Indonesia Says Survivors Unlikely From Lion Air Plane Crash

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29 October 2018, 18:06

Relatives of passengers comfort each other as they wait for news on a Lion Air plane that crashed off Java Island at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. Photo: Associated Press

KARAWANG, Indonesia — A Lion Air plane crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Monday, likely killing all 189 people on board, in a blow to the country’s aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and U.S.

The national search and rescue agency said human remains have been recovered from the crash area. Its director of operations, Bambang Suryo Aji, told a news conference the search effort is focusing on finding bodies, and survivors are not expected.

More than 300 people including soldiers, police and local fishermen were involved in the search that has also recovered ID cards, personal belongings and aircraft debris. At least a dozen ambulances were parked at a nearby beach.

Indonesia’s disaster agency posted photos online of a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels.

President Joko Widodo ordered the transport safety commission to investigate and urged Indonesians to “keep on praying” as rescuers search for victims.

An air transport official, Novie Riyanto, said the flight was cleared to return to Jakarta after the pilot made a “return to base” request two to three minutes after taking off. It plunged into the sea about 10 minutes later. Weather conditions were normal but the brand new aircraft had experienced a technical issue on its previous flight.

Lion Air said the jet, on a 1 hour and 10 minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra, was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crew members.

It said there were two foreigners on board the plane: its pilot, originally from New Delhi, and an Italian citizen.

Distraught friends and relatives prayed and hugged each other as they waited at Pangkal Pinang’s airport and at a crisis center set up at Jakarta’s airport. Indonesian TV broadcast pictures of a fuel slick and debris field in the ocean.

At the search agency’s headquarters in Jakarta, family members arrived, hoping desperately for news.

Feni, who uses a single name, said her soon to be married sister was on the flight, planning to meet relatives in Pangkal Pinang.

“We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiance, her in-law to be and a friend of them,” said Feni.

“We don’t have any information,” she said, as her father wiped tears from reddened eyes. “No one provided us with any information that we need. We’re confused. We hope that our family is still alive.”

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani also arrived at the agency and met with its chief, seeking information about 20 ministry staff who were on the flight after attending a ministry event in Jakarta. Photos circulating online showed the distraught minister trying to comfort stunned colleagues.

The search and rescue agency said the flight ended in waters off West Java that are 30 to 35 meters (98 to 115 feet) deep.

The agency’s chief, Muhammad Syaugi, told a news conference that divers are trying to locate the wreckage.

Weather conditions for the flight were safe, according to the Indonesian meteorology agency. It said the type of clouds associated with turbulence was not present and winds were weak.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 was delivered to Lion Air in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24. Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of Jakarta-based Lion Air, was the first airline to being using the 737 Max 8 last year. The Max 8 replaced the similar 800 in the Chicago-based plane maker’s product line.

Lion Air president-director Edward Sirait said the plane had a “technical problem” on its previous flight from Bali to Jakarta but it had been fully remedied. He didn’t know specifics of the problem when asked in a TV interview. The pilot of Flight 610 had more than 6,000 flying hours while the co-pilot had more than 5,000 hours, according to the airline.

“Indeed there were reports about a technical problem, and the technical problem has been resolved in accordance with the procedures released by the plane manufacturer,” he said. “I did not know exactly but let it be investigated by the authorities.”

Boeing Co. said it was “deeply saddened” by the crash and was prepared to provide technical assistance to Indonesia’s crash probe.

In a statement, the Chicago-based manufacturer expressed its concern for the 189 people onboard and offered “heartfelt sympathies to their families and loved ones.”

The Transport Ministry said the plane took off from Jakarta at about 6:20 a.m. and crashed just 13 minutes later. Data from FlightAware showed it had reached an altitude of only 5,200 feet (1,580 meters).

The crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 on board.

Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following decade. The ban was completely lifted in June this year. The U.S. lifted a decadelong ban in 2016.

Lion Air, a discount carrier, is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.

In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.

1st-Class Drama: Thai Airways Sides With Passengers Over Pilots

By

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI

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29 October 2018, 16:45

Thai Airways executives Monday apologize at a news briefing regarding the delay earlier this month of flight TG971, which was held up by a dispute over seating pilots in first class. — Thai Airways executives Monday apologize at a news briefing regarding the delay in October 2018 of flight TG971, which was held up by a dispute over seating pilots in first class.

BANGKOK — Thai Airways on Monday released its findings about a much-debated episode in which a flight from Zurich was delayed hours by a dispute over first-class seats for two traveling pilots.

