Storm warning for capital

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Storm-warning-for-capital-30242023.html

WEATHER

THE NATION August 29, 2014 1:00 am

RESIDENTS in Greater Bangkok were warned yesterday to watch out for rainstorms throughout 80 per cent of the capital and its suburbs until tomorrow.

A powerful monsoon was passing over the lower North, Central and East regions, bringing heavy downfalls to 80 per cent of the country.

Sanya Chenimit, deputy city clerk, said that although precipitation on Wednesday reached 59 millimetres, many areas suffered from inundation on Wednesday because although the precipitation was not huge, the first 100mm in those areas it could not be drained away fast enough.

Chaeng Wattana Road with high floods and traffic jams was a low-lying area, so the city brought in pumps to clear the area.

Precipitation in Bangkok so far this year has been only 550mm – far from 1,000mm last year – while the northern run-off was not so huge, he said, affirming that the city was monitoring the weather closely. Pol Maj-General Jirasan Kaewsaengake, commander of the Traffic Police, urged motorists to plan their trips well in advance and drive carefully.

People can get traffic updates from the 1197 hotline or report accidents to it around the clock.

In case of constant rain, motorists should avoid low-lying and flood-prone flashpoints in the metropolitan area, especially Chaeng Wattana Road, the Sukhumvit-Theparak intersection, the Bearing-Samrong section of Sukhumvit Road, and Phuchao Saming Prai Road.

Teachers told to ease back on homework

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Teachers-told-to-ease-back-on-homework-30242024.html

SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI
THE NATION August 29, 2014 1:00 am

THE OFFICE of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) ordered schools not to give a lot of homework assignments, and said they should also not be too difficult and should focus on group work.

Obec chief Kamol Rodkhlai said that under the guidelines, teachers were to assign homework appropriately.

The guidelines also instructed school administrators and educators to ensure that teaching and homework assignments were appropriate and to punish those students who copied from others or hired others to do homework.

School administrators were also instructed to arrange free tutoring for students who fall behind peers academically or to provide a “friends help friends” tutoring clinic or other activities to help them complete basic education, he said.

“Homework assignments are for students to review lessons and practise self-discipline and responsibility … I personally think it should take no more than an hour per day to do homework, so teachers should discuss the appropriate amount. Homework should not be so difficult that kids have to hire others to do it for them,” Kamol said.

He added that the guidelines came from suggestions from the chief of the military’s ruling National Council for Peace and Order and others in society.

Banished villager allowed to visit his daughter

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Banished-villager-allowed-to-visit-his-daughter-30242025.html

The Nation August 29, 2014 1:00 am

Baan Kum Ma Nai Rong Khae villagers have agreed to let the father of a 12-year-old girl who has lived alone for nine years to visit the village.

The parents were reportedly banished from this village in Ubon Ratchathani’s Si Muang Mai district almost a decade ago after the man was accused of being a cursed flesh-devouring ghost.

After discussions yesterday with officials over the problem, Ubon Ratchathani deputy governor Suraphan Dissaman said the girl was moved to Rajaprajanugroh 32 School. Her parents, who are now staying at the Mit Maitree Home, would be provided with jobs and accommodation this week in Sirindhorn district. He said the parents had the right to visit the village without obstruction.

Village headman Banleu Saengchompoo said many of the villagers’ views of the father had changed, as his absence for a decade had erased the stigma. He said the villagers now wouldn’t mind visits by him from time to time, just as the mother had been regularly visiting the girl.

Two held for e-mail fraud

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Two-held-for-e-mail-fraud-30242026.html

The Nation August 29, 2014 1:00 am

A Nigerian man and his alleged Thai accomplice were held for e-mail fraud, accused of duping a Taiwanese firm into wiring Bt4.6 million.

The Technology Crime Suppression Division commander, Pol Maj-General Siripong Timula, presented Stanley Onyaewae, 27, and Anchulee Siriwong, 34, along with a computer notebook, three mobile phones and a tablet computer to the press yesterday.

He said the suspects, nabbed at an apartment in Bangkok’s Bueng Kum district on Tuesday, had allegedly joined other Nigerian gangsters to create an e-mail address similar to that of a Thai construction company to trick its Taiwanese client to wire Bt4.6 million for metal joints to Anchulee’s bank account in April.

The woman reportedly confessed that she was asked by the gang to open the account in exchange for a 5-per-cent share of the amount wired. Siripong urged businesses that contacted clients via e-mail to check messages regularly, put in place a firewall and create more than two ways to contact clients, so as to prevent fraud.

