Sophida “Ning” Kanchanarin, left, in the evening gown designed by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana on Dec. 5.
BANGKOK — An aspiring politician filed criminal complaints Tuesday against a net idol for allegedly mocking a Miss Universe pageant dress that was designed by a daughter of His Majesty the King.
The complaint, filed by a millionaire hoping to run in the upcoming election, accused internet TV show host Wanchaleom Jamneanphol of libel and cybercrimes for a now-deleted Facebook post in which she said the dress was ugly. She later apologized.
“I cannot accept that a well-known individual in the online world expressed negative opinions that affect the country’s reputation!” Kitjanut Chaiyosburana, a member of the Mahachon Party, told reporters. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. It’s irresponsible behavior.”
He urged police at the Technology Crime Suppression Division to charge Wanchaleom with libel and violating the Computer Crime Act.
Sophida “Ning” Kanchanarin in the evening gown designed by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana on Dec. 5.
The police officer who accepted Kitjanut’s complaints said he would discuss the case with his superiors.
Kitjanut did not specify the alleged crime. But Wanchaleom was fiercely condemned Monday on social media for asking why those ridiculing a poorly received red dress worn by Miss Thailand were silent about another of her gowns designed by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana.
Negative remarks about members of the Royal Family are taboo in Thailand, where multiple people have been jailed for alleged insults. Due to the possibility of legal action, Khaosod English is withholding full remarks from Wanchaleom’s post.
After her post went viral, Wanchaleom wrote an apology addressed to the princess and said she had no intention to insult the monarchy.
“Your Royal Highness Sirivannavari Nariratana, I, Wanchaleom Jamneanphol, did not have any intention to insult or disrespect the high institution,” Wanchaleom wrote. “I merely did not know the full consequences of my actions via my posts and comments, which caused damage to Your Royal Highness and the monarchy.”
She continued, “I deeply regret and feel guilty for my actions.”
Kitjanut told reporters he would file another complaint to the deputy director of the police cybercrimes taskforce, Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, to weigh legal action against Wanchaloem.
Pheu Thai Party's Sudarat Keyuraphan poses with a dog during a campaign stop Sunday in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district.
BANGKOK — The Foreign Minister denied Tuesday he is barring international election observers from next year’s election while an expert monitor says the regime is worried about unflattering reports.
Don Pramudwinai, who recently expressed opposition to the idea, said inviting monitors is up to the Election Commission, an ostensibly independent body that has been noncommittal so far. He suggested that untrained observers could watch things.
“If you are not satisfied or don’t trust Thais, let the foreign embassies in Thailand do it. This should suffice. There is no need to bring in more foreigners. Having Thais participate will instill awareness. It’s the country’s dignity. We cannot allow others in all the time. How can foreign countries be more able than us in everything?” Don said.
Veteran election observer Pongsak Chanon said Tuesday that foreign diplomats and embassy staff cannot replace trained observers. He called on election officials and the Foreign Ministry to clear the way for international observers.
“Diplomats or state officials are not election observers. They do not have the expertise. I think [the military regime] is worried about interference, that reports will damage the country’s reputation,” said Pongsak, who is Thailand’s country coordinator for the Bangkok-based Asian Network for Free Elections, or ANFREL.
ANFREL has observed numerous Thai elections over the years and certified them as free and fair. For the vote now set for late February, the network wants to deploy more than 70 Asian observers, pending commission approval, Pongsak said.
“We need two months to prepare for proper election observation,” Pongsak said, adding that the network would ideally be given the green light sometime next week so long-term observers can be selected and deployed,” Pongsak said.
The commission, which in previous cycles has been dogged by accusations of political interference, has created or proposed a slew of unprecedented rules for what would be the first vote in nearly five years. Just today it said it would ditch a pan to strip party identification from voters’ ballots after an outcry.
