Ministry Withdraws Foreigners’ Land Purchase Policy
The cabinet allowed the Interior Ministry to withdraw for reconsideration its newlydrafted regulations to let specific groups of foreigners buy land for residence.Acting government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said the drafted regulationwas aimed at attracting foreign investment and was being scrutinized by theCouncil of State when the Interior Ministry requested its withdrawal.The Interior Ministry wanted to further study the policy and gather opinions fromall parties concerned, he said.On Oct 25, the cabinet approved the draft regulation in principle. It allowedwealthy foreigners, foreign retirees, foreigners who want to work in Thailand, andforeign specialists to buy no more than one rai of land each for their residentialpurpose.The regulation required each foreigner to invest at least 40 million baht for at leastthree years. The investment was required to be in property funds, infrastructurefunds, and real estate investment trusts, for example. Thailand news
60,000 suspects related to guns and drugs rounded up in Thailand ahead of APECsummit
Thai police have taken into custody more than 60,000 suspects, on charges relatedto firearms and illegal narcotics, during a nationwide crime suppression campaign,which began on October 10th, ahead of the APEC Summit in Bangkok onNovember 18th and 19th.Police also seized 5,345 illegal firearms, 936 licensed guns, 36 war weapons, 4,342explosive items, and 37,045 rounds of ammunition of various calibers.The national police chief, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat, said Tuesday that thethe massive crackdown was part of the precautionary measures ahead of the Summit,
even though police have not received any intelligence about potential incidentsduring the event.He said that security has been beefed up at all borders, including natural bordercrossings and on routes leading to Bangkok. The Queen Sirikit NationalConvention Centre, which is the official venue of the summit, and hotels, whereleaders of foreign governments will be staying, have also been placed under tightsecurity, he said, adding that protests in these areas will be prohibited and traffic isto be restricted.The police chief also said that the metropolitan police have conducted drills formotorcade security for foreign leaders, as he assured that they are more than 80%ready for the task, with the final drill on the handling of terrorist attacks scheduledfor Friday.Of the 60,000 suspects in police custody, 10,450 of them face firearms-relatedcharges and 43,027 face drug charges. 9,255 are suspects in old cases againstwhom arrest warrants have been issued.Regarding firearms-related cases, the police chief singled out the case of“Veerayuth” (surname withheld), owner of the Charoen Airsoft 4289, whoallegedly sold BB guns as well as modified BB guns, which can be used to fire realbullets, online.He said that police have raided 209 workshops, allegedly involved in themodification of BB guns, arrested 54 suspects, seized 110 modified BB guns,11 explosive items and a large haul of ammunition.
Collected 572,602 Krathong baskets from water sources in the Loy Krathong festival Thailand news
The staff of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration collected 572,602 Krathongbaskets from water sources in the Loy Krathong festival last night, up 42% fromlast year’s amount and there was not a single Styrofoam Krathong basket collectedin seven districts.BMA spokesman said City Hall workers collected 572,602 Krathong baskets fromthe water last night, up from 403,203 baskets in the Loy Krathong festival last year.The number rose by 169,367 baskets or 42%.Of the collected Krathong baskets, 548,086 baskets, or 95.7% were made fromnatural materials and 24,516 baskets or 4.3% were made from Styrofoam.
The percentage of Krathong baskets made from biodegradable natural materialsdropped from 96.5% last year to 95.7% this year while that of Styrofoam basketsincreased from 3.5% to 4.3%.The highest number of collected Krathong baskets was 27,776 in the Klong Toeydistrict while the Prawet district saw the highest amount of Styrofoam baskets, 1,140.All collected Krathong baskets in seven districts were made from natural materials.They are Laksi, Din Daeng, Bang Rak, Sathon, Chom Thong, Bangkok Yai andThawi Watthana districts.
Thousands of glistening paper lanterns lighting up the night sky in Chiang Mai Thailand news
Thousands of glistening paper lanterns lighting up the night sky in Chiang Mai,Northern Thailand disappeared into a thick plume of smoke after a foam pagodawent up in flames in the middle of the Yi Peng Lantern Festival celebrations lastnight.Billowing smoke rose into the sky after a lantern fell on top of the flammablereplica pagoda, made out of plastic foam, causing it to set alight from the top. Thefire occurred in the province’s San Pa Tong district.Luckily, no one was reported to be injured by the fire and authorities acted quicklyto put it out.Netizens commented on the danger that the festival presents…“There are so many lanterns. All the houses in the neighborhood are made fromwood. If a house burns down, who is responsible for it?”“Dangerous for households, airplanes, and the environment.”An exodus of foreign and domestic tourists traveled to Chiang Mai to experiencethe magical atmosphere of the two festivals, which was quickly spoiled by a sea ofsmoke and plastic fumes.The eruptive fire is a stern reminder of why the Thai government is so strict aboutdisallowing the release of lanterns in and around Thailand’s airports. Before thefestival yesterday, a government spokesperson made a statement reminding thea public that flying lanterns in Thailand’s airspaces is punishable by the deathpenalty.The Yi Peng Lantern Festival has garnered criticism over the years as beingdangerous, with thousands of people releasing lanterns into the sky at the sametime, sometimes getting caught in communication cables and often starting fires. Thailand news
Teen boasts he escaped murder charge because his family is rich Thailand news
An 18-year-old allegedly boasted on social media that he escaped being chargedwith the murder of a 14-year-old boy because his family is rich and powerful.Thai social media is outraged that 18-year-old Dome killed 14-year-old Fluck andbragged about it on Twitter. Netizens are furious after seeing the trending hashtagon Thai Twitter: “18-year-old kills 14-year-old”.The death of Fluck occurred on November 3, at 12.20 pm at the young boy’s housein Saen Sook village in the Meung district in the central province of Rayong.Fluck’s family informed Channel 3 reporters that Dome and another teenagervisited Fluck’s house to talk outside his home.Fluck refused to go outside and talk to Dome which made him angry so he enteredthe victim’s home and attacked him, using some broken electric wire to whipFluck’s head.Fluck’s family tried to separate the two but, in the melee, Fluck fell to the floor andhad a seizure.Fluck was sent to the hospital immediately for treatment but the teenage boy later diedafter four days of treatment. The hospital recorded the cause of death as an acutesubdural hemorrhage.Dome was arrested after the incident but was later bailed for 20,000 baht.Thai netizens are angry because Dome posted several messages on Facebookshowing no remorse, saying that he did not care about the law. He also postedpictures and videos of himself at a party and attending a Loy Krathong event withfriends after he was bailed.A voice recording of Dome talking to a friend allegedly admitting that he was aa drug dealer and had money released on Thai social media by an unidentifiedperson.In the recording Dome said his family was rich and would support him in everyway. He also added that he would only give 2,000 baht to Fluke’s family for hisdeath.
Khaosod reported that Dome’s family insisted that they did not bail him out,adding their son did not post anything on social media because he was in the policecustody.The family also said that they did not interfere in the police work process and thatDome was bailed out on the court’s decision.Under Section 290, manslaughter, in Thai law, whoever causes death to anotherperson by inflicting injury upon the body of a such person without intent to causedeath shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.It appears Dome has not been prosecuted according to Thai law for his part in thedeath of another teenage boy and remains free. Thailand news
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