ANIMAL WELFARE
Group vows to block export of elephants to zoo Down Under
Kanchanaburi Conservation Group yesterday vowed to oppose the Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO)'s plan to export eight elephants to an Australian zoo, accusing officials of breaching wildlife-protection laws as the group suspects some of the elephants were captured in the wild.
Pinan Chotiroseranee, chairwoman of the group, said the elephants had been transported by trucks to Bangkok airport yesterday from Mahidol University's animal hospital in Kanchanaburi. She suspected they would be flown to Australia today. "If the deal to export the elephants is clean, why do it in a hurry and in secret?" Pinan asked. "We urged the authorities to test the DNA of the elephants so see if they had been taken from the wild, but we had no response." Pinan said wild elephants were protected and to export them was against the law and the group planned to do anything to block the flight. She did not reveal the group's plans. No one was available from the ZPO to comment. - The Nation. ----------------------------------------------------- CRIME: Ex-MP murders wife, kills himself A high-profile Surat Thani businessman and former MP killed his wife and then himself in front of their three-year-old daughter, police said yesterday. The bodies of Bundit Wongchareon, 54, and his wife Kanta Wongchareon, 39, a fortune-teller, were found in the bedroom of their residence in Muang district at about 8.45am yesterday. Their three-year-old daughter slept in the same room. Both had had been shot in the head and had been dead for at least six hours when police found them. Investigators said the apparent murder-suicide had probably been preceded by a quarrel, possibly over financial problems or suspicions of infidelity. Bundit, a former Surat Thani MP, was in the construction and shrimp-farming businesses. His uncle, Yongyuth Wongchareon, is a former mayor of Surat Thani city. - The Nation. ----------------------------------------------------- AVIATION: Emergency landing for Thai flight A Thai Airways flight from Colombo to Bangkok made an emergency landing yesterday at Sri Lanka's international airport shortly after take-off, THAI Bangkok office said. Pilots of TG 320 flight, carrying more than 225 passengers, decided to return to Colombo Airport at about 7am Colombo time after the warning lights indicating a fuel leak started flashing just a few minutes after taking off. After landing, mechanics said the problem could not be fixed. Therefore, the passengers were moved to board a Cathay Pacific flight back to Bangkok, said the THAI office. - The Nation. ----------------------------------------------------- SHOPPING: Somkid launches low-cost markets To help consumers hit by rising living costs, the government yesterday opened "Blue Flag Markets" selling discounted commodities in all 76 provinces across the country. Caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak kicked off the campaign at Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok, saying the markets would be held on the first weekend of every month. People flocked in to buy the household goods, food and hand tools marked down 20-40 per cent - especially rice, sugar and eggs - and prepared dishes priced at Bt10. Somkid also presided over the launch of a 10-truck caravan carrying relief supplies to the five flood-stricken provinces in the North. - The Nation.
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