BMA goes global to woo back tourists

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is blitzing the world with its first international campaign, "Bangkok Is Waiting for You".

"This campaign will try to boost tourism as the capital recovers from the recent flood crisis," Deputy Governor Taya Teepsuwan said yesterday.

Spots on US-based business-news channel CNBC are inviting business travellers and premium tourists to log on to bangkokiswaitingforyou.com to join online activities and possibly win a lucky prize. The campaign was launched on December 5 and the online contest will end next month.

More than 40,000 people from around the world have marked "like" on Facebook.

International arrivals fell by 30 per cent during the inundation from September to November, so the campaign was initiated to draw widespread attention and encourage both leisure travellers and businesspeople to return to the city.

Participants will be asked to create their own wish list by selecting from a photo gallery their favourite places in Bangkok.

The grand prize is a fully paid trip for two to Bangkok including air tickets and Bt70,000 worth of accommodations, spa and meals at the Mandarin Oriental.

The BMA will work with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau to continue wooing general tourists and business travellers back to the Kingdom, Taya said.

The administration will go on a roadshow to Moscow, Berlin, London and Dubai to promote the city, she added.

The central government has set its target for next year at 19 million international tourists, similar to the figure projected for this year.

Thai government seeks $11.12 billion budget for new flood plan

• A resident cleans a pot as floodwaters recede in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok,

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's government will seek cabinet approval next week for a 350 billion baht (7.12 billion pound) budget for infrastructure and water management to prevent a repeat of the country's recent flood crisis, a top official said on Saturday.
The government's post-flood rehabilitation taskforce would propose the budget for flood prevention and infrastructure upgrades to restore investor confidence as soon as possible, the head of the taskforce, Veerapong Ramangkuland, said in a televised speech.
Veerapong said the fund would allow the government to raise and allocate necessary funds to fast-track the work and prevent further damage to the economy.
So far, the government has put flood-related damages at 1.3 trillion baht ($41.5 billon) from the historic floods, which came in late July and lasted until late November, killing more than 600 people and affecting about 2.4 million more in a third of the country's provinces.
The industrialised provinces on the northern fringes of Bangkok were the worst affected, causing huge damage to hundreds of foreign-owned factories and disruptions to global supply chains, particularly in the automobile and IT sectors.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday the integrated water management plan would be completed in January.
The cabinet has already approved 20.1 billion baht in emergency spending for post-flood rebuilding on December 12, part of a previously pledged 130 billion baht for the recovery effort.

Thai policeman kills six fellow officers

BANGKOK, December 27, 2011 (AFP) - A policeman in southern Thailand shot dead six fellow officers before turning the gun on himself after a drinking session in a police canteen turned sour, local police said Tuesday.

The incident, which also left one policeman severely wounded, took place late on Monday in a border patrol police camp in Phatthalung province, some 840 kilometres (520 miles) south of the capital Bangkok.

"Seven men were found dead including the gunman and one man has critical injuries," Phatthalung police investigator Lieutenant Colonel Prasit Singhapol told AFP by phone.

Prasit said the motive was still unknown but the eight men had been drinking together in the canteen where six of the bodies were found.

"At this stage we think it's a personal conflict," he said.

The gunman's body was found some 200 metres (yards) from the scene after he killed himself with the same assault rifle he used against his colleagues, Prasit said.

Police were unable to confirm local media reports that the group was celebrating the promotions of some of the men.

Thailand backs Aung San Suu Kyi in landmark Burma talks

Thailand's premier Yingluck Shinawatra offered Aung San Suu Kyi her support in a coming by-election during a historic meeting with the Burmese democracy leader, a Thai official has said.

Michael Aris, Aung San Suu Kyi and their first son Alexander, in 1973

In Suu Kyi's first-ever meeting with the leader of a foreign country, the pair's half-hour talks in Rangoon on Tuesday were held in a "good atmosphere", Titima Chaisang, chief Thai government spokesman, told AFP.

"Aung San Suu Kyi told Prime Minister Yingluck that she hopes to win in the by-election and Yingluck offered her support and her hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will win," she said.

No polling date has been set for the election, which will see Suu Kyi run for office for the first time. She was under house arrest when her opposition party won a 1990 poll, but the military regime did not allow it to take power.

