LOCAL NEWS

Call for the wild

Prime Minister urges public to save wildlife

Thailand�s wildlife population is in decline due to the illegal wildlife trade and an increase in demand for restaurants serving exotic dishes, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said on December 26.

Speaking on National Wildlife Protection Day, the prime minister urged the public to help save wildlife.

�The Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act has been enforced for more than three decades, but few people care about wild animals,� he said. � They still eat them, hunt them and sell them for money.�

Criminal minds

Researchers learn more

Bangkok�s criminals prefer to strike between midnight and 6 am, according to a recent study by the Justice Ministry.

The researchers held interviews last year with 1,531 Bangkok residents who were victims of crime, Office of Justice Affairs officials said on December 26.

While robberies were most likely to occur after midnight, crimes of murder, serious injury and sexual abuse were most common between 6 pm and midnight.

The study team identified most of the criminals as male and aged 18 to 25 years.

High and dry

Ministry plans to control drinking

A new bill has been passed to control alcohol advertising.

The bill also raises the minimum age for buying alcohol from 18 to 20 years.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said that the bill will help to reduce crime.

Safety first

A policeman, dressed like a Thai warrior from ancient times, hands out leaflets on road safety during the New Year holiday near the Yommarat expressway on December 26.

	ancient (adj): belonging to a period of history that is thousands of years in the past decline (n): a continuous decrease in the number of something exotic (adj): rare, unusual and exciting urge (v): to advise or try hard to persuade somebody to do something enforce (v): to make sure that people obey a particular law or rule strike (v): to attack somebody or something, especially suddenly robbery (n): the crime of stealing money or valuables bill (n): a written suggestion for a new law that is presented to a country�s parliament reduce (v): to make something less or smaller