Chuang Chuang keeping cool with ice on April 24, 2015 at Chiang Mai Zoo.
CHIANG MAI — Chuang Chuang the panda died from a heart attack, Chiang Mai Zoo announced on Tuesday.
According to the zoo’s autopsy, Chuang Chuang, 19, died from heart failure on 4:30pm on Sept. 16, prompting condolences and outcries alike against Thai zoo care on both Thai and Chinese social media.
“There were no wounds on Chuang Chaung’s body and no foreign objects were found in his windpipe,” the Tuesday announcement said. “The cause of death was due to heart failure, which resulted in oxygen deprivation of internal organs.”
The result was confirmed following a joint autopsy conducted by Thai and Chinese experts.
Shortly before he died, CCTV footage showed that Chuang Chuang was walking around his enclosure before he suddenly began to limp and then collapsed.
The statement also confirmed that an insurance company would have to pay financial compensation to China as outlined in the lending agreement. The contracted firm, Dhipaya Insurance, previously said the payout is about 15 million baht.
In the meantime, the zoo said it would continue to take the best care of his mate, Lin Hui, whose her fans said she was not as cheerful as before.
News of Chuang Chuang’s death prompted an outrage among some Chinese netizens on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, with some demanding the return of panda widow using a hashtag #SaveLinHui.
“Please cancel the lending agreement of giant pandas to Thailand! They are not well-raised and not worthy,” Weibo user @pangdingkafe said.
Officials said there are no plans to send Lin Hui back to China as the lending agreement has been extended until 2023. However, Chuang Chuang’s body would be returned to his homeland as specified under the agreement.
Born in Chengdu in 2000, Chuang Chuang arrived in Chiang Mai with Lin Hui in 2003, as part of China’s so-called panda diplomacy. The pair gave birth to a child, Lin Ping, in 2009, but she has since been sent back to China for mating.
The panda family became a national sensation, drawing thousands of visitors to the zoo. At the height of his stardom, he even had a 24-hour TV live stream from his captivity.
The average life expectancy of a giant panda is around 15 to 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity.
VIENNA (Xinhua) — China believes that in the fight against climate change, nuclear energy will play a bigger role as a low-carbon, green and clean base-load energy, a Chinese diplomat said here Tuesday.
Nuclear energy’s low level of live-cycle carbon emission “makes it a key solution to cutting emissions,” said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations (UN) and other International Organizations in Vienna, at a side event of the ongoing International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power.
“Despite the twists and turns in the way of utilizing atomic energy, we are convinced that the atomic energy is one of the greatest discoveries in the 20th century that lay a solid foundation for sustainable development of mankind,” Wang said.
“The Chinese government supports the IAEA’s (International Atomic Energy Agency’s) goal of Atoms for Peace and Development. And China, for its part, will work closely with the agency and other members to develop nuclear energy in a sound, steady, and sustainable way,” he said.
China has taken multipronged steps to make the energy structure clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient, and the transition of its energy production and consumption has been subsequently brought to a new level, he said.
In 2018, for example, China’s carbon emission per unit gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 45.8 percent from the 2005 level, meeting the annual target with a reduction of 5.26 billion tons of C02 emission. In the same year, the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption reached 14.3 percent, he said.
At present, China has 47 nuclear power units in operation and 11 units under construction. 10 units have been put into operation since 2018, among which the first global projects of the Evolutionary Power Reactor and the AP1000 (a nuclear pressurized water reactor using advanced passive safety systems) achieved commercial operation, Wang said.
Smooth progress has been made in the demo projects of the Chinese indigenous HTR (a high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed generation IV reactor) and HPR1000 (also known as Hualong-1, a pressurized water nuclear reactor) technologies, both at home and abroad. The design and review of small modular reactors and floating reactors are also proceeding well, he said.
“In the light of our national energy plan, we will continue to develop nuclear energy in a safe, efficient and sustainable manner and further increase its share in our primary energy,” Wang said.
