Aide Who Says Cuomo Groped Her Files Criminal Complaint

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7 August 2021, 12:27

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A woman who accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her breast at the governor’s state residence has filed a criminal complaint against him, the Albany County Sheriff’s office said Friday.

The complaint, filed Thursday with the sheriff’s office, is the first known instance where a woman has made an official report with a law enforcement agency over alleged misconduct by Cuomo. Its filing is a potential first step toward bringing criminal charges.

“We take every complaint seriously,” Albany County Undersheriff William Rice said Friday.

It’s possible the Democratic governor could be arrested if investigators or the county district attorney determine he committed a crime, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple told the New York Post.

“The end result could either be it sounds substantiated and an arrest is made and it would be up to the DA to prosecute the arrest,” he told the newspaper, which was the first to report on the complaint. “Just because of who it is we are not going to rush it or delay it,” Apple said.

Apple didn’t return a phone message from The Associated Press.

The Cuomo aide who filed the report has accused him of reaching under her shirt and fondling her when they were alone in a room at the Executive Mansion last year. The woman also told investigators with the attorney general’s office that Cuomo once rubbed her rear end while they were posing together for a photo.

The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately provide a copy of the complaint.

Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, didn’t immediately address the criminal complaint in an online briefing with reporters, but said the groping allegation — which was also outlined in newspaper articles and in a report released by the New York attorney general’s office — was fabricated.

“He is 63 years old. He has spent 40 years in public life and for him to all of the sudden be accused of a sexual assault of an executive assistant that he really doesn’t know, doesn’t pass muster,” Glavin said.

The Albany County district attorney would not confirm that they received a complaint, saying they had no plans to release any information because “this is an ongoing matter that is under review,” spokesperson Cecilia Walsh said in an email.

Calls for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment soared this week after an independent investigation overseen by the state attorney general’s office concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers.

The attorney general’s report describes a series of times Cuomo allegedly acted inappropriately with the aide described as Executive Assistant #1, culminating with the groping encounter at the mansion in November 2020.

According to the woman, Cuomo pulled her in for a hug as she prepared to leave the governor’s office at the mansion. Told that “you’re going to get us in trouble,” Cuomo replied, “I don’t care,” and slammed the door shut. He slid his hand up her blouse, and grabbed her breast over her bra, according to her account.

“I have to tell you, it was — at the moment, I was in such shock that I could just tell you that I just remember looking down seeing his hand, seeing the top of my bra,” she told investigators.

She said she pulled away from Cuomo, telling him “You’re crazy.”

Cuomo has adamantly denied touching her breasts, saying “I would have to lose my mind to do such a thing.”

Records confirm that the woman was at the mansion for several hours on Nov. 16 and had at least one interaction with the governor, but Glavin said she also sent emails to staff while she was in the building that didn’t mention that anything upsetting had happened.

Mariann Wang, an attorney for two other accusers, said the governor’s lawyers are ignoring any fear the employees had of being punished by Cuomo if they complained.

“The fact that any assistant might try to continue with her day or act ‘normal’ even after being harassed brutally is something many women who have been harassed at work understand,” Wang said. “These women are trying to survive.”

The woman told investigators she had initially planned to take the harassment claims “to the grave.”

Prosecutors in several New York counties have said they are interested in investigating claims of inappropriate touching by Cuomo, but all had said they needed the women involved in the allegations to make a formal report.

The Albany Police Department, the primary law enforcement agency for the city, had been informed of the woman’s allegations regarding the encounter at the mansion several months ago and had spoken to her lawyer, but didn’t open an investigation at the time because she didn’t make a report.

The criminal investigation comes as lawmakers were moving toward a likely impeachment proceeding over the allegations.

Lawyers working for the state Assembly sent a letter to Cuomo Thursday giving him until Aug. 13 to respond to the allegations against him or provide documents to bolster his defense.

The state Assembly’s judiciary committee plans to meet Monday to discuss the possibility of impeachment proceedings. Nearly two-thirds of the legislative body have already said they favor an impeachment trial if he won’t resign.

