BBC News
17-02-2011
Manama, Bahrain (CNN) -- What had been days of mostly peaceful demonstrations changed dramatically in Bahrain early Thursday morning when police swarmed into the capital city and forcibly removed protesters from the Pearl Roundabout.
Police came in with dozens of vehicles, surrounded the roundabout and began firing "pellet bullets," rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, witnesses said.
At least three people were killed early Thursday morning during the incident, emergency hospital services said.
Police were able to clear the roundabout of thousands of protesters and hours after that, convoys more than 50 military armored personnel carriers each armed with machine guns drove into the area. Convoys included trucks carrying razor wire.
Click here to read and watch Video...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
TISI rises for third straight month
Bangkok Post
17-02-2011
The Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) for January increased to 112.7 from 109.7 in December 2010, Payungsak Chartsuthipol, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said on Thursday.
The recent survey on confidence of the industry sector by the FTI involved 1,006 samples in 39 industrial groups under the federation’s umbrella.
“The TISI went up for three consecutive months. The index stands above the 100 level, showing that manufacturers have high confidence in the economy,” said Mr Payungsak.
The FTI chairman attributed the index improvement to the increasing domestic demand on the back of high prices of agricultural products, particularly rubber, that helped increase purchasing power of farmers, the government’s policy to keep the diesel price below 30 baht a litre and the weakening baht that helped boost the export and tourism sectors.
Click here to read more...
17-02-2011
The Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) for January increased to 112.7 from 109.7 in December 2010, Payungsak Chartsuthipol, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said on Thursday.
The recent survey on confidence of the industry sector by the FTI involved 1,006 samples in 39 industrial groups under the federation’s umbrella.
“The TISI went up for three consecutive months. The index stands above the 100 level, showing that manufacturers have high confidence in the economy,” said Mr Payungsak.
The FTI chairman attributed the index improvement to the increasing domestic demand on the back of high prices of agricultural products, particularly rubber, that helped increase purchasing power of farmers, the government’s policy to keep the diesel price below 30 baht a litre and the weakening baht that helped boost the export and tourism sectors.
Click here to read more...
Cambodia turns to Asean
Thailand sticks to line of opposing outsiders
17-02-2011
Bang kok Post News
Thailand has rebuffed a plan by Cambodia to ask the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to send observers to monitor the shaky ceasefire along the border.
Hor Namhong: Thailand ignored UN
The move comes less than a week before foreign ministers from the Asean member countries meet in Jakarta where they will discuss the border spat.
There has also been an upturn in fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops at Phu Makhua mountain in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province, which is part of the area under dispute.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters in Phnom Penh yesterday on his return from the United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday night that Cambodia would lodge a request for Asean observers at the Jakarta meeting.
Click here to read more...
17-02-2011
Bang kok Post News
Hor Namhong: Thailand ignored UN
The move comes less than a week before foreign ministers from the Asean member countries meet in Jakarta where they will discuss the border spat.
There has also been an upturn in fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops at Phu Makhua mountain in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province, which is part of the area under dispute.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters in Phnom Penh yesterday on his return from the United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday night that Cambodia would lodge a request for Asean observers at the Jakarta meeting.
Click here to read more...
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thais hurt, border fighting continues
04/02/2011
Two or three Thai soldiers were wounded in fighting with Cambodian troops on Friday afternoon near the 4.6 square kilometre area under dispute near Preah Vihear temple. The Cambodians had fired artillery shells which landed on Thai soil, an informed military source said.
The clash took place about 3.20pm and fighting was continuing around the Preah Vihear temple area.
Lt-Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, 2nd Army commander, said Cambodian troops who started the fight.
Many artillery rounds landed at Huay Thip village in tambon Rung of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, north of the Preah Vihear temple and about 1km from Phu Makhua mountain, which is part of the disputed area. Two or three Thai soldiers were reported wounded. Casualties on the Cambodian side were not known.
The clash took place about 3.20pm and fighting was continuing around the Preah Vihear temple area.
