Don’t Expect Hong Kong Film on Mekong Massacre in Thai Cinemas

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6 October 2016, 13:52

A screenshot from the trailer for ‘Operation Mekong’ shows soldiers in front of Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — No domestic distributor has been found for a film inspired by the murder of 13 Chinese nationals on Mekong River after Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha warned recently it could be banned.

“Operation Mekong,” seems unlikely to show in Thailand after Prayuth warned three days before its Sept. 30 opening in Hong Kong that the film would be banned by the Culture Ministry if it was found to defame Thailand.

The action film is based on the so-called Mekong River massacre of 2011, in which 13 Chinese crewmen were killed and nine Thai soldiers were implicated but not prosecuted. It is showing in Hong Kong, China and some theaters in the United States.

“I’ll tell the Ministry of Culture to check whether the content is distorted or not,” Prayuth told reporters on Sept. 27. “If it’s distorted, it might not be allowed to screen because it’ll defame our country. And don’t forget that the Golden Triangle belongs to three countries. If we protest or proceed with any operation, will other countries join us?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM0d3S-JOG4

The 23rd film by prolific action filmmaker Dante Lam is based on what happened Oct. 5, 2011 in a notorious corner of the Golden Triangle. Eight attackers including a Myanmar drug lord along with Thai and Laotian nationals ambushed two Chinese commercial vessels loaded with almost a million methamphetamine pills between Chiang Rai province and Myanmar.

It led the governments of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China to join forces and hunt down notorious Myanmar drug cartel leader Sai Naw Kham.

Soon after the incident, nine Thai soldiers from an elite anti-narcotics task force were investigated for their involvement, as they were the first to step onto the vessels to confiscate the drugs. No case ever moved forward.

“Operation Mekong” was shot in Bangkok and Samut Songkhram provinces in 2015 with permission from the national film office.

“In the documents submitted, the crew stated that [Operation Mekong] doesn’t specify that the story takes place in Thailand. The committee warned them to be careful not to include imagery or other indications that would convince the audience that this is Thailand,” someone working in the national film office said, who only spoke on condition of anonymity.

Film About Burmese Coup May Still Hit Too Close to Home

Police Say Foreign Gang Preyed on Victims With Cash at Siam Paragon

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Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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6 October 2016, 13:12

A security camera image shows three men suspected of robbing a car parked last month at Siam Paragon in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Police are seeking a ring of foreign thieves suspected of stalking people as they withdraw cash from shopping mall banks and then burglarizing their vehicles.

Pathumwan police showed Wednesday what they said were three foreign suspects identified in security footage after Asira Wongkulnapalit, 66, filed a complaint alleging his car had been burglarized last month at the Siam Paragon shopping mall.

Asira told police he and his wife had been shopping at the mall when he went off on his own to change 100,000 baht in bank notes at a Kasikornbank branch. As he was going up an escalator, he said a foreign man in a cap trailed behind, but he assumed the man was a tourist.

He placed the money into a shopping bag his wife wanted him to store in the car while she continued shopping. After returning to his wife, they were shocked to find a hole cut into their vehicle’s rear passenger window. The money was gone.

Police suspect a gang of three men they described as Middle Eastern-looking have been hunting the mall for potential victims on financial errands. They say evidence shows them leaving the mall later in a rented Toyota Yaris with Chonburi plates. They said the car was rented using fake passports and has also gone missing.

Pol. Lt. Col. Thanawut Prasertnoo of Pathumwan police station said this particular gang is suspected of repeatedly burglarizing cars in the same fashion at various locations.

If caught, Thanawut said that the men could be charged with theft, property destruction and international criminal activity.

Channel 5 Reporter Didn’t Go to Hawaii, Records Show

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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6 October 2016, 12:29

Chonratsamee Ngathaweesuk hosts a live broadcast Friday of Channel 5 news show ‘Thailand This Morning.’ Image: Thailand This Morning / YouTube

BANGKOK — A female TV reporter linked to junta deputy chairman Prawit Wongsuwan didn’t accompany him on a now-controversial trip to Hawaii, according to information obtained by Khaosod English.

