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How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister was forced out of office Tuesday along with his Cabinet after a court ruled that he had broken a conflict-of-interest law by hosting TV cooking shows. snip Samak, 73, a self-proclaimed foodie, hosted a popular television cooking show — "Tasting and Complaining" — for seven years before becoming prime minister. But he also made several appearances after taking office, breaking a constitutional prohibition on private employment while in office.

YALA, Thailand: Separatist militants shot dead and beheaded a Buddhist state official in Thailand's Muslim south on Tuesday, police said, the latest death in 57 months of insurgency in which more than 3,100 people have died. Police found 29 spent M-16 bullets around the pickup truck of the victim, identified as 26-year-old Attapong Gonlom, after at least two gunmen opened fire on him at a school in Pattani, one of four southern provinces hit by the violence. "After the attack, the gunmen dragged his body out of the truck and chopped his head off, to the horror of students and...

Thai PM must quit, court rules BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - A Thai court said on Tuesday Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej must step down because he violated the constitution by hosting TV cooking shows while in office.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister declared a state of emergency in the capital Bangkok on Tuesday after a week of political tension exploded into violent street clashes between supporters and opponents of the government that left one person dead. Under sweeping powers that give the military the right to restore order, authorities can suspend certain civil liberties, ban all public gatherings of more than five people and bar the media from reporting news that "causes panic." The military, which has staged 18 coups since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, said the army did not want to...

Suspected insurgents shot dead three villagers as the Ramadan fast began in the restive southern border provinces of Yala and Pattani on Monday. A 61-year-old Thai-Muslim village headman was killed by the gunmen while he was driving... a 51-year-old female rubber farmer ...

In another frustrating foul-up on the path towards converting Soviet-era military missiles into cash-paying satellite launchers, a military-industrial team in Moscow has announced the 'indefinite suspension' of plans to launch an earth resources survey satellite for Thailand. The reasons: at the last moment, for the second time, overflight permission has been revoked by a country downrange of the launch site. First Uzbekistan, and now Kazakhstan, denied permission for dropping the booster's spent first stage onto their territories. "We never thought we'd see a repeat of the Uzbekistan case," lamented Thongchai Charuppat, director of Thailand's "GeoInformatics and Space Technology Development Agency...

Being a beggar will not be so easy anymore if draft legislation approved by the cabinet yesterday becomes law. The bill proposed by the Human Security and Social Development Ministry sets conditions for people who want to be beggars. They must provide proof they are underprivileged, disabled, homeless or elderly without children to care for them. And this will be a reserved occupation, exclusively for Thais who must carry ID cards. Would-be professional beggars will have to report to local administration organisations for approval and work permits. Local agencies will be responsible for controlling beggars in their jurisdictions, while the...

RAYONG, Thailand (AFP) - General Motors will invest 445 million dollars to build a new diesel engine plant and to upgrade an existing assembly plant in Thailand, chief executive Rick Wagoner said Wednesday. The new plant in the industrial coastal town of Rayong will start production in 2010, with a capacity to produce more than 100,000 engines per year, he said. About 90 percent of the engines will be used in GM's nearby assembly plant, which will be upgraded to produce the new model Chevrolet Colorado small pickup truck, he added.

On his second day in South Korea, President Bush met with President Lee Myung-Bak (Transcript). The two leaders later participated in a joint press conference at Blue House, the presidential residence in Seoul. (Transcript) President Lee: Once again, along with the Korean people, let me extend to you, Mr. President, and to your family our warmest welcome from the bottom of our hearts. Also, I look forward to you and Mrs. Bush to come and visit Korea freely when you have more time, Mr. President. I will always be ready to welcome my real friend whenever you come by....

