Disabled commuters and rights activists rally along Ratchada Road in Bangkok on their way to the Civil Court on Jan. 20 to file a class-action lawsuit against the city.
BANGKOK — Disabled activists put out a call Monday for commuters who have been unable to make use of the BTS Skytrain due to its inaccessible stations during the past two years.
As part of a long fight to make the BTS system accessible, group Transportation for All urged affected parties to join a class-action suit seeking about 360,000 baht per person from City Hall for failing to install elevators as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Those encouraged to participate include citizens with registered disabilities, senior citizens, pregnant women and those who were in ill health and unable to use the popular rail service due to its lack of accommodation.
“We have two million disabled people in Thailand. We should have at least 100,000 people join,” said the group’s leader, Theerayuth Sukonthavit.
Responding to the suit, City Hall said Jan. 23 that all 23 original BTS stations will have functioning elevators by the end of this year, two years after the court deadline passed.
Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang on Monday ordered that elevators must be ready by the end of February at four stations: Phrom Phong, Thong Lo, On Nut and Ratchadamri.
The group filed suit Jan. 20 in the Civil Court. It was the second class action taken in Thailand since such suits became possible in December 2015.
The court will rule March 30 whether to certify the plaintiffs as a class.
The amount of damages they are seeking is roughly calculated at the rate 1,000 baht per day per person since the court-ordered deadline passed on Jan. 21, 2016. It will adds 7.5 percent interest per year.
The group said they arrived at 1,000 baht from the money and time they have paid to travel the capital by other methods.
The European Union headquarters seen here in 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Amio Cajander / Wikimedia Commons
FRANKFURT, Germany — Official figures show Europe’s recovery is gathering speed, with inflation picking up and unemployment at its lowest in nearly eight years.
The official figures Tuesday from Eurostat showed inflation rose sharply, a move that will likely encourage critics who think it’s time for the European Central Bank to start withdrawing its stimulus programs. Inflation jumped to an annual 1.8 percent in January, from 1.1 percent the month before.
Growth inched up to 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 in the 19 countries that share the euro currency, from 0.4 percent the quarter before, while unemployment fell to 9.6 percent in December. That’s the lowest unemployment rate since May 2009, before a financial implosion in Greece kicked off a eurozone-wide debt crisis whose effects are still being felt.
Then-police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang hands a microphone on Sept. 11, 2014, to four of five people accused of being ‘Men in Black’ militants during 2010 political unrest in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — When a court on Tuesday told two men and a woman they were cleared of charges they shot at security forces during a political unrest seven years ago, they probably expect to walk free.
But any sense of relief after two years in prison soon dissolved when the same set of judges ordered them back to jail on the grounds prosecutors may appeal.
The three defendants were among five people arrested shortly after the military seized power in 2014 and identified as members of the “Blackshirts,” armed militants who fought with security forces during an attempt to disperse street protests in April 2010. A defense lawyer said he’s surprised the three did not go free despite being cleared.
“I don’t want to say whether this is normal or abnormal, but I can say it’s not something that happens often,” Winyat Chartmontree said by telephone, after carefully choosing his words.
The court acquitted Ranarit Suricha, Chamnarn Phakeechai, and Punika Chusri for want of evidence Tuesday morning. Two other defendants, Kittisak Soomsri and Preecha Yooyen, were found guilty of firearm charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison each.
Winyat said he found it hard to comprehend the court’s reasoning in jailing those who were acquitted.
“The judges said it themselves, that there was not sufficient evidence,” the lawyer said. He compared it to other cases related to the 2010 unrest in which defendants were promptly freed upon acquittal.
He said he would try to secure bail for them as he could find bond money. The prosecutor had not filed any appeal as of Tuesday afternoon, Winyat added.
Torture Claim
Police announced the arrests in September 2014 after all five suspects spent a week in secret military detention.
Somyot Pumpanmuang, the national police chief at the time, said they were the black-clad militants who fired assault rifles and grenades at soldiers during an operation to clear anti-government demonstrators from Ratchadamnoen Avenue on the night of April 10, 2010. The protesters demanded then-PM Abhisit Vejjajiva step down and fresh elections.
The government eventually called off the crackdown. The violence that night claimed 27 lives. Five were soldiers, including the colonel in charge of the operation. The street protest itself came to an end a month later when it was crushed by another military operation.
All five suspects had been remanded in prison since their arrests. They initially confessed to the crimes but later withdrew their confessions; their lawyer said all were tortured during interrogation.
In today’s verdict, the court said Kittisak and Preecha were identified as the armed militants by witnesses at the scene, including an undercover police officer, and could not provide alibis proving otherwise.
