Soap Star’s Husband Investigated for Laundering Drug Money

By

-

2 February 2017, 14:06

Akarakit 'Benz' Worarojcharoendet in an image posted to Instagram in December.

BANGKOK — The owner of a moto racing business who gained fame recently for marrying a popular actress has been linked by narcotics investigators to a notorious drug kingpin from Laos.

After the dramatic airport arrest of Xaysana Keopimpha late last month, a Narcotics Suppression Bureau investigation into his local connections led them to name as a person of interest Thursday morning the owner of an after-market accessories shop known as “Benz Racing.”

Akarakit “Benz” Worarojcharoendet, 29, moved from the limelight for his marriage to television drama star Napapa “Patt” Tantrakul and into the spotlight today for accusations he was involved in laundering money for the Laotian drug lord.

Read: Laotian ‘Drug Kingpin’ Arrested at Bangkok Airport

The Narcotics Suppression Bureau announced this morning it had searched the racer’s Area 51 shop located in Soi Inthamara 51 in the Din Daeng district for his 20 million baht Lamborghini. They said they were tipped the car was one of the hundreds of luxury cars bought with Xaysana’s dirty money.

Akarakit reportedly departed Wednesday night with the Lamborghini and wasn’t present when officers arrived to conduct the search. His very pregnant wife, who is days away from giving birth, said she is unable to contact him and does not know his whereabouts.

พรุ่งนี้วันหยุด พาแม่หมูกับลูกหมูมาดูหนัง XXX

A post shared by Akarakit Worarojcharoendet (@benzracing) on Jan 27, 2017 at 10:18am PST

หม่ำๆๆ

A post shared by Akarakit Worarojcharoendet (@benzracing) on Jan 16, 2017 at 7:41am PST

‘11% Chance’ of 2017 Thai Coup? Unlikely, Defense Ministry Says

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

2 February 2017, 13:14

Soldiers posted outside an army auditorium where civilians were being brought in for ‘attitude adjustment’ one day after the coup on May 23, 2014, in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — A Defense Ministry spokesman said the public should not be concerned by an analysis published in a major U.S. newspaper that put Thailand near the top of a list of countries at risk of a coup this year.

While the Washington Post report, written by a data-based risk assessment firm, suggests an 11-percent chance for a coup attempt this year in Thailand, the defense official said it doesn’t mean another military takeover is likely – as long as the conditions aren’t “ripe” for one.

“If you look at it in reverse, there’s 89-percent chance of a coup not taking place,” Maj. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich said by telephone. “So what’s there to be alarmed about?”

Thailand has seen a dozen successful coups. The Washington Post analysis, written by a data scientist and head of a global risk-assessment consultant, listed the 30 countries most likely to experience coup attempts based a model that factored in relative stability and histories of coups.

“Thailand has been under martial law, with strong restrictions on civil liberties, since the 2014 coup,” it reads. “The country approved a new constitution in 2016 and scheduled elections for 2017 — but, as some researchers point out, elections often increase the risk of further coup attempts.”

The report also gives the United States under President Donald Trump a 2 percent chance of seeing a coup.

Even with the data available, Khongcheep said it was premature to panic.

“If the figure [of a possible coup] is 60 or 70 percent, then you can get alarmed about it,” he said.

The prediction said Thailand was the second most likely country to see an attempted coup this year after Burundi, where there’s a 12-percent chance of a military takeover. Thailand is followed by the Central African Republic, Chad, Turkey and Syria.

The report’s prediction that such instability could follow new elections would likely push its time-frame into 2018, as the junta’s elections promised for this year are widely expected to be pushed back due to the death of and year-long funerary rites for His Majesty the Late King.

The study was not without flaws, such as an assertion martial law was still in effect.

“Thailand has been under martial law, with strong restrictions on civil liberties, since the 2014 coup,” the report said. “The country approved a new constitution in 2016 and scheduled elections for 2017 – but, as some researchers point out, elections often increase the risk of further coup attempts.”

Asked about the prediction, Maj. Gen. Kongcheep said the likelihood of a coup doesn’t only depend on the military, but on other factors, such as the government at the time and popular opinion.

