Vietnam Arrests Blogger for Anti-state Propaganda

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11 October 2016, 10:48

Media and diplomats watch a live screen last September showing another prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh, right, and his colleague Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, left, another couple to have been tried for online offenses in an appeals court in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Tran Van Minh / Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam — Police in Vietnam have arrested a blogger for anti-state writings which they said distorted the truth, tarnished the country’s leaders and instigated the public to oppose the government.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 37, was accused of conducting propaganda against the Communist state under Article 88 of the Penal Code and taken into custody in south central Khanh Hoa province Monday, the police said on their website Tuesday.

If convicted, she could be jailed for up to 12 years.

Quynh, who blogged under the name of Me Nam or Mother Mushroom, has been blogging about the government’s human rights abuses.

The police statement called Quynh a “fierce” opponent of the government who had been given warnings but still “has shown contempt for the law.”

It said she had posted hundreds of articles online that “distorted the truth, distorted the history, undermined the national unity, (and) tarnished the (Communist) Party and state leaders.”

Police in Khanh Hoa were not available for comment.

Her mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, was quoted by the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers as saying Quynh did not commit any crime, but was just speaking the truth.

“She just did what the law allowed and the purpose is for the country to change and to enjoy freedom and democracy,” she said.

Quynh was detained for nine days in 2009 for printing T-shirts with slogans opposing the construction of a state-owned bauxite mining project.

Last month, a court in Hanoi upheld a five-year sentence for another blogger, Nguyen Huu Vinh, who was convicted of infringing on the interests of the state by posting anti-state writings.

International human rights groups, United States and some European governments have criticized Vietnam for silencing and jailing people for peacefully expressing their views, but Hanoi says only law breakers are put behind bars.

Academics Warn SEA Human Rights in Regression

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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10 October 2016, 20:08

Soldiers break up a small rally by activists seeking to show solidarity with the seven jailed referendum campaigners last July in front of the Bangkok Remand Prison.

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is witnessing a curb on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and an overt use of security acts, said Professor Vitit Muntabhorn of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Law, Monday at the 4 International Conference on Human Rights and Peace and Conflict in Southeast Asia in Bangkok.

Vitit, who was a keynote speaker at the the three-day conference organized by the Southeast Asian Human Rights Studies Network, added that human rights defenders should not lose heart.

“Human rights defenders in the region are feeling that they’re being restrained much more,” “please don’t feel frustrated, and be energized by peers. We must give hope to those affected by human rights violations,” Vitit said, adding that there should be no single ASEAN way, but many ASEAN ways.

He mentioned wide-ranging human rights violations in some ASEAN member states, including the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar, human trafficking, extrajudicial killings, the death penalty, persecution of religious and minority rights, LGBT rights and the rights of those with mental disability among others.

“We used to be relatively democratic. It’s high time we move beyond the coup stuff,” Vitit said about Thailand.

Sriprapha Petcharanessree, a lecturer at Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies later added a description of Thailand under the military junta, calling it “the most autocratic regime,” for trying to curb populist movements in the provinces.

“We have been visited by people in uniforms every month,” Sriprapha said.

“Governments [of ASEAN] should be transparent, invite the UN, rather than just prosecute NGOs and human rights defenders,” Vitit said.

Although six out of 10 ASEAN member states have a human rights commission, the question remains on whether or not they’re accessible to the people, Vitit added.

Ending on a positive note, Vitit said he welcomed the fact that ASEAN is at interstate peace, but added that it has to find intra-state peace as well.

Roads to Close Tuesday Evening For Navatri Hindu Festival

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Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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10 October 2016, 19:18

Silom area turns into a sacred place for the annual parade celebrating Hindu Festival Navaratri in a 2014 photo.

BANGKOK — Traffic around Silom area will be closed Tuesday evening to make way for a parade marking Bangkok’s biggest Hindu festival.

Four roads will be closed-off as the famous annual parade celebrating Hindu festival ‘Navaratri’ will leave Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, known in Thai as ‘Wat Khaek’ 7.30pm Tuesday.

Starting 6pm, Silom and Naradhiwas Road will be blocked. Surasak and part of Sathon Nuea Road will be closed starting 8pm. Traffic will resume 3am Wednesday.