Attempts to get a clear response Tuesday on its position about international observers failed. Yet new calls have been issued by members of different political parties including the two largest, Democrat and Pheu Thai.
Reached by phone Tuesday, the commission’s deputy secretary general, Nat Laosisawakul, said he has no clue about the matter and it’s not one of his responsibilities. Attempts to reach the secretary general, police Lt. Gen. Charungwit Phumma, were unsuccessful as of publication time.
Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho looks out from the bench Wednesday prior a Group H Champions League soccer match between Valencia and Manchester United at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain. Photo: Alberto Saiz / Associated Press
MANCHESTER, England — Jose Mourinho was fired by Manchester United on Tuesday, two days after English soccer’s biggest club reached a new low in its disappointing season by losing to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Assistant coach Michael Carrick will take charge of the team on an interim basis. United said it will appoint a caretaker manager until the end of the season, but didn’t say who it will be.
United made its move with the team in sixth place in the league, 19 points behind first-place Liverpool and 11 points off fourth-place Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification. It is United’s worst 17-game start to a league campaign since the 1990-91 season, and the team currently has a goal difference of zero.
Mourinho started his 2½-year tenure at United by winning two titles in his first season – the English League Cup and the Europa League – but failed to win a trophy in his second season and was criticized for the team’s pragmatic playing style and his treatment of some players.
His relationship with Paul Pogba, the club’s record signing, appeared broken after leaving the France midfielder out of the team for its last three league games.
Mourinho had also been unhappy that United’s board failed to back his wish to sign a central defender in the offseason. United has already conceded more goals in the league than it did in all of last season.
Mourinho’s final match in charge was the 3-1 loss at Anfield, after which he said his players were brittle and couldn’t cope with the intensity and physicality of Liverpool – historically United’s biggest rival.
Mourinho lasted the same length of time at United as he did in his previous job at Chelsea, when he was also fired just before Christmas in his third season. He signed a new contract in January until June 2020 and will reportedly receive compensation of 24 million pounds (USD$30 million).
In his six major coaching stints – at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea again and United – Mourinho has only lasted more than three years once. That was in his first spell at Chelsea.
United reached the last 16 in the Champions League, where it will play Paris Saint-Germain over two legs in February and March.
Filipino pageant fans at Muang Thong Thani after watching the Miss Universe 2018 finals. Jesson Capuchino is at far left, Mikee Obial is at center and Jap Doble Bombarda is at far right.
BANGKOK — Waving flags, wiping tears and soothing lost voices were what a dedicated crowd of Filipino fans were doing after their country’s representative won Miss Universe 2018 Monday.
Many Pinoy fans arrived at dawn Monday morning to attend the finals at Impact Muang Thong Thani. After Miss Philippines Catriona Gray seized the crown, they hung out to rejoice throughout the morning and noon.
“I lost my voice,” rasped a Filipino reporter covering the event after Gray won. “I screamed so much.”
The newly crowned Miss Universe said she “felt the love.”
“I’ve always felt the love and the support of the Filipino people. And I think I brought half of my country here tonight,” Gray said upon making the Top 20. “I stand here not as one but as a hundred and 4 million Filipinos!”
Though Filipino pageant followers are known as fiercely competitive, Jesson Capuchino, a pageant blogger from Manila who helped design Gray’s national costume for another pageant called Binibining Pilipinas, said they were also there to support their fellow Asians.
“Asians came to support Asians. It’s not like Filipinos supporting Filipinos. We were supporting Vietnam, Thailand, everyone who came from this region. It feels like a brotherhood this time around,” Capuchino said. “Pageant fans are mature enough now to support each other’s countries.”
Filipino fans cheer for Catriona Gray 5am at Muang Thong Thani.
Capuchino said he admired Miss Universe Thailand Sophida “Ning” Kanchanarin because she was so “relatable.”
