CrazyExpat

Thanks. That brings back great memories! I actually enjoy it. Although friends from years gone by come out of the wood work and people you don't even know well want to be your friend. You should give it a try anyway. It can be fun if done right and you block all the BS posters that crowd your own page.

LOL That would be a smart move on his part wouldn't it?

All Thai staff banned from air traffic office * Published: 19/11/2009 at 12:00 AM * Newspaper section: News Cambodia intensified the diplomatic spat with Thailand yesterday when authorities in Phnom Penh expelled all Thai officials from their offices at Cambodia Air Traffic Services. The order by the Cambodian government came after Phnom Penh filed charges yesterday against Sivarak Chutipong, a Thai engineer working for CATS. "Cambodia has charged him with stealing classified information affecting national security," said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, the secretary to the foreign minister. The Cambodian government ordered Thai nationals working for CATS to immediately leave the company and prohibited them from re-entering until the legal proceedings against Mr Sivarak are completed, Samart Corporation Plc president Watchai Wilailuck said. CATS, a fully owned subsidiary of Bangkok-based Samart, has been granted a 32-year air traffic control concession. The firm employs nine Thai officials at the Cambodian airport, all of them either in management or senior engineering positions. About 200 other staff members are Cambodians. Mr Watchai was told Cambodian authorities would send their own people to operate the company. "We need to follow Cambodia's order and are asking the Thai government to help negotiate with the Cambodian government to solve the problem because it is affecting a private business which has nothing to do with the state dispute," Mr Watchai said. Thailand and Cambodia are signatories to the Investment Protection Agreement to protect each other's private businesses. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the Foreign Ministry has been ordered to look into the problem of CATS. Mr Sivarak was arrested on Nov 12 for allegedly obtaining confidential information about the flight details of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and supplying it to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian government also expelled the embassy's first secretary, Kamrob Palawatwichai and Thailand retaliated with the same measure. The 31-year-old detainee and the Thai Foreign Ministry have denied the accusations. Deputy ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said the ministry was helping to find Mr Sivarak a lawyer. Cambodian law requires his legal representative to be a Cambodian national. "The Thai side still believes in Cambodia's judicial process and hopes Phnom Penh will be fair to Mr Sivarak," Mr Thani said. Thaksin wrote in his Twitter page yesterday he had contacted Cambodian leaders to find ways to help the Thai engineer being detained at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh. "I've been in touch with them. They said they would investigate first and will treat him fairly," he said in his posting. Mr Abhisit refused to comment on the assistance by Thaksin to help secure the release of the engineer and said the government's actions had been helping to improve the situation for Mr Sivarak. But Mr Sivarak's mother, Simarak na Nakhon Phanom, thanked Thaksin for his efforts to help secure the release of her son. Deputy director-general of the Consular Affairs Department Madurapochana Ittarong was helping Mrs Simarak and Mr Sivarak's younger sister to obtain access to him in Phnom Penh. Puea Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh also offered to help in talks with the Cambodian government. Mr Thani said Gen Chavalit's offer was welcome. The latest conflict between the Thai and Cambodian governments started last month when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made Thaksin an economic adviser to himself and to his government. Thailand was offended when Hun Sen said Thaksin's corruption case was politically motivated and refused to hand him over to Bangkok. The fugitive prime minister left the Cambodian capital for Dubai on Saturday. Puea Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan yesterday claimed the Cambodian government had an audio clip of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya ordering Mr Kamrob to seek the flight schedule of the ousted prime minister. But Mr Thani denied the claim. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/27651/cambodia-strains-ties-even-more

BANGKOK — Thai police arrested two men on charges of smuggling African ivory into the country to supply shops that sell jewelry and trinkets, including to customers in the United States, authorities said Tuesday. Police said the arrests were the result of Thai efforts to more strictly enforce wildlife protection laws — amid concerns Thailand has become a hot spot for the illicit ivory trade that is growing in Asia. "Thailand has been criticized for neglecting wildlife trafficking," said Col. Seubsak Chavalviwat, deputy commander of the police's Natural Resources and Environment division. "We had to step up and get more strict on these crimes." Undercover officers purchased ivory from Samart Chokechoyma, 36, and Kanokwan Wongsaroj, 38, and DNA tests showed that it was of African origin, he said. "We have evidence they were selling illegal ivory on the Internet to a customer in the United States," Seubsak said, without giving details. The accused men, arrested Monday, could not be reached for comment. Steve Galster, the director of FREELAND, a group dedicated to stopping the illegal wildlife trade, said the arrests showed authorities were starting to catch up with dealers who have operated with impunity in the region for years. "This was a big success because the Thais have been looking at a lot of ivory coming into this country for the past couple of years," Galster said. But he said the arrested men were just middlemen and police need to find the masterminds. The group TRAFFIC, which also monitors trade in wildlife, said that Thailand has surpassed traditional hotspots like Japan and China in the ivory trade. The British-based conservation group says it has found hundreds of venues from five-star hotels to the popular Chatuchak weekend market in the capital, Bangkok, were selling tens of thousands of items, from pricey carvings of religious deities to cheaper bangles, belt buckles and knife handles. Merchants benefit from loopholes in current laws that make it hard to crack down on the trade. The vast majority of ivory now being sold is illegal, but there is still a small amount of older stock that can be legally resold. Much of the illegal ivory is believed smuggled from central African countries to workshops in Thailand. The products are sold to both locals and foreign tourists, and some are exported to markets in Europe and the United States. Conservationists say the trade in illegal ivory in Asia is growing with several countries reporting major seizures this year. In August, Thai authorities seized about two tons of African ivory worth an estimated $1.5 million at Bangkok's international airport. Three months earlier, Philippine authorities seized 3.5 tons of elephant tusks worth an estimated $2 million that had been transported to Manila from Tanzania, and in March, Vietnamese authorities seized 6.2 tons of higher quality African elephant tusks estimated to be worth more than $29 million at Hai Phong Port. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iRMMWOZJb3O65rYcZEWlNuKYPhaQD9C1BRB00

