Audrey Hepburn portrait taken by Douglas Kirkland in 1965 in Paris.
BANGKOK — See the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” star up close along with more than 100 iconic photos old and new from around the world in Bangkok starting Thursday.
Original prints and photos from 130 people who’ve been recognized by Lucie Awards during the past 14 years will go on permanent display at a Bangkok gallery of the annual event’s founder.
Representing a wide range of photography including documentary, fashion, sports and more, the collection includes candid black-and-white shots from Henri Cartier-Bresson, absurdist snaps by Elliott Erwitt and an Audrey Hepburn portrait by Douglas Kirkland, who rose to fame for his 1961 photos of Marilyn Monroe.
Other participating photographers include the satirical work of Melvin Sokolsky, photojournalism of Nick Ut and Sebastiao Salgado.
The collection will go on permanent display at House of Lucie on Soi Ekkamai 8. The gallery was opened in November by Hossein Farmani, founder of the Lucie Foundation and the Lucie Awards, which have been presented to photographers since 2003. He also owns Thong Lor’s Rooftop Gallery and venues in Los Angeles and New York.
The opening reception begins at 7pm on June 7. The gallery is open noon to 7pm, Monday through Friday.
Suthep Thaugsuban leads an anti-government street protest in a 2014 file photo.
BANGKOK — As Thailand moves closer to its first election since the 2014 coup – possibly as soon as next year – many wonder whether junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha will step down from his post or continue his tenure as premier, one way or another.
Under the new charter drafted at the junta’s behest, it is possible for Gen. Prayuth to continue serving as prime minister without standing in an election – whether or not a parliamentary majority nominates him – through a loophole written into the new junta-backed constitution.
That means of keeping Prayuth in power – through an emergency constitutional clause written into the new junta-backed charter – got its first vocal support Thursday from one of the retired general’s most ardent supporters.
“I want to tell all the politicians that the people want Gen. Prayuth to be prime minister!” radical conservative activist Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters Thursday. “And Gen. Prayuth does not have to set up his party, as long as some politicians and the Senate support him.”
That’s bad news for the leaders of both the Pheu Thai and the Democrat parties, who have already ruled out naming any “outsider” candidates. Under previous constitutions, that would have lowered Prayuth’s chance of being nominated to effectively zero.
But as Suthep pointed out, the emergency clause allows the Senate – whose entire membership will now be handpicked by the junta – to sway the vote and override any resistance from the elected members of the House.
In Section 272 of the voter-approved constitution, if a simple majority of the 500-seat lower house can’t agree on who should be prime minister, then a joint vote will be called with the upper house to decide who secures the top government seat.
That raises the number of votes from 500 to 750.
Instead of needing 251 votes to clear the parliament, the simple majority threshold rises to 376 with the infusion of 250 military-backed senators, who are likely to vote together as a block.
That means only 126 of the 500 democratically elected representatives – instead of 251 – would be needed by the unelected senate block to prevail.
Suthep, a former Democrat deputy prime minister turned activist, said he’s confident this will happen, citing his own experience as a veteran deal breaker.
“In the past, I used to manage the government and secure votes from many parties to set up governments,” Suthep said Thursday. “Today, I believe that politicians are aware that the people are concerned for their country.”
Amorn Wanichwiwatana, spokesman of the junta-appointed committee that drafted the charter, said the scenario is possible “at least in theory.”
“It means they won’t have to select someone in a box,” Amorn said by telephone. “They can select someone outside the box.”
Paving Way for Prayuth
Suthep, who commands wide support among Thailand’s pro-establishment camp, has spent recent weeks campaigning for the junta leader’s second term as premier. At this time, Gen. Prayuth’s tenure has already exceeded that of his elected predecessor, Yingluck Shinawatra, making him the longest-serving military prime minister since the Cold War. “Many of Gen. Prayuth’s opinions match the people’s,” Suthep said Thursday in a media interview. “I still want to see Gen. Prayuth serve his country for one more term as prime minister in the transition period.”
Pro-democracy activists have long accused Prayuth of intending to maintain his grip on power over a future civilian government, especially when the new constitution was written in such a way to legally enshrine his ability to do so.
Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha plays a traditional game with representatives of farmers at Government House Friday.
Alarms were raised again one week ago when Prayuth posed loaded questions during his weekly national address. He posed loaded hypotheticals about the importance of elections and what should be done if they fail to deliver good governance .
