TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee released a set of coronavirus countermeasures Thursday for the nationwide torch relay leading up to the games this summer, including the possibility of temporarily suspending the event if large crowds form along the route.
The committee said it will encourage fans to watch live online broadcasts of the 121-day event, starting March 25, to prevent overcrowding on roadsides. Those watching in person are asked to wear face masks and keep their distance from other spectators.
In this image taken from MRTV video Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, left, talks with Thailand Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, center, and Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, right, during their meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (MRTV via AP)
BANGKOK (AP) — Regional diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s political crisis intensified Wednesday, while protests continued in Yangon and other cities calling for the country’s coup makers to step down and return Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government to power.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi visited the Thai capital, Bangkok, and held three-way talks with her Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai and Myanmar’s new foreign minister, retired army colonel Wunna Maung Lwin, who also traveled to Thailand. The meeting was part of her efforts to coordinate a regional response to the crisis triggered by Myanmar’s Feb. 1 military coup.
In a virtual news conference after her return to Indonesia, Marsudi said she expressed her country’s concern about the situation in Myanmar.
Anti-coup protesters display placards near the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo)
“We asked all parties to exercise restraint and not use violence … to avoid casualties and bloodshed,” she said, emphasizing the need for dialogue, reconciliation and trust-building.
Marudi said she had conveyed the same principles to a group of elected members of Myanmar’s Parliament who were barred by the military coup from taking their seats. The lawmakers are from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which won a landslide victory in elections last November that would have given it a second five-year term in office.
After the coup, the group, called the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the name of the combined houses of Parliament, announced it was convening the body in an online session and appealed to the U.N. and foreign countries to treat it as Myanmar’s legitimate government. It has received increasing support from Myanmar’s protest movement, but little if any foreign endorsement. Indonesia’s acknowledgement that the group has a role to play could open an avenue for negotiations between Myanmar’s ruling junta and its opponents.
Marsudi described her communications with the committee as “intensive.”
Tin Tin Win, center, weeps over the body of her son, Tin Htut Hein, at his funeral in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo)
Indonesia and fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are seeking to promote some concessions by Myanmar’s military that could ease tensions before there is more violence. The regional grouping, to which Thailand and Myanmar also belong, believes dialogue with the generals is a more effective method of achieving concessions than more confrontational methods, such as sanctions, often advocated by Western nations.
Opposition to the coup within Myanmar continued Wednesday, with a tense standoff in the country’s second-biggest city, Mandalay, where police holding riot shields and cradling rifles blocked the path of about 3,000 teachers and students.
After about two hours, during which demonstrators played protest songs and listened to speeches condemning the coup, the crowd moved away.
On Saturday, police and soldiers fatally shot two people in Mandalay while breaking up a strike by dock workers. Earlier in the week they had violently dispersed a rally in front of a state bank branch with batons and slingshots.
Also Wednesday, about 150 people from a Christian group gathered in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, to call for restoration of democracy and the release of Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders held since the coup.
An anti-coup protester shout slogans after riot policemen blocked their march in Mandalay, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo)
International pressure against the takeover also continues, with more than 130 civil society groups issuing an open letter to U.N. Security Council calling for a global arms embargo on Myanmar.
The letter released Wednesday cited concerns about Myanmar’s citizens being deprived of a democratically elected government and ongoing violations of human rights by a military with a history of major abuses.
“Any sale or transfer of military-related equipment to Myanmar could provide the means to further repress the people of Myanmar in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law,” the letter said.
In addition to a sweeping arms embargo, it said any Security Council measures should make sure there is “robust monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.”
There have been past arms embargoes on Myanmar during periods of military rule but not on a global basis. China and Russia, both members of the Security Council, are among the top arms suppliers to Myanmar, and would almost certainly veto any effort by the U.N. to impose a coordinated arms embargo.
Indonesia’s efforts to work with other members of ASEAN to resolve Myanmar’s crisis had earlier been stumbling.
Anti-coup protesters and riot policemen face off in Mandalay, Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo)
Protesters demonstrated outside the Indonesian embassies in Yangon and Bangkok on Tuesday in response to a news report that Jakarta was proposing to fellow ASEAN members that they offer qualified support for the junta’s plan for a new election next year. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah denied the report.