Lt-Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, 2nd Army commander, said Cambodian troops who started the fight.
Many artillery rounds landed at Huay Thip village in tambon Rung of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, north of the Preah Vihear temple and about 1km from Phu Makhua mountain, which is part of the disputed area. Two or three Thai soldiers were reported wounded. Casualties on the Cambodian side were not known.
Fighting on Cambodian border
04/02/2011
Two or three Thai soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire with Cambodian troops on Friday afternoon on the Thai-Cambodian border, and artillery rounds landed on Thai soil well inside the frontier, an informed military source said.
he clash started about 3.20pm near the disputed 4.6 square kilometre area around the Preah Vihear temple.
Fighting was continuing, the source said. Heavy weapon rounds had landed on the Thai side of the border. Lt-Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, 2nd Army commander, said it was Cambodian troops who started the shooting.Many artillery shells landed at Huay Thip village in tambon Rung of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, north of the Preah Vihear temple and about 1km from Phu Makhua mountain, which is part of the disputed area.
Two or three Thai soldiers were reported wounded. TNN TV news carried a live report from a villager in the area, who said at 50 year old man had been killed and others hurt by artillery shells which land in his village, well inside Thai territory.
Casualties on the Cambodian side were not known.From Phnom Penh, AFP reported:
Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed near a disputed temple on the two countries' shared border, officials from both nations told AFP, amid increasing tensions between them.
"A clash is ongoing", said Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith without elaborating.
A Cambodian soldier stationed near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which is claimed by both sides, told AFP by telephone fighting had broken out. Gunfire could be heard in the background. Reports said artillery was being used, but it was not clear by which side, or whether both were doing so.
A Thai army official at the border also confirmed the skirmish, which follows reports of a military buildup on both sides of the border in recent days.
He said fighting broke out at 3.10pm local time (0810 GMT) at Phu Makuea, near the 11th-century temple.
"The fighting is still going on," the official said. "We don't have any details or casualties yet." Residents in nine villages along the Thai side of the frontier have been asked to take shelter or leave the area, said a senior district official at Kantharalak in the border province of Si Sa Ket.
"I can still hear artillery shelling but don't know from which side," he said.
The border clash occurred not long after Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in Siem Riep on Friday morning that Thailand and Cambodia have reached agreement not to blow up the dispute over the national flags put up in their disputed border area near Pheah Vihear temple.
The announcement followed talks between Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the sidelines of Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission (JC) meeting on Friday.
Mr Kasit said afterwards they have agreed not to blow up the dispute over the flags and not to incite their people into hatred for each other.
In addition, the two countries would continue efforts to ease border tension by continuing demarcation negotiations through the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC).
Thailand earlier demanded that Cambodia remove both the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda and the Cambodian flag flying over the pagoda gate, while reasserting that the pagoda is on Thai territory. Thai troops also erected the Thai national flag in the disputed area in response.
Mr Kasit said he would visit the two yellow-shirt Thai activists, Veera Somkwankid and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, who were sentenced by a Cambodian court to eight and six years in jail repectively for espionage, and discuss with them what further help can be provided by the government.
In a related development, the legal team of the Thai Patriots Network (TPN) will meet on Tuesday to discuss ways of helping Mr Veera and Ms Ratree then file an appeal on Feb 11 against the court verdict.
Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a TPN core member, said both Mr Veera and Ms Ratree were both insistent that they were not arrested on Cambodian soil, but the Foreign Ministry wanted them to accept the court's ruling that they were guilty as charged.
Karun Saingam, who is a member of the legal team, said the appeal would be submitted to the court on Feb 11 along with a bail request. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) should begin talks with the government to promote understanding, instead of only mounting attacks, concerning the Cambodian issues.
Mr Abhisit said if the government and the PAD could exchange opinions and help to each other, he believed it would be much easier to settle the ongoing disputes with Cambodia.
