The separate court rulings against Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and former House speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat yesterday dealt major blows to the government, which will now face fresh efforts to remove it from office. The pressure started earlier in the day with the Constitution Court's verdict on the June 18 joint communique with Cambodia on the World Heritage listing of Preah Vihear temple, signed by Mr Noppadon and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. The court ruled that the document needed approval from parliament.
The nine-member Constitution Court ruled yesterday that the joint communique Thailand signed with Cambodia on June 18 supporting the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site is unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court's election division yesterday found former deputy leader of the People Power party (PPP) Yongyuth Tiyapairat guilty of violating election law by offering money to a group of kamnans in return for helping his sister win in the general election last year.
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The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will send a letter to the Japanese ambassador and a Japanese contractor seeking information about an alleged 125-million-baht bribe paid to senior BMA officials. Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin has launched an investigation into the matter, which came to light during a court case in Japan.
POLITICS
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) plans to gather 20,000 voters' signatures to kick-start impeachment proceedings against two Civil Court judges for ordering the alliance to stop blocking Rama V and Phitsanulok roads during school hours. Maj-Gen Chamlong Srimuang said all five PAD leaders agreed with the move. At least 20,000 signatures would be submitted to the Senate to support the impeachment bid.
MEDICAL SERVICES
The government is now shouldering about 155 million baht in medical expenses for alien workers per year, permanent secretary for public health Prat Boonyawongvirote said yesterday. Speaking at a three-day seminar on public health services for alien workers which began yesterday, Dr Prat said the money is spent mostly on the treatment of those with diarrhoea, tuberculosis, Aids, haemorrhagic fever and malaria.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Taxi drivers have threatened legal action if the Transport Ministry refuses to bring down the high cost of resetting their meters to the new fares to a reasonable level. Representing the taxi drivers, Withoon Naewpanit, head of the Taxi Siam Cooperatives, complained yesterday that the nine private companies supplying fare meters have set too high a charge for retuning them _ 400-600 baht per taxi. The firms were claiming intellectual property protection to discourage Mahanakorn University of Technology from offering its cheap meter tuning service of 200 baht per taxi.
VEHICLE FUEL
The Land Transport Department is to regulate vehicles which use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Chairat Sa-nguansue, acting director-general of the department, said yesterday that he would issue an announcement this week under the Automobile Act.
RATCHADAPISEK LAND CASE
Two former prime ministers, Banharn Silpa-archa and Chuan Leekpai, yesterday told the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions the prime minister has no authority to directly supervise the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF). However, Mr Chuan also told the court the finance minister has authority over the FIDF and the prime minister has the authority to supervise the Finance Ministry.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
PHNOM PENH : Cambodians celebrated in the streets yesterday over their country's success in having an 11th-century Hindu temple named a World Heritage landmark despite objections from Thailand. Thousands danced, sang and waved Cambodian flags, chanting ''Long live Preah Vihear temple!'' in response to news that Unesco had granted the temple World Heritage Site status.
NEWS THINK
Thailand should congratulate, not curse, Cambodia for its success in having the ancient Hindu temple of Preah Vihear inscribed as a new World Heritage landmark.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
The decision by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) to appoint a committee of representatives from seven nations to look after the old Preah Vihear temple is "most unusual", a former chairman of the Thai World Heritage Committee said yesterday.
The Supreme Court will today hand down its verdict in a high-profile case against veteran politician Vatana Asavahame for alleged corruption involving the issuance of title deeds for the construction site of the fraud-ridden Klong Dan wastewater treatment plant. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) in 2002 lodged a complaint with the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) accusing Mr Vatana of conspiring with land and pollution control officials to issue fake land deeds for 1,900 rai of land in Samut Prakan's Bang Bo district.
SOUTHERN VIOLENCE
Non-violence, dialogue and an efficient justice system are essential to restoring peace in the deep South, the Working Group on Justice for Peace said yesterday.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
MAE HONG SON : Members of the Padaung tribe who may have been lured into working in what many have dubbed as ''human zoos'' outside of Mae Hong Son will be brought back to the northern province, said a provincial sub-committee. The sub-committee, headed by the deputy Mae Hong Son governor, held its first meeting yesterday. It was set up after 11 Padaung highlanders were abducted from the province on July 3.
EDITORIAL
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama can no longer maintain the credibility and prestige of his very important office. He has no option but to "reconsider" himself and offer his resignation.
COMMENTARY
It's been nearly two decades since the graft-ridden, 23-billion-baht Klong Dan wastewater treatment project was abandoned and a group of politicians, their associates and state officials ordered to undergo trial in court. There remains the question: what to do with the doomed project, which is now literally a monument of graft?
THAI-CAMBODIAN TIES
Even though Preah Vihear has joined the ranks of places listed as World Heritage sites, former Cambodian soldier Wan, 60, may not play his fiddle in exchange for money from tourists at the temple. Due to fears of a Thai-mobilised rally against Cambodia's inscription of the temple on the World Heritage List, the border around the temple has been closed. No tourists are allowed until further notice.
SPOTLIGHT
The controversial struggle to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site ended on Monday, with Unesco announcing that the Hindu temple's application had been accepted.
PostBag
With respect to the article "NCCC may file Thaksin cases itself" (BP, July 7) I would like to clarify that Invision Technologies - whose proper name is GE Invision, Inc and is part of General Electric - paid the US Securities Exchange Commission US$1.1 million as settlement for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pursuant to Litigation Release No. 19078 on Feb 14, 2005.
In Media
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has called for "New Politics," an obscure proposal that is stirring heated debate in the country.
