Free Republic

The United States' 39th president sat down with THE NATION'S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SUTHICHAI YOON to discuss major issues affecting the world today. Here are excerpts from the exclusive interview: Suthichai: How do you assess President Obama's performance so far? Carter: He has set a good goal for himself in many ways. He has announced an end to torture. He has announced his goal to do away with nuclear weapons. He has changed the image of my country among many people around the world.Do you think he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? Yes, I do. Some people don't agree with that. I...

The siege of Bangkok's airports that is into its sixth day is being accompanied by increasing lawlessness. On Saturday a convoy of armed occupiers attacked a police checkpoint, causing the officers to flee, smashing vehicles and making off with shields and other equipment. One policeman has been taken hostage. Armed thugs set upon a local photographer for a major daily who was taking shots of them assaulting another person. Overnight a grenade was fired into Government House, where demonstrators have been encamped since August. As investigators have no access to the compound, it is unlikely that there will be any...

The father of a suspect in the murder of two marines in Narathiwat's Tanyonglimo was shot dead on Thursday in a tea shop. Masusoh Pohtae, 43, was killed in a gun attack while drinking in a tea shop in Tanyongmat subdistrict, police said. Masusoh is the father of Yaya Pohtae, a suspect in the murder to two marines who were beaten to death during a hostage drama in 2005. Yaya was arrested recently. An eye witness said two gunmen riding in the back of a pickup fired AK47 and shotgun rounds into the teashop where Mususoh was drinking with 10...

Phnom Penh (dpa) - A Cambodian man who took off his trousers, tied the legs at the bottom and wrangled a 2-metre cobra into them died when it bit him through the fabric, local media reported Monday. Khmer-language daily Koh Santepheap quoted police as saying Chab Kear, 36, saw the reptile swimming in a river just outside the capital last Thursday during a drinking session and captured it in the hopes of selling it later in the day. He tied the animal inside his trousers and a scarf around his waist, but as he continued carousing the enraged snake managed...

Yala - A police captain, who headed a patrol unit of border patrol policemen, was killed by insurgents in an ambush in this southern border province Saturday morning. Pol Captain Thoranisuan Srisuk, 33, head of a border patrol police company in Yala, died on his way to the hospital following the ambush. The ambush took place at 8:40 am on a road at the borderline between Ban Sai Surat village and Ban Phakdee viallge in Tambon Banglang Dam in Bannang Sata district. The police captain was leading 14 policemen to patrol the road when an unknown number of insurgents ambushed...

Wind shear alert was down Officials say system not crucial for landing POST REPORTERS Systems to detect dangerous winds at Phuket international airport have emerged as a new factor possibly linked to the horrendous crash of the One-Two-Go flight on Sunday. Wuttichai Singmanee, director of air safety at the Civil Aviation Department, said three of the six wind shear alert systems at the airport had problems. ''Three out of six low-level wind shear alert systems were not working at the time,'' Mr Wuttichai said in a report by the AP. An official at Phuket airport who declined to be named...

A small explosion occurred inside a toilet room of the Rajabhat Institute Ban Somdej in Thon Buri at noon Friday. Police said no one was injured by the explosion in the men's room on the tenth floor of the Seventh Building of the institute in Bangkok's Thon Buri district. Police said the explosion, which damaged a garbage bin, was believed to be caused by a giant firecracker.

Four explosives went off almost simultaneously in Bangkok, injuring at least 20 people as the city people have just started to celebrate the New Year's eve. One person was dead at the Big C supermarket, Sapan Kwai branch, where witness saw a man dropped a grenade from a pedestrian bridge, police said. At least 20 were injured at the Victory Monument when a powerful bomb went off near a bus station. At the Klong Toei area near the Na Ranong intersection, a bomb hidden in a trash can near a Chinese spirit shrine exploded and injured two bypassers. The explosion...

A taxi driver was in critical condition Saturday after slamming his car into a tank in Bangkok's Royal Plaza to protest the military council that seized the power from Thaksin government. The driver, Nuamthong Praiwan, said he painted the words "Destroy the country" on the side of his taxi, and the word "Suicide" on the trunk, before speeding into one of the tanks parked at the Royal Plaza. "I did it intentionally to protest the junta that have destroyed our country, and I painted all the words by myself," he said from his bed. Nuamthong suffered broken ribs and injuries...

Sonthi outsmarted Thaksin at the eleventh hour by: Thanong Khanthong - The Nation Had Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin not moved as fast as he did to stage a coup on Tuesday, Thaksin Shinawatra would have launched his own coup a day later. Don't be fooled by Thaksin's claim that he stands for democracy. As the political crisis developed to the point of no return concerning whether Thaksin should stay or be booted out, General Sonthi had no choice but to swallow his words about the days of military coups being over. He...