This should come as no surprise to anyone: The cabinet on Tuesday assigned the Finance Ministry and National Economic and Social Development Board to draft conditions for the auction of Thailand Privilege Cards Co (TPC), operator of the Thailand Elite Card scheme, deputy government spokesman Vachara Kannikar said. Mr Vachara said the intention is for a private firm to take over the scheme, which was launched by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. The drafting of the auction conditions would be done within a month and the auction completed in two months. He said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told the cabinet that some private firms had shown an interest in buying TPC and taking over its debt, on the condition that the government waive visa regulations for card members. If there was no sale of TPC to the private sector in three months, the government would dissolve the company and transfer its membership to the care of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. No new members would be accepted, the spokesman said. The cabinet also assigned the Finance Ministry and TAT to check the status of the existing 2,570 Thailand Elite Card members, since 795 of them were believed to reside in Thailand in contravention of the membership rules. The Thailand Elite Card scheme was launched by the Thaksin government in 2003. The cards promised fast-track immigration, discounts at luxury resorts and golf courses, and many other perks. The scheme was intended to attract the world's weathy and generate high revenue. But after six years, there are only 2,570 members, and the TPC, set up by TAT to run the scheme, had a crippling net loss of 1.4 billion baht. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/160270/thailand-elite-cards-up-for-auction

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday he had no regrets about his handling of the Iran hostage crisis more than 30 years ago, saying he didn't attack the country as his advisers proposed because thousands of people would have died. Islamic militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, and seized its occupants. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days. Carter acknowledged that his failure to bring the hostages home — including a botched rescue mission in which eight U.S. servicemen died — led to his election defeat to President Ronald Reagan in 1980. The hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981, just minutes after Reagan was sworn in as the new president. "I don't have any doubt that was the main factor in my defeat," Carter told reporters in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where he was helping build houses for Habitat for Humanity. "Obviously, if I had rescued the hostages or they had not been taken, I would have been re-elected." Carter said one proposed option was a military strike on Iran, but he chose to stick with negotiations to prevent bloodshed and bring the hostages home safely. "My main advisers insisted that I should attack Iran," he said. "I could have destroyed Iran with my weaponry. But I felt in the process it was likely the hostages' lives would be lost, and I didn't want to kill 20,000 Iranians. So I didn't attack." Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are among 3,000 volunteers from 25 countries working with Habitat for Humanity this week to help build and repair homes along the Mekong River in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Laos. The homes in Cambodia are being built for families currently living in a garbage dump, the ones in Vietnam are for fishermen who now live on their boats, and the project in China involves construction of an apartment building in a part of Sichuan province devastated by a 2008 earthquake. "In an area of the world where many people live in deplorable conditions, we have a chance to help families improve their housing," said Carter, wearing sneakers, jeans and a work shirt. He and his wife spent Monday helping build 82 homes in honor of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who celebrates his 82nd birthday next month. Habitat for Humanity's Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Reckford said the Georgia-based nonprofit group would construct houses for 50,000 families in the Mekong region over the next five years. "This is an area that gets less attention than some other parts of the world," Reckford said. "But if you look at income levels, there are huge numbers of families living at terribly low levels at a dollar a day. There is a huge deficit of decent housing, so it starts with the need." Carter, who spent the morning filling in the foundation cracks of a home, said his experience over the years with Habitat has been a rare chance to work along with some of the world's poorest families. He was joined by several regional celebrities, including Chinese movie star Jet Li and Japanese football legend Hidetoshi Nakata. "This is a wonderful opportunity for me and my wife to break down the barriers that exist between rich people like us and those in need who have never had a decent home," Carter said. "Every year when we have been in a place side-by-side with Habitat families, we have always benefited more than we contributed. We have always come out ahead." Carl Leon-Guerrero, a Delta Airlines customer service supervisor from Nashville, Tennessee, said it was a good feeling to help out. "As a native of Guam, I know what Asian communities go through with the typhoons and monsoons. So it's good to see a concrete home for these families." Since its founding in 1976, Habitat says it has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 homes worldwide, providing simple shelter for 1.5 million people. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6amSbROt_-bARw6kEBDDpi3NZ8wD9C0LJB80

It does not come as a shock to me that the request for extradition for Thaksin has been denied. Now, I have to wonder what will happen when he speaks and when he leaves the country. From VOA: Cambodia has rejected a request for the extradition of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now visiting the Southeast Asian nation. On Wednesday, Thai diplomats presented Cambodian officials with a request to detain and extradite Mr. Thaksin. He arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday, where he has been appointed economic adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodia responded with a diplomatic note rejecting the request. Mr. Thaksin fled Thailand more than a year ago to avoid a two-year jail sentence for corruption. The Cambodian government has said it considers Mr. Thaksin's conviction to be politically motivated. In response to Cambodia's decision, the Thai government has threatened tear up its extradition treaty with Cambodia and to review other joint agreements if Mr. Thaksin is not sent back. Relations between the two neighbors have been strained for more than a year because of a territorial dispute. There are concerns that soured relations between the two neighbors could spill over to a Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting that is being held in Singapore on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. On Thursday, Thaksin is scheduled to deliver a speech to 300 Cambodian economic experts. Cambodian officials have said he will stay in the country for two or three days but is not intending to live there. Following Mr. Thaksin's appointment to the Cambodian government, both Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors. http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-11-voa10.cfm

PHNOM PENH — Ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia to start work as a government economic adviser Tuesday, fuelling tensions between the two countries after a series of border clashes. Thailand vowed to seek the extradition of the fugitive billionaire -- who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006 and is living abroad to avoid corruption charges -- but Cambodia said it would refuse any request. The row has plunged relations between the neighbouring nations to their lowest for years and threatens to cloud weekend talks between Southeast Asian leaders and US President Barack Obama. Thaksin landed in a private jet at Phnom Penh International Airport and was escorted into the capital by a convoy of cars under tight security early Tuesday, said an AFP photographer. Related article: Thaksin visit could push Thailand and Cambodia to war: analysts "Thaksin is here for the economy and no activities related to politics. It is an honour for Cambodia's economic sector and we hope that Cambodians nationwide welcome him warmly," Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan said. Thaksin is due to address 300 Cambodian economics experts in Phnom Penh on Thursday in his first engagement in his new post. Phay Siphan said Thaksin and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen -- who are close friends and occasional golf partners -- shared a welcoming lunch, and then Thaiksin was expected to stay for "two or three days". Thaksin confirmed on his official Twitter account that he had arrived in Phnom Penh, adding that he was "really homesick". "Tonight I will dine with Prime Minister Hun Sen and his family. I want to reiterate that nation, religion and monarchy are always in my mind," Thaksin wrote. Thailand and Cambodia recalled their respective ambassadors last week in the escalating row over Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon and the former owner of Manchester City Football Club. He won two elections and remains a massively influential figure in Thai politics, stirring up mass protests by so-called "Red Shirt" supporters against the government. His presence on Thailand's doorstep is the closest he has come since he last left the kingdom in August 2008, a move that is likely to alarm the shaky government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia remain high following recent deadly skirmishes on their disputed border near Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, which was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in July 2008. Abhisit said Thailand would review its extradition treaty with Cambodia if it failed to comply with Bangkok's request. The Thai foreign ministry said that it was sending the extradition request to the embassy in Phnom Penh late Tuesday and expected to hand the documents to Cambodian officials on Wednesday. Thailand's cabinet also agreed to cancel an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia that was signed during Thaksin's time in power. Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong rejected the extradition threat. "We will not extradite him. We already clarified this case because he is a political victim," Koy Kuong said. Thailand stepped up pressure on Thaksin Monday, accusing him of "violating" the country's revered monarchy after he was quoted in an interview as calling for the reform of royal institutions. The country's royalist "Yellow Shirt" group, which helped bring down Thaksin in 2006 and blockaded Bangkok's airports to oust his allies last year, said it would stage a mass anti-Thaksin protest in Bangkok on Sunday. The visit comes just days before Abhisit is due to chair a summit in Singapore between Obama and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), also Sunday. Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said the Thai-Cambodia row worried ASEAN members. "We are very concerned about this bilateral problem between two fraternal members of ASEAN and we hope they will find a way to reconcile and to act with restraint," Yeo said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHHg7Aihcr1mzqAK3irW--Hf0AcA

Would that not depend on the state?

I saw this and thought it was so funny!

Me too!

I wonder what mom's reaction was? This is all too common in Thailand. I have seen too many guys that inject themselves with silicone and etc to try to enlarge the penis. I think it is the most stupid thing on earth and not sure why they do it other than to place their ladies. I find it gross.

I agree. I am not so sure. I know many hookers in USA that are HIV positive and still have sex with clients. I would not dare estimate but I think the percentages are higher that most would expect.

BANGKOK — About half of Thailand's national lawmakers are taking advantage of a new government plan allowing them to purchase guns at a discount and receive a license to carry them anywhere, an official said Monday. Election campaigns in Thailand's rural areas are sometimes violent, and most campaigns are marked by several deaths, usually of vote canvassers who buy votes for their candidates. The new program was arranged at the request of lawmakers, said Pranee Siridhammakun of the Interior Ministry's Provincial Administration Department The offer was more popular with opposition politicians who cannot rely on police or soldiers for protection, lawmaker Sakda Khongphet of the opposition Puea Thai party was quoted saying by the Bangkok Post newspaper. Between 300 and 400 of the country's 630 legislators have applied under the program, Pranee said. Teachers in the country's deep south in recent years have also been allowed to obtain weapons under similar terms after becoming targets of Muslim separatist insurgents. Some legislators, however, scoffed at the scheme. "I don't agree with this campaign. No matter whether you're an MP from the government or opposition side, there is no need to carry a gun," Sirichoke Sopa of the ruling Democrat Party told The Associated Press. "Carrying guns will cause more crime. As MPs, we should stand for people who solve problems without violence. It's better talking and not using a gun." Pranee said the prices of the guns were not yet fixed and would depend on the quantity purchased. Anant Sriphan, another Puea Thai MP, was quoted by the Post as saying the prices were expected to be "very cheap." http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYZrOLwDWd3PiT5VHtPw1wTPc6qwD9BNDUMG7

I have actually traveled into Burma and enjoyed the people and have great hopes that one day the country will be safe for more travel and free from the government that has suppressed the people. From the New York Times: FANG, Thailand — The heroin and methamphetamine traffickers carry assault weapons and walk briskly through the night, crossing the border in small groups and traveling down a spider’s web of footpaths and dirt roads. So says Ja Saw, a wiry man in his 20s who should know: Two years ago, he was one of them. Mr. Ja Saw spent a year in a Thai prison for trafficking. Now he works as an undercover agent for the Thai military. In his native Myanmar, where he travels periodically to glean intelligence, he is known by another name. “They would kill me immediately if they knew I was a spy,” Mr. Ja Saw, who is from the Wa ethnic group, said in an interview at a remote location several kilometers from the Myanmar border. Thailand’s northern borderland region is ground zero in the country’s efforts to interdict the tons of illicit drugs manufactured in the freewheeling northern reaches of Myanmar. Thailand is also the main international gateway for heroin bound for the streets of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and other major cities in the region, counternarcotics officials said. Sending the drugs through China would be the most geographically direct route to Hong Kong, Tokyo and other points north. But the Thai and United States counternarcotics authorities said they believed that most of the drugs move south through Thailand. “It’s more convenient,” said a senior Thai police official, who estimated that around 90 percent of illicit drugs produced in northern Myanmar come through Thailand, sometimes via Laos or down the Mekong River. He did not want to be quoted by name because of the sensitivity of the topic. Economic development in Thailand has facilitated trafficking, officials said, because evading the police is easier through the growing network of roads leading to Bangkok and places farther south, including Malaysia. The armed ethnic groups in northern Myanmar such as the Wa and Kachin are wary of antagonizing China because of their reliance on the Chinese for cross-border business and, in years past, weapons. “Since the early 1990s, the Chinese have delivered very stern warnings: Send your powder anywhere else but here,” said Michael Black, an expert on the Wa and a security writer for Jane’s Intelligence Review. The ethnic groups, he said, “can’t afford to anger the Chinese.” China stepped up pressure on the Wa to shut down trafficking routes across the mainland in the late 1990s when H.I.V. was identified as a growing problem spread in large part by intravenous heroin users. The illicit drugs produced near the Chinese border take a circuitous route, often shipped down to the southern stronghold of the United Wa State Army, a group that the Thai and American governments say is responsible for the lion’s share of the drug trade in Myanmar. Wa Army camps, perched on hilltops like fortresses from another era, are visible from the Thai side of the border. The drug trade has helped turn the poorly delineated border between Myanmar and Thailand into a treacherous killing zone. An increase in trafficking this year, related to tensions between the Myanmar military and the Wa, has left 15 suspected traffickers dead in the Fang area alone, said Master Sgt. Somsak Taengorn, a member of a plainclothes counternarcotics unit. Some of those killed were wearing Wa Army uniforms, he said. The drugs are often stored near the border and divided into parcels. But traffickers are so worried that the drugs will be pilfered by their competitors that they put them in unusual storage facilities. “Sometimes they dig a hole and bury it,” Sergeant Somsak said. The drug trade here is lucrative, and Sergeant Somsak said many families in otherwise impoverished areas have brand-new pickup trucks and nicely furnished houses made of sturdy materials. Two years ago, Mr. Ja Saw was paid 10,000 baht, about $300, to carry 20,000 methamphetamine tablets, known in Thailand as ya ba, or “crazy drugs.” He dropped off the drugs at a Thai village and was paid on arrival. On his third trafficking run, he was ambushed by the Thai military and arrested. Once delivered to the Thai side, the drugs are sent to Bangkok, to the resort island of Phuket (where yachts are sometimes used to smuggle the drugs to other countries) and to the provinces bordering Malaysia, depending on the final destination. The drugs are shipped using a variety of ruses, some of them creative, some more pedestrian. Often they are packed inside shipments of corn, lettuce or other agricultural goods, Sergeant Somsak and other officials said. In May 2008, Sergeant Somsak helped seize thousands of methamphetamine pills packaged in condoms and hidden in the vaginas of eight hill-tribe women who tried to board a plane for Bangkok before they were arrested. In September, a Taiwanese trafficker was arrested in Thailand with boxes of bicycle pedals stuffed with heroin. The strangest smuggling scheme? Manachai Pongsanae, commander of a checkpoint on a major road in northern Thailand, remembers stopping a woman in her 50s with methamphetamine tablets wrapped in plastic and secreted inside a packet of fermented fish paste. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/world/asia/07thai.html?_r=1

Phuket is the farthermost part of Thailand that I have visited. I love the city and the water. I have not really went below that area because of things like the below. Has anyone actually visited these areas? What is the feel in the air? Is it as dangerous as it sounds? From BBC: So far the wars of the 21st Century have revolved around insurgencies with nameless, faceless and often fearless fighters bombing, shooting and beheading with little care for their own lives. Afghanistan and Pakistan show how difficult and expensive these insurgencies are to counter and how disruptive and divisive they can be even with ill-defined, non-specific objectives. Thailand seems about as far from the Taliban as you can get, yet just a short distance from its golden tourist beaches and paradise islands, an insurgency has been raging for five years. Someone is killed on average every day in the provinces on the country's southern border with Malaysia, where a shadowy group of Islamist extremists are stirring up a deepening sectarian divide. In just five years 3,800 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured. But what they want is not totally clear and no group has ever publically admitted they carried out an attack. They have no links to al-Qaeda and few ties to foreign organisations except perhaps a few cash donations to keep the Islamic extremist message of violence going. Tens of thousands of troops have been deployed, and now civilians appear to be encouraged to take the law into their own hands. Divided communities At the local Buddhist temple at Trohgen village in Pattani province a class is being held for a group of mostly female community volunteers - but this is no religious ceremony. Monthira Peng-Iad, a farmer who has joined a local militia Some of Monthira Peng-Iad's relatives have been killed It is a refresher course to remind them how to clean, maintain and use the shotguns they have been given by the government for their own protection. "It's getting more violent every day," said Monthira Peng-Iad, a 40-year-old farmer. "So many of my relatives have been shot and killed I feel bitter inside. I want to know how to shoot, so I can help people in the village." In a community in which Muslims and Buddhists used to live side-by-side in peace, her rhetoric shows how divisive the insurgency has been. "It's time to fight otherwise all the Thai Buddhists will be killed. We used to be friends and relatives but now we are divided. Now they see all of us as enemies. They kill us." Civilians targeted One human rights group says up to a hundred thousand civilian Buddhists and Muslims have been given guns to "protect" themselves in the three southern provinces of Thailand, but this is a figure the military denies. However many guns there are, the violence doesn't appear to be abating. Map At al-Furquan mosque in Ai Payae village, Narathiwat province, there are more armed men on guard outside than there are inside for afternoon prayers. The group of 18 Muslim men were armed by the government but did not appear particularly well-drilled in weapons safety. They were brought in after an attack on the mosque in June when gunmen opened fire killing ten people and injured 12. Ayu Jeh-Ngoh was shot twice, once in the back and once in the leg as he prayed. He suspects the attackers were from a nearby Buddhist village, taking revenge after a Buddhist was killed in the area. Others in the area suspect a similar thing, but nobody has been charged with the attack and they said the investigation did not appear to be going anywhere. The victims are often civilians, especially teachers, who in the most dangerous areas travel to school on motorbikes in groups with armed soldiers as outriders to protect them. Sukhon Deangchot teaches at a school which has already been bombed once. "We're really worried about our security when going to work. I've no idea who is targeting us," she said. Hearts and minds Tens of thousands of troops are still struggling to contain the violence. Thousands of auxiliaries have been trained and civilians have been armed or given radios and drafted in as spies on neighbourhood watch. Lt Gen Kasikorn Keereesri is the Combined Task Force commander. He is trying all sorts of counter-insurgency tactics to win people over and isolate the bombers. Men pray at mosque with bullet-riddled walls in southern Thailand Schools, mosques and markets have all been targeted "The number of incidents is decreasing, but every time something happens it is more violent and it causes more damage," he said. "The insurgents have started to attack more in big cities now using car bombs which cause more damage inside the city. "Our strategy is that we have to control the insurgents' freedom of movement in the villages. We have to win the hearts and minds of villagers and make them side with us." It is a similar challenge facing American and Nato troops in Afghanistan and it is far from easy, even with their huge resources. Farming courses are run to help poorer people and money is spent on other projects, but there have been human rights abuses carried out by some members of the security forces - something the general accepts has not helped, but says is now being addressed. Both sides are being dragged into the division and instability which the insurgency brings. "My house was burned down, my husband was shot dead, my daughter was shot and my son disappeared," said Kuang Narumon, a 52-year-old Buddhist. "We don't trust each other now," she said with a nervous, fixed smile. "We're separate - not like we used to be." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8344334.stm

A local youth gang from the Huay Yai and Pattaya area have been held responsible for the pack rape of two 16 year old female students who where lured to a remote location by the gang via a deceitful phone call made by a female friend. Pattaya, 7th of November 2009 (PDN): Police recently issued information regarding the pack rape of Ple (fake name) age 16, a student in her 2nd year of a vocational certificate at a local Pattaya college. Ple filed a report on the incident at the Huay Yai Police Station stating that a group of 7 men coerced her down to the forest by using the phone number of a female friend where they proceeded to rape her one at a time after which they left her alone. After only a few days following Ple’s statement, a 2nd girl called Bee (fake name) age 16, now known to be a friend of Ple, also studying a vocational certificate at the same local college, came into the Huay Yai Police Station. Bee filed a similar report saying that around the beginning of September 2009 a group of 23 gang members between the ages of 16-18 pack raped her, in similar circumstances to Ple’s case. Bee informed police that the gang had rapped her on several occasions in a similar location to where Ple described her ordeal taking place. Bee (fake name) further revealed to police that the gang always used the same methods in luring their victims, asking a female friend to call their victim and invite them outside, after which the gang follows the girl and proceeds to pack rape them. The gang is believed to consist of approximately 23 members and their leader is known as “Jo Huay Yai”. The Police have recently arrested 3 boys from the gang known as Pee (fake name) age 16, Ball (fake name) age 17 and M (fake name) age 17. They were discovered hiding in the house of a family member in the Huay Yai region. The 3 teens have admitted to the rape of the 2 girls and have informed police of the existence of the other 20 members; however they did not provide police with names as they claimed to have never known the real names of members also stating that they had separated from the gang several weeks ago. Police Major Phaksuwat Chomthanom has said that detectives have been working solidly for over a month on this case and are close to being able to arrest the other 20 gang members, following the authorisation of various orders. http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000010953

This was an interesting article in the Bangkok Post. I don't think it is a story that is not repeated over and over in LOS. Bangkok Post: From her appearance, Pui, 31, (not her real name) looks like a perfectly normal, healthy Thai woman. But she is actually HIV-positive. By day Ms Pui is a part-time cleaner and a mother to a 16-year-old daughter; by nights, she is a freelance prostitute, working along Sukhumvit Road. She has sold her body for the past eight years. Ms Pui, who keeps her condition a secret from her family and friends, has unprotected sex with customers, even though having sex without a condom is probably how she contracted the disease in the first place. "Now it's too late for me to think what I should have done better in the past. Surely I would do things differently by insisting on a condom. I was careless." A life on the streets was never what she contemplated when Ms Pui left her native village in Loei province in northeastern Thailand about 13 years ago, to look for work in Bangkok. She made the move so she could support herself, her young daughter and her parents. "I'm not the only one who has done it. There are many other girls who left poverty-stricken villages and came to Bangkok looking for a better life, but not all ended as prostitutes or HIV-positive like me. It was not my intention to become a prostitute, but because of a lack of education [she only had six years of schooling], I couldn't get a well-paid job here," she said. "When I came to Bangkok the first time, I was about 18. I could only find an unskilled job in a factory, for 4,500 baht a month. "It was enough then, but as my parents were getting older and my daughter growing up, I needed more money. "I wanted her to be well-educated so she could get a good job, and not end up like me. And the only way to make extra money was to become a prostitute. I started when I was about 23, and I've been doing it ever since," Ms Pui said. "I was definitely infected by a farang, because at that time I only went with them, but now I'll go with anyone, whether they are Arab, African, Japanese or whatever, provided they give me money," she said with the same degree of coolness she displayed during the entire interview. She doesn't know when she was infected, or who did it. "It might have been the first man. Who knows?" she said. Ms Pui goes out looking for customers about 6pm daily, except on Sundays, which she spends with her 16-year-old daughter. Because she is relatively better looking than most of the other women working the streets, she says she can get customers almost every day. "I'll walk or stand on the pavement of Sukhumvit Road between sois 3 and 5, and sometimes sit in open bars. Since Middle Eastern men prefer fat girls to skinny ones, who are in the majority, I usually have no problem finding a customer. "I charge 1,000 baht for a short time and prefer not to use a condom, because it's faster. I can make money easily and go home. I'll take only one customer per day, and if I can't then I'll go home at 11pm. "I can't stay too late because I must get up at 6am to send my daughter to school and then go to work," she said. Ms Pui doesn't show much consideration to her foreign clients and readily agrees to, and even encourages unprotected sex, despite knowing that she might infect not only her customers, but also their wives and girlfriends as well as other prostitutes. Some of her foreign customers, she says, take two or even three women every day. Surprisingly, Ms Pui blames men for the problems she faces, but denies she is seeking revenge by deliberately infecting them. "Most of the men, especially from the Middle East and Africa, won't use a condom. Every man who takes girls from the street should realise the risk of contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. It appears to me that they don't really care, so why should I? I'm HIV-positive, they are not! "The business around Sukhumvit is getting worse for Thai women because of the influx of prostitutes mainly from Uzbekistan and African countries. They'll stand on the pavement the same as we do and approach foreigners who are passing. "This gives us a lot of competition, because many men, especially from the Middle East, like to take them," she complained. "For sure, I'm not the only one who is HIV-positive working on the street. There are others as well." Other street women and transsexuals who are joining them on the street in increasing numbers will have sometimes two or even three customers in one day. "What can I do? I need money now more than ever before. My daughter is a bright student and I want her to continue her studies at a university, so that she can get a well-paid job when she grows up and not end up like me. "She wants to be a doctor, but I doubt that this will be possible because I don't have enough money to give her that kind of education."I also have to take care of my 65-year-old ailing father. My mother died six years ago, when she was 44. She didn't want me to have an abortion; at the time I was only 15-years-old. "The child's father, a 20-year-old Thai man, left me before she was born, and never contacted or supported us. "I haven't had a boyfriend since and I don't think that I want one now. I like to stay alone with my daughter." Ms Pui discovered she was HIV-positive about two years ago after she applied for a manual job with a government agency and was told to have a medical examination before she could start work. "When I saw the result, I was devastated and tore the medical certificate to pieces. I couldn't sleep, eat or do anything for days, and I cried constantly. I thought: 'I am dead.' "I thought that my sick father and daughter would lose their only breadwinner, and it made me miserable and it still does. After the blood test, I didn't contact the government agency. "I couldn't go back and tell them because others would find out sooner or later about my misfortune." It took her a few days to pull herself together and to find a full-time cleaning job with a private company, where she earns 7,500 baht a month, and importantly for her, there was no compulsory medical check-up required. At the same time she returned to Sukhumvit Road, looking for men. "As my income from cleaning is not enough, I have to subsidise it by going with men. There's nothing else for me to do. I have to pay 2,500 baht for a room and utilities, send 2,000 baht monthly to my family and look after my daughter." At Spectrum's request, she went to a city hospital and took a further test, which confirmed the original result. After her first HIV test, a doctor suggested she start taking a cocktail of anti-retroviral drugs. She refused, saying it would result in pimples on her face. "Even now, I'm not taking any medicine or getting treatment. But I'm otherwise healthy, apart for an occasional cold. In fact, I'm getting fat. I now weigh almost 75kg." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/27077/confessions-of-an-hiv-positive-prostitute

Here he comes. PHNOM PENH : Thaksin Shinawatra will visit Cambodia this week after being named the country's economic adviser, Prime Minister Hun Sen says. "Thaksin will be at the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Nov 12, to hold a briefing with more than 300 Cambodian economics experts," Hun Sen said at Phnom Penh International Airport. The visit is likely to increase tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, which have escalated since Wednesday when Cambodia announced the appointment of Thaksin as an adviser to the prime minister and the government. Both countries have since recalled their ambassadors. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said Thailand would seek the extradition of Thaksin if he was on Cambodian soil. The two countries have an extradition agreement. Thaksin was convicted by a Thai court last year for conflict of interest in a property deal, but while on bail he fled into exile overseas. The Foreign Ministry has to identify Thaksin's exact location and then contact the Office of the Attorney-General to start the extradition process. The ministry will use its diplomatic channels to contact the Cambodian government on the extradition. Chief prosecutor for foreign affairs Sirisak Tiyaphan said the OAG would speed up the process if it was contacted by the ministry. But he indicated it could be hard to pin down Thaksin's exact whereabouts. Mr Abhisit said Thaksin's extradition would rest with Cambodia. Hun Sen refused to say exactly when Thaksin would arrive. Cambodia said last week the charges against Thaksin were "politically motivated" and vowed not to extradite him if he travelled to the country. "Please let Thaksin share my burden of boosting the economy of Cambodia," Hun Sen appealed to Thais yesterday. But the Cambodian prime minister also downplayed tensions at the border, announcing the withdrawal of elite paratroopers from disputed territory near Preah Vihear temple. "After examining the situation at the border between Cambodia and Thailand, the situation was quiet," he said. "So I announce the withdrawal of special paratroopers from the area at Preah Vihear temple, and their return to the headquarters. "The implementation will be finished within a week." Hun Sen, however, left open the possibility of shutting the border entirely, responding to a threat made by Thailand last week. "If you want to close, close it. The loss will be mutual," said Hun Sen, pointing out that Thailand had more to lose in terms of border trade profit. "If Thais want to close the border, Cambodia will follow. If Thais close the border, all trade between Cambodia and Thailand will be cut off." Commander Chab Pheakdey, head of the paratrooper unit, refused to divulge the number of soldiers that would be withdrawn. Meanwhile, the Thai cabinet will officially scrap a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia on an overlapping maritime boundary tomorrow, a Foreign Ministry source said. The memo is a framework for officials to negotiate demarcation of the area in the Gulf of Thailand and on joint deals to develop gas and oil there. The end of the agreement does not take immediate effect as Thailand is required to inform Cambodia three months in advance of the decision. Parliament is also debating its response to the row. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/27080/thaksin-schedules-visit-to-cambodia

I am sure that many in Thailand are worried about businesses being affected by the chill between Thailand and Cambodia. I wonder what would happen with the Visa runs? Here is an interesting article in the Bangkok Post: Amid the rising tension after fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's appointment as an economic adviser to Cambodia, Thai businesses are highly concerned about the safety of their people and assets, but they say closing the borders should be a last resort. Thailand's national energy flagship PTT has valuable assets in Cambodia and is monitoring developments closely. Should violence occur, it said its assets in the country would be protected by the Royal Thai Navy. "So far we are in alarm mode since we have facilities worth billions of baht in Cambodia, even though they are located in areas far from conflict," said Kampong Kittitornkul, vice-president for international marketing. PTT has a 50% market share from six service stations and three oil tank farms in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The rest of the market is held by France-based Total. PTT's oil products stored in tanks include jet fuel, petrol, diesel, lubricant and fuel oil used in power plants. The oil tanks are located in Navy areas. "The Thai business community has not seen any impact yet, but we have to be cautious," he said. "Our major concern is if the situation comes to the point of a border closure, whether our business can run as usual or not. We also need to prepare for immediate evacuation if riots break out. "We hope the situation will not lead to violence as happened in 2003. So far, high-ranking officials in Cambodia are still attempting to calm down the local business community." Logistics operators are wary a border closure will hurt not only trade with Cambodia but also within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Sealing border trade with Cambodia affects co-operation to integrate GMS logistics networks. Last month, a trial run trucking goods from the Thai border to Ho Chi Minh City via Cambodia took place successfully, said Yoo Chienuenyongpong, a counsellor to Thai Logistics Alliance Co. Chemical product shipments to factories in southern Vietnam would be affected, said Mr Yoo, also the president of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand. "We should not let politics cause problems for people who are not involved in the dispute," he said. "Vietnam is more important to us than Cambodia in terms of business opportunity. Our counterparts in China are concerned about growing disputes between Thailand and Cambodia because it might further delay our regional economic integration." Land transport takes two nights and three days to reach Ho Chi Minh City from the Thai border, compared with 10 days by sea from Laem Chabang Port to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Thanet Sorat, vice-president of logistics service provider V-Serve Group, said tens of local logistics companies operating at the border and with Vietnam would be affected. "These logistics companies are the second group of casualties after local residents if the disputes intensify and lead to border closure," Mr Thanet said. "I think the issue should not be blown up to become a national agenda item to minimise the damage for the sake of the people and the business sector." The Commerce Ministry is calling on people and business operators of both nations not to panic, as Thai trade officials and commercial counsellors in Cambodia have not been recalled yet even though the two countries' ambassadors have left their posts. Border trade represents up to 80% of trade between the countries worth at least 50 billion baht a year. Traditionally, commercial ministers are not recalled as the recall of Thailand's ambassador to Cambodia is strong enough to show the kingdom's disapproval with Hun Sen's embrace of Mr Thaksin. Commerce permanent secretary Yanyong Phuangrach said that during emergencies, all Thai trade officials are told to be ready to help Thais doing business in Cambodia. http://bangkokpost.com/business/economics/27015/businesses-wary-of-border-closure