Entry records from the Immigration Bureau show that Chonratsamee Ngathaweesuk did not leave the country between Sept. 29 and Saturday, when the trip occurred. Also footage of live broadcasts she hosted as a news anchor indicates she remained in Thailand.

Reporter Linked to Junta General Not on 20M Baht Flight: Govt

“She can’t magically duplicate herself,” Col. Thanathip Sawangsang, a producer for army-owned Channel 5 told reporters Wednesday.

In recent days, allegations Chonratsamee accompanied Prawit to a meeting with American military officials became a subplot in a greater controversy over the cost of ferrying the entourage there and back.

The single round-trip flight cost taxpayers 20.9 million baht, providing more fodder to junta critics who say it does not practice what it preaches when it comes to corruption.

Chonratsamee is said to be romantically involved with Prawit, and the possibility the deputy junta leader brought a girlfriend along for the trip particularly incensed critics.

An anti-junta Facebook page published what it said was a passenger list for the Honolulu-bound flight, which included Chonratsamee’s name. Photos circulated online also alleged to show the reporter with Prawit in Honolulu.

Chonratsamee, who at 34 holds a rank of army major, may file libel charges against the Facebook pages and websites that spread the reports, according to Col. Thanathip, the producer.

In response to criticism of the expense, government officials have maintained the fare was a standard rate.

Israeli Navy Intercepts Gaza-Bound Pro-Palestinian Ship

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Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 12:17

SV Estelle, another ship to have sailed to Gaza in a campaign to break the naval blockade is seen moored prior to its departure in 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: Hakan Akcura / Flickr

JERUSALEM — The Israeli navy on Wednesday intercepted a boat carrying pro-Palestinian female activists trying to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and said it was escorting the vessel ashore.

The Israeli military said the takeover was brief and there were no injuries – avoiding a repeat of violence seen during a 2010 takeover of an international flotilla in which 10 Turks were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

The incident occurred on a day of renewed fighting in Gaza, where the Israeli air force struck a series of targets in response to a Palestinian rocket strike earlier in the day. There were no reports of injuries on either side.

The boat was sponsored by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a group of pro-Palestinian groups based mostly in Europe. The Dutch-flagged boat was carrying 13 female activists from different countries headed by Mairead Maguire, an Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A retired U.S. colonel and former South African Olympic athlete were also on board, along with women from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia and Malaysia.

Zaher Darwish, one of the coordinators of the flotilla, said the boat was intercepted about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Gaza and was not carrying any aid. He said the goal was “symbolic” – to call attention to the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, which he called illegal.

“People have the right to move. We have the right to move,” Darwish said. “We are aiming to the conscience of the people. And the conscience of governments. They have to act and express their non-acceptance of this situation.”

Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Hamas militant group seized power in 2007. The blockade has stifled Gaza’s already weak economy, where unemployment is over 40 percent, and prevented tens of thousands of people from traveling abroad for jobs, studies and other visits overseas.

Israel says the restrictions are needed to prevent Hamas from importing weapons, and says it has eased the blockade to allow more goods into the territory. It considers Hamas, an armed group sworn to Israel’s destruction, a terrorist group, and the sides have fought three wars since the Hamas takeover.

In a statement Wednesday, the Israeli military said the navy carried out the raid “after exhausting all diplomatic channels.” It said forces ordered the boat to change course, and when it refused, they boarded and searched it. The military said male and female soldiers participated in the raid, and that the search was “uneventful.”

The boat was being escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod, the military said, a process that was expected to take several hours. There was no word on what would happen to the people on board. In the past, activists have been arrested and quickly deported.

The raid sharply contrasted with the 2010 takeover, in which Israeli naval forces were confronted by crowds of activists armed with pipes and knives as they boarded a Turkish ship. Ten Turkish activists, one of them a dual American citizen, were killed during violent clashes.

The incident contributed to six years of diplomatic tensions with Turkey that were resolved only this year in a deal that included an Israeli apology and reparations, Turkish pledges to limit Hamas activity on its territory and a restoration of full diplomatic relations.

