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.