After Manchester Attack, Ariana Grande Still Expected in Bangkok

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

25 May 2017, 11:43

A promotional poster of Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman Tour

BANGKOK — American pop singer Ariana Grande has not canceled her August show in Bangkok in the wake of the suicide bombing Monday that killed 22 people at a concert in Manchester, England, according to the local concert promoter.

Grande’s management team on Wednesday announced the 23-year-old singer had canceled Europe dates on her tour through June 5.

“Due to the tragic events in Manchester the Dangerous Woman tour with Ariana Grande has been suspended until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost,” her management company wrote in a statement. “The London O2 shows this week have been cancelled as well as all shows thru June 5 in Switzerland.”

A representative of BEC-Tero Entertainment said Thursday morning that the Aug. 17 concert at Bangkok’s Impact Arena had not been canceled.

L.A. Alt-Pop Trio ‘LANY’ Coming to Bangkok in August

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

25 May 2017, 10:56

BANGKOK — A Los Angeles-based alternative pop electronic trio is coming to perform in Bangkok.

Responsible for indie hits such as “Hot Lights,” “ILYSB” and “Walk Away,” LANY consists of Paul Klein, Les Priest and Jake Goss. They will perform in Bangkok for the first time in August, organizer Viji Corp announced on Thursday morning.

LANY was formed in 2014 and rose to fame through tracks they uploaded on SoundCloud. The band’s name is an acronym for ‘Los Angeles New York.’

Tickets will go on sale at 10am on June 2 at ThaiTicketMajor.com. The concert will take place at 8pm on Aug. 2 at DND Club on Ekkamai Soi 5/1, which can be reached from BTS Ekkamai.

Man. Utd. Beat Ajax 2-0 to Clinch Europa League Trophy

By

Associated Press

-

25 May 2017, 10:38

Manchester's Wayne Rooney holds the trophy after winning 2-0 during the soccer Europa League final between Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United on Wednesday at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: Michael Sohn / Associated Press

STOCKHOLM — A guttural roar of “Manchester, Manchester” thundered around the Friends Arena at the full-time whistle.

Purely in soccer terms, Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Ajax in the Europa League final on Wednesday was a triumph of huge significance for England’s biggest club.

On a wider level, it was also a moment to cheer for the team’s home city, grieving two thousand kilometers away.

Manchester was plunged into tragedy on Monday when 22 people were killed by a bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in the city center. United’s players were clearly moved by the events and flew to Sweden with heavy hearts, vowing to deliver a display in their biggest match of the season that would serve as a tribute to the victims and their families.

That they succeeded in doing so was a testament to their strength of character. It made this victory, in a largely forgettable match, one to remember.

“Yesterday morning, we were devastated,” said United midfielder Ander Herrera, dedicating the win to the victims. “But the manager told us the only thing we could do was to win this for them. That’s what we’ve done.

“It’s just a football game, just a trophy, but if we can support them with this just 1 percent, it’s enough for us.”

Paul Pogba scored off a deflected shot in the 18th minute – the France midfielder pointed to the sky during his celebrations – and Henrikh Mkhitaryan added a second goal in the 48th by deftly hooking home a close-range effort from a corner.

In tough circumstances, United handled the occasion better than an Ajax side featuring six players aged 21 or under and playing in the famous Dutch club’s first European final in 21 years.

“I haven’t seen the Ajax that I am used to,” Ajax coach Peter Bosz said. “They are not used to play a final. It was all new for them.”

For United coach Jose Mourinho, it was obvious that the victory was a huge weight off his shoulders, because of both the emotions of the last few days and the importance of the match. Mourinho was thrown up in the air by his coaching staff in the post-match celebrations, he rolled around on the ground with his son, and jumped up and down in frenzied fashion just before United captain Wayne Rooney lifted the trophy.

United’s season was always going to be defined by this game. In Mourinho’s first season at Old Trafford, he has guided the team to two trophies – the League Cup in February – and a place in next season’s Champions League, the bonus prize for winning the Europa League.

“Obviously there’s happiness from our achievement,” Mourinho said. “But if we could, we’d change the peoples’ lives for this cup. We wouldn’t think twice. Does this cup make the city of Manchester a little bit happier? Maybe.”

The planned pre-match one minute’s silence, in honor of the victims of the blast, rapidly turned into 60 seconds of applause, during which United’s fans chanted poignantly “Manchester, Manchester” for the first time. The two teams wore black armbands for the match in another mark of respect and both sets of fans came together in a show of unity, mingling happily outside the stadium and in the city center before the match.

