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Jack Hansen, badly beaten up then charged with assault on Samui

China Bombs Kill 7; Phuket Reward for 600 Staff; Bashed Aussie Charged; Russia Blasts Syria

Thursday, October 1, 2015
UPDATING All Day, Every Day

indiatimes.com India's Videocon Telecom will splurge to fly 600 staff to Phuket on October 2 for a five-day trip to reward top performers and combat attrition.

reuters Russia launched air strikes in Syria in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, plunging the four-year-old civil war into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to stake out influence in the unstable region.

Kyodo News More than a dozen parcel bombs exploded in southern China's Guangxi region, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 50 others, a day before the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap

PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.

Today's Top Stories


un.org Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Thailand's Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, commended the organisation on its recent adoption of Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and spoke on a wide-ranging topics including Thailand's bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. He also said that the ''Thai Government accords priority to solving the problem of human trafficking.''

Phuket Update New Phuket Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada, who meets the media today, was greeted by friends at the airport late yesterday. Khun Jamleran drove taxi reforms in a stint as vice governor that ended a year ago when he was moved to Nakhon Pathom province, near Bangkok. He is expected to continue urging others to make good on his words: ''Are you brave enough to change?''

japantoday.com Three city policemen in Bangkok were fired after failing to appear for questioning about their alleged role in extorting one million baht from a Japanese businessman.

The Bangkok Bombing


bangkokpost.com Foreign suspect Adem Karadag, detained for the Erawan shrine bombing in Bangkok, has confessed he carried out the August 17 attack, his lawyer said.

Human Trafficking in Thailand


khaosodenglish.com Police say they are done investigating the networks behind massive human trafficking operations in southern Thailand. Sunai Phasuk, a coordinator for Human Rights Watch in Thailand, urged the police to not drop the investigation: ''We want to see continuity.''

nationmultimedia.com ''Thailand has so many tools but the crackdown on human-trafficking rings is done without fulfilling its potential and existing capacity.''

Phuket World of People


abc.net.au A young Australian who suffered serious facial injuries when he was bashed by two Americans at a nightclub on Samui is facing assault charges - and his family believe he is being unfairly targeted. Jack Hansen-Bartel required three operations after he had teeth knocked out and his jaw bone shattered. The Americans involved, Raymond Chang and Ryan Wang, walked away unscathed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-30/young-aussie-bashed-in-thailand-faces-assault-charges/6817926

scmp.com Bombs hidden in courier parcels delivered to various locations across a county in Guangxi province exploded, killing at least seven and injuring dozens ahead of the seven-day National Day holiday.

theguardian.com Russia launched its first round of air strikes in Syria, hitting eight sites that it claimed were Islamic State targets only hours after president Vladimir Putin's request to use military force was unanimously approved by parliament.

Phuket Update A tour bus being taken for a test drive after repairs was struck by a minivan while making a u-turn in Pak Lok, eastern Phuket, according to Phuket police. The minivan driver may face reckless driving charges.

bangkokpost.com The Spring Wave 2015 Music Festival, which was to have been held on October 10 in Singapore, has been cancelled in light of the ''worsening and persistent haze situation''.

theintercept.com Joining the Twitterverse establishes whistleblower Edward Snowden even more firmly as a major figure in the public discourse about surveillance and privacy that he jump-started in June 2013. Within four hours, Snowden had gained more than half a million followers.

bangkokpost.com The Bangkok city governor wants a ban on sales of new cars unless every buyer can prove they own a parking place for it.

nytimes.com Investing at record levels, owners of hotels across the US are doing everything from rewiring their rooms and buying smart TVs, to replacing bathtubs with more easily maintained walk-in showers.

news24.com It is suggested that you visit Thailand at least five times in your lifetime. As a backpacker, for your honeymoon, with the kids, to celebrate a milestone anniversary and then finally for the ultimate multi-generational holiday.

Around the Region


straitstimes.com A publicity stunt for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III first person shooting has come under fire, after its official Twitter account started spreading fake news about a terrorist attack in Singapore.

Phuket World of Sport


bbc.com Manchester United are ''suffering'' after six matches in 18 days, said manager Louis van Gaal after his side's 2-1 Champions League win over Wolfsburg.

Coming Events on Phuket 2015


October 15-23 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

November Patong Festival

November 20 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 25 Loy Kratong festival

November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015

November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies

Coming Events on Phuket 2016


January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show

Comments

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The Bangkok city governor wants a ban on sales of new cars unless every buyer can prove they own a parking place for it.

Of course, you should be rich to own a car. Don't want poor people owning them, that's a disgrace!

Posted by Tbs on October 1, 2015 09:46

Editor Comment:

No, it's a sensible move to keep the laneways clear. When they say ''own'' a parking spot I suspect renting one will be enough. But the same kind of policy is already needed in parts of Phuket, where cars are replacing motorcycles and streets are clogging up with parked vehicles.

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Requiring parking space has failed in many cities because it's impossible to verify and enforce. Occupiers of small land plots would certify 'the right to park' for hundreds of car owners. Isn't there anyone in BMA who reads technical literature on traffic management?

Posted by jonas on October 1, 2015 11:41

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@ Editor, I presume you are saying that in Patong/Karon/Kata are to many limousines and tuk tuk parked? Because of that I never can park my car in these areas. You hardly see there private cars parked.

Phuket authorities don't have that worry.
Try to park, the tuk tuk and limousine people make you aggressively clear to move away, otherwise scratches in the paint or a flat tire.

Posted by Kurt on October 1, 2015 12:09

Editor Comment:

No, that's another issue, Kurt.

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Jack's Mum should have foreseen that the 800,000 baht she was offered and refused would be gleefully accepted by others willing and able to subvert justice. That's what obviously happened. Only in Thailand can such an obvious victim be turned into the perpetrator.

Posted by Arun Muruga on October 1, 2015 13:58

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tbs

Demanding a parking space is definitely the way to go. This is how it's done i Tokyo for example. Car ownership is not some sort of human right, especially not in one of the most traffic clogged cities in the world, like Bangkok

Posted by christian on October 1, 2015 14:34

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Mmm, let me think, obviously something the Bangkok gov can't do, I'd simply buy a car outside Bangkok, he also forgets, in this most un-law abiding country, that no one will respect others peoples owned/rented parking space, much like the tuk tuk/taxis ignore no parking/public parking zones.

Posted by Laurie Howells on October 1, 2015 16:01

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Would have been a nice gesture, if the new governor had to use a taxi from the airport to go to his mansion. But his hybrid car is also a good choice.

Posted by Lena on October 1, 2015 16:14

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Re Hansen - Bartel case. So sad to see a case like this undoing, in my eyes , a lot of the recent credibility the Thai Justice system had gained thru the Phuketwan and Andy Hall verdicts.

Posted by spud.67 on October 1, 2015 16:32

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Back home where I come from every new apartment or business building is required to provide a certain amount of parking space to residents or customers.

Over here the Tesco community malls are a good example of how it's done right.

Most Supercheap shops with customers blocking one or sometimes even 2 lanes because no parking space is provided are a prime example of the opposite.

The new rule is a good proposal, in theory, but as is often the case with even the best of laws, when it comes to enforcement it all falls apart.

How are they going to control and check that the same spot is not claimed by multiple users or that the spot even exists ?

Furthermore who has the right to claim a certain public parking spot "theirs" ?

Posted by Herbert on October 1, 2015 16:44

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Laurie Howells

That's again quite easy to control. What cities around the world do is block the tollways, bridges and busy roads for non-city registered cars, with heavy fines for rule breakers. Or ban the registering of non-bkk cars for bkk residents etc etc. There are many ways for cities to handle this, as can be seen in Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing among others

Posted by christian on October 1, 2015 18:04

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Herbert

It's not about claiming public parking spaces for yourself, the public spaces will remain just that, public. It's about demanding that you own or long term rent a private parking space somewhere else, in a parking garage/building or equivalent. A place built specifically for parking cars. Instead of a developer building a condominium structure for example he/she can choose to build a parking building and selling parking spaces rather than apartments. I really don't understand why people here talk as if something unique and unfathomable is being proposed, this has been done for a loooong time all over the world already. It's very "doable" and not that complicated.

Posted by christian on October 1, 2015 18:28

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@ Christian

In Thailand almost all cars bought on finance are registered in BKK because that's where most financial institutions have their head offices.

There is also no legal time limit/sanctions for transfer of ownership. Back home I have 7 days to do so or the registration will expire.

It's not uncommon to find vehicles for sale in Thailand where a owner of many years never bothered to register the car in his name.

The opposite is Germany where you need to change your license plates every time you move to a new "Bezirk" i.e. county. The first 1 to 3 letters on the license plate will identify where the owner or holder has his/her registered address.

IMO it's a hugely wasteful bureaucratic process that should be abolished.

Posted by Herbert on October 1, 2015 19:02

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@ Christian

Sure I understand what you say but had you paid attention to my comment, you would have noticed I cite this rule being applied in my country.

However since developers in Thailand are NOT required to provide such parking spaces, where are all those private parking spaces suddenly supposed to come from ?

You cannot instantaneously create hundreds of thousands of private parking spaces in the middle of a congested city. It takes time and space. The proposal does not allocate time and space is in very short supply in BKK. Besides no amount of time given would create more space anyway, unless you start tearing down existing buildings.

You are putting the cart in front of the oxen. Can't demand the public to acquire something that is not available in anywhere near sufficient numbers.

There are countless examples of things that work well in the developed nations but fail miserably in the developing ones.

BKK is not Tokyo and Thai people do not have the mindset and foresight of the Japanese.

Posted by Herbert on October 1, 2015 19:13

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@Christian, you seem to have similar thought processes as the Bangkok governor, I can see it now, cars, on the tollways, bridges and busy roads for non-city registered cars, being stop, yep, I'm sure your idea would work. Christian, I have a question, do you actually live in Thailand? Your comment would indicate you don't, in more law abiding nations your ideas might work, but this is Thailand. Please, don't come back with "if laws were enforced etc" we know they aren't and "tea" money gives you a "pass".

Posted by Laurie Howells on October 1, 2015 19:56

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This is for Bangkok correct, well don't you people in Phuket have a life! Leave the decisions for people in the region you are about 700kms away. Sad or what.

Posted by I am pretty far from ok on October 2, 2015 01:56

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Remember that in Singapore (which everyone likes to quote as a role model for ASEAN) you need to buy a COA (certificate of entitlement) first at auction to have the right to then buy a car - used to remain valid for 10 years but may have changed.

Posted by Logic on October 2, 2015 07:00

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Herbert

Most cars are NOT registered in Bangkok at all. Buying a car on finance also has got nothing to do with it. You'll see plenty of variation when it comes to plates and the various provinces in Thailand.What matters is what dealership you went to. Buy a car at Toyota in Phuket on finance and the plate will say Phuket.
As for the implementation of the rules, they wouldn't (I'm pretty sure) be applied retroactively but start with cars being bought now. Other cars could get a grace period of say, 5 years.

Laurie

I have lived here for 16 years. I didn't say that there would be zero issues introducing these new rules, but it IS entirely doable.

Posted by christian on October 2, 2015 07:07


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Horizon Karon Beach Resort & Spa

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