The prime minister said while the PAD was putting pressure on the government, Cambodia had sent a letter to the World Heritage Committee asking it not to allow Thailand host a World Heritage Committee meeting, because people in Thailand had called for the government to withdraw from the World Heritage Committee.
"If we join forces, it would be easier to for us to deal with Cambodia," Mr Abhisit said.
"Cambodia has taken the opportunity given by our internal discord to tell the World Heritage Committee that Thailand should not be allowed to host next year's meeting of the committee, reasoning that the Thai people want the government to withdraw from it.
"An abrupt withdrawal from the committee would not be good for our efforts to protect our interests," Mr Abhisit said.
The prime minister insisted it is necessary for the government to continue its membership of the World Heritage Committee. Thailand should not admit defeat or make an abrupt withdrawal from the committee, he added.
Mr Abhisit said the government's attempts to reach an understanding with the PAD were going in a favourable direction, but declined not to go in details.
On the PAD's planned rally on Saturday, the prime minister said everyone should bear in mind that if the situation developed in an unfavourable way it would not be good for the country.
He reaffirmed that the PAD protesters would not be allow to intrude into the Government House compound.Pol Maj-Gen Wichai Sangprapai, commander of the Metropolian Police Division 1, said 17 companies of police will be assigned to control Saturday's planned mass rally by the PAD.
More checkpoints will be set up along routes leading to the protest site on Ratchadamnoen Nok avenue. He had talked with PAD leaders, who said the protesters would not leave to site and move to somewhere else on Saturday.
Fighting was continuing, the source said. Heavy weapon rounds had landed on the Thai side of the border. Lt-Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, 2nd Army commander, said it was Cambodian troops who started the shooting.Many artillery shells landed at Huay Thip village in tambon Rung of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, north of the Preah Vihear temple and about 1km from Phu Makhua mountain, which is part of the disputed area.
Two or three Thai soldiers were reported wounded. TNN TV news carried a live report from a villager in the area, who said at 50 year old man had been killed and others hurt by artillery shells which land in his village, well inside Thai territory.
Casualties on the Cambodian side were not known.From Phnom Penh, AFP reported:
Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed near a disputed temple on the two countries' shared border, officials from both nations told AFP, amid increasing tensions between them.
"A clash is ongoing", said Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith without elaborating.
A Cambodian soldier stationed near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which is claimed by both sides, told AFP by telephone fighting had broken out. Gunfire could be heard in the background. Reports said artillery was being used, but it was not clear by which side, or whether both were doing so.
A Thai army official at the border also confirmed the skirmish, which follows reports of a military buildup on both sides of the border in recent days.
He said fighting broke out at 3.10pm local time (0810 GMT) at Phu Makuea, near the 11th-century temple.
"The fighting is still going on," the official said. "We don't have any details or casualties yet." Residents in nine villages along the Thai side of the frontier have been asked to take shelter or leave the area, said a senior district official at Kantharalak in the border province of Si Sa Ket.
"I can still hear artillery shelling but don't know from which side," he said.
The border clash occurred not long after Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in Siem Riep on Friday morning that Thailand and Cambodia have reached agreement not to blow up the dispute over the national flags put up in their disputed border area near Pheah Vihear temple.
The announcement followed talks between Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the sidelines of Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission (JC) meeting on Friday.
Mr Kasit said afterwards they have agreed not to blow up the dispute over the flags and not to incite their people into hatred for each other.
In addition, the two countries would continue efforts to ease border tension by continuing demarcation negotiations through the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC).
Thailand earlier demanded that Cambodia remove both the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda and the Cambodian flag flying over the pagoda gate, while reasserting that the pagoda is on Thai territory. Thai troops also erected the Thai national flag in the disputed area in response.
Mr Kasit said he would visit the two yellow-shirt Thai activists, Veera Somkwankid and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, who were sentenced by a Cambodian court to eight and six years in jail repectively for espionage, and discuss with them what further help can be provided by the government.
In a related development, the legal team of the Thai Patriots Network (TPN) will meet on Tuesday to discuss ways of helping Mr Veera and Ms Ratree then file an appeal on Feb 11 against the court verdict.
Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a TPN core member, said both Mr Veera and Ms Ratree were both insistent that they were not arrested on Cambodian soil, but the Foreign Ministry wanted them to accept the court's ruling that they were guilty as charged.
Karun Saingam, who is a member of the legal team, said the appeal would be submitted to the court on Feb 11 along with a bail request. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) should begin talks with the government to promote understanding, instead of only mounting attacks, concerning the Cambodian issues.
Mr Abhisit said if the government and the PAD could exchange opinions and help to each other, he believed it would be much easier to settle the ongoing disputes with Cambodia.
The prime minister said while the PAD was putting pressure on the government, Cambodia had sent a letter to the World Heritage Committee asking it not to allow Thailand host a World Heritage Committee meeting, because people in Thailand had called for the government to withdraw from the World Heritage Committee.
"If we join forces, it would be easier to for us to deal with Cambodia," Mr Abhisit said.
"Cambodia has taken the opportunity given by our internal discord to tell the World Heritage Committee that Thailand should not be allowed to host next year's meeting of the committee, reasoning that the Thai people want the government to withdraw from it.
"An abrupt withdrawal from the committee would not be good for our efforts to protect our interests," Mr Abhisit said.
The prime minister insisted it is necessary for the government to continue its membership of the World Heritage Committee. Thailand should not admit defeat or make an abrupt withdrawal from the committee, he added.
Mr Abhisit said the government's attempts to reach an understanding with the PAD were going in a favourable direction, but declined not to go in details.
On the PAD's planned rally on Saturday, the prime minister said everyone should bear in mind that if the situation developed in an unfavourable way it would not be good for the country.
He reaffirmed that the PAD protesters would not be allow to intrude into the Government House compound.Pol Maj-Gen Wichai Sangprapai, commander of the Metropolian Police Division 1, said 17 companies of police will be assigned to control Saturday's planned mass rally by the PAD.
More checkpoints will be set up along routes leading to the protest site on Ratchadamnoen Nok avenue. He had talked with PAD leaders, who said the protesters would not leave to site and move to somewhere else on Saturday.
Villlager killed in cross-border fire
04/02/2011
A villager in the border village was killed when artillery rounds landed on a village during an exchange of fire between Thai and Cambodian border on Friday afternoon. Boonruan Pongsapan, the principal of Phum Srol School in tambon Sao Thong Chai of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, said the artillery fire damaged the front fence of the school and caused two big craters. Four houses in the village caught fire. The villagers were urgently evacuated.A villager was killed in the cross-border fire, Mr Boonruan said. The clash between Thai and Cambodian border began shortly after 3pm.
A villager in the border village was killed when artillery rounds landed on a village during an exchange of fire between Thai and Cambodian border on Friday afternoon. Boonruan Pongsapan, the principal of Phum Srol School in tambon Sao Thong Chai of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, said the artillery fire damaged the front fence of the school and caused two big craters. Four houses in the village caught fire. The villagers were urgently evacuated.A villager was killed in the cross-border fire, Mr Boonruan said. The clash between Thai and Cambodian border began shortly after 3pm.
Thai and Cambodian troops clash
04/02/20
Thai and Cambodian troops clash
Thai and Cambodian troop patrols clashed on Friday afternoon on the border near the disputed 4.6 square kilometre area near Preah Vihear, an informed military source said.Details of the clash and whether there were any casualties were not yet available.The incident took place while Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is in Cambodia for the Joint Commission meeting.
Thai and Cambodian troops clash
Thai and Cambodian troop patrols clashed on Friday afternoon on the border near the disputed 4.6 square kilometre area near Preah Vihear, an informed military source said.Details of the clash and whether there were any casualties were not yet available.The incident took place while Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is in Cambodia for the Joint Commission meeting.
Student paid $1,170 in 'fees' for fake job
Friday, 04 February 2011
Phnom Penh military police arrested a 33-year-old man yesterday for allegedly deceiving a student to pay more than US$1,000 to secure a job with the Cambodian Red Cross.
