Disabled Activists to File Class-Action Lawsuit Over BTS Access

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18 January 2017, 12:23

Disabled rights activist Manit Inpim in a September photo taken at BTS National Stadium . Photo : Accessibility Is Freedom / Facebook

BANGKOK — Hundreds of disabled right activists will converge at the Civil Court on Friday to file a class action lawsuit against City Hall for failing to obey a court order to make all BTS Skytrain stations wheelchair accessible.

Two years after prevailing in a landmark Supreme Court ruling, activist group Transportation for All said Wednesday it decided to file the suit after a year had passed without the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, or BMA, adding one operable elevator to its inaccessible stations.

“We have closely monitored and found the BMA lacks responsibility and efficiency,” the group wrote in a statement.

The suit asks the court to fine the city 1,000 baht per day for each plaintiff to join the class since the court’s original Jan. 21, 2016, deadline for the work to be completed.

After the last of several promises passed without the work completed, City Hall has offered yet another vague deadline.

Unfinished structure for a street level elevator at BTS Ari was roped off with a sign saying it would be ready in September.

A City Hall representative said Wednesday they were not yet aware of the lawsuit.

“If they want to sue, that is their right, and we cannot ask them not to do that,” said Prapas Luangsirinapha, who now oversees the project. “But the disabled, they didn’t suffer any losses, did they?”

He said it’s still possible for disabled commuters to seek help by contacting a guard to lug them up the escalator.

Prapas, who is responsible for coordinating with the developer, said the project has had a lot of land ownership issues, and he has done his best.

“I will just have to go to court and explain the same to them,” he said Wednesday. “The worst will just be I got moved to another position.”

Project developer Seri Construction said Monday it had no definite date for completing the work but “hoped” to see some of the stations open in the coming months.

Read: Broken Promises: BTS Still Off Limits to Disabled

The landmark ruling in January 2015 gave the city one year to complete the work.

In January 2016, City Hall apologized for failing to meet the court-imposed time frame. It then promised that every station would have operating elevators by the end of September.

The project has also changed leadership. When former Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra was removed by the junta in August, the deputy governor who was responsible for the project also left City Hall.

Developer Seri previously said it expected elevators at seven stations to be running by the end of September. Now it says it will be another four months.

Itthiphol Boonrak, the developer’s project manager, said he now hopes elevators at some stations will be operating by early February.

“I pray it can be opened, at at least one station,” he said Monday, unable to give a more concrete date of completion.

Though unfinished construction sites can be seen at many stations, there does not appear to be visible work underway. Itthiphol said the elevator housings and shafts were mostly ready and only waiting for electricians to wire them for operation.

So why has it taken over two years to install elevators? He gave the same reasons offered the last time a reporter called to inquire. He said workers only have limited hours as they can only work after the BTS system shuts down, and issues with the underground infrastructure had made it more difficult than expected.

The disabled rights activists who brought the original suit and have pushed the issue for years said they were not pleased.

“How come City Hall doesn’t have any measures to deal with a developer who fail to satisfy contracts?” Manit Inpim said Monday.

The contract stipulates that City Hall must fine developer if it fails to complete the work as specified.

Filing as a class was not possible when they first sued the BMA, which owns the Skytrain system. A law enabling class-action suits went into effect December 2015. Since then only one such suit has been filed against a gold mine operator.

A City Hall transportation official said they were still urging Seri to get the work done and remained hopeful some progress would be made despite the failures so far.

“We will open the first four stations in April,” said Prapas.

Broken Promises: BTS Still Off Limits to Disabled

Disabled Rights Group Weighs New Suit Over BTS Stations

BTS Stations Remain Inaccessible to Disabled, a Year After Landmark Ruling

Court Orders Skytrain to Accommodate Disabled Passengers

100 Dead in Nigeria as Military Jet Mistakenly Bombs Refugee Camp

By

Associated Press

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18 January 2017, 12:20

A child lays wounded after a military sir strike on a camp for displaced people Tuesday in Rann, Nigeria. Photo: Associated Press

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — A Nigerian air force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp on Tuesday, killing more than 100 refugees and aid workers and wounding 200, a government official and doctors said.

Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed an accidental bombardment in the northeastern town of Rann, near the border with Cameroon, saying “some” civilians were killed.

It was believed to be the first time Nigeria’s military has acknowledged making such a mistake in a region where villagers have in the past reported civilian casualties in the near-daily bombings targeting the Islamic militants.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari expressed deep sadness and regret at “this regrettable operational mistake.”

A Borno state government official, who was helping to coordinate the evacuation of wounded from the remote area by helicopters, said more than 100 refugees and aid workers were among the dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Doctors Without Borders said its team based in Rann counted at least 52 bodies and was treating 200 wounded, many in critical condition, and the death toll was expected to rise.

“This large-scale attack on vulnerable people who have already fled from extreme violence is shocking and unacceptable,” said Dr. Jean-Clément Cabrol, the aid group’s director of operations.

As night fell, the group’s team struggled to stabilize the seriously wounded. “We hope that during the night not many more people will die,” said the group’s head of emergency programs, Hugues Robert, describing a complex evacuation because the area is insecure.

Photographs of the carnage showed a man carrying a wounded child, his clothing stained with blood, as well as bloodied victims being treated on the ground outside a tent clinic overflowing with the wounded. Nearby, corpses lay covered by blankets and prayer mats, alongside mounds of hastily dug graves.

After the attack, the charred remains of makeshift corrugated iron lean-tos and mud homes filled the landscape.

The International Committee for the Red Cross said six workers with the Nigerian Red Cross were among the dead and 13 were wounded. “They were part of a team that had brought in desperately needed food for over 25,000 displaced persons,” spokesman Jason Straziuso said in a statement from Nairobi, Kenya.

Two soldiers were also wounded, as well as Nigerians working for Doctors Without Borders, Irabor said, without giving a precise figure.

The general, who is the theater commander for counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, said he ordered the mission based on information that Boko Haram insurgents were gathering in the area, along with geographic coordinates.

It was too early to say if a tactical error was made, he said, adding that the bombing would be investigated.

Doctors Without Borders spokesman Etienne l’Hermitte in Geneva urged authorities to facilitate cross-border land and air evacuations.

“Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients. We are in close contact with our teams, who are in shock following the event,” he said in a statement.

Villagers have previously reported civilian casualties in airstrikes on Boko Haram positions in northeastern Nigeria.

Some of the schoolgirls kidnapped by the insurgents in 2014 and freed last year have said three of their classmates were killed by air force bombardments, according to the freed girls’ parents. Of the nearly 300 schoolgirls who were abducted, 196 remain missing.

The bombings have helped drive Boko Haram out of many towns and villages and, according to Buhari, the insurgents’ last stronghold in the Sambisa Forest last month.

Boko Haram’s 7-year-old Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and forced 2.6 million from their homes, creating the continent’s worst humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning some 5.1 million people face starvation.

Story: Haruna Umar, Bashir Adigun

Farang Rides Mountain Bike On Temple. People Get Annoyed.

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Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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18 January 2017, 12:11

CHIANG MAI — Visitors to a temple in the north of Thailand were offended Tuesday by a farang doing mountain bike tricks there.

In footage filmed of the incident at about 3:30pm, a male foreigner rides a mountain bike off a low wall on the grounds of Wat Jedyod, while another films him doing bike stunts.

Their annoyance however had not reached the attention of the authorities. Local police officer Pattarapop Thanomkulkarn said he hadn’t heard about it.

“No one has come to file a complaint,” he said.

Buddhist temples in Thailand, including Wat Jedyod, have stringent rules about what is allowed and disallowed, including not covering up or stepping on structures. Perceived misconduct by tourists is a routine source of indignation.

Wat Jedyod, a popular destination for Thai and foreign visitors, even asks people to seek permission to take photos. The cyclists did not ask for permission, according to witnesses.

People took notice when the foreign men started filming near the back of the temple, about 100 meters from where tourists usually gather. The cyclist then rode his bike from the elevated courtyard onto the ground. He did this at least four times while his friend filmed him for what may have been a “My Adventure in Thailand”-type YouTube video.

