Photos of the three human trafficking suspects shown by police at a news conference in Bangkok on Oct. 25, 2019.
BANGKOK — Immigration police said Friday they arrested a human trafficker who coerced children into selling roses to foreign tourists on Phuket island, and beating them when they failed to meet a quota.
Immigration police deputy chief Pornchai Kuntee said the suspect is a 24-year-old Cambodian national who allegedly kidnapped two Cambodian children from their parents, and then forced them to sell roses and other goods to tourists in the red light district of Patong.
The children must work from 8am to 9pm everyday and make at least 2,000 baht in profit at the end of the day, or they would be subject to beatings, Maj. Gen. Pornchai said. The money was pocketed by the traffickers, and the kids were then jailed at a house in Patong when they were off work.
The suspect, identified as Kim Hang, was charged with several offenses including human trafficking, illegal detention of minors, and forcing minors to work.
Maj. Gen. Pornchai added that police are seeking to locate and arrest three other Cambodians in the same ring.
Children selling flowers to foreign tourists remains a common sight in backpacker areas, such as Khaosan Road in Bangkok despite its association with human trafficking.
BANGKOK — Buddhism and snow: these are probably not what Thais generally associate with Pakistan, but ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad named them as a hidden highlight that awaits Thai visitors.
“Many places in Pakistan are of interest to Thailand. There are many places related to Buddhist history. We have them carefully preserved,” Ahmad said in a recent interview. “There are also mountains and valleys of beautiful scenery. Thai people love mountains … they can come for skiing.”
Despite what appears to be a large gap in cultural differences between the two nations, Ahmad said Pakistan and Thailand share not only a rich historical heritage and mutual cooperation, but also a successful interracial community.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad
Pakistan-Thailand trade is valued at about 1.7 billion USD – much of it in favor of Thailand. The Kingdom is also consistently ranked as one of the top destinations for Pakistanis; an average of 80,000–90,000 Pakistanis visit Thailand yearly, and there are currently three direct flights connecting Thailand with three Pakistani cities: Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi.
Thailand’s exports to Pakistan largely consist of automobiles, autoparts, machinery, electronics, and rubber, while Pakistan exports fishery and – you guessed it – textiles to Thailand. Khaek khai pa, or South Asians hawking cloths, has been a stereotype among Thai people for centuries.
“I suppose the stereotype has some truth,” Ahmad said.
The diplomat took up the post in June 2017, in what was also his first-ever visit to Thailand. Ahmad, 52, said the country is “quite easy to settle in,” largely thanks to the “friendly, open” attitude of Thai people, which he said is similar to the people back home.
“People in Pakistan also smile, and they will welcome you,” Ahmad said. “Thailand and Pakistan, we are Lands of Smiles.”
Thai-Pakistani relations extend back to 1950s, when Pakistan was a close partner of Thailand in anti-Communist defense bloc called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO. Cooperation between Pakistan and Thailand outlived SEATO by decades, Ahmad said, citing ongoing joint efforts in security and defense.
A Buddha figure found in Pakistan’s Swat Valley region.
But what may matter the most for Thais is Pakistan’s commitment to preserving the rich history of Buddhism in the Swat Valley region, where centuries-old pagodas and Buddhist architectures stood as a testament to the early years of the faith.
“Many Thai Buddhists know about Taxila,” Ahmad said, referring to an ancient city once ruled by Buddhist conqueror King Asoka, “But they don’t know it’s in Pakistan!”
Only about 6,000 Thai tourists visited Pakistan in 2018, but that doesn’t mean the people-to-people ties between the two countries is a small matter. Far from it, the ambassador argued, pointing to the success stories of Thai nationals with Pakistani origins, or “Thai-Pakistanis” as they call themselves.
It’s a very prosperous circle; its members include business owners, textile moguls, celebrities, and politicians. For instance, four MPs and two Senators in the parliament are Thai-Pakistanis, Ahmad said with pride.
“They are very dynamic community, and they contribute to the country in their own ways,” the ambassador said. “They forge friendly ties between the two nations.”
Thai-Pakistani actress Pat Napapa TantrakulBhumjaithai MP Chada Thaiseth, a politician with Pakistani descent.
BANGKOK — Fill both your glass of mojito and good karma points at the same time at a 5-hour river cruise party for a good cause.
