Banana Boats, Parasails Banned From Samet Beaches

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18 November 2016, 13:54

KOH SAMET — The sight of beach-goers bouncing along the surf atop a large, yellow inflatable may be a thing of the past.

A reshuffle of park officials to cut corruption has led to a raft of new rules announced Friday for the party island of Samet, a popular Bangkok escape, including a ban on banana boating and parasailing near the beach.

The island is part of a marine national park, and in addition to banning beach activities in the Khao Laem Ya – Mu Ko Samet National Park, all illegal piers must be demolished with boats only allowed to stop at the official pier operated by Rayong provincial authorities.

“The boats used to drop tourists off directly at the beach in front of the resorts. It was not well-organized and could lead to accidents,” said Prayoon Pongphan, the new boss of Koh Samet national park. “Also it was difficult for authorities to collect entrance fees for the island reliably.”

Read: Business Owners Decry Koh Samet Nightlife Curfew

Prayoon was appointed to head the park in September after a mass transfer of 80 officials to combat organized crime operations which demand money from businesses such as banana boat operators, masseuses and fire dancers.

Those removed were accused of corruption and colluding with business operators on the island.

The illegal piers reportedly brought in 200,000 baht every month to island officials, who also used them to pocket 40 percent park of entry fees, according Natthaphol Rattanaphan of the Marine National Park Department.

After the relocation of staff, Samet national park saw an increase of 4.8 million baht in revenues last month, four times what was collected in the same period a year ago, Natthaphol added.

He said the policy is also to change the image of the island from party island where people come to drink and dance on Silver Sands Beach to an ecotourism destination.

Despite the ban on banana boats and parasailing near the beach, Prayoon said they only have the authority to regulate what goes on inside park boundaries.

“It covers only a few kilometers [offshore],” he said Friday. “If they go further than that, we can’t forbid them.”

Prayoon said the golf carts operated on the island would also be removed by year’s end.

Those renting jet skis, motorcycles and speed boats will need to win permission from the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department to operate.

Asked if there was any concerns about capacity by reducing access to just one pier, Prayoon said he believed it would be sufficient to serve visitors.

Slay Some Tacos at New Asoke Mexican Joint

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Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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18 November 2016, 13:21

BANGKOK — In need of autentico Mexican street food with a south-beach summer vibe? Head down to the Asoke area where a chef from Mexico City is opening a new taqueria later this month.

Slanted Tacos will open its doors to a rustic interior dominated by an Aztlan-proud mural next week to Mexican-cuisine foodies. Chef Jorge Bernal will bring a wide range of Mexican appetizers and classics such as burritos, enchiladas, fajitas and more. Expect to swim in tequila and margaritas as well.

The official opening party starts at 6pm on Nov. 25. Slanted Taco is located on Soi Sukhumvit 23 in the same complex as Craft Bangkok and Whisgars.

Cash ‘Flow’ Issues Force Bangkok Surfing Joint Out of Business

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Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter

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18 November 2016, 13:07

A competitor at the Flow Jam Bangkok competition in June. Photo: Flow House Bangkok / Facebook

BANGKOK — Urban surfers got bad news as Flow House Bangkok, the capital’s only beach club and surfing center, has announced it will close later this month.

Citing financial difficulties, Flow House Bangkok announced recently it would close its doors Nov. 27 after four years of offering simulated surfing and community space to more than 56,000 guests.

Flow House hosted several surf competitions such as the annual flowboarding competitions and Asia Flow Tour’s Thai qualifiers.

Chang Surf Bar, a surf-theme sports bar and restaurant which opened in 2015 on the second floor, will also shut down.

Flow House’s closure will leave only two wave-machine equipped surf houses in the kingdom: Surf House Phuket and Cartoon Network’s Amazone Waterpark in Pattaya.

Members and customers holding vouchers are encouraged to use them before its closure. The remaining hours in Flow Cards can be shared with friends, but refund isn’t offered.

Newbies are still welcome to try it out during its closing week between 2pm and 11pm. It is located in the A-Square mall on Soi Sukhumvit 26 and can be reached from BTS Phrom Phong by a motorbike or taxi.

Pattani Car Bomb Destroys Gas Station, Injures 3

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Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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18 November 2016, 12:23

Security officers comb the wreckage of a gas station for evidence Friday morning after it was hit by a car bomb.

