‘Three Friends’ Join Pro-Junta Party, Say Charter Favors Them

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19 November 2018, 12:54

Palang Pracharat leaders present party jackets to new MP candidates on Sunday.

BANGKOK — A key member of a political party linked to the military government said Sunday it’s confident in a victory at the polls because the constitution was written in its favor.

Former minister Somsak Thepsuthin, who formally joined the Palang Pracharat yesterday after months of campaigning on behalf of the clique, also urged its members to reap the benefits from the charter and focus on winning the most votes in elections slated for February.

“In this election, this constitution was designed for us,” Somsak said in a party conference held yesterday. “We have to use all these things to our advantage. The goal is that every vote is important.”

His assertion would come as no surprise to government critics and anti-junta activists, who have long accused the regime of favoring new political parties at the expense of older, established factions.

Somsak was addressing hundreds of new members and MPs candidates at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok. At least 75 former MPs, ministers and other political luminaries have signed up with the party since membership registration opened Tuesday.

Along with two other veteran politicos, Somsak has been recruiting new members for Palang Pracharat, calling themselves “The Three Friends” group. Their campaign drew criticism from other parties, who accused them of poaching their longtime MPs.

Though the group has repeatedly insisted it’s not formally affiliated to Palang Pracharat or any other party – an explanation that has allowed it to skirt the ban on political activities – any distinction was lost yesterday after Somsak merged it with the party.

Somsak said the group and its supporters, which include five ex-ministers and three former MPs, have officially registered with Palang Pracharat.

While Somsak declined to say how many seats his party hopes to win in the poll, party executive Anoocha Nakasai predicted at least 100 seats would be taken.

Palang Pracharat leaders include three cabinet members of the military government: Uttama Savanayana, Suvit Maesincee, Nuttapol Teepasuwan and Sontirat Sontijirawong. They have refused to resign from their posts even as they take up campaigning with the party.

Uttama personally presented the party jackets to the new MP candidates on stage yesterday.

With His ‘Smiley Buffalo’ to be Sold Off, Farmer Needs Internet’s Help

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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19 November 2018, 12:46

Surat Phaeoket washes Tongkum in a pond on Friday in Chai Nat.

CHAI NAT — As buffaloes Kwan Kao and Toong-nguen were loaded onto a truck Sunday to be sold, Tongkum and the other kwai surrounded the vehicle, mooing in mourning.

Surat Phaeoket, the farmer who had been caring for five – now three – buffaloes and recently became an online sensation for his warm selfies with the animals, said he had to run after Tongkum and hold him back with tears in his eyes. He’s now asking the internet for help to purchase the photogenic kwai.

Update: Internet Saves Beautiful Man-Buffalo Friendship

“After the truck left, they were still looking around for their friends for a while,” the Chai Nat farmer said. “They all want to stay here. But I’m not the owner, I’m just the caretaker. I have a special bond with Tongkum so I want to buy him, but they are all so expensive. That image of all the buffaloes all sad and one being shipped away, I don’t want it to happen to Tongkum.”

The handsome 4-year-old buck, whose name literally means “gold,” costs 100,000 baht. And since Sunday, he’s already received more than 62,000 baht in donations.

Surat and Tongkum recently went viral for their buddy-buddy selfie pictures, which warmed the hearts of internetters. But the animal separation anxiety known by farmers who borrow from the state Buffalo Bank soon set in.

“I decided to quickly update the amount of money I’m getting because I want to be transparent,” the 34-year-old farmer said. “If you love kwai or trust in me, my determination and honesty to create smiles and happiness to help Tongkum, please help me so later generations can see this way of life.”

A Khaosod video of Surat taking care of the other buffaloes after Kwan Kao and Toong-ngeun are sold off.

Surat said he will purchase Tongkum with the money and officially register him at the local Livestock Development Department “so he will get a Citizen ID, but for buffaloes”. He pledged to donors that he would build a comfortable stable for the animal, including a mosquito net.

