BANGKOK — A 44-year-old man fell from an escalator to the basement-level floor of the Siam Paragon shopping mall Friday night.
At about 8:40pm Friday, Samret Sangteerapeetikul fell from the third floor of the popular mall. He was critically injured and was taken for treatment at the Police Hospital.
Police were investigating and questioning witnesses.
Update: Man Dies After Jumping From Siam Paragon Escalator
BANGKOK — Thai Muslims expressed condemnation Friday in the capital and Deep South for the ongoing clashes in western Burma which have killed an estimated 80 ethnic Rohingya.
More than 70 people gathered at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok at a protest organized by the official agency representing Muslims in Thailand. Hundreds of people also joined in prayer at a mosque in the southern border province of Pattani in solidarity with the Rohingya, a Muslim-majority ethnic group once described by the United Nations as among the most persecuted people on earth.
Protesters dispersed from the peaceful protest after an embassy representative accepted their petition, according to local police station chief Pongsak Sapla-or, who did not want to describe it as a protest.
“They were there to submit a petition. There was no protest,” Col. Pongsak said. “They asked the Myanmar government to stop using violence against the Rohingya.”
The Central Mosque of Pattani also hosted a mass prayer for Rohingya communities in Burma. After the ceremony was over, Waedueramae Mamingi, director of Pattani’s Central Islamic Committee, read a statement urging the Burmese government to stop persecuting the Rohingyas, and to grant them equal protection to Burmese citizens.
He also asked the ASEAN member governments to work with Myanmar to bring about the end of violence.
Around 80 people have died in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine since the latest conflict erupted, according to several rights group.
Burmese security forces have been accused of engaging in a state-sanctioned campaign of torching communities and sexual violence against the Rohingya. Little reliable information is available as the military has barred journalists and aid workers from entering the region.
BANGKOK — Security officials in the Deep South say two men suspected of involvement with violent unrest were killed in a shootout with police and soldiers who had been tracking them.
Police Deputy Inspector Weeradech Sukjroong said the two killed Friday in Yala province had been subjects of several arrest warrants in connection with violent events attributed to Muslim separatists.
More than 6,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency flared in 2004 in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist country.
Read: Authorities Play Down Fears of ISIS in Thailand
Police in Narathiwat province in a separate incident on Friday disarmed an improvised explosive device found in an irrigation ditch. They suspect it was meant to be placed beside the road to detonate when a government patrol passed by.
The region is heavily garrisoned with soldiers and police, but they have been unable to diminish roadside bombings and drive-by shootings. The government and representatives of some insurgent factions have been holding preliminary peace talks in neighboring Malaysia this year, with little effect on the fighting.
The insurgents are loyal to several groups whose main goals appear to be some form of political autonomy. They are not generally seen as embracing the sort of extremism found among Islamists in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, though concerns have been raised over whether Islamic State was winning followers among Thai Muslims.
HANOI — Vietnamese authorities have seized 619 kilograms (1,362 pounds) of ivory illegally shipped in from Africa after finding 4 tons at the same port over the past two months, state media and an official said Friday.
The ivory seized Thursday had been hidden in two containers arriving at Cat Lai port in southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the city’s Customs newspaper said.
Le Dinh Loi, the city’s deputy customs chief confirmed the report, but did not give more details Friday.
The Customs newspaper said the smugglers used more sophisticated tactics than previous shipments by packing wax around the ivory when it is sealed inside emptied-out timber, and then using wood nails instead of metal ones to trick any X-ray checks.
The seizure came just a week after leaders and senior officials from more than 40 countries met at an international conference on illegal wildlife trade in Hanoi, which was attended by Britain’s Prince William.
The conference called for stepped-up efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade.
At the conference, Prince William, who is president of United for Wildlife, praised Vietnam, China and other Asian countries for taking steps to battle wildlife trafficking, but said rhinos, elephants, pangolins and tigers are still being killed in horrifying numbers.
He said the international community is not moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis.
Vietnam is one of the world’s major transit points and consumers of ivory and rhino horn.
Elephant ivory is used as jewelry and home decorations in Vietnam, which bans hunting of its own dwindling population of elephants.
BANGKOK — Roughly a month before the junta moved van services from Victory Monument to other sites, Boonsong Srisakul said his vans ferried 2,600 passengers between Bangkok and a market town on the Cambodian border. In the month after the change, the number dropped to 600.