“Every one of us have felt that we didn’t deserve the good things happening in our lives … it felt like we were part of her journey,” Capuchino, 37, said. “The mere fact that she was standing there thanking her parents and thinking everyone in the crowd, it felt like what I would do if I was in her place…Asians we have the feeling that we don’t want to disappoint our parents.”
The expert said he was confident Thailand would soon see its third Miss Universe.
“Within the next five years, Thailand will win Miss Universe,” Capuchino, who writes for pageant blogs Sashes and Scripts and Sash Factor said. “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when…I feel it in my heart of hearts.”
Mikee Obial, 29, and Jap Doble Bombarda, 36, flew to Bangkok from Cebu specifically to watch the final round. It was Obial’s fourth time in Thailand and Bombarda’s first. Both had been following along not only Gray’s journey, but that of Ning and other queens as well.
Obial said she was most touched by Spain’s Angela Ponce’s solo walk onstage. Ponce was the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe and did not make it into the Top 20 cut.
The deafening crowd cheers as Catriona Gray is crowned Miss Universe 2018.
“I’m transgender as well, so I totally understand how she feels, how discrimination is rampant nowadays. It’s time to recognize that trans women are women,” Obial said.
After she won, Gray said that the first foods she wanted to eat were green mango sweet fish sauce dip and Thai milk tea.
“As cliche as it may sound, she should enjoy her moment and probably eat a lot. She can now eat, not starve herself,” Bombarda said.
“Cat, mabuhay ka!” Capuchino said, offering Tagalog words of encouragement for Gray.
Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray after winning the crown.
BANGKOK — A concert hall, performing arts theatre, exhibition space and more are coming to Siam Square when a shuttered classic cinema reopens under a new owner.
Thai record label Love Is announced Tuesday afternoon they will turn Lido cinema, which closed its doors over six months ago after 50 years, into a multi-purpose cultural hub called “Lido Connect.”
The former Lido’s three cinemas – subdivided years ago from its glory days as a single-screen movie house – will be transformed into the new performance and exhibition spaces.
The good news: Despite the cynical rumors spinning around, there won’t be another department store.
“We’ll take advantage of the venue at the heart of the city and Lido’s long history. We will keep Lido as it is, but we will only change some interior parts to suit the new functions,” said Thep-ard Kawin-anan, president of Love Is Entertainment.
“We change Lido with respect towards the original cinema, under the concept Back to Original,” Thep-ard said.
“We intended to keep this treasure, this historically memorable cinema by opening a space of opportunity for everyone to show their talents and be inspired,” said music producer Nop Ponchamni of Love Is.
Wisanu Subsompon, vice president of Chulalongkorn University’s Property Management denied they are solely focused on profits.
“We were looking for a group that can ploi kong,” Wissanu said, using a casual Thai term for showing off talents.
Single-screen Lido in late ‘60s before it was divided into three screens. Photo: Apex Lido
The renovation is being done by PIA Interior, whose portfolio includes commercial properties and restaurants such as Greyhound Cafe, Central Lardprao and Lhong 1919.
According to architect Pruitsatorn Sakulthai, PIA design director, only a few changes will be made to what were the Lido 1 and Lido 2 theaters. The most-changed will be Lido 3, which will be converted into a theatre called “Black Box” to accommodate activities such as movie screenings, art performances or seminars.
Lido’s infamous toilets will be renovated as well, Pruitsatorn added.
Artists from different areas are already eyeing the space for use. One of the most prolific stage directors, Damkerng Thitapiyasak, said after putting on shows in cafes, restaurants and random shophouses, Lido Connect’s upcoming Black Box will be “perfect.”
‘Black Box’
Lido Connect is expected to open in May.
Concert venue Live House is not a part of the project despite appearing in concept artpublished last week.
KANCHANABURI — Construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta is expected in court Wednesday after the prosecution hears its final witness today in a trial over his and other defendants’ roles in the slaying of a black panther.