“Then he will be able to sleep peacefully and not have to wake up in the middle of the night,” Surat said.

Followers will also get to follow the adventures of Tongkum on a new Facebook page in the making, getting to see Tongkum’s daily activities, his calves with his pregnant mate Kao Hom, his friendship with his buddy Permpoon and Surat’s farming activities.

Surat, 34, is a married father of two daughters, 12, 4, and a Chai Nat farmer who says he has no other way of buying Tongkum on his income of about 6,000 to 7,000 baht a month.

Read: Chai Nat Man’s Lovely Kwai Friendship Warms Hearts

“My income isn’t regular. I also have to help my wife sell clothes. She gives me 100 baht of pocket money to use per day. We have to take care of our family and I do odd jobs to make ends meet as well,” Surat said.

Tongkum was still visibly sad about two of his friends leaving, since he said all five buffaloes had played together like family, taking walks and swimming in ponds.

“Now that there’s three left, it feels kind of empty,” Surat said. “One day, if I don’t buy Tongkum, he will be sold off too,” Surat said. He added that he was unaware what would happen to Kwan Kao and Toong-ngeun, but that they were probably being bred on a farm.

“With me, Tongkum is clearly happy and having fun. That’s why I asked the owner to wait until I could come up with the money,” Surat said.

“Thanks to everyone who helped donate. I’m so overwhelmed. So many people put their trust in me; I’m so touched. I promise I won’t let anyone down. Soon, Tongkum will live with me forever and we can share our happiness to others,” the farmer said.

Donors can transfer money to Surat Phaeoket at his Krungthai bank account under his name at account number 107-0-03524-6.

28639 — Tongkum runs after the truck carrying his friends.

S4300008 — Surat takes a bath with three buffaloes Saturday.

Asian Shares Mostly Up Cheered by Wall Street Buying Spree

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Associated Press

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19 November 2018, 11:16

An investor walks in front of trading boards at a private stock market gallery in September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Yam G-Jun / Associated Press

TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after a buying spree on Wall Street kept up investor optimism into a new week, despite continuing worries about trade tensions.

Keeping Score

Thailand’s SET traded at 1,636.50 on Monday morning, a 0.1 percent increase. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 percent to 21,784.87, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7 percent to 5,693.30 in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 2,099.45. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6 percent to 26,331.84, while the Shanghai Composite stood at 2,693.93, also up 0.6 percent. Shares were mostly higher in the rest of Asia, with benchmarks rising in Taiwan and Indonesia.

Wall Street

The S&P 500 index rose 6.07 points, or 0.2 percent, to end the week at 2,736.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 123.95 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,413.22. The Nasdaq composite slid 11.16 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,247.87. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 3.41 points, or 0.2 percent, to USD$1,527.53. But the S&P 500, which finished higher for the second straight day, ended the week with a loss of 1.6 percent.

Trade

The Trump administration has imposed a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology as the price of market access. That tariff is set to rise to 25 percent in January. Another $50 billion of Chinese goods already is subject to 25 percent duties. Beijing has responded with penalty duties on $110 billion of American goods. Washington and Beijing have resumed talks over their spiraling trade dispute.

Japan Trade

Japan reported a trade deficit for October but has seen a recovery in exports after getting slammed by natural disasters in September. Data from the Ministry of Finance showed exports grew 8.2 percent from the same month the previous year. In September, exports fell 1.2 percent from the previous year in the first decline for the world’s third-largest economy since 2016. Imports in October grew 19.9 percent on-year.

Energy

Benchmark U.S. crude oil added 83 cents to $57.51 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 74 cents to $67.50.

Currency

The dollar fell to 112.69 yen from 113.26 yen late Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1410 from $1.1339.