“A coup needs ripe conditions in the society,” the spokesman said. “If the government works for the interest of the public and the nation, let me ask you, will there be ripe conditions for a coup?”

He said “no one is stupid enough,” in his opinion, to attempt one without those conditions in place.

Thailand’s latest coup took place in May 2014, when generals seized power amid street protests for and against the civilian government at the time. They installed themselves as the National Council for Peace and Order with junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha at its head. Prayuth said the intervention was necessary to prevent further bloodshed and bring reform to the country.

Graphic: PredictiveHeuristics.com

Photographer at Khmer Rouge Torture Center Enters Politics

By

Associated Press

-

2 February 2017, 12:45

Nhem En, former chief photographer at a torture center run by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, poses for photo with dozens photographs of former prisoners in a room at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in 2007 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Heng Sinith / Associated Press

PHNOM PENH — A former Khmer Rouge member who was chief photographer at a prison where about 20,000 people were tortured before being executed says he is forming a political party to contest Cambodia’s 2018 general election.

Nhem En, 57, said Wednesday he is establishing the Khmer Family Party after concluding that leaders of Cambodia’s ruling and opposition parties are not sincerely working for the benefit of the people and nation.

An estimated 1.7 million people died from torture, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care under the Khmer Rouge’s rule of the country in 1975-79.

Nhem En took haunting portraits of prisoners at Tuol Sleng prison and his images are now displayed at the site, which has been turned into a genocide museum.

He served as deputy district governor in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng after the communists laid down their arms in the late 1990s, but he resigned in 2005 and for a time joined the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. Many former Khmer Rouge members joined the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Critics says Nhem En tried to profit on his notoriety by offering to sell the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot’s sandals and toilet seat, and by opening his own Khmer Rouge genocide ‘museum’ in Anlong Veng.

Nhem En said he doesn’t regard other political parties as adversaries.

“It doesn’t matter whether my party wins the general election in 2018 or not, but at least my name and party will be remembered by the voters,” he said.

The late Ieng Sary, who was the Khmer Rouge’s foreign minister, had set up another political party in 1996, but it did not contest the 1998 election and faded into oblivion.

Story: Sophen Cheang

UK Lawmakers Back Bill to Trigger EU Exit Talks

By

Associated Press

-

2 February 2017, 12:39

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, to attend Prime Minister's Questions in 2017 at the Houses of Parliament. Photo: Matt Dunham / Associated Press

LONDON — Britain moved closer to leaving the European Union Wednesday as lawmakers backed a bill authorizing divorce proceedings and kept alive the government’s plan to trigger Brexit talks within weeks.

The House of Commons decisively backed the bill by 498 votes to 114, sending it on for committee scrutiny. The result was a victory for the Conservative government, which had fought in court to avert the vote out of fear Parliament would impede its Brexit plans.

Lawmakers also defeated a “wrecking amendment” proposed by the Scottish National Party that sought to delay Britain’s exit talks with the EU because the British government has not disclosed detailed plans for its negotiations.

During two days of debate in the House of Commons, many legislators – Euroskeptic and Europhile alike – said they would back the bill out of respect for voters’ June 23 decision to leave the EU.

But opposition parties will try to insert more amendments during the next stages of the parliamentary process. They are seeking to prevent an economy-shocking “hard Brexit,” in which Britain loses full access to the EU’s single market and faces restrictions or tariffs on trade.

After committee consideration, the bill is due to return to the House of Commons for a final vote next week before moving on to Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords.

The government was forced to introduce the legislation after a Supreme Court ruling last week torpedoed Prime Minister Theresa May’s effort to start the process of leaving the 28-nation bloc without a parliamentary vote.

The government wants to have the bill approved by early March so it can meet a self-imposed March 31 deadline for triggering the EU divorce talks.

Scores of lawmakers spoke during more than 16 hours of debate over two days. Those who backed the winning “leave” side in the referendum said they would vote proudly to start the exit process.

Others, who voted to remain in the EU, said they would respect the will of the people despite their own reservations.

Former Treasury chief George Osborne, a pro-EU Conservative, said “to vote against the majority verdict of the largest democratic exercise in British history” would set Parliament against the people and “provoke a deep constitutional crisis in our country.”

