Ekachai admitted that he was wrong in thinking that Suriya Songwit, the head of the panel probing the Democrats, was a former deputy attorney-general, when he was actually a former provincial deputy attorney-general.

He insisted the matter would not affect the investigation and dismissed speculation the panel might not be neutral.

Judiciary : Panya to head Supreme Court

The Judicial Commission yesterday named Panya Thanomrod as the successor to Supreme Court president Chanchai Likhitjittha, who reaches the mandatory retirement age at the end of September.

Panya is the first vice president to the Supreme Court. Born in 1947, Panya graduated with distinction from Thammasat University's Faculty of Law. His previous positions have included deputy chief judge at the Civil Court and a chief justice at the Supreme Court. 

Songkhla : Luang Phor Khoon grounded

A Royal Thai Army aircraft carrying one of the country's most revered monks, Luang Phor Khoon Parisuttho, made an unscheduled landing at a military runway in this southern province after poor visibility interrupted the flight to Malaysia's Langkawi.

Luang Phor Khoon, the abbot of Wat Ban Rai in Nakhon Ratchasima, was planning to visit Langkawi to attend the opening ceremony of a Thai-style temple.

Phitsanulok : Families flee boulder danger

At least 30 families were preparing to evacuate their homes in Nakhon Thai district's Baan Bo Pho following a warning that the village was in imminent danger of being struck by a number of giant boulders resting precariously up a nearby mountainside.

The latest assessment by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department's Region 9 office in Phitsanulok showed a high probability that about five boulders - each measuring about six metres in width, eight metres in length and five metres in height - would break free, roll down the mountainside and hit the village.