PATTANI — A car packed with explosives detonated at a gas station Thursday night in Pattani, wounding at least three people.

Although no one claimed responsibility for the attack and police having yet to identify any suspects, the province and its neighboring region are home to separatists who have often staged bombing and arson attacks.

“We are still investigating,” Col. Montri Kongwatmai, chief of Yaring police, said Friday when asked about the assailants. “No one has been arrested so far. Our investigators are having a meeting.”

He said they were revising their security plans in response to the attack.

Police said someone left a vehicle reported stolen in August at the gas station before another motorcycle picked him up and fled the scene. The explosion had a blast radius of 50 meters, obliterating the gas station and damaging nearby buildings. Initial reports said that five civilians were injured but that had been revised to three by Friday morning. No fatalities were reported, Montri said.

Police estimate the car bomb caused at least 2 million baht in damages.

At least 6,500 people have been killed since the separatist violence broke out in early 2004, according to a 2015 estimate by Deep South Watch. Most of those killed have been civilians.

Despite calls from authorities and civil rights groups to respect humanitarian rules of war, suspected separatist attacks on civilians and other soft targets have spiked in recent months.

Regime’s Southern Overtures Met With 19 Attacks, 3 Deaths

Teacher Shot Dead at Pattani School

Pickpocket Gang Targeting Foreigners Busted

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Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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18 November 2016, 12:12

Suspected members of a pickpocket gang caught on film robbing a Japanese tourist on Feb. 22 in Soi Sukhumvit 24.

BANGKOK — Three suspected members of a pickpocket gang which targeted foreigners were arrested Thursday night in the Lat Phrao district.

Kissada “Oat” Sawasdee, 33, Panthagarn “O” Watsola, 20, and Chakrapan “Yin” Ngamwong, 20, were wanted for mugging a Japanese tourist earlier this year. Chakrapan was apprehended in Soi Lat Phrao 71, while the other two turned themselves in.

The trio allegedly injured Shinichi Kowaguchi on Feb. 22 in Soi Sukhumvit 24 when they snatched his bag.

Lat Phrao police investigators said there were six people in the gang, who worked the streets on motorcycles and frequently switched roles.

Thursday’s arrest came after police raided a phone shop in the Huai Khwang district and arrested Pornthep Kitchaisophon and Uranee Chayaniwanit, who they accuse of fencing the gang’s loot.

Officers seized 23 mobile phones.

The other three gang members are still on the run. Lt. Col. Jirakit Jarunapat said police have applied for arrest warrants but would not disclose their names.

“They had a whole operation running. We want to clean up the whole system!” Jirakit said.

Kissada, Panthagarn, and Chakrapan said that they had been running the pickpocketing operation and committed hundreds of thefts, sometimes injuring victims, in the Thonglor, Thung Maha Mek, Wat Prayakrai, and Lat Phrao areas.

Panthagarn and Chakrapan and the members on the lam carried out the pickpocketing, police said. They would snatch bags and dispose of travel documents and the bag itself while fleeing the scene. Police said they would then bring mobile phones to Kissada, who would sell them to Pornthep and Uranee and split the earnings with the gang.

The mobile phone shop owners have been charged with buying stolen goods, and the three gang members will be charged with running a criminal enterprise.

Murder Suspect’s Mistress Told to Say His Wife Was Dead

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Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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18 November 2016, 11:44

Yaakov Shimon Sakira Bitton, 50, Saturday arrested for the murder of Eliyahu Cohen, who he buried under concrete.

BANGKOK — Testimony from those who knew a man accused of murdering a fellow Israeli and suspected in the disappearance of his wife is yielding more questions than answers for police.

Investigators on Thursday evening interviewed another mistress of Yaakov Bitton, identified as only as Pla, who said he instructed her to tell people that his wife, who went missing a year ago, was dead.

Since the discovery of 63-year-old Eliyahu Cohen’s poorly concealed body at Bitton’s home Saturday revealed involvement in a previous murder, investigators have been trying to figure out what happened to his wife Nantiya Saengurai, whose family believes he killed.

Read: More Bodies in Israeli Murder Suspect’s Past

Pla, 32, said she met Bitton in July 2015 and soon started living with him before eventually leaving due to conflicts with him and his son, who police have said helped murder Cohen.

Pla told police she never met Nantiya and only knew she was the mother of Bitton’s son. She did they that Bitton instructed her to tell anyone who asked about Nantiya that she had died of cancer.