Glavin and a lawyer representing the governor’s office, Paul Fishman, criticized the attorney general’s office for not providing its findings to them ahead of time and claimed the investigators didn’t take a strong enough look at the accusers’ credibility. They also demanded an opportunity to see transcripts of interviews witnesses gave to investigators.

Attorney General Letitia James’ spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said the office will be providing interview transcripts to the Assembly, and said the women’s accounts were “corroborated by a mountain of evidence.”

“To attack this investigation and attempt to undermine and politicize this process takes away from the bravery displayed by these women,” Levy said.

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Story: Marina Villeneuve. AP reporter Michael Hill contributed from Albany, New York.

2 Charged in Plot To Harm or Kill Myanmar Ambassador to UN

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Associated Press

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7 August 2021, 12:21

Myanmar Ambassador Plot — This July 27, 2007 file photo shows the United Nations Headquarters building in New York. Photo: Osamu Honda / AP

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Two Myanmar citizens were arrested on charges alleging that they conspired to oust Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who opposes the military junta that seized power earlier this year, by injuring — or even killing — him.

Phyo Hein Htut and Ye Hein Zaw plotted to seriously injure or kill Myanmar’s ambassador in an attack that was to take place on American soil, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release Friday.

According to court documents in White Plains federal court, a Thailand arms dealer who sells weapons to the Myanmar military hired the pair to hurt the ambassador to try to force him to step down. If that didn’t work, the ambassador was to be killed, authorities said.

Myanmar’s military overthrew the country’s civilian government in February. Myanmar’s currently recognized U.N. ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, staunchly opposed the ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In a speech to the General Assembly in late February, Tun called for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy.

Myanmar’s military has tried to remove Tun from his post, but the 193-member General Assembly is responsible for accrediting diplomats and has not taken action at the military’s urging.

There was no immediate response to a phone call and email to Myanmar’s U.N. Mission seeking comment.

The plot to maim or kill Tun was to be carried out in Westchester County, where the ambassador lives, according to two criminal complaints.

Htut last month was contacted by the arms dealer, who wanted to pay several thousand dollars for Htut to carry out the attack, the complaints said. Htut received a $2,000 advance on July 23, it added.

After the FBI learned of the plot on Tuesday, it arranged to interview Htut on Wednesday, when Htut described the plan, which included initially tampering with the ambassador’s tires to cause an accident, the complaint said. It said Htut received $4,000 in payments to carry out the attack and was to be paid another $1,000 once it was finished.

In a complaint against Zaw, authorities said Zaw admitted after his arrest that he sent the $4,000 to Htut.

Htut, 28, and Zaw, 20, are each charged with conspiracy to assault and make a violent attack upon a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence upon conviction of five years in prison.

At an initial appearance in White Plains federal court Friday, Htut consented to detention. Zaw awaited an initial appearance.

Messages seeking comment from their lawyers were not immediately returned.

CP Group and CP Foods joins forces with public and private agencies to give away free meal boxes for Community Isolation Center

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Contributor

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6 August 2021, 16:11

Public and private agencies, including Ministry of Agriculture, the Seni Pramoj Foundation, Siriraj Hospital, the Royal Thai Navy, Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), have come together to provide meal boxes, healthy drinks, snacks and other essentials to patients in Community Isolation Center at Suwannaram Wittayakhom School, Bangkok.

The relief effort is a part of CP Group’s “Krua Pan Im” project and CP Foods’ “Food from the Heart Against COVID-19 project, to give away a total of one million boxes of hearty ready-to-eat meals to 40 locations across Bangkok within two months.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on, who is also the Seni Pramoj Foundation committee’s secretary, thanks all partners, including CP Foods, that come together in an effort to support Thai people during the surge of Covid-19 outbreak. He says: “Safe and sufficient foods are much importance to both patients and volunteers In an unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19. Therefore, many thanks to CP Foods, the company that has been supporting people in need since the beginning of the outbreak, for a helping hand that reached out to help the country and the people in this crisis,”

Assoc. Prof. Visit Vamvanij, Director of Siriraj Hospital, said the hospital staffs are currently caring asymptomatic and mild-symptom COVID-19 patients at the 120-bed community isolation center to reduce the spread of infection within their family. This will be a model for Community Isolation Centers in other areas. He added that the food supports from CP Group and CP Foods can alleviate the burden of daily food management, helping them to be fully focused on medical treatment.