“Do you think the next election will lead to a government that practices good governance?” Prayuth asked before following with another question, “If not, what should we do?”
The questions prompted politicians opposed to the junta to lash out and accuse Prayuth of toying with the idea of delaying the election yet again, or even installing himself as the head of the next government.
“Apart from asking these loaded questions, Gen. Prayuth also sowed doubt about his own constitution and showed his addiction to absolute power by hoping that people will call on him to continue wielding absolute power for a long time,” former Pheu Thai minister Chaturon Chaisaeng wrote online Saturday.
But for a hardliner like Suthep, who is heeded by Thais who believe deep structural issues must be solved before democratic institutions can flourish, there’s nothing wrong with more years of Prayuth.
“Let me ask you, who else can I support? Who else can I trust to take care of Thailand?” the firebrand said in reply.
‘If the People Accept It …’
Among the first to disagree with that was the head of Suthep’s party and prime minister he once served as deputy.
Speaking Friday, former Democrat Party Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva urged caution against using the emergency provision to bring the Senate into the vote, lest senators tilt the balance of power.
“If they do that, the people may think we brought in the senators, who are appointed, to confront the elected majority,” Abhisit said, without calling out Suthep by name.
But Amorn, the constitution drafting committee spokesman, said the clause was written as a “solution” for any possible deadlock, and the Senate will only step in when the elected politicians fail to reach agreement with one another.
Asked whether he thinks the emergency clause will be activated right away in Thailand’s first election under the new charter, Amorn said, ominously, there’s always a chance.
“If you are asking me is it possible, is there a chance, then yes, there is,” the spokesman said. “It depends on who will be in the new government, and depends on whether the public accepts it. If the people accept it, there won’t be any problem.”
Police shared this photo of four hand grenades as they were found Friday inside an unclaimed package at a courier service center in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Four hand grenades packed in crumpled newspaper were found in an unclaimed parcel Friday afternoon at a courier service in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district.
The explosive devices were discovered in an unclaimed parcel at a Kerry Express store on Phahonyothin Road after it was returned undelivered from a store in Chonburi province.
EOD officers identified the four objects as M67 fragmentation grenades. The package, shipped by “Itsarapong Prombutr” and addressed to “Mac,” were returned to Bangkok on May 6 after no one claimed the package, Col. Amnat Intarasuan of Bang Khen police said.
Bangkok store employee Ratchaneekorn Rujiprat said the box had been there ever since.
Ratchaneekorn said the staff grew suspicious about the package due to its heavy weight and decided to open it today. They called police when they found the grenades inside.
Amnat said police are looking for Itsarapong for questioning.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves at parade participants in 2016 at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Photo: Wong Maye-E / Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — A U.S.-drafted resolution circulated to the U.N. Security Council would add 15 North Korean individuals and four entities linked to the country’s nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist.
The resolution would not impose any new sanctions over North Korea’s missile tests, something that China has opposed.
The final draft, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, is expected to be put to a vote Friday afternoon, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement.
The proposed resolution would impose a global travel ban and asset freeze on a range of North Koreans from the man believed to head overseas espionage operations and foreign intelligence collection to officials who control the media and key government and military appointments. The Vietnam representative of a bank and the heads of two companies would also face sanctions.
The draft would also freeze the assets of two trading companies, a bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People’s Army, which is in charge of all ballistic missile programs.
The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea, and the United States has been pushing for new and tougher measures. But China’s U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, made clear last week that Beijing’s top priority is to restart talks with North Korea following its multiple tests to try to reduce tensions, rather than impose new sanctions.
The draft resolution doesn’t call for any new sanctions, but it would add significantly to the U.N. blacklist of individuals and entities with links to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. That list currently names 39 individuals and 42 entities and groups subject to sanctions.
One diplomat said all five permanent veto-wielding members — the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France — had agreed to the proposed additions.
The first individual on the proposed new blacklist is Cho Il U, believed to be the overseas espionage and intelligence chief who is identified as the director of the Fifth Bureau of the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
Another key figure on the list is Kim Chol Nam, president of Korea Kumsan Trading Co., which procures supplies for North Korea’s atomic energy department and serves as “a cash route” to North Korea. The company would also be added to the sanctions list.
