The Nation (Thailand) articles from July 2006, page 5

The Nation (Thailand) archives from July 2006

Govt urged to look at nuclear power again.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Office of Atomic Energy for Peace (OAEP) yesterday suggested the government dust off the proposal to construct a nuclear power plant, after leaving it on the shelf for decades ...

Hmong man slain as 'war on drugs' resumes.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. A special police squad shot dead a Hmong man on Bangkok's Henri Dunant Road late on Wednesday night in the first reported killing in the government's latest drugs crackdown. ...

Embezzlement charge denied.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Circuit Electronic, Thai Wire: Execs' hands are clean Two listed companies denied in statements to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday that their directors and executives were...

Condition of tarmac again raises fears.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Only one landing strip is 'grooved' for safety, as asphalt is poor and chips easily When Qantas flight 1 touched down at Don Muang airport on September 23, 1999, visibility was...

Minimum-wage hike gets approval.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Labour Ministry yesterday announ-ced a rise in the minimum wage for blue-collar workers amid speculation the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party had a hidden agenda in the lead-up to the...

Stocks rally in line with regional markets.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Thai shares rallied at 1.3 per cent overnight on relieved concerns after a comment made by US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke sparked hopes for a pause in the Fed rate hike. Bernanke's...

Seripisut set loose on fire-fighting equipment scandal.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Interior Ministry yesterday assigned police inspector-general Seripisut Temiyavej to head a fact-finding committee to dig deeper into the scandal-plagued Bt6.68-billion deal ...

King's surgery successful.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Kingdom rejoices following a day of anxiety over His Majesty's operation Thais across the country rejoiced after the Bureau of the Royal Household late last night announced that...

FTI airs concerns on private sector compettitiveness.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The private sector remains a concern for Thailand's economic outlook, despite expectation that interest rates have nearly reached their peak and foreign-exchange rates will be stable...

Boonsak faces the cream.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. [BADMINTON] The presence of four of the top five players in the world will undoubtedly prove a difficult barrier to surmount for local hope Boonsak Ponsana in the US$80,000 (Bt3...

Sonthi's Army shuffle may keep political crisis from boiling over into a coup.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Re: "Sonthi stuns by shifting PM's allies", News, July 20. As the old saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, there have been plenty of signs of smoke recently since...

NRC report needs a govt worthy of it.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. A valuable set of recommendations on the deep South remains shelved as PM focuses on his own political survival The problem with the current caretaker Thaksin government is that...

PM outflanked ahead of annual military reshuffle.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The routine Army order to transfer 129 battalion-level commanders signals the start of a power play between professional soldiers and caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. ...

Arrests spark backlash in Rusoh.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. More than 50 villagers surrounded Rusoh District Police Station in the southernmost province of Narathiwat yesterday, demanding police release four suspects detained earlier in the day...

Reaping the rewards of local research efforts.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Ex-academic works with universities in developing her company's products Eyeing the potential in local research for biotechnology businesses, Panvipa Krisdaphong, a pharmaceutical...

RFID starts to boost front-office systems.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an emerging technology in Thailand and a number of private and government sector groups, as well as Nu Skin Enterprises, are taking it on board...

Help for the visually impaired.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Three students at Chulalongkorn University have succeeded in developing a Web browser for the visually impaired that will allow them to access information over the Internet. The...

Spend 1-2% on education, Patten says.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Lord Christopher Patten, the visiting chancellor from Oxford and Newcastle universities, suggested yesterday that developing countries should spend 1.5-2 per cent of their GDP on...

PM shines at the temple of riches.
July 21, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Thaksin uses taxpayers' money to blast 'sore losers' at event held to honour the King The government-organised event in honour of His Majesty the King at Dhammakaya Temple in...

Don't blame the Israelis for trying to defend themselves in a war they did not start.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Recent letters lay blame on Israel for the attacks on Lebanon. I would ask their writers: "Just who attacked whom in 1967 and started this whole problem"' It sure wasn't Israel. ...