The airline said it found both pilots and Zurich airport ground staff responsible for “not prioritizing the passengers” in the incident aboard TG971, which was kept from taking off until two passengers gave up their first-class seats to the pilots, who were being flown to their next assignment.

Airline President Sumeth Damrongchaitham said the employees would be penalized “according to the company’s codes,” and all passengers compensated for the Oct. 11 flight, which was delayed over two hours.

“I acknowledge the mistake and would like to apologize for what happened,” he said. “The company will improve service … to prevent this kind of problem from happening again.”

Thai Airways is a popular punching bag, and the incident sparked debate over whether the pilots were being given special treatment or afforded necessary comfort given their duties.

Sumeth said that although the pilots and agent did not violate airline or airport rules, they failed to communicate effectively, causing the delay. He said they damaged the company’s reputation by failing to follow the airline’s ethical code by not prioritizing the passengers.

The drama broke out less than two weeks ago when a complaint letter against Thai Airways was leaked to the media. In it, a passenger later identified as a former permanent secretary of the Industry Ministry, said he and his wife gave up their first-class upgrades for two of the pilots after a delay of over two hours.

They were among four pilots flying “deadhead,” an aviation term for crew being flown off-duty to another assignment. The flight’s on-duty pilots, the letter said, refused to fly until their colleagues were seated in first class, which until recently had been policy.

“I was informed that if I refused to switch my seat with the deadhead pilots, the on-duty pilots wouldn’t take off,” the letter read. “If my wife and I hadn’t given up our seats, the delay would’ve continued. We felt sorry for the other passengers who were also affected.”

The issue metastasized on social media. Sumeth, who was recently appointed airline president, quickly apologized and promised to conduct an internal investigation.

An internal memo from Thai Airways titled “Request for seating guidelines for flight deck passive crew on B747/A380” indicates the flight had been changed from a Boeing 777-300 to a 747-400.

The older plane, the 747, doesn’t have a crew quarters where the pilots normally would rest. Unlike the newer plane, it did have a first-class section with seats that can lie flat.

But those seats were filled up with upgraded business-class passengers when they became available in the system, according to the memo.

It said the Zurich ground staff put the pilots in business class, but the on-duty pilots in charge of the flight refused to let anymore passengers board unless all four deadheads were seated in first class.

The review of the pilots’ actions triggered a small rally of support by about 50 Thai Airways pilots last week at the company’s Bangkok headquarters.

There’s no specific law regarding required seats for deadhead crew, but civil aviation rules bar pilots from flying more than 34 hours in seven days, and must rest for a time equivalent to how long they were last in the air.

The case divided opinions between those blaming the crew for taking passengers hostage for their own benefit and those asserting the importance of well-rested pilots.

Sanong Mingcharoen, who heads the Thai pilot association, said online shortly after the incident blew up in the media that the pilots had been accused unfairly.

He complained that the airline recently changed its contract terms to say deadhead pilots would only be entitled to the first-class seats if they were empty; otherwise, they would be seated in business class.

“If we back off too much, one day there will be no space left for us,” he wrote.

His post was heavily criticized and later deleted. It later came out that the airline barred crew members involved from talking to the media.

Thai Airways union president Damrong Waikanee last week said the crew had the right to first-class seats and did nothing wrong under the guidelines. But, he said, they should have given priority to the passengers.

“If pilots are not on duty, they will be like other passengers and will be given seats in either first class or business class,” he said. “But if they travel to be on duty, seats in first class will be assigned to them. It’s the same practice at every airline, as pilots need to be fully rested to prepare for their next flight … or it will compromise passenger safety.”

Still, they should have made the sacrifice, he added.

“The pilots weren’t wrong because it’s their right, but because they weren’t conscientious,” Damrong continued. “If I were them, I would have let the passengers take the seats or change my flight, because we get our salary and our wages from them picking our service.”

Convicted of Assault, ‘Buddha Issara’ Vows Return to Monkhood

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Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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29 October 2018, 15:34

Suwit Thongprasert, on wheelchair, leaves the court on Monday.

BANGKOK — A former activist monk convicted of assaulting police officers said he would soon return to the monkhood after he was freed on parole Monday.

Suwit Thongprasert, formerly known as Buddha Issara, had his monk status stripped when he was arrested in a predawn raid in May and put on trial. A court today found Suwit guilty of ordering his followers to detain and beat up two undercover policemen during a street protest he led in 2014.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Suwit said he would ordain as a monk again on Dec. 1. He declined to say whether he would return to Wat Or Noy, where he resided for decades prior to his arrest.