Others facing possible sanctions include:
—Kim Tong-Ho, Vietnam representative for Tanchon Commercial Bank, which is North Korea’s main “financial entity for weapons and missile-related sales.”
—Pak Han Se, vice chairman of the government committee that oversees ballistic missile production and directs activities of Korea Mining Development Corp., the country’s “premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.”
—Ri Yong Mu, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, which directs and guide all military, defense and security-related affairs in the country, “including acquisitions and procurement.”
The draft resolution expresses “serious concern” that North Korea continues to violate U.N. resolutions with repeated launches and attempted launches of ballistic missiles, noting that these tests contribute to development of its nuclear weapons delivery systems.
It expresses “gravest concern” that the North’s nuclear and missile activities are generating “increased tension in the region and beyond” and continue to threaten international peace and security.
The proposed resolution would condemn North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic activities “in the strongest terms” and reaffirm the Security Council’s demand that Pyongyang abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and halt all nuclear and missile tests.
It would also reiterate the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia, express the council’s commitment “to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation,” and welcome efforts “to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive situation through dialogue.”
Rescue workers use a backhoe to dig through concrete poured over a body disposed of at Wat Wang Tawantok in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT — Under the shade of a stand of trees and beneath a Buddha statue, rescue workers Friday morning dug up the body of a novice monk killed and buried there five months ago.
The search was launched a day after Denchai Phumniyom, who had been a monk at the temple, told police that back in January he killed a 17-year-old novice monk and buried him on the temple grounds, poured concrete over the grave and then placed the buddha statue atop it all to conceal the deed.
At the time, Denchai, 36, was a lay assistant who helped manage the affairs of Wat Wang Tawantok in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
Rescue workers use backhoe truck to dig under the concrete ground inside the temple.
Police said Denchai and his girlfriend, Piyachat Arunsakul, managed temple revenues from such things as amulet sales and renting out spaces in its parking lot.
“Everything in the temple relied on this couple,” said Police Lt. Gen. Thesa Siriwatho said at a Friday press briefing. “Everyone was under their control.”
Brought to speak publicly today, Denchai said he attacked Suppachoke “Pleum” Eakkiettikul because he believed the novice stole his girlfriend’s purse, which was carrying temple assets including 50,000 baht in cash, a valuable gold necklace and gold-covered Buddha amulet.
“I didn’t kill him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson and force him to return the stuff he stole,” Denchai said. “I beat him with a PVC pipe, but then he ran to get a knife and tried to fight me.”
After beating the boy senseless, Denchai said he loaded him onto a truck. He intended to took him to hospital, but the boy died along the way. So he returned to the temple with Pleum’s body to bury there.
Denchai said he decided to become a monk at the same temple because he felt guilty.
Denchai Phumniyom and Suriya Kusolsook are taken to point the spot where he assaulted and buried a novice monk Pleum Friday at the temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
The teen was reported missing back in January, but police said they only got a break on the case recently that led them to Denchai.
Workers pulled a boy’s body this morning from the bottom of the meter-deep hole beneath the Buddha. The authorities haven’t confirmed yet that was that of Pleum, whose full name was withheld.
Police said Denchai faces charges of manslaughter and concealing a body. They’re also weighing charges against another novice monk, 18-year-old Suriya Kusolsook, who has admitted to participating in the attack, and Denchai’s girlfriend – who has denied involvement.
Both Denchai and Suriya were taken to the temple this morning for a police “re-enactment.”
The concrete ground of Wat Wang Tawantok in Nakhon Si Thammarat province before rescue workers dig and found a human body underneath Friday
Somsak Yaluemdee feeds stray kittens in a photo posted April 5. Photo: Cat Lover Uncle Black / Facebook
BANGKOK — The story of a homeless man who got to work selling limes to feed the cats he shared the streets with touched so many people that as of Friday he was no longer living under a bridge.
Since early April, when photos of Somsak Yaluemdee begging for money to feed the kitties went viral, the man who lived under a bridge at Lat Phrao intersection unknowingly developed a following online.
“It doesn’t matter if I starve, only that the cats are full. I love cats,” read one sign he held up in a photo the page posted May 19.
Soon a well-wisher had set up a Facebook page, “Cat Lover Uncle Black,” to follow his daily activities. Things grew from there as netizens rushed in to help. Soon Somsak had a haircut. By Wednesday, Somsak had a place to stay and was selling bags of limes people donated to him for 20 baht near BTS Mo Chit.
