Nationwide merit-making ceremony for peace

Interior Minster Chalerm Yoobamrung yesterday instructed provincial governors via a videoconference to organise the merit-making ceremony as part of an effort to bring peace to the country and to honour the late HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana.

The ceremony, to be co-organised by the Culture Ministry under the title "Bring Thais to Peace", will start at 6pm.

Disabled people seek Surapong's impeachment

A group of disabled people on yesterday filed a petition to seek impeachment proceedings against deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee for the implementation of lottery vending machines.

The group led by Somchai Pan-ekwong submitted a list of 20,000 signatures from people supporting the impeachment to Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondet. Somchai said the sales of lottery tickets through vending machines was illegal and rendered disabled people jobless. The vending machines also destroyed the retail system of government lottery through its monopoly.

Prasopsuk intervention sought to end dispute

Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondet has been asked to mediate in a meeting aimed at ending the ongoing political dispute.

Satun Senator Suriya Panjor said he had submitted his written request to the Senate speaker on Thursday asking for him to convene such a meeting.

He said his plan for the meeting should include the prime minister, the opposition leader, the House Speaker, representatives from the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy and senior respected figures such as former premier Anand Panyarachun and social critic Dr Prawase Wasi.

 "I think the Senate speaker should initiate the meeting because he is the head of the Upper House and a neutral figure," said the senator. 

Sunai's police bully told to explain his conduct

The Ayutthaya police officer in charge of investigating the alleged defamation case involving a senior graft buster should dispel any lingering doubts on the issuing of an arrest warrant that was revoked in Thursday's appellate review, Police deputy spokesman Maj-General Suraphol Tuanthong said yesterday.

"I talked to Ayutthaya police commander Maj-General Nares Nanthachot and urged him to explain the police procedures leading to the warrant of arrest for Sunai Manomai-udom," Suraphol said.

He said that in his personal opinion the warrant had caused police to be wrongly perceived as abusing the procedures to bully Sunai.

Police followed the procedures without any bias, he said, insisting the issue of the warrant was within the court's purview and not the police.