As the primary defendant at the center of the case, the president of Italian-Thai Development must appear in the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court alongside his co-defendants when the defense begins calling witnesses and making its case. He hasn’t appeared in court since the first day of the trial.
Since it began last month, 32 prosecution witnesses have taken the stand to build a case against the powerful and wealthy figure who in February was arrested by rangers at a campsite in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary. They allegedly had firearms and remains of animals including a protected black panther.
The defense is expected to call 17 witnesses.
The court gave Premchai permission to be absent during the first phase of the trial at his lawyers’ request. They cited health and business concerns. His three co-defendants have attended every hearing.
Premchai and his party were charged several counts relating to poaching and firearms.
Defense lawyers last month reportedly claimed in court that the 64-year-old wasn’t present in the hunting camp when the arrest was made.
A photo of him seated in a hunting sweater in front of the camp went viral after his arrest.
Crowds perch on the Solar Stage at Wonderfruit Festival 2018.
These are the perspectives of Khaosod English arts writer/Wonderfruit virgin Chayanit Itthipongmaetee and editor Todd Ruiz, who’s sure it was probably his third.
By Todd Ruiz and Chayanit Itthipongmaetee
BANGKOK — A man in bridal white and groomsmen demonstrate deft steps in a kind of surreal green wedding under pulsing emerald strobes at the Polygon stage. An entire costumed nation of first Americans gyrate at Taste of Wonder. Revelers ping-pong between dozens of stages, pavilions, tents and eateries for four days culminating in dawn raves at the Solar Stage.
Year’s end means celebration and renewal, and in Thailand, this past weekend meant the fifth outing of the ambitious Wonderfruit Festival. Think of the top international festivals, apply the finest production values and remove four-fifths of the human crush.
For 2018 – a decisive year – the Wonderfolks made a bold and risky move by shifting its location on the vast grasslands of Chonburi’s Siam Country Club, all owned by fest founder and manufacturing scion Pranitan “Pete” Phornprapha’s family (Forbes’ No. 30 in Thailand with USD$1.2 billion).
It paid off. Though the many entertainment stages were closer together in what felt like less space, it created a carnival atmosphere with plenty of walking and exploring to do. For Saturday, one reporter’s fitness app registered 16,000 steps – dancing not included.
Trees and topography dialed up the tropical vibe at what’s branded a values-positive, ecologically woke celebration of the arts, music and sustainable living.
There was an absurd abundance of exquisite places to explore. Head past the Tiki Bar in the lower-key southern zone to find the Bath House, a floating fantasy of bamboo in the middle of a small, natural lake. Wonderkinder soared through the air in Camp Wonder. Elsewhere, a karaoke bar was hidden beneath a tree.
People learned how to make Batik scarves, paint blindfolded, craft lip gloss, compost, ferment wildly and more by day. There were more yoga sessions than heads on Brahma, with a self-love emphasis and all flavors of wellness bordering on self-indulgence.
In case it’s not clear, there are two Wonderfruits: One is a deeply programmed roster of daytime workshops and talks; the other a hedonistic all-night smash of heavy beats and intoxication.
Whichever one goes for, Wonderfruit is a spectacular playground best enjoyed with many friends.
There were more sponsorships this year by the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Singha and Johnnie Walker. Johnnie had a long tuk-tuk bus with a bar inside offering rides every two hours. Mercedes appeared to get premium parking places near the entrance, cars prowling the fields and the Mercedes Me @ SOT stage over which artist Alex Face’s three-eyed Mardi loomed.
But all very restrained and, thankfully, without the eyesore of logos.
The event’s mobile application made things convenient. It’s not a bad idea, though, to carry a paper map too since it may fail due to poor reception – or impaired perception.
The iconic Molam Bus was still rocking and there was more hip-hop. Not satisfied by what’s at hand, take a few steps and find yet another handmade wonder of a space moving to a different beat. But maybe not so different – the festival seemed to have a less diverse musical ecosystem this year.
