Hot molten lava glows at the crater of Mount Ruang as it erupts in Sanguine Islands, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang mountain sent ash thousands of feet high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area. (BPBD Sitaro via AP)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang mountain sent ash thousands of feet high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area.
The volcano on the northern side of Sulawesi island had at least five large eruptions in the past 24 hours, Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said. Authorities raised their volcano alert to its highest level.
At least 800 residents left the area earlier Wednesday.
In this photo released by Sitaro Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD Sitaro), hot molten lava glows at the crater of Mount Ruang as it erupts in Sanguine Islands, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (BPBD Sitaro via AP)
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities urged tourists and others to stay at least 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the 725-meter (2,378 foot) Ruang volcano.
Officials worry that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami as in a 1871 eruption there.
Tagulandang island to the volcano’s northeast is again at risk, and its residents are among those being told to evacuate.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said residents will be relocated to Manado, the nearest city, on Sulawesi island, a journey of six hours by boat.
In 2018, the eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain fell into the ocean, killing 430 people.
On April 16, 2024, CCTV footage from the store revealed the Chinese suspects inside the Van Cleef & Arpels store. On the same day, they came to Suvarnabhumi Airport's immigration, as the mugshots showed.
BANGKOK – According to police, the Chinese woman and man who stole a diamond and gold bracelet worth 1.04 million baht (28,245 USD) from a downtown Bangkok jewelry store have already left Thailand.
On April 17, Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy commander Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin Poolsawat stated that the investigators had stopped tracking the two suspects after they fled Thailand.
According to the investigation, on April 16, they entered the store at 5:29 p.m. and left at 5:32 p.m., for a total of 4 minutes. CCTV footage from the store showed the Chinese woman asking to try on the item, and while the staff was busy, she slipped it beneath her long-sleeved blouse and quickly fled.
At 5:36 p.m., the couple boarded a green-yellow Toyota taxi and arrived at Chatrium Hotel Phetchaburi within 10 minutes.
CCTV footage from the store showed the Chinese woman asking to try on the bracelet, which may be what the image depicts at a price of roughly $28,000 USD.
At 5:54 p.m., the pair called a grey Toyota Altis Grab taxi to take them carrying baggage from the hotel to Suvarnabhumi Airport. At 7:11 p.m., the two Chinese passengers passed through the immigration gate at Suvarnabhumi Airport Departure to return to China. The incident took over 2.30 hours to complete.
The investigating officer at Pathumwan Police Station is to quickly collect evidence in order to obtain approval for an arrest warrant for the accused on theft charges.
The Criminal Code 335 states that “whoever dishonestly takes away any property of another person or causes the other person to be the co-owner to be said to commit the theft by having two persons or more participate shall be punished with imprisonment of one to seven years and a fine of 20,000 to 140,000 Baht. The offender must also pay compensation for any damaged or lost property.”
“We will arrest and prosecute the two immediately if they return,” stated Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin.
The police officers and the AMLO officer take the stacks of money out of the bag that they seized in Tak Province on April 17, 2024.
BANGKOK – The operation “The Purge” of the cyber police resulted in the arrest of foreign nationals behind the hybrid fraud gang and the seizure of assets worth over 250 million baht (6.79 million USD). Among this amount was 80 million baht (2.17 million USD) in cash, which was nearly sent across the border to Myanmar.
On Wednesday, Minister of Digital Economy and Society Prasert Chantararuangthong, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) commissioner Pol. Lt. Gen.Worawat Watnakornbancha, and Mr. Akbar Akhtar, Head of Investigation, APAC, Binance, held a press conference on this operation at the Technology Crime Investigation Division headquarters in Muang Thong Thani.
Thai authorities show the cash of 80 million baht they seized in a press conference on this operation at the Technology Crime Investigation Division headquarters in Muang Thong Thani on April 17, 2024.
Scammers tricked victims into investing in cryptocurrency through fake platforms. Then, they instructed the victims to buy USDT currency and transfer it to a specific digital wallet address. Investigators traced the money to Mr. Su Shaoxian, a Chinese citizen, and his associates. They also discovered a network of Thai nominees used to hide transactions by purchasing real estate and other assets.
