BEIJING : A massive earthquake stunned southwest China yesterday, killing more than 8,000 people and flattening schools, factories and homes in a powerful tremor felt across a swathe of southeast Asia.
HEROIC ACT
BORDEAUX, FRANCE : Thai tennis twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana became off-court champions when they saved the wife and child of an Argentine player, Lucas Arnold, from a fire in their hotel yesterday. The brothers, who are in Bordeaux for a Challenger Series tournament, were in their room on the third floor of the Quality Suites hotel when the fire began.
BURMA
The United States delivered its first relief supplies to Burma yesterday, as the United Nations urged the reclusive nation to open its doors to foreign experts who could help up to two million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation.
The ban on rice farmers selling their grain across restricted zones will be lifted, to ensure they get a fair price for their harvest, Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan said yesterday. His decision was announced after more than 5,000 farmers in Chiang Rai blocked roads in protest against local mill owners they said were buying their grain at unfair, low prices.
WINE IMPORT
A nephew of Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Counter Corruption Commission, has been arrested for allegedly making false declarations of the value of imported wines and evading taxes. Ekkachai Mahakhun, managing director of Canon Pacific Co, was apprehended on Friday in a car park in Lat Phrao soi 101 in Bang Kapi district by a team of officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
SOUTHERN UNREST
PATTANI : A school in Pattani's Mayo district was set on fire on Sunday night, just hours before the new semester began yesterday. One building of Ban Krawa school was reduced to ashes in the fire which began at about 9pm on Sunday night. The detailed extent of damage was unknown so far.
WEATHER
SURAT THANI : Thirty families have been evacuated to safer ground amid fears of a major flood and possible landslides from a national park runoff in Wipawadi sub-district as heavy downpours continued to lash the province for the fourth straight day yesterday. A rain-induced run-off from Kaeng Krung national park swamped several villages, forcing rescue workers to move people to higher ground.
EDUCATION
Many major state-run schools are still charging ''additional educational expenses'' from parents despite the government's scheme to provide more funding for free education nationwide. The director of a leading state-run school in Bangkok, who asked not to be named, said the funding scheme did not stop most schools, particularly some 30,000 schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), from asking the parents of their students to pay extra school fees.
MICROCHIPS
Another animal welfare group yesterday voiced its opposition to a City Hall regulation requiring dog owners to have their pets implanted with microchips. Pimol-orn Angsawothai, of the Animal Welfare Foundation, says enforcement of the regulation had led to an increase in the number of stray dogs in the city.
POLITICS
Newly elected House Speaker Chai Chidchob yesterday promised to reconcile all political parties, despite criticism by Chart Thai party leader Banharn Silpa-archa of his ability to control meetings. Mr Chai, a People Power party MP for Buri Ram, was speaking after being elected to replace Yongyuth Tiyapairat, who resigned the speakership last month when his election fraud case was forwarded to the Constitution Court.
POLITICS
Karun Hosakul, a Bangkok MP for the People Power party, has refused to resign over an alleged assault on a member of the opposition. Mr Karun claimed there has been no firm evidence that he is guilty of the assault.
POLITICS
Many officials at the Foreign Ministry are seeking a transfer to avoid political pressure from politicians trying to access confidential information on the procurement of the scandal-tainted CTX luggage scanners. Pikulkaeo Krairirk, chairwoman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, said a complaint has been received from a senior official of the foreign ministry's secretariat.
POLITICS
Thailand may ask Unesco to again postpone its decision on the registration of the ancient ruins at Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site this year if it is unable to convince Cambodia to settle the land dispute through joint management, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.
EDITORIAL
Not much illustrates better the critical ties linking the worse security threats than the fake document trade. Twice in a fortnight now, police have broken up spectacular gangs specialising in providing fake identification, passports and visas.
CHINA
As the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown approaches, a book with the iconic image of the man in front of the tank leaps off the bookstore shelf. The Granta Book of Reportage, published in 2006 with an introduction by Ian Jack, offers up examples of Western journalism at its best.
BURMA
A US air drop of humanitarian aid to the desperate survivors in the Irrawaddy delta - with or without Burma's permission - is the only way to save lives that hang in the balance with each passing hour.
SPOTLIGHT
Shophouses that are turned into games cafes have become the new "playground" of youngsters.
SPOTLIGHT
Last month two sexual assault cases at internet cafes shocked the nation. One case involved two boys who were sexually assaulted at an internet cafe, and in the other case a girl was sexually assaulted by a group of boys after leaving an internet cafe.
In Media
Concerned about the cyclone tragedy in Burma, His Majesty the King has ordered the Rajprachanukroh Foundation to send emergency aid to the affected people. With the death toll rising, Thailand must do its utmost to help our neighbour.
PostBag
When I saw the "Open letter to the Immigration Dept" (Postbag, May 10), I thought here's another whinging farang knocking Thailand or things Thai. But not so. The writer has reason to complain, for that office in Suan Phlu is indeed a hell-hole. I personally have nothing to complain about since I am usually in and out in half an hour and the staff are very helpful.
