http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/thailand/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:49:20 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417312/posts In a nod to the growing Hmong populations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the states’ four U.S. senators teamed up in a joint statement Tuesday opposing the Thai government’s plans to forcibly repatriate more than 4,000 Hmong refugees back to Laos. The four Democrats, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken of Minnesota and Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, say they “strongly condemn” the Thais’ decision, which they say ignores the objections of the United Nations, the U.S. Government, and international human rights groups. The statement reads in part: “We share the concern of many of our Hmong-American constituents whose loved... StarTribune.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417312/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:49:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416537/posts The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) yesterday announced its withdrawal from the Hmong camp in Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun province, after operating there for nearly four years. The reason, they say, is the Thai military's restrictions and coercive tactics. The withdrawal is a further embarrassment for the Abhisit adminstration, which recently suffered a bruised image due to the Navy's inhumane push-back of the Rohingya boat people. Gilles Isard, MSF's head of mission in Thailand, said the Thai military's scare tactics to pressure ethnic Lao Hmong to accept a forced return to Laos and its intensifying restrictions on MSF's activities, such as... Bangkok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416537/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:01:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416122/posts PHETCHABUN, Thailand – Thailand sent army troops with shields and batons to evict some 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum seekers Monday and send them back to Laos despite strong objections from the U.S. and rights groups who fear they will face persecution. Under tight security, more than 1,000 of the Hmong were loaded onto covered military trucks and driven out of the camp toward buses waiting near the Lao border, Thai authorities said. Journalists kept at a distance from the camp could see many children inside the trucks. With the eviction under way, the United States called for it to stop.... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416122/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:54:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415994/posts Thailand has begun deporting a group of about 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, despite international concerns for their safety. Thai officials said unarmed soldiers began closing a camp for Hmong refugees in northern Phetchabun province. Thailand describes them as economic migrants. The Hmong say they face persecution in Laos because they sided with US forces during the Vietnam war. The UN had urged the Thais to call off plans to deport them. BBC World News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415994/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:13:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415379/posts PHUKET, Thailand (AP) ― Buddhist monks chanted on white-sand beaches in Thailand and thousands prayed at mosques in Indonesia to mark the fifth anniversary of the Asian tsunami that left 230,000 people dead. The devastating Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim. Its towering waves wiped out entire coastal communities, devastated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches the morning after Christmas. Survivors waded through a horror show of corpse-filled waters. In Thailand, hundreds of residents and foreigners returned to the beaches on the island of Phuket to recall one of the worst natural disasters... WCBSTV.COM http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415379/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:09:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412759/posts A planeload of North Korean arms seized in Bangkok was reportedly bound for Iran, which has been buying up large amounts of weaponry in recent months as it braces for a possible onslaught by Israel, and possibly the United States. Mystery has shrouded the destination of the Georgian-registered Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane that was found be to carrying 35 tons of arms, including surface-to-air missiles and rocket launchers, in 12 crates when it was detained during a refueling stop on Dec. 11 following a tip-off from U.S. intelligence. The five-man crew, all former Soviet air force members from Belarus and... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412759/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:25:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412084/posts An illicit North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, the head of US intelligence said Friday. About 30 tonnes of sanctions-busting weapons were confiscated in Bangkok on Saturday but it had remained unclear where the North Korean shipment was headed. "Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons," Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, wrote in a commentary in the Washington Post. Blair's reference marked the first public comment by the administration... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412084/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:59:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410124/posts /begin my excerpts Thai Jet Fighters Forced down the Plane Carrying N. Korean Arms Kwon Kyung-bok 2009.12.18 04:19 A Russian daily reports. The IL-76 freighter plane of Georgian registry which got caught while transporting N. Korean arms did not land on Thailand for refueling, but was forced down to land by Thai fighter planes after entering Thai airspace, according to Dec. 17 report by Russian daily Kommersant. The paper reported that, as soon as the IL-76 plane which left Pyongyang entered Thai airspace, two Thai jet fighters intercepted the plane and order it to land on Don Muang Airport in... Chosun Ilbo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410124/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:17:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts God Bless those enterprising, digging Japanese journalists and their film crews.A hot one in North Korean black weapons smuggling case was captured for all of Japan to see last night at the 11 p.m. TV news on NNN Network.The pushy and curious Japanese journalists and cameramen with their long lenses (and fluent Farsi and Korean speaking investing staff in Tokyo), discovered some VERY interesting things about the North Korean aircraft stopped this week in Thailand with Ukranian crew flying weapons in violation of US sanctions. The flight crew has been very tight lipped, but the Japanese journalists nevertheless caught some... NNN (Nihon Television) Network, Japan (Evening News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407767/posts The weapons laden plane seized in Bangkok en route from North Korea at the weekend has been linked to two renowned East European arms traffickers by a respected Swedish think-tank in the latest twist in the mysterious saga. The Ilyushin-76 aircraft, which was found to be carrying 35 tons of weapons including rockets and grenades, was most recently registered under a company called Beibars, linked to Serbian arms dealer Tomislav Dmanjanovic. It had previously been registered with three companies identified by the US Department of the Treasury as firms controlled by the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to... The Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407767/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:27:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407169/posts Officials Seek Destination of North Korean Arms By THOMAS FULLER and DAVID E. SANGER BANGKOK, Thailand — A shipment of arms and apparently sophisticated missiles from North Korea seized here on a tip from American intelligence agencies has set off a series of investigations, as officials try to determine whether the cargo was headed to South Asia or the Middle East. The Obama administration welcomed the interception by the Thai authorities as evidence that it had scored a success in its effort to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution banning weapons exports by the North Korean government, an attempt... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407169/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:33:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406986/posts Shipment bound for Middle East Crew deny knowing plane carried weapons * Published: 14/12/2009 at 12:00 AM * Newspaper section: News The crew of the aircraft held in Bangkok after it was found to be carrying a large stock of war weapons say they planned to offload part of their cargo in Sri Lanka and the Middle East, investigators say. A police source said some of the suspects admitted after more than six hours of questioning that they planned to unload part of "the goods" on their way back to Ukraine. But they refused to name the buyers or locations,... Bankok Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406986/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:47:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406786/posts Five foreigners were detained and their foreign-registered aircraft impounded after it landed in the Thai capital Saturday with tons of war weaponry on board that originated in North Korea, Thai officials said. Air Force spokesman Capt. Montol Suchookorn said the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang and requested to land at Bangkok's Don Muang airport to refuel. Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn confirmed the seizure and the arrests, saying the weapons included "missiles, explosives and tubes." He told The Associated Press that the material was being transferred to a Thai military facility but provided no further details. MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406786/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:16:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406111/posts Thailand detains plane with weapons cache from N.Korea Sat Dec 12, 7:06 am ET BANGKOK (AFP) – Thai authorities have detained five people who landed in Bangkok in an east European cargo plane full of heavy weapons that originated in North Korea, officials told AFP Saturday. The plane's pilot requested to land at Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport Saturday morning, said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayakorn, and on inspecting the aircraft Thai authorities found the cache. "An eastern European airline asked to land this morning at Don Mueang airport to refuel its tank. When Thai authorities examined the aircraft they found... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406111/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:18:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402209/posts MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - Arrangements have been made for a traditional, three-day Hmong funeral for Pfc. Kham Xiong of St. Paul who was among 13 people killed in the Fort Hood Army Base shootings. The funeral service for Xiong will start at Legacy Funeral Home's Maplewood chapel starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28. The service will run through the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 30. Xiong will then be buried with military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. "Pfc. Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child," President Barack Obama said during a memorial service at Fort... www.myfoxtwincities.