On Wednesday police also questioned an ex-wife of Bitton, who said she had no knowledge of Nantiya or her whereabouts.

Police also spoke to three relatives of Nantiya which Col. Arun Vachirasrisukanya said “revealed no further clues.” All said they last saw her in April 2015 when she visited her hometown.

The police have also reached out to the Thai consulate in Laos for help in finding Nantiya, who was once arrested at the Nong Khai border crossing for allegedly transporting drugs.

Myanmar Anti-Muslim Buddhist Monk: Trump ‘Similar to Me’

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Associated Press

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18 November 2016, 11:31

Ashin Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, is interviewed last year at his monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar. Photo: Aung Naing Soe / Associated Press

MANDALAY, Myanmar — Shunned by Myanmar’s new government and its Buddhist hierarchy, a nationalist monk blamed for whipping up at times bloody anti-Muslim fervor said he feels vindicated by U.S. voters who elected Donald Trump to be president.

Ashin Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, drew parallels between his views on Islam and those of the Republican president-elect. Trump’s campaign was rife with anti-Muslim rhetoric and proposals that included banning Muslims from entering the country and heightening surveillance of mosques. The form his actual policies will take remains unclear.

“We were blamed by the world, but we are just protecting our people and country,” Wirathu said. “… The world singled us out as narrow-minded. But as people from the country that is the grandfather of democracy and human rights elected Donald Trump, who is similar to me in prioritizing nationalism, there will be less finger-pointing from the international community.”

He even floated the idea of cooperating with nationalist groups in the U.S.

“In America, there can be organizations like us who are protecting against the dangers of Islamization. Those organizations can come to organizations in Myanmar to get suggestions or discuss,” he said in an interview at his monastery in Mandalay on Nov. 12.

“Myanmar doesn’t really need to get suggestions from other countries. But they can get ideas from Myanmar.”

Wirathu has been accused of inciting violence with hate-filled, anti-Islamic rhetoric in this Southeast Asian, Buddhist-majority country of about 55 million. Buddhist-led riots left more than 200 people dead in 2012 and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, most of them Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine state.

Anti-Rohingya sentiment remains high in Myanmar. Members of the ethnic group are widely considered to have immigrated illegally from nearby Bangladesh, though many Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

At the same time, Wirathu’s influence has weakened in the past year. He threw his support behind the military-backed government ahead of elections in November 2015, only to see the former ruling party fall to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in a landslide.

In July, a senior NLD official in Yangon said that Ma Ba Tha, also known as the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, was not needed. Calls for the official to be disciplined went unanswered. In the same month, the country’s official Buddhist clergy publicly distanced itself from the group.

“Ma Ba Tha fades with barely a whimper,” read a headline in the English-language Myanmar Times in August.

Wirathu said he has no plans of fading into obscurity.

“This government doesn’t want our Ma Ba Tha,” he said, seated behind a desk in a saffron robe as several aides took photos and video of his pronouncements. But the NLD’s attempt to thwart the group will be “hard for them,” he added, as Ma Ba Tha is not breaking any laws.

“Currently, we are waiting and looking at the situation as this government has only been here a short time and they don’t know how to manage,” he said. “So we are not doing anything like campaigning or protesting to impact the government. But we will hold meetings, issue statements, help in our role.”

For example, he said, his members have been distributing food in northern Rakhine state.

Scores of Rohingya and some Myanmar troops have been killed in northern Rakhine since suspected militants attacked border posts last month, killing nine police officers. Rohingya activists say innocent villagers are being killed, but the government says it is only fighting “violent attackers.” International media and aid groups have been kept away.

Story: Joe Freeman

‘Fantastic Beasts’ Promising, Not Yet Potter-Magical

By

Associated Press

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18 November 2016, 11:28

Film Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Eddie Redmayne, left, and Katherine Waterston in a scene from, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." (Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. via AP)

Xenophobia. Prejudice. Oppression.

Who’s up for a little escapism at the multiplex?

J.K. Rowling, embarking on her new, post-Potter blockbuster franchise with “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” has said herself that her screenplay, which she began several years ago, was informed by world events — particularly, she noted, a rise in populism around the globe.

And so there’s definitely some darkness in “Fantastic Beasts,” despite its being a family film, complete with the sweetest little beasts (and bigger ones) imaginable — expect to see your kid melt forthwith over the lovable jewelry-imbibing Niffler (It’s stunning how many carats he can consume without gaining weight.)