Authorities then launched “Trust No One” operations EP.1-5, searching over 72 locations across the country. They arrested three Chinese suspects and confiscated luxury condos, cars, brand-name goods, cash, and other evidence worth more than 1.9 billion baht (51.6 million USD). The case was forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office, which indicted all suspects.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) ordered the seizure and freeze of assets connected to the crime, totaling 15 items valued at approximately 600 million baht (16.3 million USD). A notice was issued for victims to file claims to get their money back, which could take over a year.
The cyber police continued their investigation and found victims in the Din Daeng police station area who were scammed using the same method. They identified the same group of scammers and obtained arrest warrants for 26 people. Search warrants were also obtained for four key targets. This led to “The Purge Operation”, which resulted in the arrest of four key suspects.
The suspects include two Thai nationals: Mr. Wasis, 31, arrested at the Chaengwattana Government Complex for laundering money through digital assets; and Ms. Sirapat, 25, the account owner, was arrested at the Mae Sot immigration checkpoint in Tak province.
The other two suspects are Mr. Dong Jian, a 45-year-old Chinese national and beneficiary, arrested at his residence in Chiang Mai; and Mr. Wei King Keck, a 41-year-old Singaporean national who hired nominees to open corporate accounts and manage assets, arrested in a parking lot in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province.
All suspects were charged with: Fraud by false pretenses, membership of a secret society, membership of a gang, entering false or misleading computer data into a computer system to the detriment of the public, participation in a transnational criminal organization and money laundering.
Mr. Wei King Keck, a 41-year-old Singaporean was arrested in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province.Mr. Dong Jian, a 45-year-old Chinese national and beneficiary, was arrested at his residence in Chiang Mai.
Authorities froze bank accounts and seized assets and digital accounts of the suspects and people involved in the case totaling around 252.5 million baht. Some of the money was on its way to a neighboring country, but officers set up a checkpoint and stopped a suspicious vehicle in Mae Ra Moe Subdistrict, Mae Sot District, Tak Province. They found 80 million baht in cash in four cloth bags and detained two people in the vehicle, a man and a woman, for questioning.
The authorities confiscated 80 million baht in cash and transported it by helicopter to display it at the press conference.
The two claimed they were hired to transport the money from Bang Pa In district in Ayutthaya province to Mae Sot district in Tak province before smuggling it out of the country through unofficial channels to Myawaddy. They were paid 5,000 baht. The authorities confiscated all the money and transported it by helicopter to display it at the press conference.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat said that based on their investigation of the entire financial trail, they believe the network had a turnover of up to 30 billion baht a year. The authorities will continue their investigation and expand the operation.
Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon join the press conference at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, on April 17, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Chalatip Roongbour)
BANGKOK – Christopher Luxon is the first New Zealand Prime Minister to pay an official visit to Thailand in 11 years. The visit also marks 68 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Thailand and almost 20 years of the Thailand-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership. They will become strategic partners in 2026
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin officially welcomed him at the Government House in Bangkok on April 17 before the two leaders have a bilateral meeting where they will discuss cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Following that, they witnessed the signing of agreements between the relevant agencies of the two countries in the wide range of bilateral cooperation on political, security, economic, cultural, educational, people-to-people connections, science and technology, and development issues.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, on April 17, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Chalatip Roongbour)
PM Srettha posted on X social media Wednesday afternoon, saying Thailand and New Zealand will sign an agreement to become strategic partners in 2026. That year will mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
At the same time, the two countries will boost their trade, with the goal of achieving 11 billion baht of annual trade by 2045, or a three-fold increase from the present.
New Zealand has also pledged to support Thailand’s applications to become a member of the OECD and the UN Human Rights Council.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his delegation welcome New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Chalatip Roongbour)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a joint statement by the two prime ministers on April 17, 2024, on the topics:
Thailand-New Zealand Strategic Partnership
Defence and Security
Economic Cooperation
Renewable energy and climate change
People-to-people links
Regional cooperation
Global developments
The two Prime Ministers also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the situation in Myanmar, Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and the South China Sea.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon witnessed the signing of agreements between the relevant agencies of the two countries in the wide range of bilateral cooperation at the government house on April 17, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Chalatip Roongbour)
On the situation in Myanmar, the Prime Ministers emphasised the importance of a peaceful, stable and unified Myanmar and affirmed their strong support for ASEAN-led efforts in line with the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and encouraged the international community to work together in a pragmatic and constructive way to support peace and stability in Myanmar.
