R&B Rhye to Return to Bangkok

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

23 January 2018, 12:46

BANGKOK — The city’s live music renaissance keeps going strong as more international lineups queue to perform in Bangkok.

Following their performance at the 2015 Wonderfruit Festival, R&B Rhye will come back to Thailand to play “Open,” “Summer Days,” “The Fall” and more, promoter Have You Heard announced Tuesday morning.

The concert will take place at 7pm of May 23 at Voice Space. The Voice TV event hall is located on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road.

Advance tickets are 1,800 baht and go on sale online at 10am on Feb. 3. Tickets purchased at the door will be 2,000 baht.

Rhye, based in Los Angeles, was founded by Canadian singer Michael Milosh and Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal. Their first singles “The Fall” and “Open” featuring Milosh’s androgynous voice led to wide online praise.

Correction: An original version of this article described Rhye as a duo. In fact, founding member Robin Hannibal has already left the band.

Hong Kong Bookseller Detained Again by Chinese Authorities

By

Associated Press

-

23 January 2018, 10:31

Freed Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee stands next to a placard with picture of missing bookseller Gui Minhai, in front of his book store in 2016 in Hong Kong as the protesters are marching to the Chinese central government's liaison office. Photo: Kin Cheung / Associated Press

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong-based bookseller who was secretly detained in China has been taken away by Chinese authorities again after being released into house arrest last October, his daughter said Monday.

Angela Gui told Radio Sweden, the English-language service of national broadcaster Sveriges Radio, that her father, Gui Minhai, was on a train with two Swedish diplomats when a group of police officers seized him.

Gui, a Chinese-born Swedish national, ran a Hong Kong publishing company specializing in gossipy tales about high-level Chinese politics when he disappeared from his Thai holiday home about two years ago. He was believed to have been spirited away by Chinese security agents to mainland China, where he later turned up in police custody.

Four employees were also held, but they were released within months while Gui was not freed until October. Even then, his daughter told the station, he was put into a “police-managed flat” in the city of Ningbo, near Shanghai, and remained under surveillance.

The case reinforced rising fears that Beijing was eroding rule of law in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese city that is promised civil liberties like freedom of speech until 2047. The books the group sold at their Causeway Bay Bookshop were popular with visitors from mainland China, where such titles were banned.

Angela Gui said her father was traveling to Beijing to see a Swedish doctor after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological disease that he developed while in custody.

He had arranged the visit with the Swedish Embassy and had been on the train for about five hours when 10 police officers got on at a stop outside of Beijing.

They “said they were from the police and just grabbed him and just took him away,” she said.

“It’s quite clear that he has been abducted again and that he’s held somewhere in a secret location,” she said, adding that she was worried because of his health condition.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom later told Sveriges Radio that the Nordic country will summon the Chinese ambassador over Gui’s detention.

“The Swedish government has a thorough knowledge of what has happened,” Wallstrom said, adding that the Swedish foreign ministry is working on the issue “around the clock.”

Story: Kelvin Chan

S Korea’s Chung KO’s Djokovic at Aussie Open (Video)

By

Associated Press

-

22 January 2018, 18:51

MELBOURNE, Australia — Six-time champion Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open, beaten 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the fourth round by Hyeon Chung, a 21-year-old South Korean ranked 58th.

The point of the match came in the third-set tiebreaker when Chung hit a cross-court passing shot to put him within two points of victory. It ended minutes later when Djokovic hit a backhand wide.

Djokovic, who trailed the first set 4-1 but fought back to 5-5 before losing the tiebreaker, took a medical timeout to have his right arm massaged before the start of the second set.

He spent six months off the tour last year with a right elbow injury and said he waited until just before the tournament began to decide if he was fit enough to play.

Chung will now play another relatively unknown player in the quarterfinals — Tennys Sandgren, a 97th-ranked American who beat No. 5-seeded Dominic Thiem earlier Monday.