CP Foods’ CEO Prasit Boonduangprasert added that the company has been using its expertise food production to help healthcare workers and people in need since the beginning of the outbreak in early 2020. As a part of “CP Hearts as One Fights COVID-19” project initiated by CP Group to fight the current outbreak, CP Foods has produced 1 million boxes of delicious, ready-to-eat meals to deliver to infected people in various isolation centers as well as community affected by the pandemic.

Since 2020, CP Foods has donated millions of beverages, raw materials, and food products as well as other essentials to over 500 places, covering hospitals. vaccination centers, test centers and vulnerable communities. The efforts aim at supporting Thailand through the crisis under a guidance of CP Group’ senior chairman Dhanin Chearavanont.

JAMPA: Woodfire Zero-Waste Cuisine by Award-Winning Montara Hospitality Group to Open in July 2021at Phuket’s visionary wellness community, Tri Vananda

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Contributor

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6 August 2021, 15:42

(Phuket, Thailand) – Montara is excited to unveil its new innovative F&B concept, “JAMPA”. The award-winning hospitality group, following recent success of other brands such as “PRU”, who is the only MICHELIN Starred restaurant outside of Bangkok, as well as first and only MICHELIN Green Star in Thailand, “Seafood at Trisara” and “Praya Dining” who also won the coveted Michelin Plate accolade, has decided to launch this new project within the group’s upcoming visionary wellness community, Tri Vananda

“JAMPA is an extremely exciting project, which will focus on Local Ingredients, Live Fire, Zero Waste Cuisine and it will have a key role at Tri Vananda’s Community House” says Quentin Fougeroux, Group Director of Food and Beverage. “Being the center of the community, it is a space for sharing, learning and focusing on the good life, as well as being based on the principle of Self-reliant “Living”. It is a gathering place, where food and craft are of the utmost importance”.

The name JAMPA comes from the Magniolia Champaka, an indigenous, fragrant flower found around Phuket, but is also coming from the name of the small village where the group farm is located, Pru Jampa. The first half of the village name was given to Montara’s award-winning restaurant, PRU, and it came naturally to use the second half for this new concept.

JAMPA’s culinary team aspire to position the restaurant at the forefront of culinary innovation in Phuket by only using live fire to transform local ingredients into amazing culinary creations with an emphasis on healthy, balanced food that is good for the soul.

The JAMPA team will be helmed by Chef Rick Dingen, formerly of Madison in Bangkok, as well as having worked with Michelin starred restaurant in Thailand and in his native Netherlands, including 3 MICHELIN Stars Inter Scaldes and renown farm to table Restaurant De Kas, is dedicated to showcase the ingredients harvested on the day using open fire cooking to showcase the natural benefits of each ingredient.

“For us, it was important to showcase the locally sourced, seasonal ingredients in the best way possible” says Chef Rick. “Cooking is a craft, and service and setting the scene are amongst the most beautiful arts that exist. We want guests to connect with the Chefs emotion, to share with them why we have selected these ingredients, why we cook them the way we do and our guest are welcome to come and learn from us. We often do outdoor open fire cooking at our weekly pop up, Hideaway by JAMPA, where we experience new ingredients and we get creative ideas. We try things, we laugh, and it is something that our guests can experience as well”.

The restaurant will be located in Tri Vananda’s Community House, a stunning building designed by award winning Habita Architect and Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts, with the interior design by AvroKo, who has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative design firms in the field. Surrounded by sand dunes and beautiful landscape, the Community House will serve as the center of Tri Vananda wellness community, a place where residents can meet and share. Residents and guests alike will able be able to focus their energy on taking parts of community projects around sustainability, gastronomy and well-being, which will be organized regularly by the Tri Vananda team.

