Udon Thani province is tense amid worries of a possible confrontation between anti- and pro-government camps tomorrow when Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his ministers attend a mobile cabinet meeting in the province.
Another military coup is possible if the political strife lasts much longer, says a former close aide to people behind the 2006 coup.
The Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority (ETA) board may hand over 40% of its revenue from the second-stage expressway to Bangkok Expressway Plc (BECL) after its concession contract ends, in a bid to settle multi-billion-baht disputes over suspended toll hikes, according to an ETA source.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT
China has achieved notoriety for being the world's largest producer of pirated goods - DVDs, CDs and designer-label belts, necklaces, handbags, purses and clothes.
About 60% of Bangkokians say they remain politically neutral on the conflict between the People's Alliance for Democracy and the government, the latest Abac Poll reports. Assumption University pollsters questioned 2,005 people in Bangkok.
Students from 80 educational institutions across the country will take part in a mass rally at Government House tomorrow to increase pressure on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign.
POLITICS
A group of 40 academics has called on the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to stop using demonstrators as bargaining tools.
Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa says a House dissolution is a way out of the political stand-off. Mr Banharn yesterday expressed concern over the political situation, which he said was very fragile.
EDUCATION
NAKHON PHANOM : Only three Thai students have enrolled for the first semester at the two-billion-baht International Aviation College _ an institution observers say is a prime example of politicians starting up self-serving projects.
Forest runoff and mudslides have ravaged several districts in two northern provinces and Burmese border towns, submerging large areas of farmland and trading areas.
SURIN : Rice farmers are turning to a chemical-free approach to growing Hom Mali rice with plans to increase the area. This is in keeping with the government's policy to increase organic farming to 200,000 rai across the country.
EDITORIAL
The cabinet is scheduled to meet in Udon Thani tomorrow in the first of a fresh round of the so-called mobile sessions popularised by Thaksin Shinawatra. Normally, these up-country "shows" have more positive points than negative. They provide locals with a glimpse of leading government figures. They give the ministers a chance to look around and chat with citizens whose concerns are often quite different than those the Bangkok-centric cabinet are used to dealing with. But tomorrow's meeting contains elements of a terrible risk. Whether by accident or design, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his ministers seem more likely to trigger a confrontation and more national division _ and bring more violence to the northeastern city.
DEMOCRACY'S RULES
Today, we are facing an urgent and direct call to act, to choose Samak Sundaravej over the People's Alliance for Democracy or vice-versa. Or we are encouraged to reject both of them, often in the name of national reconciliation, consensual politics, nonviolence, etc. Are they real choices? What do these choices exclude?
AEROSPACE
TEHERAN / Thailand has helped Iran put a joint research satellite into space. It went into orbit yesterday after being launched atop a Chinese rocket.
LABOUR EXPORTSLow-interest
The Labour Ministry will sign a deal today with a state-run bank to provide low-interest loans to Thai workers seeking employment overseas.
POSTBAG
Your correspondent J Hodson (Postbag, Sept 6) complains the views of ''ordinary'' Thais are under-reported in the Bangkok Post. He should try reading the foreign press.
InMedia
It is sad that Thailand is still mired in conflict, with no end in sight. All attempts _ through parliament or the judiciary _ have failed. The recent clash between anti-government demonstrators led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and government supporters did not augur well for our democratic system.
COMMENTARY
Illegal motorcycle racing gangs who recently claimed a policeman's life; a video game that wills teenagers to kill an innocent taxi driver - these are the summa cum laude graduates in the elite scourges that plague our society.