There was also criticism that Foreign Minister Marsudi had intended to fly to Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, this week.
Marsudi acknowledged Wednesday that she had planned to visit Naypitaw after Bangkok to directly convey Indonesia’s position and the hopes of the international community.
“However, the planned visit had to be postponed,” she said. “This postponement … did not dampen the intention to establish communication with all parties in Myanmar, once again, with all parties in Myanmar, including with the Myanmar military and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.”
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
A special event sees GMs from 10 hotels cook surplus food and donate meals to local people in the Ma-chim Community, as part of a broader project to serve disadvantaged people.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) has come together with Scholars of Sustenance (SOS), the food rescue foundation, to host the first mutual “Rescue Kitchen” in Bangkok – an important CSR event designed to feed underprivileged people in Bangkok, including families affected by the COVID crisis.
Eight Marriott International hotels in the Thai capital – Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok, Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel, The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok, The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers, The St. Regis Bangkok, and W Bangkok – currently work or have previously cooperated with SOS Thailand, taking surplus food from their kitchens and restaurants and donating it to those in need.
Since the onset of COVID-19 however, many more people have lost their only source of income, plunging them into poverty. To support them, Marriott and SOS Thailand have now expanded their relationship with the addition of two more hotels: Le Méridien Bangkok and Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse. The general managers of all 10 participating properties today teamed up to cook delicious dishes and distribute them to local residents.
The mutual “Rescue Kitchen” took place on 22nd February at Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, with the aim of providing meals for the Ma-chim Community, which comprises 575 households with over 1,000 people in the Wattana district of Bangkok. Many are street vendors, and it is believed that up to 300 local people could have been left without work due to the impact of COVID-19, and now rely on government aid. Some residents already receive food donations from Marriott’s hotels via SOS Thailand, and this latest initiative will manage these supplies and distribute them those people in society most in need of help.
“It gives us great pleasure to expand our partnership with SOS Thailand, enabling us to support even more families who have been hit by the COVID crisis. This cooperation is a win-win scenario, as it helps to combat the critical issue of food waste, while also generating direct benefits for the community. Our mutual Rescue Kitchen is part of our continuous effort to support the community in Thailand,” said Mr. Jakob Helgen, Area Vice President – Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Myanmar, Marriott International.
The Rescue Kitchen initiative forms part of Marriott International’s sustainability and social impact platform, “Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction”, which guides the company’s commitment to make a positive and sustainable impact wherever it does business, in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes bringing the benefits of “Good Travel” to its guests, associates and communities in Asia Pacific.
“We are truly proud to have such an amazing partnership with Marriott International, who have been supporting us since we started. This new step they are taking, to cook and serve nutritious meals using surplus food, will create a much bigger impact on society. It is a clear testament to their dedication to their sustainability & impact platform. It started in Phuket last year, now the GMs of these Bangkok hotels are following. Amazing people, amazing partners!” said James Leyson, Managing Director of Scholars of Sustenance Foundation.
In partnership with SOS Thailand, Marriott regularly diverts excess food from its hotel kitchens and restaurants to those in need. Since it was founded in 2016, SOS Thailand has served more than seven million meals to people in Bangkok, Phuket and Hua Hin. This has saved almost 1.68 million kilograms worth of surplus food from going into landfill sites, saving 3,188 tons of CO2 and thus contributing to the global fight against climate change.
Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC (CP Foods)’ expert says all of its poultry operations are implementing maximum farm biosecurity measures to keep animals safe from outbreaks, particularly bird flu and COVID-19.
Dr. Payungsak Somyanontanagul, DVM, vice president at CP Foods, said that Thailand is on high alert for avian flu. Thai government agencies, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Department of Livestock, are now monitoring the pandemic closely, especially in the border areas.
Dr. Payungsak Somyanontanagul, DVM, vice president at CP Foods.
Aside the government’s efforts, he added that CP Foods’ farm biosecurity measures are maintained and intensified.
Dr. Payungsak explained that the company has implemented the compartmentalization system to prevents the spread of avian influenza in broiler chicken and duck operations for over 15 years.
The principle of compartmentalization was established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) with an aim at promoting disease-free animal health, which will in turn, benefit consumer’s safety.
The proactive principlescomprised of common biosecurity management, Avian Influenza surveillance in compartment’s area and buffer zone of 1 km radius around the farm, control measures and traceability system.