“We will, in a spirit of win-win cooperation, contribute and share, with other countries, our experience and technology, and provide Chinese nuclear energy solutions accordingly,” he added.
CHICAGO (AP) — A 9-year-old child accused of causing a mobile home fire that killed three children and two adults in central Illinois has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
The juvenile also was charged with two counts of arson and one count of aggravated arson, the (Peoria) Journal Star reported.
The April 6 fire killed a 1-year-old, two 2-year-olds, a 34-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman at the Timberline Mobile Home Park near the village of Goodfield, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.
Woodford County State’s Attorney Greg Minger would not reveal other details about the suspect, including a possible relationship to the victims.
No child as young as this one has been accused in a mass killing since at least 2006, according to the AP/USATODAY/Northeastern University mass murder database. It tracks all U.S. homicides since then in which four or more people were killed (not including the offender) over a short period of time (24 hours), regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive.
Minger said he scoured multiple reports on the fire before proceeding with prosecution. Woodford County Coroner Tim Ruestman said the fire was started intentionally.
“It was a heavy decision,” Minger said. “It’s a tragedy, but at the end of the day, it’s charging a very young person with one of the most serious crimes we have. But I just think it needs to be done at this point, for finality.”
A major challenge for prosecutors will be trying to prove the child formed an intent to kill in advance, which is required in first-degree murder cases, explained Gus Kostopoulos, a former prosecutor-turned-juvenile defense lawyer in Chicago.
“Nine-year-olds don’t know that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. They don’t know people die and don’t come back to life,” he said. “I don’t know if 9-year-olds can form intent to commit murder.”
A leading Illinois advocate for children ensnared in the criminal justice system sharply criticized the decision to charge a child that young with murder.
“The charges are completely out of line, given everything we have learned … especially about the brain development of children,” said Betsy Clark, the president of Juvenile Justice Initiative, based in Evanston, Illinois.
Clark spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday by phone from New York, where she was attending the official release of a United Nations report on the prosecution of children. It recommends that children under 14 should never be prosecuted, no matter the crime.
Clark said 14 is the minimum age of criminal responsibility in many countries, including Germany.
In the 1890s, Illinois became among the first places in the world to establish a juvenile court, thereby taking minors out of the adult system, Clark said. But the case announced this week shows Illinois is no longer on the cutting age of juvenile justice, she said.
“We used to be a world leader and now we are so far behind,” she said.
Charges alleging violent crimes against children are rare, said Clark, adding that she hasn’t heard of other cases in which someone that young was charged with so many killings.
If convicted, the child could be placed on probation for at least five years but not beyond the age of 21, Minger said. Therapy and counseling would be likely.
“Probation, given the age, is about the only outcome that could happen here,” he said.
No arrest warrant is to be issued for the suspect, Minger said. The suspect will be appointed an attorney and will be subject to a bench trial, in front of a judge, he said.
Under Illinois law, a suspect younger than 10 cannot be detained. And a minor is not given a public jury trial and not entitled to one — unless the minor is charged as an adult.
The filing of murder charges against children under 10 is rare but not unprecedented.
Last month, a Michigan judge dismissed a murder charge against a 9-year-old accused of fatally shooting his mother in their home near Sturgis. St. Joseph County Family Division Judge David Tomlinson ruled that, under Michigan law, the boy was presumed incompetent for trial because he’s not yet 10.
“This case disturbs me more than any case I’ve ever dealt with,” the judge said.
In this April 26, 2019, file photo, traffic warden and securities stand guard near a TV screen broadcasting live of President Xi Jinping's opening speech, outside a shopping mall in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The furor over a tweet by the Houston Rockets general manager in support of Hong Kong protesters is highlighting the fine line that U.S. companies must walk when doing business with China.
The NBA is trying to manage that delicate relationship after Daryl Morey posted a now-deleted tweet of an image that read “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” referring to the 4-month-old protests in the semiautonomous Chinese territory. That set off an immediate backlash, with China’s state broadcaster canceling plans to show a pair of preseason games in that country later this week.