Some people said they didn’t want them to set an example for other tourists.

“It’s a historical site. You don’t even need signs, just a bit of critical thinking to know what you shouldn’t do,” wrote Facebook user Noom Kittisak Imdualkiat in reply to a story of the incident.

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Czech Fugitive Re-Arrested on Phuket After Brief Escape

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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18 January 2017, 11:49

PHUKET — A Czech national will be taken to court Wednesday for overstaying his visa 18 months after police said he fled his home nation to avoid prosecution on sexual assault and child pornography charges.

Pfeifer Zdenek was first arrested at a supermarket in Phuket province Tuesday evening, but he managed to escape, only to be apprehended again hours later. The 49-year-old man is wanted by Czech authorities on allegations he knowingly infected at least 10 men with HIV and filmed his sexual abuse of a minor. Zdenek has reportedly denied all allegations to Thai police.

“He refused to give any testimony about these issues. He denied that he spread the disease to other people,” Thianchai Chomphu, the Phuket immigration officer in charge of the case, said by telephone. “He only admitted that the passport belonged to him and that he overstayed his visa.”

Read: Police Looking For Czech Wanted for Spreading HIV

Zdenek is being held at a police station in Phuket, and officers are planning to take him to court today to face the visa violation charge, Lt. Col. Thianchai said.

After being fined for his overstay, the Czech man will be sent to Bangkok where police will question him about any possible crimes he committed in Thailand. He will eventually be deported to the Czech Republic, Thianchai said.

“The problem is he is refusing to cooperate with us right now,” the officer added.

According to an Interpol Red Notice sent to Thai police, Zdenek was charged by a Czech court in December 2015 with battery, spreading an infectious disease, sexual abuse and distribution of pornography. The suspect has been in Thailand since July 2015, according to immigration records.

Zdenek is accused of having unprotected sex with at least 10 men to intentionally infect them with HIV. He’s also accused of making child pornography with a minor he paid to have sex with. He faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison if convicted.

A photo of Pfeifer Zdenek upon being arrested at Tesco Lotus in Thalang district on Tuesday evening. Image provided by the police.

Czech Mate
Police initially received a tip at about 7pm that Zdenek was seen at a Tesco Lotus in Phuket’s Thalang district and dispatched an officer to arrest him. Thalang police chief Sompong Thiparpakul said his force was busy rehearsing how to escort a royal motorcade at the time so only one officer was available.

That officer, Suthee Maneesingha, informed Zdenek that he was under arrest and took his motorcycle key, but the suspect “took advantage of the situation” and fled the scene by using a spare key, Col. Sompong said.

“Only one policeman could not be expected to detain the suspect,” Sompong said.

He did not elaborate why Suthee failed to apprehend Zdenek, but media reports said Suthee needed to use the restroom and left the suspect unattended outside. Sompong said he could not confirm the reports but said Suthee would not be punished for his failure.

“He already did his duty to the best of his ability,” the station chief said.

Clemency for Manning Turns Attention Turns to WikiLeaks’ Assange

By

Associated Press

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18 January 2017, 10:31

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks Feb. 5, 2016, on the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s decision Tuesday to commute Chelsea Manning’s sentence brought fresh attention to another figure involved in the Army leaker’s case: Julian Assange.

On Twitter last week, Assange’s anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks posted, “If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case.”

Obama’s move will test the promise. The president commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, freeing her in May, nearly three decades early. Manning has acknowledged leaking a trove of diplomatic cables and national security documents to WikiLeaks in 2010.

In a statement, Assange called Manning “a hero, whose bravery should be applauded.”

If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case https://t.co/MZU30SlfGK

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 12, 2017

Assange went on to demand that the U.S. government “should immediately end its war on whistleblowers and publishers, such as WikiLeaks and myself,” but he made no mention of the Twitter pledge. His lawyer said he has been pressing the Justice Department for updates on an investigation concerning WikiLeaks.

Assange has been holed up for more than four years at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He has refused to meet prosecutors in Sweden, where he remains wanted on an allegation of rape, fearing he would be extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges if he leaves the embassy.

FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Manning, a transgender soldier now serving 35 years at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, is asking President Barack Obama to commute her sentence to the 6 1/2 years she has already served. (U.S. Army via AP, File) — FILE – In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Chelsea Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Manning, a transgender soldier now serving 35 years at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, is asking President Barack Obama to commute her sentence to the 6 1/2 years she has already served. (U.S. Army via AP, File)

The Justice Department has never announced any indictment of Assange, and it’s not clear that any charges have been brought under seal.

The department, in refusing to turn over investigative documents sought by Manning under the Freedom of Information Act, has acknowledged that the FBI is continuing to investigate the publication of national security information on WikiLeaks arising from Manning’s disclosures.

“That investigation concerns potential violations of federal criminal laws, in the form of serious threats to the national security, and the investigation continues today,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing last year. “From the terms of her request, it is clear that Manning seeks to obtain documents concerning that investigation.

Separately, the FBI is also investigating Russian meddling through hacking in the U.S. presidential election. Hacked emails from top Democratic officials and Hillary Clinton campaign officials were posted on WikiLeaks in the final weeks of the presidential race.

With the commutation coming just days before Obama leaves office, any decision on whether to charge or seek to extradite Assange will now fall to the Trump administration.

In a statement Tuesday, a lawyer for Assange did not address whether Assange intended to come to the United States.

“For many months, I have asked the DOJ to clarify Mr. Assange’s status. I hope it will soon,” Assange’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said in the statement. “The Department of Justice should not pursue any charges against Mr. Assange based on his publication of truthful information and should close its criminal investigation of him immediately.”

Another Assange lawyer, Melinda Taylor, suggested he wouldn’t go back on his word. “Everything that he has said he’s standing by,” she said in a brief telephone conversation with The Associated Press.

Story: Eric Tucker

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

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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17 January 2017, 18:15

Angela Lee fights Japanese fighter Mei Yamaguchi on May 6, 2016, in Singapore. Photo: One Championship

BANGKOK — Mixed Martial Arts is kicking deeper into the land of Muay Thai with a tournament to be held March 11 headlined by women and Thai MMA fighters.

Just a year after Thailand hosted its first major MMA event headlined by a former Muay Thai champ, organizers on Tuesday showed off some of the fists and feet that will be seeking glory at Impact Muang Thong Thani in March at a pan-Asian tournament featuring veterans and new blood alike.

At the top of the ticket, six-time women’s atomweight world champ Angela “Unstoppable” Lee will face off against kung fu fighter Jenny Huang from Taipei.

“I’m honored to be a role model for women across Asia,” 20-year-old Lee said, adding that she wants to inspire Asian women to learn self-defense.

Read: ONE Championship MMA Coming to Bangkok, New Markets for 2017

“This year’s championship will showcase the best fighters of Thailand and Asia,” said One Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

The March 11 event will be followed by another Dec. 9.

MMA has been one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and Singapore-based One Championship has made quick inroads into Thailand where it was once viewed with skepticism or enmity.

Last year, 38-year-old former Muay Thai champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke, who made the leap into MMA, was defeated by a Japanese fighter at Impact Arena.

This year will see the debut of the first Thai woman MMA fighter, half-Japanese Rika “Tiny Doll” Ishige. Famed Muay Thai boxer Yodsanan “Little Tyson” Sityodtong will also fight.

ONE Championship president Kamol Sukosol said moving into the rest of Asia was a natural fit.

“I thought it was very suitable because Asia is the home of MMA,” Kamol said.

One Championship's Kingdom of Champions tournament on May 28, 2016, in Bangkok. Photo: One Championship — One Championship’s Kingdom of Champions tournament on May 28, 2016, in Bangkok. Photo: One Championship

MMA, or mixed martial arts, is a sport where gloved fighters in the same weight class can use a variety of strikes and moves from a variety of other combat sports, including boxing, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, judo, wrestling, karate and taekwondo to knockout their opponent. If the allotted time runs out, the victory is decided by the judges.

“It’s not as famous as football yet, but MMA is rising from its underground status,” Kamol said.