The parade is organized every year to celebrate the end of a nine-night festival dedicated to worship Hindu deity Durga.

The march is annually attended by thousands of devotees including Thai Buddhists, some of whom also worship Hindu gods. Worship stalls and performances by spirit-possessed dancers will feature along the roadside, where people are set to be waiting for blessings from Brahman priests.

Organizers of the colorful festival recommend attendees to travel by BTS Skytrain and get off at Surasak or Chong Nonsi station.

Police Memo Warns of Car Bomb Plot at Suvarnabhumi Airport

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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10 October 2016, 18:45

Police officers on Aug. 12 patrol Suvarnabhumi Airport hours after a series of bomb and arson attacks struck seven southern provinces on the same day.

BANGKOK — All police units in Bangkok’s southeastern suburb of Samut Prakan have been alerted for possible car bomb attacks at several landmarks, including one of the capital city’s two international airports, according to a leaked police memo.

Marked “Most Urgent,” the memo was signed by the Samut Prakan police commander on Saturday, though the commissioner disputed its authenticity in a phone interview. He also urged the media not to report about the matter out of concern for national security.

“It’s not real,” Maj. Gen. Thammanoon Traithippayapong said. “Before you report news like this, you must verify first whether it is true or not, you must consider whether your reporting will affect peace and order in the country.”

Thammanoon added that he had not seen the letter in question.

However, national police Deputy Commissioner Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told reporters the memo was genuine, describing it as a “normal procedure.”

According to the memo, which was obtained Monday afternoon by Khaosod English, an unspecified armed group is allegedly plotting up to three car bomb attacks at important landmarks in Samut Prakan, including Bhumibol Bridge, Ancient Siam open-air museum and Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The potential attacks may take place between Oct. 20 and 25, the memo said, quoting reports from “informants.”

The letter instructed all units in Samut Prakan to increase patrols, be more responsive in intelligence reports and coordinate with the Special Branch Police’s counterterrorism unit to prevent the attacks.

The warning came nearly three months after a series of bomb and arson attacks struck seven southern provinces on Aug. 12, which marks National Mother’s Day and Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday. Four people were killed in the incidents.

Police have yet to make any arrest in connection to August’s attacks, while a separatist group based in the southern border provinces reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing spree.

Russian Dies From Parachute Malfunction in Chonburi

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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10 October 2016, 17:21

Police said a Russian citizen died after jumping off this plane in a skydiving session Monday morning in Chonburi province.

CHONBURI — A Russian parachutist plunged to his death Monday morning in Chonburi province.

The victim, reportedly in his 30s, died after his parachute was caught in a strong wind while he was filming two other skydivers, said Maj. Pongsakorn Phonphan of Nong Kham Police Station, ruling it an accident.

“The wind moved up against his parachute. The weather changed unpredictably. It was an accident,” Maj. Pongsakorn said. “We don’t believe it was because of faulty equipment.”

No one has been charged for the death, he said.

Khaosod English is withholding the victim’s identity until his family can be notified.

The victim was hired by a company called Skydive Pattaya to film its client and coach as they made their dive on Monday, Pongsakorn said. The two skydivers landed safely, he added.

The victim was an experienced parachutist who had made many jumps in the past, the police officer said.

Revisit Thailand’s Golden Age of Cinema Houses (Photos)

By

Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter

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10 October 2016, 16:09

A cat in front of Tang Sia Huat Rama in Nakhon Pathom. Photo: Sonthaya Subyen and Morimart Raden-Ahmad / Courtesy.

BANGKOK — Fifty years ago, standalone theaters flourished, with more than 700 nationwide. Today only five still operate, with only Bangkok’s Scala Theatre showing new films.

Seeing standalone theaters vanish, film lover and writer Sonthaya Subyen decided to roam Thailand for a year with colleague Morimart Raden-Ahmad to hunt for photographs of them. They published 60 of them from between 1985 to 2014 in a 500-page photo book, “Once Upon a Celluloid Planet: Where Cinema Ruled.” It captured the very last breaths of Thailand’s cinema house beauty when it was published in 2014.