Still others said they would oppose the start of withdrawal negotiations, accusing the government of rushing Britain toward the EU exit door with little idea of what is on the other side.

The government says it will publish a White Paper outlining its strategy for withdrawal on Thursday, but it’s unclear how many new details it will contain.

“Voting for departure is not the same as voting for a destination,” said Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who called on the government to guarantee a second referendum to approve a final deal with the bloc.

Scottish National Party lawmaker Angus MacNeil said that in acting to trigger Brexit, “the House of Commons has taken leave of its senses.”

“It’s crossing its fingers and hoping for the best,” he said.

The U.K.’s largest opposition party, Labour, told its lawmakers to back the bill, but said it plans to try to amend it later to avert the so-called “hard Brexit.”

However, 47 of the 229 Labour lawmakers defied party leader Jeremy Corbyn and voted against the bill.

“I do not believe that the Brexit course we are now set on will make Britain a more prosperous, fairer, more equal, tolerant country,” said Owen Smith, one of the Labour rebels. “I believe, by contrast, that it will make our politics meaner, and it will make our country poorer.”

Meanwhile, Britain’s former top diplomat to the EU warned Wednesday that disentangling the U.K. from the bloc will be a long and arduous process.

Ivan Rogers, who resigned in January after telling the government that a deal could take a decade, told Parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee that Brexit will involve negotiations “on a humongous scale.”

Rogers said consensus among the other EU nations was that a new free trade deal between Britain and the bloc would take until the early 2020s to be ratified.

One major wrangle is likely to be over how much Britain will have to pay the EU to leave. Rogers said EU officials currently put the figure at 40 billion to 60 billion euros (USD $37 billion to USD $56 billion).

Story: Jill Lawless

Clashes as Romanians Protest Law Decriminalizing Official Misconduct

By

Associated Press

-

2 February 2017, 12:19

Romanian riot police protect the government building from crowds before minor clashes erupted during a protest Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania. Photo: Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania — Protesters and riot police clashed sporadically in Romania’s capital late Wednesday as tens of thousands demonstrated against the government for decriminalizing some official misconduct, a move that critics at home and abroad called a major a setback for the anti-corruption fight.

A handful of protesters threw firecrackers and smoke bombs at police guarding the main government offices, who responded with tear gas. At least one person was detained and a newspaper kiosk was set on fire. Media reported that the violent protesters were football supporters and not anti-government demonstrators.

Emergency situations official Raed Arafat said two police officers and two demonstrators were treated at hospitals for minor injuries. An unspecified number of other officers sustained light injuries.

It was the second consecutive night of protests against the government, whose adoption of an emergency ordinance that decriminalizes abuse in office went against widespread protests and warnings from prosecutors and the president.

The ordinance was published in the official government monitor at 3 a.m. Wednesday.

The speed with which the center-left government approved the proposal and the hour of its action alarmed critics. The coalition government has been in office for less than a month and the ordinance benefits its allies and Romanian officials facing corruption charges.

“It shows that the government is willing to use backdoor methods with no scrutiny or checks and balances in order to protect and promote itself,” said Dan Brett, an associate professor at the Open University.

There were protests in a half dozen cities around Romania, with people calling for the resignation of the government.

President Klaus Iohannis, who has limited powers and doesn’t oversee the government, called the measure’s adoption “a day of mourning for the rule of law.”

In recent years, Romania has been touted as a regional leader for targeting the rich and the powerful in a crackdown on corruption. But the drive proved unpopular with politicians.

The leaders of the center-left Social Democratic Party and the junior Alliance of Democratic Liberals, which form the current coalition government, both face corruption charges that bar them from serving as ministers.

Social Democrat chairman Liviu Dragnea was unable to become prime minister because in April 2016 he received a two-year suspended jail sentence for vote rigging. On Tuesday, he went on trial for abuse of power while he was president of the Teleorman local council from 2006 to 2012. He denies wrongdoing.

Justice Minister Florin Iordache said the emergency ordinance will decriminalize cases of official misconduct in which the damages are valued at less than 200,000 lei ($47,800).

On Wednesday, Romania’s Supreme Council of Magistrates unanimously agreed to take the emergency decree to the Constitutional Court, which is the last legal resort to stop the law.