Also, CP Foods’ farms are closed loop and controlled by Evaporative Cooling System (EVAP). This enables farmers to control the temperature of the facility, making it suitable for animals to be raised in a comfortable and stress-free environment as well as reducing human contact.
Importantly, CP Foods has joined hands with the Department Livestock Development (DLD), the Competent Authority of Thailand, to develop risk analysis for bird flu in line with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). The practice was drawn to precisely ensure disease assessment.
For sustainable biosecurity, the company has shared best practices for implementing the compartment model with its contracted farmers.
Aside Avian disease control, COVID-19 is important, the company has established an additional health and safety measures for employees. Meanwhile, non-employees are not allowed to enter CP Foods’ poultry farms.
Under the new guidelines, all workplaces must comply to the following measures: 1) implement stringent screening process for outside delivery persons and providing them reserved space to reduce the probability of the spread 2) increase cleaning frequency to at least every 30 minutes 3) keep social distancing at work 4) clearly mark the floor to inform people of the acceptable safe social distance at all areas where congestion is likely and 5) organize weekly deep cleaning activities that included farm area disinfection to minimized risk of COVID-19.
CP Foods also encouraged training and awareness its employees to follow health instructions like temperature screening, wearing face masks all the time, keeping social distancing, regularly washing hands and maintain personal hygiene to avoid risk of COVID-19 exposure.
“With stringent biosecurity measures, in both animal and human, we are confident that our products are disease-free and safe for consumer consumption” Dr. Payungsak said.
Suthep Thaugsuban is seen at a news conference on March 17, 2017.
BANGKOK — A court on Wednesday convicted former Democrat Party executive Suthep Thaugsuban and five others on charges of insurrection for their roles in street protests against the elected government back in 2013 and 2014.
Suthep was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the protests, which culminated in the military coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration in May 2014. The court declined to suspend their sentences, though it is not clear as of publication time whether Suthep and others would be granted a bail release while they appeal the verdict.
Defendants who were given jail sentences alongside Suthep include Digital Economy Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta, Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan, and Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senniam.
Buddhipongse and Thaworn were sentenced to 7 and 5 years in prison, respectively, while Nataphol got 6 years and 16 months.
Suthep Thaugsuban, center, receives a hug from his supporter before entering the Criminal Court to hear his verdict on Feb. 24, 2021.
Speaking briefly to reporters, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam said the trio has immediately lost their seats in the Cabinet, since the law bans individuals who are convicted and given jail terms by the court to hold ministerial offices.
The other two defendants found guilty of the same charges were Suriyasai Katasila and Taya Teepsuwan, who is married to the Education Minister. The court handed down a sentence of 2 years for Suriyasai, and 1 year and 8 months for Taya.
Suthep told reporters before entering the courthouse that he is willing to face any legal repercussions for his actions.
“Our fight was the fight for the country,” Suthep, 71, said.
The former Deputy Prime Minister quitted his post as the vice chairman of the Democrat Party in late 2013 to form a group called the People’s Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King as Head of State – or known in English as the People’s Democratic Reform Committee – with an aim to oust Yingluck’s government and implement unspecific set of reforms before a new election can be held.
State prosecutors had accused the Suthep and 38 other protest leaders of treason, sedition, voter suppression, as well as five other charges for the campaign.
Suthep Thaugsuban waves to supporters on Jan. 17, 2014, while leading a street protest in Bangkok.
The city-wide protests, billed as the “Bangkok Shutdown,” lasted for seven months and came to an end when army chief Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power on May 22, 2014.
“All of the 39 defendants have come to terms with the verdict, no matter how it will turn out,” Suthep said prior to today’s verdict. “Our struggle saw 24 people dead and over 900 people wounded. Some of us already went into prison, so no matter what will be, will be.”
He added, “We will take responsibility for it, we respect the law and justice system.”
The official death toll was put at 27 by Bangkok’s emergency medical service center, with some of the victims as young as 4 years old.
At the height of the protest from 2013 to 2014, Suthep led thousands of demonstrators to occupy key intersections and government institutions across the capital to pressure then-PM Yingluck to resign and install a new unelected government to “reform the country.”
