According to the complaints, the Secondary
Educational Service Area 34 (SESA 34) had advertised a study program in 8 universities in Taiwan for
students in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provinces, in exchange for a fee of 40,000 baht per student,
while other expenses would be covered by the institutions.

So far, 230 students have signed
up for the program, and paid the fee in advance. However, the students have not been granted visas
from the

The groups of parents met at the police station in Mueang district, Chiang Mai
province, to file complaints against the organisation on Saturday, after SESA 34, a government led
educational service responsible for Secondary Education services in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son
provinces, promised them their students should be enrolled in Taiwanese institutions since
April.

According to the parents, SESA 34 assured them that their children will be admitted to
8 Taiwanese Universities for only 40,000 baht fee, as other expenses will be covered by the
institutions.

Many students said they had
already rejected offers from Thai universities in order to pursue their study in
Taiwan.

The students
and their parents who filed complaints at the police station today also threatened filing a legal
action with the Administration Court against SESA 34 in the near future, as they suspected the study
program is in fact a fraud.

Mr. Wichien Chompuphol, deputy director for SESA 34, said that
the agency began advertising the project after it had been contacted by the Vocational Study
Organisation, the Association of International Cultural Exchange, and Centre for International
Students (Thailand), plus 8 rectors from the Taiwanese universities.

Mr. Wichien added that he had been in
contact with the Taiwanese institutions, and had not been inactive with the case, but the Taiwanese
officials appeared to try to prolong the case. According to Mr. Wichien, the Taiwanese informed him
there have been problems with the visa processes.

The
critics said the new logo, which bears red colour, is a proof of power abuse by the government of
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, which is allied with the Redshirts.

But a Democrat MP,
Mr. Boonyod Sukthinthai, who also serves as a Thai Parliament Television Commissioner, explained
that the new colour is in fact maroon, not red.

He also insisted that the logo does not
contain any hidden political agenda.

Earlier, the Parliament Television logo was an
award-winning design on blue background, but many people questioned, why blue? Mr. Boonyod
said.

The Parliament Television Commission then decided to change the logo into the
Parliament′s colour, maroon, according to the suggestion made by Mr. Boonyod.

Meanwhile, Mr.
Wisuth Chainarun, Deputy House Speaker and the president of the Parliament Television Commission,
stated that the issue is a misunderstanding.

According to the Deputy House Speaker, the
decision was agreed by the whole commission which includes Democrat MPs, such as Ms. Rangsima
Rodrasmi, representing Samut Songkhram province, and Mr. Nakron Machim, representing Phitsanulok
province.

Mr. Wisuth expected that Mr. Boonyord’s declaration of no political agenda in the
issue should calm down angry anti-government citizens, and steer the logo away from divisive
political discussion.

According to the Ministry, Thailand will gain as much as billions of
baht from the policy, 10 times higher than the expected loss from the missing import tax, Prachachat
reported.  

Ms. Chadathip Jutrakul, Managing Director of Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., said that
the government’s proposal to make Thailand ‘a shopping paradise’ is an appropriate response to the
demands of the tourists.

According to the statistic provided by Prachachat, foreign tourists
counted as 30% of customers for Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon each year. So far, the malls fail to
attract more customers, particularly from China and Middle Eastern countries, as they tend to shop
in Malaysia and Singapore for 0% taxed goods.

Ms. Chadathip added, “definitely, there are
pros and cons to the new regulation, but I am sure that the government can work on rebalancing the
situation.”

The Emporium Group managing director, Mr. Kriangsak Tantipiphop, voiced the same
support by suggesting that reducing the tax would allow Thailand to become a regional-centre for
luxury goods, and should reduce the numbers of Thai tourists travelling abroad each year to spend at
least 50 billion baht on premium goods.

Mr. Kriangsak dismissed concerns that the tax deduction
scheme would affect local manufacturers. He insisted those brands target different
customers.