BTS Class-Action Suit Back on Track After Year Delay

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

-

22 January 2018, 18:21

Deputy Bangkok Gov. Amnuay Nimmano assists disabled right activist Manit Inpim to the platform of BTS Ratchadamri on March 3.

BANGKOK — A judicial committee settled a year-long challenge Monday over which court should hear a class-action suit filed by wheelchair users against City Hall for repeated delays in to making the BTS Skytrain accessible.

The seven-member committee – which included the presidents of the Supreme and Supreme Administrative courts – ruled Monday that the matter should fall under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court because it has to do with “dereliction of duty” on the part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, or BMA.

The decision came 10 months after the BMA challenged the lawsuit filed by disabled commuters and and activists, led by advocacy group Transportation for All, on the second anniversary of a landmark court ruling that gave the city one year to complete the work.

Listening to Monday’s decision, Sonthipong Mongkonsawat, the activist group’s pro-bono lawyer, said the BMA’s challenge was nothing short of a stalling tactic to defer paying damages as a result of the repeated delays in equipping all of the original BTS Skytrain stations with elevators as per a 2015 Supreme Administrative Court order.

“It has slowed down the suit. Stalling the lawsuit is a legal technique,” Sonthipong said Monday after the decision was announced. Sonthipong added that it doesn’t matter which court takes up the lawsuit, as he believes justice will eventually be delivered.

Sonthipong said he expects it to take about a year for the court to render a verdict in the class-action lawsuit, one of Thailand’s first such suits.

In May, the Civil Court – where the suit was first filed – insisted it had the authority to hear it, but the final disposition was not settled until today.

The suit seeks 1,000 baht in damage compensation for each plaintiff to join the lawsuit for each day since the court-ordered deadline for the work to be completed passed Jan. 21, 2016. It seeks four times that amount, or 4,000 baht, for every day of delay since they filed the suit on Jan. 21, plus 7.5 percent annual interest.

Nation Multimedia Taken Over By Far-Right News Corp

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

-

22 January 2018, 17:55

BANGKOK — An ultraconservative news agency said Sunday that it has acquired the media conglomerate behind Thailand’s No. 2 English-language newspaper to “rescue” it from insolvency.

A week after becoming the new owner of Nation Multimedia Group, Sontiyan Chuenruetainaidhama, founder of conservative outlets T News and INN News, said it had acquired the company to keep it afloat.

“If it’s the last thing I do in my life, I will rescue The Nation,” Sontiyan said in a statement published Sunday by T News. He did not return multiple calls seeking comment Monday.

Read: Thailand’s Devastating Year For Print Was a Wake-Up Call. Adapt or Die.

T News’ acquisition of Nation Multimedia Group; which consists of two digital TV stations, English-language The Nation newspaper, two Thai papers and a publishing house; caps a three-year effort that was opposed by some of Nation’s editorial team, who circulated a petition last year protesting the buyout.

The takeover was achieved through acquisition of a controlling stock interest by T News, INN News and Spring News, which are all part of News Network Corp. Public Co. Ltd. Sontiyan, who sat on the board of both News Network and Nation, resigned as director of News Network earlier this month.

Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) closed at 0.46 baht Monday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, where it has been sliding toward its lowest level since 2011. The media conglomerate has been in dire financial straits for years, downsizing its operations and staff to try and stem losses.

T News is ardently ultra-royalist and pro-junta on both the editorial page and its daily coverage. It has also developed a reputation for habitually reproducing news taken from other agencies without regard to copyright, for which it has been forced to apologize.

Sontiyan’s statement said nothing about changes to Nation’s editorial direction, but it was printed side-by-side with a biography touting his leadership role, alongside Suthep Thaugsuban, in 2014 street protests seeking to topple the government and suspend democratic rule.

Though The Nation has hewed to the right on the opinion page, which hailed the 2014 coup and ensuing military rule, its daily news coverage is more right-of-center and has taken issue with the controversial lese-majeste law.

