Centre urges public to have poll say | Bangkok Post: news
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) and its allies have set up a centre to monitor the Feb 24 general election under a campaign to educate the public about the poll and encourage them to take a greater role in pushing for public policies. Wilasinee Phiphitkul, Thai PBS' director-general, said the election will provide an opportunity for people nationwide to become more politically conscious and follow up on policies presented by the parties. Forums will also be held in Bangkok and the provinces so parties the public and stakeholders can discuss the issues, Ms Wilasinee said. Set up under the theme "Relay the People's Voices Beyond the Election", the monitoring centre will have a tentative one-year time frame. She added Thai PBS has also set up a website, www.thaipbs.or.th/Election62, to supply information to other media outlets covering the election.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 23:03 UTC
Lyon reach Champions League last 16, Manchesters through | Bangkok Post: news
The Burkina Faso international was made to pay for his profligacy, as Junior Moraes slotted home after being picked out by Ismaily. Tagliafico went up the other end to equalise again, but Ajax failed to find a winner as Bayern just about held on. CSKA Moscow stunned a much-changed Real Madrid with a 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, but still finished bottom of Group G as Viktoria Plzen beat Roma. "It's sad to say the least to beat Real Madrid, earn seven points, but finish bottom and get eliminated from Europe," said CSKA coach Viktor Goncharenko. Holders Real had already progressed to the last 16 as group winners, with Roma through in second place.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 22:30 UTC
Apisak expects slower Thai growth in 2019 | Bangkok Post: business
(File photo)The Thai economy in 2019 will slow down from this year, with the US-Sino trade rift a drag, but growth of 4% is still possible, says Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong. The export tally depends on the global market, said Mr Apisak. Hikes in interest rates across the globe is another threat to the Thai economy, said Mr Apisak. "The Fiscal Policy Office forecast the Thai economy will grow at around 4%-plus, but this isn't as rosy as expected because the global economy is dealing a blow to our economy. We must shift to rely more on the domestic economy, and local investors should invest more here," said Mr Apisak.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 21:56 UTC
7 nabbed in trash plant protest | Bangkok Post: news
(Post Today photo)NAKHON SAWAN: Police on Wednesday arrested seven leaders of a protest campaign against a garbage processing plant in Nakhon Sawan province after they blocked major routes leading to the northern and northeastern regions. They had threatened to close Highway 11 and local road No 225 to pressure the local authority into scrapping the processing plant. One of the protesters, Somchai Manakijsirisutthi, deputy mayor of Nong Bua municipality, was sacked from his post. The campaign against the garbage processing plant, which is being developed by a private company, has been brewing since last year. In August, local villagers asked the Administrative Court to order a halt to the project.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 21:56 UTC
'Distressed' elephant photo spurs zoo probe | Bangkok Post: news
SAMUT PRAKAN: Livestock and wildlife protection authorities inspected the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo Wednesday following the release of images showing a grossly underweight elephant being made to perform tricks during a show. After shocking images of the animal went viral on social media, the zoo operators were accused of animal cruelty, but they insisted the animal was not suffering from any health problems. Among the more obviously distressed animals seen during the inspection at the Crocodile Farm were this underweight elephant with a clearly visible spine and (below) Thai pony with protruding ribcage. The Crocodile Farm has recently drawn criticism from visitors. Vet Supakan Kaewchote said the elephant clearly looked underweight and to be suffering from muscular atrophy.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 17:26 UTC
May battles confidence vote | Bangkok Post: news
British Prime Minister Theresa May's job is on the line in a non-confidence vote by Conservative MPs. LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to win a vote of no confidence triggered by angry Brexit supporters in her Conservative Party on Wednesday, saying her ouster would jeopardise Britain's divorce from the European Union. Speaking outside her Downing Street residence hours before the vote of confidence to decide her fate, May said she would fight with everything she had. "A change of leadership in the Conservative Party now would put our country's future at risk and create uncertainty when we can least afford it," she said. In a possible sign May might offer a date for resignation after Brexit, her spokesman said the vote would not be about who leads the party into the next election, due in 2022.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 16:18 UTC
EU parliament approves huge Japan trade deal | Bangkok Post: news
BRUSSELS - The European Parliament on Wednesday approved an accord with Japan that has been dubbed the world's biggest trade deal, covering economies that represent a third of the world's GDP. "Our economic partnership with Japan -– the biggest trade zone ever negotiated –- is now very close to becoming a reality," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said. "Approving the EU-Japan EPA, the European Parliament delivers on what business and citizens need in a time of political and economic uncertainty," said BusinessEurope Director General Markus Beyrer. - Consumer choice -In a nod to the environmental and anti-globalist groups who have lobbied against this and other EU trade agreements, it includes chapters on sustainable development and the Paris climate change accord. "The European Parliament agreed to a trade agreement that damages European democracy," Lena Blanken of Foodwatch said.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 13:41 UTC
Chinese protester arrested after lighting fire at Japan shrine | Bangkok Post: news
People visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug 15, 2018, the 73rd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. Video uploaded online by the group showed Kwok at the shrine, next to the burning tablet, holding a commemorative banner and shouting out, "Down to militarism! The tablet was inscribed with the name Japan's wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who is enshrined at Yasukuni. Visits by Japanese leaders have drawn outcry from those that suffered under Japanese occupation or colonialism before and during World War II. The group, Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, claims that Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea belong to China.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 13:30 UTC
Spain to raise minimum wage by 22% in 2019: PM | Bangkok Post: news
MADRID - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday his cabinet would approve next week a 22 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage to 1,050 euros ($1,192) in 2019. The measure was part of his minority Socialist government's draft 2019 budget unveiled in October but which he is struggling to pass in parliament so it will now be approved by decree. He negotiated the draft 2019 budget with far-left party Podemos, which controls 67 seats, but would still need the support of Catalan separatist parties to pass the spending plan and they have steadfastly refused. The government estimated the minimum wage hike will cost the state 340 million euros per year. PP leader Pablo Casado has said the 2019 budget, which also includes tax hikes, is "economically suicidal".