Christians win right to censor Da Vinci Code The police censorship committee in charge of movies has agreed to censor the climax of the movie The Da Vinci Code, even though the distributor promised to put a special notice on all copies stating the film was a work of fiction. Thai censors and a group claiming to represent Thai Christians watched the movie today. After the special showing, police agreed to cut the last 10 minutes of the film. A spokesman for the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand told the AP that the group objects to the part of the film...

Sorry no link for this. This is breaking right now. I called up the Thai Air Force PJs and they have no information yet. A military C-130 transport went down in Thailand about 30 minutes ago. The crash is in Sa Kaew province close to the Cambodian border. They are saying on the news that it might be a US C-130. The yearly Cobra Gold joint exercise started yesterday. I will update this thread as I get more information.

A Phuket marine-supply company is seeking permission to salvage what it believes are two British "human torpedoes" that have been lying in the sea near Phuket since World War II, the governor of Phuket said yesterday. Governor Udomsak Asavarangura said East Marine SBS had sent a letter requesting permission to salvage the two human torpedoes, or Chariots, believed to belong to the British Royal Navy. The Chariots sank near Dok Mai Island during a mission. However, authorities in Phuket would first like East Marine to get British government confirmation that the two vessels really belonged to the British Royal Navy....

Thaksin: ''I will not accept premiership'' Caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced on TV pool Tuesday night at 8.30 p.m. that he will not accept premiership in the upcoming formation of the government after the election is completed. He said he wants to keep peace in the country which is celebrating HM the King's 60 years on the throne. He will remain caretaker prime minister until the new government is formed. ''I would like to thank 28 million people who came to the poll and the 16 million who voted for him and his Thai Rak Thai party,'' he said.

Chanthaburi - A planed used for artificial rain making crash-landed at the airport in Chanthaburi's Tha Mai district, killing two pilots and two agriculture officials the artificial rain-making project, police reported. Police said another official was seriously injured. The planed had problem and crash-landed, and caught fire. The accident happened at 2:05 pm.

A man described to be mentally-deranged hammered the much-revered statue of Pra Prom or Brahma creator god at the Hyatt Erawan Hotel and reduced it into pieces before he was lynched to death. A garland vendor said she saw the man standing up on the base of the statue and hammered away the statue into pieces. Only the part of lap and base of the statue were left intact. Its head was broken and fell off to the ground. Officials put up white cloth to hide the statue. The man, who was later identified as Thanakorn Pakdeepol, 27, was assaulted...

UDON THANI, Thailand (AP) - Skydivers from 31 countries have claimed a world record of 400 people holding hands in a mid-air free-fall formation. The record was certified by judges from the Switzerland-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale at the scene, announced the World Team '06, the informal association of international skydivers who made the attempt over an airfield in northeastern Thailand. "It was beautiful. It was one of my absolute favourite dives of my life," said World Team skydive director B.J. Worth. He said in order to set the record, "100 per cent of the people in the air have to...

Attention American Citizens: The Royal Thai Police (RTP) authorities have confirmed that a large demonstration is expected to occur in the area of the King Rama 5 statue, Rajdamneon Avenue, near Sanam Luang and Government House in Bangkok on Saturday, February 4. Police estimate up to 100,000 people will gather in an anti-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin demonstration headed by Sonthi Limthongkul, a prominent Thai government critic. The crowd will include several diverse groups of demonstrators and is expected to start assembling in the morning with no announced starting or ending times. Organizers have not indicated a marching route, should they...

BANGKOK, Feb 1 (TNA) - No violence or untoward incident is expected to occur during a gathering of demonstrators protesting against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the Royal Plaza Saturday, because Thais are known to be a peace-loving and smart people, Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya said Wednesday. The authorities earlier changed the protest venue from Sanam Luang to the Royal Plaza at the other end of Rajdamnoen Avenue, surrounding the statue of King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, on horseback, where many Thais go to express reverence for the monarchy. The demonstrators are expected to be led by media...

John Walker Lindh aka John Walker aka Suleiman Ferris aka Abdul Hamid aka The American Taliban is a person that I will mostly likely to be associated for some time to come. I am sure on my obituary there will be a bombastic note that I was “the journalist who “discovered” Lindh after the battle at Qali Jangi” (the afghans have that dubious honor) Many have told me that Lindh’s story was a big deal back in the States. I will never know, I was in Afghanistan covering combat operations with in the ongoing war against the Taliban for CNN...