Detained for most of the past two decades, Suu Kyi was freed from her latest house arrest term a few days after a rare election in November last year, which her opposition party boycotted saying the rules were unfair.

The government this month allowed the party to rejoin mainstream politics and granted Suu Kyi various high-profile meetings, including with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and China's ambassador to Myanmar.

Thailand and Burma are key partners and Yingluck expressed support for her neighbour's "path of national reconciliation", adding that its progress was good for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which both are members.
"We have seen the good intentions of Burma's government to open up and to embark on democratic development," she told reporters back in Bangkok on Wednesday, adding that future developments should be monitored.
The Thai premier's comments echoed others from the international community that have welcomed a number of reformist steps by Myanmar's quasi-civilian government this year.
Yingluck, who spent two days in Burma, first travelled to the capital Naypyidaw on Monday for a meeting of Greater Mekong country leaders, where she said the talks "progressed well".
She took office in August after sweeping to an election victory with the support of her older brother, fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup.

Cabinet approves Bt20 billion budget for post flood rehabilitation

BANGKOK, Dec 12 -- The cabinet on Monday approved a Bt20 billion budget for post flood rehabilitation of Thailand’s infrastructure and flood victims' quality of life as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra emphasized that the agencies concerned to carefully prioritise budget spending.

Government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said after a special session of cabinet Monday that a budget of Bt20.11 billion was approved to be spent through January, for post flood rehabilitation of infrastructure and flood victims' quality of life

Ms Thitima said that the cabinet instructed flood hit provinces to avoid duplicating projects within the ministries and between ministries.

Projects to be implemented will be prioritised to stimulate the economy and the budget will focus on helping flood victims, entrepreneurs, and business establishments to resume their business operations as quickly as possible.

Damaged infrastructure should be quickly repaired, she said.

Ms Yingluck stressed prioritising the rehabilitation projects and to apply the budget effectively to worthy use. She said the projects would not obstruct the permanent water management plan.

She re-emphasised that cabinet ministers and governors of flooded provinces must to speed budget transparently.

An additional Bt20 billion budget is expected to be approved in February.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said the budget that each agency requested exceeded the existing budget the government could provide now, so budget must be allocated in accordance with project importance and urgency.

The ministry assigned to oversee rehabilitation of the industrial sector has been allocated Bt112.84 million, he said. (MCOT online news)

Ex-deputy PM grilled over Thai protests deaths

BANGKOK, December 8, 2011 (AFP) - Thai police on Thursday questioned a former deputy prime minister in connection with a deadly military crackdown on mass opposition protests in the capital Bangkok last year.

Suthep Thaugsuban, who was in charge of national security at the time of the demonstrations, told reporters after visiting the Metropolitan Police headquarters as a witness that he had "acted within the law".

He added: "All officials were following orders which were given under the law."

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 were wounded during the April and May 2010 rallies, which drew about 100,000 "Red Shirt" demonstrators at their peak.

On Friday former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is due to be grilled by police as a witness.

It is the first time that top members of the previous government have been summoned for questioning over their handling of the protests, which ended when soldiers firing live rounds stormed the fortified rally site.

Thailand now has a new government allied to the Red Shirts' hero, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, whose sister Yingluck is prime minister.

Her Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung last month said that Thai authorities had clear evidence that government troops were responsible for the death of a Japanese cameraman during last year's crackdown.

Police initially insisted that soldiers were not behind the killing of Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto, one of two foreign journalists killed during clashes between troops and protesters.

On Wednesday Chalerm also told reporters that a "senior police officer", whom he did not identify, was behind the high-profile death of a renegade major-general who became an unofficial military advisor to the Red Shirts.

Khattiya Sawasdipol, known as Seh Daeng, was shot in the head during an interview with a foreign reporter near the protest site -- an area where snipers were deployed at the time -- and later died in hospital.

Thai king leaves hospital to deliver 84th birthday speech

Thailand's frail king, the world's longest reigning monarch, left the hospital where he has been staying for more than two years on Monday and addressed his subjects to mark his 84th birthday.

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej delivers a speech from the balcony of the Grand Palace in Bangkok to mark his 84th birthday 

Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is widely revered across the kingdom, was greeted by thousands of chanting and flag-waving Thais as he left the hospital in a wheelchair and was taken by motorcade to Bangkok's Grand Palace.

