**Santisuk is gone**

Santisuk is gone

The police monkey, once part of a security team in Pattani's Sai Buri district, has died in a dog attack. PARES LOHASANT
Sai Buri is a district of Pattini, one of Thailand’s troubled southernmost provinces. It has been the scene of frequent clashes between insurgents and security forces.

It was not a place where you would think police would bring smiles to the resident’s faces, but there was one such “officer” who did.The officer’s name was Santisuk Promdao who worked at a police checkpoint in Sai Buri. Everyone could see that Santisuk was different. In fact, Santisuk was a monkey, a macaque adopted and trained by Pol L/C Yutthapol Promdao.

Dressed in a blazer with the words ‘‘Monkey Police’’, Santisuk brought smiles to motorists who passed by.Santisuk became famous enough for a French broadcasting to ask for an “interview”.That is what brought Santisuk and Pol L/C Yutthapol to Songkhla last Friday night.

The police officer first chained Santisuk at the car park of a tutorial school he was attending.Before long, he realised something was wrong.‘‘I heard dogs barking but I didn’t pay attention at first,’’ he said.‘‘They kept barking and that’s when I felt something was wrong. I rushed down and saw Santisuk collapse. I took him to hospital but it was too late.’’

Santisuk had succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack by three dogs.On Sunday, Pol L/C Yutthapol and eight other police officers bade a last farewell to the popular macaque.Santisuk was dressed in a police uniform and wrapped in a white cloth before being laid to rest at a police operation base in Sai Buri. Pol L/C Yutthapol thanked people who sent him condolences after learning of Santisuk’s fate.Adapted from a story in yesterday's Bangkok Post by Pares Lohasant.

**SRT rolls out Airport Rail Link**

SRT rolls out Airport Rail Link



The 28km Airport Rail Link begins full commercial operations today to reduce travel time between the inner city and Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan.





The rail link will charge promotional fares until the end of the year on its city and express lines. It expects to serve up to 50,000 passengers a day.


The service has been operating on a trial basis since June 1, attracting about 17,000 people a day travelling for free.


State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor Yutthana Thapcharoen yesterday led an inspection of the rail link and its facilities to ensure it was ready for commercial services.


Mr Yutthana insisted the link "is definitely good to go".


"It is the fastest rail system in the country," he said.


"It is convenient and provides [a quality] service."


Mr Yutthana said the SRT would ask the cabinet to raise the registered capital of a subsidiary firm to run the rail link from 500 million baht to 2 billion baht.


Transport Minister Sohpon Zarum is scheduled to inspect the rail link today to see if there were problems that needed to be fixed.


"I heard the train had a glitch and had to go back to Phaya Thai station," the minister said.


"That kind of thing can make passengers miss their flights."


Passengers using the City Line, the all-stops line, will pay a flat rate of 15 baht for a trip during the promotion period. The line, which operates from 6am to midnight, takes 30 minutes to travel from Phaya Thai station to Suvarnabhumi airport.


Those using the Express Line will pay 100 baht for a trip. It takes 15 minutes to travel from Makkasan station to the airport non-stop. It also operates from 6am to midnight.


Fares for the City Line will range from 15 baht to 45 baht, depending on the distance travelled, after Jan 1, 2011, while the fares on the Express Line would rise to 150 baht.


Passengers would be able to check in their baggage at Makkasan station for transfer to their airline once the service was fully operational.

**Scientists create liver cells**

Scientists create liver cells

British scientists have grown liver cells out of stem cells from human skin, boosting hopes that healthy cells can be transplanted into organs to repair damage from diseases like cirrhosis and cancer, according to new findings.





A picture from the University of Cambridge shows a diseased liver cell. British scientists have grown liver cells out of stem cells from human skin, boosting hopes that healthy cells can be transplanted into organs to repair damage from diseases like cirrhosis and cancer, according to new findings.




Cambridge University researchers took skin biopsies from seven patients suffering from various hereditary liver diseases, and from three healthy patients, "reprogramming" the skin samples into stem cells which can effectively become any tissue in the body.


For the first time, such cells were used to mimic a range of liver diseases, according to the findings published in Wednesday's Journal of Clinical Investigation.


Growing liver cells in a laboratory is particularly difficult.


By replicating such cells in diseased livers, and replicating the healthy cells from a control group, researchers can not only determine precisely what is happening in the diseased cell, but also test the effectiveness of new therapies to treat diseases.


Principal investigator of the research Ludovic Vallier, of the MRC Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Cambridge, described the work as "an important step towards delivering the clinical promises of stem cells."


Such genetic engineering could lead to targeted and personalized therapies and, once diseased cells are treated, could eventually enable the transplant of healthy liver cells into a patient's damaged liver.


The process could be used to create similar models for use in other organs, the study's authors said, although more research is needed.


The success comes as a debate swirls in the United States on research involving human embryonic stem cells, after a US judge Monday blocked federal funding for stem cell research. Christian organisations had argued that federal funding would go for research that involved destroying human embryos, which they said violated a 1996 law.


Many scientists see embryonic stem cells as essential for medical research as they have a unique ability to become virtually any cell in the body.


"Given the shortage of donor organs -- the liver in this case -- the development of alternatives is urgent," said the findings' lead author, Tamir Rashid of Cambridge University.


"Our study raises the possibility of developing such alternatives, either by developing new treatments or developing a cell therapy approach," he said.


Liver disease is the fifth most common cause of death in many developed countries, with mortality rates rising, according to the researchers.


Today, Science is very advanced. It is good. But I hope Thai people will discover new something do.

**14 killed in Nepal plane crash**

14 killed in Nepal plane crash

All 14 people aboard a small plane heading for the Everest region, including four Americans, a Japanese and a Briton, were killed when the plane crashed in bad weather near the Nepalese capital on Tuesday.

"Our teams have now reached the site and I can confirm that there are no survivors. All 14 people are dead," said Bimlesh Lal Karna, head of rescue operations with the civil aviation authority.

The Agni Air plane was returning to Kathmandu after it was unable to land at Lukla, its intended destination in a popular trekking spot in the Everest region of eastern Nepal, home ministry spokesman Jayamukunda Khanal told AFP.

Thousands of travellers fly into Lukla, 140 kilometres (90 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, every year to access the stunning Himalayan range that forms Nepal's northern border with Chinese-controlled Tibet.

Local villagers said they saw the plane crash into a field next to a school about 15 miles south of Kathmandu and break up on impact. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

"There are small pieces of the plane all over the field and you can see body parts. We are all so shocked," villager Pratap Lama told the Kantipur radio station.

Relatives of some of the passengers gathered at the airport in Kathmandu to wait for news.

"My cousin is a trekking guide and he was flying up to take a group of tourists to Everest base camp," Ganesh Rijal, 40, told AFP.

"He got married recently and his wife is in deep shock. I have been waiting here for hours, but nobody has been able to tell me anything."

The 550-metre-long (1,800 feet) sloping airstrip at Lukla, perched on a hillside 2,757 metres above sea level, is considered one of the most difficult landings in the world.

The last major accident there was in 2008 when a Twin Otter plane carrying 18 people crashed killing everyone on board.

The airport is used by climbers heading for the heights of Everest, though now is the low season for both mountaineering and trekking.

Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for impoverished Nepal and the number of visitors has increased since a civil war between Maoist guerrillas and the state ended in 2006.

Earlier this year, the government announced an ambitious plan to attract a million tourists to the country in 2011 -- around twice the number that visited in 2009.

It's sad if the world as this event frequently. And I sympathize with people who feel lost. Because no one wants to be done is to accident.