The 62-year-old former monk arrived and left the court in a wheelchair. His aides said he’s suffering from severe back pain caused by a herniated disc.

Suwit was given a three-year jail term, which was reduced to a year because he pleaded guilty. The court then freed him on a year’s parole on the grounds that Suwit had taken steps to compensate his victims after the assault. He spent three months in jail before being released on bail on a 200,000 baht bond.

Prosecution on other charges, including insurrection and forging a royal emblem, are ongoing.

Buddha Issara ‘Not Yet a Suspect’ in Lese Majeste Case: Police

Police Apologise To Buddha Issara For Tear Gas Barrage

Analysis: Why Pheu Thai Made Its Unglamorous Pick For Leader

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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29 October 2018, 14:05

Pheu Thai caretaker leader Viroj Pao-in was reappointed to his role Sunday.

BANGKOK — There was a pragmatic reason the caretaker leader of what has been Thailand’s largest political force was given that job again Sunday, despite his lack of a political base or public renown.

An unknown outside political circles, 84-year-old Viroj Pao-in was re-elected in a realpolitik calculation he and the party may not make it to Election Day.

That’s because of the very real possibility the military government’s Election Commission will find a reason to banish Pheu Thai in the same way its two predecessors were, by disbanding the party and banning its leaders from politics.

That’s where the party’s proxy organizations come in, ready to take Pheu Thai’s place with its leaders ready to assume control.

The strategy has been openly acknowledged in recent weeks as threats against the party have escalated. Senior Pheu Thai members such as former Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang have said the party was preparing for the eventuality that whoever became leader would be unlikely to be around come elections.

Indeed, missing from the 15 names tapped for the party’s executive committee – who would all be ejected from politics were the party disbanded – were its brightest stars and heirs apparent.

That includes Chaturon, who took a principled stand against military rule in the wake of the 2014 coup. Or Sudarat Kaeyuraphan, who has long been counted a key contender for the prime minister’s post. Then there’s popular former transportation minister Chadchart Sittipunt, though he has played down that prospect.

From left, Pheu Thai's Sudarat Kaeyuraphan, Chadchart Sittipunt and Chaturon Chaisang, sit at a Sunday party meeting in Bangkok. — From left, Pheu Thai’s Sudarat Kaeyuraphan, Chadchart Sittipunt and Chaturon Chaisang, sit at a Sunday party meeting in Bangkok.

Sudarat on Sunday was instead made head of the party’s strategic committee, which gives her a top role without risking banishment were the party dissolved.

A series of threats have been issued that could lead to the party being dissolved. Last week, the Election Commission said it was investigating whether it breached the law by being unduly influenced by its founder, ousted and fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. That new legal stipulation seemed tailored for Pheu Thai when it was introduced this year.

The party has also been accused of meeting too soon before the junta had relaxed its ban on all civilian politics.

If found to have violated the election or political party laws, all members of the executive committee would be banned from politics.

That’s when two new affiliated shell parties, Pheu Tham and Thai Raksa Chart, would come into play. People like Sudarat and other prominent non-executive members could migrate and run for office unhindered.

At Sunday’s meeting, the post of secretary general was kept by Phoomtham Vejchayachai. Phoomtham said it wasn’t clear if Viroj would be among Pheu Thai’s three allotted candidates.

Carnal Choreography: ‘Party Animal’ to Debauch Silom Library

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Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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29 October 2018, 13:57

BANGKOK — Inspired by a wild night at Berlin’s most notorious techno club, a Thai choreographer will take over a Bangkok library to explore sexuality, gender and animal movement.

Space once again becomes a canvas for choreographer Jitti Chompee, whose latest dance piece “Party Animal” will be staged inside a historic Silom-area library.

The routine consists of five performers going through some erotically charged moves to unwind matters of gender and identity. It was inspired by Jitti’s experience at Berghain, Berlins’s libertine house of music and debauchery, where access is exclusiveness and the sights occasionally X-rated.

“I met people who truly freed themselves. They dressed up to their own styles, pretty unique, while some dressed in fantasy themes, so they were allowed to go inside more easily,” Jitti said. “I observed these people get drunk, mingle, use drugs, dance and lustfully hunt.”