But there’s also a refreshingly light tone competing with the sinister themes, thanks especially to two exceedingly appealing supporting characters headed for a sweet confection of a romance.

But first, the title: Harry Potter fans will know that “Fantastic Beasts” was a required text for Harry and his Hogwarts mates. That little book has now become the seed of a franchise — there are FOUR films to come — based on its author, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a wizard Magizoologist with a mop haircut, a bashful grin, and one fabulous briefcase.

Why is this briefcase so great? Well, it’s magic, like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. But while Mary basically pulled out room furnishings, Scamander has not only a menagerie of fantastical creatures, but seemingly a whole mini-planet in there to house them.

We start with Scamander just off the boat in 1926 New York, a few years before the Great Depression. Director David Yates, of the last four Potter films, has clearly spared no expense in creating this Jazz Age Big Apple, from the grand skyscrapers and period automobiles to Colleen Atwood’s delicious costumes, to of course the endlessly inventive CGI beasts.

It’s not the best time for a young wizard and his pets to be arriving. Magical folk have gone undercover. Among the No-Majs (that’s American for Muggles, or humans), zealots from the Second Salemers (as in Salem Witch Trials) are looking to destroy wizards and witches.

So the wizards’ governing body, MACUSA, is suppressing all magical beasts, lest they expose the wizards. It’s particularly inconvenient when Newt’s creatures are accidentally set loose across the city.

It becomes a race against time for Newt and three companions to rescue them and save the city from an undefined, sinister force. These companions are Tina (Katherine Waterston), an ambitious but well-meaning MACUSA investigator; Jacob (Dan Fogler), an amiable, portly No-Maj baker who gets caught up in it all; and Queenie, Tina’s mind-reading, sweetly sensitive sister (Alison Sudol).

Also in the mix: Percival Graves (Colin Farrell, in an undefined role), the mysterious director of MACUSA, and zealot Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton). And there’s one more big star — bigger than all — who makes a late appearance. (We won’t spoil it here — feel free to Google.)

It’s all entertaining, lovely, expertly done. Why then does it feel as if something’s missing? Perhaps it’s our inescapable urge to compare it to the Potter phenomenon.

Or perhaps it’s that Harry was, well, a kid, who we watched grow up. “Fantastic Beasts” is obviously more of an adult story. Redmayne is charming, though less commanding than in some other roles. He has nice charisma with the winsomely earnest Waterston. But the real chemistry is between Fogler and Sudol, an unlikely couple eyeing each other coyly across the Wizard/No-Maj chasm.

Then there are the beasts — not just Niffler, but Bowtruckle, Erumpent, Murtlaf and Mooncalf, to name a few. Here, Rowling delivers as only she can. “I don’t think I’m dreaming,” Jacob says. “I ain’t got the brains to make this up.”

Other than Rowling, who really does?

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “some fantasy action violence.” Running time: 133 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Philippine Dictator Marcos to be Buried at Heroes’ Cemetery

By

Associated Press

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18 November 2016, 11:17

Ferdinand Marcos takes the Oath of Office for a second term before Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion on December 30, 1969. Photo: Philippine Presidential Museum and Library / Wikimedia Commons

MANILA — Ferdinand Marcos is set to be buried at a heroes’ cemetery Friday in a secrecy-shrouded ceremony despite growing opposition after the Supreme Court ruled last week that one of Asia’s most infamous tyrants can be entombed in the cemetery, police officials said.

Police Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde said authorities finalized the burial plans with the Marcos family Thursday, adding the former president’s remains were flown by helicopter from his northern Ilocos Norte hometown for the burial in the military-run cemetery in metropolitan Manila around noon Friday.

Albayalde said there will only be a simple ceremony.

“There will be no state funeral. It will be very simple, the body will be carried on a hearse then brought to his tomb,” Albayalde said.

Still, the highly secretive funeral plan shocked many pro-democracy advocates and human rights victims who planned several protests nationwide Friday to oppose the burial at the cemetery, where former presidents, soldiers and national artists have been interred, unaware that funeral plans for the dictator were already underway.

The burial of a former dictator blamed for thousands of deaths, disappearances and torture of left-wing activists and anti-government politicians during his time in power is a deeply emotional issue that has divided the poor Southeast Asian nation.

