The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) yesterday shot down a call by Cambodia for the regional grouping to intervene and help end its dispute with Thailand over their overlapping border area.
POLITICS
Metropolitan police yesterday arrested Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, alias ''Da Torpedo'', a key leader of the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), on lese majeste charges following her speeches on a UDD rally stage late last week.
PREAH VIHEAR
Border traders here are fretting about the effects of the deadlock in the spat over the area around the Preah Vihear temple ruins. ''If the situation doesn't improve soon, my business could suffer severely,'' said Wanchai Kiatdamrongwong, who runs an import-export firm trading with Cambodia.
PREAH VIHEAR
SI SA KET : Residents of several border villages along the border with Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province have begun weapons training for self-defence because of the tense situation over the Preah Vihear temple row. Members of the Senate committee on foreign affairs, led by their deputy chairman M.R. Priyanandana Rangsit, were briefed on the villagers' self-defence training by Si Sa Ket governor Sanee Jittakasem before inspecting the border areas near the Preah Vihear temple ruins yesterday.
PREAH VIHEAR
The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) has taken the unusual step of appointing its commissioners, and not a sub-panel, to investigate the Samak Sundaravej administration's alleged breach of the constitution in its handling of the Preah Vihear controversy.
POLITICS
A member of the People Power party (PPP) yesterday lodged a petition with the House committee in charge of overseeing constitution-related independent agencies, demanding an investigation of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC). The petition accuses the graft fighters of overlooking the shareholdings of MPs and senators in media firms and state concessions.
Passenger warning: Check your taxi driver's ideology before making political comments! The current political turmoil has affected all areas of Thai life, and the passenger seat of a taxi is no exception. Two years ago, a group of taxi drivers formed a pro-Thaksin Shinawatra club. They fixed ''We love Thaksin'' stickers to the rear of their cabs and joined pro-Thaksin gatherings which were held to counter the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) during the campaign to oust him.
THAKSIN CHARGES
The prosecution agreed to defer a scheduled court hearing on the SC Asset shares concealment case yesterday after three of the four defendants, including former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said they were too busy to attend. The Office of the Attorney-General (AOG) had been expected to announce if it would take the case to trial.
MEDIA
The editorial team of the Khao Na See (Page Four News) TV show is considering taking the government to the Constitution Court for interfering with the media. The move came after the regular late night weekday programme was taken off state-run NBT television on Monday and was replaced with a new show, Khwam Jing Wan Nee (Truth of Today) from 10pm to 11pm.
CIVIL SERVICE
A large network helped by academics was behind the cheating at all levels of civil service examinations, according to an inspection led by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
POVERTY
A temple in Ayutthaya has opened a free noodle stall to help hungry residents cope with rising food prices. Phra Khru Pimolbunyakorn, abbot of Wat Bote in tambon Ban Paen in Sena district, said the handouts are aimed at easing economic hardship for poor people.
The cabinet yesterday rejected for the third time the Transport Ministry's 111-billion-baht plan for the Bangkok city bus agency to lease 6,000 natural gas-fueled air-conditioned buses for 10 years.
SOUTHERN VIOLENCE
NARATHIWAT : A private in a teacher escort unit was killed and five other soldiers critically injured in a bomb blast and ensuing ambush in Cho Airong district yesterday morning. The explosion occurred on Ban Ta-ngo Bugehtamong road when a 12-strong teacher escort team was on its way to pick up teachers waiting at a meeting point to be accompanied to their school.
WATER MANAGEMENT
Half of the fertile wetlands in the Northeast are at risk of destruction by a mega water management project that the government is implementing, environmentalists have warned. Hannarong Yaowaloes, a member of the National Wetlands Committee, said yesterday the water diversion projects and the dredging of more waterways and the expansion of irrigation canals poses a serious threat to these wetlands.
Teenage girls should avoid using the emergency contraceptive levonorgesprel, sometimes known as the ''morning after pill'', after having sex as it could lead to menstrual bleeding and ectopic pregnancy, medical experts have warned. Kittiphong Cheng, head of the Reproductive Health Department, yesterday said many young girls were making improper use of the medication in the belief it would prevent pregnancy, instead of using proper preventative contraception.
EDITORIAL
We should be asking how the entire school system can be revamped to get the most out of the average student.
COMMENTARY
Prime Minister Samak and his ministers proudly unveiled to the nation their "six measures, six months" relief package early last week.
PREAH VIHEAR ROW
The recent military buildup along the Thai-Cambodian border is proving to be very disturbing because both sides have a lot to gain and a lot more to lose if the matter is not quickly brought to a peaceful end.
SPOTLIGHT
Article 70 of the 2007 Constitution reads: "Every person shall have a duty to protect and uphold the nation, religions, the King and the democratic regime of government, with the King as Head of the State under this constitution."
In Media
Cambodia must display its sincerity in order to resolve the conflict over the Preah Vihear temple issue. Central to this is a 4.6-sqkm disputed area around the ancient temple.
PostBag
"The great flood," (Bangkok Post, July 20) informs us that a rising sea level caused by man-made climate change is responsible for floods in Bangkok. I have looked at the sea level data for the last 20 years from various measuring stations in Southeast Asia provided by the University of Hawaii, and I have found absolutely no trend that could lead one to conclude that the sea level is rising.
