process will unfold," he says. He sees no point in building huge dykes. "The rise in sea level is not that great and climate change only plays a fairly small part – about one-fifth – in the current scenario," he adds.
"It's pointless," he stresses, "to try to protect the coastline which is being eroded by three to four centimetres a year. But there are plenty of other ways of combating flooding, such as better management of building land in the city."
Niramon Kulsrisombat, a town planner and lecturer in urban and regional planning at Chulalongkorn University, confirms that "floods have always occurred, Bangkok having been built on sodden terrain 1.5 metres below sea level".
A network of khlongs (canals), fields and allotments used to soak up flooding, but with recent urbanisation many buildings have taken their place and the water is trapped.
"Government efforts have focused on raising barriers 2.8 metres high along various stretches of the Chao Phraya," Kulsrisombat explains, "but this has just done even more damage to the traditional appearance of a settlement where people lived on the water in houses on stilts."
Snidvongs thinks the key factor in saving the city is coordinating measures taken by the authorities. "We absolutely need to achieve a consensus so that the million or so people who will be directly affected by flooding in the medium or long term can agree on the principles underpinning any solutions," he says. "Basically it is not a technical or financial issue. The specialists also need to agree on accurate figures providing a consistent picture of what the future holds."
In short the scientists who spend their time scrutinising Bangkok must tighten up their diagnosis, the better to prepare for rescuing the Thai capital.

Thailand man accused of Facebook 'insult' to monarchy

 

The lese-majeste law provides protection to the monarchy from defamation, insult or threat

Police in Thailand have arrested a man on charges of insulting the monarchy on Facebook.

Surapak Puchaieseng is accused of posting images and messages believed to be insulting to the royal family.
Thailand's lese-majeste law prohibits any criticism of the monarchy. Offences are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
This case is thought to be the first under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's new government.
The 40-year-old computer programmer says he is innocent, and denies all allegations of insulting the monarchy. He is now being held in a Bangkok jail.
In the last few years the number of cases of lese-majeste in Thailand has soared.
The law has been criticised by human rights groups who say it has been used by officials to limit freedom of expression.
Karishma Vaswani, in Bangkok, says that there had been hopes that a change of government would put a stop to what many say is an abuse of the law.
It was first introduced in Thailand the early 20th Century, and covers anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the regent".
Any Thai citizen can make a complaint under the law against any Thai or foreign citizen in Thailand. Once the complaint has been made, the police are duty bound to investigate.
Analysts say it is rare that once the process of lese-majeste has started a case is dismissed, our correspondent adds.

Fraud fugitive Brit nabbed in Phuket

Paul Ridden in detention in Phuket.

PHUKET: -- A British expat arrested in Phuket today was on a list of fugitives wanted by an international division of the UK’s Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), the Phuket Gazette has learned.

Paul Ridden, 58, was arrested today after being fooled into meeting a friend in front of Chalong Police Station.

When he drove into the police station car park, his exit was blocked by other vehicles behind him.

“When he pulled up, Tourist Police volunteer Gary Halpin reached in and removed the key from the ignition,” said fellow volunteer Jum Ali Khan.

The move to lure Mr Ridden to capture today follows Chalong Police attempting to bring him in for questioning yesterday over a complaint by a fellow expat of being cheated out of 75,000 baht.

Sussex Police in the UK appealed to the public for help in finding Mr Ridden in June after he skipped police bail in April.

The appeal, which said Mr Ridden was wanted for “numerous fraud offenses”, was carried nationwide, including on the BBC website.

The appeal was issued by Detective Constable Rick Kent, Senior Officer, Operations, of SOCA’s Middle East and Asia division.

Speaking to the Phuket Gazette tonight, Mr Ridden confirmed that he had been contacted by the British Embassy in Bangkok, but he declined to answer any questions related to why he was wanted by the UK authorities.

After taking Mr Ridden into custody, Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Col Boonlert Onklang noticed that the Eastbourne native had overstayed his visa.

Mr Ridden will spend tonight in detention at Chalong Police Station, and will be presented in court tomorrow to face a fine for his immigration infraction.

However, that may not be the end of his problems in Phuket.

