Abhisit Vejjajiva vists New York Stock Exchange

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the New York Stock Exchange (NYSC) on September 23, 2009, and met the NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Niederauer who expressed his appreciation to welcome the Thai premier.



During the visit, Mr Abhisit rang the Closing Bell and toured the trading floor.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Mr Niederauer said he was honoured to have Mr Abhisit visit the NYSE.



AP quoted Mr Niederauer as saying "I think it is an important signal for us when leaders like the Prime Minister visit us.

"We're a global company, we think globally, and the opportunity to be blessed with you presence here was a welcome one," Mr Niederauer said.

Mr Abhisit is in New York to attend the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and also participate in the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in Pittsburgh in his capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Thai prime minister met a wide spectrum of the US business community, members of US-ASEAN Business Council. He assured them about the government's attempt to facilitate trade and investment since it had taken the reign to administrate the country nine months ago.

He admitted that there were some domestic political problems but they would not affected the economy and the foreign investment as the country's exports has gradually recovered.

Earlier in the day, Mr Abhisit had attended the opening ceremony of the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters, and hear the address of the US President Barack Obama.

He, then, had been interviewed by many US and international media including the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Mr Abhisit had also attended the dinner hosted by President Obama and his wife Michelle at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

On Thursday the Thai prime minister is to participate in the Pittsburgh Summit 2009 (G-20) as the chair of ASEAN , exchanging views and experience from an ASEAN perspective, particularly regarding policy after the economic crisis.

The summit will also discuss necessity of economic stimulus measures, dealing with a new round of economic crisis, and reforming international monetary and financial institutions, as well as issues of concern such as food security.

Mr Abhisit will return to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday before returning to Thailand. (TNA)

USS Ronald Reagan in Phuket

Almost 5,000 US Navy sailors arrived in Phuket on September 22 on board the enormous aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. With the USS Ronald Reagan comes the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and the guided-missile destroyer USS Howard. This will be the largest contingent of US sailors to visit Phuket. Two of the crew members happen to be Thais!



3 US warships bringing thousands of sailors to take shore leave on the island is believed to benefit Phuket tourism, with an estimated 34 Million Baht cash flow each day. The ship is docked off Phuket until 27th September.

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ninth ship of the class “Nimitz”. It is named in honor of former President Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Further, USS Ronald Reagan was the first ship to be named for a living former president.

Bryan Robson Thailand's new soccer manager

Bryan Robson has agreed to a four-year deal to become Thailand's new manager, the head of the country's FA has announced.



The 52-year-old will fill the vacancy left by former incumbent Peter Reid, who departed by mutual consent 12 months into a four-year contract to take up the post of assistant manager at Stoke after being told he could not split his time between England and the south-east Asian nation.

Robson's immediate task in his first foray into international management will be to build on the good work done previously by Reid and guide the nation to a place in the Asian Cup finals in Qatar in 2011, with Thai FA chief Worawi Makudi also targeting a place at the 2014 World Cup.

"He's agreed to become coach, he's very happy with what we've offered him," Worawi told reporters.

"It's a four-year deal. The plan is he'll coach Thailand for the Asian Cup, the Olympics and hopefully the World Cup, too."

Robson's previous managerial experience has included spells at Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Bradford and West Brom.

It remains unclear how much time he will spend in the country and whether he will continue his role as global ambassador for former club Manchester United.
Thailand are currently third in Asian Cup Qualifying Group E with two points from two games following draws with Jordan and Iran.

Mong Thongdee wins 3rd place in Origami Airplane Contest

Mong Thongdee, a twelve-year-old stateless who was born in Thailand to Myanmar migrants, has won 3rd place in the individual event (paper dart contest) at the All-Japan Origami Airplane Contest in Japan on Sunday.



He and his team won the first place in the team event in the same competition in Makuhari, near Tokyo, on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009.

Mong, 2008 Thai origami airplane champion and one of nearly half a million stateless people in Thailand who legally cannot leave and return to the country, was granted a temporary passport exceptionally to take part in the contest in Japan with paper planes that can fly for 12 seconds at a time.



The Interior Ministry initially rejected his application to have a temporary travel document to go to Japan on the grounds that he is stateless boy.

However the ministry changed the position after several people, including Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, personally stepped in.

Thai women win Asian Volleyball Championship

Thailand's women's volleyball team made a big surprise as they beat China 3-1 in the final to win the 15th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, held at the Quan Ngua Sport Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.



In a nail-biting match, Thailand came back from one set down to take their first-ever victory over volleyball powerhouse China with scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 in the final of the 16-team tournament.

China are currently standing third in the world rankings, while Thailand stands at World No. 17.

In another match, Japan beat the Republic of Korea 3-0 to snatch the bronze medal. Kazakhstan defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 to rank fifth while the hosts Vietnam downed Iran 3-0 for the second time to occupy the seventh position.

The achievement also earned Thailand a berth at the World Grand Champion Cup in November and the World Grand Prix next year.

Thai coach Kriatipong Ratchatakriangkai admitted that to defeat China, bronze medalist at last year's Olympic Games and 11-time Asian champion, was way beyond expectations.



He said the next task is to prepare the team for the tournament in November.

Individual awards:

Most Valuable Player: Onuma Sittirak (Thailand)

Best Scorer: Kim Yeon Koung (Korea)

Best Spiker: Xue Ming (China)

Best Setter: Nootsara Tomkom (Thailand)

Best Blocker: Xue Ming (China)

Best Server: Saori Kimura (Japan)

Best Libero Player: Wanna Buakaew (Thailand)

Wild Crocodiles surface in Khao Yai

Pha Khluaymai hill and a portion of Lam Takhong creek in Khao Yai National park in Nakhon Ratchasima have been closed temporarily after a report of two large crocodiles sighted.


Photo by Steve, Tanja & Leon @ Flickr

Two teams of forest rangers have been dispatched in both closed areas to look out for the two reptiles, which are identical and thought to be of a freshwater species, and hunt them down, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said yesterday.

Park director Manote Karnphanakngarn said ten warning signs had been erected and four rangers stationed in the both areas to warn tourists abou the crocodiles. There are two crocodiles sighted in the park since 2007 with no reported attacks on humans.

Wellknown government veterinarian Parnthep Rattanakorn said he was convinced that the two crocodiles found in the park were pets let loose accidentally or on purpose, as it was impossible in an animal migration theory that freshwater crocodiles could live in a habitat like the Khao Yai national park.



He expressed worry that the existence of freshwater crocodiles could have generated an ecological impact to the park, in addition to a possibilty that they had already produced offsprings, or could attack humans while not yet caught.

More Khao Yai Crocodile photos @ taklong.com

Methee Amornwuthikul punches Pheu Thai Party man

Methee Amornwuthikul, actor-turned-red shirt-supporter assaults Adisaraj Thampithak, the director of Pheu Thai Party’s Surat Thani by-election after Adisaraj rallied in front the Pheu Thai head office Tuesday morning to demand 700,000 Baht he claimed the party owed him for election campaign expenses.