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.

Phra Chaliao Dharmwaro, 92, was found dead in Wat Tarn En Temple. He was
wearing an a necklace, but the amulet is missing from its locket. Police found bruising wounds on
his head and right shoulder.

His residence had been thoroughly ransacked, the police said. A
few Buddha figurines, the TV set, and an electric fan were broken, and a number of amulets made of
gold said to be in Phra Chaliao′s possession were missing.

Ms. Churee Nakornmuang, 53, the
monk′s daughter, said she brought food to the monk everyday, but could not locate him this morning
so she walked around the residence to look for him. She eventually found Phra Chaliao′s body near
the residence and alerted the authorities.

She believed that the assailant had broken into
Phra Chaliao′s room and fought with him, then threw the monk to his death via the window. 

Ms. Paphachanan Ingchan was found guilty of
Section 112 of the Criminal Codes and sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Supreme Court in Nakorn
Ratchasima Province last month.

She was charged with the crime after she staged a protest in
the provice in 2009 in which she burned a coffin bearing the name of Gen. Prem Tilasulanond, the
head of the Privy Council.

The protesters also mockingly addressed Gen. Prem on the coffin
as His Highness, referring to a prominent Yellowshirt leader who had, most likely by accident,
called Gen. Prem with the honorific.

Yesterday, around 100 Redshirts visited Ms. Paphachanan
at Nakorn Ratchasima Central Prison.  The group was led by Mr. Tanthawut Taweewarodomkul, aka
Noom Red Nont, who had also been imprisoned for lese majeste and released earlier this year.

Mr. Tanthawut said he understood the predicament suffered by Ms. Paphachanan very well
because he had been locked away for the same offense in a Bangkok prison for 3 years and 3 months.

He told our correspondent that he planned many more activities to raise awareness about
individuals who are serving jail term for lese majeste, which he views as a political, rather than a
criminal, offence.

The Redshirts also had their own music band – called Cold Flame –
playing on the pavement as they gathered in front of the prison. Dozens of police officers and
plainclothes agents stood nearby to observe the event.

Later, Ms. Paphachanan told the
visitors through the prison bars that she felt very grateful for their visit. Even though the case
has reached its finalisation, she said, she insisted she is loyal to the monarchy.

I fell
prey to the political conflict because of my naivety said Ms. Paphachanan, known to her supporters
as he Red Lady, I never had any intention to insult the higher institution, referring to the
monarchy.

She urged the Redshirts to maintain their unity in order to fight for democracy,
and try their best to bring former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra back to Thailand. She also
demanded that the Redshirts? official leadership invest more energy into freeing Redshirts who are
serving jail term for their alleged crimes during the 2010 political violence.

Ms. Sudsawat
Sansern, commander of the prison, said prison regulation exempts Ms. Paphachanan from wearing the
manacles around her ankles because she is over 60 years old.

The commander said Ms.
Paphachanan has a number of underlying diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart-related issues,
and diabetes. Ms. Sudsawat stressed that the prison officials are paying close attention to this
prisoner.

If she is ever ill, she has the right to immediate medical care, Ms. Sudawat
said.

Ms. Paphachanan has also been developing cordial relationships with fellow prisoners,
the commander added.