The court also cited the confessions given by the two men upon their arrest, a decision criticized by their lawyer Winyat.
“The laws said confessions obtained during interrogation must be carefully considered,” Winyat said.
While Ranarit, Chamnarn and Punika also confessed, the court said prosecutors failed to provide any hard evidence to back up their guilt.
Authorities Monday inspect a portion of the completed Green Line tracks which will connect BTS Bearing to Samut Prakan province. Photo: Prachachat
BANGKOK — The elevated Green Line extension from southern Bangkok to Samut Prakan province will not be ready for trial runs as promised, transit authorities said Monday.
Though the 13-kilometer skytrain route from BTS Bearing to Samut Prakan is structurally complete, the metro transit authority says there’s still work to be done – and City Hall lacks the funds to take control of it.
City Hall is due to pay 3.5 billon baht of the project’s 21 billion baht price tag by April to receive ownership of the project from the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, or MRTA.
Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang said in November that it would be impossible to meet the deadline, as City Hall did not have the funds. His team said it would negotiate payment after the service began operating and generating revenue.
But negotiations to get it running haven’t been settled yet either. City Hall plans to hire the same company which operates the original BTS Skytrain to run the Green Line, the Bangkok Mass Transit System Co. Ltd.
If it confirms City Hall does not have the funds, the MRTA said it will seek the interim cabinet’s opinion on how to move forward.
Then it will take at least three months to prepare and optimize the system for test runs, as electrical systems are still in the process of installation, the transit authority said. It expects the service to become operational by the end of 2018.
Another leg of the Green Line Extension, from Mo Chit to Saphan Mai and Kukot, remains under construction and expected to be finished by February 2019.
That route faces the same budgetary barrier and has yet to be given an exact opening date.
An undated file photo of Prawit Wongsuwan and his entourage in Hawaii. Image: Matichon
BANGKOK — Two names stand out from a list made public Monday of who joined a deputy junta leader’s entourage on a taxpayer-funded trip to Hawaii last year.
Nearly four months after Khaosod English requested records of the trip, the Defense Ministry on Monday released a list of who accompanied Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan to Honolulu to attend an informal meeting with U.S. military officials, a trip which sparked controversy when word got out that 20.9 million baht was spent on airfare alone.
While the list of 40 mostly contains the names of army officers and one American military officer, two little-known civilians listed as “others” were also aboard the chartered flight with Prawit, a former army commander turned junta leader who also serves as Minister of Defense.
Suprang-orn Ratithanyakornkul is listed on the website of a flight attendant training school ajarnaum.com.
One was a woman named Suprang-orn Ratithanyakornkul, who was listed as an adviser to an assistant of Prawit. The only apparent reference online to Suprang-orn’s credentials appears on the website of Perfect Angels, a training school for would-be flight attendants.
There she is identified with a smiling photo as No. 32 and listed as having completed training in February 2014. The school claims to have successfully produced 3,889 aviation “angels” in eight years.
The training school failed to respond to inquiries as of press time Tuesday.
Another to fly as an adviser to the assistant of the Defense Minister was Pornperm Srisawat. In a news release on the website of CP Group, the kingdom’s largest corporate conglomerate, Pornperm is identified as one of the company president’s liaison to the government.
Pornperm Srisawat, in suit second from right, in an image from a CP news release.
The CP E-Nenews release, published some time before February 2015, shows Pornperm standing with four top Air Force Officers, handing a 500,000 baht donation placard complete with the company’s logos for a “Air Force Bike for Dad” event scheduled for Feb. 1, 2015.
Attempts to contact CP to verify whether Pornperm was still employed when he joined the official trip to Hawaii as an adviser to the assistant of the Defense Minister were not successful as of Tuesday.
No further information, including contact information, could be found for either.
Asked what qualified the two, who appear to be a CP employee and flight attendant trainee to join the trip as advisers to Gen. Prawit’s team, the Defense Ministry’s spokeswoman had no answer.
In an undated photo, junta deputy chairman Prawit Wongsuwan shakes hand with then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter during a visit to Hawaii. Image: Matichon
Col. Jaithip Uraipanich said they had no details about the qualifications of Pornperm and Suprang-orn as advisers to the assistant of the Defense Minister.
“We don’t have details. Appointing advisers is up to the minister who made the appointment,” Jaithip said Tuesday.
The list released Monday mostly matched a leaked seat listing posted on social media soon after the scandal broke.
The two names included in the seat listing that were not found in the official documents released Monday: a TV news anchor linked to Prawit and top CP executive Pakhapon Ngamlak.