IN A LITTLE-NOTICED DECISION in a New York courtroom on September 25, 2003, a man described as Osama bin Laden's "best friend" got some good news. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim could not be sentenced to life in prison. Salim--who was present at the founding of al Qaeda in 1989 and who was for years one of bin Laden's most trusted confidants--had been captured in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States for prosecution related to his role in the grand conspiracy that resulted in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

A school in north-east Thailand has introduced toilets for transvestites after a survey showed that more than 200 students saw themselves as transgender, a director said today. Sitisak Sumontha said he believed the 2,600-student Kampang school, in north-eastern Thailand, was the first secondary to introduce unisex toilets. "These students want to be able to go to the restroom in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped," he added. The toilets are designated by a sign depicting a human figure split in half - part man in blue and part woman in red.

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

Excerpt - Fire broke out early Monday and seriously damaged the top floor of the Burmese embassy on Sathorn Road, but there were no injuries, police officials said. They said the fire, which occurred after sunrise, was brought under control within 30 minutes but that there was a significant amount of smoke. The roof of the building collpased during the blaze, prompting officials at the embassy to move their cars out of the area. "The blaze broke out on the top floor, in a room full of documents and filing cabinets," firefighter Niwat Jootawong told a reporter of the AFP...

NEWARK, N.J. - A rare international alert seeking a man shown in dozens of raw child porn images quickly led to the arrest of a small-time actor, who painted faces at children's parties and performed as "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen." Wayne Nelson Corliss told authorities he had sex with three boys in Thailand six years ago, an experience he described as "euphoria," a prosecutor said Thursday at Corliss' first court appearance. The arrest of the bespectacled, gray-haired 58-year-old at his Union City apartment late Wednesday capped a two-day global manhunt, just the second time Interpol has...

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej piqued global interest this week when he suggested the formation of a rice cartel with other producers, a government spokesman said. Rice prices have tripled this year, reaching $1,000 a ton for 100 percent Grade B white rice. The idea came as his deputy and commerce minister proposed a rice producer summit that would include Thailand, Vietnam, India and China. Only India has so far voiced support; it is second to Thailand as the world's largest rice producer.The notion of a rice cartel comes amid skyrocketing food prices that have been...

North Korean Refugees End Hunger Strike April 18, 2008 SEOUL, South Korea -- A group of North Korean refugees being held in Thailand has ended a weeklong hunger strike after the U.S. Embassy promised to speak with them about their request for asylum in the United States, a leader of the group said Friday. But the prospect of the promised interview, set for Wednesday, was thrown into doubt later when the refugee leader said Thai authorities were moving him and 15 other North Koreans from a Bangkok detention center to another facility north of the capital. The leader, who requested...

A luxury hotel treated its top clientele to a tour of a poverty-stricken Thai village on Saturday before dazzling them with a lavish feast. The event, which featured a $300,000, 10-course meal, had been called a tasteless publicity stunt by critics and prompted a boycott by elite chefs. Organizers called it a novel approach to helping the needy. Bangkok’s Lebua hotel, which organized the dinner, is no stranger to publicity. Last year, it put on a spread billed as the meal of a lifetime for $25,000 a head. Early Saturday, the hotel jetted its guests — 35 bankers and corporate...

BANGKOK, Thailand — Female tourists visiting the Thai island of Phuket are going to be given whistles to sound in case of an emergency. The Thai Tourism Ministry announced the move Monday, two days after the murder of a Swedish woman in broad daylight. The whistles are part of a campaign to increase security on Phuket, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations. The Swedish woman, 27-year-old Hanna Charlotta Backlund, was stabbed to death Saturday while taking a walk on Mai Khao beach, on the northern tip of Phuket. Her attacker remains at large. Phuket police Maj. Sathabhorn Sangaunsuk...

A gunman in Thailand shot-dead eight neighbours, including his brother-in-law, after tiring of their karaoke versions of popular songs, including John Denver’s Country Roads. Weenus Chumkamnerd, 52, put his gun to the head of a respected female doctor and seven of her guests as they partied at her home in Songkhla Province, South Thailand. "When I began shooting nobody pleaded for his life because they were all drunk," he said after his arrest. He said he was so furious with their awful singing that he did not notice he had murdered his own brother-in-law. ... Country Roads is a hugely...