At least six people were lining up at Chalong Police Station tonight to file complaints against Mr Ridden.

All the complaints related to Mr Ridden allegedly deceiving them or cheating them out of money.

One woman told the Gazette that he borrowed her motorbike and then rented it out to tourists.

Mr Ridden also rented cars from local rental operators, then rented them out to tourists, “like subletting,” he said.

“There are eight cars in total,” he added.

But one person ready to file a complaint said he rented a car from Mr Ridden, but he was still waiting for his deposit to be returned. “That was two weeks ago,” he said.

Yet Mr Ridden claimed that he was a victim of deceit.

“I was just trying to run a business in Thailand. What happened was that the guy I came to work with said he would get me a work permit, so I gave him 65,000 baht. That was three months ago," he said.

Mr Ridden said that he was working with a local firm that installs CCTV systems.

“I was like a sub-agent. I was getting the job and they were fitting it. Their manager told me that he could get a work permit for me if I worked for them for a year, so I gave him the money. But the boss never knew about it,” he said.

“The paperwork that was signed – which I still have – was all forged by the manager. And they know about it. That’s how it all started,” he said.

Mr Ridden said that the 75,000 baht involved in the original Phuket complaint was saved in a bank account.

“The money was for getting the man a visa, but he found a cheaper way and decided to do it himself. But to get the visa [the man wanted], he needed to have money in a bank account, and that what’s where it is. I will give it all back,” he said.

He also said that he had been in touch with several people – and in front of the Gazette he specifically asked for certain people to come and see him – so he could give the car registration books back.

Mr Ridden also asked that the Thai man he had hired to help him to run his business not be involved, especially since the Thai man’s wife was one month pregnant.

Thai football club hopes for Fowler power

 

Thousands of Muang Thong fans have bought Robbie Fowler jerseys

"Fowler to United." Even in a summer of intriguing transfers, this was one move which was bound to raise eyebrows.

But when the United in question turned out to be Muang Thong rather than Manchester, heads were scratched, brows furrowed and Wikipedia hurriedly consulted.
Robbie Fowler is one of the most prolific strikers of the past 20 years, standing at number four on the list of the English Premier League's all-time leading goal-scorers.
Almost 200 goals came over two spells at Liverpool - and there were dozens more for Leeds United and Manchester City.
But now, nearing the end of his playing career, his latest move finds him in Thailand's Premier League.
"I just love playing," says Fowler, 36, sitting barefoot in his yellow training kit at the back of the main stand of the Yamaha Stadium on the outskirts of Bangkok.
"I've always loved the game, regardless of where I've been. And it's the same here in Thailand - I thought: Why not give it a shot? The kids will enjoy it when they come over here, and I certainly will."
"I'm seeing new things in my life other than football, which I might never have seen."
Pulling power Thailand is far from the most obvious destination for a striker still deified by Liverpool fans who, to this day, refer to him by the simple nickname "God".
Ambitious, developing leagues from the United States to the United Arab Emirates offer star names of a certain age lucrative contracts to add a little of their quality - and pulling power. Fowler himself played two seasons in Australia's A-League.

Crowds at top-league games in Thailand are getting larger each year

 

But Thailand has never been known for big-money deals nor, indeed, the quality of its football. The national side has never qualified for the World Cup, and slipped as low as 137th in FIFA's rankings as recently as 2006.
Meanwhile the domestic competitions and the clubs which compete in them have long suffered from widespread apathy because of Thai fans' enthusiasm for the English Premier League.
But things are changing in Thai football - and Muang Thong United are at the vanguard. They were languishing in the second division as recently as four years ago.
But following successive promotions, the club won Thailand's premier league in each of the past two seasons, regularly drawing crowds of more than 10,000.
Bringing in foreign expertise has been part of the game plan: First came coaching staff - including the current head coach Henrique Calisto, a Portuguese veteran poached from Vietnam's national side.
Players followed, including another with English Premier League experience - the former Fulham defender and Bradford City captain Zesh Rehman.
"The first thing that's evident is the passion for football - it's immense," says Rehman. "Once you come and see it for yourself, it opens your eyes."
"When you see people trying to develop their game and drag it up to the next level, and they want you to be a part of that, for me that's a privilege."