The Prime Ministers expressed grave concern at the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and tragic loss of civilian life following the October 7 attacks. Prime Minister Luxon offered his condolences for the Thai migrant workers who lost their lives, and expressed sympathy for those that remain captive.
The Prime Ministers reaffirmed their calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for those in need in Gaza and also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Police officers at the Talad Phul Police Station take Mr.Yadav to be questioned on April 17, 2024.
BANGKOK – Police investigators sought an Indian man suspected of murdering a Thai woman in a Bangkok hotel before fleeing to Kanchanaburi Province in the western region bordering Myanmar. He was eventually arrested there.
Police officers from Talat Phlu Police Station, the Forensics Division officer, the forensic doctor from Siriraj Hospital, and volunteers from the Por Teck Tung Foundation received notification of the incident on the afternoon of April 16 and requested their participation in the investigation at a 5-story hotel near Talat Phlu Police Station.
The officers found the body of Ms. Sukanya, a 51-year-old Bangkok resident, inside the room on the second floor. The front and rear of her body sustained 31 stab wounds. The forensic authorities discovered the woman’s mobile phone nearby. The phone’s battery is running out. There was a blood-stained, sharp knife about a foot away.
CCTV footage shows an Indian suspect leaving a hotel after killing a Thai woman on April 16, 2024.Police officials inspected the room where the Thai woman’s body was discovered slain.
The officer questioned the 28-year-old receptionist, who stated that Ms. Sukanya arrived to open the room where she has resided with an Indian man since April 7. The Thai woman visited this room every morning and returned in the evening. The Indian man has a motorcycle with a Nakhon Pathom licence plate for going outside.
Before the incident occurred around midday, she heard individuals shouting loudly at the crime scene. So she called to that room, and it appeared that the man answered before hanging up twice. Then the argument stopped, and she assumed everything was well. Until 1 p.m., she noticed the man walking down from the second floor, claiming to be on the phone. He moved comfortably to the front of the alley.
Investigators identified the suspect’s name as Mr. Yadav, a 32-year-old Indian national. Since March 27, Thai authorities have compelled him to leave the country. It is believed that he returned to Thailand through a natural route. He leased a motorcycle in Tha Maka District, Kanchanaburi Province, and rode it to Bangkok to stay with Miss Sukanya, who secretly rented the room where the incident occurred.
Mr. Yadav was arrested in Kanchanaburi Province on April 16, 2024.
Miss Sukanya was a housewife. She married a man who works as a tile contractor. When she came out each day, she told her child that she was going to see her ailing grandma at a residence in the Chom Thong neighbourhood. In truth, she never went to Grandma’s place and instead met an Indian man.
Following the incident, Mr. Yadav hired a motorcycle rider in front of the Soi Wutthakat 14 gate to transport him to a van near the Pata Pinklao department store heading for Tha Maka District in Kanchanaburi province.
As a result, the investigating officers urged Pol. Maj. Gen. Nakarin Sukonthawit, chief of the Kanchanaburi Provincial Police Department, to help in the arrest of an Indian man accused of “killing another person,” as he was ready to leave the country at the Kanchanaburi border.
He originally admitted to killing Ms. Sukanya, with whom he had an affair, in rage over personal issues, but later denied it. He simply admitted that he was the person in the hotel’s CCTV video and did not know about the incident.
Mr. Yadav was interrogated at the Talad Phul Police Station at 4 p.m. on April 17, along with his lawyer and an Indian interpreter. According to the investigative team’s source, Yadav was seeking his 200,000 baht, which Miss Sukanya had borrowed.
FILE - Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi reviews an honor guard at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on April 30, 2019. Photo: Heng Sinith / AP File
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military government said. On Wednesday it also granted amnesty for over 3,000 prisoners to mark this week’s traditional New Year holiday.