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 12:45 UTC
Airport bottlenecks need to be addressed: IATA | Bangkok Post: business
GENEVA: Airport overcrowding -- with Bangkok a key example of passenger congestion -- and sustainability were among the key highlights outlined in a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Mr de Juniac conceded that finding a solution to the airport capacity problem would not be easy. He said, however, that digital transformation based on global standards was a key method for improving the optimal usage of airport infrastructure. A major worry, Mr Pearce said, is trade protectionism and the US imposition of tariffs on China and threats on others. Border disputes put a damper on aviation and economic development as a whole, Mr Pearce said.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 12:33 UTC
Illegal Indian tour guide arrested in Pattaya | Bangkok Post: news
Hitendra Khasatiya (seated right) and Retha Yee Tar were arrested and taken to the Pattaya police station on Wednesday for illegally working in the country. (Photo by Chaiyot Poopattanapong)PATTAYA: An Indian was arrested for working illegally as a tour guide in an operation that also caught a Myanmar national for unauthorised employment in the kingdom. He and Thai guide Narin Noonurat were working together with a group of Indian tourists when he was arrested, according to police. Mr Narin claimed he needed Mr Khasatiya's help in speaking to the Indian visitors in their own language. Police also found Retha Yee Tar, 21, illegally working for the company, booking activities for tourists who bought tour packages, police said.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 11:26 UTC
Mentally ill man rescued from top of railway bridge | Bangkok Post: news
Mentally ill Peemai Samarnwong is rescued after climbing to the top of a railway bridge across a creek and then suffering a seizure, in Si Sa Ket province on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Sanoh Worarak)Si SA KET: A mentally ill man who climbed to the top of a railway bridge over a creek suffered a seizure while police were trying to talk him down and had to be rescued on Wednesday afternoon. Peemai Samarnwong, 26, of Ubon Ratchathani’s Phibun Mangsahan district, was spotted climbing onto the top of the bridge across Huay Samran creek in Muang district around 2pm. Rescue workers quickly moved to help him, while police contacted Si Sa Ket railway station to alert the driver of a scheduled Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani train about the rescue operation on the bridge. Police said the man had a chornic illness and also suffered from a mental problem.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 11:15 UTC
Miss Universe's first transgender contestant revels in being role model | Bangkok Post: news
Miss Spain Angela Ponce is the first transgender woman to take part in the Miss Universe contest. I'm showing that trans women can be whatever they want," said Ponce, who was crowned Miss Spain earlier this year. The Miss Universe Organization, which owns the beauty pageant, lifted a ban on transgender contestants in 2012. Also significantly, the pageant this year features its first all-woman selection panel, said a spokeswoman for Miss Universe Organization. Among the 94 contestants is another woman who has battled prejudice, and is also making history as Panama's first indigenous Miss Universe contestant.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 11:03 UTC
Thumbs up as Myanmar Reuters reporters mark year in jail | Bangkok Post: news
Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone gestures as he leaves after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar June 5, 2018. "We will face it (the verdict) with stability and courage," Wa Lone said after the sentence was handed down in September. Reuters has invited people to post online photos of the "thumbs up" symbol used by journalists Wa Lone (shown) and Kyaw Soe Oo"The government can detain us in the prison but... don't close the ears and eyes of the people," Kyaw Soe Oo said. One of the Time covers shared widely online features Pan Ei Mon and Kyaw Soe Oo's wife Chit Su Win holding photos of their imprisoned husbands. This, as jailed @Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo honored as 'guardians of truth' in @TIME's 2018 Person of the Year.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 10:36 UTC
Drug user admits stealing from late-night swimmers | Bangkok Post: news
(Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)PATTAYA: A drug-user has been charged with stealing the clothes, money and mobile phone of two Thai tourists who went swimming at a beach here on Sunday night, leaving them with only their underpants. The suspect was later taken to the beach behind the Dusit Resort Hotel in Pattaya-Na Klua area for a crime re-enactment. They had left their clothes, a mobile phone and wallets containing 1,800 baht cash on a rock on the beach. He had a criminal record, having been caught six times before for drug use, theft and gambling. After the re-enactment, Pol Col Apichai checked out the beach and greeted Thai and foreign tourists there.
Source:Bangkok Post
December 12, 2018 10:18 UTC