One Championship founder Chatri Sityodtong said he put the the female fight in the title event to make a case for women’s rights.

“I purposefully put Angela and Jenny in the title event because I want to showcase these intelligent, strong and beautiful women in order to inspire women across Asia to achieve their dreams,” he said.

One says it spent 40 million baht and sold 15,000 tickets ranging from 500 baht to 15,000 baht lasts year.

One Championship was founded by Thai-Japanese millionaire Chatri in 2011.

Thai rap trio Thaitanium and rock band Slot Machine will perform at the March 11 event, which will be broadcast live starting at 9pm on Channel 32.

Airport Rail Link Disputes Engineer’s Safety Complaints

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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17 January 2017, 18:02

Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha inspects a model of the Airport Rail Link train on March 16 at Makkasan Station in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — The elevated trains that connect Bangkok’s downtown with its international airport are not at risk of derailing contrary to a rail expert’s warnings, an executive with the state railway said Tuesday.

Former deputy Bangkok governor Samart Ratchapolsitte, who worked on the city’s mass transit projects during his tenure, prompted concerns when he said the Airport Rail Link recently discovered some of its track equipment was in critical condition.

However, a board member of the Airport Rail Link said Samart exaggerated the issue. Suthep Panpeng said the defects found in some of the track hardware were routine, and they were promptly replaced after being discovered in weekly inspections.

“Regulations require us to inspect the rail every four months,” Suthep said. “But in reality, engineering teams inspect the route every week.”

The hardware in question are so-called fish plates which join segments of rail. In an online post written Monday, Samart said 59 fish plates were in “critical” condition while 100 others needed urgent replacement. Failure to do so would put trains at risk of derailment, he wrote.

Samart, who serves as adviser to a number of engineering councils, also criticized the State Railway of Thailand, which operates the airport service, for maintaining letting the equipment wear down and put the public at risk. His post has been reprinted by several media agencies since then.

But Suthep said he misrepresented the issue. According to Suthep, the damaged plates could function for at least for one more month, but the staff replaced them early out of caution. The 100 other plates mentioned by Samart can operate for at least another year, he added.

He also insisted it’s normal for such plates to wear out, especially in places where the tracks curve.

“This happens in any other place. If you asked the BTS, they would tell you same thing too,” Suthep said, referring to the capital city’s skytrain service.

The Airport Rail Link has experienced service issues and breakdowns, including an electrical failure in March that trapped passengers aboard trains during the hottest time of the year. The ruling junta is planning to extend the service to cover Don Mueang Airport.

German Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Outlaw Far-Right NPD Party

By

Associated Press

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17 January 2017, 17:08

A man with a flag with National Democratic Party, NPD, logo attends a rally of the NPD last May in Schwerin, Germany. Photo: Jens Buettner / Associated Press

BERLIN — Germany’s supreme court on Tuesday rejected a bid by lawmakers to outlaw a far-right party accused of promoting a racist and anti-Semitic agenda.

Andreas Vosskuhle, chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court, said that even though the party had unconstitutional goals, “there are currently no concrete indications … that its actions will lead to success.”

The German parliament’s upper house had applied for the ban at the end of 2013.

Vosskuhle, in explaining the verdict, mentioned the party’s irrelevance , pointing out it had only a single seat in the European Parliament and that the NPD’s election results have in recent years been “on a low level.”

Vosskuhle said that a possible ban of a party wasn’t based on the party’s ideology, but its active aim and plan to abolish Germany’s free and democratic order.

“There’s no evidence for this here,” the judge added.

The party isn’t represented in the Bundestag after winning just 1.3 percent of the vote in the last national election in 2013. Parties need to meet a 5-percent threshold to hold seats in the federal parliament.

The rise of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, which has assailed Chancellor Angela Merkel for allowing large numbers of migrants into the country and appeals to a much broader range of protest voters, has helped erode the NPD’s support.

Only two parties have been outlawed in West Germany and reunited Germany — the neo-Nazi Socialist Reich Party in 1952 and the German Communist Party in 1956.

It was the second attempt to ban the National Democratic Party, better known by its German acronym NPD.