The Constitutional Court eventually removed Yingluck from office in May 2014 on the grounds that her Cabinet unfairly transferred an official from his post in 2011.
Citing the need to restore public order, the army declared a martial law on May 20, 2014 and ousted the remnants of Yingluck’s government two days later in a coup led by Gen. Prayut, who named himself the new Prime Minister.
District officials carry Chumrun Sachat out of her home on Feb. 22, 2021 to make her Citizen ID. Photo: Don Phut District Office Saraburi Province / Facebook
SARABURI — Local officials in the rural district of Don Phut, Saraburi, came under fire Wednesday after they posted photos of themselves carrying a bedridden elderly woman to a district office to issue her with an ID card – instead of making one for her at home.
The saga was told through an album of 34 photos posted by Don Phut District Office, in what was meant to be a positive publicity campaign for the officials. Chumrun Sachat, 85, is said to have been carried out of her home by district chief Puttipong Suriyasing himself on Tuesday afternoon.
“Citizens’ IDs are an important document of identification. Don Phut District gives importance to citizens in the area,” the post said, accompanied by photos of men carrying Chumrun to a car, putting her in a wheelchair, taking her photo and fingerprint, and carrying her back to her home in a stretcher.
Chumrun is paralyzed in half of her body and has not gone out of her house for 16 years, the post says. She lives alone, and is unable to climb down from the stairs of her own residence. She had lost her old ID long ago.
Local officials also registered her for the “We Win” government handout, since Chumrun does not own a smartphone.
But the post, which has been shared more than 5,000 times, was soon attacked by users who criticized the officials for not bringing equipment to make the ID cards to her home and make her life much less difficult.
The backlash was so damning that the district office removed the post by Wednesday afternoon.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to send officers to her home? Why do you have to make easy things so difficult?” wrote Facebook user Chonlakan Chaiphanukiat. “Moving her like this could even be a danger to her.”
“Well, you got your photo op to send to your boss,” wrote user Piyanat Kantee under a photo of an official giving a thumbs up with Chumrum and her new card.
Photo: Don Phut District Office Saraburi Province / Facebook
It’s not even a revolutionary idea either – the Department of Interior Affairs has been deploying mobile ID card teams for years now. Residents who require the service can simply call the 1548 hotline to request for a unit to be sent to their home.
“This is convenient. It’s hard for me to go to the district office,” Chanchai Suwannaplang of Prachinburi said in a government video from 2017 promoting the mobile card making program.
According to the 2019 census, Don Phut district has a population of 6,737.
Burmese demonstrators hold up banners during an anti-coup protest in front of the United Nations office in Bangkok on Feb. 21, 2021.
BANGKOK — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday declined to comment on news reports that Myanmar’s junta-appointed foreign minister has met with his Thai counterparts in an effort to resolve the political crisis at home.
Sources at Government House say Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his foreign minister Don Pramudwinai met with Burmese foreign minister U Wunna Maung Lwin at Don Mueang Air Force Base on Wednesday morning.
If confirmed, it would be the first overseas visit by a Myanmar government representative after its military seized power in the Feb. 1 coup, which led to street protests in Myanmar’s largest cities and a chorus of condemnation from the global community.
But foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said he can neither confirm nor deny the report.
“I can’t confirm it right now,” Tanee said.
Government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul gave a similar response, “I haven’t received any reports about it.”
A news report published by Reuters on Wednesday said Wunna Maung Lwin arrived in Bangkok to discuss diplomatic efforts led by members of the ASEAN bloc to resolve the crisis in Myanmar.
Japan-based Kyodo News also reported that Thai foreign minister Don is expected to hold talks with Wunna Maung Lwin, before he would meet with Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi separately.
Retno is currently in Thailand after her trip to Myanmar was abruptly canceled on Wednesday; the Indonesian government said it was “not an ideal time” for the visit. Indonesia has been spearheading calls for fellow ASEAN members to take a regional action on the worsening situation in Myanmar.
“After taking into account current developments and the input of other ASEAN countries, this is not the ideal time to conduct a visit,” Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in a media briefing Wednesday.
Thailand, like many other ASEAN governments, has not officially condemned the coup in Myanmar and the deadly crackdown on dissidents that followed.
Pro-democracy activist Arnon Nampa speaks to reporters on Dec. 16, 2020.