The restaurant, which was mentioned in the “Newest Opening” section of Phuket 25 Top Restaurants by Amazing Thailand, will also feature a state of art bar, where beverages are beneficial for health, body and mind and served in a form familiar to bar lovers, as well as an exciting zero waste grocery offering the day harvest, freshly baked breads and other fine food to residents and visitors alike.

The zero waste, no plastic grocery will also be a focal point of the Community life. Here, residents and guests can discover homemade products, fruits, vegetables and herbs harvested on the day, freshly baked breads still hot from the fire oven, local cheeses and vegan cheeses as well as many other products available via refill stations. Additionally, the chefs will always be available to give some advices or tips on how to best use each of these products.

Also, the restaurant aims to become the first in Phuket to achieve zero waste to landfill cuisine. “We want to exert the absolute minimal impact upon earth and we break down all our kitchen waste to ensure nothing goes to landfill” says Quentin. “Our waste are separated, and food remnants are turned into animal feed or composted at our farm. Manure and compost are used are fertilizer to grow our vegetables, thus completing the cycle of life”

For additional information, please contact +66 76 310 100 or visit jamparestaurant.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/JampaRestaurant/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/jamparestaurant/?hl=en

Line : @jamparestaurant

Police Investigating Death of Swiss Woman in Phuket

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Associated Press

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6 August 2021, 12:05

Thailand Foreigner Dead — An officer inspects the scene where a woman was found dead at a secluded spot on the southern island of Phuket, Thailand, on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Thai media, quoting police, said the woman was a 57-year-old Swiss national. Photo: AP

BANGKOK (AP) — An investigation is underway in Thailand after the body of a Swiss woman was found Thursday at a secluded spot on the southern island of Phuket.

Thai media reported that the woman’s partially clothed body was lying face down in a rock crevice near a waterfall and appeared to have been concealed by a sheet. Personal documents nearby showed she was 57 years old.

The circumstances of the death weren’t immediately clear, but Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said in a message posted to an online media group that Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai had contacted the Swiss ambassador to express his condolences “on the murder of a Swiss woman in Phuket.”

Tanee said the Phuket governor has promised an immediate investigation and autopsy.

The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs said in an e-mail it was aware of the death of “an alleged Swiss citizen” in Phuket and that the victim had not yet been definitively identified. The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok was in contact with Thai authorities, it said, while declining to comment further for privacy reasons.

Thai police have not yet commented.

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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

ASEAN Ministers Pick Brunei Diplomat as Envoy to Myanmar

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Associated Press

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5 August 2021, 11:48

In this Sept. 30, 2019, file photo, Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei, addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Photo: Richard Drew, File / AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Wednesday picked Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as their special envoy to Myanmar, in a breakthrough for regional mediation aimed at ending the country’s deepening crisis after months of delay.

The foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asians said Erywan will begin his work in Myanmar to “build trust and confidence with full access to all parties concerned.”

The 10-nation bloc has been under increasing international pressure to act on violence and instability in Myanmar, an ASEAN member. Myanmar’s military in February toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and cracked down on opponents.

In a joint statement Wednesday after their annual meeting, the ministers reiterated their concerns about the situation in Myanmar, including reports of fatalities and violence. But they stopped short of calling for the release of political detainees, saying only they “heard calls” for their freedom, in a reflection of the sensitivity of the issue.

The regional group is hamstrung by its bedrock policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of member nations and by its consensus decision making, meaning just one member state can shoot down any proposal.

Erywan was among at least four candidates proposed by ASEAN, and Myanmar was believed to have preferred a former Thai diplomat. Its decision to yield to the group’s pressure indicated its military rulers are still hoping to rely on ASEAN support as they face international condemnation.

Sidharto Suryodipuro, head of ASEAN Cooperation at Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Jakarta that it was an arduous process to persuade Myanmar to commit to the envoy and the mediation process. He said Erywan is expected to draw up a timeline on his mission to ease the violence and meet with all parties involved.

He said the joint statement doesn’t amount to ASEAN’s recognition of the military government.

