“Basically, WHO experts are of the opinion that Thai authorities are proceeding in accordance with principles and standard procedures,” Dr Surasing Wisarutrat, deputy chief of Chiang Mai’s public health office, said yesterday.

He added that WHO experts had also suggested that the investigation focus on three likely causes: infection, chemicals and environment.

“We were planning to do that anyway,” he added.

Sarah Carter, 23, a tourist from New Zealand, died mysteriously in her room at the Downtown Inn Hotel in Chiang Mai in February.

Later, in an episode of the “60 Minutes” television programme broadcast in New Zealand, it was suggested that chlorpyrifos chemical spray, usually used to kill bedbugs, might have been responsible for the mysterious death of seven tourists at the hotel.

On Thursday, Chiang Mai Governor Panadda Diskul and officials from health agencies had invited foreign envoys to listen to clarifications and updates on the case.

Surasing said yesterday: “We have been handling the case transparently. We have recruited the help of several agencies. We will try to determine the cause of her [Carter's] death as soon as possible.”

He said a news conference would be held as soon as there was substantial progress.

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Zoo director Tanapattara Pongpamorn said yesterday the project was worth the investment and strictly adheres to international animal welfare guidelines.

Under the project, the zoo will import a pair of polar bears and some king penguins from foreign zoos. The polar animals will be kept in a 71 million baht enclosure, which is now 30% complete. Work will continue on the 2,909-square metre enclosure over the next two years.

The zoo anticipates that the enclosure will boost visitor numbers by half.

Mr Tanapattara dismissed environmentalists’ concerns that conditions at the zoo will harm the polar animals.

“We have done everything to follow the Association of Zoo and Aquarium’s guidelines, especially on natural habitats,” said Mr Tanapattara.

“We have a life support system in case of emergencies, together with plans to reduce the animals’ stress in a new environment.”

The zoo has been negotiating with zoos in Russia and Canada as well as Safari World in Bangkok, where four polar bears are kept.

Mr Tanapattara said he would make sure the polar animals chosen for the zoo were born in captivity, as they would adapt to the new environment easily.

Environmentalists are also worried about the amount of electricity required to run the air-conditioned enclosure.

Mr Tanapattara said the electricity bill would be around 200,000 baht a month.

Veterinarian Kannikar Nimtragul, who will look after the polar bears, said the project is part of an attempt to save the species from extinction, as their natural habitat is threatened by climate change.

Meanwhile, a group of wildlife activists and members of the public gathered at Chiang Mai Zoo yesterday to protest the project.

They handed a petition to the zoo director, urging him to scrap the project, which they said violates animal rights.

Nikom Phutta, secretary-general of the Thai Wildlife Protection Network, said polar bears living in confined spaces are prone to suffer from depression.

The temperature of 18-22 degrees inside the enclosure would be too hot for the animals, which normally live in freezing conditions.

“Polar bears in a Singaporean zoo have reportedly developed heat stress,” he said.

Mr Nikom urged the zoo to abolish the polar animal project and invest the money in wildlife conservation.

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The long-stay market is a strong niche and it would improve tourism revenue in the province after political protests last year.

“Cultural tourism has been promoted for a long time, but competition in the field is intense. Many other provinces have attractive Songkran celebrations,” said chamber president Narong Kongprasert.

The chamber reported that local tourism declined following political protests by supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra last April and May, But the incidents took place in a limited area and did not tarnish the province.

“It’s time to refocus our strength,” said Mr Narong. “We are confident that Chiang Mai is still a tranquil place with nice weather and perfect to be a second home.”

Living expenses in Chiang Mai are lower than Bangkok, while its low crime rate is another advantage.

The province is a long-stay hub for foreigners, especially Japanese. About 3,000 Japanese are long-stayers and have a close community through the Thailand-Japan Longstay Association.

Many Japanese stay in Chiang Mai for about one month on their first visit to see whether they can adjust to the local environment. Once they like the place, their second stay is usually three to five months. Their average spending is 30,000 baht a month, providing revenue of more than 1 billion baht to Chiang Mai each year.

“We expect to welcome more Japanese elderly in years to come. Once the number rises to 10,000, it means the province gets revenue up to 4 billion baht, much the same it earns from selling longan for the entire year,” Mr Narong said.

At least 800,000 Japanese retire every year and many choose to have a lengthy stay abroad.

The Japanese consulate in Chiang Mai revealed at a recent seminar that over the past decade the number of retired Japanese who had moved to find a second home overseas had increased by 38%. About 360,000 chose Asian destinations, up from 200,000 10 years ago, with 80% deciding to reside in Thailand.

The consulate estimates that several million Japanese will retire in the next three years and they will be high-quality tourists with high purchasing power.

Mr Narong expects Japanese long-stayers to increase by 10-15% next year as the recent natural disasters may drive people to stay out of the country longer.

The chamber has teamed with hotels and serviced apartments to renovate and reserve about 10% of their rooms or a whole floor for long-stayers, who also include retirees from Scandinavia.

“Local developers have shown good support for the project and it is estimated that there are 2,000 rooms available for new long-stayers,” Mr Narong said.

Government agencies such as the Tourism and Sports Ministry also supported the project with a plan to launch a retirement school to provide classes such as Thai cooking, Thai massage and planting vegetables for the elderly.

These might not be enough if Thailand wants to compete with Malaysia’s long-stay campaign.

The “Malaysia’s My Second Home” programme offers a 10-year residency permit and permission to buy property. In Thailand, long-stayers get a one-year visa and have to renew it every year. “Despite Thailand’s reputation for warm hospitality, I think there are many things the government must do to improve competitiveness,” he said.

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Thanet Charoenmuang, a political science lecturer at Chiang Mai University, told a seminar organised by King Prajadhipok’s Institute yesterday that making governors electable will ease social and political rifts.

Bangkok and Pattaya, which are special administrative zones, have an elected city chief, but in all other provinces, governors are chosen by the Interior Ministry.

Mr Thanet said making governors electable would speed up moves to decentralise power.

Mr Thanet said frequent reshuffles of provincial governors appointed by the ministry bars those appointed from solving complicated problems.

In Chiang Mai, the province’s traffic congestion problem has not been properly addressed because the province’s governor has been changed too often, he said.

Gen Ekkachai Sriwilas, director of the institute’s Office of Peace and Governance, said elections for governor could be first held in provinces that are close to Bangkok, such as Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani or Nonthaburi.

Former Bangkok governor candidate Kriengsak Charoenwongsak said the civic sector should be given a role monitoring the work of elected provincial governors if the proposal comes to pass.

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Wanlop Phithiphrom, 26, was arrested in Bangkok late on Sunday night and police said on Tuesday he had confessed to having fired grenades from an M79 launcher at three places in Chiang Mai.

He denied launching a grenade at the construction company owned by Khanaen Supha, the father-in-law of Newin Chidchob, the Bhumjaithai Party’s de facto leader, in Chiang Mai. The company’s building was hit by a grenade on Sept 12.

Mr Wanlop allegedly told police investigators a former soldier nicknamed Pe fired the grenade at the company.

He said he was too short to fire the grenade at the target successfully, according to police, and so he pointed out the target to Pe.

Chiang Mai police chief Somsak Chanthaphing said yesterday he could not discuss details of the other suspects who face arrest. Police want to take two to three more suspects in for questioning.

They said Mr Wanlop was linked to 11 men detained early last month at a resort in Mae On district, Chiang Mai, on suspicions they were training in preparation to launch violent acts and political assassinations.

Mr Wanlop was taken to Chiang Mai yesterday for a re-enactment of the attack on Mr Khanaen’s office.

Pol Maj Gen Somsak said Mr Wanlop is thought to have carried out other grenade attacks in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

He allegedly confessed to carrying out attacks on the Chiang Mai branch of the Makro hypermarket, Nanuwat furniture factory in Hang Dong district, and the 5th Special Warfare Division at the Khun Nen military base in Mae Rim district.

Four other suspects have been arrested following the police search of Mr Wanlop’s house in Bangkok after his arrest on Sunday.