Top seed Nudnida cruises.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Top seed Nudnida Luangnam sailed through to the next round, but second-seeded Thassha Vitayaviroj crashed out in the first round of the rain-interrupted US$10,000 (US$380,000) PTT...

MPC keeps key rate at 5 per cent.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. No surprise, but first time in 15 months borrowing costs haven't risen The Bank of Thailand's policy rate remains unchanged at 5 per cent following a meeting of its Monetary...

Banks' Q2 profits hit by tax, higher interest charges.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Second-quarter results for Thai banks declined as the market had expected, due mainly to tax burdens and increasing interest expenses after recent rate hikes. Siam City Bank...

Thai Life adopts new strategy.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. In a bid to boost revenue as Thais become more cautious about their finances, Thai Life Insurance has adopted a new "work-site marketing" strategy that includes the promotion of...

Japanese investors lose confidence.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Jetro tells Somkid Thailand now viewed in same league as Philippines, Indonesia Japanese investors recently downgraded Thailand in terms of investment confidence, placing it in...

Oil prices may keep falling, experts say.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Energy experts have been soothed by two days of declining petrol prices and say it is possible they could fall to the level they were at before Israel attacked Lebanon, but they warn...

GPF buys office towers for Bt3 bn.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Government Pension Fund (GPF) has bought Diethelm Towers on Bangkok's Wireless Road for nearly Bt3 billion, saying that investing in property assets can still generate good...

Tang Hua Seng changes tack.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Tang Hua Seng Department Co Ltd will make a foray into village communities when it soon launches its new retail miniature supermarkets. The department store yesterday proclaimed...

Embezzlement alleged at Cirkit.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed criminal complaints with the Department of Special Investigation against five executives of Circuit Electronic Industry Plc...

Virabongsa urges stimulus measures.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Export-Import Bank of Thailand chairman Virabongsa Ramangura yesterday called for economic ministries, the central bank and his bank to work out immediate measures to boost the economy...

Round-up of alleged land scammers 'could hurt image'.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The governor of Surat Thani expressed concern yesterday that a round-up of foreigners allegedly involved in land scams on Koh Samui may affect the province's business image. Three...

Fund offers discounts for poor.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The nine million contributors to the Social Security Fund will be offered substantial savings on a range of products, including natural gas for their cars, from next month. The...

O-Net exams to be held in late February.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The National Institute of Education Testing Service (Niets) decided yesterday to hold the O-Net exam on February 24 and 25 next year. This means the O-Net (Ordinary National...

Thai kids rank 'below average' on world IQ ranking.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Thai children, between 87 and 88 points, remains in the "low average" category when ranked internationally, Vice Minister for Education...

BMA driver is jailed for deaths of two tourists.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The driver of a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) tractor that ran over and killed two foreign tourists was jailed yesterday pending further investigation. Norwegian Hanne...

Exports remain strong.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Despite the baht's rise and sky-high oil prices, overseas shipments increase 18 per cent in June Thailand's exports grew to more than US$10 billion (Bt382 billion) last month, an...

Breathing space for the economy.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Bank of Thailand was correct to leave interest rates unchanged, as inflationary pressures have eased With consumer confidence hitting new lows and private investment...

SCG joins The Nation's education partnership.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. SCG Paper Co Ltd has joined The Nation's "Partnership in Education" programme, to give hundreds of Thai university students daily access to English-language news. The paper and...

LG consolidates to reduce costs, become nimbler.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Company is banking on its front-loading washing machines to help it clean up LG Electronics (Thailand) Co Ltd, a South Korea-based consumer electronics manufacturer, merged with...

Sammitr plans to establish CNG subsidiary.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Sammitr Motor Group this year plans to set up a new subsidiary to produce engine retrofits for compressed natural gas (CNG). "The CNG market in Thailand is growing rapidly due...

Samart expecting to 'reap' Bt70m.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Samart Multimedia, renamed from Samart Info Media, expects its marketing blitz this year to boost revenues from its mobile content business to Bt600 million, from Bt530 million last...