“Myanmar must now work together in the context of ASEAN because the success of the special envoy will also be Myanmar’s success in settling a crisis that has become multilayered, involving not just politics but also economics and worsened by COVID-19,” he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Yusof’s appointment, calling it “an important step towards the implementation of the five-point consensus” adopted by ASEAN leaders in April that includes the selection of an envoy as a mediator who should visit Myanmar, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“The United Nations looks forward to continuing its cooperation with ASEAN on a coherent response to the crisis in Myanmar, noting the complementary roles” of Yusof and U.N. special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener, Dujarric said. The military has refused to allow Schraner Burgener to visit Myanmar since its February takeover.

Secretary-General Guterres reiterates his urgent call on the military “to respect the will of the people, refrain from acts of violence and repression, and act in the interest of peace, sustainable development and human rights” — and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to confront the growing impact of COVID-19, the spokesman said.

Even with the envoy’s appointment, it remains uncertain if and when the Myanmar military leaders will allow access to Suu Kyi, who has been detained with other political leaders and put on trial on a slew of charges, diplomats have said.

More than 900 people have been killed by Myanmar authorities since the February takeover, many in anti-government protests, according to a tally kept by the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Casualties are also rising among the military and police as armed resistance grows in both urban and rural areas.

AP21214163938957 — In this April 22, 2021, file photo, flags of some of the ASEAN member countries fly at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Tatan Syuflana, File / AP

Myanmar’s troubles have deepened with its worst coronavirus surge, which has overwhelmed its crippled health care system. Its military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, has repeated his pledge to hold fresh elections in two years and cooperate with ASEAN on finding a political solution.

Some ASEAN lawmakers responded warily to Erywan’s appointment, noting that he led a delegation to Myanmar in June and met only with the junta.

Erywan must ensure “he does not become a pawn in the junta’s game” of using ASEAN to gain international legitimacy while it continues its oppressive rule, said Kasit Piromya, a Thai board member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights.

In another touchy issue, the ministers said ASEAN and China have completed the preamble for a proposed “code of conduct,” a nonaggression pact the two sides have been negotiating since 2017 to avoid armed conflicts in the disputed South China Sea.

China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the disputed waters and have been locked in increasingly tense territorial standoffs for decades. China turned seven disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases in recent years, ratcheting tensions with rival claimants, along with the United States and its allies.

Two Southeast Asian diplomats said the preamble consists of principles that will reflect the rival claimant states’ adherence to international law, including the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

An analyst expressed little hope the proposed pact can effectively restrain aggression in the disputed sea, given a Chinese insistence on its vast territorial claims and penchant to interpret agreements in a way that will buttress its claims.

“I hold no illusion that the code of conduct, when it comes to pass, will be of meaningful effect in constraining Chinese coercive behavior in the South China Sea,” said Hoang Thi Ha of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

China has refused to recognize an international arbitration ruling in 2016 that invalided most of its claims in the South China Sea.

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Story: Jim Gomez and Eileen Ng. Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines. Associated Press reporter Nini Karmini contributed from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Airstrikes Pummel Taliban Positions in Southern Afghanistan

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Associated Press

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5 August 2021, 11:42

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. and Afghan airstrikes hit Taliban targets overnight in southern Helmand province in an effort to dislodge the insurgents after they captured much of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, officials said Wednesday.

The United Nations and Human Rights Watch asked both sides to take care to prevent civilian casualties as the fighting rages on. The Taliban have waged a fierce push over the past months as U.S. and NATO forces complete their pullout from the war-torn country. They have taken large swaths of land and have now turned their guns on larger urban centers.

Ghulam Wali Afghan, a lawmaker from Helmand, told The Associated Press that his relatives and constituents in Lashkar Gah have told him of bodies in the streets and residents hiding inside their homes, too afraid to venture out and collect the dead.

After a night of heavy airstrikes, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the Taliban have suffered heavy losses in Lashkar Gah, though there was no immediate way to confirm that statement. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the losses.

The authorities did not say whether Afghan forces have retaken back territory. On Tuesday, residents and officials had said the Taliban control nine out of 10 districts in the city.

