Thailand News Today | Land bridge project, “Thai Bridge”, Chaing Mai black widow | October 12

Daily Thai TV News, with all the latest updates. Posted around 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Protest leader says activists “in it for the long haul”

Human rights lawyer and protest leader, Arnon Nampa, says political activists seeking to oust the current Thai government are “in it for the long haul”.

The leader of the People’s Group (formerly the Free People movement) says protesters will gather at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on this Wednesday before proceeding to, as they say it, surround Government House. There, he says they will set up camp, possibly for at least a month, to maintain pressure on PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign.

There has been no response from government officials or police about the group’s proposed ‘camping’ campaign.

Speaking at another anti-government rally in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Arnon said his group’s finances are now strong enough to support a sustained gathering at Government House.

Meanwhile, Thammasat university students are asking that classes be cancelled for 3 days so students can take part in the rallies.

Government refloats the idea of a land bridge

Now today’s main story, and the deputy government spokeswoman says the government is still mulling the idea of a land bridge between the southern provinces of Ranong and Chumphon. The project would connect the Gulf of Thailand directly with the Andaman Sea, to better connect Middle Eastern and European oil producers with importers and manufacturers in Japan, South Korea and China.

Currently shipping from the two parts of the world needs to detour down the Mallacca Straits and swing around Singapore before continuing their journeys northward again. The land bridge would provide a more direct route but needs infrastructure for cargo to pass across the Malay Peninsula, aka. the Isthmus of Kra.

The land bridge would consist of a 130 kilometre motorway and a 2-track railway between the provinces of Chumphon and Ranong. These would connect deep-sea ports in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, reducing the current shipping travel time via Singapore, by 2 days.

The land bridge is a replacement proposal for the much-discussed Kra Canal which would have been a canal cutting across the Peninsula from around Krabi to the Gulf of Thailand, much like the Panama Canal.

The Pattaya to Hua Hin bridge. Government discusses 900 billion baht investment

The reviving of the proposal comes not he same day a new “Thai Bridge” is being floated that would connect Pattaya to Hua Hin, an estimated 900 billion baht investment.

The bridge would join other Eastern Economic Corridor mega-projects, like the high speed rail that will link the major airports in Bangkok… Don Mueang Airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport and U-Tapao Airport (south of Pattaya).

The around 100 kilometre bridge would connect Pattaya (actually likely to be just south of Pattaya in Sattahip),to Hua Hin , and would more broadly connect Chon Buri to many provinces in the South.

Chiang Mai woman arrested for allegedly hiring hitman to kill her ex-husband

A 63 year old Chiang Mai woman has been arrested for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband because she wanted his life insurance payout.

The woman is also being investigated for her alleged involvement in 6 other possible murders after a number of people died after being poisoned, and the same woman received payouts from their life insurance policies as well. Sort of incriminating evidence really.

Police say that the woman’s 58 year old deceased husband was killed last week. His neck and face had been slashed. The alleged hitman, a 48 year old, confessed to the murder. Now the woman has confessed to police she didn’t want her ex-husband to die, she just wanted him to be hurt really bad.

Another 6 men have been poisoned where the same woman was listed as a beneficiary for the deceased mens’ life insurance policies.

Woman arrested for allegedly scamming 500 Burmese workers, promising visa extensions

A Thai woman has been arrested after allegedly promising more than 500 Burmese workers that she could extend their visas.

After collecting a total of more 6 million baht from the workers for her apparent “services”, the more than 500 workers filed a report with police after the woman allegedly falsely advertised that she could issue the Burmese migrants new passports and visa extensions.

The Burmese workers paid 19,600 baht for the services, according to Thai media. The hundreds of workers say their visas were not extended and they did not receive their new passports.

The woman’s husband is a police officer, but says he has nothing to do with his wife’s alleged crimes.

Thai Airways seeks to conserve finances by offering unpaid leave, early retirement

Thailand’s long-suffering national carrier is trying to slash even more costs by offering staff early retirement or unpaid leave to remaining staff.

The national airlines’ acting president says 80% of the airline’s employees have agreed to salary cuts and unpaid leave, adding that their support means the company can survive until the end of the year. However, he points out that, without taking further steps, the airline is unlikely to survive 2021, particularly with the Covid-19 pandemic showing no signs of abating.

Broken railway crossing signal contributed to fatal bus-train collision

A broken crossing signal led to the fatal collision yesterday where a charter bus collided with a cargo train. The incident killed 18 bus passengers and injuring 44.

The bus was carrying dozens of factory workers to a Buddhist merit-making ceremony when it crossed the railway track and was struck by the freight train. The bus was found overturned, laying on its side with part of the roof ripped off.