It was billed as a clash between the efficiency of Mourinho’s United against the swagger and youthful exuberance of Ajax. United was the clear winner, the players imposing themselves as much through their physicality as their superior game management.

“It was the victory for pragmatism,” Mourinho said, “a victory of the humble people. People who respect their opponents and exploit their weaknesses.”

For Mourinho, that meant long balls to Marouane Fellaini, a regular attacking outlet because of his height and physical presence. It meant keeping a strong defensive shape and using the pace of Marcus Rashford on the break.

Pogba – the world’s most expensive player – stood out, dominating the midfield in the first half. His crucial goal had a huge element of fortune to it, though.

Fellaini laid the ball off to Pogba at the edge of the area, and the France midfielder allowed it to run across him before sending in a low left-footed shot that struck Davinson Sanchez’s outstretched leg, looped up, and span into the net past wrong-footed goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Mkhitaryan’s goal was much more easy on the eye. A right-wing corner was headed down by Chris Smalling, and Mkhitaryan reacted quickest with a very smart finish.

Pogba and Mkhitaryan were United’s big-money signings last offseason and have had inconsistent seasons. They delivered when it mattered most.

United had little trouble keeping Ajax at bay in the closing stages and the celebrations were euphoric after the match, with Pogba producing some dance moves in front of United’s jubilant fans.

It was United’s sixth European trophy and the only major piece of silverware missing from its collection.

“It means the last piece in the puzzle,” Mourinho said, “a club with every trophy in the world of football.”

Story: Steve Douglas

Double Suicide Bombing in Jakarta Kills 3, Injures 10

By

Associated Press

-

25 May 2017, 10:24

Police officers clear the area around the site of an explosion Wednesday night in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Dita Alangkara / Associated Press

JAKARTA — Two suspected suicide bombings near a bus terminal in Indonesia’s capital Wednesday night killed three policemen and injured ten other people, including five officers, police said.

National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said there were two explosions by two suicide bombers.

“I expressed my deep condolence, in fact three policemen were killed,” Wasisto said. “There were explosions and latest investigation found that there are two suicide bombers, all men.”

He added that ten other people – five policemen and five civilians – were wounded and were taken to several hospitals.

Earlier, Vice National Police Chief Syafruddin, who uses one name, said an initial investigation showed there were two explosions and a suspected suicide bomber had also died.

“Tonight, to Indonesian citizens and all of us who are here at the scene, I express very deep concern. There have been bomb explosions at the Kampung Melayu bus terminal and for now they are believed to have been a suicide bombing,” he said.

Syafruddin said the officers had been guarding a parade by a group of local people.

The explosion occurred in a parking lot next to the bus terminal in eastern Jakarta.

A bomb squad was investigating the explosion as heavily armed police and soldiers guarded the area.

TV channels showed people helping a victim lying on the ground, and three policemen carrying another victim away from the scene.

Police sources said an anti-terror squad had immediately raided two houses believed to be owned by the perpetrators in neighboring provinces of Banten and West Java, but the results have not yet been known.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, generally follows a moderate form of the faith.

The government has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since the 2002 Bali bombings by al-Qaida-affiliated radicals that killed 202 people. A new threat has emerged in the past several years from extremists who sympathize with the Islamic State group.

Story: Ali Kotarumalos

1 Dead, 4 Injured in Suicide Bombing in Jakarta

By

Associated Press

-

24 May 2017, 23:21

Police officers arrive on the scene after an explosion in May near a bus stop in the Kampung Melayu area of Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Achmad Ibrahim / Associated Press

JAKARTA — Police say a suspected suicide bomb blast near a bus terminal in Indonesia’s capital has killed a policeman and injured four other officers.

Vice National Police Chief Syafruddin, who uses one name, said an initial investigation showed that the suspected suicide bomber had also died in the blast.

The explosion occurred Wednesday evening in a parking lot next to the bus terminal in the Kampung Melayu area of eastern Jakarta. The injury toll was unclear, with broadcaster TV One reporting that two civilians including a female student had been wounded.

A police bomb squad was investigating the explosion.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, generally follows a moderate form of the faith.

