Crackdown on illegal passenger van

BANGKOK : --  Thai soldiers, police and transport officials started a joint drive against illegal passenger van service in the capital for the first day Monday with the round-up of   20 illegal passenger vans operating without proper registrations.

 Victory Monument has been inspected by combined force.

It was reported that more than 20  vans were stopped and their drivers fined for not registering their vehicles properly for public transport service.

The National Council for Peace and Order to legalize all illegal van service and rid of mafia giving protection to the illegal van services.

Each of them was fined 2,000 baht in violation of the Motor Vehicle Act 1979.

More inspection will be conducted at nine  locations in the capital this month to bring an end to illegal van service.

They include Nual Chan Si 16, Sihaburanakij on Happy Land,  Tawana, Yaek Bang Na, Silom, Pata Pinklao, Yaek Pothong, Rama 2, and Central Phraram 2.

During the past two days 5,000 vans have registered for passenger service transport with the department.

Reconciliation Among Thais

BANGKOK : -- The National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO)  host  activities in Bangkok while in the provinces  the Interior ministry will be host as  means, of reconciliation among Thais and returning  happiness to the people started  Tuesday across the country. 

In Bangkok, 99 Buddhist monks received food and alms from government officials led by the NCPO representative Gen Surasak Kanchanarat, the defense permanent-secretary.


The reconciliation fair at Sanam Luang  features musical concerts by the armed forces and the police bands,  exhibitions of state enterprises and government agencies, food and low-priced goods sales and exhibitions.

And in the provinces, reconciliation activities are held at provincial town halls with governors presiding over the opening  ceremonies.

The reconciliation fair include a redshirt leader Veerakarn Musikapong. But representative of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee did not take part, though was invited by the military junta.

Thaksin wants celebration among family members

BANGKOK :  -- Thai  ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra has solicit former  members of the Pheu Thai party and  redshirt leaders not to attend to his birthday celebration on July 26 in Paris but would like only a few family members to join. 

Ms Yingluck Shinawatra has seek  permission from the National Council for peace and Order  to leave for France with her son on July 23. She planned to visit five European countries after joining her brother’s 65th birthday anniversary in Paris.

The Pheu Thai party saying that Thaksin wanted his birthday celebration to be a quiet family gathering, as he did not want them to come under the watchful eyes of the military. 

Reporter says, his sister Yaowapa Wongsawat, Yingluck and former wife Khunying Pojamarn Damaphong will join the celebration.

Thai police to be reformed

THAILAND : -  Bangkok Poll have wanted the police force to be reformed, Over 90 percent of the people polled against Thai police and 34.8 percent of them have identified corruption as the top priority problem that they would like the new national police chief to tackle. 

The poll was conducted by Bangkok University which sampled 1, 239 people across the country.

If  asked about police restructure to prevent political interference, 88.9 percent said they agreed with this reform while 11.1 percent disagreed.

When asked if  they would prefer the police to be answerable to each respective provincial governor, 64.5 percent said they agreed with the idea while 35.5 percent disagreed.

And when asked what is the problem they most want the police to tackle, 34.8 percent identified police corruption and 26.1 percent said public safety problem and 20 percent identified illicit drugs.

Spider bitten may cause lose his leg

PHRAE : -- In Phrae province a Thai  man identified as Uthai Wiangkham,  was bitten by a poisonous spider might have his leg amputated to prevent further damages to other body organs from the poison. 

Uthai Wiangkham, is now being treated in the intensive care unit at the Phrae General Hospital.

The Siriraj medical team has revealed the findings of tests made and found that the spider was a brown tarantula and not the feared brown ‘Back Widow’ spider.


 Dr Wanchai Lohkarnjanarat Phrae General Hospital director, revealed that the patient’s condition is now stable and that the medical team had no choice but to amputate his right leg due to the extensive damage to tissue.

Siriraj General Hospital and the Chulalongkorn Faculty of Medicine released tests result which shows that the bite was from a brown tarantula and not the brown colored ‘Black Widow’ spider as originally feared.

The patient’s liver and kidney functions have also been severely impaired.

Local paralysis of organs surrounding the bite is also another symptom as the amount of venom secreted is relatively small.

Cases of spider bites are reported during the rainy season when spiders are most numerous. 

Vietnam diverts flights away from Ukrainian airspace

VIETNAM : --  National carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) on July 18 announced that it rescheduled four flights on July 17 following the crash of a Malaysian Airlines plane in Ukraine. 

Later, rescheduling was aimed at changing flight paths to avoid the area where the Malaysian Airlines plane MH17 crashed. The VNA flights which were rescheduled included the VN37 Hanoi – Frankfurt flight, VN17 Hanoi – Paris flight, VN55 Ha Noi – London flight and VN11 HCM City – Paris flight.


VietnamAirlines said that these flights left Friday morning, about three to five hours later than their scheduled time of departure.

According to reporter,  many airlines around the world have announced that they are going to divert flights away from the Ukrainian airspace. These airlines include Russia’s Aeroflot, UTair and Transaero; Germany’s Lufthansa; Belarus’s Belavia; Eva Air; Korean Air Lines; Asiana Airlines; and the Swedish SCA.

Flight MH17 crashed in east Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Phuket beaches strong waves and winds

PHUKET : --     Yesterday  strong and high waves pounding the beaches of Phuket province Saturday, making provincial authorities to consider declaring several beaches as disaster areas.

Somkiat Sangksosuthirak Phuket deputy governor said the strong waves have battered the shores causing damages to at least four beaches.

He added, authorities were  to declare four beaches as disaster zones so that local administration would be empowered to draw its own budget to restore the beaches on urgency basis.

Thai  Meteorological Department issued its latest warning late Saturday saying the typhoon has weakened into tropical storm as it landed on the northern part of Vietnamese shore with its centre  at 125 kilometres  northeast of Hanoi.

As the storm was moving northwesterly at about 20 kilometres an hour.

It was reported that the typhoon passed, strong and high waves of 2-4 metres are expected in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand and small bots are advised not to leave shores during the period.