Thais hold portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit as they pray outside of the Grand Palace during the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of his accession to the throne on June 9 in Bangkok. Photo: Sakchai Lalit / Associated Press
BANGKOK — Her Majesty the Queen was diagnosed Thursday night with lung inflammation, a palace statement said.
Queen Sirikit, 84, had a high fever Tuesday, prompting doctors to give her an X-ray and discovering the inflammation, according to the statement. Her Majesty remains under doctors’ care at Chulalongkorn Hospital, but was said to be recovering.
“Today Her Majesty’s fever decreased, her respiration is good and she eats well,” it said.
Queen Sirikit is the wife of His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol, who died on Oct. 13 at 88, ending his reign as the longest-ruling monarch in Thai history.
Due to her frail health, Her Majesty has spent much of the past years at Siriraj Hospital, where her husband was also treated for a number of illnesses.
She has rarely been seen in public since her hospitalization, but she was glimpsed in the motorcade that transported King Bhumibol’s body from Siriraj Hospital to the Grand Palace on Oct. 14.
BANGKOK —Rewind to the ‘90s with Oasis, Spice Girls, Pulp and more with Dudesweet and friends next month
Dudesweet will unleash a sentimental blast from the past at a party featuring DJs such as American dance DJ Tee Skrillex along with house DJs GayAim, The Panlert Twins, Nut Lullabar and Mr. Note himself.
The party will mix its ‘90s genres with some R&B and hip-hop on the first floor; and alternative rock, grunge and live Oasis and Spice Girls covers flooding the second. Rave out on the third floor to trance, rave and Drum ‘n Bass.
The party is 20 and up.
The period party perfectionists are not allowing mobile phones or digital cameras inside to preserve the authenticity (Millennials: They didn’t exist yet). And no big eye contact lenses. To capture the retro moment, a special zine called “Third World Times” will be distributed.
Tickets are 600 baht. Advanced tickets are available at 400 baht and can be bought via Ticketmelon.
The party starts at 9 pm on Dec. 16 at Whiteline at Soi Silom 8. The nearest rail stop is BTS Chong Nonsi.
BANGKOK — For the past year, Wirada Saelim lived under a cloud of anxiety that she and her colleagues would be tried as criminals for doing journalism about a community poisoned by a gold mine.
On Wednesday the court dismissed the charges against them brought by the mine operator who had pressed charges not only under the usual defamation claim, but an unrelated law from a decade ago meant to fight cyber phishing and other online scammers.
Because the 25-year-old journalist’s news organization, Thai PBS, had uploaded the segment to YouTube, they were sued under the 2007 Computer Crime Act, a law which has veered from its original purpose to become a crippling weapon against online speech used by corporations, the government and private parties to prosecute and silence journalists, watchdogs, human rights defenders, dissidents and more.
Under the vaguely written law, people have been prosecuted for everything from posting their opinions in comments, sharing others’ posts on Facebook, promoting research later picked up by the news media, or even just messages sent over private chat.
Now the controversial law is undergoing amendment, and stakeholders from the business sector to activists and the human rights commission have come forward to insist it be fixed to stop further abuse. But far from fixing the contentious law, its latest draft looks set to further the military regime’s long-held desire to gain unprecedented control of the online sphere.
“The September draft is a lot worse compared to the August one,” said Arthit Suriyawongkul of the Thai Netizen Network, which along with Amnesty International and other groups have petitioned for its change. “While the authorities’ ability to exercise power was extended, the mechanisms to keep check of them was not.”
The amendment process will be finished by March. The man in charge of amending it, police Maj. Gen. Chatchaval Suksomjit, said Wednesday is the last chance for input at a public hearing to be held at the Parliament House.
Until then, concerned parties worry the direction it’s heading would leave the law ripe for abuse by giving more power to the authorities, and at worst, could legally enable mass censorship of the internet.
*2016’s number was collected between January to August
Weapon Against Watchdogs
Earlier this month, British labor rights activist Andy Hall abruptly left Thailand, citing judicial harassment. In September, the only case against him to win a conviction was made possible by the Computer Crime Act. Although Hall published nothing, he contributed data about labor abuses to an NGO which published a report online. A few days after arriving in Paris, Hall learned a new case had been filed against him under the act, this time by a chicken farm where he had exposed labor abuses.
That’s a long way from the Computer Crime Act’s original purpose. Written for a new millennium, it was meant to update the tools for law enforcement to handle crime in the burgeoning online era.
One poorly written clause however is held up by its critics as the main flaw which has allowed it to be bent into a weapon taken up by corporations, the government and private parties to silence speech.