When the seat listing appeared online, Thai Airways asked police to track down and prosecute those responsible for posting it.
TOKYO — Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co. is reporting third quarter profit more than doubled from a year earlier on healthy sales of Pokemon game software.
Nintendo, which makes Super Mario games and will start selling the Switch console March 3, reported Tuesday a better-than-expected October-December profit of JPY64.7 billion (20 billion baht), up from JPY29.1 billion (9 billion baht) in the same period of 2015.
Kyoto-based Nintendo raised its full year profit forecast to JPY90 billion from an earlier JPY50 billion.
That would mark a more than five-fold increase from what it earned the previous fiscal year.
It kept its sales forecast unchanged at JPY470 billion. Nintendo’s quarterly sales slipped 21 percent to JPY174.3 billion.
Farewell: The Art Center’s Acknowledgments 2016 exhibition.
BANGKOK — Artists and art aficionados were relieved to learn an important space for thought-provoking art will reopen after renovations are completed in two years, though there was skepticism about what the future would bring.
The Art Center at Chulalongkorn University, which has served as a launching pad for many talents, recently opened what was to be its final exhibition with artists of different generations, backgrounds and nationalities.
The atmosphere was different from the usual festive joy as the opening signaled an end to the 22-year-old space, at least in its current form.
As the title suggests, the latest exhibition which ends Feb. 18, is to be the last before the venue closes. Farewell was to be the last show before it closed forever, but administrators earlier said it would reopen in two years, possibly in a different form.
The gallery has been in the red for years, and the atmosphere was muted at the Thursday opening on the seventh floor of the university’s Academic Resources Office.
“It’s high time to stop and reconsider whether to reopen it in the same concept or completely change its direction,” said Amorn Petsom, acting director of Academic Resources said. “The two-year closure will be the time to ponder that.”
Amorn said The Art Center has lost 2 million baht in the past six years. Its limited annual budget hasn’t covered the costs of supporting exhibiting artists.
“If we don’t adjust, there’s no way to survive,” Amorn said.
Oasis for Thought
Those closest to The Art Center say its 380 square meters have offered a rare, university-sponsored venue for artists who want to push boundaries on social issues and sensitive questions.
From left to right: The Art Center’s head Prapon Kumjim, first chief curator Apinan Poshyananda, Director of Chulalongkorn University’s Office of Academic Resources Amorn Petsom and Suebsang Sangwachirapiban, The Art Center’s manager
“Artists who produce works concerning sensitive issues are often rejected by many galleries,” gallery head Prapon Kumjim said.
While Chulalongkorn’s two other galleries are supported by the university’s Office of Art and Culture, The Art Center is operated by Academic Resources.
Though criticized for being hidden up on the seventh floor above the university library, The Art Center has launched several renowned artists since 1995 and is considered a progressive outpost on issues of society, culture and gender.
“Budgets are important but investing in art is also invaluable, more than what the university may think,” said Apinan Poshyananda, a Culture Ministry permanent secretary who was the center’s first chief curator.
Apinan said that the venue has hosted famous international artists such as Spanish painter Joan Miro, Yugoslavia-born performance artist Marina Abramovic and Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura. More importantly, he said it’s also been a laboratory for emerging local talent to experiment and get experience.
“Having a solo exhibition here is a stepping stone in the art circle,” said Krit Ngamsom, a kinetic artist whose recent work “Time Machine” comprised photos of exhibitions being held at The Art Center inside a tank submarine.
Farewell for Now
Artist Krit Ngamsom
Krit is among 50 Thai and international artists showing their work at Farewell, a sort of venue retrospective of artists showing their appreciation.
Despite never studying at the university, 33-year-old artist Krit was familiar with the center since he was a student as his professors exhibited there. Now, an arts professor himself, things have come full circle with his students attending what is now his third exhibition there.
“This is not a commercial art space, it’s educational and doesn’t deduct anything from artists,” he said. Though regret for its upcoming closure, he hopes the center remains the same when it reopens in two years.
Michael Shaowanasai, a provocative artist who has exhibited his works there several times, admitted he’s less optimistic.
Artist Michael Shaowanasai
“It’s good if the change means upgrading the center, but I’m not that positive about the government sector,” he said. “They already got visionary people working, but bureaucracy might make things worse.”
With a mission to promote knowledge and create opportunities for artists, the nonprofit alternative gallery welcomes about 500 visitors a month, mostly artists and students from other universities.
Suphat Saguandeekul speaks Nov. 26, 2010, at a convention hall in Bangkok. Image: Thai Home Builders Association
BANGKOK — A senior commerce official on Monday admitted to stealing paintings from a hotel in Japan and announced his resignation.