Online Defamation Defendants Wait on Court Action

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

-

24 May 2017, 18:58

Andy Hall at the Bangkok South Criminal Court in August 2015. Photo: Andy Hall / Facebook

BANGKOK — A defendant in a defamation case was surprised to learn Wednesday that charges and convictions brought under the Computer Crime Act may be vacated, while a legal reform advocate said the improvements won’t end suppression of free speech.

One defendant said she did not know the revised law could no longer be misused to prosecute online defamation, and those critical of its abuse said conditions for free expression were unlikely to improve so long as defamation remained a criminal offense.

“The Computer Crime Act was just used to increase punishment,” said Anon Chawalawan of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue, an advocacy group that monitors legal cases. “So deleting that part does not guarantee there won’t be suppression of expression, as defamation still exists in the Penal Code.”

Read: 50,000 Defamation Suits May Be Dropped Wednesday

Anon acknowledged that progress was made by restoring the law to its original purpose as a tool to combat phishing and cyber scams after a decade of misuse to go after online speech. Online defamation under the original 2007 act carried harsher penalties than the version in the criminal code and mandated larger bonds to secure bail.

A prominent British advocate for migrant workers’ rights convicted and fined 150,000 baht last year under the Computer Crime Act said the consequences were deeply felt.

Andy Hall, who also received a suspended prison sentence for defaming Natural Fruit Co. Ltd. by contributing research used in a Finnish watchdog’s report, said he would not file a motion to vacate the conviction as his lawyer told him told him the courts would do so automatically if the revised law retroactively benefits defendants.

Regardless, Hall, who left Thailand under mounting legal pressure last year, said he will sue state prosecutors and law enforcement next week. He declined to specify the nature of his legal complaint.

“It already didn’t comply with global legal standards to treat the defamation as a crime,” Hall said Wednesday from Amsterdam.

Charged under both versions of defamation for sharing a Facebook post criticizing a military officer, Narissarawan Keawnopparat said she did hadn’t heard about the changes to the law and would wait to see what action the courts take.

“When it becomes a law, then it should be the duty of those who uphold the law to apply it,” she said Wednesday. “What would people who do not follow the news closely do if they don’t take responsibility for it?”

For Anon, the improvements made to the original act’s problematic Article 14(1) were offset by other changes broadening the law. The revised Article 14(2) punishes “false computer information” deemed harmful not only to national security, but also public safety, the economy and infrastructure.

Anon said it waits to be seen whether the vague article will become the new clause misused to prosecute whistleblowers.

“For example, if you post that the company violates worker rights. Will they interpret that it upset consumers and therefore damaged the economy?”

Taiwan Court Rules in Favor of Same Sex Marriage

By

Associated Press

-

24 May 2017, 17:03

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on Wednesday, making the island the first place in Asia to recognize gay unions.

The court said the current civil code that does not permit same-sex marriages was a violation of two articles of the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name.

It said that authorities must either enact or amend relevant laws within two years, failing which same-sex couples could have their marriages recognized by submitting a document.

Legislation enforcing the court’s ruling is already working its way through the legislature, where both the ruling and major opposition parties support legalization of same-sex marriage. Surveys show a majority of the public is also in favor, as is President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female leader.

Gays and lesbians in Taiwan have formed an effective lobby in recent years, with an annual Gay Pride march drawing tens of thousands. While some conservative religious and social groups have mobilized against same-sex marriage, their influence is much less potent than in the United States and many other parts of the world.

“The need, capability, willingness and longing, in both physical and psychological senses, for creating such permanent unions of intimate and exclusive nature are equally essential to homosexuals and heterosexuals, given the importance of the freedom of marriage to the sound development of personality and safeguarding of human dignity,” the court said in its ruling.

Two of the court’s 15 justices filed dissenting opinions and one recused himself in the case.

Despite the spread of same-sex marriage in a few regions since 2001, gay and lesbian couples had been allowed to marry in only 22 of the world’s nearly 200 countries. In Asia, Taiwan is the first government to legalize such unions, while South Africa is the only country in Africa to allow them. More than 70 countries continue to criminalize homosexual activity.

Globally, the pace of civil rights victories has slowed against the background of a steady stream of reports of anti-gay violence and persecution.

Recent weeks have witnessed large-scale detentions of gay men in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and accounts of roundups and torture of scores of gays in Chechnya. In Indonesia, a major police raid on a gay sauna was followed two days later by the public caning of two gay men.