Siam Winery expands.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Siam Winery Trading Plus Co Ltd, the local producer of Monsoon Valley Wines, Spy Wine Cooler and Sabai Wine, hopes to become the biggest wine-maker in Asia by 2012. Daniel...

Thai AirAsia to fly to Rangoon.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Thai AirAsia will next month begin daily flights between Bangkok and Rangoon as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia. Chief executive Tasapon Bijleveld said the Burmese...

park-and-ride scheme.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Future Park to provide key link The Energy Ministry is working on a new park-and-ride scheme to link Future Park Rangsit with Bangkok's mass-transit system. Viraphol...

Local rugby sevens gets a big boost.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Thai Rugby Union (TRU) will join forces with UBC to stage seven-a-side rugby events to find new talent for the national team, which is preparing for the Asian Games in December....

Democrats blast OAG over slow investigation.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Kiat says confessions in US document indicate official may have taken money The Democrat Party yesterday criticised the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) for failing to get to...

PM calls for top reshuffle lists.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday in an unprecedented move told key ministers in the caretaker Cabinet to list up senior officials recommended for transfer in September's...

UN concern at emergency decree abuse.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The United Nations yesterday called on Thailand to repeal provisions of the controversial emergency decree for the deep South that violate international covenants on human rights. ...

Thai worker hurt, more flee from violence in Gaza.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. A Thai worker in southern Israel was slightly injured by a rocket fired from Gaza on Tuesday, while 74 workers were evacuated from the conflict zone in the northern border area near...

Burma pressed again.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Asean will next week make another attempt to push Burma towards democracy and national reconciliation. Foreign ministers of the 10 member states will gather in Kuala Lumpur for...

iTV case could lead to criminal charges.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The government panel investigating iTV Plc's concession contract will question those believed to be responsible for an alleged change to the contract that was not approved by Cabinet....

procurement scandal.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Probe local firm's role: Alongkorn Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Polabutr yesterday asked caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak to investigate a local firm that...

Suphan Buri given 'emergency' status.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Local livestock office considers province at risk of becoming centre for epidemic Suphan Buri, one of the areas worst hit by avian-flu outbreaks, was finally declared an...

Bamiyan and beyond - a Thai monk's view.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Phra Maha Daosiam Vajirapanyo shares his deep concern for the fate of Afghanistan's Buddhist relics and sites in a pocketbook based on his 2003 article published by Mahachulalongkorn...

Melanee's home.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Dear Khun Melanee, I'm taking advantage of your column to talk about some of the pet peeves I have about the city's mass transit system, to wit, the Skytrain and the Underground....

laughter and tears.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Thai movie industry celebrates six months of profits in the theatres, but outside, copyright violations creep up It's been an exciting six months for the local...

Bangkokians split on Thaksin; poll gives PM good marks for decisiveness but not honesty.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. In a poll of Bangkok voters, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra scored only 5.6 out of a maximum rating of 10 for his overall performance. Foresight was seen as his forte...

Anand slams PM.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Former National Reconciliation Commission head Anand Panyarachun lashed out yesterday at Thaksin Shinawatra's caretaker government for "having no clear national agenda, except for its...

Opus Fund sees earnings opportunity in IEC.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The Opus Thailand Opportunity Fund expects to earn at least 30 per cent from investing in a local listed information technology company late this year. Bee Taechaubol, owner of...

Sweet times ahead for sugar industry.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The sugar industry should enjoy better times next year, as it is expecting between 60 million and 65 million tonnes of cane from farmers this fiscal year, compared with only 48 million...

Sonthi stuns by shifting PM's allies.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Army chief sidelines officers close to premier; rifts likely to widen further in armed forces Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin caught many by surprise after it was made...

Flying on a wing and a prayer.
July 20, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. As the test flights on July 29 draw near, all agencies involved with the opening of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport have been meeting on a daily basis. Obviously, they want...

Arvudh out to make a splash.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. [SWIMMING] Thailand's Arvudh Chinanapasaen, a SEA Games 50-metre freestyle gold medallist, is ready to compete against the continent's best in December's Asian Games in Qatar. ...