But overall, the new was good. Instead of banishing the electronic dance extremists to the hinterlands as many festivals do, The Quarry this year was at center in a sound-dampening gully festooned with captivating visuals.
Organizers seem to accept that souls of the after-hour are a core demographic and ramped up the availability of all-night dance music – building in plenty of soft corners and dynamic lighting for those tripping the night fantastic.
Drugs are, technically, listed among the “Don’ts” of the Rules of the Land.
Hundreds and thousands of years ago, humans gathered around fires to smoke whatever intoxicants were handy and dance ass off until dawn. Just as Burning Man and others fill that void of ritual absent from modern living, Wonderfruit by dawn dwindles to a thousand-or-so people convulsing on every tier of the Solar Stage.
Look close enough and you’ll spot VVIP elites grinding their teeth and smiling among the undulating flesh. What’s the point of being fuck-you rich if you can’t do fuck all?
That raises a point always just out of the periphery: Wonderfruit, as beautifully imagined and meticulously crafted as it is, is not for the masses.
It’s expensive – for attendees and its organizers alike. The 7,200-baht tickets (door price; several thou cheaper in advance) raise some uncomfortable questions.
How securely can progressive strivers for justice splurge on their feel-good party when so much inequality lies minutes away? Would fans still want to be at Wonderfruit – a fest that by all known accounts is exceptionally safe and incident-free – if tickets were 600 baht?
However one feels, it’s best to bring a stack of cash or plan accordingly.
Some will partake in the chef’s tables and fine-dining options; others will fill up before entering. No food or drinks are allowed inside (except for reusable water bottles). Top-up your wrist-bound RFID chip with at least 1,000 baht because everything is nucking fexpensive. Small cartons of water start at 60 baht. Cans of basic Thai brews go for 180 baht. Let’s not even talk about the reusable, branded cups sold for 800 baht.
According to the lore, when the fest started in 2014, it made a five-year commitment to sponsors with the goal of becoming profitable in that time. Despite what looked like an even larger turnout for 2018, it’s unclear if it’s in the black yet, but there’s already talk of 2019 and we’ll assume it will bring even juicier wonders for people to bite into.
Khaosod English columnist Mongkorn Timkul, aka DJ Dragon, at left, performs early Sunday at the Mercedes Me @ SOT stage alongside Tul Waitoonkait of Apartment Khunpa.Thapphawut “DJ Sun” Parinyapariwat spins early Sunday at Rabbit Hole stage
With his harmonica and decks, Oslo’s Crussen plays folksy electronica at dawn Sunday at the Solar Stage.
A ballot used in the 2014 snap election, which was later voided by the Constitutional Court.
BANGKOK — Voters will have a clearer idea of who they are marking their ballots for after organizers of the upcoming election said Tuesday they have killed a proposal to strip them of party logos and names following widespread opposition and ridicule.
Election Commission sec-gen Charungwit Phumma told reporters the committee voted unanimously to drop the plan yesterday.
Officials had been advocating for a new type of ballots that would remove any party emblems and names, prompting an outcry from critics and politicians who said doing so would confuse voters. Pro-democracy activists staged a protest at the Election Commission last week.
Another controversial proposal by the commission is to limit who can be shown and named on campaign banners. The rule would ban showing non-candidates except for whoever a party prefers for prime minister.
That would mean Pheu Thai and its proxy parties could not show or mention the influential former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, while parties supporting junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha as the next premier would be free to do so.
No clear rationale for the change has been stated, but it follows a series of new or proposed rule changes that analysts say are designed to diminish the influence of what for two decades has been the most powerful political faction.
Charungwit said the proposal is not yet final and the commission will discuss it with the parties before making a decision.
Update: The bus fare increases were delayed until April 22, the Land Transport Department said Friday.
Update Dec. 21: The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority on Thursday announced fares for buses without air-conditioning will be raised 2 baht, from 6.50 baht to 8.50 baht, starting Jan. 21. They will further increase to 10 baht around the end of 2019.