“Time, space, site-specific, sexual content, gender, identity and animal movements; all of these elements were there,” Jitti said. “So it’s perfect to use them to create my own work with my own perspective in terms of scenography and choreography.”

“Party Animal” will field performers Benjamin Tardif, Dovydas Strimaitis, Sukadeva Joshua Horn, Sun Tawalwongsri and Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon – all dressed in kinky pink gimp tights. There is no structured storyline.

“Coming to my show is always like seeing a painting, photography exhibition or art installation. It’s just that the performers move all the time.”

“Party Animals” has 7:30pm showtimes Nov. 16 to Nov. 19 at the Neilson Hays Library. The British-built home of thousands of English-language books is located on Surawong Road. Tickets are 1,000 baht for adults and 400 baht for students.

After Neilson Hays, the show will move north to Chiang Mai’s Maiiam Contemporary Art Museum for a 7pm show on Nov. 23.

Jitti Chompee is best known blending animal movement in his works. In 2010 he founded the 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre where he works as choreographer and director. Some of his creations are surreal physical performances, such as when he portrayed ape-to-human transformation in “Red Peter” or Unfolding Kafka, a biennial festival paying tribute to postmodernist writer Franz Kafka.

Totally Kafka: Artists Interpret Writer at Traveling Fest

Kafka’s Chimp Apes as Human in ‘Red Peter’

Bangkok, You Can Now Send Mail From 7-Eleven

By

JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI

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29 October 2018, 12:38

BANGKOK — Thailand’s most prolific retailer on Monday launched yet another offering – mail delivery – at thousands of its stores across metro Bangkok.

The 24/7 Speed-D express delivery service is now available at more than 3,000 7-Eleven stores in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan provinces. Packages and letters are guaranteed delivery by 6pm the next day if processed by 9pm.

The service is a joint venture between the megachain’s parent company CP All and delivery firm Dynamic Logistics. Customers can purchase boxes and envelopes at the stores, where they can also collect packages if they don’t opt for home delivery. All deliveries include a GPS tracking service available from Dynamic Logistics website.

Customers need to show ID to use the service. Rates range between 35 baht and 119 baht according to the size of the package.

On Wednesday, 7-Eleven stores nationwide will offer basic banking services for the Government Savings Bank, allowing customers to withdraw and deposit money with its Counter Service for a fee.

Last week, Kasikorn Bank began offering deposit service through the competing Cen Pay service at five Family Mart stores in Bangkok for a 20-baht charge. Customers can deposit up to 5,000 baht each day. Bank representatives said the service would be expanded to all Family Mart stores next year.

Earlier this month, 7-Eleven began piloting a limited delivery service via Line. It allows customers to order products including ready-made meals and coffee but is only being tested at two stores in metro Bangkok.

Anti-Junta Rap Video is ‘Abominable,’ Suthep Says

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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29 October 2018, 12:17

44979315_2214226685256468_3489031002326564864_n — Suthep Thaugsuban canvasses for the Action Coalition for Thailand Party Saturday in Chinatown, Bangkok. Photo: Suthep Thaugsuban / Facebook

BANGKOK — The politician who organized the street protests which ushered in military rule said Sunday that a YouTube rap video criticizing the junta was “abominable.”

After threats of prosecution drew wide interest in anti-junta song “My Country’s Got” (“Prathet Ku Mee”) – it’s been watched 18 million times on YouTube alone as of Monday – Bangkok Shutdown protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban joined conservative politicians to harshly condemn the song.

“[The rappers] were born Thai, but they express themselves in such a disgusting, abominable way where they aim to destroy their own homeland like this. It’s highly unwarranted and inappropriate,” Suthep wrote Sunday, following a campaign trip through Bangkok’s Yaowarat area.

Read: Rap Video Blasting Junta Reaches 6M Views After Police Threats

Suthep, who vowed to never re-enter politics after organizing the protests that brought down Yingluck Shinawatra’s elected government, is now one of the leaders of the Action Coalition for Thailand Party, which has been canvassing potential voters.

Deputy police chief Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Friday that the authorities would bring the artists in for questioning, alleging the song may have violated an unspecified junta order. However, the deputy director of the Technology Crime Suppression Division seemed to walk back the threat.

“These days, all citizens are free to express their opinions in all aspects. So the authorities have to admit that we can’t limit the personal opinions of people, especially of the youth,” Maj. Gen. Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, who also heads the Immigration Bureau, wrote Sunday on Facebook. “This is their opinion, which the poo yai should listen to.”