BANGKOK, Thailand - The U.S. is seeking the extradition of a suspected Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death," but for now he will remain in Thailand, where authorities are investigating if he used the country as a base to negotiate a weapons deal with terrorists, officials said Friday. Viktor Bout, a 41-year-old whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, is accused of running weapons to al-Qaida, the Taliban and parties involved in bloody conflicts across Africa. He was arrested at a Bangkok hotel after a four-month sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Crickets, caterpillars and grubs are high in protein and minerals and could be an important food source during droughts and other emergencies, according to scientists. "I definitely think they can assist," said German biologist V.B. Meyer-Rochow, who regularly eats insects and wore a T-shirt with a Harlequin longhorn beetle to a U.N.-sponsored conference this month on promoting bugs as a food source. Three dozen scientists from 15 countries gathered in this northern Thailand city, home to several dozen restaurants serving insects and other bugs. Some of their proposals were more down to earth than others. A...

Earthquake

In the countryside, large rodents have become a cash crop It doesn't matter if they are truck drivers or behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz. Once they are on the road from Pathum Thani to Suphan Buri, they know where to stop. Along the side of that road are about 100 small bamboo shelters selling roasted paddy rodents, or pig rats. These small businesses have been growing rapidly to cater to the high demand from clients, regardless of their incomes. "My customers come from everywhere - from truck drivers to Mercedes Benz drivers. I even get foreign tourists during...

At least eight soldiers were killed and seven others seriously injured in a bomb attack by suspected Muslim insurgents in Narathiwat Province on Monday morning, police said. The group of 15 soldiers was attacked when they were patrolling along a road in the province's Janae district. The bomb was detonated by a remote control when the vehicle passed by, police said. Army spokesman Col. Acra Tiproch confirmed the death toll and said an exchange of gunfire took place for about 20 minutes following the explosion. More than 3,000 people have been killed in separatist violence in Buddhist-dominated Thailand's mainly Muslim...

BANGKOK (AFP) - Brutal killings have reached unprecedented levels in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, experts say, as the region enters the fifth year of a separatist insurgency that is tearing communities apart. ADVERTISEMENT A government policy of reconciliation in the region has backfired, analysts told AFP, with rebels beheading, mutilating and even crucifying victims to try to spark a backlash and create divisions between Buddhists and Muslims. "They kill in such brutal ways: beheaded, hacked to death, set on fire ... the idea is to provoke a strong reaction of the Buddhist Thais against Muslims," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand consultant...

BANGKOK - Explosives planted by suspected Muslim militants went off at three locations in southern Narathiwat Province near the Malaysian border early on Monday wounding 27 people, police said. The blasts, at the border town of Sungai Kolok, went off in near succession by parking lots of two hotels and at a discotheque, they said. Two of the blasts came from improvised explosives stashed in fuel tanks of motorcycles abandoned at the parking lots.

A bomb attack wounded 27 people Monday in a Thai tourist town where people had gathered to celebrate the New Year, officials said. Muslim insurgents were suspected in the attack in Sungai Kolok on the border with Malaysia, where two blasts went off inside a hotel discotheque and one in the basket of a motorcycle outside a hotel, army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprote said -snip-

The father of a suspect in the murder of two marines in Narathiwat's Tanyonglimo was shot dead on Thursday in a tea shop. Masusoh Pohtae, 43, was killed in a gun attack while drinking in a tea shop in Tanyongmat subdistrict, police said. Masusoh is the father of Yaya Pohtae, a suspect in the murder to two marines who were beaten to death during a hostage drama in 2005. Yaya was arrested recently. An eye witness said two gunmen riding in the back of a pickup fired AK47 and shotgun rounds into the teashop where Mususoh was drinking with 10...

Islamic insurgents shot, hacked and crucified a Muslim man for cooperating with the military, and then drove home their intimidation attempt by beheading two Buddhist fish sellers. Police said the separatists left a note on the body of the Muslim man, identified as assistant village headman Abdulloh Malohsae of Rueso district, Narathiwat province: "This is what the infidels deserve. The soldier dogs must meet this end." Rebels shot and hacked the man with knives in an apparent attempt to cut off his head. Then they drove six-inch nails through his head, arms and legs to attach him to two pieces...

