Thailand yesterday shrugged off Phnom Penh's ultimatum for its soldiers to leave disputed areas near the Preah Vihear temple and accused Cambodia of laying new landmines on the border.
CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday collected samples of S&P milk cookies for melamine testing after Swiss authorities found high concentrations of the chemical in imported products from Thailand.
The resurgence of the Preah Vihear land dispute between Thailand and Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province has not affected cross-border trade in other eastern provinces. Cambodian traders from Koh Kong province were still entering Thailand through the checkpoint at Ban Hat Lek in Khlong Yai district of Trat province to buy goods, immigration officer Pol Lt Thawee Chob-riabroi said yesterday.
News THINK
I agree the government and police must be held responsible for the Oct 7 violence on the streets of Bangkok which cost two lives and left hundreds of people injured.
Police greatly overreacted when confronting anti-government demonstrators led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Oct 7, First Army commander Lt-Gen Khanit Sapithak said yesterday. Political problems should be solved through political means, and authorities should be careful when mobilising the security arms of the state, he said.
The government whip yesterday filed a complaint with Dusit police against the People's Alliance for Democracy, accusing its members of besieging parliament and firing guns in parliamentary premises on Oct 7. Chief whip Suchart Lainamngern, a Lop Buri People Power party MP, said the entrance to the second floor and exterior wall of the parliament were riddled with bullet holes.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has cancelled its planned rally at the Royal Thai Police headquarters, in anticipation a major political change will occur soon.
The members of the government's fact-finding committee into the Oct 7 bloodshed have been announced and it is ready to start work.
Former prime minister Samak Sundaravej is expected to attend the second assembly of government supporters, the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), at Rajamangala stadium on Nov 1. Mr Samak is being treated at a hospital amid rumours he has liver cancer. He was admitted on Oct 2. The hospital refuses to disclose his illness.
ELECTORAL FRAUD
Dissolving the House will not spare political parties from dissolution trials, according to the Constitution Court. Court secretary-general Paiboon Varahapaitoon and Pisit Sakdanarong, secretary to the Constitution Court president, confirmed the court stance after the court, led by Chat Chalaworn, accepted the Attorney-General's request for dissolution trials of the three parties.
News THINK
Mounting tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over their overlapping border area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple could be used by those in power to unite Thais and lower Thailand's internal political temperature.
Chaturon Chaisaeng, a student activist in the Oct 14, 1973 uprising, has lashed out at the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), saying its actions are leaning towards anarchy. The former acting leader of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party failed to attend yesterday's event marking the 35th anniversary of the bloodshed.
The tourist islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan in Surat Thani province will probably be declared environmental protection zones to safeguard the marine ecology from destructive activities, the head of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep) said yesterday. Some of the 36 other small islands nearby, including Koh Tan, would also be annexed to the protected zones, Wichien Jungrungruang said.
CORN MORTGAGE
The farm policy and assistance measures committee has asked the cabinet to decide on a mortgage scheme for corn for fear of making the kind of mistake that plagued the Thaksin administration and led to legal action against former committee members. After a five-hour meeting yesterday, the committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat, presented two options for the cabinet.
EDUCATION
The cabinet has approved an early retirement pay package for the last batch of state teachers who should have received it earlier. Education Minister Srimuang Charoensiri said the 3,077 teachers who were the last to apply for the programme were made to wait because the funds must come from the 2008 fiscal budget.
FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
With the developed world engulfed in a financial crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression, concerted action by Asia-Pacific economies is needed to protect them against increasing spill-overs to the financial and manufacturing sectors - and ensure that people of all ages can continue to strive for healthier, more productive and meaningful lives.
EDITORIAL
The claim by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that his country may be on the verge of a military confrontation with Thailand is unwelcome. There is a lot of evidence that the threat of violence is vastly overplayed.
POST BAG
As a regular traveller and former police officer, I am outraged at the massive security breach that I encountered when flying Thai Air Asia recently. This should be a warning to all who travel from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
COMMENTARY
Motorists are often accustomed to seeing a flattened gooey pile of fur and bones; or a sun-baked bloated corpse of a four-legged creature rotting away on the road.
DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL : Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat should be applauded for introducing a six-point plan to cushion the impact of the global financial crisis.