With a population of 1.4 billion people, a rapidly growing middle class and easing economic restrictions, China is highly appealing to U.S. companies looking for growth overseas. But companies must balance the potential for growth with the potential for pitfalls in dealing with a country that aggressively goes after its detractors.
Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, cautions that companies should know what they’re getting themselves into when they enter a relationship with a country that’s heading into 70 years of communist rule.
“It has a regime that doesn’t look like the United States,” Argenti said. “We can pretend it is a democracy, but it’s not.”
Western governments dislike China’s attacks on companies but are unlikely to get involved, said David Zweig, a politics specialist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. So it’s up to companies to navigate situations themselves.
Most of the time that means companies that face trouble quickly acquiesce to Beijing, apologize and try to “build bridges” instead of standing up to China, said Jonathan Sullivan, director of China programs at the University of Nottingham’s Asia Research Institute.
In 2018, Gap pulled a shirt with a map of China that did not include Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing regards as Chinese territory, and apologized.
Delta Air Lines, hotel operator Marriott and fashion brand Zara have all apologized to China for referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong or Tibet as countries on websites or promotional material. And Mercedes-Benz apologized for quoting the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a social media post.
“Everyone — states and companies — seem to accept that they have to tread on eggshells when it comes to China for fear of offending them and being punished,” Sullivan said in an email. “And they have to contort themselves to do that.”
A rare exception of a company standing up to China is Google Inc., but even the internet giant had its limits. Google shut down its mainland Chinese search engine in 2010, no longer willing to enforce Chinese censorship by not displaying foreign websites in search results if they were blocked by government filters.
Years later, however, reports surfaced that Google was working on a search engine that complies with China’s censorship laws, dubbed “Dragonfly,” leading to an outcry and a protest by hundreds of its own employees.
Peter Petri, a professor of international finance at the Brandeis International Business School, said despite the risks of dealing with China, the country is hard for U.S. businesses to avoid.
“Both countries have huge economies and are the world’s greatest innovators — they have too much to sell and license to each other to stay isolated in the long run,” he said. “Especially in high-tech products, China will soon be the largest market in the world, and America’s best companies can’t stay global leaders without a strong presence there.”
China is well-aware of its power and influence. And while a tweet may seem inconsequential, the Chinese government’s subsequent outrage has a chilling effect on anyone thinking of doing the same, said Alexander Dukalskis, a professor at University College Dublin specializing in Asian politics and human rights.
“In these episodes, the Chinese government is sending a clear signal to other companies that if you or one of your executives criticize certain policies, your company risks losing large sums of money,” he said.
Over time, companies that want to do business with China learn to censor themselves — and maybe even their own employees.
Ultimately, some companies may find it’s not worth the possibility of alienating U.S. customers or risking Chinese ire by doing business in China, no matter how lucrative the deals may be. Dartmouth’s Argenti says they must consider how their business in China measures up to their own values and sense of responsibility and then decide, “Are you willing to go to the mat for that, or is it just lip service?”
“For most companies,” Argenti concedes, “it’s just lip service.”
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AP writers Joe McDonald in Beijing and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
Rioters committing vandalism in Kowloon, Hong Kong, Oct. 6, 2019 (Xinhua)
HONG KONG (Xinhua) — Fourteen people were on Tuesday accused of wearing face masks in protests, the second group of violators under arrest after the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) enacted the anti-mask law in an effort to curb escalating violence.
The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts held the trial against those suspects, who, along with 12 other people, were also charged of participating in riot near Hennessy Road, Wan Chai on Sunday.
The HKSAR government on Friday invoked the power under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and put in place the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation as a deterrent to rioters, most of whom have used masks to conceal their identities. Two people were indicted for violating the new law on Monday.
A male biting off a police officer’s finger during a violent protest in Sha Tin on July 14 appeared in court again on Tuesday. He faced four charges including assaulting police and wounding, after adjustment by the prosecutor.
Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC (CPF) welcomed a large number of visitors to its booth at Anuga 2019 in Cologne, Germany, while Top Foods’ PURE-branded Vegan Lasagna is awarded 1 of 64 top innovations of the world’s largest annual food and beverage fair.