In a speech from the palace balcony, the king – who has reigned for 65 years – called for national unity, especially in the face of the recent devastating flooding that has left at least 675 people dead.

"It's the duty of everyone to help solve the people's troubles at full capacity, particularly people suffering from floods at this moment," he said, calling for sustainable water management projects.

In the remarks televised live, he added that "the most important thing is that there must be no conflicts. Support each other as is needed to achieve goals for the benefit of the people and the nation's security."

The king was admitted to hospital in September 2009 for treatment of a respiratory condition and has rarely left, aside from a few public appearances.

Any discussion of the royal family is extremely sensitive in politically turbulent Thailand, where the palace has also been silent over the organisation of the king's succession.
Under Thai law, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.
Last month, a 61-year-old Thai man was jailed for 20 years for sending text messages deemed insulting to the monarchy – a ruling that drew staunch criticism from rights groups and the European Union.
The monarch has no official political role but is seen as a unifying figure in a country that is frequently riven by political unrest, and his birthday is marked by countrywide celebrations, a public holiday and Thai Father's Day.
Bhumibol's 84th birthday is considered particularly auspicious as it marks the completion of his seventh 12-year-cycle.

Thailand jails US man Joe Gordon for royal insult

US Consul General in Thailand, Elizabeth Pratt: "We consider the sentence severe"

Thailand has jailed a US citizen for two and a half years after he admitted posting web links to a banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Joe Gordon, a used car salesman from Colorado who was born in Thailand, admitted lese-majeste, or insulting the king, at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced to five years in jail, but the judges halved the term because of his guilty plea.
The US consul general in Thailand said the sentence was "severe".
"He was given the sentence for his right of expression," Elizabeth Pratt told reporters.
"We continue to respect the Thai monarchy but we also support the right of expression which is internationally recognised as a human right."
Activists say the lese-majeste law has become increasingly politicised, and is used as a tool of repression rather than as a way of protecting the monarchy.
Royal pardon plea Gordon, 55, reportedly translated parts of the widely available biography, The King Never Smiles by Paul Handley, several years ago and posted them on a blog while he was living in the US.
He was arrested in May when he visited Thailand for medical treatment.
He initially denied the charges, but said he changed his plea to guilty after being repeatedly refused bail.
After being sentenced, he told the Bangkok court: "I'm not Thai, I'm American. I was just born in Thailand. I hold an American passport. In Thailand there are many laws that don't allow you to express opinions, but we don't have that in America."
His lawyer said he would not appeal against the sentence, but would ask for a royal pardon.
Foreigners convicted of lese majeste are routinely pardoned and deported shortly after being sentenced.
Prosecutions under the law have increased dramatically in recent years, amid chronic political instability.
And the authorities have passed a new law, the Computer Crimes Act, that increases their powers to tackle any perceived insults to the monarchy on the internet or through mobile phones.
Last month a 61-year-old man was jailed for 20 years for sending four text messages that were deemed offensive to the Thai queen.
The man said he did not even know how to send a text message, and rights groups expressed serious concern about his conviction.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 84, is the world's longest-reigning monarch and is revered as semi-divine by many Thais.
Anybody convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces long prison sentences.

PM Orders Flooded Areas to Be Drained by New Year

The prime minister has announced that the Cabinet will follow the King's advise on flood management. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit has been assigned to ensure that flooded areas will see all water drained by the year-end.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has announced that the Cabinet has appointed Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, who is also the interior minister, to oversee the drainage effort for areas still affected by flooding.

Yingluck says the government is expediting the drainage effort in order to have water drained from those areas by the end of this year so people can return to their homes for the New Year.

About local disputes in flooded areas, the Cabinet has assigned Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, who is the Flood Relief Operations Center director, to clarify the current situation to the public and provide them with assistance.

The government has reaffirmed that it will expedite the drainage and relieve locals' stress.

The prime minister has also ordered the Finance Ministry to come up with additional assistance measures for flood victims to help with repairs to damaged homes, vehicles and other properties.

In another issue, the prime minister said the month of December has been designated for the celebration of the King's 84th birthday and all Thais are asked to do good deeds in His Majesty's honor. She assured the government will follow the King's advise on flood management.