The fall of Lashkar Gah would be a major turning point in the Taliban offensive and it would also be the first provincial capital to be captured by the insurgents in several years. The fighting this week has kept residents of Lashkar Gah trapped and hunkered down inside their homes.

On Wednesday, the province’s hospital chief, Sher Ali Shakir, urged people to remain in their houses, saying that in past 24 hours at least seven civilians were killed and 101 were wounded. Most of the injuries were bullet wounds, he said.

The airstrikes late Tuesday and ongoing street battles in Lashkar Gah have destroyed several houses and markets. The Helmand provincial council chief, Attaullah Afghan, charged both sides with ignoring the safety of civilians.

Earlier Tuesday, a dramatic call for people to evacuate the neighborhoods captured by the Taliban came from the Afghan forces’ commander for Helmand, Gen. Sami Sadat, who in an audio message shared with journalists asked the residents for forgiveness for the hardship they are going through.

“We will not leave the Taliban alive, Sadat said. “I know it’s hard … we do it for your future. Forgive us if you get displaced for few days, please evacuate as soon as possible.”

Lashkar Gah is one of three provincial capitals under siege by the Taliban as they stepped up their onslaught against government forces. The push on the cities came after the Taliban swept through dozens of districts across the country, many in remote and rural, sparsely populated areas. Along with Lashkar Gah, the provincial capitals of Herat, in western Herat province, and Kandahar, in southern Kandahar province have also been under Taliban attack.

Save the Children’s country director for Afghanistan said the aid group was “devastated by reports that 18 civilians, including women and children, have been killed during airstrikes on the city of Kandahar.”

Christopher Nyamandi, citing local media reports, said “some 49,000 people have been displaced since the violence flared up yesterday, including an estimated 29,400 children.” He said that Save the Children was providing aid to the displaced families.

There was no confirmation from the government on the report of 18 civilians killed.

In Herat, Afghan forces pushed the Taliban out of the city but were badly needing new supplies, according to Omar Nasir Mujadidi. He said Wednesday that pro-government militias, led by U.S.-allied warlord Ismail Khan, were aiding the Afghan security forces but need additional weapons. He said the government promised another 2,000 weapons for Khan’s followers.

The fighting in Herat in the last week has has killed 34 people and wounded more than 150, said physician Mohammad Aref Jalali, the provincial hospital chief in Herat.

Story: Tameem Akhgar

Dr. Virachai Techavijit appointed as Member of Huachiew Chalermprakiet University Council.

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Contributor

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4 August 2021, 11:25

Dr. Virachai Techavijit, Founder and Chairman of Regent’s International Schools and College has been nominated to the Huachiew Chalermprakiet University Council by the Poh Teck Tung Foundation.

The University Council proposed Dr. Virachai’s candidacy to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research & Innovation and on 30 June 2021 he was officially appointed as a Member of the Council by Executive Order No. 109/2564 of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research & Innovation.

Dr. Virachai Techavijit taught at American Higher Educational institutions for 6 years. His previous academic titles include Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and appointed full-time lecturer for MBA Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) prior to returning to Thailand.

Arnon Nampha Renews Calls for Reform of Monarchy

By

Associated Press

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4 August 2021, 11:00

caaf7658fa85ce896dba444df967a8cba_38843684_210803_1 — Wearing Gryffindor robes, human rights lawyer and activist Arnon Nampha speaks to monarchy reform demonstrators Aug. 3, 2021 at Pathum Wan Intersection at a Harry Potter-themed protest.

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai protest leader on Tuesday renewed calls for the reform of the country’s monarchy and suggested that time was running out for the powerful institution to respond.

“This year shall be the last year that we will discuss monarchy reform. After this, whatever will happen, will happen. You can’t stop the sun rising. You can’t control what people believe in,” Arnon Nampha said at a candlelight rally in downtown Bangkok by about 200 people who defied coronavirus regulations to attend.

The civil rights lawyer dressed as Harry Potter, a reference to what he and other proponents of change see as the opaque world of the palace. Arnon is widely considered the protest movement’s most senior figure.

The rally marked one year since Arnon delivered a speech that shook the country with its unprecedented challenge to the status of the monarchy, which is widely considered to be an untouchable bedrock element of Thai nationalism.

