Australian mother who stole bar mat in Thailand to return home
Posted in General,Guide,News May 23, 2009An Australian mother-of-four, Mrs Annice Smoel, stole a bar mat in Thailand from an Australian-themed bar, where she was celebrating her mother’s 60th birthday. The lady is now returning home after pleading guilty and being fined of A$40 ($31), ending almost three-week ordeal. Earlier she denied stealing the rubber souvenir bar mat from the Aussie Pub in Phuket, but to no avail, she accepted and pleaded guilty for stealing.
This had let down the bar, which has attracted visitors like Ron, who arrived from Australia less than a week ago. Annice Smoel, 36, will return shortly to Australia following the resolution of the case, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in an e-mailed statement.
It was a tense few hours after the court hearing, especially at the immigration center. Not only this the governor of Phuket paid the fine for the sake of good relations between the two countries. The governor of Phuket invited Mrs Smoel and her husband to visit his office as they were leaving back, they apologized profusely for the trouble that his country had caused to them.
Comments 0Thailand’s stock market likely to come down
Posted in Business,General,Guide,News May 23, 2009Chakkrit Charoenmethachai of Far East Securities said that Thai shares are likely to take a breather at the opening of shares, we might see the market coming down a bit at the opening but after that they should climb further, which is expected. A day after hitting a 7-1/2-month high, but hopes of an official interest rate cut and inward fund flows will offset any profit-taking.
The expected resistance on the main index on Tuesday ended up 3.01 percent at 556.47, hitting its highest since Oct. 6, led by buying of energy blue chips and top banks. The catalyst for a rally here is foreign fund flows, which might continue to come in. Foreign investors picked up a net 2.16 billion baht of Thai shares, bringing total purchases to 4.64 billion so far this year.
The key factor is to watch the Bank of Thailand rate meeting, and the decision is due around 0730 GMT. It is expected to make its fifth straight interest rate cut since December to soften the impact of recession, but that will probably be its last easing this year, according to economists polled by Reuters.
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