The Supreme Court sentenced three key members of the legal team of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to six months in prison each yesterday over the two-million-baht snack box incident.
PUBLIC HEALTH
The Administrative Court yesterday ordered the reinstatement of former chairman Vichai Chokewiwat and the five other former members of the board of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO).
POLITICS
Key members of the People Power party and dissolved Thai Rak Thai party have reportedly discussed the possibility of a major cabinet reshuffle to ease anti-government sentiment, a PPP source revealed yesterday.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) is planning new tactics to oust Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his cabinet.
POLITICS
The Democrats slammed Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee in the censure debate yesterday for failing to manage the economy and not taking action in Thaksin Shinawatra's alleged asset concealment case.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej fiercely defended his mental and physical health yesterday, insisting he is fit and capable of leading the government. His assertion came after Democrat MP Malinee Sukvejworakij, who is a doctor of medicine, told the House Mr Samak showed symptoms of a mental deficiency and behaviour disorder. He should take leave and get treatment for the sake of the country, she said.
DESTINATION THAILAND VOTE
The judges for the Bangkok Post's Thailand's Top Destination Vote campaign gathered at the newspaper's office in Klong Toey yesterday, and waded through hundreds of destinations nominated by visitors to http://www.9destinations.com, to come up with a list of 30 top sites.
ASSETS SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) yesterday resolved to press criminal charges against Thaksin Shinawatra for holding Shin Corp shares while in office and having a tax imposed that favoured his telecom company.
AVIATION
Thai Airways International will decide the future of its loss-ridden low-cost airline Nok Air today, but will not increase its holding, THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni said yesterday. At the same time, a Nok Air executive said the airline will not stop flying.
The provincial court in Narathiwat yesterday issued arrest warrants for four suspected militants believed to have shot and killed four railway employees on the Sungai Kolok-Yala train on Saturday, police said.
AGRICULTURE
About 300 rice farmers blocked the Chiang Mai-Phrao road in Chiang Mai's San Sai district yesterday to demand overdue payments worth 16 million baht from millers who bought their rice last month. The farmers from San Sai, Mae Rim, Mae Taeng and Phrao districts set up tents occupying one lane of the road.
STATE RAILWAY
Yuthana Thapcharoen, deputy governor of the State Railway of Thailand, is likely to be appointed the new SRT governor in the near future. The Central Administrative Court yesterday ordered the SRT board to revive Mr Yuthana's nearly completed selection, which has been stalled for two years.
CRIME
Police have arrested a man for the burglary of more than 100 houses in Pathum Thani and Nakhon Nayok, including the residence of a former chief of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD). .
PostBag
It is reported that Thailand's central bank is formulating plans to control inflation by increasing interest rates. This monetarist tool applies when inflation is driven by consumer demand in a surging economy and may not apply when inflation is imposed by external shocks in a stagnant economy. In that case, the monetarist medicine may be worse than the disease, as we have seen during the stagflation years in America some years ago.
EDITORIAL
The painful memory of Thailand losing sovereignty over the 10th century Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia as a result of the decision by the International Court of Justice in 1962, should have been buried with the passing years. But thanks to the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, this pain has been revived and is firing up the emotions of quite a few people, especially people of that generation who experienced the national trauma and shame of that great loss.
For millions of people whose place of residence has not yet been connected to the mass transit system, public buses remain a necessary evil. Our bus system is known to have failed completely in terms of service quality, safety standards and human convenience.
COMMENTARY
Ultra-nationalism fans anger and hatred while strengthening the false sense of self - everything Buddhism frowns upon. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) boasts of many people well-versed in Buddhism. Yet they have chosen to whip up ultra-nationalism through the Preah Vihear controversy to oust Thaksin Shinawatra's crony government. Why?
FROM THE BARRACKS
Deputy permanent secretary for defence Saprang Kalayanamitr's rallying behind the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street protests against the Samak Sundaravej administration, widely accused of being a "nominee" of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is not beyond expectations.
DRUGS
Rangers clashed with a drug caravan near the Burmese border in Chiang Rai's Mae Chan district yesterday, killing two traffickers and arresting one suspect.
INBrief
CHIANG RAI :Fifteen North Koreans, including two children, turned themselves in to Chiang Saen police yesterday in the hope of being resettled in a third country.
InMedia
Lack of public understanding caused by confusing messages and unreliable information has transformed Cambodia's bid to register Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site into a testy political issue.
ABOUTPolitics
Heavyweight politician Suwat Liptapanlop has always been the more imposing half of Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop and he doesn't hide it.