Slot machines destroyed

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Slot-machines-destroyed-30242027.html

The Nation August 29, 2014 1:00 am

Bangkok City Police will burn 2,750 slot machines, seized in gambling and vice crackdown operations, this morning, to ensure transparency.

Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Chanthawit Ramasut said he had instructed the Metropolitan Police Area 2 and Bang Khen Police Station superintendent to work with the Army in preparing the place for the machines’ demolition, while the Royal Thai Police would cover the event’s expenses.

Chanthawit said he had also told police to get tough on all crimes from September 1, especially robberies and thefts at banks, gold shops and convenience stores, while checkpoints would be set up at nine risky spots to crack down on street racers from 10pm-midnight and 1.30am-3.30am.

Fire hits Poipet market

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Fire-hits-Poipet-market-30242028.html

The Nation August 29, 2014 1:00 am

A fire broke out at a Poipet border market adjacent to Sa Kaew’s Aranyaprathet district yesterday morning, destroying a stock of second-hand clothes.

A private school, Bridgeton, located nearby was forced to suspend classes for about an hour. Some 500 students were evacuated.

The fire, which destroyed some 500 sacks of second-hand clothes, caused damages worth about Bt5 million.

The market, in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchay province, is about 2 kilometres from the Thai border and the blaze was so strong that firetrucks had been called in from Sa Kaew province.

It was difficult to extinguish the fire because the market is in the middle of a dense residential community.

Workers find 500-year-old laterite stairs

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Workers-find-500-year-old-laterite-stairs-30242029.html

UTTARADIT

BOONPIM BAIYA
THE NATION August 29, 2014 1:00 am

A 426-STEP laterite staircase leading to pagoda and vihara ruins in a two-rai compound on top of a hill was discovered earlier this week in Uttaradit’s Pichai district. Archaeologists believe it’s more than 500 years old.

Tambon Na-in Administrative Organisation president Ramian Chandam reported the staircase discovery at Khao Khitone in Ban Fak Beung. He said his office staff, along with some villagers, had cleared the area, in preparation to developing the site into a new tourist destination.

The staircase leads to the ancient compound with a beautiful view of Pichai district.

Ramian said his office had obtained funds to build a road linking villages and project workers had discovered the stairs while using a heavy machine to dig up bamboo covering up the staircase entrance.

Archaeologist Rattiya Chaiwong, who led the Fine Arts Department’s Archaeology Office 6 in Sukhothai team to inspect the hilltop, said the Buddhist site and its laterite staircase were of the same era. They were possibly the home of monks connected to communities in Pichai district area.

The discovery of ceramics produced by Sing Buri’s Mae Nam Noi kilns and Sangkhalok glazed pottery of Sukhothai’s Si Satchanalai kilns also confirmed the site’s origin as of the 20th-21st century of the Buddhist era (BE 1901-2100), she said. A broken sandstone inscription from the Sukhothai era, found at the site, had been sent to the National Library in Bangkok, she added.

Phuket police target 80 sites in land-encroachment raids

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Phuket-police-target-80-sites-in-land-encroachment-30242030.html

THE NATION August 29, 2014 1:00 am

AS PART OF THE ongoing crackdown on public land encroachment, soldiers, sailors and police teamed up to search 80 locations in Phuket, including homes and resorts owned by local politicians.

Taxi queues that operate illegally and cheat or harass passengers on the island were also targeted yesterday.

The assets of the 80 encroachment suspects will be seized if those assets were obtained with ill-gotten money, said Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) secretary-general Sihanart Prayoonrat.

Senior Revenue Department official Sitthichai Tia-amnuaychai said inquiries into the tax status of the 80 people – all of whom were facing arrest warrants – would take place.

They include a former local politician, the son of another local politician, people running unlicensed taxis, and a number of kamnan in Muang district.

As of yesterday, no one had been apprehended or charged or even found at any of the sites.

The all-out operation involved some 500 local police, police from Bangkok and a regional bureau, as well as sailors and soldiers.

The police commander leading the raids, Lt-General Panya Mamen, commander of Police Region 8, said intelligence-gathering operations were conducted for three months prior to yesterday but many of the 80 suspects had fled.

The investigation into unlicensed taxis centres on the blocking of Pa Tong Road to increase business, aggressively soliciting fares from foreign tourists outside hotels and mafia figures running independent services and demanding protection fees from members.

Sihanart said assets worth about Bt300,000 had been seized from three people running unlicensed taxis.

He said while the value of the assets was not large, many people were involved and they would be subject to AMLO scrutiny.