Set to drift down the Chao Phraya River once again on Nov. 23, the sixth edition of the Karma Kruise will light up the river with dazzling arrays of neon and heavy-hitting packs of house and techno music for a sunset sail.
The night will begin with a warm-up party at Baan Rim Naam in Talad Noi at 2pm, and the boat will shove off at 6:50pm. Food and drinks will be served onboard until midnight. That means, five hours of party on land, five on the water.
International DJs will lead the deck, including Cleveland from Luxembourg, Jennifer Loveless from Australia, and Teodora Van Context from Serbia. Thailand’s own talents like DJ Krit Morton and Sunju Hargun will also hit the stage with their dance beats.
But don’t worry, sane people – the organizer insists the 10-hour party marathon won’t end up as an endless playlist of EDMs.
“We carefully curate our lineups, selecting artists that may be unfamiliar to the audience but who are well-respected within the industry,” representative Luke James said. “Certainly there will be house and techno, but expect a lot of other styles to shine through as well.”
Tickets are on sale now for 1,200 baht via Ticketmelon. Attendees must be 20 and up.
Profits made will go to support various NGOs across the country. Recently, the organizer donated to the Duong Prateep Music Program, where funds will be used for music programs for underprivileged children.
Want to dance on a solid ground instead? The onshore version of the 10-hour party will be held this Saturday at About Studio on Pradit Manutham Road. Tickets are available via Ticketmelon.
The party boat is organized by Karma Klique, a group of six friends with six different nationalities who wants to set the nightlife scene on the course to do some good. They made their first voyage in 2016, which saw some 170 partygoers, before expanding to 500 for this year’s edition.
Correction: This article’s headline has been amended to reflect that not all 10 hours of the party will be on the boat.
DALIAN (Xinhua) — Bai Xiangqun, former vice chairman of the government of northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Intermediate People’s Court of Dalian in northeast China’s Liaoning Province Thursday.
Bai was convicted of taking bribes, embezzlement of public funds, inside trading and leaking of insider information.
He was fined 62.5 million yuan (about 8.84 million U.S. dollars), and his illegal gains will be confiscated, according to a court statement.
Bai was accused of taking advantage of the various positions he formerly held to help entities and persons in allocating coal resources, contracting construction projects, real estate development and job arrangements.
In return, Bai accepted money and valuables worth of over 85.15 million yuan between 1999 and 2018.
Between 2008 and 2012, Bai illegally take public assets worth of 7.12 million yuan into his own possession, the court said.
In addition, Bai was found to have illegally profited over 17 million yuan from the stock market by obtaining inside information through illicit measures in 2010, 2011 and 2015.
He also leaked the insider information to others, who used his information for stocks trading, illegally gaining a profit of 40.52 million yuan, the court said.
Bai was given a lesser punishment for confessing to criminal acts that were previously unknown to the investigators, expressing remorse and returning most of the illegal gains, the court said.
This Friday, Oct. 11, 2019 photo provided by Christine Rule shows a vintage doll that is part of the creepiest dolls collection at the History Center of Olmsted County in Rochester, Minn. (Christine Rule via AP)
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota museum has turned its creepiest dolls loose just in time for Halloween.
The History Center of Olmsted County in Rochester has posted photos and videos of its miniature terrors on social media, taking votes for the most nightmarish one.
Curator Dan Nowakowski told Minnesota Public Radio that for a lot of the dolls, the freakiness is all in the eyes. Some have movable eyelids that snap open when you lift the dolls up. The paint has chipped off the face of another contender, leaving it looking like a mummy.
Nowakowski says the dolls weren’t intended to be frightening when they were made, but damage from play and the passage of time have turned them creepy.
Voting continues through Thursday. The winner and runner-up will be displayed over Halloween.
A waitress in traditional Chinese costume sits behind posters of Nvshu characters at a KFC outlet in Yongzhou, central China's Hunan Province on 22 Oct, 2019. (Photo provided by KFC)
CHANGSHA (Xinhua)— International fast-food chain KFC on Tuesday launched a “Nvshu” themed restaurant in China to preserve this rare Chinese syllabic script used exclusively amongst women in certain areas.
The ancient Nvshu (women’s writing) characters, poems written in this calligraphy and related books adorned the outlet in the city of Yongzhou, central China’s Hunan Province.