Viagra on Campaign Trail Meets Stiff Opposition Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics, but one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic - handing out Viagra instead of cash. The allegation, made Thursday by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favors to voters have become stricter than ever, barring even the distribution of free T-shirts and soft drinks. Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power Party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men...

Suspected separatists crucify informant in Thailand's deep South Nov 29, 2007, 3:55 GMT Pattani, Thailand - In a new spate of atrocities in Thailand's troubled deep South, suspected separatists crucified a Thai-Muslim man for being an informant and beheaded two Thai-Buddhists, military sources said Thursday. The body of Thai-Muslim Abdulloh Malohsae, an assistant headman in Rueso district, Narathiwat province, was found Wednesday nailed to a cross with his throat slashed, and a note pinned to his chest reading, 'This is how the running dogs of Thai officials come to an end.' It was the first time separatists had crucified their...

A nonprofit foundation seeks funds to finance the procedure and travel expenses. HERMITAGE, Pa. — A parent's love knows no bounds and, apparently, no international boundaries. Erika Hirschmann's parents are taking her to Thailand for an experimental surgery. In 1996 Erika Hirschmann contracted a virus and went into congestive heart failure. Nine years later she started suffering chest pains, and doctors determined she had pulmonary hypertension — essentially high blood pressure of the lungs that stemmed from her weakened heart. This past April she suffered a stroke and in May more problems with her heart. Now doctors want the 29-year-old...

Suspected militants yesterday shot dead three people in a pickup [truck] in Tambon Talupoh, then booby-trapped the vehicle with a bomb that exploded as police were inspecting it later. PATTANI The four gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire with automatic rifles and handguns, killing Piphat Nisawa-anutharapan, 36, and two female colleagues, Jittree Sitkotchawan and Pakaporn Khunchon, both 28. When police arrived on the scene the bomb was detonated remotely, injuring one officer. The incident was just one in a day of violence in the deep South. A 42-year-old Muslim man was shot dead in front of his Yala home, while...

Thailand+ (AP) - BANGKOK, Nov. 21 (Kyodo)—Four local officials riding in a pickup truck were shot dead by suspected Muslim insurgents in Thailand's restive southern province of Pattani on Wednesday, police said. According to police, the insurgents also hid an explosive device in the pickup and detonated it by remote control when police arrived on the scene, injuring two of them. In neighboring Yala Province on Tuesday night, six people were wounded in a bomb attack at a restaurant, the Thai News Agency reported. Witnesses were quoted as saying the suspected bomber posed as a customer and placed the bomb...

FOCUSED ATTACK: Large-capacity hard disks often used by government agencies were found to contain Trojan horse viruses, Investigation Bureau officials warned Portable hard discs sold locally and produced by US disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology have been found to carry Trojan horse viruses that automatically upload to Beijing Web sites anything the computer user saves on the hard disc, the Investigation Bureau said. Around 1,800 of the portable Maxtor hard discs, produced in Thailand, carried two Trojan horse viruses: autorun.inf and ghost.pif, the bureau under the Ministry of Justice said. The tainted portable hard disc uploads any information saved on the...

Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants Nov. 10, 2007 BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Customs officers said Saturday they have rescued more than 100 pangolins and arrested three men attempting to smuggle the endangered animals to China, where they were destined for the cooking pot. Customs officers Friday intercepted three pick-up trucks of pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which were to be smuggled across Laos to southwest China. The pangolins, worth an estimated one million baht (29,400 dollars), were trapped in the Indonesian jungle and smuggled via Malaysia and southern Thailand. "We investigated and found out that those pangolins are from...

