Ms. Wassana Lek Indrakaew, 39, the owner of Lek Beauty in Mueang
district, told our correspondent that she has been posting lottery tickets on the wall of  the
establishment since 2001.

Initially, she only posted the tickets on the salon′s back door,
but the ?lotto wallpaper? later crept into other spaces and eventually filled up the 4 walls of the
4×4 metre room.

As she never won a single prize from these lotteries she had
bought, she said, she had the idea to post the tickets on these walls to  remind herself and
other customers that the chance to become rich overnight by lottery winning is just too
slim.

“There were millions of lottery tickets printed out, but there were only numbers of
prizes you can win”, Ms. Wassana said gravely.

However, she said she had never given up on
the hope to win the lottery one day.

“I will probably keep on buying lottery tickets”, Ms.
Wassana said, explaining that she has been repeatedly buying the tickets that feature her house
numbers in Ying Ruay Village.“The prize will be mine someday.”

State-sanctioned lottery is
one of the very few gambling sports allowed under Thai laws. The draw comes every 1st and 16th day
of the month.

The stir was caused by a black car parked in the
middle of the road in Central Pattaya, Chonburi province, near a red light intersection. The engine
was left on and a man, believed to be around 30-35 year old, could be seen slumping on the driver
seat.

As the road is a busy one, usually crowded with cars entering Pattaya, the parked car
caused much traffic problem. Some motorists, racing toward the green light, almost hit at the
vehicle and managed to swerve away at the last moment. A large traffic jam soon formed around the
intersection.

Traffic police were alerted by some locals and motorists. At the scene, many
methods were attempted to wake the driver up, like police officers blowing their whistles and bus
drivers honking their loud horns around the car, to no avail. Some people also knocked and shook the
car, but the driver remained deeply asleep.

An hour later, the police officers decided to
forcefully open the car window to reach the man. Yet the man did not respond to the officers. The
crowd started to fear that the man has passed away when he finally woke up.

The driver, who
was in confused state, simply asked for wet towel to wipe his face. All he would say is that he had
a residence in the area. He sped away in his car shortly afterwards, leaving the crowd of locals and
police officers somewhat baffled by the incident.

The locals gathered at Sonthaya Medical Clinic on Niwat Road in Mueang District to
receive medical services and medication, free of charge, from Dr. Sonthaya Wattanakosol, the owner
of the clinic. Many in the crowd are rural villagers and farmers who suffered illness from their
hard works.

Dr. Sonthaya, who once worked at Buriram Hospital around a decade ago, said he
had been offering his service on every 18 July and 5 December since 1995, when Princess Mother
Srinagarindra, the mother of His Majesty the King, passed away on 18 July.

As for 5 December,
it is the birthday of His Majesty the King, and also the national day of Thailand.

His former
colleagues, doctors and nurses from Buriram Hospital, also came to assist Dr. Sonthaya in his
charity day, providing medical advices and basic medication. Meanwhile, some locals donated drinking
water and food to accommodate the patients.

Dr. Sonthaya told our correspondent that he uses
his own money to pay for the medication. “I think I would keep on doing this until my last breath”,
Dr. Sonthaya said.

Police in Hangchartra District arrested Mr. Narongrit
Ngao-tasom, 46, the director of Hua Rean Hospital, after he reportedly hit Mr. Siwakorn Saisuphap, a
student at Lampang Polytechnics, to death with his Toyota pickup. Mr. Narongrit was heavily drunk at
the time, police said.

The incident took place in the evening of 16 July. At the scene, they
found Mr. Siwakorn dead on the ground. Witnesses said they had given chase to Mr. Narongrit who
reportedly attempted to flee the scene but was eventually overwhelmed and escorted to the
police.

At the police station, test revealed that Mr. Naronrit had 0.188% of alcohol in his
blood. The number is considerably higher than the rate allowed by law of the Kingdom of Thailand,
which is only 0.05%.

The police then charged Mr. Narongrit for driving under the influence
and causing death. Mr. Narongrit later placed the bail money of 200,000 baht in cash and was
released from the custody.

Mr. Daranee Saisuphap, 39, the victim’s mother, tearfully told
our correspondent that Mr. Siwakorn was her eldest son, and she never thought such tragic accident
would happen.

The discovery is particularly startling
as, according to common practice in virtually every public school in Thailand, the school yard is
where students assemble each morning and sing the national anthem while student representatives
raise the national flag at the flagpole.