Boonsong said Friday that other operators of interprovincial vans connecting Bangkok with the rest of the nation for many, are deeply hurting ever since the junta sent them packing from the central location at Victory Monument to three bus terminals across the city.
“If we have to stay here for just one more month, we may have to stop running the vans,” said Boonsong, who also chairs a business association of the van operators. “We are not protesting. But we can’t make a living.”
Read: How to Find the Victory Monument Vans (Now That They’re Gone)
The military junta said relocating the vans was necessary to reduce traffic around the busy monument roundabout and bring order to a city known for its transport chaos. Boonsong submitted a petition to the junta on Thursday asking it reconsider the policy.
A regime spokesman said Friday the policy is working, at least for the public.
“It’s just one perspective from business operators,” Col. Winthai Suvaree said. “The people who travel around in the city also benefit, but they might not have told the media.”
Traffic does seem reduced around Victory Monument, but the reviews from passengers are mixed. Some have complained of once-simple transfers at the monument now requiring time-consuming and costly trips across town.
More than 4,000 vans servicing destinations up to 300 kilometers from Bangkok were ordered out from the longtime transit hub on Oct. 25. A previous attempt to move them to an area near Airport Rail Link Makkasan failed.
Winthai said the plan was deliberated upon by experts at the Land Transport Department and backed by data.
“We wouldn’t have carried out the policy if we weren’t guaranteed success,” Col. Winthai said.
But Boonsong said the plan is taking a toll on not only van operators but on the passengers who would have otherwise benefited from the more convenient location of Victory Monument.
Elderly people who have regular appointments at Rajavithi Hospital, just opposite the iconic roundabout, can no longer get there on their own. Employees who live in the neighboring provinces and work in downtown Bangkok have to add hours to their travel time to find vans at the far-flung bus terminals, Boonsong said. Students from nearby provinces, who used to travel back to their homes at day’s end now have to rent dorms.
In the petition he submitted Thursday, Boonsong suggested a compromise: Let the vans park in empty lots under the expressways around the Victory Monument.
“If we can do that, it would benefit all three sides,” the businessman said. “Firstly, the government could rent out the spaces under expressways and make money. Secondly, passengers benefit by saving travel time and cost. And thirdly, van operators won’t go out of business.”
He said the government representative who accepted his petition was understanding and promised to take the matter to relevant agencies for consideration.
“I’m simply asking for some consideration from the authorities,” Boonsong said. “I’m still hopeful, based on the discussion yesterday.”
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Top: Adesse Versions / Courtesy
In the post-Dubstep era of 2012, many producers in other scenes experimented with fusing the heavy bass lines of Dubstep with Garage, House and Techno. This led to what we now call Bass music.
There’s one tune in particular from those days that has never left my record box. Released with only a mysterious white label stamped “Adesse Versions,” its wasn’t your typical club-style track, but a hybrid of pulsating subsonic baselines fused with frantic hi-hats and half-tempo 808 claps. To this day it stands out amongst the tunes that I have collected from that era.
On it was a remix of a Jack Master track called “Bang the Box.” As I would later find, Adesse Versions was the alias for UK producer Kevin Gorman, who since 2001 has released club bangers on labels such as Numbers, Cocoon and Berghain’s Ostgut Ton.
Adesse Versions started as a re-edits project but has since mushroomed into something much bigger than expected. His complex, cut-and-paste style of beat-making has earned him praise from dance music’s big wigs such as Derrick May, Larry Heard and Giles Peterson.
As a treat for his fans in Bangkok, Adesse Versions will touch down Dec. 3 to work his magic on Whiteline’s upper floor, late-night haunt at Safe Room. (There used to be a giant bank safe in there). The jammy jam is organized by DJ Jaydubb of Disco Robot fame and is part of his “get a room” series. I should say that I’ll be a support DJ alongside Jaydubb, in the interests of full disclosure.
“Some parties you hear about afterwards, but never get to go to. We try hard to throw that kind of party and have you live to tell the tale,” Jaydubb said. Since relocating here from New Zealand in 2010 he’s been busy in the underground booking DJs such as NYC house legend John Morales, Trus’Me and Alton Miller.