The government on Tuesday evening also sent to Parliament a proposal that would pardon thousands of prisoners for non-violent crimes. It says the measure, which would free about 3,000 convicts, would help reduce overcrowding in prisons.

Prisoners interviewed by The Associated Press scoffed at the idea, saying the changes were likely to benefit senior officials rather than ordinary convicts.

Protests erupted in cities around the country after the decriminalization plan was made public last month. The chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi, said it “will render the anti-corruption fight irrelevant.”

The National Anticorruption Directorate has prosecuted 1,170 cases of abuse in office during the past three years with damages worth 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion), just under one-third of all of its cases, she said.

The European Union criticized the Romanian government’s move.

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic told reporters that the EU is “following the latest developments in Romania with growing concern.”

“The fight against corruption needs to be advanced and not undone,” Sefcovic said.

Story: Alison Mutler, Vadim Ghirda

Bhutanese Teacher Found 28 Kilometers From Bangkok Hotel

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

-

2 February 2017, 12:05

Bhutanese teacher Harka Bahardu Sabba, 40, is taken unconscious to a hospital after he was found in Samut Prakan province Wednesday night.

SAMUT PRAKAN — A Bhutanese teacher was found by the side of a road in Samut Prakan province on Wednesday night, nine days after he disappeared from a Bangkok hotel.

Harka Bahardu Sabba, 40, who disappeared from a Bhutanese education delegation and was the subject of a police hunt, was found 28 kilometers from where he was last seen on Sai Luat Road in Samut Prakan city. He was found unconscious and was taken to a hospital by rescue workers.

Samut Prakan police commander Thammanoon Trithipphong said police would have to wait until he recovers to question him. He said the Bhutan Embassy has been notified.

Read: Search Continues in Strange Case of Bhutanese Teacher Missing 9 Days

Sabba appeared to be suffering from exhaustion and had some scratches on his body. He is now being treated at the Police General Hospital.

Sabba was supposed to travel to Chonburi province with his group of teachers from Bhutan but he disappeared from Sena Place Hotel in Soi Phaholyotin 1 on the morning of Jan. 23.

A police search and social media campaign were launched for Sabba, who spoke neither English nor Thai. He was spotted several times in Samut Prakan in southwest metro Bangkok. He was found almost 28 kilometers from the hotel, a nearly six-hour walk, according to Google Maps.

Pattaya Terrorized by Knife-Wielding, Naked Farang

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

-

2 February 2017, 12:04

A Police officer trails an agitated man with a knife menacing people Wednesday night in downtown Pattaya city.

PATTAYA — Cops were called in Wednesday night to apprehend a Caucasian man who went on a naked rampage in Central Pattaya.

The man, who remains unidentified Thursday, was seen wandering at about midnight with a knife in his hand close to the Mae Wilai Market located downtown on Central Pattaya Road.

Thongyib Chomdee, a vendor at the scene, said the man charged at several people and tried to damage property, prompting many vendors, including herself, to close down their shops and bar their doors.

Police officers arrived about 20 minutes after someone alerted them and arrested the naked man. He was reportedly taken to Pattaya City Police Station to calm down.

But a call Thursday morning to the police station found they had no record of the man, indicating he was likely released soon after without charge.

“We don’t have any information regarding this person,” deputy commander Lt. Col. Sompan Suksamran said.

Officers subdue the unidentified suspect Wednesday night in downtown Pattaya city.

Crush of War Drives Boys to Guns in ‘Return to Homs’

By

Lobsang Dundup Sherpa Subirana, Deputy Editor

-

2 February 2017, 12:03

BANGKOK — While Syria’s carnage of warfare continues to ravage the country, the outside world finds opportunities to raise awareness of those affected and their daily challenges.

The aspects and consequences of Syria’s wartime struggles will be screened later this month at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club through “Return to Homs,” a documentary portraying lives trapped in a conflict now entering its sixth year.

Filmed in 2013, two years into what was already a devastating war, the film follows Abdul Basset Saroot and Ossama al Homsi in their quest to survive, as they are caught in the crossfire of rebel groups and government forces.

Having won a string of accolades, including the Sundance Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury award, the documentary provides insight into two young people as they change from normal civilians into rebel insurgents.