An arrest warrant has been issued for another Canadian man in Thailand, wanted on pedophilia charges. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Marina Wilson told CTV.ca that officials are closely monitoring the situation. "The department is aware of reports that Thai police have issued an arrest warrant for a Canadian citizen," she said from Ottawa. "Due to the Privacy Act, no further information can be released at this time." The allegations stem from the abduction of an 8-year-old boy from the Carrefour Shopping Center in South Pattaya on Oct. 28, reports Thailand's Pattaya City News. The boy was then allegedly taken into the...

Sweden to renew Gripens as Thailand selects Swedish fighter By Graham Warwick Thailand has selected the Saab Gripen multirole fighter as the Swedish air force signs a contract to upgrade its aircraft and fund a demonstrator for the next-generation Gripen. The Thai cabinet has approved the budget to procure 12 Gripen C/Ds and two Saab Erieye airborne early warning aircraft for the Royal Thai Air Force. The Gripens will replace the RTAF's Northrop F-5B/Es. Phase 1 of the two-stage procurement covers six Gripens and one Erieye, and is budgeted at 19,000 billion baht ($600 million) between 2008 and 2012. The...

October 19, 2007: Thailand has decided to replace its aging F-5 fighters with a dozen Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighters. These will cost about $55 million each (with spares, support and training.) The 14 ton JAS-39 is roughly comparable with the latest versions of the F-16. It is also used by Sweden, South Africa, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The first six will be delivered before 2011, the second six will not all arrive until 2017. The slow delivery is because Thailand does not have the money to buy the aircraft all at once. At the same time, two Swedish Erieye...

The Canadian schoolteacher, who became the world's most wanted suspected pedophile was arrested by police Friday in Nakhon Ratchasima Friday. The suspect, Christopher Paul Neil, will be brought to Bangkok later today. The arrest came a few days after the suspect's image was splashed across media reports around the world. Interpol released images of the alleged child molester, which were taken from Internet pictures that had masked the suspect behind a digitally created swirl. Interpol investigators were able to use new technology to alter the image to allegedly resemble the original images, which they then released to the international media....

King undergoes operation BangkokPost.com, Agencies Hospitalised Saturday for treatment of cerebral ischemia, His Majesty the King underwent about eight hours of surgery and related treatment for a blood clot which obstructed the flow of blood to his brain, official Thai News Agency reported. His Majesty was admitted to Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital Saturday for threatment after showing symptoms of loss of strength in the right side of his body, the Royal Household announced. Doctors diagnosed the king, 79, as suffering from lack an inadequate blood supply to the outer part of the left-side of his brain, said the Royal Household in...

Burma peace push starts here United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is to meet with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont next week to begin an Asian voyage to craft strategies for dealing with the Burmese military regime, the foreign ministry announced on Friday. "Gambari will first meet with Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram Monday morning and then with Prime Minister Surayud in the afternoon," ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said. After Thailand, Gambari is to travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan to consult with Asian governments as part of his preparations for a return to Burma some time in November...

A Thai bank is pitching into the battle against HIV/AIDS and handing out condoms to customers too shy to get them at the shop...

The new charter stipulated that the CNS, along with the interim government, would leave office when a new elected government was sworn in. Gen Sonthi said yesterday he stepped down as CNS chief because the position no longer had meaning for him after he retired as army chief at the end of last month. ''It is such a relief to be freed of responsibilities as leader of the CNS,'' he said. It was better to hand the CNS top job over to a member who was still in control of the armed forces, he said. Air force chief ACM Chalit...

The country's top brass seem to have learned nothing from the contempt they drew from the international community for their conduct 19 years ago when Burmese generals put down the popular uprising in 1988. Then Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, as the country's army commander-in-chief, blithely headed a high-ranking delegation to Rangoon shortly after the junta's resort to violence left some 3,000 people dead, and sent hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in Thailand. The visit was tantamount to condoning a military dictatorship elsewhere decried for the excesses against demonstrators. The trade-off? Some kind of arrangement involving Burmese timber and fishery. Not long...

Thousands dead in the massacre of the monksLast updated at 01:05am on 1st October 2007 Comments Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: 'Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.' Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered...