CHIANG RAI — A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Chiang Rai province yesterday evening, killing person and injuring several dozen, officials say.
Waves of aftershock, measuring 5.0-5.9 on the Richter scale, followed throughout the early morning today.
The quake is considered to be the strongest in living memory by many local residents, and its effect has caused severe damages to hundreds of buildings in the area, including several historic temples.
CHIANG RAI — Top officials have insisted that a series of earthquakes in northern Thailand have not damaged major dams in the region.
The 6.0-magnitude quake hit Chiang Rai province at around 18.00 yesterday, sending people to flee from their homes and buildings in panic. Waves of aftershock, measuring 5.0-5.9 on the Richter scale, followed throughout the morning today.
The quake is considered to be the strongest in living memory by many local residents, and its effect has caused severe damage to hundreds of buildings in the area, including several historic temples.
The incident also raised concerns that some dams in the northern region, such as the gigantic Bhumipol Dam, may have been harmed by the quake and its numerous aftershocks.
However, Bhumipol Dam director Pisut Chokkatiwat said today that the dam has been virtually unaffected by the earthquake in Chiang Rai province. The dam and its four generators continued to operate smoothly despite the quake and its aftershocks, he said.
In fact, the structure of Bhumipol Dam can withstand up to 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, Mr. Pisut added.
Meanwhile, oficials at Mae Ngut Dam in Chiang Mai said the dam was automatically shut down immediately once the quake struck the neighbouring province in order to avoid any malfunction. Its generators were later re-activated to resume their operation normally, officials said.
Transport Minister Chatchart Sitthipan also urged the public not to panic or spread false information about the earthquake's effect on the northern dams.
Speaking during his trip to inspect the damages on the Route 118 highway in Chiang Rai's Mae Saruay district today, Mr. Chatchart warned that dissemination of rumours and false reports of earthquake damages will only worsen the situation.
He advised the residents in Chiang Rai province to stick to the news reports which will be issued every two hour by the local authorities.
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(Chiang Rai Times)
CHIANG RAI — An earthquake of 6 magnitude struck Chiang Rai and Myanmar on Monday causing some damage to buildings and roads, but there was no immediate reports of any casualties.
The Thai Geological Survey said the earthquake measured a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 and was centered 9 kilometers south of Mae Lao, Thailand, and 27 kilometers southwest of Chiang Rai.
Read the rest of the story here: http://www.chiangraitimes.com/6-0-earth-quake-strikes-in-chiang-rai-and-southern-myanmar.html
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KABUL (DPA) — Survivors of a disastrous mudslide in Afghanistan said Monday that relief aid had been slow in reaching them from the government and international organizations.
"After three days of the disaster, people are still waiting for food, medicine and warm clothes while they are living in the open air," Abdul Jan, a tribal elder in Badakhshan province, said from Ab-e-Barik.
"They (officials) say that they have provided enough materials for the victims, but people say they have not received enough," Jan told dpa by telephone.
Mudslides after heavy rains buried the village of Ab-e-Barik on Friday.
More than 300 bodies had been recovered before the search operation was halted Saturday. About 2,000 people are estimated to be missing, but officials said there was no possibility of finding any survivors.
About 700 families have been displaced.
The government said it had enough relief supplies.
"Only today, we received 130 tons of flour, rice and cooking oil as well as 300 tents from Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif," said Mohammad Asef, a National Disaster Management Authority official in Badakhshan province.
But he said it was difficult to distribute the aid in an orderly fashion amid the chaos.
"Both the vulnerable and those who are not victims, rush to get the materials," Asef said.
The government, international aid organizations, businessmen and politicians have assisted so far, according to Asef.
"The distribution process goes slowly when the political leaders come to visit, because of their security," Jan said.
Asef said bread, cooked meals, potable water and medicine are distributed every day.
Jan said some people were still digging to try to find their loved ones.
SEOUL (DPA) — A civilian diver participating in the search for victims on a sunken ferry in South Korea died after losing consciousness during a dive, officials said Tuesday.
The 53-year-old diver was pronounced dead at a hospital in the south-western port city of Mokpo near the site of the shipwreck, Yonhap news agency reported.
It said the Coast Guard had suspended all search activities following the early morning accident.
The diver surnamed Lee was a crew member of the Undine Marine Industries, a private marine engineering, rescue and salvage company.
The death toll from the April 16 ferry sinking stood at 260, with 42 people still listed as missing.
The search efforts are hampered by bad weather, poor visibility and dangerous conditions of moving around inside the sunken vessel.
(Phuket News)
PHUKET — Police believe that the 621 live branches of coral they seized from an abandoned long-tail boat near Rawai this week was left by poachers intending to sell the rare marine gems to aquarium designers.
Chalong police were alerted on Friday by villagers in the area of Klong Pak Bang, behind Rawai muncipality, that suspected poachers were suspiciously waiting in a long-tail boat.
Read the rest of the story here: http://www.thephuketnews.com/seized-coral-intended-for-aquarium-designers-phuket-police-46084.php
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LOS ANGELES (DPA) — A California jury handed down its verdict in the Apple-Samsung trial Friday afternoon, finding that Samsung infringed on two Apple patents.
They jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple 119.6 million dollars, far less than the 2.2 billion dollars Apple was seeking in damages for what it argued was Samsung's violation of four smartphone patents.
The jury also awarded Samsung 158,400 dollars in damages after finding that Apple had infringed on a Samsung camera folder patent, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Samsung had accused Apple of violating two of its patents for organizing photo albums and transmitting video over a wireless network.
Apple's case against Samsung covered smart phones and tablets, including the Galaxy S3. The Samsung charges encompassed recent Apple models such as the iPhone 5.
The eight jurors had been deliberating since Tuesday following a nearly month-long trial.
In a previous patent trial Apple was awarded more than 900 million dollars in damages from Samsung for patent violations.
BANGKOK — The family of an army colonel who was brutally assaulted by a group of anti-government militants has formally initiated legal action against the perpetrators.
Col. Witthawat Wattanakul, a staff officer at the Royal Thai Armed Force Headquarters, was taken to the hospital after he was beaten and shot by a group of "guards" working for the anti-government People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) on Chaeng Wattana Road in the early morning of 25 April.
It is understood that the guards were under the command of Buddhist monk and hard-line PCAD leader Buddha Issara.
PCAD representatives offered an apology and 50,000 baht to Col. Witthawat's family to help pay for his medical costs. A close aide to Buddha Issara claimed the incident was merely a "misunderstanding".
Today Col. Witthawat's family lodged a formal complaint with the police at Thoong Song Hong Police Station, urging authorities to arrest and prosecute the guards who assaulted Col. Witthawat.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference at the police station, Col. Witthawat's mother Bang-onrat Wattanakul said she returned the compensation money to the PCAD because her son's life "cannot be bought with money".
Ms. Bang-onrat, 76, said she refused to accept the PCAD's apology and would only settle the matter through formal legal procedures.
"There is no need for an apology. I pardon all of the perpetrators, but the law is still inviolable," Ms. Bang-onrat said.
She continued, "This is not about politics, it is about my son getting beat up without a chance to defend himself. He has no opportunity to demand fairness. My son is a disciplined solider. He has no desire to take revenge,"
Ms Bang-onrat called on Buddha Issara to identify and send the perpetrators who assaulted her son to the police.
"If Buddha Issara is a true man, he has to accept whatever wrongdoing he has done," the colonel's mother said, "Please don't protect the wrongdoer. This country will not survive if wrongdoers are not punished."
She also denied the allegation put forth by several PCAD activists that Col. Witthawat was drunk or behaving aggressively prior to the attack. According to Ms. Bang-onrat, Col. Witthawat was simply trying to remove traffic cones that were blocking the road he was driving on, but the gesture was deemed aggressive enough by the group of PCAD guards stationed in a nearby checkpoint.
Ms. Bang-onrat claimed that Col. Witthawat heard several gunshots and realised that he was shot in his legs, so he attempted to run and seek shelter near the Royal Thai Armed Force Headquarters, where he works, but the PCAD militants caught up with him and beat him until they discovered a military ID card in his car.
The most serious injury Col. Witthawat has received was a wound from a wooden stick that was swung at his head, narrowly missing his eyes, Ms. Bang-onrat said.
Ms. Bang-onrat also expressed outrage at the National Human Rights Commission's silence over the incident. "What are they doing? Innocent people are being harmed. Why is the [NHCR] not defending these people?" Ms. Bang-onrat complained.
