Thai Riot Police Put on Alert as Coup Rumors Spread

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10 February 2019, 22:33

By Todd Ruiz and Pravit Rojanaphruk

PHICHIT — Riot police were ordered to mobilize and prepare to defend important facilities Saturday in the central province of Phichit, according to a leaked order from the provincial governor marked urgent.

There was no further information on why the order was issued or whether it went out in other provinces. It gave no further details other than to say it was “due to urgent government matters.”

Provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Thawatchai Muannara confirmed the order was genuine Sunday, but said it was just a normal peacekeeping order, particularly in the period leading up to elections slated for March 24.

Earlier Sunday, a column of armored personnel carriers was spotted heading north of Bangkok toward Lopburi province, which the army said was in preparation of the annual Cobra Gold joint military exercises with the United States and other military allies.

As it prepares for its first election after five years of military rule, Thailand entered a new phase of political uncertainty Friday following the surprise entry of a former princess into politics.

The unprecedented candidacy of Ubolratana Mahidol for the job of prime minister proved short-lived; His Majesty the King effectively ended it hours later with a royal command asserting it was unconstitutional and inappropriate.

By Sunday night, rumors were spreading on social media of a possible military coup. The last coup in May 2014 was led by current junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is also prime minister.

“Strange,” wrote Thammasat academic Virot Ali, referencing the current mood of anxiety.

#Coup was a top trending hashtag late Sunday night.

The timing of any such action would be awkward, with the military set to begin joint exercises with the US armed forces and partner nations this week as part of an annual event known as Cobra Gold.

“Stop the vicious cycle! Stop coups! Enough! We want elections!” wrote Facebook user Waaddao Chumaporn shortly before 10pm Sunday.

“I hope the rumor about a coup isn’t true. I believe the electoral process can solve all problems. Only if we believe in the people,” Future Forward Party candidate Rangsiman Rome wrote on Facebook at 10:20pm on Sunday night.

Pilot Strike at Taiwan’s China Airlines Drags Into 3rd Day

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Associated Press

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10 February 2019, 12:43

A China Airlines Boeing 747-400 sits on the tarmac in a 2003 file photo at what was then the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Photo: Jerome Favre / Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A strike among pilots at Taiwan’s flag carrier China Airlines dragged into a third day Sunday, resulting in further flight cancellations.

There was no immediate word of a settlement as the pilots’ union remained firm in its demands for an additional backup pilot on flights lasting eight hours or more, a more transparent system of promotion, a year-end bonus and other concessions.

The official Central News Agency said a total of 47 flights will have been canceled by Sunday.

The strike came in the middle of the Lunar New Year travel rush. About 70 percent of the carrier’s 1,300 pilots belong to the union, which has accused management of insincerity and mistreating its workforce to keep costs down.

CAL crews went on strike for 24 hours in 2016 for better conditions.

The airline has said it is willing to continue negotiations but that the union’s demands in talks are different from those it makes in public.

Flights canceled included those bound for Hong Kong, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Manila and Tokyo. Most of those were departing from Taiwan’s main international airport at Taoyuan, just south of the capital Taipei.

Founded in 1959, China Airlines is one of the island’s two largest carriers with a fleet of 88 aircraft.

Thaksin Tweets ‘Chin up and Keep Moving Forward’

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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10 February 2019, 12:17

Panthongtae 'Oak' Shinawatra, at left, with his father Thaksin Shinawatra and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra in a photo subsequently deleted from his Instagram in February 2018.

BANGKOK — Fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra tweeted words of encouragement to his supporters Saturday.

Telling them to “chin up” in English, Thaksin’s Saturday night tweet came one day after a political shocker he’s considered to have had a hand in that backfired. One day before, a political party aligned with his faction nominated Ubolratana Mahidol, a daughter of the late King Bhumibol to be prime minister, a move countermanded by Royal Command hours later.

“Chin up and keep moving forward! We learn from past experiences but live for today and the future. Cheer up! Life must go on!” he tweeted at 10:21pm local time.

Chin up and keep moving forward! We learn from past experiences but live for today and the future. Cheer up! Life must go on!