BANGKOK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's auction of long-awaited third-generation mobile phone licences could be delayed to February as the documentation process may take longer than planned, a regulatory official said on Friday. "The appropriate timimg should be late January or early February," Settaporn Kusripitak, one of the members of the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC), told Reuters. The NTC had planned to hold the 3G auction in the middle of December. But it is holding a second public hearing on the draft terms for the auction on Nov. 12, and Settaporn said it should then take around 45-60 days for interested operators to prepare documents, rather than the 30 days previously announced. Licensing is seen as a key step in reforming the sector because companies will pay licence fees instead of paying a portion of their revenue to state-owned firms for the right to operate networks they built and paid for themselves, as they do now. The auctions are expected to generate around $1.2 billion for the state. Telecoms operators are keen to receive 3G licences on the new 2.1 GHz spectrum, which analysts said should reduce their regulatory costs. Among them are top mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) ADVA.BK, second-ranked Total Access Communication PCL (TAC) DTAC.BK (TACC.SI) and number three True Move, a subsidiary of True Corp TRUE.BK. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSBKK41990820091030

With all the issues that the counties have with each other is something like the EU EVER even possible? From the Bangkok Post: Asia's moves toward an EU-style community covering half the world's population have sparked a backroom power play led by the United States, China and Japan, diplomats and analysts said Monday. Leaders at a summit of 16 nations meeting in Thailand at the weekend heard the prime ministers of Australia and Japan set out competing visions for a regional bloc that would boost Asia's global clout. But beneath the talk of unity and the "Asian Century" lie intense diplomatic manoeuvrings, with countries desperate to avoid being marginalised in a new regional framework that could still be years off. "The waters may be calm on the surface, but the undercurrent is sometimes turbulent," a veteran Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP after the summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin. A central question is the role that the United States and China would play in any future grouping. "Some countries want the United States to be part of a future regional framework as a counterbalance to China's influence," the diplomat said, asking not to be named. Japanese premier Yukio Hatoyama, who pushed his plan at the summit for an East Asian community that could "lead the world", would not be drawn on the extent of proposed US involvement despite Tokyo's close ties to Washington. But Australian leader Kevin Rudd's vision for an Asia-Pacific Community by 2020 explicitly includes Washington. "Whether we like it or not, I think we could not avoid a US role because the US is a big country which has powers both in economic and security matters," said Chaiwat Khamchoo, an analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "Some countries in the region are suspicious of each other so they want the US to play a role." After the distractions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has only recently re-engaged with the region, particularly in Southeast Asia where Washington's hard line on military-ruled Burma kept it at a distance. With Japan kept busy by its economic woes, China has boosted its influence across the region in recent years, signing a free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). India has tried to play catch-up, belatedly signing its own trade pact with the bloc. Russia has meanwhile applied to join the East Asia Summit, this weekend's meeting which groups Asean with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. But next month US President Barack Obama will hold the first ever summit with Asean leaders, as well as attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore. Earlier this year US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the "US is back in Southeast Asia". Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an interview with the Bangkok Post published Monday that any future Asia-wide community "must engage" with the United States. "We should see to what extent we can integrate them (the United States) into the East Asian Community," he said. And while the big players jockey for position, Asean itself is trying to stay in the driving seat of any new grouping. This is based on the fact that it already hosts the main annual meetings with the region's major powers, especially the East Asia Summit. But Asian leaders did appear to agree at this weekend's summit that they need some new framework to hold together their diverse and sometimes fractious region. A closer community would help Asia capitalise on its relatively quick recovery from the global economic crisis and to cut its dependence on the West to drive growth, they said. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his closing remarks to the summit on Sunday that the "old growth model" in which Asia relies on consumption in the West "will no longer serve us as we move into the future." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/158170/asian-nations-jostle-for-power-in-eu-style-bloc