According to Prachachart, many brands are planning to march to Thailand with their first
branch here, including brands such as Joseph, Vanessa Bruno, Paul&Joe, Markus Lupfer, Tibi, Emma
Cook, House of Holland, Sass&Bide, Richard Nicoll, Mawi, Shourouk, Venna, Sophie Hulme and
Robert Clergeri.

Meanwhile, many land developers in Bangkok have announce blueprints for new
luxury malls, including Central Embassy, The Emporium 2 and 3, Siam Piwat-CP joined Luxury mall, and
the renovation for Gaysorn Plaza.

Mr. Peter Lee, Senior Marketing Director in Asian Pacific
Region of Hotels.com, said that the luxury tax cut will boost the tourism sectors, particularly by
attracting more Chinese tourists as 69% of tourists from China visit Thailand for the purpose of shopping.

Similarly, Ms. Nanthinee Tanner, Managing Director of LBG Co. Ltd, Thailand
distributor for Burberry, said that the tax reduction policy would support Thai distributors to be
able to compete with their counterparts in Hong Kong and Singapore.

After the Finance Ministry announced the plan, Ms. Nanthinee said that her company and its British headquarters are
revising the strategy for future sales.

However, some in the Thai manufacture industry have
voiced scepticism at the plan, noting that the slashing of import tax would make it harder for
Thailand-based luxury brands to compete.

On 4 August, the
victim, who reportedly works as a model girl (Pretty), filed legal complaints at Chokchai Police
Station, claiming that Mr. Athiphon had raped her at her residence while she was drunk and
unconscious.

According to the woman, Mr. Athiphon offered to pay for the bills of she and her
friend at a restaurant after which he gave her a ride.

However, she said, after he went off
to send her friend home, Mr. Atiphon then returned to talk with the victim. The victim alleged that
he raped her as she was still under alcohol influence and could not fend for herself.

The
police later acquired an arrest warrant and arrested Mr. Athipon at his residence. He has denied the
allegation.

Nonetheless, according to the police, a certain police colonel had contacted the
officers to negotiate about the case, but the officers refused and escorted Mr. Athipon to the
police station.

The testimonies were given as part of the inquests into the deaths of 3 individuals
killed at the park on 14 May 2010: Mr. Piyapong Kittiwong, Mr. Prachuab Silapan, and Mr. Somsak
Silarat. The court is trying to establish whether the security forces had been responsible for the 3
deaths.

The military has repeatedly denied any responsibility to the deaths of civilians in
the 2010 crackdown, arguing instead that they had been killed by the shadowy armed militants. Over
90 people lost their lives in the violence which had engulfed Bangkok for 2 months.

Mr.
Thongchai Henglian, a fish vendor, told the court he was riding a motorbike to buy fish at the
market, passing along Rama IV Road. He spotted a group of protesters on the road, and went to
observe the gathering, parking his motorcycle at Lumpini Police Station.

Later, Mr. Thongchai
said, he mingled with the protesters and journalists, while rows of soldiers armed with automatic
rifles stood at some distance away.

Then, according to the witness, gunfire erupted, and he
saw bullets crashing into trees and pillars along the road, so he ran toward the pavement around
Lumpini Park with a journalist, who was taking shelter 5 metres away from him.

Mr. Thongchai
continued that he heard the said journalist crying in pain that he was shot, so he attempted to
rescue the man, but came under fire himself. He was shot twice in his hip as he had his back to the
soldiers who were positioned 200-300 metres away, he said.

Soon, a group of people carried
him away to safety. Doctors later extracted bullets from his body, and the wounds reportedly showed
he was shot from behind.

Another witness, Mr. Preecha Nuwongsi, told the court he has been
working as a medical rescue worker at Vajira Hospital for 16 years. On the day of the incident, he
had received an emergency call that the soldiers were clashing with the protesters and there were
injured individuals in Lumpini Park, so he and his team drove the ambulance to the
scene.