Wednesday’s rocket strike landed in Sderot, a southern Israeli town on the Gaza border. Although no one was wounded, such incidents have been rare since a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014.

Israel struck a series of Hamas posts throughout Gaza in response, sending tall plumes of smoke into the air. An obscure group that said it draws inspiration from the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Israel, however, holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the territory.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum urged international activists to continue sending flotillas to Gaza.

“This is an Israeli piracy and organized state terrorism reflecting how deep the Israeli entity has gone in its aggression, crimes and violations against our people and those who show solidarity with it,” he said.

Story: Joseph Federman

76 Percent of Philippines Satisfied With Duterte, Poll Says

By

Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 11:56

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures with a fist bump during his visit to the Philippine Army's Camp Mateo Capinpin at Tanay township in August in Manila, Philippines. Photo: Bullit Marquez / Associated Press

MANILA — An independent poll released Thursday showed that more than three-quarters of Filipinos are satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte, even though he is under fire internationally for his deadly crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users.

The survey, conducted by Social Weather Stations from Sept. 24 to Sept. 27 and published Thursday, shows 76 percent of 1,200 adults polled nationwide were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, 11 percent were dissatisfied, and 13 percent were undecided. There was a national sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percent.

The poll comes nearly three months after Duterte took office and with his anti-drug crackdown, which has left more than 3,600 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead, raising alarms at the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs.

The brash-speaking leader has been hypersensitive to such criticism, and the latest survey was carried out just before he raised the rhetoric on Sept. 30, comparing his anti-drug campaign to Hitler and the Holocaust and saying he would be “happy to slaughter” an estimated 3 million Filipino addicts – a remark he has since apologized for.

He has unleashed a number of expletive-laced tirades against his critics, telling President Barack Obama “you can go to hell,” and saying he may eventually decide to “break up with America.” He has also lashed out at the European Union and the U.N.

The survey showed respondents in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, where Duterte is from, gave him the highest rating, with 88 percent satisfied, and just 4 percent not satisfied.

Haiti Weighing Hurricane Matthew Damage

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Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 11:49

Men push a motorbike through a street flooded by a river that overflowed from heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew Wednesday in Leogane, Haiti. Photo: Dieu Nalio Chery / Associated Press

LES CAYES, Haiti — Two days after Hurricane Matthew rampaged across Haiti’s remote southwestern peninsula with roaring winds and flooding rains, local authorities and international aid workers still lack a clear picture of the storm’s destruction.

But the weather began calming Wednesday and a way was found around a key bridge that was washed away, allowing convoys and helicopters to start ventruing to marooned corners to assess the damage and determine how to help thousands of people who lost homes, livestock and crops.

The death toll was raised to 10 by Haiti’s civil protection agency Wednesday evening, but the number was expected to tick upward as more hard-hit rural areas are reached Thursday and people tell their stories.

In Aquin, a south coast town outside the battered city of Les Cayes, people trudged through the mud around the wreckage of clapboard houses and tiny shops.

Cenita Leconte was one of many coastal residents who initially ignored official calls to evacuate vulnerable shacks before Matthew roared ashore at dawn Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane. The 75-year-old is thankful she finally complied and made it through the terrifying ordeal with her life.

“We’ve lost everything we own. But it would have been our fault if we stayed here and died,” she told The Associated Press as neighbors poked through wreckage hoping to find at least some of their meager possessions.

Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of the civil protection agency, said authorities were starting to get a better view of the situation in the Grande Anse department, where the storm made roads impassable and knocked out communications.

“We do know there’s a lot of damage in the Grand Anse, and we also know human life has been lost there,” Jean-Baptiste said, adding that the official death toll did not yet include reports from that severely raked area.

Civil aviation authorities reported counting 3,214 destroyed homes along the southern peninsula, where many families live in shacks with sheet metal roofs and don’t always have the resources to escape harm’s way.

The government has estimated at least 350,000 people need some kind of assistance after the disaster, which U.N. Deputy Special Representative for Haiti Mourad Wahba has called the country’s worst humanitarian crisis since the devastating earthquake of 2010.