Mr. Prasit Boondoungprasert, Chief Executive Officer of CPF, said that Anuga 2019 presents a good opportunity for CPF to portray its image as a leading integrated food producer in the global trade arena. Driven by sustainable development, CPF’s booth is designed under the concept “Put Our Heart Into Food”, which is based on the company’s key principles – Innovation, People and Planet. It is thus a pleasure that one of the company’s products is selected as one of top innovations, which strengthens the company’s image as a global innovative food producer.
PURE-branded Vegan Lasagna is a ready-to-eat vegetarian meal. Produced by microwave technology, it maintains tastes and nutritious values without food seasonings and boasts a long shelf life without any preservatives. Notably, its packaging is made from degradable pinewood pulp which helps reduce plastic by 85%. It has been warmly welcomed by consumers during a soft launch. It was bestowed Mercury’s 2018 Award that affirmed its standards for airlines and won THAIFEX 2019’s Innovation Award.
Benja Chicken, the U Farm-branded premium chicken meat, also chalked up overwhelming interest during its first introduction to the European market. Buyers were impressed with the soft and juicy meat, thanks to the 100% natural production process that is free from antibiotics and growth hormones. It specifically addresses consumer demand for high-nutritious and healthy products.
Anuga 2019 is also the venue where CPF observes movements in the world’s food market, which will serve its innovative food development and improvement process and enable it to meet global consumer demands.
Supporting innovative talent has been part of Hennessy ‘s heritage since its founding in 1765. In 2019, the Hennessy Very Special Limited Edition by Felipe Pantone joins a family of groundbreaking artistic partnerships that includes Futura, Shepard Fairey, JonOne and Vhils. Starting of as a graffiti writer, art world phenomenon Felipe Pantone pushed himself into incorporating vintage typography optical art and kinetics into an aesthetic so distinctive it became a manifesto. Today, Felipe Pantone is a world-renowned artistic pioneer. His visual language resonates in a collision of mesmerizing color, bold graphics and 3D illusion, while his technique explores an appreciation of history that is constantly being transformed by forward-looking technology. “My work is informed by the past, but it’s totally contemporary. I like to transcend time through an unexpected experience that you can only have through art. I’m always trying to jump on the next wave, to innovate,” the artist says. For this Hennessy Very Special Limited edition, Felipe Pantone draws on that maxim to create new and unexpected modernity: artworks merge with Hennessy Very Special Cognac to reflect a distinctive, high-energy worldview. “As an artist, it’s important to constantly reinvent yourself if you want to keep the flame alive. In art as in cognac making, what matters is your contribution. It’s never purely about technique, it’s all about innovation.”
The Hennessy Very Special project with Felipe Pantone celebrates “Remixing the Present”: it is the expression of a shared passion for blending tradition and innovation, for using the old to fashion the new. In that spirit, Felipe Pantone created an original piece of artwork that also informs the design on this limited edition of Hennessy Very Special. Inspired by the past and yet completely contemporary, Pantone’s “W-3 Dimensional Three Stars” is a dizzying landscape of 3D forms and Op Art Motifs done in spray paint on aluminum composite panels. The piece features a black and white background, evoking both vintage computers and QR codes, against which three shining stars burst forth, a reference to the emblem used by Maurice Hennessy. An iridescent lighting bolt splices the canvas, symbolizing the speed of the digital era, Transposed onto the Hennessy Very Special label, it creates ab apt metaphor for Hennessy’s ability to capture momentum through the centuries.
Pope Francis is greeted by the faithful upon his arrival for a beatification Mass in Seoul, South Korea, on Aug. 16, 2014. Photo: Associated Press
BANGKOK — Seats allocated for Thai worshipers in an upcoming mass to be presided over by Pope Francis at a Bangkok stadium next month are now fully booked, but there is still a chance for foreigners to secure them.