Story: Yuri Kageyama

Landslides Kill 13, Leave 4 Missing in South Central Vietnam

By

Associated Press

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19 November 2018, 10:55

A man paddles a boat and others swim through flooded villageon July 31, 2018 in Chuong My district, Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Manh Thang/ Associated Press File

HANOI — Landslides due to rains from a tropical storm have killed 13 people and left four others missing in south-central Vietnam.

A disaster official in Khanh Hoa province says some 600 soldiers have been mobilized to search for the missing and evacuate people from high-risk areas.

He said the landslides from heavy rains triggered by Tropical Storm Toraji collapsed several houses and buried the victims in some villages in the resort city of Nha Trang on Sunday.

The storm weakened to a tropical depression at sea off the south central coastal province of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan on Sunday night, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement Monday.

Vietnam is prone to floods and storms which kill hundreds of people each year.

Cambodia Says Khmer Rouge Tribunal That Convicted 3 Is Done

By

Associated Press

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19 November 2018, 10:45

In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, sits Friday in a court room before a hearing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Mark Peters / Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has reiterated it intends to end the work of the U.N.-backed tribunal that last week convicted the last two surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said the tribunal’s work had been completed and there would not be any additional prosecutions for acts that led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people in the 1970s. The only other person convicted was the regime’s prisons chief.

He cited the terms under which the tribunal, staffed jointly by Cambodian and international prosecutors and judges, had been established, limiting its targets to senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime that was in power from 1975 to 1979. The rules also allow prosecuting those most responsible for carrying out atrocities.

Sar Kheng spoke Saturday at a government ceremony in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey and his remarks were reported Sunday.

On Friday, the tribunal convicted and gave life sentences to Nuon Chea, 92, the main Khmer Rouge ideologist and right-hand man to its late leader Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, who was the regime’s head of state. The sentences were merged with the life sentences they were already serving after an earlier conviction for crimes against humanity.

In nine years of hearings and at a cost exceeding USD$300 million, the tribunal has convicted only one other defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who as head of the Khmer Rouge prison system ran the infamous Tuol Sleng torture center in Phnom Penh.

Cases of four more suspects, middle-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge, had already been processed for prosecution but have been scuttled or stalled. Without the cooperation of the Cambodian members of the tribunal, no cases can go forward.

Long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly declared there would be no more prosecutions, claiming they could cause unrest. Hun Sen himself was a midlevel commander with the Khmer Rouge before defecting while the group was still in power, and several senior members of his ruling Cambodian People’s Party share similar backgrounds. He helped cement his political control by making alliances with other former Khmer Rouge commanders.

In his remarks, Sar Kheng sought to reassure former Khmer Rouge members that they would not face prosecution.

“Because there are some former Khmer Rouge officers living in this area, I would like to clarify that there will be no more investigations taking place (against lower-ranking Khmer Rouge members), so you don’t have to worry,” said Sar Kheng, who is also interior minister.

He acknowledged that even without more prosecutions, the tribunal still had to hear the appeals expected to be lodged by Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, but aside from that task, its work was finished.

Story: Sopheng Cheang

Ajin Panjapan, Author Who Took Readers Inside ‘The Tin Mine,’ Dies at 91

By

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI

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18 November 2018, 13:41

Ajin Panjapan. Photo: Ajin Panjapan / Facebook

BANGKOK — Renowned writer and national artist Ajin Panjapan died Saturday. He was 91.

Ajin died of natural causes at Bangphai Hospital in Bangkok at 5:44pm, according to a statement posted last night to his official Facebook fanpage.

His most prominent work is the series “The Tin Mine” (“Maha’lai Muang Rae”), a semi-autobiographical account of the time he was sent by his family to work in a tin mine in Phang Nga province after dropping out from Chulalongkorn University.

His emotional account gave people an unprecedented look at the hardships faced by the miners as Ajin recounted the life lessons it afforded him.

He spent four years mining, during which time he started writing short stories and nonfiction works.

“The Tin Mine” was published in installments in Chao Krung magazine starting in 1954 and continued over 30 years with 142 episodes. It was later republished in volumes by several publications and is recommended by the government as one of 100 things Thais should read.