Suu Kyi, 78, and Win Myint, the 72-year-old former president of her ousted government, were among the elderly and infirm prisoners moved from out of prison because of the severe heat, the military’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. General Zaw Min Tun, told foreign media representatives late Tuesday. The move has not yet been publicly announced in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi’s transfer comes as the army has been suffering a string of major defeats in its fight against pro-democracy resistance fighters and their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla forces. The nationwide conflict began after the army ousted the elected government in February 2021, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began suppressing nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.
FILE – A supporter shows a portrait of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest marking the two-year anniversary of the military takeover that ousted her government outside the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
Suu Kyi has been serving a 27-year prison term on a variety of criminal convictions in a specially-built wing of the main prison in the capital Naypyitaw, where Myanmar’s meteorological department said temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday afternoon. Win Myint was serving an eight-year prison sentence in Taungoo in Myanmar’s Bago region.
Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges were fabricated in an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power. The military had claimed that her National League for Democracy Party used widespread electoral fraud to win a landslide victory in the 2020 general election, an allegation independent observers found unconvincing.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent group that monitors casualties and arrests, more than 20,351 people arrested on political charges since the 2021 army takeover are still in detention, most of whom have not received criminal convictions.
Suu Kyi’s health has reportedly deteriorated in prison. In September last year, reports emerged that she was suffering from symptoms of low blood pressure including dizziness and loss of appetite, but had been denied treatment at qualified facilities outside the prison system.
FILE – Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi makes an early voting for upcoming Nov. 8 general election at Union Election Commission office in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Oct. 29, 2020. Photo: Aung Shine Oo / AP File
Those reports could not be independently confirmed, but her younger son Kim Aris said in interviews that he had heard that his mother has been extremely ill and has been suffering from gum problems and was unable to eat. Aris, who lives in England, urged that Myanmar’s military government be pressured to free his mother and other political prisoners.
News about Suu Kyi is tightly controlled by the military government, and even her lawyers are banned by a gag order from talking to the media about her cases. Her legal team has faced several hurdles, including being unable to meet with her to receive her instructions since they last saw her in person in December 2022.
Whether the latest move was meant to be temporary was not announced.
Spokesperson Zaw Min Tun did not say where the released prisoners were being moved to in his remarks to U.S.-government funded Voice of America and Britain’s BBC, but there was no indication it might be one of her own former homes. The lakeside house where Suu Kyi spent most of her years in house arrest is in legal limbo after a court-ordered auction in March failed to find a buyer.
In this Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, photo, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, left, Commander in Chief of Myanmar Defense Services reaches to shake hands with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Photo: Aung Shine Oo / AP
Before being sent to prison, Suu Kyi was reportedly held in a military safe house inside an army base.
Other prisoners were released for the Thingyan New Year holiday, state-run MRTV television announced Wednesday, but it wasn’t immediately clear if those released included pro-democracy activists and political prisoners who were detained for protesting army rule.
MRTV said that the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had pardoned 3,303 prisoners, including 28 foreigners who will be deported from Myanmar. He also reduced sentences for others. Mass amnesties on the holiday are not unusual in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s martyred independence hero Gen. Aung San, spent almost 15 years as a political prisoner under house arrest by previous military governments between 1989 and 2010. Her tough stand against military rule turned her into a symbol of the nonviolent struggle for democracy and won her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
Khlong Tan Police Station went to inspect a Chinese couple's home and questioned the housekeeper.
BANGKOK – A Chinese couple living in Bangkok violent quarrel. The wife used a kitchen knife to stab her husband in the chest before asking for help, she took her husband to the hospital but her husband died.
On April 17, Mrs. Tong jialin, age 39, was taken to court to hear the charges with kill someone unintentionally which she pleaded guilty. She earlier surrendered herself to the authorities on the day of the incident, April 16, saying she had used a knife to stab her husband.
According to the investigation, Mr. Huang Guiheng, 42 years old, Chinese nationality, had an argument with his wife, Mrs. Tong, due to jealousy, at the house in City Village, Soi Phatthanakan 38, Suan Luang District.