National police chief Wichean Potephosree said yesterday he believed the four suspects were probably linked to other bomb attacks, including the powerful blast at Saman Metta Mansion in Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district on Oct 5 which killed four people including the suspected bomb-maker.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry will set aside one million baht from its Justice Fund for use as bail for more red shirt supporters who were arrested in connection with the April-May rallies.

The fund previously earmarked 4 million baht as bail money following a request for help by 48 detained red shirt supporters. However, only three of the initial 11 who submitted bail applications were granted bail, said Suwana Suwannajutha, the director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department.

Four more red shirt suspects who are expected to file a bail application today are Rathasat Somphong, Songchai Palakawong na Ayutthaya, Nikorn Srikhamma, and Suchit Intharachai.

They were detained on charges of violating the emergency decree. Mr Rathasat and Mr Songchai will submit their bail applications in Bangkok and the other two in Chiang Mai.

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Original Story Here

Pol Maj Gen Chaiya Siriampankul, acting commissioner of the north’s Police Region 5 has so far confirmed the arrests but given no more details.

It is understood that the alarm was raised by a village head man, who reported that a man asked him for directions while acting suspiciously.

Unconfirmed reports state that the man fled the training group having been beaten, saying that the group had been at the resort for almost a month, following weapons training near the Cambodian border.

Editor’s Note: The heavily wooded area of Mae On lies a few kilometers further from Chiang Mai city than Sankampaeng, the home and business base of self-exiled former Prime Minister Taksin Shinawat, whom many red shirt demonstrators claim as their leader.

he title ‘Mom Luang’ signifies that he is Royally related, and is known to be a strong critic of Chiang Mai-born former prime Minister Taksin Shinawat, now living in self-appointed exile
with a 2 year jail sentence for corruption hanging over his head.

Meanwhile, one of the senior officers behind the 2006 coup which deposed Taksin, General Prayuth Chanocha, started work yesterday as Army chief, vowing to protect the Monarchy.

I will ensure that the Army’s capability will be developed completely
to serve its main purpose of protecting the country’s sovereignty and
the Monarchy”

he told junior officers and media.

Editor’s Note: Governors of Thailand’s 76 Provinces are appointed by the central government, while city Mayors are elected. The Mayor of Chiang Mai city is generally felt to favour former PM Taksin and tacitly support the anti-government “red shirt” movement.

Now the sky and the elegant golden stupas of Buddhist temples can be seen and enjoyed in Thapae Road, the main thoroughfare between the River Ping and the old walled city.

At long last, all the cables were buried in pre-prepared conduits last weekend.

The policy of the City Council is to steadily continue this process, in and around the central square of the city, so tourists will be able to photograph important sights, unobscured by festoons of the hated cables which have become known locally as ‘black spaghetti’.

Some demonstrators drove for 10 hours from Bangkok in a 50 car convoy, and brought banners to mark the 90 deaths and 2,000 injuries which took place in confrontations with the Army and police in the capital earlier this year.

The crowds gathered at the central Three Kings Monument but did not visit the busy Sunday Walking Street nearby, which was packed with tourists. Five companies of riot police were on watch and the crowds moved steadily to a sports stadium on the other side of the River Ping.

Editor’s Note: The 2006 coup installed the current government of British-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva after former premier Taksin Shinawat fled the country to avoid a 2 year jail sentence for corruption. Many Red Shirt protesters claim Taksin as their leader, but he declined to give a speech to the gathering from his unknown refuge.

Now the Minister wants to virtually double the budget to cover “infrastructure, interiors, public areas and protection from insects.” Building began 43 days late stated Chumpol, without giving a reason, and some work could not begin because architects’ designs did not match blueprints.

Intended to open in September, the Centre “could even be completed by next year” Chumpol was quoted as saying by ‘The Nation.’ Owners of the building, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, will have to pay fines of 6 million baht a month for each month of delay after September.

Editor’s Note: For residents of a city that coped for over 2 years with 2 partially completed, major under-passes on the Superhighway, this news will come as no surprise. At least there seems no risk of TAT going bust, like one of the under-pass contractors.