She added, "I would like to thank the PCAD for merely beating up my son instead of murdering him and dumping his body into a river. It's already such a great mercy on their part. And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occupied areas unless they absolutely have to."
When a reporter asked whether her family will consider settling the matter outside the court, Ms. Bang-onrat replied that she will not comment on legal matters as she has already appointed a lawyer to handle the issue.
Col. Witthawat has not spoken to the press since he was admitted to hospital because of the attack, but Ms. Bang-onrat said her son has been making progress in his recovery.
By Wolfgang Jung (DPA)
MOSCOW — Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have released a team of military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), the organization confirmed Saturday.
The seven observers – including German, Danish, Polish and Czech nationals – have been held in the city of Sloviansk since April 25, when they were detained by separatists who accused them of spying for NATO.
Upon their release, they were received by Thorbjorn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Jagland is in Ukraine to oversee a joint human rights mission by his organization and the OSCE.
The group will travel to the eastern city of Donetsk, where the observers will board a plane to Berlin.
During negotiations, the rebels had said the observers would only be released on the condition that a prisoner exchange took place. The conditions of their release remain unclear.
The incident coincides with an increase in clashes between armed separatists and the Ukrainian military, which is carrying out a "counter-terrorism" offensive ordered by the leadership in Kiev to curb the unrest in the country's east.
The Ukrainian government has accused president Viktor Yanukovych of being behind the violent clashes that killed 46 people in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa, the country's intelligence agency said on Saturday.
"The provocations that led to the unrest were financed by agents of Yanukovych's former government," said Yekaterina Kossareva of the Ukrainian intelligence agency SBU. Yanukovych is currently in exile in Russia.
Former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko, meanwhile, blamed the Russian government for the unrest.
"Russia is using all means to destabilize Ukraine and to prevent the May 25 presidential election," Timoshenko said during an address in Odessa, adding that the Russian secret service was behind the clashes.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday referred to the clashes as an "undeclared war" on the part of Russia.
"What we are dealing with in the Ukraine is a war. But this is a new kind of war – a war that has not been declared," Tusk said in Warsaw.
"When there are dozens of casualties, arms are in use and helicopters are being shot down, then it is an armed conflict that has been organized not by protestors but by a nation state, namely Russia," Tusk said on Saturday in Warsaw.
BANGKOK (DPA) — Thailand's main opposition leader called Saturday on the caretaker prime minister to resign to pave the way for a neutral government to preside over reforms and new elections as he presented a plan aimed at ending the country's political turmoil and deadlock.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the Democrat Party and a former premier, said Yingluck Shinawatra should resign along with her cabinet before court rulings are handed down as early as this month. If found guilty of official misconduct, Yingluck could be dismissed along with all of her ministers, raising the possibility of escalated civil conflict.
"I see that we are heading for possible violence, a possible coup," Abhisit said as Thailand has been caught in months of sometimes violent demonstrations.
And initial reaction by at least one government minister to the proposal was negative.
"The resignation of the prime minister and the cabinet will not take place for sure," said Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, a senior member of Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party. "Even if Yingluck resigned, I would not."
Abhisit's 10-point proposal calls for the Senate to appoint a neutral prime minister and interim government that would preside until new elections within about six months.
Voting is now scheduled for July 20 after a court annulled the results of February's elections, which were marred by protests, voting blockades, poll closures and a Democrat boycott.
Yingluck has been the target of street protests trying to topple her government for the past six months. The protest movement is demanding political reforms before any new elections.
Abhisit's proposal calls for the establishment of a council to draw up a reform agenda.
The reforms would be put to a referendum, which would be binding for the incoming elected government, Abhisit said.
"My proposal depends on Yingluck, who needs to decide on it before the pending court decisions," Abhisit said.
Yingluck – younger sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and then convicted of abuse of power – is facing at least two critical legal challenges.
The Constitutional Court is to issue a verdict on allegations that she illegally transferred a national security official to make room for the advancement of a relative and political ally.
If she is found guilty, her entire cabinet may be disqualified from office.
She is also fighting charges of dereliction of duty before the National Anti-Corruption Commission in the mishandling of the government's rice-subsidy programme, a policy that helped propel her to office after the 2011 elections.
Her dismissal would likely bring out pro-government militants and lead to street violence, perhaps prompting a coup to restore order.