In 2003, the court rejected a previous application because paid government informants within the group were partially responsible for evidence against it.

Story: Kristen Greishaber

Key Witnesses No-Show at Hearing for Teacher’s Retrial

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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17 January 2017, 16:49

Jomsup Saenmuangkot outside the provincial court building Monday in Nakhon Phanom province.

NAKHON PHANOM — Key witnesses failed to appear in court Monday at a hearing for a woman seeking to overturn her conviction for a crime she says she didn’t commit.

Neither the man who allegedly has confessed to the fatal hit-and-run for which Jomsap Saenmuangkot went to prison nor another witness appeared at the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court, as police dispute she was wrongfully convicted.

Jomsap, who gained public sympathy in televised interviews about the case last week, was rescheduled to appear in court Feb. 8 with Sap Wapee, the man she said confessed to the 2005 crime after being tracked down with help from the Department of Special Investigation.

He was one of two witnesses, along with Tassanee Hanpayak, expected in court this morning.

Jomsap was jailed in late 2013 after losing a long court battle. She was freed in 2015 on a royal pardon after spending a year and a half in jail. She’s now seeking a retrial of her case and compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Read: Thai Teacher’s Tale of Injustice Ignites Public Sympathies

An anonymous police source sought to cast doubt on Jomsap’s story, telling Thai PBS that she had tried to pay another man to confess before learning he could not drive. On Tuesday, Panya Mamen, a former regional police commander recently elevated to general, said some people had been offered money to take the fall for Jomsap.

Col. Mana Pohchuay, commander of Thung Song Hong police, rejected Jomsap’s claims that police misconduct led to her conviction, saying her case was investigated by the book, and that their conclusions were supported by witness statements and evidence.

Jomsap has maintained she was not guilty of the hit-and-run, saying she was at home in a neighboring Sakon Nakhon province at the time. Jomsap pleaded not guilty in the case even though it was to lessen her jail time.

A Royal Thai Police spokesman said justice must be rendered to all sides, including the family of the original hit-and-run victim.

“This case is only one of the many that happen each day. Actually the police don’t need to spell this out, but the news of this case is presented in a way that damages the image of the police,” Piyapan said.

He said the 10-year case against Jomsap was pursued correctly, and the fact it can be reopened is proof of a functional justice system.

National police chief Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda said that if a retrial finds fault with the police, Jomsap will be compensated. However if it turns out Jomsap submitted a false report or was indeed guilty, police may press criminal defamation charges against her.

Police Looking For Czech Wanted for Spreading HIV

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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17 January 2017, 14:49

BANGKOK — Police on Tuesday were seeking a Czech national wanted in his country on suspicion of attempting to infect at least 10 men, including a minor, with HIV.

In a police memo made public today, police in northern Thailand said they had information that 49-year-old Pfeifer Zdenek might be residing there and warned members of the public not to engage in sexual relations with him.

“Interpol warned us to be on the lookout. They are afraid he might be seeking victims in Thailand,” Pongdetch Prommichit, deputy commander of the northern police force, said by telephone.

However, there were no confirmed reports of Zdenek engaging in such activities so far, Maj. Gen. Pongdetch said.

According to an Interpol Red Notice sent to Thai police, Zdenek was charged with battery, spreading an infectious disease, sexual abuse and distribution of pornography by a Czech court in December 2015. He faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison if convicted.

The suspect has been in Thailand since July 2015, according to immigration records.

According to the Interpol notice, which was not posted publicly, Zdenek was informed that he was infected with HIV in 2013 and instructed to prevent his disease from spreading to others.

“Nevertheless, between half of the year 2013 and half of the year 2015 in ten cases he had unprotected sexual intercourse with many men and he did not inform his sexual partners that he suffered from AIDS,” the document said. “At least in one case he infected his sexual partner.”

It also alleged he had made child pornography.

“One of the men was a minor and the wanted person paid him money for sexual intercourse with him and recorded the intercouse in order to make a pornography,” it said.

Pongdetch said police are searching for Zdenek’s whereabouts, as there is no record of him leaving Thailand so far.

But, the officer said, he might have departed over an uncontrolled location.

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