Entry is free for members and 150 baht for non-members. The two-hour film will show at 7pm on Feb. 20 at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, which can be reached via skywalk from BTS Chit Lom’s Exit No. 2.

Note: The date of this event was changed from Feb. 13 to Feb. 20 by organizers. Feb. 13 will be a national holiday on which the occasion of the Buddhist festival Makha Bucha will be observed.

Meet a Thai Couple Who Just Fight All the Time (Video)

By

Khaosod English

-

2 February 2017, 11:04

MMA fighters Shannon 'One Shin' Wiratchai and Rika 'Tiny Doll' Ishige.

How are two Thai MMA Fighters bringing their global sport back home to the land of Muay Thai? What’s it like being an MMA couple, and how do two fighters with a relationship outside the ring take each other down?

Read: Women Fighters to Smash Bangkok as MMA Penetrates Homeland of Muay Thai

Find out in our interview with Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai and Thai-Japanese fighter Rika “Tiny Doll” Ishige. Both fighters will compete March 11 in Bangkok at the second of two tournaments staged by One Championship.

Charles Manson Follower May be Freed on Parole

By

Associated Press

-

2 February 2017, 10:41

Charles Manson in court in 1986. Photo: Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, California — A parole panel on Wednesday recommended the release of a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson after California governors blocked four previous parole recommendations.

Bruce Davis, 74, had his 31st parole hearing at the California Men’s Colony at San Luis Obispo as he serves a life sentence for the 1969 slayings of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea.

Davis was not involved in the more notorious killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others by the Manson “family” the same year.

Bruce Davis in 2014. Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

During the half-century since the slayings, parole panels have now decided five times that Davis is no longer a public safety risk. Officials have cited his age and good behavior behind bars that includes earning a doctoral degree and ministering to other inmates.

Governors, however, have the final say on release. Gov. Jerry Brown will have about five months to consider the latest recommendation.

Brown rejected a previous recommendation last year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also concluded that Davis remains too dangerous to be free.

Davis testified at his 2014 hearing that he attacked Shea with a knife and held a gun on Hinman while Manson cut Hinman’s face with a sword.

“I wanted to be Charlie’s favorite guy,” he said then.

Attorney Michael Beckman, who has been fighting for years for the release of Davis, said he is the most rehabilitated prisoner among the 2,000 Beckman is representing in the penal system. “There’s no one even a close second,” he said.

“Now all we have to do is get past the governor, which hasn’t happened the first four times,” Beckman said after the hearing. “I’m sort of at the end of my wits on what to do.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey objected to the possible release of Davis. She called the Manson-related slayings “some of the most horrific crimes in California history.”

“We believe he continues to exhibit a lack of insight and remorse and remains a public safety risk,” she said in a statement after the parole decision.

Gary Hinman’s cousin, Kay Martley, said Davis’ crime was so heinous that he should die in prison.

Hinman was tortured for three days, Martley recounted in remarks prepared for the parole hearing.

“This wasn’t a crime of passion or impulse; this was slow, calculated and cold-blooded,” she wrote.

Martley, who traveled from Hinman’s native Colorado to attend the hearing, said she was angry about the recommendation for parole.

“Just because he’s going to be 75, he’s considered a low risk even though they said he has a personality disorder that he’s going to have to work on — his narcissistic behavior, need for acceptance, his grandiosity,” she said.

Martley and Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra Tate, who also attended the hearing, said Davis twice started to rise from his chair in apparent anger and pointed at a parole commissioner when he objected to her questions.

Beckman said his client was merely reacting out of frustration to misinformation that Shea’s body had been dismembered, when he said an autopsy shows it was intact.

“He did not jump out of his chair but he did react a little defensibly and he apologized profusely several times,” Beckman said.

Tate said opponents of Davis’ parole are gathering signatures online to present to Brown.

Davis was convicted with Manson and another follower, Steve Grogan, in the twin slayings. Grogan was paroled in 1985 after he led police to Shea’s buried body. Robert Beausoleil, convicted in Hinman’s death, remains in prison.

Manson and followers Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles “Tex” Watson are imprisoned for the Tate killings. Their co-defendant, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars in 2009.

Story: Don Thompson

Hot News

LATEST NEWS