Tight security in the capital for new year

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday that surveillance cameras throughout the capital are being inspected and any found not working would be replaced.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said a centre to coordinate security measures among police, military and civilian agencies would be set up for the four-day period.
An explosive device was reported in Lat Phrao Soi 80, but bomb disposal police said it turned out to be a bunch of discarded equipment, including computer motherboards and circuit boards tied together with electric wires.
A finance fair will be held at the Thai-Japanese sports complex in Din Daeng on December 24 to grant soft loans to Bangkok home-owners affected by the flooding.
Sukhumbhand said a similar loan scheme aimed at helping jobless people become self-employed had set an example and this scheme for flood victims would be another success.
A team of 100 police was mobilised to help clean flood-damaged homes in estates in western Bangkok and Nonthaburi.
Police might join hands with vocational students to offer free or low-cost repairs to home-owners, National Police chief Priewpan Damapong said.
More than 1,000 police would be deployed at the CentralWorld plaza during the New Year countdown to ensure the safety of all party-goers, he said.
Police are making good progress in the investigation of the murder of a man close to Democrat candidate Thaenkhun Jitissara, he added.
Marines based in the deep South have been put on high alert in areas of operations in five districts of Narathiwat and Pattani, said Admiral Damrongsak Haojaroen, a senior commander, during an inspection trip to a barracks in Narathiwat.
Police in Lamphun are conducting extra patrols and setting up more roadblocks to crack down on crime, while hunting down a gang of 50 teenagers from Chiang Mai who recently lobbed grenades at a checkpoint, wounding six officers.