The two brothers largely responsible for what The Nation is today – co-founder Suthichai Yoon and Thepchai Yong – won’t be around.

A call seeking comment was terminated by Thepchai, who Nation news has said will depart in April. Suthichai, an energetic and combative force on the opinion page and social media before his retirement was announced Jan. 12, could not be reached for comment.

According to one of Suthichai’s colleagues, the 71-year-old said he was proud of the newspaper’s standards and values at his Jan.12 farewell party.

“I hope after my retirement everyone here will carry on the Nation Way,” he said, according to a report by Kittipong Thavevong.

Which Way Ahead?

Sunida Kitiyakara, who helped cofound Nation Group in 1971 but departed years ago, was skeptical of Sontiyan’s claim to be rescuing what is one of the nation’s largest media conglomerates.

“I read that and laughed so hard. Who does he think he is? How is he going to save The Nation, by plugging the leaks with money?” Sunida said.

She said the new management would be wise not to change the way news is reported.

“If he’s smart, he shouldn’t change the way The Nation does things,” she said. “The Nation has its unique way of reporting, unlike the usual Thai style or the way T News does it.”

A former senior editor at The Nation, whose 2014 departure was said to be over its editorial direction – she says the reasons were personal – expressed concern at the change in leadership.

“The Nation used to have its strengths and used to be reliable. But in recent years, it’s taken too many political sides that raised questions about its quality,” said Nitthinand Yorsaengrat, who now writes a column for Matichon. Both Matichon and Khaosod English are part of the Matichon Group.

Nitthinand said The Nation newsroom was open to different perspectives.

“The Nation also gives its reporters lots of leeway. Even reporters who thought differently could do their work while having fun with it,” Nitthinand said. “But will things still be like that in the Sontiyan era?”

Several staff members at The Nation did not want to comment on the news.

Pratch Rujivanarom, a current Nation reporter, said nothing has changed as yet.

“We haven’t seen any big changes yet,” Pratch said. “Right now it’s still the same set of editorial staff. Next month we might see more changes, company-wise.”

Asked whether he thought its ideological stance would change, Pratch said he had “no idea, it’s up to the new management and their policies.”

Bangkok’s First ‘Manga Cafe’ Pays Tribute to Japanese Master (Photos)

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

22 January 2018, 16:26

Toru Sasaki, owner of Tezuka Shoten and Cafe, holds a copy of his favorite manga ‘Black Jack.’

BANGKOK — Geeks who love reading comics all day now have their own “third place” for doing so at the capital’s first manga cafe.

Opening on the second floor of Prawet district shopping mall, Tezuka Shoten and Cafe opened last month with hundreds of manga comic books which customers can spend their time reading.

Just one thing: All the comic books available are by late “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka, regarded as the Walt Disney of Japan.

Filling 400sqm, the cafe is ringed by shelves crowded with 500 comic books ranging from Osamu’s most famous – “Astro Boys,” “Black Jack” and “Phoenix” – to lesser-known titles such as “Don Dracula” and “Kimba the White Lion,” which predated and seemed creatively looted by Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Apart from finding physical copies on the shelves, manga readers can use their smartphones or laptops to log into Tezuka Spot, where more of the artist-author’s works are available for free in Japanese, Thai, English, Korean, Chinese, French and Spanish.

On the menu there’s sweet bun melon pan, soft-serve ice cream, mini fish-shaped taiyaki cakes, coffee and smoothies.

The cafe is owned by Japanese expat Toru Sasaki, an ardent Osamu fan. He is also the president of MJ Service, an event organizer and agency based in Bangkok.

“[Osamu’s] works are legendary,” Sasaki said via a translator. “Over a 40 year career, he could convey delicate feelings through his stories and characters. Each title gives love to his readers, especially children.”

Osamu is widely considered Japan’s most prominent manga artist of all time for his successful, pioneering and influential works in anime’s long-standing history – which just celebrated 100 years last year.