Article 14 was intended to criminalize online scammers, but its broad and vague language has been interpreted as free license to go after all sorts of speech.
“Any person who commits an offense that involves importing into a computer system forged computer data, partially or entirely, or false computer data in a manner that is likely to cause damage to an individual or the public,” it identifies as criminal.
In recent years it has been interpreted to mean any information appearing online or in a computer that someone deems “false.” The Internet Law Reform Dialogue, or iLaw, says it’s been used arbitrarily against activists, whistleblowers and journalists in at least 43 cases.
Online rights activist Arthit said the charge was made possible by the words ““importing data” in Article 14.
Nuttigar, a 43-year-old online marketer, suggested that by the same logic, people could be prosecuted for posting an “only me” Facebook status only they could see.
“The Computer Crime Act has lately been used for political purposes. The government often uses it to prosecute their citizens,” she said, adding that her computer was seized and her passwords demanded without any court warrant or legal charges filed against her.
While those revising the law said they wanted to restore its original purpose to combatting online scams, an updated draft released in September was a step in the wrong direction. While the original law criminalized importing false computer data which threatened national security or caused panic, the new language broadens it to include damaging public safety, domestic economic security, public services or even infrastructure.
“The law has been broadened to be worse,” said Surachet Satitniramai of Thailand’s Human Rights Commission. “It will make people fear expressing their view and censor themselves.”
Nuttigar Woratunyawit is escorted to prison April 29 after bail was denied by the martial court in Bangkok.
New Powers for Police
The September draft would expand data-collection powers to police in all criminal matters.
One main concern for reformists was a clause in the September draft which empowers authorities to compel service providers to hand over data traffic to be inspected, copied, decoded and analyzed, then seize their equipment if they suspect an offense. And it would make this possible in any criminal investigation, not just alleged computer crimes.
“Community webboards such as Pantip.com could be affected,” said Kittirak Moungmingsuk, president of the Open Source Education and Development Association. “If their server is seized, other content unrelated to the crime can also disappear.”
As written in the latest draft, many more websites than those with porn and lese majeste could disappear behind the ICT Ministry’s banner block warning.
It would empower a committee to arbitrarily censor online content. The most surprising part of that, according to Arthit, is that the committee could get a court order to remove or block any content it deems objectionable on moral grounds, even if it is completely legal.
This change prompted the concern among business sector who said it was deeply against junta’s policy to push digital economy. Thai Digital Confederation which consists of people from many professions working mainly on the internet has been petition against it since August.
Chatchaval, the head drafter, said there is nothing for the public to be worried about. He said the language in the draft leaves it up to the courts and appealed to a desire for law and order.
“It’s not like the authorities can just shut things down,” Chatchaval said. “It is a balance. We seek the court’s permission only when it involves a case. What would happen if we have no rules? Should anyone think they can do anything?”
Before the law passes and finally comes into effect, Arthit said he just hopes concerned members of the public will come forward to demand their rights be protected, as the drafters will respond to pressure from the other side of room.
“Authorities taking the national security side may worry that the law should give them enough power,” Arthit said. “Now it depends on whose voice is louder.”
Visitors weave baskets to be floated in the Chao Phraya River on Monday at Santi Chai Prakan Park in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — “Life goes on” was the key message Thailand’s top tourism official conveyed Wednesday night at a public forum on how the country’s tourism is weathering the death of its longest-reigning monarch.
Playing down the impact of His Majesty the Late King’s death on one of the kingdom’s biggest money-makers, Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul recounted her visit to a luxury hotel bar where she saw scenes of leisure returning to normal a month after the government declared a ban on public entertainment, forcing the once free-wheeling capital to go quiet.
“Life goes on,” the minister said at the panel hosted by the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand. “If you’ve been to Bamboo Bar at Mandarin Oriental, you will see there’s still jazz. People ask me, can I drink wine? Yes you can! There was music everywhere.”
Despite dire reports from the private sector, Kobkarn said things are looking up. Festivities are making a comeback just before the year’s end with sport tournaments, jazz festivals and New Year’s Eve parties.
“There will be parties. We are working on big events,” Kobkarn said when asked what to expect Dec. 31. “Certainly something is coming up. What it will look like we don’t know yet. We want to make it memorable.”
Apart from a New Year’s Eve party, authorities are planning more events around the nation.
Bangkok will see a festive end to the year, she said.
“I talked to owners of Siam Paragon and CentralWorld. There will be Christmas trees,” Kobkarn said. “It will be the biggest place for selfie.”