Speaking about the scandal for the first time since it erupted last week, Suphat Saguandeekul said in a statement released to the media he unreservedly apologized for bringing shame to his country through his actions. He said he was drunk at the time.
Suphat’s apology came a day after the Ministry of Commerce suspended him from duty and launched a formal investigation.
Suphat, who served as a deputy director for the Department of Intellectual Property, said he was out drinking with his Japanese colleagues late into early morning. He said he was extremely drunk when he “committed an act that I should not have.”
“I stress that I have no intention to find an excuse. Now that I have committed wrongdoing, I admit my guilt,” Suphat’s statement said. “I merely ask for an opportunity to explain what happened in that night.”
He said he took responsibility because growing up and studying in Japan had instilled him a sense of honor that requires holders of political office to resign if they do something wrong.
It is not immediately clear whether Suphat’s resignation would affect the investigation.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn announced on Monday that Suphat was suspended from his position and transferred to an inactive post as punishment while the inquiry is ongoing.
Suphat was a deputy director in the Department of Intellectual Property. He returned to Thailand on Saturday after a settlement was reached and Japanese prosecutors dropped charges against him.
Apiradi also did not say what the penalty for Suphat would be if he’s found to be at fault. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Friday that Suphat could be found guilty of either a minor or serious offense.
Penalty for the former is a reduction of salary while the latter could mean expulsion without retirement benefits.
Officials said he was in Kyoto for a meeting with his Japanese counterparts to talk about patent rights. He was later arrested Jan. 24 and accused of stealing three paintings from the hallway of the hotel where he was staying, a crime captured on camera, according to Japanese media reports.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Suphat repented the crime and paid an unspecified amount of compensation to the hotel.
BANGKOK — A schoolboy fashion icon will join an eco-fashion show which along with an art exhibition and other activities are aimed at protecting marine life from plastic pollution.
At Heart for the Ocean, wander through the Blue Ocean, an art installation made from plastic waste collected from households and local beaches, and meet the teen fashion phenomenon Apichet “Madaew” Atirattana, who will showcase his recycled plastic costumes for the Ocean Haute Couture fashion show.
Learn how to transform old tees into trendy tote bags at a workshop while acoustic-indie act Stoondio, The Voice Thailand’s heartthrob Nuttawut “Max” Jenmana and others will perform live with musical instruments made from recycled waste.
Panel discussions include Thitinant Sristhita, an author who’s dedicated herself to reducing plastic consumption for over a decade, eco-artist Prasopsuk “Pom” Lerdviriyapiti and activists from Greenpeace and Trash Hero, an eco-projects group focused on waste reduction with chapters throughout Southeast Asia.
The event, organized by Greenpeace, runs Feb. 14 through Feb. 19 on the first floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
Tourists partake in Songkran festivities in 2013 on Krabi. Photo: Madeleine Deaton / Flickr
BANGKOK — Thailand received a record 32.59 million foreign visitors last year, with revenue beating expectations and likely to exceed previous forecasts this year by growing 10 percent or more, officials said Monday.
Thailand is proving popular even as terror scares, including a series of bombings in resorts towns killing four people, and the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej had hotels and tour guides across the country on edge. Tourism fared better than expected after a bloodless coup deposed Thailand’s elected government in 2014 as well.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand said Monday that the tourist industry earned 2.52 trillion baht (USD $71.4 billion) last year, up 11 percent from 2015.
It said the country’s tourism industry is projected to bring in 733 billion baht (USD $20.8 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 8 percent from the first quarter of 2016. Officials said their estimates, covering foreign and domestic tourists combined, indicate tourism revenue for all of 2017 may surpass earlier forecasts of 2.77 trillion baht (USD $78.5 billion).
Thailand is the eleventh most-visited country in the world and boasted the sixth largest tourism industry by revenue in 2015, according to a U.N. report. Most travelers come from China, South Korea, and Japan, lured by Thailand’s year-round warm weather, as well as Western countries and Thailand’s neighbors in Southeast Asia.
Foreign tourists are by far the most lucrative for the economy. Foreign arrivals are projected to total 9.3 million in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 490 billion baht (USD $13.9 billion) in revenue. In the same period, some 32.5 million Thai travelers accounted for 240 billion baht (USD $6.8 billion).
“Thailand is still a popular destination,” Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said at a news conference. “We have a lot of different things to offer our foreign visitors.”
A steady economy and a growing number of travelers worldwide explain the boom, Yuthasak said.
“Stability and improvements in the economy mean more foreign tourist arrivals,” he said. “So there’s clearly demand, and it’s up to us to accommodate everyone who wants to come.”