The story was made into a movie of the same name in 2005 by director Jira Maligool.

Made for 70 million baht, the film had a screenplay co-written by Ajin, who also appeared in the film as himself.

Though a box office failure earning only 30 million baht, the movie was acclaimed by critics and was named Best Picture by three Thai film awards. It was Thailand’s official entry for the 78th Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film.

Ajin was named National Artist in literature in 1991 and a year later won the Sriburapha Award, which honors the lifetime achievements of artists, writers and journalists.

Besides “The Tin Mine,” he also wrote a number of short stories and songs. He founded a publication and published his own magazines, the most popular of which was “Fah Muang Thai,” from 1969 to 2000. It became a launching pad for many young writers at the time.

Born Oct. 11, 1927, in Nakhon Pathom province, Ajin is survived by his wife Naengnoi Panjapan, also a writer and editor. They had no children together.

D.C. Hip-Hop ‘Oddisee’ Surprise Hit at Maho Rasop Music Fest (Photos)

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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18 November 2018, 13:15

BANGKOK — A group of friends threw down in an impromptu dance battle. A man peeled off his shirt and danced solo in a corner. On stage, a keyboardist left his deck and moved center stage and show off his moves.

Everyone was just losing it in a magical hip-hop moment last night.

Washington D.C. rapper Oddisee, the stage name of Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, and accompanying band Good Company gave a stand-out performance at the Maho Rasop Music Festival, which took place for the first time last night at Live Park Rama 9.

Although taking the middle-sized stage of three, the act embraced the spotlight and transformed the stage into the center of the action with a fiery set.

Hip-hop has been raging in Thailand, and their crowd was all in, fully participating, hip-hop fans or not. They flashed victory signs, clapped and responded on cue to Oddisee’s rapid lyrical punches and Good Company’s funkified rhythms.

The turnout at Live Park Rama IX seemed strong for what turned out to be a cool evening following a stormy day.

Other highlights included a reliably moving set by UK shoegaze icons Slowdive and an upbeat crowd-pleasing show by electronic group Miami Horror.

The evening’s final main acts, soul-infused pop outfit Prep and The Vaccines, were nearly complete when everything was suddenly halted twice for about 15 minutes on police order to have silence as a royal motorcade passed the venue.

Officials Recover Capsized Phuket Ship that Killed 47 Chinese

By

Associated Press

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18 November 2018, 12:34

In this photo taken and released by the Thailand Phuket Public Affairs Office, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, the tour boat named the Pheonix is raised from the sea floor after sinking over four months ago in rough weather killing 47 tourists. Photo: Phuket Public Affairs Office via AP

PHUKET — Officials on Saturday recovered a boat that sank in rough weather off the southern resort island of Phuket in July, killing 47 Chinese tourists.

Two tour boats sank off Phuket on July 5. Tourists from one boat were rescued, while the sinking of the double-decker Phoenix left 47 Chinese tourists dead.

The accident was one of Thailand’s worst tourism-related disasters in recent years.

The boat was raised from the 45-meter-deep sea floor on Saturday by a crane ship operated by a salvage company from Singapore, officials said.

The recovery operation itself faced many obstacles. The first company, hired to salvage the boat, lost a member of its team during the operation and failed to lift the boat.

A group of senior police officers witnessing the raising of the boat stood in silence for one minute in commemoration of the victims.

The Phoenix, covered in brown algae and sludge, will be towed into a pier in Phuket. Police will inspect it as part of their investigation into the tragedy.

Five people have been charged so far, including the owner and two operators of the Phoenix. They have been accused of negligence causing death, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Officials said other people are also under investigation, including some at the company that built the boat.

More than 9.8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2017, accounting for the biggest share of the 35.38 million total foreign tourists.