At that time, Mr. Huang was drunk and had a tendency to use violence. Mrs. Tong picked up a kitchen knife to protect herself and stabbed her husband once in the chest, causing him to be injured.
Mrs. Tong brought the knife to the police.
She immediately asked for help from the village security guard. The injured person was taken to Phetchavej Hospital, but he died later. Mrs. Tong and a friend went to record the incident at the police station. She also brought the knife to the police.
Meanwhile, Khlong Tan Police Station went to inspect the home of a Chinese couple. The housekeeper said she was hired by the Chinese couple to come clean once a week. During her arrival, she saw rescue workers taking the injured person to the hospital.
Vehicles sit abandoned in floodwater covering a major road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
DUBAI, UAE (AP) — The desert nation of the United Arab Emirates attempted to dry out Wednesday from the heaviest rain ever recorded there after a deluge flooded out Dubai International Airport, disrupting travel through the world’s busiest airfield for international travel.
The state-run WAM news agency called the rain Tuesday “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.” That’s before the discovery of crude oil in this energy-rich nation then part of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States.
Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, the rains were acute across the UAE. One reason may have been “cloud seeding,” in which small planes flown by the government go through clouds burning special salt flares. Those flares can increase precipitation.
This is a locator map for the Gulf Cooperation Council member states: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo)
Several reports quoted meteorologists at the National Center for Meteorology as saying they flew six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the rains. The center did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday, though flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed one aircraft affiliated with the UAE’s cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country Sunday.
The UAE, which heavily relies on energy-hungry desalination plants to provide water, conducts cloud seeding in part to increase its dwindling, limited groundwater.
The rains began late Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 20 millimeters (0.79 inches) of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport. The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimeters (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport, a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
At the airport, standing water lapped on taxiways as aircraft landed. Arrivals were halted Tuesday night, and passengers struggled to reach terminals through the floodwater covering surrounding roads.
One couple, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to speak freely in a country with strict laws that criminalize critical speech, called the situation at the airport “absolute carnage.”
“You cannot get a taxi. There’s people sleeping in the Metro station. There’s people sleeping in the airport,” the man said Wednesday.
Vehicles drive through heavy rain on the Sheikh Zayed Road highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
They ended up getting a taxi to near their home some 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, but floodwater on the road stopped them. A bystander helped them over a highway barrier with their carry-on luggage, the bottles of gin they picked up from duty-free clinking away.
Dubai International Airport acknowledged Wednesday morning that the flooding had left “limited transportation options” and affected flights as aircraft crews couldn’t reach the airfield.
“Recovery will take some time,” the airport said on the social platform X. “We thank you for your patience and understanding while we work through these challenges.”
Emirates said the airline had halted check-in for passengers departing from Dubai itself from 8 a.m. until midnight Wednesday as it tried to clear the airport of transit passengers — many of whom had been sleeping where they could in its cavernous terminals.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused,” the airline said on X. “Emirates is working hard to restore our scheduled operations.”
Passengers on FlyDubai, Emirates’ low-cost sister airline, also faced disruptions.
Men gesture as they try to tow a vehicle out of standing water in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
Paul Griffiths, the airport’s CEO, acknowledged continued issues with flooding Wednesday morning, saying every place an aircraft could be safely parked was taken. Some aircraft had been diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, the city-state’s second airfield.
“It remains an incredibly challenging time. In living memory, I don’t think anyone has ever seen conditions like it,” Griffiths told the state-owned talk radio station Dubai Eye. “We are in uncharted territory, but I can assure everyone we are working as hard as we possibly can to make sure our customers and staff are looked after.”
Schools across the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, largely shut ahead of the storm and government employees were largely working remotely if able. Many workers stayed home as well, though some ventured out, with the unfortunate stalling out their vehicles in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.
Authorities sent tanker trucks out into the streets and highways to pump away the water. Water poured into some homes, forcing people to bail out their houses.
The country’s hereditary rulers offered no overall damage or injury information for the nation, as some slept in their flooded vehicles Tuesday night. In Ras al-Khaimah, the country’s northernmost emirate, police said one 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater.