Nvshu made a worldwide stir on its first discovery in the 1980s. Normally painted on paper or embroidered into cloth, the intricate Nvshu characters, with a unique writing style, were supposed to illustrate female postures.
The restaurant also invited inheritors of this mysterious language to offer calligraphy lessons and tell its related customs to pupils on the spot.
Girls take a Nvshu calligraphy class at a KFC outlet in Yongzhou, central China’s Hunan Province on 22 Oct, 2019. (Photo provided by KFC)
“Nvshu is a gender-specific language peculiar to China, while KFC has a large number of customers. Their cooperation can help people better understand and appreciate Nvshu calligraphy,” said Hu Xin, an inheritor of this art.
Nvshu, probably the world’s only female-specific language, used to be popular in several townships of Jiangyong County in Yongzhou but was on the verge of extinction for lack of use.
In 2006, the age-old art earned a place on the list of national intangible cultural heritage.
Fans hold signs about Hong Kong during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
HOUSTON (AP) — A group of 30 fans at the Houston Rockets’ season opener against Milwaukee held signs and wore shirts in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong on Thursday night.
Houston general manager Daryl Morey angered China with a since-deleted tweet in support of the protesters earlier this month.
Wednesday’s opening-night games were not televised in China in the wake of Morey’s tweet that caused tension between the NBA and Chinese officials.
Many in the group wore black T-shirts with white letters that read: “Fight for Freedom.”
The majority of the group was from Houston’s Vietnamese community, but it also included people from Hong Kong.
Fans hold signs about Hong Kong during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
Chris Wong, who was born in Hong Kong and moved to Houston 10 years ago, said he joined the group to support freedom of speech.
“The NBA and American corporations are facing the issue of free speech,” he said. “They have to ask themselves how much freedom are they willing to give in exchange for the access to the market in China? That’s why we want to send this message to everyone.”
One man held a sign the read: “Thank you Morey,” with a red heart after Morey’s name. Another sign read: “No censorship in America” and a third declared: “Freedom is not FREE.” Another man held a sign that said: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” which are the exact words included in Morey’s tweet.
Tram Ho helped organize the group and said the reason for putting it together was simple.
“We wanted to support the pro-Democracy movement in Hong Kong,” she said. “The NBA’s Morey … tweeted a benign tweet to support the (movement and) the Chinese government overreacted and tried to censor us and that’s not right. So that brought me the idea that we would support … the pro-democratic movement.”
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta quickly rebuked his GM after his tweet with a tweet saying that Morey does not speak for the team, but the damage was done. The Chinese Basketball Association, headed by former Rockets star Yao Ming, suspended its ties to the Rockets over the tweet.
Events in China promoting a Lakers-Nets series were canceled, NBA media partner Tencent said it was evaluating its plans to cover the league and some Chinese corporations have suspended relationships with the NBA.
Photo taken on July 23, 2019 shows Tesla's Shanghai gigafactory in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
SHANGHAI (Xinhua) — Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai, which took less than 10 months to build, has started trial production ahead of schedule, the automaker said in its third-quarter earnings report.
Tesla said the Shanghai gigafactory is already producing full vehicles on a trial basis ahead of schedule, from body and paint to general assembly. The factory is about 65 percent cheaper to build than the Model 3 production facility in the United States.
“China is by far the largest market for mid-sized premium sedans. With Model 3 priced on par with gasoline powered mid-sized sedans, we believe China could become the biggest market for Model 3,” the company said in the report.
Visitors view a Tesla Model 3 during the 18th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, east China, April 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
“We are also ahead of schedule to produce Model Y and now expect to launch by summer 2020,” the carmaker said.
The Model Y equipment installation in Tesla’s Fremont factory is underway in advance of the planned launch next year. “We are moving faster than initially planned, using learnings and efficiencies gained from the Shanghai factory design,” Tesla said.
Tesla Shanghai gigafactory, the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai, broke ground in January this year.
Demonstrators hold banners and candles during a vigil for the 39 lorry victims, outside the Home Office in London, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. Authorities found 39 people dead in a truck in an industrial park in England on Wednesday and arrested the driver on suspicion of murder in one of Britain's worst human-smuggling tragedies. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) — British police expanded an investigation into one of the country’s deadliest cases of human smuggling after 39 people were found dead in a refrigerated container truck near an English port. Essex police said the victims were believed to be from China, though its embassy said their nationalities were still being verified.