Argentina Minister Says Country Without Means to Rescue Sub

By

Associated Press

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18 November 2018, 12:20

Relatives of the crew of the ARA San Juan submarine embrace outside the navy base in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. Photo: Federico Cosso / Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Hours after announcing the discovery of an Argentine submarine lost deep in the Atlantic a year ago with 44 crew members aboard, the government said Saturday that it is unable to recover the vessel, drawing anger from missing sailors’ relatives who demanded that it be raised.

Defense Minister Oscar Aguad said at a press conference that the country lacks “modern technology” capable of “verifying the seabed” to extract the ARA San Juan, which was found 907 meters (2,975 feet) deep in waters off the Valdes Peninsula in Argentine Patagonia, roughly 600 kilometers (373 miles) from the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia.

Earlier in the morning, the navy said a “positive identification” had been made by a remote-operated submersible from the American company Ocean Infinity. The company, commissioned by the Argentine government, began searching for the missing vessel Sept. 7.

It remained unclear what the next steps could be.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett said authorities would have to determine how to advance. “We would be pleased to assist with a recovery operation but at the moment are focused on completing imaging of the debris field,” he said.

Navy commander Jose Luis Villan urged “prudence,” saying that a federal judge was overseeing the investigation and would be the one to decide whether it was possible to recover a part or the entirety of the ship.

Without adequate technological capabilities, however, Argentina would likely need to seek assistance from foreign countries or pay Ocean Infinity or another company, potentially complicating its recent commitment to austerity. Argentina is currently facing a currency crisis and double-digit inflation that has led the government to announce sweeping measures to balance the budget and concretize a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Any move to recuperate the vessel would also be a logistically large and challenging undertaking based on the submarine’s distance from the coast, its depth, and the kind of seabed upon which it is resting.

Relatives of crew members were determined to fight for it to be quickly surfaced.

Isabel Vilca, the half sister of crewman Daniel Alejandro Polo, told the AP that the discovery was just the beginning.

She said families need to recover the remains of their loved ones to know what happened and help prevent similar tragedies.

“We do know they can get it out because Ocean Infinity told us they can, that they have equipment,” said Luis Antonio Niz, father of crew member Luis Niz. “If they sent him off, I want them to bring him back to me.”

The sub’s discovery was announced just two days after families of the missing sailors held a one-year commemoration for its disappearance on Nov. 15, 2017. The San Juan was returning to its base in the coastal city of Mar del Plata when contact was lost.

On the anniversary Thursday, Argentina President Mauricio Macri said the families of the submariners should not feel alone and delivered an “absolute and non-negotiable commitment” to find “the truth.”

On Saturday, Aguad said that the vessel was found to be in an area that investigators had deemed “most likely.”

Officials showed images of the submarine, which was located on a seabed with its hull totally deformed. Parts of its propellers were buried and debris was scattered up to 70 meters (230 feet) away.

The German-built diesel-electric TR-1700 class submarine was commissioned in the mid-1980s and was most recently refitted between 2008 and 2014. During the $12 million retrofitting, the vessel was cut in half and had its engines and batteries replaced. Experts said refits can be difficult because they involve integrating systems produced by different manufacturers, and even the tiniest mistake during the cutting phase can put the safety of the ship and crew at risk.

The navy said previously the captain reported on Nov. 15, 2017, that water entered the snorkel and caused one of the sub’s batteries to short-circuit. The captain later communicated that it had been contained.

Some hours later, an explosion was detected near the time and place where the San Juan was last heard from. The navy said the blast could have been caused by a “concentration of hydrogen” triggered by the battery problem reported by the captain.

Macri promised a full investigation after the submarine was lost. Federal police raided naval bases and other buildings last January as part of the probe, soon after the government dismissed the head of the navy.

Argentina gave up hope of finding survivors after an intense search aided by 18 countries, but a few navy units have continued providing logistical support to Ocean Infinity.

On Saturday, Plunkett tweeted: “Our thoughts are with the many families affected by this terrible tragedy. We sincerely hope that locating the resting place of the ARA San Juan will be of some comfort to them at what must be a profoundly difficult time.”

