Thai Cambodian Border Landmine Clearance
We begin on the Thai-Cambodian border, where the Royal Thai Army has expressed its regret after a soldier was injured by a landmine during a clearance operation in Ubon Ratchathani.
The soldier was working alongside personnel from the Thailand Mine Action Center when the device exploded.
The area has remained a considerable challenge for clearance teams following earlier fighting along the border.
After Thai forces regained control of disputed areas, numerous landmines were discovered.
And with no reliable maps showing precisely where every device had been placed, Thai military teams have been left with the painstaking and obviously extremely dangerous job of finding and removing them one by one.
Large areas have consequently been cordoned off while specialist teams carry out searches.
In this latest incident, the soldier suffered injuries to his right ankle and right hand, together with wounds elsewhere on his body.
Fortunately, he remained conscious and was reported to be in a stable condition while receiving treatment at the military hospital.
Story 2 Thailand Fake Tax Invoice Network
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Revenue Department has broken up what investigators described as a ghost invoice network, a sophisticated operation allegedly selling fake tax invoices and costing the country’s VAT system an estimated 360 million baht.
Authorities raided 10 locations across five provinces and arrested three suspects.
The investigation began after undercover officers obtained evidence that individuals and companies were allegedly selling tax invoices despite there being no genuine sale of goods or services behind them.
Potential customers were apparently contacted through a closed network.
Investigators then managed to infiltrate those groups and arranged several purchases themselves, eventually obtaining invoices issued in the name of one of the companies now under investigation.
And on paper at least, it certainly looked impressive. The company reportedly had registered capital of around 400 million baht and was issuing invoices worth somewhere between 300 and 400 million baht every year.
The investigation is continuing and with hundreds of millions of baht involved, authorities will now be looking closely at exactly who bought those invoices and where the money went.
Story 3 Thailand House Fire Investigation
Elsewhere, investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding a tragic house fire in a luxury residential development where a husband and wife were found dead.
Firefighters arrived to find flames concentrated around the upper floor of the property.
Three fire trucks were used and crews took more than half an hour to bring the blaze under control.
They discovered the bodies of the couple along with several cats that had also died inside the house.
Interestingly, investigators found that the ground floor had suffered relatively little fire damage while rooms upstairs had been devastated.
A petrol container was also reportedly discovered in the upstairs area. That will obviously form an important part of the investigation, but authorities have yet to announce a final conclusion about precisely how the fire began or the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths.
Story 4 Phuket NeNe Royale Performance
And some considerably happier news from Phuket where 16-year-old Thai rocker Rattikan Amloi, better known as NeNe Royale, has returned to the market where she once busked with her band O Zone. And what a difference a little time makes.
NeNe and the band performed for a rapidly growing crowd on Sunday evening as a thank you to the local fans who’ve supported her before she heads to the United States for the live shows stage of America’s Got Talent.
The young musician performed a selection of mainly English-language songs, including The Cranberries Zombie, the song that helped propel her through the audition stage of the competition.
During Sunday’s performance, NeNe thanked the crowd for their continued support.
She’s already received an enthusiastic response from both audiences and judges, and now heads to America carrying plenty of good wishes from Phuket and indeed Thailand as a whole. And we wish her the very best of luck.