It sparked a series of large-scale rallies demanding that the palace be made more transparent and accountable. The protests, which also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the amendment of the constitution, raised the political temperature significantly, leading to clashes with royalists and police and the arrests of protest leaders.

127038 — Pro-democracy supporters light candles during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021.

The rallies died down this year due to legal action, a lack of unity in the movement and fears over the coronavirus. But in recent weeks protesters have returned to the streets, prompted by a worsening COVID-19 outbreak for which many people blame the government.

They’ve largely targeted Prayuth’s government but Arnon’s speech on Tuesday suggests the monarchy will once again be a focus of Thai political debate.

“We are here to fight to build a better future together,” he said. “This year we will fight with strategies. We will fight with goals. Not only will we fight through protests to bring pressure, we will also fight to propose laws in Parliament.”

127217 — Pro-democracy supporters light candles or shine their mobile phone lights during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021.

Arnon, who is currently free on bail, faces more than 10 charges under a stringent royal defamation law that mandates prison terms of up to 15 years for perceived insults. Human rights defenders say it is routinely used to stifle public discussion of the monarchy and to jail political activists. Its abolition is a key demand of the reform movement.

Many people still revere the monarchy, and the military, a major power in Thai society, considers its defense a key priority.

Questioning of the monarchy’s position has grown since the 2016 accession to the throne of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose much admired father, King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, ruled for seven decades.

Story: Tassanee Vejpongsa

Harris to Focus on Security, Economic Ties on SE Asia Trip

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Associated Press

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4 August 2021, 10:54

Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock — Vice President Kamala Harris, joined by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., left, departs the Senate as lawmakers work to advance the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. Photo: Scott Applewhite / AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Southeast Asia later this month aiming to bolster U.S. engagement in the region in an effort to counter China’s growing influence globally.

In an early preview of the goals for her trip to Singapore and Vietnam, Harris deputy national security adviser Phil Gordon said the vice president will emphasize the Biden administration’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, with a focus on reinforcing regional security in the area.

“The vice president will meet with government officials, leaders, people in the private sector and civil society, and she’ll focus on strengthening U.S. leadership, expanding security cooperation, deepening economic partnerships, defending the international rules-based order, in particular in the South China Sea, and standing up for our values as we do with all of our friends and partners,” he said.

The full details of Harris’ trip are still being worked out, but for her second foreign trip and first trip as vice president overseas, she is planning a weeklong engagement in the region — from Aug. 20 to 26 — a significantly longer trip than her two-day tour through Guatemala and Mexico in June. Then, she met with the leaders of both countries to discuss ways to address the root causes of migration to the U.S. from the region, a central focus of her portfolio as vice president.

Harris has had less public engagement in Southeast Asia, but Asia has been a central focus for the Biden administration from the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency, as he’s sought to counter China’s diplomatic and military incursions in the region.

Relations between the U.S. and China deteriorated sharply under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, and the two sides remain at odds over a host of issues including technology, cybersecurity and human rights.

Last week, during a speech at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Biden warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping is “deadly earnest about becoming the most powerful military force in the world, as well as the largest and most prominent economy in the world by the mid-’40s, the 2040s.”

The president has sent some of his top Cabinet officials to Asia to show support for U.S. allies in the region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made their first overseas trip to Japan and South Korea. Austin traveled to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines last month where he vowed U.S. support against Beijing’s intrusions in the South China Sea.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman traveled to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia in May and early June. Last month she visited Japan, South Korea and Mongolia before heading to China for high-level talks that ultimately did little to resolve many of the deep divisions between the two countries.

Harris will be the first U.S. vice president to visit Vietnam, and her trip is meant to show the depth of the U.S. commitment to the region.

“The National Security Council was very supportive of the notion that the vice president would be well placed to complement those other meetings and visits with travel to Singapore and Vietnam,” Gordon said. “It’s really part of an overall unified administration engagement strategy that shows our comprehensive engagement in East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia as well.”

Story: Alexandra Jaffe

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