 

Robbie Fowler says he is still passionate about playing football

 

For the other English player on Muang Thong's books, Thailand presents an opportunity for a fresh start.
By his own admission, 21-year-old winger Romone Rose did not make the grade at Queens Park Rangers - but he thinks playing in Thailand will help to improve his prospects.
"Instead of dropping down the leagues in England you can come somewhere else," says Rose.
"The standard of football here is somewhere between the [English] Championship and Premiership - it's a lot better for me than playing in League One or League Two."
Cost covered All of this is music to the ears of Muang Thong's genial general manager, Ronnarit Seu-vaja.
He says his club are on a mission to pull Thailand into the elite level of Asian football, alongside Japan and South Korea. And he believes that signing Robbie Fowler will help them on several levels.

 

Fowler, pictured here (L) holding the Uefa Cup in 2001, says he has more victories in him

 

Most obviously, there is box office appeal. With so many Liverpool fans in Thailand, covering the striker's financial demands was never likely to be an issue. "We sold 10,000 Robbie Fowler jerseys in the week after he signed," grins Mr Seu-vaja.
He hopes that having a senior professional on the books who has played at the highest levels in Europe will provide an inspiring - and educational - example to the young Thai players who make up the bulk of Muang Thong's squad.
But it seems that the former Liverpool favourite's contacts book was perhaps the greatest prize.
"We now have more connections with European football, particularly in England," he said.
"He has contacted many professionals who could come and work in Thailand - fitness coaches, physios or even players who didn't have knowledge of Thai football before. So we're going to gain a lot of returns from Robbie Fowler."
For Fowler himself, an adventure in Thailand is a chance to keep playing and - as he puts it - "to win something for once".
"I still want to score goals," he says. "It sounds stupid, but I still want to be the best - although I know that's never going to be the case now."
"But I still have ambitions - I still want to win things - and I'm certainly not coming over here just for a holiday, because I want to do well for myself as well."
With the Thai Premier League entering its final stretch, that is great news for Muang Thong United fans - but not so good for their opponents.

Rice scheme will hurt Thais and help Vietnam

Consumers face prospect of high prices, low quality rice from Burma, Cambodia: TDRI

While consumers and taxpayers will suffer from the government's controversial rice policy, Vietnam will substantially gain, the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has warned.

Ammar Siamwalla, a prominent economist, yesterday asked the government to answer hard questions on the rice pledging scheme - its cost burden, impact on consumers, and farmers' and government ability to boost global market prices.

"As the government is set to buy paddy at Bt15,000 per tonne from farmers, it has to build up a large stockpile this year - and years later it must accumulate ever larger and larger stockpiles in order to maintain these high prices, which will in the end lead to high costs for taxpayers," Ammar warned at a TDRI press conference yesterday.

When the government releases rice from the stockpile, the price would drop in the global market, which would result in more losses. "It's a dilemma," he said.

High prices would hit consumers and if the government provided a subsidy to consumers, the cost burden to the public would be ever higher, said Ammar, a distinguished scholar at the independent think-tank.

"Thai consumers may have to queue to purchase cheaper rice, subsidised and sold by the government, while rocketing high prices will force Thai rice out of the world market. But rice export rivals, such as Vietnam will gain substantially," he warned.

He was pessimistic about the government's capacity to boost prices in the global market, or that the market price would increase due to an expected high demand. "The government is whistling in the dark," he said.

Responding to Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt na Ranong who said the government may ask farmers to reduce rice production to keep prices high, Ammar argued that the government could not tell farmers to cut rice production if it faced having too much stock.

"Farmers have the freedom to grow rice. Even in past times of absolute monarchy, the farmers could not be forced to do so," he said.

Although food prices were expected to increase, demand for rice consumption per capita, in particular in emerging economic nations, was likely to drop gradually each year, as affluent consumers shift to spend more on other items, Ammar explained.

TDRI's study said the Thaksin government had faced a loss of Bt19.13 billion from rice pledging in 2005/06 by pledging 5.24 million tonnes of rice, while the income guarantee by the Abhisit regime recorded a loss of only Bt7.38 billion in 2009.