Grim Numbers
A bleak counterpoint to Kobkarn’s exuberant assertions are the numbers coming in from the tourism sector.
Tourism, which by one estimate generated 20.8 percent of the 2015 GDP, took a direct hit from the shutdown. Sa-nga Ruangwattanakul, adviser and former head of the Khaosan Road Business Association, said establishments in the famous backpacker district lost up to 70 percent of revenues last month.
“We had zero revenue in entertainment,” he said at the panel discussion.
There’s also been a drop in European arrivals, he said, citing factors such as economic crises in the West and wariness of political trouble in Thailand.
However, like Kobkarn, Sa-gna expects the situation to improve from November onward. For instance, live bands returned to bars this week, and the tourists are returning, he said.
“We expect to see recovery in November,” said Sa-nga, who’s also CEO of a hotel and bar group on Khaosan Road. “We expect that the total annual revenue will be 20 percent less than last year.”
But whereas the foreign tourist market has improved somewhat, the president of a domestic travel guild said tourism within the kingdom is still in a deep downturn.
“Since His Majesty the King passed away, tourism has slumped. People have postponed their trips or canceled them altogether,” Phuriwat Limthavornrat said Thursday. “For October, [domestic] tourism revenues are almost entirely gone. Almost 100 percent.”
He continued, “Thai people like to have fun. Since they can’t party while they travel, they decide not to go out at all.”
Phuriwat said he thought the situation would improve once the entertainment ban was lifted, but it turned out people aren’t in the mood.
“We predicted that after 30 days, customers would start traveling again, because things would be relaxed,” said Phuriwat, whose tour company saw 15 cancellations throughout October. “But people still feel that it’s not appropriate yet.”
He said domestic tourism will have to wait at least until January to see any meaningful recovery.
De facto leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Kem Sokha (left) seen here with exiled leader Sam Rainsy in 2012 in Manila, Philippines. Photo: VOA / Wikimedia Commons
PHNOM PENH — A Cambodian court has sentenced an opposition lawmaker in absentia to 18 months in prison for suggesting the authorities were involved in the July killing of a popular political analyst who spoke critically of the government.
Judge Ei Thavrak of Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Senator Thak Lany of the Cambodia National Rescue Party guilty Thursday on two charges, defamation and inciting chaos. Thak Lany has been abroad and did not appear at the hearing.
Her conviction is the latest in a series of legal cases against opposition leaders in what is generally seen as an attempt to disrupt their organizing efforts ahead of local elections next June.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has stayed abroad after a defamation conviction against him was reinstated last year.
Shards of methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as crystal meth. Photo: Radspunk / Wikimedia Commons
JAKARTA — An Indonesian court has sentenced an American man to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of drug smuggling.
Philip Russell was sentenced Wednesday by the District Court in Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java.
A court spokesman said Thursday that 56-year-old Russell was arrested with seven other people following a raid in January by the National Narcotics Agency on a furniture workshop in the Central Java town of Jepara. Officers found 97 kilograms (214 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside 54 electrical generators from China that were stored in the workshop. Russell was accused of financing their import.
Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws. More than 140 people are on death row, mostly for drug crimes. Eighteen people have been executed in the past two years for drug violations.
BANGKOK — How Mor Lam can you be? Be among the first to hear and dance to new tracks from a talented Thai folk rock ensemble one night next month at a Thonglor area bar and music venue.
Fresh from performing at the Glastonbury Festival, The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band are ready to deliver their second feature take on mor lam music with “Planet Lam” and will be back in the city that made them famous to celebrate.
The band’s six core members will play old and new tracks, rocking their psychedelic instruments from the bamboo mouth organ Khaen to pear-shaped stringed Phin.
The party will continue until late when DJ Maft Sai and Dangdut Banget perform live, spinning a retro vinyl set.
The event starts at 9pm on Dec. 9 at Studio Lam. Limited to only 100 tickets, they are 400 baht and can be reserved online.
Studio Lam, an extension of Maft Sai’s Zudrangma Records, is an underground music venue just in Soi Sukhumvit 51. It’s a short walk from BTS Thong Lo.
BANGKOK — Don’t have the properly equipped kitchen to braise that Butterball turkey, glaze the ham, stir the cranberry sauce and bake the cornbread – don’t bother.
Our American residents and others inspired by this holiday dedicated to gluttony have a long menu of options to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday next week. From traditional to vegan to fancy, there’s something for everyone.