— Thaksin Shinawatra (@ThaksinLive) February 9, 2019

While his supporters took the message as a solace and a sign that he will continue to be a political force from exile, well-known writer and editor Suchart Sawatsri responded bitterly to the message saying.

“Don’t need to preach that life must goes on. Over the past five years, people who oppose “the junta”, oppose “the coup” have been walking and stumbling along all by themselves.”

Others made more cryptic and humorous readings, saying it was an encoded order to support the newly founded Future Forward Party because the tweet contained two parts of its name.

Thaksin has lived in exile since his government was overthrown in a 2006 coup. He was subsequently convicted of corruption in a case he says was politically motivated. He is seen as the man behind the scenes of the Pheu Thai and affiliated parties, one of which, Thai Raksa Chart, nominated the former princess on Friday.

Pole Facing Treason Charge in Indonesia Alleges Prison Abuse

By

Associated Press

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9 February 2019, 21:38

JAKARTA — A Polish man on trial for treason in Indonesia after meeting with Papuan independence supporters said that visitors to his prison assaulted him and threatened to kill him as guards watched.

A handwritten two-page statement by Jakub Skrzypski details three consecutive days beginning Jan. 30 in which he was assaulted or threatened by men wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Brimob,” an abbreviated name for Indonesia’s paramilitary police.

Skrzypski, a globe-trotter who has lived in Switzerland for years, was arrested in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region in August and accused of plotting against the state. He is on trial along with a Papaun he had been in contact with, Simon Magal.

Skrzypski’s statement, provided to The Associated Press by one of his lawyers, said he was punched through cell-door bars at a police detention center in Wamena and spat on by the men who threatened to return to kill him if he is found guilty.

“What is striking is the total indifference of the arrest guards. I was even wondering if they would open the cell doors to allow us to be harassed inside or taken away,” he wrote.

Jayawijaya district police chief Tonny Ananda denied any mistreatment and said officials had “tried our best” to satisfy Skrzypski’z requests for supplies such as milk.

“He is always dissatisfied and made up bad stories to discredit Indonesian police,” Ananda said.

Skrzypski faces up to 20 years in prison and his case has highlighted Indonesia’s extreme sensitivity about the long-running insurgency in the Papua region, which occupies the western half of the island of New Guinea. The Indonesian government restricts foreign journalists from reporting in the region.

Human rights lawyer Latifah Anum Siregar said she protested Skrzypski’s treatment at a court hearing on Thursday.

US Sen. Warren’s Likely Candidacy to Bank on Populist Appeal

By

Associated Press

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9 February 2019, 21:36

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at an organizing event on Jan. 12 at Manchester Community College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Photo: Michael Dwyer / Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Massachusetts — Sen. Elizabeth Warren has picked this working-class city for the expected kickoff of her 2020 president campaign, banking on a populist call to fight economic inequality that she hopes will distinguish her in a crowded Democratic field and help her move past the controversy surrounding her past claims to Native American heritage.

The Massachusetts Democrat planned to announce her political plans Saturday at a mill site where largely immigrant factory workers went on strike about 100 years ago, providing the longtime consumer advocate a fitting forum to advance her platform. In a video released before the event, Warren cited Lawrence’s “history of working people coming together to make change, where the fight was hard, the battle was uphill, and where a group of women led the charge for all of us.”

The 69-year-old was scheduled to later visit New Hampshire, home to the nation’s first primary, where Warren could have an advantage as a neighboring-state resident with high name recognition. She intended to spend Sunday in Iowa, where the leadoff caucuses will be the first test of candidates’ viability.

Warren was the first high-profile Democrat to signal interest in running for the White House, forming an exploratory committee on New Year’s Eve.

She was to be introduced by Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., who intended to endorse her candidacy, according to an official familiar with his plans. The backing could prove valuable for Warren given his status as a rising young Democratic star and his friendship with her potential 2020 rival, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas.

The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details about the announcement before the event and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Warren would enter the race as one of the party’s most recognizable figures. Warren has spent the past decade in the national spotlight, first emerging as a consumer activist during the financial crisis. She later led the congressional panel that oversaw the 2008 financial industry bailout. After Republicans blocked her from running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she helped create, she ran for the Senate in 2012 and unseated a GOP incumbent.