While manga cafes have been increasingly common in Japan – and have popped up in several Western cities – they’re still considered unpopular in Thailand.

“Ten years ago I partnered with Family Mart for a manga cafe in Bangkok, but it didn’t work out,” Sasaki said.

The cafe is currently operating on a one-year contract. It plans to expand services by adding anime films and games to achieve the full concept of a manga cafe.

An exhibition on Osamu’s life will take place at the spacious venue as well, cafe manager Sasipitcha Arawatworakul said.

Tezuka Shoten and Cafe sits inside Tokyu Department Store on the second floor of the Paradise Park Shopping Center on Srinagarindra Road. It’s open 10:30am to 9pm every day and can be reached by motorbike or taxi from BTS Udom Suk.

TSPOTCOLLAGE — Tezuka Spot on a smartphone screen through which users can read Osamu Tezuka’s comics.

S 10240024 — Black Jack Coffee, hot coffee with fictional character Black Jack on the milk foam.

Philippine Volcano Explodes, Authorities Raise Alert Level (Video)

By

Associated Press

-

22 January 2018, 14:22

MANILA — The Philippines’ most active volcano exploded thunderously Monday, sending a huge gray column of lava fragments, ash and steam into the sky and prompting authorities to warn that a violent eruption may be imminent.

The noontime explosion sent superheated lava, molten rocks and steam cascading down Mount Mayon’s slopes and shrouded nearby villages in darkness, said Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology and other officials.

Authorities raised the alert level to four on a scale of five, which means an explosive eruption is possible within hours or days. A danger zone around Mayon was expanded to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater.

“If the eruption is vertical, it’s possible pyroclastic flows or pyroclastic density currents may cascade down in all directions,” Solidum told a news conference, warning villagers and tourists not to venture into the no-go zones and airplanes to stay safely away from the crater and ash-laden winds.

More than 27,000 villagers have fled since Mayon started acting up more than a week ago.

Mayon is in coconut-growing Albay province, about 340 kilometers (210 miles) southeast of Manila. With its near-perfect cone, it is popular with climbers and tourists but has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years, sometimes violently.

In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings. Mayon’s first recorded eruption was in 1616 and the most destructive, in 1814, killed 1,200 people and buried the town of Cagsawa in volcanic mud.

The Philippines lies in the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a line of seismic faults surrounding the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the northern Philippines exploded in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people.

Trial in Kim Jong Nam’s Murder Resumes in Malaysia

By

Associated Press

-

22 January 2018, 13:48

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, second left, is escorted by police as she arrives for court hearing at Shah Alam court house Monday in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Photo: Sadiq Asyraf / Associated Press

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia — The trial of the two women accused of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader has resumed after a seven-week recess, with witnesses taking the stand to verify the authenticity of security camera footage showing the attack.

Prosecutors at the trial in Malaysia on Monday called three technicians working at the airport and airport hotel to explain how they extracted relevant images from the main computer server and copied them to discs. This was to enable the court to accept the footage as evidence.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Kim Jong Nam’s face in a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur last Feb. 13. They pleaded not guilty to murder charges when their trial began Oct. 2.

BKK – Khon Kaen Marchers to Sue Police

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

22 January 2018, 12:41

People Go activists face off with police in Pathum Thani province on Saturday

BANGKOK — Activists walking cross country for expanded civil rights said Monday they’re suing the national police force for unlawfully obstructing the beginning of their march.

Organizers of “Walk for Friends,” a group of about a dozen activists walking from Bangkok to Khon Kaen province, said they will file suit and seek an administrative court injunction barring police from all further “intimidation” against the demonstrators, a lawyer representing the group said. A police spokesman maintained the force has acted within the law.

The lawsuit will name three police commanders in northern metro Bangkok who allegedly ordered officers to block the marchers Saturday.

“We want the Royal Thai Police and those named in the lawsuit to stop restricting our freedom,” attorney Phattranit Yaodam said. “Secondly, we want the police command to order their officers in the field to aid the marchers and refrain from any intimidation throughout the route.”