Where’s Junta No. 2 Prawit? Govt Won’t Say

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

24 May 2017, 15:04

An undated file photo of deputy junta chairman Prawit Wongsuwan. Photo: Matichon

BANGKOK — The junta’s second-in-command hasn’t been seen in public for over a week now, and the government is mum on his whereabouts.

Questions about deputy junta chairman Prawit Wongsuwan grew sharper after the 71-year-old was nowhere to be seen in the aftermath of Monday’s bomb attack on an army-owned hospital. Gen. Prawit, whose oversight includes national security, is a frequent fixture in the media and usually among the first to weigh in on such matters.

“Where is Prawit? Where is he, actually?” a columnist asked Tuesday in Thai Post newspaper.

Prawit himself did not explain his absence. On Wednesday afternoon, after this story was published, he returned a phone call by this reporter.

Asked where he’d been, Prawit laughed, said “It’s nothing,” and ended the call.

Prawit also sent a message to another reporter Wednesday afternoon saying he’d “recovered” and would be back to work Thursday at the Government House.

Pressed on the matter at his regular Tuesday news conference, junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha suggested his second-in-command was ill, but said it was nothing serious and turned things back onto his interlocutors.

“It’s normal that he’s unwell. Are you well every day? When you’re 70, tell me if you’re well every day,” Gen. Prayuth said.

Gen. Prawit, who also serves as a deputy prime minister and defense minister, is a noticeable figure because he gives interviews to the media nearly every day on a variety of issues. His last public interview was May 16, when he talked about a pipe bomb that exploded in front of the National Theatre a day earlier.

Since then, instructions and comments attributed to Prawit have been communicated through his spokesmen and aides.

On social media rumors have swirled that he’s been hospitalized for heart surgery, but no official will confirm it. Even the spokesmen of the very agencies Prawit oversees deny knowledge of his whereabouts.

“I don’t know where he is,” junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree said.

Defense spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich likewise said he has no knowledge about Gen. Prawit, and went on to criticize speculation on the matter.

“We have seen groundless analyses based on the media’s imagination about this,” Maj Gen. Kongcheep said. “I believe society can see for itself the situation with media ethics.”

Pets Go Punk at Annual Expo Starting Thursday

By

Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter

-

24 May 2017, 13:34

BANGKOK — Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and many more humans’ besties will be gathered at an annual expo starting Thursday.

The Bangkok Pet Expo returns under the theme “Rock N’ Friends,” which means to expect fluffy animals led down a fashion show runway dressed in rock-themed costumes and other forms of petsploitation.

Apart from more than 200 shops to explore, there will be activities for pet owners and their best friends to join, from free medical check-ups to competitions.

Dog lovers can watch talent shows and contests and hear talks by vets and meet celeb pets Gluta and Gollum. Pitbull owners can gather for the launch of the Thai Pitbull Kennel Club and share advice on caring for the breed.

Feelin’ feline? Cat slaves can watch a fancy cat competition, and listen to talks on cat care, grooming and feng shui.

Rare rabbit breeds will welcome visitors such as the Belgian Hare and the English Lop. They’ll be joined by prairie dogs, chinchillas and degus.

Bird breeds will be compared with a contest between gouldian finches along with an exhibition of hawks, eagles and owls.

Snakes, bearded dragons, fennec foxes, tarantulas, iguanas, marmosets and beetles will be found in the exotic pet zone.

Admission is 20 baht per person, part of which will be donated to pet organizations. A schedule is available online.

Pets are free to roam free.

The event will be held 10am to 8pm from Thursday to Sunday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, which is located via exit No. 3 of the MRT station of the same name.

Churchgoers, Priest Taken Hostage in Philippines Besieged City

By

Associated Press

-

24 May 2017, 13:19

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech during departure ceremonies last November at Manila's International Airport, Philippines. Photo: Aaron Favila / Associated Press

MANILA — A Philippine Roman Catholic church leader says a priest and several churchgoers have been taken hostage from a cathedral by gunmen in a southern city.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and another church official said Wednesday that gunmen forced their way into a cathedral in Marawi city and seized the Rev. Chito Suganob and more than a dozen churchgoers and staff as fighting raged between government troops and Muslim militants.

Villegas says the gunmen have threatened to kill the hostages “if government forces unleashed against them are not recalled.”

Villegas asked Filipinos to pray for the captives and for the government to make their safety a primary concern.

Hot News

LATEST NEWS