Just a few days after the announcement of papal itinerary last week, the Catholic Social Communications of Thailand said on Tuesday that a Thai-only quota of 25,000 tickets for the open-air mass is already used up. A further quota of unspecified seats for foreigners is still available, according to the organizers.
Foreigners wishing to have a glimpse at the Pope at the National Stadium on Nov. 21 are advised to send an email to this address. Tickets for the mass – and other events related to the Pope’s visits – are free.
Tickets for other papal masses at the Assumption Cathedral, and St. Louis Church also already ran out.
“Registration was opened at churches around the country as we gave priority to the faithfuls,” organization representative Valith Saengthong said by phone.
However, those who missed the chance can still register online for a smaller mass to be held at St. Peter’s Church in Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom on Nov. 22.
Another mass at St. Louis Hospital on South Sathon Road, which will be held on Nov. 21, will open for walk-in registration at the hospital on Oct. 15 from 8.30 am onwards.
Tickets will be limited to 3,500. In order to obtain the tickets, bring along ID cards for Thais, or passport for foreigners, plus their photocopies.
Entering any of these masses without tickets will not be possible due to security reasons, organizers said.
In his visit to Thailand between Nov. 20 and 23, Pope Francis will meet King Vajiralongkorn, PM Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Buddhist Patriarch, and other key officials. He will also meet with Catholic priests, bishops, and representatives from other Christian denominations.
He will also likely to reunite with his second cousin, Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, a 77-year-old nun who has been working in the country since 1966.
News of the official papal visit will be distributed through the official “Pope Visit Thailand” website as well as the official Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Line.
BANGKOK — Each year since 2016, about 320,000 Swedes visit Thailand. One of them is ambassador Staffan Herrstrom.
Ambassador Herrstrom, 64, has been stationed in Thailand since 2015, having previously taken diplomatic posts in Vietnam and Poland. He helms the diplomatic relations between the most populous Nordic country and Thailand, with its various points of contact, one of the most visible ones being the people.
“I’ve found Thai restaurants and massage places in the most random places in Sweden,” Herrstrom said. “This is a reflection of contact which has its origins in tourism. A Swede might vacation here and find a future wife.”
Of the one-third of a million visitors a year, some decide to stay. Many of the approximately 10,000 Swedish expats are retired in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Rayong, Chiang Mai, and in Isaan.
The embassy also issues about 18,000 tourist visas a year for Thais going to Sweden. However, the outlier in this data is that there is a whopping 80,000 people with Thai background living in Sweden.
Some Thai expats in Sweden have returned to Thailand to make it big in the entertainment industry. Kanticha “Ticha” Chumma, winner of modelling reality show The Face Season 2 as well as Philip Thinroj, the winner of the show’s male modelling season, The Face Men, both grew up in Sweden.
Top: Khaosod English’s interview with Philip Thinroj. He speaks Swedish at 9:30.
Herrstrom also credited the close relationship between the two countries’ royal families as contributing to good bilateral relations.
The late King Bhumibol and Queen Mother Sirikit and Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia met each other on state visits throughout King Rama IX’s reign. Sweden even held a ceremony to honor the late king, who was a Knight of the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim, in Oct. 2017 in Stockholm.
“The present royal couple are also very close,” Herrstrom said.
Most recently, Queen Silvia visited Thailand in February 2018 on a trip for her World Childhood Foundation program.
In April 2004, King Bhumibol gifted two Thai elephants to King Carl XVI Gustaf, Bua and Saonoi, which are now in Kolmarden Zoo. King Carl and Queen Silvia visited the zoo in 2013 to see Namsai, Bua and Saonoi’s new calf.
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden visit Thai elephants at Kolmarden Zoo in Oct. 29, 2013. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Going Green Like Greta?
The most talked-about Swede worldwide is Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist inciting the world to “panic” about climate change, and warning us about “mass extinctions,” and other impending harms upon the planet.
Recently, Thailand has spawned her own version of Greta: 11-year-old Ralyn “Lilly” Satidtanasarn, who has a foot in the door with powerful corporate executives to lobby for malls to reduce plastic use.
