In brief :Fires: Isaan police chiefs get warning
A top police commander yesterday threatened to transfer station chiefs at any of 236 police stations in eight provinces in the Northeast if there were more school fires in their areas and proof emerged that they could have stopped them.
Pol Lt General Sathaphorn Laothong called a meeting of more than 360 officers from the 236 stations yesterday in Nakhon Ratchasima. The officers were instructed to sign a pledge that they were willing to be transferred if they did not perform well enough to prevent future fires in their areas. The other seven provinces are Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram, Surin, Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen and Yasothon. Earlier yesterday, more than 2,000 people including village heads, kamnan, parents and students in 21 districts from many provinces staged a rally in Buri Ram to condemn fires at seven local schools. They called on local authorities to bring those behind the fires to justice.
Blasts injure 11Three explosions rocked the deep South yesterday injuring 11 security officials. Suspected Muslim militants detonated a seven-kilogram bomb on a railway track in Rangae district of Narathiwat yesterday morning, disrupting the southern line. Prior to the explosion, militants set tyres on fire as a decoy to lure officials to the scene before detonating the bomb. The explosion, which took place around 9am, injured three border policemen. The bomb also damaged the track and disrupted rail traffic for nearly three hours. Police said the bombs were meant to attack government officials - and not the general public - as a train had passed by earlier but the insurgents did not detonate the bomb. Around the same time in Pattani's Bacho district in the same province, a roadside bomb exploded as a truck carrying seven Task Force officials passed by. The 15kg explosive device injured all seven officials and another villager who happened to be nearby. Another bomb exploded at the foot of a bridge in Bacho district but no one was hurt.
Fraud case today The Constitution Tribunal begins its first trial today in the electoral fraud case against the Thai Rak Thai Party and two small parties. The tribunal met yesterday to prepare the documents it will use during the first trial the Attorney-General filed against Thai Rak Thai, Pattana Chart Thai and Thai Ground parties. Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban and executive Chinnaworn Boonyakiat will testify as the persons who filed the complaint. Thai Rak Thai allegedly hired two small parties to compete in the April 2 election last year. The Democrat Party, which did not contest the election, was accused of hiring the Progressive Democratic Party to frame the Thai Rak Thai.
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