Some 300-500 millers from 2,000 mills, and 10-20 giant exporters would benefit from the pledging scheme. Only 500,000 farmers from a total of four-million households stood to gain from rice pledging, TDRI chairman Nipon Poapongsakorn said. Outstanding costs totalling Bt141 billion from the rice subsidy in 2005 to 2009, included a smaller Bt44.6 billion incurred from the income guarantee scheme.

He said farmers would ignore developing grain quality as the government had set up a high pledging price without regard to rice quality.

The pledging project would draw a flood of rice from Cambodia and Burma. The market mechanism would be destroyed and only millers and a few exporters who joined the pledging scheme would survive, as the state would monopolise rice trading. Past attempts by the Thaksin government to form a rice cartel with Vietnam in order to influence global prices had been a proven failure, he noted.

The new government blames the Democrats' income guarantee scheme for not increasing rice prices, and says that is why it plans to resume the controversial price-pledging scheme.

Sumeth Laomoraphorn, CEO of CP Intertrade, yesterday drew strong support for the government rice pledging policy, saying the vision was in the right direction by foreseeing world's rice stocks at a low level while the price was trending upward.

According to futures stock prices of four key commodities - rice, wheat, maize and soybean - the rice price has not been adjusted in line with those other three crops. Moreover, rice prices have been exported at lower prices than they should have.

Major rice exporters such as the US, Vietnam and Pakistan have low stockpiles while export volumes are rising. Stockpiles in Thailand and Vietnam have reached 8 and 2.1 million tonnes respectively. But Thailand's export share is 30 per cent, and Vietnam 20 per cent, of the average global trade of 31-32 million tonnes of rice a year.

Sumeth urged the government to undertake a policy mix between income guarantee and pledging to shore up Thai rice prices. "The income guarantee scheme will directly pay compensation to farmers while pledging will shore up the price when it goes down," he said.

Aldhouse extradition to Phuket looks inevitable: British press

Lee Aldhouse, who is wanted for the August 2010 stabbing murder of American Dashawn Longfellow in Phuket's Rawai subdistrict.

PHUKET: The extradition of British kick-boxer Lee Aldhouse to Thailand to stand trial for the August 2010 stabbing murder of US Marine Dashawn Longfellow now seems inevitable, British media have reported

Britain's Sunday Mirror today reported a source in the British Home Office as saying: “The only way he could have realistically avoided extradition is if he would have faced the death penalty if found guilty. But the Thai Government have assured us that he will not.”

Mr Aldhouse has 14 days to appeal the ruling, according to the report.

Nicknamed "The Pitbull", Mr Aldhouse managed to flee Thailand through Cambodia, but was later arrested at Heathrow Airport in London.

Spirited Thailand make Aussies work for victory

Despite producing a spirited display, Thailand succumbed to a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Australia in their opening Group D match of the World Cup qualifiers at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane yesterday.