International aid groups are already appealing for donations to sustain a lengthy recovery effort in Haiti, the hemisphere’s least developed and most aid-dependent nation.

In coming days, U.S. military personnel equipped with nine helicopters were expected to start arriving in the capital to help deliver food and water to hard-hit areas.

Jean-Michel Vigreux, the country director in Haiti for the non-profit group CARE, said the lack of communication with people in the Grande Anse region was deeply worrisome.

“We don’t know the exact impact yet. We currently aren’t able to communicate with our team in one region, Grande Anse. It is very scary,” he said.

As answers were slow to come, some Haitians were convinced their troubled homeland was largely spared the kind of human suffering that severe weather has wrought in the past.

“It seems like Haiti dodged a bullet. The news on the radio doesn’t seem nearly as bad as it could have been,” upholsterer Daniel Wesley said as he walked down a rain-slicked street in downtown Port-au-Prince.

The last Category 4 storm to pound Haiti was Hurricane Flora in 1963, which killed as many as 8,000 people.

In nearby Cuba, Matthew blew across that island’s sparsely populated eastern tip, destroying dozens of homes and damaging hundreds in the island’s easternmost city, Baracoa. But nearly 380,000 people were evacuated and strong measures were taken to protect communities and infrastructure, U.N. officials said.

Early Thursday, Matthew was churning through the Bahamas on a path forecast to take it close to the U.S. East Coast, where authorities were pursuing large-scale evacuations.

Story: Pierre Richard Luxama, David McFadden

Antonio Guterres to Succeed Ban Ki-moon as UN Chief

By

Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 11:35

The then United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres speaks in 2015 during a news conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi / Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — Portugal’s former prime minister Antonio Guterres won the Security Council’s unanimous backing Wednesday to become the next U.N. secretary-general, winning plaudits for his strong leadership but disappointing campaigners for a woman or East European to be the world’s top diplomat for the first time.

The veteran politician and diplomat, who served as the U.N.’s refugee chief until December, topped all six informal polls in the council after his performance in the first-ever question-and-answer sessions in the 193-member General Assembly, which received high marks from almost every diplomat.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the assembly hearings showed that Guterres “was an outstanding candidate … who will take the United Nations to the next level in terms of leadership” and will provide “a moral authority at a time when the world is divided on issues, above all like Syria.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, appeared before reporters surrounded by the 14 other council ambassadors after the sixth informal poll of the 10 remaining candidates was held behind closed doors saying: “You are witnessing, I think, a historic scene.”

Churkin then thanked all the candidates saying they displayed “a lot of wisdom, understanding and concern for the fate of the world” and announced: “We have a clear favorite, and his name is Antonio Guterres.”

He said the Security Council would hold a formal vote on Thursday morning and expressed hope that the council will recommend Guterres by “acclamation” to the 193-member General Assembly, which must approve a successor to Ban Ki-moon whose second five-year term ends on Dec. 31.

By tradition, the job of secretary-general has rotated among regions. Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have all held the post. East European nations, including Russia, argue that they have never had a secretary-general and it was their turn. There has also never been a woman secretary-general and more than 50 nations and many others campaigned to elect the first female U.N. chief.

There was disappointment among East Europeans, who fielded many candidates in the race but never united behind one, and among supporters hoping for a woman. Seven of the 13 candidates who entered the race were women.

Antonia Kirkland, program manager for Equality Now, which has campaigned for a woman secretary-general since 1996, said: “While it is disappointing that a man has once again been proposed by the U.N. Security Council as secretary-general, we are at least hopeful that he will continue the feminist agenda.”

She said this should include “first of all, ensuring gender parity among his staff at the Secretariat, and also prioritizing violence and discrimination against women as a pivotal issue.”

Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica, the U.N. official who played a key role in shaping last December’s historic agreement to fight climate change and one of three candidates who dropped out of the race, tweeted: “Bittersweet results #NextSG. Bitter: not a woman. Sweet: by far the best man in the race. Congrats Antonio Guterres! We are all with you.”