Chan Heng, chief of the intelligence bureau for the municipal military police, said Hout Ly Heang, who is a construction worker in Phnom Penh, had pretended to be a CRC staffer in charge of recruiting new employees.
Prum Sotheary, a 24-year-old student at the Royal University of Law and Economics, paid Hout Ly Heng a total of $1,170 over 10 separate occasions before catching wind of the scam, Chan Heng said.
Hout Ly Heang reportedly told the fourth-year student that the CRC required “fees” to cover her application, work attire, a health check, a form for the Ministry of Interior and CRC accounting.
“The last time, the suspect told her that the International CRC needs $500 more, so she started to doubt him and thought he was deceiving her and she filed a complaint to the military police,” Chan Heng said.
Men Neary Sopheak, deputy secretary general of the CRC, said the humanitarian organisation requires no such fees.
“It is completely a case of deception,” she said, adding that such incidents could make residents “lose confidence” in the organisation’s work.
Phnom Penh military police arrested a 33-year-old man yesterday for allegedly deceiving a student to pay more than US$1,000 to secure a job with the Cambodian Red Cross.
Chan Heng, chief of the intelligence bureau for the municipal military police, said Hout Ly Heang, who is a construction worker in Phnom Penh, had pretended to be a CRC staffer in charge of recruiting new employees.
Prum Sotheary, a 24-year-old student at the Royal University of Law and Economics, paid Hout Ly Heng a total of $1,170 over 10 separate occasions before catching wind of the scam, Chan Heng said.
Hout Ly Heang reportedly told the fourth-year student that the CRC required “fees” to cover her application, work attire, a health check, a form for the Ministry of Interior and CRC accounting.
“The last time, the suspect told her that the International CRC needs $500 more, so she started to doubt him and thought he was deceiving her and she filed a complaint to the military police,” Chan Heng said.
Men Neary Sopheak, deputy secretary general of the CRC, said the humanitarian organisation requires no such fees.
“It is completely a case of deception,” she said, adding that such incidents could make residents “lose confidence” in the organisation’s work.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Eviction anniversary brings tears
Monday, 24 January 2011
Around 200 former residents of the city’s Dey Krahorm community gathered at the site today to mark the two year anniversary of their violent eviction from their homes.Framed by fragrant incense smoke, monks prayed and despondent villagers cried as they remembered the destruction of their homes on January 24, 2009.
On that day, dozens of families were forced from the site by police and construction workers employed by local firm 7NG.Many of the residents were taken to the Damnak Trayeung relocation site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, with little access economic opportunity and few basic services.
David Pred, executive director of Bridges Across Borders Cambodia, said some villagers who possessed titles for land at Dey Krahorm were allocated new land.While the village initially had poor services, basic infrastructure is being extended to the area.
On that day, dozens of families were forced from the site by police and construction workers employed by local firm 7NG.Many of the residents were taken to the Damnak Trayeung relocation site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, with little access economic opportunity and few basic services.
David Pred, executive director of Bridges Across Borders Cambodia, said some villagers who possessed titles for land at Dey Krahorm were allocated new land.While the village initially had poor services, basic infrastructure is being extended to the area.
if you want to read and watch photo
click here
Fire engulfs city block
Monday, 24 January 2011 22:37
At least nine houses have been destroyed by an electrical fire that engulfed an entire city block in Russey Keo district this evening according to Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth.
Police were unable to confirm any casualties or injuries from the blaze which was brought under control after it leapt across street 907 in Tuol Sangke commune and engulfed neighbouring houses.
It was the second blaze to engulf properties in Russey Keo district in the past week.
Police were unable to confirm any casualties or injuries from the blaze which was brought under control after it leapt across street 907 in Tuol Sangke commune and engulfed neighbouring houses.
It was the second blaze to engulf properties in Russey Keo district in the past week.
Embers burn from a fire that destroyed an entire city block in Russey Keo district this evening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)