BANGKOK — See a legendary masked hero engage in epic sword fights, Bolshevik workers rise up at a Kiev munitions factory and working-class love blossom on London’s Underground, all in Bangkok next week.
Take a break from CG explosions and revisit a time the range of human emotion came without color or sound at the Silent Film Festival, which will feature nine films at two indie cinemas for a week.
The event opens at Scala Theatre with Fritz Lang’s masterpiece “Destiny.” The 1921 German fantasy follows a woman who confronts Death to save her lover.
The other films include a version of German classic “Faust” directed by F. W. Murnau (“Nosferatu”), 1940 swashbuckler “The Mask of Zorro,” early-Soviet era film “Arsenal” and British classic drama “Underground.”
Capturing the original spirit, three films will be accompanied by Benshi performed by Ichiro Kataoka for three of the films – short film “Our Pet,” black-and-white samurai flick “Chushingura: The Truth” and Harold Lloyd’s “The Freshman.”
Ichiro Kataoka performing Benshi. Photo: Thai Film Archive / Courtesy
All screenings will be accompanied by live music played alternately by English composer Neil Brand, composer-songwriter Gandhi Wasuwitchayakit, pianists Atumi Kamiya and Christopher Janwong McKiggan.
The full schedule is available online. Subtitles for dialogue intertitles will be included in Thai and English.
The event, organized by the Thai Film Archive, Goethe-Institut and Japan Foundation, runs Thursday through June 14 at Siam Square’s Lido Multiplex and Scala Theatre. Tickets are 120 baht for all shows.
This screenshot shows a tweet from President Donald Trump which has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term “covfefe.” Image: Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Maine — President Donald Trump’s mysterious tweeted typo covfefe is coming soon to a license plate near you.
The Maine Department of Motor Vehicles confirms someone claimed COVFEFE for a personalized license plate just hours after the Republican president’s now-infamous tweet at 12:06 a.m. Wednesday. Local media report it’s also happening in other states, including Nebraska and North Carolina.
The word took social media by storm after the president tweeted about “constant negative press covfefe.” Trump later poked fun at it, saying, “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!”
Whoever claimed the Maine plate remains just as much a mystery as the word itself.
Twitter user Joe Blanchette tweeted a photo suggesting he was the lucky motorist. But he says he balked at the last minute out of fear of “plate regret.”
Former SS sergeant Reinhold Hanning who served as a guard at Auschwitz sits in the courtroom in 2016 in Detmold, Germany. Photo: Bernd Thissen / Associated Press
BERLIN — Reinhold Hanning, a former SS sergeant whose conviction last year on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving as an Auschwitz guard was hailed as a long-overdue victory for Holocaust victims, has died. He was 95.
Hanning died on Tuesday, his attorney Andreas Scharmer told The Associated Press on Thursday without providing further details.
Hanning was convicted last June in Detmold state court in northwestern Germany and sentenced to five years in prison, though he never served time behind bars as his case was still being appealed.
Unlike most other death camp guards who have been brought to trial, Hanning apologized for his wartime service in Auschwitz from January 1942 to June 1944, telling Holocaust survivors from around the world who attended the proceedings that “it disturbs me deeply” to have been a part of the Nazis’ genocidal machinery.
“I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it, and I apologize for my actions,” he said, speaking with a weak voice into a microphone while sitting in a wheelchair. “I am very, very sorry.”
Hanning joined the Hitler Youth with his class in 1935 at age 13, then volunteered at 18 for the Waffen SS at the urging of his stepmother. He fought in several battles in World War II before being hit by grenade splinters in his head and leg during close combat in Kiev in 1941.
Following the injury, his commander decided he was no longer fit for front-line duty and assigned him to Auschwitz.
In a statement to the court, Hanning said he didn’t know what Auschwitz was at the time but quickly found out.
“People were shot, gassed and burned. I could see how corpses were taken back and forth or moved out,” he said. “I could smell the burning bodies; I knew corpses were being burned.”
Nearly 1 million Jews and tens of thousands of others were killed in Auschwitz, which was located in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Though his own duties were not directly linked to the killings, with him being initially assigned to register patrols and work details and later posted to a guard tower, he was tried under new legal reasoning in Germany that anyone who helped a death camp function can be held culpable as an accessory to murder.