This will be the second time Adesse Versions has played the Thai capital. The first was four years ago at Grease.
“It was a great little jam for those ‘in the know,’ maybe a bit too early for a critical mass of BKK-folks to appreciate the quality of this visitor” Jaydubb said.
When Adesse was here, he told Jaydubb that he “wasn’t really all that keen on disco.”
“He shared this collection of tracks with me that he produced but never released, which were mashups of classic ‘80s boogie/disco songs with ‘90s mainstream rap, R’n’B, vocals,” Jaydubb recounted. “Sounds awful, right? And I hate mashups, but these were so skillfully done and fit so perfectly, I still play them out to this day.”
Tickets for Get a Room are 250 baht at the door but word is Whiteline is unsure about closing its time and there could be a change in venue. So be sure to check for updates via the ‘Get a room’ facebook event page. Stay safe folks.
Until next time, Dub be good to you.
BANGKOK — Shopping to save the nation returns for another year this holiday season and may be extended to a full month, the Finance Ministry announced Thursday.
For the third year running, the military government will issue a “New Year’s gift to the people,” expected this time to take the form of a tax deduction first issued last year. The interim cabinet is expected to approve the plan officials hope will get people in a spending mood and raise tax revenues, a deputy finance Minister said.
“Without this policy, there may be less spending,” Wisut Srisuphan said.
For 2015, the military government offered tax rebates for goods and services costing up to 15,000 baht purchased in the last week of the year. For 2016, they have signaled it could be extended to 15 days or possibly a full month.
The ministry has already approved a suspension of import duties on cosmetics to stimulate spending. That’s expected to be in effect February and March, according to Somchai Sujjapongse, permanent secretary of finance.
Somchai said he hoped the policy will help push the year’s weak economic growth in the last fiscal quarter.
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NONG KHAI — Police on Friday were awaiting the return of a suspected German loan shark to his home in the north of Thailand where he is accused of conducting an illegal loan operation.
Police and military officers raided the home of 55-year-old Wolfdieter Werner Mueller in Nong Khai province after residents went to police complaining he charged exorbitant interest fees.
However, Mueller was nowhere to be found – he had just flown to Phuket a few hours earlier from the Udon Thani International Airport. Police said they didn’t know if Mueller had been tipped off about the raid.
At the home, police only found his girlfriend, 40-year-old Hatairat Silasit. Police said she was cooperative when they served her with a search warrant. Police said they found a large number of loan documents, account books and computer files indicating Mueller was issuing loans to a large number of people.
“Folks said if he loaned out 10,000 baht, he would charge 20,000 in interest and threaten the borrowers if they didn’t pay it back,” said police Col. Pallop Suriyakul na Ayutthaya. “People around there can’t afford to pay him back.”
He said Mueller would make loans ranging from a few thousand baht to 20,000 baht.
According to Hatairat, Mueller was visiting a friend in Phuket and would return Sunday. The girlfriend of two years also said that she was uninvolved in his activities. Police didn’t buy that and are charging her with being an accessory to the crime.
Pallop said police were prepared to arrest Mueller on three charges: working illegally without a permit, making illegal loans and usury. It is also illegal for foreigners to loan money to Thais.
BANGKOK — The interim parliament will convene for a special session on Tuesday to be televised nationwide.
National Legislative Assembly chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai on Friday announced the session was ordered by the military government but did not specify a topic for the meeting. His deputy, Peerasak Porjit, said all lawmakers were instructed not to make any travel plans that day.
The meeting will start at 11am.
Media are not allowed to speculate on the purpose of the session.
PRACHINBURI — More than 30 residents of Prachinburi’s Si Maha Phot district were hospitalized Thursday night by a factory chemical spill.
A factory belonging to Sunshine Biotech International released large clouds of sulfuric acid into the air which spread to the neighboring households, sickening those inside.
Many suffered from skin rashes, had difficulty breathing and vomited blood. They were sent to Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital, according to police Col. Narat Rattanajinda.
About 100 angry residents protested at the factory located in the 304 Industrial Park on Thursday night, demanding its closure. They said it was not the first time the corrosive gas leaked.
Whether the factory is closed or faces any legal sanction depends on the outcome of a meeting Friday morning in which the provincial governor participated.
According to its website, Sunshine Biotech is a joint venture between Thailand and China that manufactures citric acid.