The Traditionalist – Roadhouse BBQ, Silom
Photo: Roadhouse BBQ Bangkok / Facebook
American bar and restaurant Roadhouse Barbecue promises what may be the closest to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Be welcomed by San Francisco shrimp cocktails and a selection of salads, appetizers and hot dishes. The savory mains include, of course, roast turkey with sage-and-apple stuffing, giblet gravy, grilled salmon and more.
Thanksgiving is not complete without freshly baked pumpkin pie. The buffet starts at 995 baht and goes from noon to 11pm. Get in before 5pm for a 20 percent discount.
Roadhouse Barbecue sits on the corner of Rama IV and Surawong roads and is walkable from MRT Silom or BTS Sala Daeng.
The Fancy Foodie – Little Beast, Thonglor
Photo: Little Beast / Facebook
Expect all the fancy dishes: baked reblochon, bacon-wrapped chicken roulade, foie gras and chestnut stuffing at a French-American gastro bar Little Beast in Thonglor.
See a full list of menu items here. Prices start at 1,800 baht per person. Enjoy the dinner from 7pm until 11pm.
Little Beast is located in Soi Thong Lor 13. The nearest rail station is BTS Thong Lo.
The Clear Conscience – Chomp, Phra Nakhon
Photo: Chomp / Facebook
Good news for vegans and vegetarians: This all-day dining place near Khaosan Road will serve a plentiful home-cooked buffet including many non-meat dishes.
Chomp never disappoints when it comes to casual dining for hearty vegans and vegetarians. The place will serve a four-course Thanksgiving including vegan bacon with garlic bamboo charcoal croutons, a spiced bean pate and barbecue Cajun vegan duck.
Meat lovers can find smoked salmon with cream cheese and stuffed, slow-roasted crispy turkey. Check out the menu online.
Eat all you want for 450 baht per person. Prepare to pay 650 baht if you want your dinner served with special hot mulled wine and a pumpkin-pie martini.
Reservations by Tuesday are required. Chomp is located on Soi Samsen 1.
The Dinner & Movie – Cinema Winehouse, Phra Nakhon
Photo: Cinema Winehouse / Facebook
Across from Chomp, this laid-back diner-shophouse-theater which will serve homestyle Thanksgiving dishes with one carnivorous innovation: the turbaconducken (a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, all wrapped in bacon).
From 7pm to 10pm, Cinema Winehousewill host a Thanksgiving buffet, serving dinner and fixings for 650 baht. Seats are limited to 30, so reserve a table with a 300-baht deposit. As of today they had yet to decide on a movie to show but insisted it will fit the theme.
Cinema Winehouse is located on Soi Samsen 1.
The Sports Fan – The Sportsman Bar
Photo: The Sportsman Sportsbar Bangkok / Facebook
If you like watching sports on Thanksgiving Day, this could be the spot for you.
Munch on a meal while enjoy watching NFL, NBA and NHL games shown live on screens at the The Sportsman Sportsbar, where 99-baht drinks and 199-baht dinner specials will be served.
The sports-theme bar is located on Soi Sukhumvit 13 and is walkable from BTS Nana.
The Ragin’ Cajun – Bourbon Street Bangkok, Ekkamai
Photo: Bourbon Street Bangkok / Facebook
Enjoy a two-hour Thanksgiving buffet at this classic, one-of-a-kind Cajun and Creole restaurant in the Ekkamai area.
From noon to 10:30pm, Bourbon Street Bangkok will offer a special Thanksgiving selection with highlighted jambalaya, oyster soup, crab cake, Cajun deep-fried turkey and a lot more.
Dinner is 900 baht for adults and 500 baht for children. Bourbon Street Bangkok left its longtime mid-Sukhumvit home a few years ago and is now located in Soi Sukhumvit 63.
The Hi-So Traditionalist – City Skyline, Asoke
Photo: City Skyline – American Dinner / Facebook
Head up to the new Asoke’s new American dining venue City Skyline to enjoy a proper home-cooked of turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, green beans, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and more.
Price for adults is 795 baht and 395 baht for children 12 and under.
Reservations are required. City Skyline is located on the first floor of PS Tower in Soi Sukhumvit 21, reachable from BTS Asoke and MRT Sukhumvit.
The Fine Diner – Seasonal Tastes at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Asoke
Photo: The Westin Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok / Facebook
Savor on a multi-dimensional fancy feast at a five-star hotel in the Asoke area from 6pm until 10:30pm.
The Westin Grande Sukhumvit’s signature dining venue Seasonal Tastes will prepare fresh, quality ingredients for lavish and festive a la minute dishes including juicy Fine de Claire oysters, rock lobster, traditional roasted turkey, snow fish, braised lamb leg and a lot more.