Once he arrived there, Mr. Preecha said, he found a dead body in the pool near Gate 2
of the park, so he crawled toward the body (later identified as Mr. Piyapong), as there were
occasional gunfires. Having reached the body, he dragged it to the ground with a rope then carried
it to the ambulance.

However, Mr. Preecha testified, gunfire erupted in the direction of his
unit. He said he saw dozens of soldiers pointing their guns at his direction, so he shouted at
them to cease firing while his team waved a Red Cross flag, but, according to Mr. Preecha, the
soldiers continued to fire their weapons for a while.

After his team managed to escape, they
were informed by the police that a dead body had been found near Gate 3 (later identified as Mr.
Prachuab). The body had gunshot wounds on the chest, Mr. Preecha said, and there were soldiers in
the vicinity where Mr. Prachuab′s body was found.

The witness told the court that no weapon
was found on neither Mr. Piyapong nor Mr. Prachuab.

The last witness, Mr. Terdsak Duangpapeng, another
security guard, confirmed to the court that he had seen no armed militants among the protesters
throughout the incident.

Previously, the police have apprehended several foreigners who attempted to cross
the Thai borders with the visas which had been reported stolen.

The arrests led to a
stunning revelation that 300 visa labels had been missing from the Thai mission in Kuala Lumpur, and
some of the visas had been used in successful border-crossing.

The case has been considered
as the most serious breach in Thai immigration security in many years.

Yesterday, the
immigration police have announced in a press conference that they have arrested Ms. Piyamart
Bandasakdi, 39, in connection with the crime. A Cameroonian national arrested in Thai-Laos border
has indicated that he acquired his unauthorised visa from Ms. Piyamart, the police said.

Many
other individuals arrested in the same manner have also implicated Ms. Piyamart, according to the
police.

Ms. Piyamart has reportedly confessed that she was introduced to the trade of by an
Indian national called Mr. Kumar Rames (spelling derived from Thai text). Ms. Piyamart said she had
met the man in 2012. She told the police she charged her customers 30,000 baht per
person.

However, she admitted to issuing the stolen visa labels to only 3 individuals, 1
Nigerian, 1 Cameroonian, and 1 Filipino. While the Africans have been arrested, the Filipino
reportedly managed to return to the Philippines with the stolen visa.

Pol.Col. Chartchai
Iam-saeng said Mr. Kumar has a romantic affairs with someone in the Thai Embassy at the Malaysian
capital, which allowed him to have an access to the visa labels. According to Pol.Col. Chartchai,
Mr. Kumar also has connection with staff in other Thai Embassies.

Previously, a
photo showing Mr. Banharn placing his hand on the back of the actress, Ms. Sornslip ?Manao?
Maneewan, started circulating on social network sites, and the rumour about their supposed romantic
relationship quickly followed.

Ms. Sornsilp is well-known for her roles in drama series
produced by Channel 7.

Later, the
21 year old actress visited Bang Sue Police Station in Bangkok to file a legal complaint to the
officers and urge them to find the suspect who initiated the rumours.

He also clarified about the
origin of the photo, saying that it was taken during the football match of Suphanburi FC and Buriram
United in the stadium′s reception room. Many other people were present in the room as well, Mr.
Banharn said, including Toon, the lead singer of the pop-rock band Bodyslam.

I took
photograph with Toon, too. I placed a hand on his knee. Why didn?t they post that photo, too? Mr.
Banharn told the reporters.

He added, I don?t know why they only posted the photo of him
and Ms. Sornsilp, do they want to discredit me?

100
individuals were arrested late last night along the seaside road and Walking Street, the famous
landmarks of the city. 30 of them are women and the rest of them ladyboys, police said.

3
teenagers were also arrested on charge of potentially posing threats to tourists.

The
series of arrests followed a complaint from a Briton and an Italian who claimed that they had been
drugged and robbed by prostitutes earlier this week.

A senior police officer termed the
operation as a way to restore order and good tourism image to the city of Pattaya, and to prevent
further tourist-related crimes.