IN BRIEF
TRAVEL / Bangkok has been named the World's Best City 2008 by an international travel magazine, beating last year's champion Florence, in Italy, whose ranking plunged to the fifth.
Travel + Leisure magazine yesterday released its 13th annual list of the world's best awards based on a readers' survey conducted from January to March this year.
Bangkok, which ranked third last year, earns top score of 87.6, followed by Buenos Aires (87.2), Cape Town (86.5), Sydney (86.4), and then Florence (86.2).
The readers rated the cities based on sights, arts and culture, restaurants and food, people and shopping.
In other categories, Singapore Airlines was named the world's best international airline, Singita Sabi Sand in Kruger National Park, South Africa won the best hotel award, and the Galapagos Islands were voted the best islands.
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Funds for dredging
ENVIRONMENT / A proposed 4.47-billion-baht budget to dredge over 1,000 natural water sources will be forwarded for cabinet approval next week.
The proposal was approved yesterday by the national water management board, chaired by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, said deputy government spokeswoman Weerinthira Nathongbocharas.
Under the plan, the money will be spent on dredging 1,013 degraded natural water sources to increase their storage and drainage capacities.
The dredging of the water sources is part of a 14-billion-baht plan to improve 6,677 natural water sources nationwide.
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SSF probe urged
CORRUPTION / A labour group has asked the Senate's anti-graft panel to look into the alleged misuse of the Social Security Fund (SSF).
Wilaiwan sae Tia, president of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, yesterday submitted a petition to Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul, chairwoman of the Senate committee on counter corruption and promotion of good governance.
The petition called for an investigation into the alleged misuse of the fund by the Social Security Office (SSO).
Ms Wilaiwan wants the Senate panel to look into four SSO projects _ the 2.3-billion-baht procurement of an information technology system, two housing schemes worth 2.5 and three billion baht, and the use of the SSF's budget of around two million baht a year to hand out t-shirts to mark Labour Day.
She suspected there might be irregularities in the use of the fund which may cause damage worth over eight billion baht to the SSF, which has more than nine million members.
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Sentence upheld
CRIME / The Supreme Court yesterday sentenced a member of a drug trafficking gang to death, a former army major to life imprisonment and two others to 50 years in jail each.
Kittisak, alias Pat Deepattanacharoen, 33, a native of Mae Hong Son province and the fourth defendant in the drug trafficking case, was sentenced to death.
He was among five members of a drug gang arrested in Pathum Thani on Nov 22, 2005 for possessing around 100,000 speed pills.
One of the gang members, Sam Laoyeepa, 33, the second defendant in the case, died during the trial.
The three others are first defendant Major Watcharin Tangsakul, 59, a former officer attached to the army's finance department, third defendant Somboon Natethuam, 53, of Chai Nat, and fifth defendant Anont Charoenprakob, 53, a native of Ratchaburi.
The lower court earlier sentenced all defendants to death.
Watcharin's death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Somboon and Anont were sentenced to 50 years in jail each due to their confessions. However, the court upheld the death penalty on Kittisak.
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Betting ads found
GAMBLING / A media watchdog has found football gambling advertisements in four sports newspapers and one radio programme.
Tham Chuesathapanasiri, manager of Media Monitor, a public media watchdog, said his group conducted a study on gambling advertisements during last month's 2008 European Championships and found that four sports newspapers and one radio programme ran advertisements that led to football gambling.
The four papers are Sportsman, Sportspool, Kick Off and Jor Games while the radio programme broadcasting gambling advertisements was the Kick Off Team programme on FM105, said Mr Tham.
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