She has $11 million left over from her commanding 2018 Senate re-election victory that can be used on her presidential run.

Still, Warren would compete against other popular Democrats who will be able to raise substantial money. A recent CNN poll found that fewer Democrats said they’d be very likely to support Warren if she runs than said the same of former Vice President Joe Biden or Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Still, about as many Democrats said they’d be at least somewhat likely to support Warren as said the same of Harris or Sanders.

That challenge is on display this weekend as Democratic presidential contenders — or those considering a run — fan out across the crucial early-voting states. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is in Iowa while New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is visiting South Carolina. Another possible presidential rival, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, planned to be in New Hampshire on Saturday.

The campaign launch comes at a challenging moment for Warren. She’s apologized twice over the past two weeks for claiming Native American identity on multiple occasions early in her career, an episode that has created fodder for Republicans and could overshadow her campaign.

The expected launch will test whether the controversy is simply a Washington obsession or a substantive threat to her candidacy. Doug Rubin, a Boston-based strategist who advised Warren during her first Senate run in 2012, said in an interview that most voters will respond to “the powerful message she’s been talking about,” in terms of battling social and economic injustices, rather than the back-and-forth over her personal identity.

Another threat could come from a fellow senator who has yet to announce his own plans for 2020: Sanders. They’re both leaders of the Democrats’ liberal vanguard, but some Sanders supporters are still upset she didn’t support him during his 2016 primary challenge against Hillary Clinton. And as a senator from Vermont who won the New Hampshire primary, he would likely go into the Granite State as an early favorite if he decided to run again.

Despite their similarities, Warren and Sanders have taken somewhat divergent paths in recent months as they prepare for the primary. After proposing an “ultra-millionaire tax” that would hit the wealthiest 75,000 households in America, Warren told Bloomberg News last week that she continues to “believe in capitalism” but wants to see stricter rules to prevent gaming the system — a marked contrast with the self-described democratic socialism of Sanders.

Story: Elana Schor

Opinion: Friday’s Political Drama Reignited Political Divisions

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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9 February 2019, 21:21

Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechapol Pongpanich talks to reporters Friday morning outside the Election Commission in Bangkok.

Between the time Ubolratana Mahidol’s candidacy was announced and effectively ended less than 14 hours later, all of Thailand was turned upside down.

Tribal allegiances, enmities and identities were called into question, and closely held certainties threatened.

Due to the self-censorship that exists due to entirely valid fears, the Thai press, including Khaosod English, is not free to unpack, analyze and speculate as so many people have been doing for the past 36 hours as to why Feb. 8 was arguably the most intriguing day since absolute monarchy ended 87 years ago.

But what is clear and can be said, is that the short-lived nomination of Princess Ubolratana by the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra party of Thai Raksa Chart brought back to the surface the bitter enmity between the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps like nothing else since the May 2014 coup.

Any claims by the junta that it has been a salve on these wounds or solved political the division evaporated as social media exploded with Thaksin hate, with raging users launching attacks on not just Thaksin but the erstwhile candidate almost as soon as it was announced at 9am.

The other side turned on their own as well. When most of the usually Pro-Thaksin Redshirts and a large segment of the so-called pro-democracy camp jumped on the bandwagon to praise the princess, they were put on blast by an unyielding minority. To the most democratically virtuous, the maneuver stood to do more harm to democracy in the long run.

Those who supported Thai Raksa Chart’s nomination of Ubolratana argued that it was probably the most reliable if not the only viable path to defeating the junta led by coup-leader Prayuth Chan-ocha. Some even began to assume the mien of ultra-royalists, checking and recording defamatory messages made by anti-Thaksinites online and calling for them to be prosecuted for royal defamation.

If anything, the result for Thailand of those shocking 14 hours is the complete reignition of the smoldering volcano of political hatred on both sides like never before since the coup.

The silver lining may be voter turnout. More people may be motivated to cast their votes in what has shaped up to be an unfair election. After all, the 250-member upper house of Prayuth appointees will have the biggest say in choosing the next prime minister, deepening the enmity of those who were happy to declare for an alternative.

The pro-/anti-Thaksin and pro-/anti-junta fault lines have plunged to new depths and been brought into sharp relief as a result of Friday’s extraordinary events. Both camps will definitely be out in full force before the March 24 general election to support their respective factions.