More recently, the duo has released “Stand Alone, Die Alone,” in which 47 guest writers from various fields shared their memories of the vanishing grand theaters’ charms. The book includes the endangered Scala Cinema, which has long been slated for demolition by landowner Chulalongkorn University.

Photos: Courtesy Sonthaya Subyen and Morimart Raden-Ahmad

Sri Kabin Rama, 2013, Kabinburi, Prachinburi province

Sri Siam Theatre, 2012, Samut Prakan province

Nakhonnon Rama, 2013, Nonthaburi province

Chaloem Sin Theatre, 2013, Amnat Charoen province

Chaloem Sin Theatre, 2013, Amnat Charoen

Sonthaya Subyen photographs the Chaloem Sin Theatre in 2013 in Amnat Charoen province

Morimart Raden-Ahmad in front of the Sakaeo Rama in 2013.

“Once Upon a Celluloid Planet: Where Cinema Ruled” is available in Thai and English. “Stand Alone, Die Alone” is only available in Thai. Both books can be ordered via the Bookvirus & Filmvirus Facebook page.

First More Rain, Then an Early Winter Comes

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Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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10 October 2016, 14:09

Tourists wait for the sunrise Monday at Chiang Mai’s Doi Inthanon National Park, where the temperature fell to 8C.

BANGKOK — Lashing rains were forecast Monday to continue at least another fortnight but will end sooner than usual this year with the coming of winter, according to the realm’s seers of seasonal change.

Unlike last year, when winter officially took hold in December, the new chilly season will begin in the last week of October, at least in the kingdom’s northern reaches, the Meteorological Department has declared.

When will the coldest days fall? From mid-December through mid-January, it has foretold.

The department also said this winter will be colder than recent years with temperatures bottoming out at 6C. The cold spell will continue through mid-February.

Bangkok, however, will still face rain showers into November. The city will start enjoying the cool weather in December before it warms back up a bit in February. The lowest temperature predicted for Bangkok is 14C.

Heavy downpours will continue in the south until mid-January, especially along the eastern coastal regions to Chumphon province.

Police Pin Murders of 4 Drifters on Burmese Man

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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10 October 2016, 13:31

A forensic police officer on Sunday reaches for a bloody knife found next to a homeless woman stabbed to death in the Lat Phrao district of Bangkok. Police believe she was slain by the same killer who murdered three other homeless people last week.

BANGKOK — Police on Monday maintained a Myanmar man under arrest was responsible for killing four homeless people during the past week in northern Bangkok, despite the latest victim being found a day after he was taken into custody.

After the fourth in a series of victims was found dead Sunday in the Lat Phrao district, police said the unidentified woman was likely murdered before their suspect was arrested. That man, a 20-year-old Burmese national known simply as “Jimmy” or “Bung,” reportedly denied committing the murders since his arrest Saturday.

“There is evidence that points to the suspect,” Bangkok police commissioner Sanit Mahatavorn said Monday in a televised interview.

Evidence includes witness testimony and security camera footage in which Bung was identified as the most likely perpetrator, deputy national police chief Chalermkiat Sriworakhan said in a phone interview. However police were still waiting for DNA test results to confirm whether Bung was the killer, he added.

“We have to look at DNA results. Once we have the blood test results, we can close this case,” Gen. Chalermkiat said. “Right now, eyewitnesses said they saw Mr. Bung wandering near the crime scene. There is also CCTV footage, it didn’t show anyone else in the area.”

Chalermkiat said DNA results should be available “within this week.”

Killing Spree
The first and second bodies were found Tuesday in the suburban province of Pathum Thani. The third victim was found in the same province two days later, while the fourth was discovered beneath an expressway in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district on Sunday. A bloody knife was also found next to the body.

A Burmese man named “Jimmy” or “Bung” sits in a police van on Saturday morning shortly after his arrest in Pathum Thani province.

All of the victims, only two of whom were identified, were described by police as homeless drifters who made a living as either scavengers or garbage collectors.

All victims bore similar manners of execution – hands tied behind the back and knife wounds across their bodies – leading police to believe the same killer was responsible for these deaths.