On the back of scrappy performances in Thailand's 3-2 aggregate win over lowly Palestine, which earned them a place in the last-20 team stage, few expected Winfried Schaefer's men to come away with anything from the Australia fixture.
To put the narrow win over Palestine in context, it is worth noting that the second qualifying round tie came only a few weeks after Schaefer, 61, was officially appointed as Bryan Robson's successor in July.
With the German veteran having had time to settle in to his new job, there was optimism in the Thai camp that they could spring a surprise by at least taking a point off the Australians, who have reached the last two World Cup finals in Germany and South Africa.
Despite being deprived of the services of his No 1 goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan, who has been sidelined with an elbow injury, the former Cameroon trainer was bullish that his men could cause an upset against an Australian side boasting several high-profile players, including Everton midfielder Tim Cahill.
The Thai side suffered a further setback before kickoff when Suchao Nutnum was deemed unfit to start the game, prompting Schaefer to field Sompong Sorlap in an unfamiliar role on the right side of the five-man midfield.
With the presence of 194-centimetre Josh Kennedy up front and Cahill, renowned for his aerial prowess, operating behind the towering striker, Schaefer's opposite number, compatriot Holger Osieck, showed which route the hosts intended to take to the goal.
Schaefer instructed his team not to concede a goal in the opening 20 minutes if they were to stand a chance against the home side, who finished as runners-up in the Asian Cup earlier this year. And the Thais honoured his words, standing firm in the face of an early assault from Australia.
In fact, the visiting team went one better, taking a shock lead from their first meaningful attack with a quarter of an hour gone. Sompong, normally a striker, repaid Schaefer's faith by cutting a pass from inside his own half before continuing his run to receive a return pass into the opposition area.
The Buriram FC forward then sent the ball to the overlapping Jakkaphan Kaewprom, who delivered a tantalising cross across the face of goal for Teerasil Dangda to side-foot past the wrong-footed Mark Schwarzer, sparking wild celebrations among a group of Thai fans at the stadium.
The goal stung the hosts into action; they nearly came back into the contest when Bret Holman broke clear down the left flank, but Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool, deputising for the injured Kawin in goal, did well to intercept his pass with Australia players ready to pounce.
The Australians came even closer to equalising on the stroke of halftime when a good interlink play between Kennedy and Cahill almost resulted in a goal, with the latter taking the former's knock-down into his stride before firing it straight at the keeper. The halftime whistle brought a chorus of boos from the home fans.
Osieck's halftime talk seemed to have reinvigorated his side as the Australians quickly pushed the visitors onto the back foot after the restart. Just before the hour mark, the hosts restored parity when Matthew McKay was sent clear into the left side of the area before blasting a fierce shot, which Sinthaweechai parried into the path of Kennedy, who made no mistake from the rebound.
Moments later, the hosts had the ball in the net again but it was disallowed after the referee adjudged Cahill to have fouled the goalie when he challenged for the ball in the air.
The hosts continued to press and Sinthaweechai had to produce his best to tip Luke Wilshere's curling free kick from a dangerous position outside the box over the bar.
It looked as though the teams would have to share the spoils, but substitute Alex Brosque had different ideas, breaking the Thai resistance with an opportunistic strike that denied the Thais the point their fighting display deserved.

New Thai foreign minister arranges first overseas trip alphabetically

Thailand's new foreign minister unveiled plans for his first overseas visits, saying he had decided to arrange the tour schedule in alphabetical order.

Surapong Tovichakchaikul, the new Thai foreign minister  

Surapong Tovichakchaikul, whose appointment last month attracted criticism in Thailand because of his lack of high level experience, said he will travel to Brunei first on September 11.

The regional tour will encompass the nine other countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc.

"I will start with Brunei as it is first alphabetically, but Indonesia will come second because it's currently chairman of ASEAN," he told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.

The alphabetical order will then resume with a trip to Cambodia, on September 14, and then Laos.

He said he would visit all other ASEAN nations - Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam - within September without giving exact dates for each country.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who took power last month after an overwhelming win in the July 3 election, has not yet revealed her travel schedule.
Her fledgling government has already drawn fire over a recent visit to Japan by her brother, former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption.
Thailand's opposition says the country's new leadership illegally helped Thaksin obtain a visa for the trip.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, addressed international media and visited areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami during the tour, which was seen as an attempt to return to the world stage.

Google Street View is Coming to Thailand

During a press conference this afternoon, the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Google announced a partnership for “Promoting Thai Tourism through the use of Google Street View”. Street View in Google Maps lets you explore places through 360-degree street-level imagery, whether you’re looking at locations in your town or across the globe. With Street View, you can check out a restaurant before going there, find beautiful places around the world to visit on your next vacation, or check out neighborhoods when you’re looking to move. For Thailand, they are hoping that the street view pictures of tourist attractions will help boost tourism.




A fleet of specially equipped cars will soon be heading out onto the streets of Bangkok. The Google cars have 15 lenses taking 360 degrees of photos. It also has motion sensors to track its position, a hard drive to store data, a small computer running the system, and lasers to capture 3D data to determine distances within the Street View imagery. It normally takes at least a few months to process the collected images before they appear online. It is estimated that it could even take two to three years to have a comprehensive map of Thailand with street view coverage. More information and samples of street view can be found at google.co.th/streetview.