Given how long the these nearly two-decade-old sentiments have been simmering, it is unlikely this will just dissipate. They will only be gone when ousted and fugitive former premier is gone along with every supporter and hater.

Junta Rule Challenged as Unis Clash on the Field (Photos)

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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9 February 2019, 20:33

'One person's voice, but you dare to call it democracy,' placards displayed by the audience at Saturday's TU-CU games read.

BANGKOK — No subtlety was spared Saturday at an annual athletic contest between students of two top national universities.

Chulalongkorn University students made a huge statement during the annual varsity football match with Thammasat University, fielding floats and audience placards to criticize military rule.

One statement spelled out by the audience read, “One person’s voice, but you dare to call it democracy” in reference to the absolute power wielded by junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha.

A float carried by students shows junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha literally leeching support from political parties including the Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties at Saturday's CU-TU game. — A float carried by students shows junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha literally leeching support from political parties including the Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties at Saturday’s CU-TU game.

Candidates are chained together, unable to compete fairly.

Thai Raksa Chart Accepts Royal Command, Thanks Ubolratana

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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9 February 2019, 16:54

The moment Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechapol Pongpanich presented the nomination of Ubolratana Mahidol as prime minister to the Election Commission on Friday morning in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — The Thai Raksa Chart Party issued a statement Saturday saying it had accepted the royal command which most likely put an end to the brief candidacy for prime minister by Ubolratana Mahidol.

“Thai Raksa Chart accepts the royal command with loyalty toward His Majesty and all members of the royal family,” the brief statement read.

Less than 14 hours after the party nominated Ubolratana, the oldest daughter of the late King Bhumibol, the king issued a royal command broadcast on all stations late Friday night saying it was inappropriate and unconstitutional her to enter politics.

Read: Ubolratana Speaks Out to Thank Nation For ‘Love and Kindness’

In the statement, the pro-Thaksin party also thanked Ubolratana for her “kindness toward the party” and vowed to push for policies that will bring prosperity for Thailand. It added that it will respect the will of the people in a democratic way with the king as the head of state.

The party’s headquarters in Bangkok were closed and quiet today.

Opinion: Thailand Can Do the Right Thing For #Hakeem

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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9 February 2019, 15:23

Prison guards escort Bahraini football player Hakeem AlAraibi in December from a court in Bangkok. Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe / Associated Press

Is Thailand merely an innocent caught in the middle of a diplomatic power play between Australia and Bahrain over the fate of refugee footballer Hakeem AlAraibi?

I am not convinced Thailand was totally innocent and impartial on the matter, but no matter how she decides to handle the situation it will now strain relations with either Canberra or Manama.

As much as it was a stroke of bad luck for AlAraibi to choose Thailand for his honeymoon, which led to his arrest in Thailand on an Interpol Red Notice later withdrawn, Thailand could have acted quickly and freed AlAraibi, better known as Hakeem of #SaveHakeem fame, when the Red Notice was withdrawn by Interpol as Hakeem was granted political asylum status by Canberra years ago.

Instead, Thailand chose to entertain a request by Manama despite Hakeem’s insistence that he was a victim of political prosecution (which led to him being granted asylum to begin with). Bahrain is a politically repressive state known for human rights abuses including imprisonment, torture and execution of dissidents, political opponents and its Shia Muslim population. Bahrain has very close ties to Thailand at both the state and palace levels.

On his way into court Monday, Hakeem begged to be saved from being sent to Bahrain, saying he is wanted by Manama for his political beliefs and the fact that he is a Shia Muslim.

Thai police and prosecutors instead chose to believe Bahrain and now the matter is in the hands of the Thai courts, which have now ordered him held until at least late April while it considers whether Hakeem should be extradite for alleged arson and vandalism.

Law lecturer Ekachai Chainuvati wrote online Wednesday that though Thailand is not party to the Refugee Convention, the principle of non-refoulement is customary international law. Ekachai added that the Thai court’s eventual decision will determine whether Thailand accepts this principle, de facto, or not.