Surachate said he’d not been asked to investigate the case.

In addition to its popularity on YouTube and Facebook, the song is No. 1 on local iTunes charts and has been played more than 42,000 times on Spotify.

The video, released this past Monday, features 10 artists taking turns laying out the country’s perceived ills. The backdrop evokes the laughing lynch mob that watched a hanged corpse be beat with a folding chair, an indelible image of the 1976 massacre at Thammasat University by far right ultra-royalists.

Police to Summon Rappers Who Criticized Military Govt

With ‘My Country’s Got,’ Thai Rap Voices Rare Dissent Against Junta

Malaysia to Sell Superyacht Linked to 1MDB Scandal

By

Associated Press

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29 October 2018, 11:20

The luxury yacht Equanimity is seen in February 2018 in the Benoa harbor in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: Ambros Boli Berani / Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s government launched a one-month auction Monday for a luxury yacht bought with money stolen from the multibillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund.

The sale came nearly three months after Indonesia returned the USD$250 million (8.3 billion baht) yacht, Equanimity, after it was seized off Bali in February in cooperation with the U.S. FBI. The U.S. Justice Department, one of several foreign agencies investigating a massive graft scandal at the 1MDB fund, had listed the yacht among assets it could seize and sell to recover stolen funds.

U.S. investigators said Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, who the Justice Department alleges was a key figure in the theft and international laundering of $4.5 billion from 1MDB, bought the yacht with proceeds diverted from 1MDB.

Ong Chee Kwan, a lawyer for 1MDB, says the government opened bids for the 91.5 meter yacht following a lengthy court process.

Low, who has so far evaded investigators, has through statements issued by his U.S. lawyers slammed the handover of the yacht to Malaysia as illegal but didn’t claim ownership of the vessel in the Malaysian court. The court awarded ownership of the yacht to 1MDB and the government as no one challenged their claim.

Ong said advertisements were placed in international and local media on the yacht sale that will be handled by London-based brokerage Burgess Yachts. He said interested parties must put in a USD$1 million deposit to bid for the vessel.

Once the auction ends Nov. 28, he said the government could make a decision on the sale within a week.

Burgess said on its website that the “judicial sale will provide the buyer with an internationally recognized ownership title free of mortgage, attachment and all encumbrances.”

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak set up 1MDB when he took power in 2009 but it accumulated billions in debts. The 1MDB fiasco led to Najib’s electoral defeat in May’s general elections and ushered in the country’s first change of power since independence from Britain in 1957.

Najib and his wife have been charged with multiple counts of corruption and money-laundering over the 1MDB case. Both have pleaded not guilty and their trials will start next year.

The new government has said corruption by Najib’s administration caused national debt to pile up. The yacht, currently docked at Port Klang outside Kuala Lumpur, is being sold to recover as much money as possible.

The Equanimity’s lavish amenities include a helicopter landing pad, plunge pool, gymnasium and a cinema. It was built in 2014 by the Dutch yacht manufacturer Oceano, which received detailed instructions from Low about its outfitting, according to the Justice Department’s asset recovery case.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Triumphed in Football and Business, Dead at 60

By

Associated Press

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29 October 2018, 10:46

Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on July 8, 2016, in London. Photo: Adam Davy / PA via AP

BANGKOK — Billionaire Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died when his helicopter crashed in a parking lot next to the football club’s stadium, was known to fans as a smiling, benevolent man who gave away free beers and hot dogs on his birthday and brought the club its fairytale English Premier League title in 2016. He was 60.

The business world remembers Vichai as the retail entrepreneur who started with one shop and grew Thailand’s massive King Power duty-free chain.

The sight of his personal helicopter taking off from the middle of the field — to take Vichai to his English base near London in Berkshire — was a regular feature after Leicester’s home games. On Saturday evening, it turned into a horror scene when the chopper appeared to suddenly lose power, plummeting to the ground in a parking lot outside the empty stadium and bursting into flames.

Read: Leicester City Confirms Chopper Crash Killed Vichai

The crash sparked emotional scenes in Leicester, the East Midlands city whose devoted football fans will forever be grateful to Vichai for bankrolling not only the club’s first title in the world’s foremost football league, but one of the most incredible stories in world sports history.