BANGKOK — The court on Tuesday once again refused to release four activists who organized pro-democracy protests on bail, their attorney said.
It was the third time the bail request was submitted to the court. The latest bid was also endorsed by Thammasat University former rector Charnvit Kasetsiri and the dean of the university’s Faculty of Law, Panus Tassaneeyanon. The pair posted up to 400,000 baht as a surety, to no avail.
“I must say that I was saddened and disappointed,” Charnvit said. “But I still think the chance of securing a bail is still there.”
He added, “What the four have been calling for, the monarchy reforms, it’s the most correct thing to do, especially if we consider the history of monarchies around the world.”
The four protest leaders – Arnon Nampa, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, and Patiwat “Bank” Saraiyam – are charged with royal defamation for organizing an overnight protest at Sanam Luang over the weekend of Sept. 19 and 20, 2020.
For their calls of reforms to make the monarchy more accountable, they have been jailed at Bangkok Remand Prison for 14 days so far. Their pre-trial detention can last up to 84 days.
The presiding judge, Chanathip Muanpawong, wrote in Tuesday’s ruling that the decision made by other judges to deny the four defendants of their bail release was clearly reasoned, and there’s concerns that the defendants will commit the lese majeste offense again if let out.
“There is cause to believe that the defendants may repeat similar offenses of which they are accused if they are granted a temporary release,” Chanathip wrote.
Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen, an attorney of the legal defense team, said that the chance of getting bail for the four activists grew slimmer in each failed attempt.
“The chance in the next attempt is even lower, if nothing changes,” said Poonsuk, who works for the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Chanathip is the same judge who presided over an infamous court case back in November 2011, when a 61-year-old man named Ampon Tangnoppakul was convicted of lese majeste and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ampon died in prison less than a year later, sparking widespread uproar over the lese majeste law.
Chanathip also presided over the sentencing of Redshirt activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul to 15 years for lese majeste in 2011, and the convicting of political activist Surachai Danwattananusorn in the same offense in 2012. Surachai was given a jail term of 7.5 years.
Royal insult is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, per count.
An overhead view of a highway in Bangkok. Photo: Matichon
BANGKOK — Kickstart that long weekend by barreling down at (safe) speeds free of charge this Friday.
The Expressway Authority of Thailand announced on Wednesday that tollway fees for Chaloem Maha Nakhon Expressway, Si Rat Expressway, and Udon Ratthaya Expressway will be waived Friday for Maha Bucha, a Buddhist holiday that would make Friday through Sunday a long weekend.
The fee exemption is intended to ease the flow of traffic for those going out of town for a vacation.
Needless to say, a booze ban will be applied during the holiday per law.
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and his entourage welcome the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Feb. 24, 2021.
BANGKOK — The tourism minister on Wednesday said up to 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been reserved for hospitality workers in five provinces most popular with foreign tourists – a sign that the country may be on track for a reopening.
Tourism and Sport Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan told reporters that the five provinces to receive the Sinovac doses are Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Phuket, Krabi and Samui island in Surat Thani.
The vaccine will be distributed to workers at hotels that would be designated as quarantine facilities for tourists who arrive from overseas, Pipat said.
“We want to build confidence for tourists,” he said.
The top tourism official also said he has already proposed the government coronavirus response center to allow arriving tourists to leave their rooms and use hotel facilities after spending just 3 days in quarantine, instead of the current 14-day isolation period.
Pipat’s announcement came as a surprise to many, since the government previously said the priority of the Sinovac doses will be limited to frontline health workers and vulnerable populations in areas hardest hit by the coronavirus.
The first shipment of the Sinovac-developed vaccine, containing nearly 200,000 doses, arrives in Thailand on Wednesday morning. The government said up to 2 million doses made by the Chinese pharmaceutical will be secured by April.
Although several media reports in recent weeks suggest that Thailand will soon allow tourists who are already vaccinated against COVID-19 to visit without undergoing quarantine, Pipat is less than committed to the idea.
“We will have to see how many Thais are vaccinated by the end of the year,” the tourism minister said. “And we will have to see whether the Department of Health can issue vaccine passports by then. If so, then we will submit the proposal.”
He gave no timeline, but said the proposal will probably be submitted to the pandemic center by “the 3rd quarter” at the earliest.