Previously,
Families of April-May 2010 Martyrs announced that they had come with their version of the amnesty
bill which would grant amnesty to all protesters involved in the 2010 Redshirts? mass protests –
except those that had been charged with serious crimes such as committing arson attacks on state and
private properties.

The bill would also exempt leaders of the Redshirts, the authorities at
the time, and members of the security forces ?who employed unnecessary violence? from legal
immunity.

Currently, only former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former Deputy Prime
Minister are facing charges of murders and attempted murders related to the crackdown; the military
personnel have been left virtually untouched.

The group was led mainly by Ms. Payao Akhard
and Mr. Pansak Srithep. They each lost a child in the crackdown.

Their draft is the 5th
version of amnesty bill on the table so far. It also differs greatly from the version proposed by
former Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung and supported by many prominent Redshirts, which
calls for amnesty to everyone involved in the crackdown.

Mr. Weng Tojirakarn, an MP of the
ruling Pheu Thai Party and one of the leaders in 2010 mass protests, said the draft written by the
victims? families have glaring problem because it does not grant amnesty to Redshirts protesters
currently detained and charged with arson attacks and serious crimes – which he said were falsified
charges put forth by the former government to discredit the Redshirts.

He noted that
Redshirts leaders would still have to face terrorism charge under this version of amnesty
bill.

In an article published on his website, Mr. Weng also voiced his concern that the
military and former PM Abhisit could simply claim they did not act with unnecessary violence as
they had to sue deadly force to counter with armed elements of the protesters – the so-called
Blackshirts – and therefore escape from legal prosecution under the proposed bill.

The
Redshirts leadership has always insisted that the protesters were not associated with the
Blackshirts in any way.

Is this amnesty bill intended to help Abhisit … and the soldiers
who participated in the killing of the people, and simultaneously punish the Redshirts and their
leaders? Mr. Weng asked sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Mr. Vorachai Hema, a Pheu Thai MP who has
also proposed his own amnesty bill, said that the victims families? draft would slow down the
process to free Redshirts protesters currently detained or imprisoned, which should be the priority
of any amnesty bill.

The draft would create endless troubles, Mr. Vorachai was quoted as
saying.

Nevertheless, the controversial draft gains support from an unlikely source: the
opposition Democrat Party. Mr. Chawanon Intarakomalyasut, spokesman of the party, said the bill
proposed by Ms. Akhard and Mr. Pansak fits with his party′s stance as the bill would not give
immunity to protesters who committed violent and criminal acts.

In a press conference, Mr.
Chawanon urged the government to abandon all other versions of amnesty bill being debated and
proceed with the draft suggested by the 2010 victims? families.

However, in a curious mark,
Mr. Chawanon warned that his party will not support the bill if it includes amnesty for lese majeste
prisoners – those that have been found guilty for allegedly insulting the Royal
Family.

The vehicles, mostly ten-wheeler trucks with some cars and smaller trucks, suffered
damage in the front windshields and side windows. The incidents took place around 250-251 Kilometre
Mark in Muang District.

The drivers told police they saw group of individuals in the
darkness near of their moving vehicles, and moments later their vehicles would be attacked with
stones – some of which moved at very high velocity due to the momentum of the moving vehicles toward
the objects.

Despite the potentially lethal nature of the incidents, no injury was
reported.

When highway police patrols inspect the crime scene after receiving such reports,
the officers spotted a group of suspicious individuals in the wooded area near the main road.
However, upon seeing the officers, the group quickly fled on their motorcycles.

Our
correspondent reported that a bus driver also came forward to report about a similar incident that
took place earlier in the same vicinity. The driver, who was driving a private headed for Bangkok on
13 July, said his windshield was smashed by a piece rock around 21.00, but the glass managed to
absorb the impact.

He said that if the glass did not hold, he would have been hit by the
stone and subsequently lose control of the bus. However, he did not make formal report to the
police, and the police urged him to do so in order to proceed with criminal charge against the
suspects.

A senior police officer told our correspondent that the police detectives are
keeping close eyes on local youths who might be the potential troublemakers.

?Stone-throwing
gangs? are known to attack motorists in some major interprovincial highways at night, using cover of
darkness to get away quickly. Police believe that the individuals simply copycat behaviour from
other cases and committed the crime out of fun.