Lilly credits her presentations to board members for presenting initiatives such as charging 1 baht a plastic bag from The Mall Group and no automatic bagging at Central Group malls.
Ralyn “Lilly” Satidtanasarn standing with Thai high school students.
“Lilly is a fantastic girl,” Herrstrom said. “It’s fantastic that Greta, Lily, and all the Gretas and Lillys all around the world are mobilizing.”
Greta’s “flygskam,” or flight shame movement, which discourages people from using plane travel for environmental reasons, hasn’t had an affect on tourist numbers to Thailand yet, Herrstrom said, but it has affected domestic travel within Sweden as people opt to take trains instead.
IKEA Dominates
About 70 to 80 Swedish companies have offices in Thailand, with some such as home appliance manufacturer Electrolux, food packaging company Tetrapak, and Volvo having some production operations here. Sweden-Thai bilateral trade is around USD1 billion, or 30.4 billion baht, a year.
But of course, none are as wildly popular as furniture store giant Ikea, which already has two branches in Bangkok.
“Our trade is defined by Ikea,” Herrstrom said. “The image of Sweden is influenced by Ikea, in the private sector.”
The ambassador’s favorite Ikea item?
“This thing which you close bags with. You press them together,” Herrstrom said, making bag-sealing motions with his fingers. “I use them every day.”
Although he couldn’t recall the name, he was most likely referring to the Bevara sealing clips, available at the stores for 39 baht for a set of 10. (Note: this article is not sponsored in any way by Ikea)
Casino Khan Na Yao: Police and soldiers bust an illegal gambling den in Bangkok's Khan Na Yao district on May 25, 2017.
BANGKOK — Gambling is strictly illegal in Thailand with few exceptions, but you can bet not everyone listens to the laws; a recent survey of 44,050 Thais nationwide found that more than half of respondents engaged in some forms of gambling.
Based on a study released yesterday, the government-funded Center for Gambling Studies calculated that 57 percent of the population, or 30.42 million Thais, have gambled at least once. The number increased by 14 percent since the survey began in 2017, with the youngest bettor being only seven years old.
Government lottery was the most popular form of gambling reported by respondents, followed by illegal underground lotteries, card games, and football betting. The increased printing of government lottery tickets into the market and media obsession with lucky numbers are blamed for the recent surge of lotto gamblers.
“Although the law bans lottery sales to those below 20 years old, we found that more than 472,000 youths have bought government lotteries,” the center’s director Nualnoi Trirat said. “We also found that the amount of money placed per draw and purchasing frequencies have risen due to media coverage about lucky numbers and winners.”
“The Government Lottery Office also prints more than 100 million tickets per draw, which further promotes more sales because they are widely available,” Nualnoi added.
According to the center, football betting generated the most money, with about 160 billion baht circulating each year, followed by the underground lottery (153 billion baht) and government lottery (150 billion baht).
Decisions to gamble seem determined in part by age. The survey found that 46 percent of young adults (19-25 years old) and 42 percent of elders (60 years old and above) have gambled. Only 20 percent of youths (15-18 years old) said they have engaged in gambling.
The survey did not find a correlation between gambling habit and geographical location or gender.
Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also said during Monday’s news conference that technological advancement has led to the rise of new betters.
“Technology has changed gambling patterns, making it more convenient and anonymous,” Abhisit said. “The government should see their policies in the bigger picture, not just pursuing their goals and forget about their consequences on society.”
Curiously enough, although many respondents in the survey admitted to gambling, only 30 percent of them support legalization of gambling.
Supreeda Adulyanont, manager of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said the foundation funded the study to raise awareness of the threats of betting.
She urged the government to set up an organization to oversee problems related to gambling and push for tighter regulations.
“The government should use taxes collected from gambling to drive public awareness of the dangers and protect youths from entering into a gambling ring,” Supreeda said.
Under the Gambling Act, only 28 types of game are classified as a legal form of gambling. This includes betting on Muay Thai boxers, cockfighting, bingo, government-issued lottery, and table football.