The Essex Police force said 31 men and eight women were found dead in the truck early Wednesday at an industrial park in Grays, a town 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London.
A magistrate gave detectives another 24 hours to question the driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland who has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He has not been charged, and police have not released his name.
Police in Northern Ireland searched three properties there as detectives sought to piece together how the truck’s cab, its container and the victims came together on such a deadly journey.
Pippa Mills, deputy chief of Essex Police, said the process of conducting post-mortem examinations and identifying the victims would be “lengthy and complex.”
“This is an incredibly sensitive and high-profile investigation, and we are working swiftly to gather as full a picture as possible as to how these people lost their lives,” she said.
Essex police said the victims were believed to be from China. Its embassy in London said early Friday in a statement on its website that police were still verifying the victims’ identities and their nationalities had not been confirmed.
Chinese Consul General Tong Xuejun, who headed a team that traveled to the site, urged police to find out the truth as soon as possible. He spoke to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV after meeting with authorities.
Police believe the truck and container took separate journeys before ending up at the industrial park. They say the container traveled by ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to Purfleet, England, where it arrived early Wednesday and was picked up by the truck driver and driven the few miles to Grays.
Demonstrators hold banners and candles during a vigil for the 39 lorry victims, outside the Home Office in London, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
The truck cab, which is registered in Bulgaria to a company owned by an Irish woman, is believed to have traveled from Northern Ireland to Dublin, where it caught a ferry to Wales, then drove across Britain to pick up the container.
Global Trailer Rentals Ltd told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE the trailer it owns was leased Oct. 15 in County Monaghan, in Ireland, at a rate of 275 euros ($299) per week. The Dublin-based company said it will make the data from its tracking system available to investigators.
The company’s directors told RTE it was “shell-shocked” at the news and that it was it was “entirely unaware that the trailer was to be used in the manner in which it appears to have been.”
Groups of migrants have repeatedly landed on English shores using small boats to make the risky Channel crossing, and migrants are sometimes found in the back of cars and trucks that disembark from the massive ferries that link France and England. But Wednesday’s macabre find in an industrial park was a reminder that criminal gangs are still profiting from large-scale trafficking.
The tragedy recalls the deaths of 58 Chinese migrants who suffocated in a truck in Dover, England, in 2000 after a perilous, months-long journey from China’s southern Fujian province. They were found stowed with a cargo of tomatoes after a ferry ride from Zeebrugge, the same Belgian port that featured in the latest tragedy.
In February 2004, 21 Chinese migrants — also from Fujian — who were working as cockle-pickers in Britain drowned when they were caught by treacherous tides in Morecambe Bay in northwest England.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed in Parliament on Wednesday that people smugglers would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Britain, with its high demand for tourism, restaurant and agricultural workers, remains a very attractive destination for immigrants from all countries, even as the U.K. is rethinking its immigration rules as it prepares to leave the European Union.
Nando Sigona, a professor of migration studies at the University of Birmingham, said tougher migration controls born of populist anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe were closing less dangerous routes and sending smugglers toward riskier and untried paths.
“The fact that all these people came from the same country could hint to a more organized crime scenario,” he told The Associated Press. “Usually, if it’s an ad hoc arrangement at the port, you would get a bit of a mix of nationalities.”
He said smugglers can earn more by packing as many people as possible into a ship or truck.
“Death is a side effect,” he said.
Sigona, who has studied Chinese immigrants to the U.K., said China’s rising middle class has more access to multiple routes to come to the West legally — say, with student or tourist visas. This means the West is now closer to the public imagination in China, and could prompt those with fewer resources to put themselves and their families into debt in hopes of reaping similar rewards.
U.K. authorities have warned for several years that people smugglers are turning to Dutch and Belgian ports because of increased security measures on the busiest cross-Channel trade route between the ports of Calais in France and Dover in England.
Britain’s National Crime Agency warned in 2016 that people smuggling using containers on ferries was “the highest-priority organized immigration crime threat.” The same year, the U.K. Border Force identified Zeebrugge and the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands as key launching points for smuggling people into Britain.
Belgian authorities said they had not made much headway in finding out how the container ended up in Zeebrugge.
“Up till now, we have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. We don’t even know which road was followed by the truck in Belgium,” said Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor’s office. “We don’t know how much time it stayed in Belgian territory. We don’t know if it stopped or not.”