BANGKOK — Transport authorities have approved a hike in bus fares of at least 1 baht starting next month.
New fares for both public and privately operated buses will come into effect Jan. 21, according to Peraphon Thawornsupacharoen, director-general of the Land Transport Department.
Private buses without air-conditioning will go up to 10 baht from 9 baht, while those of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority could be raised to as much as 10 baht from 6.50 baht. Air-conditioned buses will collect fares between 12 baht and 24 baht, a small bump from the 11 baht to 23 baht.
The new NGV bus fares will also be raised to 15 baht and 25 baht from 11 baht and 23 baht under the condition they’re equipped with GPS trackers, security cameras and e-ticket machines, he said.
The decision came after private bus operators last month demanded fares be raised for the first time since February 2015. State-operated buses haven’t seen fare hikes since September 2011.
Peraphon said higher operating costs have forced about 18 percent of Bangkok buses to cease service. He added that transport authorities will propose further ways to relieve the burden on both operators and commuters, including fuel subsidies and increased credits for welfare card holders.
Residents react Sunday during a gathering being held in a central square of the eastern French city of Strasbourg. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / Associated Press
PARIS — A man suspected of supplying the gun that was used in the shooting attack that killed five people near a Christmas market in Strasbourg was handed preliminary extremism charges Monday, according to a judicial official close to the investigation.
The official, who could not be named with the case ongoing, said the individual appeared before a judge and was charged with criminal association with extremists, as well as possessing and supplying arms in connection with an extremist enterprise.
The man is suspected of furnishing the weapon that alleged gunman Cherif Chekatt used in the Dec. 11 attack, the judicial official said. He was remanded into custody. Chekatt, 29, died in a shootout with police in Strasbourg Thursday.
Two other people were arrested and detained Monday as part of the extremism investigation the Paris prosecutor’s office is conducting into the attack. They also were suspected of “playing a role in supplying the firearm,” said the official.
Their arrests bring the number of suspects in custody since the attack to three; Chekatt’s parents and two of his brothers were questioned by police last week and released.
The death toll from the attack increased to five Sunday night after a Polish man died of his wounds in a Strasbourg hospital. Barto Orent-Niedzielski, 36, lived in the city, where he worked at the European Parliament and as a journalist. The other casualties include a tourist from Thailand and an Italian journalist covering the European Parliament.
According to some reports, Orent-Niedzielski fought the shooter and stopped him from entering a crowded club, possibly preventing more deaths.
Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote early Monday on Twitter that “I knew him by sight. I am shocked. I had not realized that he was the one mortally wounded protecting other people. Honor to his memory. RIP.”
Two people were arrested and one appeared before a French judge Monday as part of an extremism-related investigation of the shooting attack that killed five people last week near a Christmas market in Strasbourg, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
An official close to the investigation said the man who was in court is suspected of involvement in supplying the weapon that alleged gunman Cherif Chekatt used in the Dec. 11 attack. Chekatt, 29, died in a shootout with police in Strasbourg Thursday.
The two detained Monday also were suspected of “playing a role in supplying the firearm,” said the official, who could not be named with the case ongoing. Their arrests bring the number of suspects in custody since the attack to three; Chekatt’s parents and two of his brothers were questioned by police last week and released.
The death toll from the attack increased to five Sunday night after a Polish man died of his wounds in a Strasbourg hospital. Barto Orent-Niedzielski, 36, lived in the city, where he worked at the European Parliament and as a journalist. The other casualties include a tourist from Thailand and an Italian journalist covering the European Parliament.
According to some reports, Orent-Niedzielski fought the shooter and stopped him from entering a crowded club, possibly preventing more deaths.
Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote early Monday on Twitter that “I knew him by sight. I am shocked. I had not realized that he was the one mortally wounded protecting other people. Honor to his memory. RIP.”