That argument was first successfully used in 2011 in Munich to convict former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk on allegations he served as a Sobibor death camp guard. Although Demjanjuk denied serving at the death camp and died before his appeal could be heard, it opened a wave of new investigations by the special prosecutor’s office in Ludwigsburg responsible for Nazi war crime probes, including that of Hanning.
The argument was also used in the 2015 conviction of former Auschwitz guard Oskar Groening, whose appeal was rejected last year by a top court, firmly establishing the precedent. Authorities have said Groening is in good enough health to serve his sentence, but the process of finding him a place in a geriatric prison is ongoing.
Efraim Zuroff, head Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, lamented the fact that so far none of the recently convicted men have gone to prison and urged Germany to speed up the process.
“The trials are important, and the significance doesn’t hinge solely on punishment, but if punishment is never a component it does weaken the message,” he said.
At his trial, Hanning told the court he had never spoken about his wartime service, even to his family, but wanted to use the public forum to set the record straight.
“I’ve tried my whole life to forget about this time,” he said. “Auschwitz was a nightmare.”
Shuttle between Suvarnabhumi Airport to Khaosan Road runs for the first time Thursday. Photo: Matichon
BANGKOK — The first new shuttle hit the road between Suvarnabhumi Airport and the backpacker mecca of Khaosan Road on Thursday, to the rejoicing of many.
The new S1 bus route launched shortly after the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, or BMTA, added two new money-saving routes from Don Mueang (DMK) Airport for those who can’t afford – or just don’t want to – take an airport cab.
That makes for six shuttles and other services serving travelers.
So to celebrate more transportation choices (and relieve some confusion), here’s a breakdown of the services now available for reaching Bangkok’s two airports, from air-conditioned public shuttles and express “limo” buses to inter-airport transfers.
Air-Conditioned Public Shuttles
There are now five routes between various points in town and the two airports. Run by BMTA, the routes operate on orange, 35-seat buses. They will look familiar to residents as the same buses are used along other routes. The biggest pro is the very affordable price, while the many stops made along the way may be a deal-breaker for impatient travelers.
Here are all five routes, with the routes shown on interactive maps thanks to Bangkok City Bus Guide.
Pick-up: Gate 6, Terminal 1, first floor and Gate 12, Terminal 2,first floor
Stops: Wat Ratchanatdaram, Wat Bowonniwet, Khaosan Road on the Wat Chana Songkhram side, Sanam Luang
First and last trip: 7am to 11pm
Fare: 50 baht
Frequency: every 30 minutes between 7am to 7pm, hourly 7pm to 11pm
The A1 airport shuttle at Don Mueang Airport. Photo: Don Mueang Airport Thai
Airport Limo Bus Express
Photo: Airport Limo Bus Express
Presenting itself as the more reliable option, this bus beats the public shuttle by offering Wi-Fi on board and anonline booking service. The service is supported by the Airports of Thailand Co. Ltd. The 33-seat bus currently only departs from Don Mueang Airport. It is three times the expense if the public bus but stops less often.
Khaosan Route
Pick-up: Gates 6-8, first floor of Terminal 1 and Gate 14, first floor of Terminal 2
Drop-off: Khaosan Road
First and last trip: 9.30am to 12:30am
Fare: 150 baht
Frequency: every 30 minutes
Silom Route
Pick-up: Gate 6-8, first floor of Terminal 1 and Gate 14, first floor of Terminal 2
Drop- off: MRT Si Lom, BTS Ratchadamri, BTS Phloen Chit and Pratunam
First and Last Trip: 9:30am to 12:30am
Fare: 150 baht
Frequency: every 30 minutes
Shuttle between Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) – Don Mueang Airport (DMK)
For those who need to connect the flights between two airports, a free air-conditioned shuttle bus is available free of charge. More information can be found online.
Photo: Don Mueang Airport
From Don Mueang Airport: Gate 5, first floor of Terminal 1 and Gate 14, first floor of Terminal 2
From Suvarnabhumi Airport: Gate 3, second floor of Passenger Terminal
First and last trip: 5am until midnight
Fare: free of charge, flight booking evidence required
Frequency: every 30 minutes, every 12 minutes during rush hours of 8am-11am and 4pm-7pm
