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Published on October 12, 2007

"Vending machines are an option here," Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said yesterday.

He said lottery buyers would still be able to choose their numbers, but the government was undecided on whether the tickets should be sold by vendors who would fill in the numbers chosen, or through vending machines that would print the numbers on the tickets before dispensing them.

"If we stick to [written tickets], we will have to enforce measures that will prevent mistakes and errors seen in the past," Chalongphob said. 

 

Army plot for new Parliament

The Royal Thai Army's 265 rai of land on the Chao Phya River in Nonthaburi is the most likely site for the new Parliament, National Legislative Assembly (NLA) deputy speaker Phojjanee Thanawaranit said yesterday.

She said the plot was the most likely choice among three short-listed locations because of easy access. An NLA panel will survey the land on October 25 and make the final decision on whether to select it.

One third of the riverside land has already been designated as the site of the Permanent Secretary of Defence.

The plot is located near Wat Salak Nua and an arms depot belonging to the Army's Ordnance Department.

Phojjanee said the plot was not far from an expressway exit and that embankment walls could be built to guard against erosion. The inauguration ceremony could be held in December, but would be postponed if necessary.

A land plot near the Irrigation Department golf course in Nonthaburi was not chosen following protests by locals, and another Army plot in Bangkok's Kiak Kai area in Bang Sue district was not large enough and would have required Bt80 billion for additional land expropriation.

Policeman kills fellow officer

Security officials yesterday killed a policeman in a gunfight after he had earlier shot dead a fellow officer in a drunken brawl in Sungai Kolok, Narathiwat.

The gunfight caused confusion both to communities in the district and among security officials, who initially mistakenly thought they had engaged an insurgent after they received reports about the shooting death of Lance-Corporal Adul Rathankij, 28, by a man in civilian clothes.

Quoting two police officers accompanying Adul, police said later that an intoxicated Lance-Corporal Sommart Meedeng, also 28, had shot dead his Police Academy friend after the three officers tried to subdue him following his threat to shoot a man with his service pistol after he left a pub.

Sommart fled the scene after Adul's shooting and was later cornered by a 40-strong security force that initially thought he was an insurgent. Police said Sommart opened fire on the security officials and was later killed in a brief gunfight.

Provincial police chief Maj-General Pongsak Nakwijit ordered an investigation into both shootings. Both Adul and Sommart were attached to a special operations police unit based in Sungai Padi district.

Paiboon much better: doctors

Ramathibodi Hospital yesterday announced Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham's condition was improving following a heart attack on Tuesday and he was ready for another balloon angioplasty this morning.

Hospital Director Dr Winit Puapradit and cardiology chief Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck told a press conference yesterday that Paiboon was much better, had slept well the previous night, had no chest pain or dizziness, could walk around his room and did not need a saline drip.

 The Nation