“The acts were committed in a similar manner, the victims were similar and the locations of the crime scenes were similar,” Gen. Sanit, the Bangkok police chief, said in a Channel 3 interview.

Deputy police commissioner Chalermkiat said Bung is the only suspect so far.

Doctors have ruled the fourth victim died either Thursday or Friday, Chalermkiat added, before Bung was arrested.

A homeless man found dead Thursday in Pathum Thani province.

Police say this Oct. 4 security camera footage shows Bung in the area where two homeless people were killed that day in Pathum Thani province.

Men Dressed as Soldiers Accused of Stealing 2M Baht (Video)

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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10 October 2016, 12:59

MUKDAHAN — Police on Monday were searching for thieves who allegedly disguised themselves as military personnel to steal 2 million baht from a man in Mukdahan province.

Paisan U-khum said he was driving home Saturday afternoon when a black sedan blocked his way, and three men in military uniforms stepped out to demand he exit his SUV. They then stole the money he was carrying to trade for rubber.

The 44-year-old farmer told police he was handcuffed before the three men ordered him into their vehicle and dumped him at another spot about 10 kilometers away from where he was stopped.

“We checked with the military units in the neighborhood, and we are sure the perpetrators were not military officers,” Mukdahan Police Commander Apichit Thienpermpoon said Monday.

Apichit said police were sure it was not a coincidence and the men must have known Paisan would be carrying a large amount of money.

Police could not yet identify the three men, Apichit said, despite footage of them captured by a video camera in Paisan’s car.

Paisan U-khum, 44, talks to police at the scene where he was robbed by three men in military uniforms Saturday in the northeastern province of Mukdahan.

Surrounded by Alligators, Hurricane Cleanup Goes On in Florida

By

Associated Press

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10 October 2016, 11:47

Jim Darlington takes a phone call while cleaning up Hurricane Matthew debrisSunday at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, in St. Augustine, Florida. Photo: Brendan Farrington / Associated Press

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida — Sure, lots of people in St. Augustine are picking up branches and leaves after Hurricane Matthew blew through town. But only a few are doing it surrounded by alligators.

That’s what Jim Darlington and Amie Mercado were doing on Sunday, raking up debris in an alligator pit with the enormous reptiles just a couple of feet away, including one who opened its mouth wide as Mercado approached. That was part of the unusual cleanup at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, where trees and limbs fell into alligator lagoons and crocodile pools, and enormous African storks were taken out of the bathrooms where they rode out the hurricane.

All in all, the zoo – one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions and the only place in the world that displays every species of crocodilian – fared well during the storm. However, fears of what could have been were certainly on people’s minds.

“We were all hunkered down listening to the news, and of course everybody is on social media, and sure enough a rumor started that there are alligators out – hundreds of alligators were out,” Darlington said, who said the 123-year-old zoo was inspected by state wildlife officials immediately after the storm passed and before employees were allowed back in. “The walls were still standing. There weren’t alligators running around.”

To prepare for the storm, cobras and other venomous snakes put in drawstring bags, placed in secure containers and then those containers were placed in other containers. Storks were rounded up and placed in bathrooms. Parrots and other birds were caged and alligator hatchlings were crated and placed in a secure building.

“We had to get very creative with where we put animals to make sure they were in the best housing condition for 48 hours that we could possibly give them,” said Gen Anderson, the zoo’s bird and mammal curator.

Storks were put in the bathrooms, where sinks were left dripping.

“Each stork was in a separate bathroom, the floors are really easy to clean and they had a water source. They seemed comfortable,” Anderson said.

Crocodiles and alligators weren’t moved – but the water levels in lagoons and pools were lowered by half to make sure flooding didn’t get too high. Darlington said the surge ended up a bit higher than he expected, but no animals escaped.

“They just stay hunkered down,” Darlington said. “The animals just stay in the pools. In bad weather, they’re not out running around freaking out like a bunch of ostriches or something, they just want to stay in the water.”

The biggest hit to the zoo was its zip line, which visitors take to zoom over the alligators and crocodiles, dipping down to within about 30 feet of the creatures. Several limbs where the lines run came down. While the zoo hopes to open Tuesday, the zip line will take longer to repair.

Story: Brendan Farrington

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