Do you think this has the ability to escalate things to even further problems along the border? From the Bangkok Post: The problem caused by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's comments was not serious enough for Thailand to sever ties with Phnom Penh and will not have any adverse effects on the 15th Asean Summit, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday. After arriving at Hua Hin Airport to attend the15th Asean Summit on Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters that he would welcome fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Cambodia, would deny extradition and would appoint him as his economic adviser. Asked whether Thailand would seek Thaksin's extradition, Mr Abhisit said it was still uncertain whether the fugitive former prime minister would really be staying in Cambodia. He earlier asked Phnom Penh to reconsider. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's secretary, Chawanon Intharakomansut, said the Foreign Ministry had not asked the government to consider downgrading diplomatic ties with Cambodia in response to Mr Hun Sen's statements. "We'll observe Cambodia's reaction now that Prime Minister Abhisit has called on the Cambodian premier to reconsider this issue carefully and focus on bilateral ties and benefits to both countries instead of one person's personal interests. "The Thai government would look for new ways to bring Thaksin back to Thailand if the Cambodian government refuses to extradite him," he said. Three senators on MOnday called for Prime Minister Abhisit to issue a formal response to the Cambodian leader‘s “unethical” action in using the regional summit to show his personal support for Thaksin. Senators Paiboon Nititawan, Khamnoon Sithisamarn and Sumon Sutaviriya said at a press conference that the prime minister's verbal responses were not enough. He should also issue a formal statement on the Cambodian prime minister's unethical use of the international forum in Hua Hin. Mr Khamnoon said Mr Abhisit's statement should adhere to diplomatic principles but at the same time clearly show Thailand's standpoint regarding Thaksin. He urged the government to announce an indefinite delay of parliament's consideration of three memoranda of understanding on Thai-Cambodian border talks over the 4.6-square-kilometre area in dispute around the Preah Vihear temple, as required by Article 190 of the constitution, to show its dissatisfaction with the Cambodian leader. Mr Khamnoon said most people were very unhappy with the Cambodian premier’s announced stance, which had sowed the seeds of conflict between the Thai and Cambodian people. Therefore, the prime minister should counter Mr Hun Sen's action with a formal statement.. Mr Paiboon called on the government to adopt a tough policy with Cambodia and give more importance to national integrity and existence than to trivial economic interests. Burmese people in Thailand were very displeased that Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen likened his friend Thaksin with the plight of their arrested democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, by saying they were both victims of political persecution. His comment caused a group of Burmese politicians, students and villagers to gather near the Burmese border in Tak's Mae Sot district on Monday morning. "Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 14 years, is an unconditional fighter for democracy, has never thought of fleeing the country and is not fighting for her personal interests. She cannot be compared with Thaksin," a Burmese student said. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/158180/hun-sen-words-linger

I found this story in the Bangkok post very interesting. I wonder how they plan to monitor this? What mechanisms are in place? Is this easily done for him? Others? All? The government plans to closely monitor the SMS messages that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra plans to send directly to his supporters, to see whether they represent a threat to national security, Prime Minister's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey said on Monday. Mr Sathit admitted it was not easy to control text messaging. The government would also check the programme content of satellite broadcaster PTV, operated by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), following complaints that the programmes gives misleading information. The political movement backing the fugitive politician was getting more vigorous, he said. He pointed to Thaksin's use of a leader of a neighbouring country to pressure the government last week, and the stress it caused. Last Wednesday, Puea Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh paid a one-day visit to Phnom Penh and met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. He said latern that Hun Sen was willing to host Thaksin if he wished to stay in Cambodia. Gen Chavalit said Mr Hun Sen was full of praise for Thaksin and expressed sympathy for the "political injustice" he suffered in Thailand. On arrival in Thailand on Friday to attend the Asean summit, the Cambodian leader said Thaksin was welcome to serve as his economic adviser and his government would not allow his extradition to Thailand. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/158150/govt-to-closely-monitor-thaksin-moves

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - Asian leaders expressed rare optimism in Myanmar's junta on Sunday, from hopes of stability on its volatile northern border to signs of softening attitude towards detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. After talks with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein during a summit of 16 Asia-Pacific nations over the weekend, Asian leaders said the reclusive state acknowledged it needed to show the world it can hold free elections. The sentencing of opposition leader Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner detained for 14 of the last 20 years, to a further 18 months of detention in August has raised questions over whether next year's election will be a sham. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Myanmar told the meetings Suu Kyi might be able to participate in society and possibly politics again, though no timeframe was given. "He briefed us on some of the dialogue that is taking place and he feels optimistic that she can contribute also to the process of national reconciliation," Abhisit said of talks with the Myanmar leader in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. Next year's elections will be the first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party scored a landslide victory that the ruling junta refused to recognise. Military rulers of the former Burma have been on a recent charm offensive, allowing Suu Kyi to meet with Western diplomats this month to discuss Western sanctions and opening the door to more contact with U.S. government officials. The comments come a day after Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama quoted Myanmar's leader as saying if Suu Kyi maintained "a good attitude" it was possible Myanmar authorities will relax current measures. Myanmar's prime minister "recognises full well that the rest of the world expects to see elections as inclusive as possible," Abhisit told a news conference. That view was generally echoed by other Asian leaders. "There was an atmosphere of hope that the Myanmar leadership is moving toward normalising its relations with the United States, that they were working towards national reconciliation," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "That's what we all welcome, that next year's election should see a reconciliation of the various segments of Myanmar society," Singh told a separate news conference. BORDER STABILITY The United States will send a fact-finding delegation to Myanmar this week as part of an exploratory dialogue with the junta, following the Obama administration's announcement in September it would pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar's military rulers to try to spur democratic reform. China's premier also expressed confidence in his southern neighbour after meeting with Thein Sein, saying he expected Myanmar will keep the peace on its border after violence pushed thousands of refugees into China in August. China's Wen Jiabao also pledged more financial aid to Myanmar, according to a Chinese state media report of the closed-door talks. China's Xinhua state news agency said Wen believed Myanmar "could properly handle problems and safeguard peace and stability in the China-Myanmar border region" after the two met on the sidelines of a summit of 16 Asia-Pacific leaders. In August, Myanmar's army overran Kokang, a territory that lies along the border with the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan and was controlled for years by an ethnic Chinese militia that paid little heed to the central government. Many of the refugees were ethnic Chinese, some of them Chinese citizens, who complained their houses and businesses had been sacked and looted during the violence. Last month, China rapped the former Burma over the violence, demanding the government protect Chinese citizens and make sure such incidents did not happen again. But relations appear to be improving again. "To develop good neighbourly China-Myanmar relations with mutually beneficial cooperation conforms with the fundamental interests of the two countries and will be conducive to regional peace and stability," Wen told Thein Sein, Xinhua said. Myanmar's prime minister last month visited the U.N. General Assembly for the first time in 16 years to promote next year's elections, part of the junta's recent charm offensive. (Additional reporting by Martin Petty and John Ruwitch; Editing by Jeremy Laurence) http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43417820091025?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0