The Criminal Court found Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra guilty of tax evasion yesterday, sentencing her to three years in jail - a precedent-setting ruling in the first of a series of court cases looming over the Shinawatra family.
INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON : With just six months left in the Oval Office, US President George W. Bush says that his visit to the region, including Thailand, is aimed at giving a reminder that he will be sprinting to the finish, and that he "will finish this job strong".
POLITICS
The conviction of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's wife Khunying Potjaman, who was sentenced to three years in jail for evading tax, will have negative repercussions for the ruling People Power party (PPP), said a leading member of a northeastern faction of the PPP.
POLITICS
The People Power party-led government has apparently changed its strategy in its attempt to amend the 2007 charter by postponing the reconvening of the parliament to next Wednesday. As the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has planned to mobilise over 100,000 protesters to rally against the government's charter rewrite bid at the parliament today, government chief whip Samart Kaewmeechai said the parliament will reconvene for the first meeting on Aug 6 instead of today, as previously scheduled.
NEWS THINK
Puea Pandin party leader Suvit Khunkitti was wrong to think his withdrawal from the People Power party (PPP)-led coalition on Tuesday would trigger a collapse of the administration.
SOUTHERN VIOLENCE
People fearing violence in the southern border region have been resettling in the relatively peaceful Phatthalung, another southern province, an intelligence source said yesterday.
Therdchai Jivacate, secretary-general of the Prostheses Foundation, has won the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his efforts in developing locally-made artificial legs for poor disabled people. The award, named after the popular Philippine president who died in a plane crash in 1957, is considered the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
COST OF LIVING RELIEF PACKAGE
The government's six-month package of freebies and discounts designed to ease the financial burden on cash-strapped residents begins today. The programme, covering public transport and utilities, is a counter-measure to the rising cost of living, largely tied to the increasing price of fuel.
ENVIRONMENT
Greenpeace lost its case against the growing of genetically engineered papaya yesterday, with the Central Administrative Court finding the Department of Agriculture (DOA) not guilty of negligence in its management of field trials. It was the first trial in Thailand involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
UPCOMING MILITARY RESHUFFLE
Resistance has emerged to the prospect of army chief Anupong Paojinda doubling as supreme commander in the imminent annual military reshuffle, an army source said. The opposition comes as the Supreme Command will be restructured under the new name of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, the source said.
WASHINGTON : US President George W. Bush admits that differences continue to exist between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Burma but disagrees with the notion that this issue will hinder more advanced Asean-US cooperation.
CRIME
A stolen stone, which the owner claimed was a 2,100-carat uncut diamond valued at 315 million baht, was returned yesterday _ but it was found to be a fake worth just a few hundred baht. Somchai Pornjindarak, president of the Thai Gem and Jewellery Traders Association, said the stolen item was not a diamond, but merely a cubic zirconia, or artificial diamond.
CONSERVATION
Thailand will host the world's first international meeting on fireflies with over 200 firefly experts from 20 countries taking part to discuss the latest findings on the lightning bugs. The International Symposium on Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies will be held at the Botanical Garden Organisation in Chiang Mai from Aug 26-30.
TRIUMPH WORKERS
A protest by Triumph factory workers over the abrupt dismissal of the head of their labour union _ which workers see as an attempt to undermine the union _ spilled over to the company's headquarters in Bangkok yesterday. Protesters rallied outside the Vanit building on New Phetchaburi road, which houses the head office of Body Fashion Thailand Co, which manufactures underwear and swimwear for Triumph.
PHNOM PENH : Cambodia will host a huge post-election celebration at the Preah Vihear temple attended by the country's first lady, Bun Rany, and other high-ranking officials today. Far from softening its stance on the 11th-century border temple after it was made a Cambodian World Heritage site, Cambodia is defiantly flaunting the site.
EDITORIAL
After years of search, the country's lawmakers have finally found a place for their new home. Cabinet's decision on Tuesday to spend an initial sum of four billion baht to relocate state agencies and a school out of a plot of land in Kiak Kai, Dusit district, clears the way for the new parliamentary headquarters.
LET IT BE
Who holds the flag to genuine democracy in Thailand? Is it the government of the ruling People Power Party (PPP)? Is it the opposition Democrats? Or is it the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesting in the middle of Ratchadamnoen Avenue in downtown Bangkok?
SPECIAL INTERVIEW
With about six months to go before the presidential elections, US President George W Bush will visit the region this week for the ninth time, before heading to China for the Olympics.
COMMENTARY
Isn't it gratifying, phi nong? Does it give us a thrill to hit people whose views we don't share, hard and square in the face? Hit them until they fall down and become unconscious. Hit them again and again, with a nail-studded wooden stick. Make sure the nails make their nasty contact with the soft flesh, that they tear deep and wide.
SPOTLIGHT
Paethongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of the Shinawatra family, shook her head in disbelief, her lips pressed tightly shut, as the Criminal Court sentenced her mother, Khunying Potjaman, to jail yesterday.
PostBag
On July 24 at about 5.30pm, I witnessed an event in Bangkok that has left me shaken. It has changed the way I view Thailand.
In Media
Embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is determined to fight on, despite growing pressure from various groups for him to step down.
POLITICS
CHIANG RAI : Yellow-carded La-ong Tiyapairat, the sister of former House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat, has applied to contest a by-election in constituency three.
TOP DESTINATIONS VOTE
Sukhothai's Si Satchanalai Historical Park has jumped from 12th to first place in the Bangkok Post's campaign to name Thailand top destinations. The park in Sukhothai's Si Satchanalai district racked up more than 1,000 votes in only the last three days of Thailand's Top Destinations Vote, organised by the Bangkok Post.
