- (
) Thai warrant, global alert for pedophile suspect
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police hunting a Canadian pedophile suspect unmasked by a unique Interpol Internet appeal obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday after a boy accused him of paying for oral sex.Within hours, Interpol said it had also issued its highest form of international alert, a "red notice," for Canadian fugitive Christopher Paul Neil, who fled his teaching post in South Korea last week and is believed to be in Thailand.
Police there said a second Thai teenager had alleged Neil paid him for oral sex in 2003, when he was nine, giving them grounds for an arrest warrant.
"The court just approved the request to arrest this man who paid the boy 200 baht for a blow job at his Bangkok apartment," Major-General Wimol Powin, head of the child crime unit, told Reuters. More>>
- (
) Strong euro brightens prospects for Thai garment exports
Bangkok - Thailand's garment exports are likely to increase 10 per cent next year to 4 billion dollars, boosted by the appreciation of the euro and the implementation of a Thai-Japan free trade agreement, news reports said Saturday. Thai Garments Manufacturers Association president Dej Pathanasethpong said that despite a 4 per cent decline in garment exports during the first eight months of the year to 2.3 billion dollars, the industry was "confident of a brighter future" in 2008, The Nation newspaper reported.
His optimism was based in part on the growth potential of the European market, where the appreciating euro, higher labour costs and shortages in raw materials have forced several plants to shut down.
Garment exports to Japan are expected to grow 30 per cent in 2008 after a Thai-Japan free trade agreement goes into effect soon. More>> - (
) More THAI flights sought for big surge in Russian tourists
Hotel and travel operators are urging Thai Airways International (THAI) to begin direct flights between Bangkok and Saint Petersburg, Russia, to serve growing demand from tourists in Russia and the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent Sates (CIS). . More>> - (
) Oil vendors set to raise prices by at least 40 satang
BANGKOK, Oct 20 (TNA) - Rising oil prices in the world market are expected to force oil traders in Thailand to increase the price of every oil product nationwide by at least 40 satang (0.40 baht) per litre next week, industry sources said.Sources said oil traders in Thailand are being forced to raise their prices by at least 40 satang per litre next week as they could no longer suffer losses. Most oil dealers wanted to increase prices but could not in the past because PTT, Thailand's largest fuel trader, maintained its prices, forcing other dealers to follow suit.
Actions to be taken by traders come as the crude oil price in the Dubai market closed at US$79.5 per barrel Friday while signs that prices would continue to increase appear imminent in response to concerns arising from the Turkish parliament's vote on Wednesday to authorise cross-border military attacks in northern Iraq against Kurdish separatists. More>>