Wilawan pulls off big upset.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. [TENNIS] Third-seed Wilawan Choptang caused a major upset in the US$10,000 (Bt380,000) PTT Bangkok Open circuit 1 event yesterday when she eliminated Filipina and third seed...

A win at last for Danai in the US.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Thai men's No 2 Danai Udomchoke made it past the first round for the first time in a month when he defeated Tomas Cakl of the Czech Republic in the US$600,000 RCA Championships in...

BOT unlikely to hike repo rate.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee is expected to maintain the policy interest rate when it meets today, as inflation appears to be under control and economic growth is...

Thai Heat closing in on Burapa Steel deal.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Thai Heat Exchange Plc expects to reach an agreement on the buy-out of Burapa Steel Industries within this quarter. Its director Chamni Janchai said the company would take a...

Companies predict decline in auto financing.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Lower purchasing power caused by booming oil prices, climbing interest rates and a slowdown in auto sales will likely reduce car-financing activity this year. Kasikorn Leasing Ltd...

Corporate debenture registrations jump this year.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Corporate debentures registered in the first half of this year was Bt390.97 billion compared to Bt135.44 billion for the whole of 2005 - thanks to a new regulation. Since January...

Key ministers have exit plan.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. 'Prominent people' have told Somkid, others, to ditch Thaksin, but they say they have to wait for right time: sources Key Cabinet members of the caretaker government are waiting...

Thai Rak Thai crowd protests over court official's remarks.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Supreme Court secretary-general says vote-buying comments were not aimed at ruling party specifically About 100 Thai Rak Thai supporters protested in front of the Supreme Court...

4 held after raids target shops with rare shawls.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Police arrested two Indian "smugglers" and seized a large number of expensive shahtoosh shawls - made from the highly endangered Tibetan antelope - after simultaneous raids on fabric...

Picnic's Q1 loss soars on earnings revision.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Bottom line worse after SEC orders new financial statement from firm The first-quarter net loss of embattled Picnic Corp Plc has swelled by 114.74 per cent to Bt819.8 million,...

Firm to track radio ads.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Digital Associates' new product will collect data on music, too A broadcast monitoring technology invented by a Thai company - Digital Associates - is set to change the way music,...

Skytrain to get smart.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Millions of Skytrain riders in Bangkok will now be able to skip long queues with the introduction of a new "contactless" Smart Card, to be introduced shortly by Bangkok Mass Transit...

competitiveness.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. National standard to be developed for agricultural products in 2007 The Agriculture Ministry will implement a national standard for agricultural products next year, focusing on 20...

Banharn agrees to talk reconciliation.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will discuss how to resolve the political stalemate with Banharn Silapa-archa when the Chat Thai Party leader returns from the United States...

US nod for Tharoor at UN.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. The United States and Germany have agreed to consider supporting India's candidate Shashi Tharoor for the position of United Nations secretary-general, the United News of India (UNI)...

Group slams govt's decree for South.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. A human-rights group in the US has condemned Thailand's Emergency Decree - which was extended for another three months yesterday, on its first anniversary. The US-based Human...

Charoen in Khmer project.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Liquor tycoon Charoen Siriwadhanabhakdi has teamed up with a Cambodian millionaire to invest in a US$50-million (Bt1.9-billion) sugarcane plantation and sugar production facility in...

PM turns temple talk to politics.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Religion takes back seat as Thaksin and co appear to lobby local officials At yesterday's gathering of about 78,000 local administrative leaders held to honour His Majesty the...

mall targets the health conscious.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Siam Retail Development, an affiliate of Quality Houses and developer of the Fashion Island shopping complex on Ram-Indra Road, yesterday announced the opening of Bangkok's first...

Tourists killed by tractor.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Two foreign tourists were killed in Bangkok yesterday after being run over by a government construction tractor on a pedestrian crossing on Larnluang Road, even though they were...

iTV signs on for regional pact.
July 19, 2006... (From The Nation (Thailand)) Byline: The Nation. Broadcasters from four nations will work together to serve audience of 150 million iTV Plc, the privately owned free-television station, yesterday announced its first synergy...