Pattani teacher killed by gas-cylinder bomb

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Pattani-teacher-killed-by-gas-cylinder-bomb-30242031.html

SUPITCHA RATTANA,
NAKARIN CHINWORAKOMON
THE NATION August 29, 2014 1:00 am

South attacks claim 175 teachers so far

A FEMALE TEACHER was killed, while her colleague severely injured when insurgents set off a home-made bomb as the two were being escorted by police to their school in Pattani’s Khok Pho district yesterday.

A policeman also sustained injuries in the attack, which took place in tambon Tharua about 8am. The teacher’s death brought the restive region’s teacher death toll so far to 175.

Police said 28-year-old Patimoh Saemaesae, a teacher at Ban Tharua School, died on her way to hospital. Another teacher Lamduan Chuduang, 55, and Pol Senior Sgt-Major Pradit Iamsri, 44, are being treated at Khok Pho Hospital.

Boonsom Thongsriprai, chairman of the Confederation of Teachers of the Three Southern Border Provinces, confirmed that Patimoh was the 175th teacher to be killed in the unrest.

This attack took place despite tight security, which has left many teachers worried. They are planning to call a meeting to discuss security with related agencies again, Boonsom said.

Meanwhile, Pattani’s Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel will initially provide Patimoh’s family with Bt500,000 in aide.

This recent attack has also prompted Khok Pho district chief Sanan Pong-aksorn to order adjustments to the teacher protection details on 24 routes covering 44 schools. The bomb was reportedly meant for security officers in the convoy escorting seven teachers, he said. He explained that the seven-vehicle convoy, comprised two motorcycles, each with two teachers onboard, and one truck with three teachers, while security officers were on the leading motorbike and the tailing truck and two motorcycles. The bomb was detonated to hit the tailing vehicles, he said, but as convoy had slowed down the wrong vehicle got hit.

Sanan said he had learned that Patimoh was a good and capable teacher who also spent her weekends teaching children at a Pondok |school on tambon Kuan Lamae.

Meanwhile, Colonel Pramote Phrom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 Forward Command, yesterday offered condolences to the slain teacher’s family and condemned those behind the bomb attack.

Pramote said initial investigation found the bomb, attached to a gas cylinder, was planted at a bridge and detonated when the convoy passed by. He urged all sides, including NGOs, civil society and media, to condemn such actions and object to extremist behaviour and attacks.

Student shot dead in capital

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย-ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Student-shot-dead-in-capital-30241914.html

Kampanart Laong
Kittipong Maneerit
The Nation August 28, 2014 1:00 am

Second student suffers injuries; police look into what may be school rivalry

A WELL-LOVED female student from the Rajamangala University of Technology Uthenthawai Campus was fatally shot in the heart of Bangkok late on Tuesday night in what could be the latest crime related to school rivalry. Another student from the same campus was also shot, but managed to get away with injuries to his right arm.

The campus has suspended classes for three days in the wake of the shooting.

Police believe either school rivalry or personal conflict may have been behind the shooting. According to witnesses, some 40 people were waiting for a bus near Pathuwam intersection in heavy rain when they heard gunshots.

CCTV recordings show two people on a motorcycle, both wearing raincoats and crash helmets, stopping by at the bus stop at the time of the shooting.

“We will check images from other security cameras in the area,” Pathumwan Police Station’s deputy superintendent Lt-Colonel Panom Chua-thong said yesterday.

The victims were identified as Kankanit Promkaew and Wachirawit Senkhram, both of whom were second-year engineering students at the campus.

Kankanit, 20, succumbed to heavy blood loss on her way to hospital, though Wachirawit is in a safe condition. Their friends said the two had left school late due to the rain, and were waiting for a bus home when the shooting took place.

Kankanit’s classmates and teachers fondly remember her as a friendly and nice person who often took part in extra-curricular activities. Her teachers even wrote a poem to express their grief and posted it at the campus. One line reads: “Your passing has broken teachers’ hearts … May you rest in peace”.

The young student’s funeral is currently under way at Pailom Temple in Chai Nat’s Sapphaya district.

Meanwhile, police will have the parents of street racers, who had been arrested over the past three years, sign a memorandum of understanding in a bid to stop them from racing on public roads. Police are also calling on motorcycle shops to not sell accessories to young people.

Deputy Metropolitan Police chief Pol Maj-General Adul Narongsak said police were getting ready a list of names and preparing an MoU for the parents to sign, promising they will not let their children race on the streets again.

After the MoUs are signed, parents will face charges if their children are caught racing.

Adul urged everybody to get involved in solving the city’s problems, as there weren’t enough traffic police officers to cover every area of Bangkok.