A man takes a photo Sunday near a mural of Leicester City's owner, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha near the Leicester City Football Club. Photo: Aaron Chown / PA — A man takes a photo Sunday near a mural of Leicester City’s owner, Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha near the Leicester City Football Club. Photo: Aaron Chown / PA

Leicester, only two years after being promoted from England’s second-tier league, was a 5,000-to-1 shot to win the Premier League at the start of the 2015-16 season. But after Vichai brought in veteran Italian manager Claudio Ranieri at the start of the campaign, the Foxes produced a stunning season. They lost only three of their 38 games, to win the title by a comfortable 10-point margin, ahead of far more illustrious rivals Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United.

Though his public comments were limited, Leicester’s ever-smiling chairman became a talisman of the campaign, watching on from his seat in the stadium at home games beside his son, Aiyawatt, the club’s vice chairman.

While many foreign owners have been viewed with suspicion by their English club’s fans — for reasons such as a lack of respect for supporters or their club’s traditions — Vichai was held in the highest regard by the Leicester faithful. They showed it during one match late in that 2015-16 season, when their title was secured, with the 32,000-strong King Power Stadium crowd rising to give their chairman an emotional and spontaneous standing ovation.

A man prays Sunday next to floral tributes outside Leicester City Football Club after a helicopter crashed in flames the day before, in Leicester, England. Aaron Chown: PA via AP

Vichai became known for his generosity around the club. When Leicester narrowly avoided the threat of relegation to the second tier at the end of 2014-15, he sent “bottle after bottle” of champagne to the dressing room, according to British media reports. He also treated fans in the stadium to a free Thai Singha beer at the end of successful campaigns.

Vichai bought Leicester for 39 million pounds (1.65 billion baht) in 2010. After the club’s turnaround, it is now valued at 371 million pounds (15.7 billion baht), according to Forbes.

Such a transformation was in keeping with Vichai’s success in the business world, after starting his duty-free interests from modest beginnings.

In 1989, he was granted a license to open Thailand’s first downtown duty-free store. Expansion into Thai airports followed, with King Power ultimately granted a monopoly for duty-free stores at all the country’s main airports.

Today the King Power empire is worth 3.8 billion pounds (161.3 billion baht), according to Forbes, with Vichai having been the fifth-richest person in Thailand.

His family’s empire also included Accor’s Pullman hotels in Thailand, and a 7.5 billion baht stake, bought in 2016, in Thai AirAsia. Last year, Vichai also enlarged his football interests, buying Belgian second-tier club Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

Vichai’s rise in business did not happen without some drama.

The granting of King Power’s monopoly status at Thailand’s airports — set in motion in 2004 by the government of since-ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — caused some controversy.

And this year, King Power has defended itself against a lawsuit lodged by a former anti-graft official alleging it had not paid the government its due share of revenue from its airport franchise. King Power has denied the allegation. While Thailand’s main corruption court threw the case out last month, an appeal is reportedly likely.

Aside from business and football, Vichai quickly became a noted polo devotee in England, playing on occasion with Princes Charles and William. He spent millions establishing his polo team, the King Power Foxes, which began in 2014 and has enjoyed success at the top levels of competition in the U.K.

A devout Buddhist who had monks bless the King Power Stadium regularly for good luck, Vichai and his wife, Aimon Srivaddhanaprabha, had four children.

He was born Vichai Raksriaksorn, but in 2012, the king of Thailand recognized his achievements by bestowing on his family their new surname, which means “light of progressive glory.”

Lion Air Jet Crashes Into Sea After Jakarta Takeoff, 188 on Board

By

Associated Press

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29 October 2018, 10:26

A Lion Air passenger jet takes off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, in a 2012 file photo. Photo: Trisnadi

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s disaster agency says a Lion Air passenger jet crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta and was carrying 188 passengers and crew.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted photos on Twitter of debris including a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels that have converged on the area.

He said the flight was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and seven crew members.

The Boeing 737-800 plane departed Jakarta, about 6:20 a.m. for Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra. Data for Flight 610 on aircraft tracking website FlightAware ends just a few minutes following takeoff.

“We can confirm that one of our flights has lost contact,” said Lion Air spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro. “Its position cannot be ascertained yet.”

A telegram from the National Search and Rescue Agency to the air force has requested assistance with the search of a location at sea off Java.

A report to the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office cites the crew of a tug boat reporting a Lion Air flight falling from the sky. It said several vessels have headed to the location.

Indonesian TV showed dozens of people waiting anxiously outside the Pangkal Pinang airport and officials bringing out plastic chairs.

There was no immediate confirmation of how many people were on board, but the maximum capacity would be about 190.

Lion Air is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.

In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.

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