Meanwhile, the campaign to save Hakeem has led some people, mostly sympathetic Thais. to call for boycotting Thailand as a tourist destination. I checked with the Tourism Ministry earlier this week and was told that 801,637 Aussies visited last year. If the boycott Thailand campaign takes off, it’s unlikely that Australian tourists would be the only nationality involved in a bid to convince Thailand to free Hakeem. The much-publicized and broadcast image of Hakeem in shackles and walking barefoot into Monday’s court hearing in Bangkok also made those who stand for human rights worldwide feel that the Thai justice system is medieval, if not barbaric.

Years ago I asked an officer at the Corrections Department why there is a need to shackle and force prisoners to walk barefoot. The officer told me it’s done in order to prevent prisoners from easily escaping. Joe Gordon, a former lese majeste convict, now in the United States, wrote online Tuesday that when he was a prisoner of conscience, he was told shoes were not allowed for fear prisoners may throw them at the judge.

To add more drama to the already complicated situation, chief of immigration Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn said the new Australian ambassador told him in a meeting that he had alerted Thai police to the Interpol red notice. In response to inquiries, Ambassador Allan McKinnon wrote to me Thursday to say he did not issue the Interpol Red Notice, noting that he only got to Bangkok on Jan. 11, weeks after Hakeem’s arrest.

There are other indications that the tip-off came from the Australian Federal Police, who may have been unaware Hakeem had political asylum status.

What’s more, Surachate said that McKinnon told him Australia was “doubling its pressure” to secure Hakeem’s release because he felt guilty. McKinnon wrote that he “will not reveal the content” of his “private discussions” with Surachate.

The new Australian envoy added however that “it is a great regret for Australia, for Thailand and most of all for Hakeem al-Alaraibi that this young man, recognised as a refugee and in receipt of a protection visa from Australia is in a Thai jail, awaiting possible extradition to the country which may torture him or kill him.”

Despite Australia’s initial culpability in relaying word of the Red Notice, one might also asked how Bahrain was tipped off so quickly after Hakeem had applied for a visa to Thailand at the Thai embassy in Australia?

Thailand is now in a Catch-22 situation.

As Twitter user @Pcy_xxx tweeted Tuesday, “Thailand dilemma, we sent [Hakeem] to Bahrain = Australia boycott us. We send him to Australia = Bahrain boycott us. #SaveThailand #SaveHakeem.”

Given the dilemma, which is now impossible to avoid, Thailand should focus on seeking to do what is right. Hakeem was granted political asylum by Canberra several years ago. The 25-year-old footballer went through a stringent UN process to win that status. Bahrain has a record of bloody political repression and Thailand should respect the principle of non-refoulement.

Thailand cannot please everyone, but at least we can try to do what is right from now. The time to free Hakeem is now. It’s time to say no to forced repatriation of political refugees.

Ubolratana Speaks Out to Thank Nation For ‘Love and Kindness’

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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9 February 2019, 10:24

Ubolratana Mahidol's Saturday morning Instagram post.

BANGKOK — Forbidden from running for office by the king less than 14 hours after announcing her candidacy, Ubolratana Mahidol thanked the public Saturday morning in an online message.

Ubolratana, the late king’s daughter who was nominated to be prime minister by a political party yesterday, reiterated her desire to see the nation move forward in a message headed “Thanks ka” that was posted to her private Instagram account at 7am.

“[I] would like to thank all Thais for their love and kindness over the past day. And I thank you for your moral support, and for support always. Nevertheless, let me sincerely say thanks again, and say I wish to see Thailand move forward to be admired and accepted by the international community.”

Read: King Says Princess ‘Cannot’ Run for Office

She became the first royal to seek public office in a morning announcement that roiled the political class and threatened to remake the political landscape going into next month’s election.

But her candidacy appeared ended just before 11pm when His Majesty the King issued a royal command broadcast on all TV stations that her actions were inappropriate and unconstitutional. The statement appears to have ended her very brief bid to become prime minister.

A planned Thai Raksa Chart campaign event scheduled for this afternoon in Bangkok’s Sathorn Road area has been canceled without explanation.

“I wish all Thais have rights and opportunities, are well off and happy,” Ubolratana wrote in her Saturday morning post. “I thank you with my sincere love – all people. I wish you all happiness and luck. #ILoveYou.”

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