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Associated Press writer Raf Casert in Brussels and researcher Shanshan Wang in Beijing contributed to this report.
An angry crowd shouts at road rage suspect Rachata Wangkitcharoengsuk in front of Phutthamonthon Police Station on Oct. 23, 2019.
BANGKOK — A man whose incoherent rant prompted a massive outrage on social media that spilled into a real-life protest apologized Thursday for his inflammatory words.
Rachata Wangkitcharoengsuk, 24, said he’s sorry for insulting Thai people and His Majesty the King following a road accident with another motorist on Wednesday. Speaking next to him at the police station in Nakhon Pathom province, his mother blamed ignorance of Thai culture and depression for his anger.
“He hasn’t been in Thailand for a long time, and he doesn’t understand our beautiful culture. He doesn’t understand a lot of things,” his mother said in a news conference. “It could be because [the night earlier] he didn’t take his pills. It could be a reason why he couldn’t control himself.”
Rachata then clasped his hand in a wai and apologized to the reporters.
Police fingerprint Rachata Wangkitcharoengsuk at Phutthamonthon Police Station on Oct. 23, 2019.
He spoke a day after a video of his tirade went viral on social media, drawing millions of views and widespread anger.
In the video, a man later identified as Rachata loudly scolds a pickup truck driver who reportedly skidded into his Honda Civic. Rachata, who said he graduated from overseas and only recently returned to Thailand, shouted multiple insults to the driver and Thai people in general.
“I spent 10 years studying abroad. Thai people are backwards. You as well!” Rachata said to the pickup truck driver, who filmed the encounter.
“I insult all Thai people. Even the king!” he went on, as his girlfriend tried to calm him. “I hate Thailand. I shouldn’t have come back at all. It’s full of low-class people here.”
Rachata also boasted of owning a 1-million baht car and asking whether the driver could afford it.
“I’m a billionaire’s son. You see my red license plate?” Rachata said. “I’m just 24, but I have everything you don’t.”
Although Rachata ended up driving away without demanding financial compensation, the motorist filed charges of verbal defamation against Rachata with Phutthamonthon police, who in turn summoned the self-proclaimed scion for questioning.
That’s when the trouble started.
After words that Rachata was meeting with the police spread online, an angry crowd soon formed in front of Phutthamonthon Police Station, rising to a peak of several hundred people in a matter of hours. Many spectators also broadcast the protest live on Facebook, drawing yet more attention.
“Come out! Come out!” the crowd yelled at the station. The protesters said they were there to see a man who defamed the King and his own country in person.
“He insulted Thai people, even though he’s a Thai himself,” one man told the media. The crowd also shouted abuse at Rachata’s mother and girlfriend when they arrived at the police station.
Fearing for Rachata’s safety, police advised Rachata to spend a night at the police station, and the crowd eventually dispersed on Wednesday night. Police brought him to the court to be arraigned today on the charge of defamation, which carries a 1-month jail term.
Some expressed dismay at the footage of a mob baying for blood at Rachata. Government critic Natchapol Supattana, aka Mark Pitbull, posted online that many people are overreacting to Rachata’s offensive words.
“He might be ill. I don’t understand people who marched to the police station. Were you there just to see his face and scold him to your heart’s content, or did you intend to beat him to death beneath your feet?” Natchapol wrote.
Popular psychiatrist Kampanart Tansithabudhku also chided the protesters for threatening violence at a man who potentially has depression.
“To people who … pledged to assault him, or hurled abuse at him around the police station: are you sure that your mental health and ability to control your emotions are normal?” Kampanart wrote.
But the blowback didn’t stop a group of monarchy supporters from visiting the police’s Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok earlier today to file a complaint of royal defamation against Rachata for his remark. The charge, called lese majeste, is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
“Rachata’s behavior unacceptable for me. He insulted Thai people and made inappropriate references to the higher institution,” activist Rachen Trakulwieng told reporters, using a euphemism for the monarchy.
Rachen also rejected the explanation that Rachata had a mental condition.
“I believe that it’s more likely to be an excuse,” Rachen said.
The activist, who has filed similar complaints against anti-government politicians in the past, said the family should show medical certificates as a proof of his condition, and questioned how Rachata was permitted to drive in the first place.