Fujairah, an emirate on the UAE’s eastern coast, saw the heaviest rainfall Tuesday with 145 millimeters (5.7 inches) falling there.
Authorities canceled school and the government instituted remote work again for Wednesday.
Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall, causing flooding.
Meanwhile in neighboring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 19 people were killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement Wednesday from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management. That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.
A member of the public filmed the incident and that VDO clip went viral on social media.
BANGKOK – Two Asian men who performed oral sex in public at the Songkran festival in Bangkok’s Soi Ratchadaphisek 4 have fled Thailand, according to police on April 16.
Pol. Col. Prasopchok Iampinij, superintendent of Huai Khwang Police Station, disclosed that he has directed an investigation after a member of the public filmed the incident and that VDO clip went viral on social media.
At the end of the video, a security guard intervened to prevent them from committing such an act behind the Joint Administration tent. As a result, police investigators went to the scene and asked the security guard for more information.
They discovered that the two were Korean men and sought them out with the intention of charging them under Section 388, which specifies that anyone who commits any disgraceful conduct in public by indecently exposing oneself or committing another indecent act shall be punished not more than 5,000 baht.
However, the Immigration Police confirmed that both of them had left Thailand after checking the evidence.
The Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024 was held at Sanam Luang, where participants could see the Grand Palace in the background.
BANGKOK – The Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024, which took place on Ratchadamnoen Avenue and Sanam Luang in Bangkok from April 11 to 15, 2024, exceeded the target number of participants by four times, according to Sudawan Wangsuphakitkoson on April 16.
She gave the details that the event attracted 784,883 visitors, including 693,288 Thai nationals and 91,595 international visitors. The event’s occupancy rate was 3.94 percent, generating economic activity of over 2.88 billion baht and increasing government tax revenue by 742 million baht.
Khon, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, performed during Sanam Luang’s Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024. (Office of Performing Arts, Fine Arts Department)
Ms. Thapanee Kiittipaiboon, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), also provided an overview of this event that 72.18 percent Thai visitors were from Bangkok, 22.28 percent from the surrounding provinces, and 5.54 percent from other provinces and the largest group of international visitors were Europeans, followed by Asians.
The main sources of information for the event were online media (62.88 percent), word of mouth (12.75 percent) and television (10.72 percent).
Surveys were also conducted on the satisfaction of tourists and suppliers. Thai tourist satisfaction was rated 4.2622 (highest level), with light, sound and atmosphere being the most satisfied. International tourist satisfaction was rated at 4.2485 (highest level), with facilities being the most satisfied.
Fan Bingbing, a leading Chinese actress, joined the spectacular Maha Songkran parades along Ratchadamnoen Avenue to Sanam Luang on April 11, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Somjit Jaichuen)
Shopkeeper satisfaction was rated 4.4557 (highest level) for stores within the event and 4.5357 (highest level) for stores outside the event. In addition, satisfaction with the parade was rated 4.2666 (highest level).
Sales at shops within the event totaled 9.33 million baht, with the soft power zone generating 1.9 million baht, the OTOP zone generating 7.29 million baht, food trucks generating 1.29 million baht, restaurants generating 640,476 baht, and the retro activity zone generating 101,160 baht.
It was estimated that over 500 small-scale vendors outside the event generated additional revenue, and that over 2,000 jobs were created and income was increased for those in the service industry.
Miss Antonia Porsild, Miss Universe 2023 first runner-up, dresses as Mahodhara Devi, the Songkran goddess of 2024, and leads the spectacular Maha Songkran parades along Ratchadamnoen Avenue to Sanam Luang on April 11, 2024. (Khaosod Photo/Somjit Jaichuen)
It was also found that 57.34 percent of participants were aware of the UNESCO-registered Songkran Festival in Thailand as an intangible cultural heritage and highly desired a repeat of the event.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, from January 1 to April 14, 2024, a total of 10,723,953 international tourists visited Thailand, generating tourism revenue of approximately 518 billion baht.
The top five countries of origin for international tourists were: China (2,031,552 people), Malaysia (1,391,057 people), Russia (695,624 people), South Korea (619,186 people), and India (546,935 people).