He also said: “This was an extremely challenging project and today’s successful outcome, following the earlier search operations, firmly endorses our technology.”

The company unsuccessfully searched for the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 over the Indian Ocean.

Story: Almudena Calatrava

Opinion: Is Iconsiam an Icon of Prosperity or Disparity?

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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17 November 2018, 13:53

Bangkok’s newest luxury mall, the 54 billion-baht Iconsiam, is marketed as the “Icon of Eternal Prosperity.”

I attended the invitation-only gala on the eve of its opening last week, and since then, a lot has been said about this mall. Here’s what I like and do not like about it.

What to Like

1. Being on the more-neglected Thonburi side of the river, this new mega luxury mall will undoubtedly further shift Bangkokian lifestyles toward the river, which is more leisurely and encourages a slower pace of life as well as some al fresco time. Iconsiam sacrificed a generous 100,000sqm along 400 meters of riverside for shoppers and non-shoppers to stroll.

“The [mostly concrete] park is open to the public every day, particularly benefiting members of surrounding communities and visitors from far and wide who love and admire the river’s atmosphere,” one news release proclaimed, which is not far from the truth. A monorail system linking it to the BTS Skytrain is also under construction and will make that congested stretch of Charoen Nakhon Road more accessible.

The mall is owned by mega-conglomerate CP. Its developer is SiamPiwat, which also built the Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery malls downtown. To its credit, SiamPiwat has put in money to support the development the Gold Line monorail.

2. Adaptation of some Thai arts into the mall. The almond-shaped, gold-leaf ceilings found in the most upscale parts of the mall, called “Iconluxe,” is shimmering, rich and beautiful. It’s further enhanced by four 16-meter, palatial-height columns painted by national artist Preecha Thaothong.

Many other Thai national artists of different fields were also enlisted. This, combined with large reprints of black and white archival photographs of old Bangkok adorn the posh restrooms to give a sense of locality, reminding visitors they are indeed in Bangkok, and the Chao Phraya River, to be exact.

What Not to Like

1. Despite its claim to be the pride of the kingdom, this is a place for the top 10 percent, certainly no more than the top 20 percent. If you are lower middle class, you would feel rather out of place and wonder why you are so poor as there’s little you can afford.

While the daily minimum wage in Bangkok is just 325 baht, an omakase dinner sushi set, or chef’s selection of sushi, goes for 7,000 baht at an upper-scale sushi bar inside the mall’s new Siam Takashimaya department store. The cheapest meals there are likely microwavable TV dinners found in the 7-Eleven on the ground floor. Of course everything spent there also goes to mall owner CP, which owns the prolific convenience store chain.

2. The 1 billion-baht promotional budget. Don’t get me wrong, Alicia Keys was sensational on opening night and Naomi Watts looked beautiful walking the red carpet with other stars, including some from China.

But it was so fleeting that perhaps half that amount would have been better disposed, say, aiding local communities now affected by massive traffic jams and the monorail construction. How about a pedestrian bridge across the river, linking pedestrians to both sides of the capital? This would have been a more lasting and thoughtful way to spend an obscene amount of cash.

3. The mall, with 75,000sqm of floor space, consumes a huge amount of electricity, despite having larger outdoor areas than most other malls. The amount of rubbish will also be a massive burden on the infrastructure, and I encourage Greenpeace Thailand to come up with the figures so we will know if more dams are needed in Thailand or Laos just to keep Iconsiam shoppers from sweating.

Conclusion

Please don’t kill me or call me a hypocrite if you spot me drinking coffee at Iconsiam one day; I am not shunning the place. Yet the mall, more than being the icon of eternal prosperity and pride of Siam – or Thailand – is a testimony to the pervasive disparities in our society. Indeed, Iconsiam is a true and concrete icon of the socio-economic disparity so pervasive today.

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