Prices are 1,890 baht per person and 700 baht for children 3 to 12. Free-flow soft drinks are included.
Seasonal Tastes sits on the seventh floor of the Westin Grande Sukhumvit which is located across from the Terminal 21 shopping mall. The luxury hotel is a five-minute walk from MRT Sukhumvit and BTS Asoke.
The Rebel – Que Pasa Mexican Restaurant, Pak Kret
Photo: Que Pasa Mexican Restaurant / Facebook
Mexican Thanksgiving? Why not?
Due north of downtown in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district, Que Pasa Mexican Restaurant will host an all-you-can-eat dinner of nearly 15 dishes including roast turkey, honey-baked ham, fresh-baked rolls, green salad with berries and more.
The fiesta starts at 4pm and runs until 8:30pm. Dinner for adults is 895 baht, children 7 to 12 are 395 baht. Niños under 7 can eat for free. Reservations are required.
Leave it to the Americans to conflate fattening foods with their sexual appetites. One day after Thanksgiving, see 10 Playboy Thailand Bunnies and 10 Hooters Girls at AmBar in Four Points Sheraton in Soi Sukhumvit 15. Actually forget the food, this event is just about drinking and looking at girls from 7pm to 2am. Door is 300 baht and includes one drink.
A Siamese fighting fish with colors resembling the Thai national flag swims in a fish tank in 2016 in Nakhon Pathom. Photo: Chuchat Lekdeangyu / Shutter Prince / Associated Press
BANGKOK — A Siamese fighting fish with the colors of the Thai national flag has been bought for a record breaking 53,500 baht in an online auction, making it the most expensive Betta fish ever sold.
Pictures of the fish, with its blue, red and white horizontal stripes mimicking the Thai flag, went viral after its breeder Kachen Worachai posted them on a private Betta fish auction group on Facebook.
Kachen said Thursday he expected someone to buy the fish for a few thousand baht but was shocked when the bid hit 10,000 baht on the second day.
“I never expected my fish to go for this price,” said Kachen, a 40-year-old convenience store owner who breeds Betta fish as a hobby. He posted the pictures on Nov. 6 with a starting bid of 99 baht and closed the auction on Nov. 8.
Betta fish have been bred previously to reproduce the colors of the Thai flag but none have come close.
The highest previous price was for a half-moon Betta fish that sold for 23,500 baht.
“The chance of getting a fish with the flag’s exact color is like one in 100,000,” said Kachen. “So many people have tried to breed the Thai flag colors. Luck was really on my side.”
Still image from the video filmed by Chandrakasem Post shows the drink vendor throws ice left in used plastic cups back into the same icebox she uses to fill new drinks.
BANGKOK — Authorities Thursday said they were looking into reports of a drink vendor reusing ice and straws after university students published an expose in their campus newspaper.
An undercover video report posted Monday by the Chandrakasem Post was watched hundreds of thousands of times and prompted debate about food safety and hygiene at unregulated food sellers.
“We called all of the vendors located in the block behind the university to question,” Chaowarit Songnawarat, a local official, said Thursday. “We haven’t made any conclusions yet. We have to be fair to both sides.”
In the video, a vendor appears to throw ice left in used plastic cups back into the same icebox she uses to fill new drinks. It also showed images of standing water filled with drinking straws the student report said were then reused.
“Why do you have need to save costs that much? Didn’t even think about the consumer,” Facebook user Nongkran Teekawong wrote Tuesday in reply to the report. “What will you do if someone has a contagious disease?”
The vendor shown was on the campus of Chandrakasem Rajabhat University in the capital’s Chatuchak district, where Chaowarit said they were looking into the matter.
The Chatuchak District Office summoned vendors from all food sellers located in the same area behind the university.
Not everyone was appalled, with one user writing that it’s unrealistic to get upset.
“Don’t tell me I’m too naive. But normally ice comes in a sack that’s already dirty. Nothing is clean!” Argon Man wrote.
Although the video shows the woman opening the lid of the ice box as she deposits the ice, she told Chaowarit that she was actually throwing it into another container. The unidentified vendor said she will sue the student reporters for damaging her business.
User Natdanai Maisorn wrote Wednesday that she was willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt.
“I think the aunty did throw ice back into the cooler, but not in the ice bag. In the other scene, she takes ice from the bag. So I don’t think she reused the ice as claimed in the clip.”
In their Monday report, the Chandrakasem Post said the vendor told them that she reused the straws to save 180 baht per week.