The demonstrators, led by a network of activists called People Go, set out Saturday from Bangkok on a march to the northeastern province, a distance of 450 kilometers. The group said they aim to highlight demands for freedom of expression, universal healthcare, food security and community rights.

But on Saturday police in Pathum Thani province intercepted the marchers, citing a junta order that bans political gatherings of more than four people. The marchers responded by continuing the walk in the evening in groups of fours.

As of noon on Monday, the marchers had reached Saraburi province. Phattrani said police had not attempted to stop the walk so far today.

“Police have not directly negotiated with us, but there are undercover police following the demonstrators and taking their photos,” the lawyer said.

Police spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen said police are investigating whether the marchers intend to break the law by other means.

“What is their objective?” Col. Krissana said. “In my opinion, the way they walk and their intent look like they are trying to evade laws on public assembly and the order that bans gathering of five people.”

He also said police have adhered to the law.

“Police do not hinder activities as long as they are legal,” Krissana said. “I’d like to ask the organizers: This activity they are doing, is it in accordance with the scope of rights permitted by laws?”

Protests and public challenge to the junta’s rule remain banned under the regime, three years after the military seized power in 2014.

Previous legal challenges filed against the ban have failed. In October, a civil court ruled that activists were not eligible to receive compensation over a 2015 crackdown on their protest because security officers were acting legally.

Phattranit, the lawyer representing the Bangkok – Khon Kaen marchers, said she hopes today’s attempt will yield a different result.

“In that case, it was a lawsuit filed to the civil court for financial compensation, but we are suing in the administrative court,” she said.

Two Israelis Arrested at Airport Over ‘Mafia’ Hit on Samui

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

-

22 January 2018, 12:15

BANGKOK — Two Israeli men were arrested Monday morning at Don Mueang International Airport for what police say was a mafia-style hit on a compatriot the day before.

Police intercepted Dolev Zuarez, 23, Eyal Bokal, 25, Monday morning at one of the capital’s airports, where they were allegedly fleeing Koh Samui after murdering fellow Israeli Maor Israel Malul, 33, on the island.

Police said all three were members of Israeli organized crime.

“They were part of the mafia, so the killing was related to that,” police Col. Krissana Phattanacharoen said Monday. “Now they’ve been sent back to Surat Thani.”

Krissana said that police believe Zuarez and Bokal were planning to make their way back to Israel.

The pair were involved in violent crime several years ago in Israel, Krissana added, but were not known to have committed murder.

Malul was reportedly with his wife Rachel Ozana at about 2pm on Sunday near the Samui International Hospital on Cheng Mon-Chaweng Road in Bo Put District. In footage recorded from a security camera, a sports utility vehicle is seen striking him and someone else as they attempt to flee on a motorcycle.

Another man exited the vehicle and stabbed Malul, according to police. He died later at a hospital. Ozana was injured but survived.

Police identified the murderers as Zuarez and Bokal and started looking for them. The pair allegedly abandoned their car in front of Rajabhat University’s island campus.

“The men killed the victim over a mafia drug conflict,” police Gen. Weerachai Songmetta said Monday morning. “The dead had just been released from a prison sentence in Israel. All three men were mafia members in their home country. The victim came to vacation here, but the two men followed him to get revenge.”

Weerachai said police would continue investigating the Israeli mafia network in Thailand.

“We want to check whether Thais are involved, especially on Samui. This case doesn’t end here,” Weerachai said.

According to The Times of Israel, Malul was recently released from 20 months in Israeli prison for aggravated assault of a crime boss. Police believe Malul was part of a rival gang. His brother was shot and killed in 2015 outside his home in Israel.

Two other Israeli nationals at the scene, Meir Kriaf and Dana Kriaf, were also injured.

Krissana said Zuarez and Bokal face charges of premeditated murder.

Which Way Ahead?

Hot News

LATEST NEWS