Leftwing activist Bonifacio Ilagan, who was tortured and detained during Marcos’s time, protested the secretive funeral plans and said Marcos was being buried “like a thief in the night.”

Website Shutdowns Soar After King’s Death

By

Associated Press

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18 November 2016, 11:06

A blocked website shows a notice from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society with the message, 'This website contains content and information that is deemed inappropriate. It has been censored by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society' on Nov. 17. Photo: Associated Press

BANGKOK — Authorities cracking down on online insults to the royal family following the recent death of their king pressed Google and Facebook for help as they shut down 1,300-plus websites last month – more than they had in the previous five years combined, according to records released exclusively to The Associated Press.

While the nation has collectively grieved since the Oct. 13 passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the government has also focused on eliminating online remarks it deems offensive to the late monarch, his queen or his heir-apparent, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Thailand’s lese majeste law, the world’s toughest, makes defaming any of the three a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Read: Why Thailand Should Worry About an Improved(?) Computer Crime Act

Since the king’s death, Thailand has charged more than 20 people with making anti-royalty statements, requested deportations of suspects from at least seven countries and attempted to wipe out content it finds offensive from websites and social media.

“The amount of content restricted in Thailand under these laws is absolutely of concern, particularly as the lese majeste provisions are used to stifle legitimate dissent, both through blocking and content removal,” said Madeline Earp, who researches Asian internet censorship for the nonprofit Freedom House.

The military says the lese majeste law is necessary to safeguard the monarchy and national security.

Data compiled by the Ministry of Defense’s support group and released to the AP shows that the government shut down 1,370 websites in October, more than the 1,237 shut down in the previous five years. Just two had been shut down in September.

Thailand orders the country’s internet service providers to block offensive websites. Users who click on them see only a government seal and a statement in Thai: “This website contains content and information that is deemed inappropriate. It has been censored by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.”

Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong said the government has set up a team to quickly control online content.

“Thais have been attacked by websites that twist the truth,” Prajin said.

The approach is different for Google, Facebook and other online and social media platforms based outside of Thailand. Prajin said he has contacted those companies and asked them to monitor and remove content that could insult the monarchy.

Prajin said Google and Facebook agreed. Both companies dispute that, and say they are only responding to complaints brought to them rather than actively seeking content offensive to the monarchy.

“We have never provided account information or content of any Facebook user to the government of Thailand, nor do we proactively monitor people’s content or conversations for potential violations of local law,” Facebook spokesman Tim Inthirakoth said after his company met with Prajin on Thursday.

Google said that last year it removed 1,331 items at the request of Thai authorities, up from 74 items in 2014. Facebook said it had five requests related to criminal cases in 2015 and didn’t produce data for any of them. Facebook and Google refused to release how many requests they’ve had since the king’s death, saying they will publish that in their regular biannual online reports.

Thailand has long censored online content deemed insulting to the monarchy, but has done so more frequently since a military coup ousted an elected government in late May of 2014. According to the Ministry of Defense data, the junta censored 974 websites in its first two years, more than three times as many as the prior government censored in its last two years.

Thai authorities are thought to be particularly concerned with websites with content about Vajiralongkorn, the 64-year-old designated heir to the throne who lacks the popularity of his father. The public at large has long traded rumors about Vajiralongkorn’s finances, hot temper and other matters. Three stormy marriages are a matter of public record. But critical news reports from abroad about Vajiralongkorn are commonly blocked in Thailand.

Thailand remains somber in many ways more than a month after the death of Bhumibol, who was 88 and the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Millions continue to dress in black or white every day, boisterous events have been canceled and mourners are flocking by the tens of thousands to pay their respects at the Royal Palace.

Online, for the first 30 days many websites and Facebook pages were also without color. Even Google’s trademark red, green, blue and yellow search box was, in Thailand, simply monochrome.

Daphne Keller at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society said internet companies doing business in countries with laws restricting speech know they will be expected to comply with the rules. One common means of doing so without deleting lawful speech elsewhere is to offer country-specific versions of services, like YouTube Thailand, said Keller.

“The company can then honor national law on the version of the service that is targeted to, and primarily used in, that country,” she said.

Emma Llanso, who directs the Free Expression Project at the Washington, D.C., based Center for Democracy and Technology, said internet companies have to grapple with how to respond when told to shut down websites.

“This is a perfect example of the kinds of conflicts that make it difficult to protect freedom of speech in the digital age,” she said.

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