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402209/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 19:04:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393938/posts Obama hits a rough spot Published: 25/11/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: News President Barack Obama of the United States has hit the one-year political wall hard, and it especially showed during his recent trip to Asia. In the year since Mr Obama was elected, both the excitement of the polls and the expectations have worn off. As with all democratic leaders, election hullabaloo has been replaced by reality. Not all promises can be achieved quickly, or in the way they were presented in a free-wheeling election. In some ways, Mr Obama has been brought down to Earth, and his... Bangkok Post, Thailand http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393938/posts#comment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:05:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393566/posts Today, November 24, it is exactly 150 years since Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species. The world has been gearing up for this “second echelon” of celebrations for this international “Year of Darwin”, following on from the 200th anniversary of his birth this last February. Atheists and humanist groups in particular have seemed to be relishing the thought of giving further prominence to the ideas of their patron saint. Their adulation is heightened by their knowledge that... CMI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393566/posts#comment Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:27:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380795/posts MOBILE, Ala. -- Two men who admitted taking trips to Thailand for sex with young boys face 6½-year prison terms, but could trim the time by testifying against the alleged organizer of the encounters. Burgess Lee Burgess of Mobile and Mitchell Kent Jackson of Pensacola pleaded guilty in November 2008 to traveling to have sex with a minor and conspiracy to do so. The two men once lived together in Mobile. Mobile Press Register http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380795/posts#comment Sat, 7 Nov 2009 13:14:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2375477/posts SNIPPET: "SUSPECTED Islamic insurgents shot and killed two people and wounded three others in a bomb blast in Thailand's troubled Muslim-majority south, police said. Gunmen broke into a house in Yala province and shot dead a 16-year-old Buddhist girl, also wounding her 29-year-old husband, they said.... More than 3900 people have died in shootings, bomb blasts, beheadings and crucifixions since a separatist insurgency erupted in Thailand's southern provinces bordering Malaysia in January 2004." (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE) via JIHAD WATCH.org (A http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2375477/posts#comment Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:38:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2370530/posts A Toronto man who contracted HIV from his former stripper wife is hoping he's alive to see her get deported to Thailand. Whiteman and his lawyer appeared before a Federal Court of Canada last Thursday in an ongoing battle with immigration officials to get Iamkhong deported due to her criminal record. He has launched a $30-million lawsuit against the Canada Border Services Agency and Zanzibar Strip Club in Toronto in connection with the case. He claims Iamkhong, 40, a former stripper at the Zanzibar, was allowed into the country with HIV and that led to his life being placed in... yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2370530/posts#comment Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:03:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2367053/posts Why does my computer not let me log on to Facebook? This drives me insance. I have it as a trusted site, it still blocks it and re-directs me. Any clues? SHyla http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2367053/posts#comment Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:15:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2365857/posts Museum officials in Thailand have covered a billboard depicting Adolf Hitler saluting after complaints from the German and Israeli embassies. The advertisement, which reads in Thai, "Hitler is not dead," was set up on a main road out of Bangkok two weeks ago. The billboard was covered up after the museum received "a lot" of complaints, director Somporn Naksuetrong said. The series of highway advertisements featuring famous dead people promote Louis Tussaud's Waxworks in Pattaya. "We weren't showing his image to celebrate him," Mr Naksuetrong told AFP. "We think he is an important historical figure, but in a horrible way.... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2365857/posts#comment Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:24:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365152/posts Just had a sudden sharp quake here Vanity http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2365152/posts#comment Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:03:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357419/posts Frédéric Mitterrand, France’s culture minister, was under pressure to resign after it emerged that he had admitted to paying “young boys” for sexual acts while on holiday in Thailand. The revelations in his 2005 autobiography “The Bad Life” have come back to haunt Mr Mitterrand after he emerged as one of the most vociferous defenders of Roman Polanski, the film director currently detained in Switzerland in connection with an outstanding conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977. In his book, Mr Mitterrand, the nephew of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand, wrote: “I... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357419/posts#comment Thu, 8 Oct 2009 11:10:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2356956/posts A British daredevil's vacation bungee jump went horribly wrong when his cord came loose and he hit the water at 80 miles an hour — but miraculously, he survived. Rishi Baveja, 21, told "FOX & Friends" Wednesday that he didn't even know the rope around his ankles had slipped off during his videotaped 165-foot leap in Thailand until the very end. "I didn't know anything was wrong until I hit the water," he said by phone from his home in the U.K. www.foxnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2356956/posts#comment Wed, 7 Oct 2009 18:59:55 GMT