In the fifth “straw” poll on Sept. 28, Guterres received two “discourage” votes and there was a lot of speculation about whether Russia would support him.

The sixth poll on Wednesday morning was considered key because it was the first to use colored ballots to distinguish the votes of the five veto-wielding Security Council members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

“The permanent members had red ballots and the non-permanent members had white ballots,” Britain’s Rycroft told reporters later.

He said “the crucial moment” for him was the announcement of the result of the fifth permanent member which showed Guterres had no “discourage” votes from any council member.

In that final vote, Guterres had 13 “encourage” votes, no “discourage” votes and two “no opinions.” He was the only candidate to top the required nine “encourage” votes and no “discourage” vote from a permanent member.

Far behind in second place was Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak with a vote of 7-6-2 including two “discourage” votes from permanent members. Serbia’s former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic had the same result but three “discourage” votes from permanent members.

The highest-ranked woman, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, was fourth. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boiko Borisov dropped the government’s support for Bokova last week in favor of European commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who came in seventh.

The 1 for 7 Billion Campaign, which lobbied for greater openness, inclusivity and meritocracy in the selection of the new secretary-general, called Guterres’ top showing “a triumph” for its goals.

“He was ‘wrong’ in terms of gender and region, but was widely considered to have done well in his General Assembly dialogue and in other events, with many commenting on his experience and ability to inspire,” said campaign co-founder Natalie Samarasinghe.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power praised the “much more transparent process” of selecting a new U.N. chief and said Guterres’ “breakthrough” was his performance in the General Assembly and his experience.

“I think this is a day of unity,” she said. “In the end there was just a candidate whose experience, vision and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling and it was remarkably uncontentious, uncontroversial.”

Story: Edith M. Lederer

Aussies Appear in Malaysian Court for Partying in Briefs

By

Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 11:20

Australian men celebrate in Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag Sunday at the conclusion of the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia. Photo: Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR — Nine Australians who stripped down to skimpy briefs and drank beer from shoes at the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix appeared in a Malaysian court Thursday, where they are likely to be charged for public indecency.

The nine were detained Sunday after they partied in Budgy Smuggler-brand swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag in full view of thousands of spectators at the Sepang track after Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the race.

Police say the men were being investigated for intentionally causing insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace and public indecency. They face up to two years in jail, a fine or both if they are found guilty.

The men, mostly Sydney University graduates, were dressed in suits when they appeared in court Thursday.

John Walker, the father of one of the men, Jack Walker, told reporters he was “hopeful” of their release. Jack Walker is an adviser to Australian Defense Industry Minister Chris Pyne.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade First Assistant Secretary Jon Philp said he did not know what would happen in court today.

“Something could happen quickly, but it’s entirely up to the magistrate and the legal authorities,” Philp told Nine Network television.

“We’d like to think that they’ll be home soon, but it’s up to the Malaysian authorities to decide what to do now,” he added.

The men could be charged or police could ask the magistrate for their detention to be extended while they continue their investigation.

Ricciardo, the driver whose success inspired the Australians’ beer-fueled revelry, described the incident as “pretty harmless.”

“I respect the laws of Malaysia, but beyond that I don’t think they deserve any further punishment,” Ricciardo told Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

“In Australia, it’s a bit different, but I’m very sure they didn’t intend to offend anyone,” he added.

The Australian media has dubbed the men the Budgie Nine, using a spelling variation of the abbreviated name of the budgerigar, a small Australian parrot. The name plays on nine Australians arrested in Indonesia for heroin trafficking in 2005 who became known as the Bali Nine.

Monks Lead Oct. 6 Thammasat Massacre Memorial

By

Associated Press

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6 October 2016, 10:59

Buddhist monks, mourners, activists and others gathered Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the darkest days in Thailand's history, when police killed scores of university students at a peaceful protest, and ghoulish vigilantes defiled the dead. Photo: Sakchai Lalit / Associated Press

BANGKOK — Buddhist monks, mourners, activists and the merely curious gathered Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the darkest days in Thailand’s history, when police killed scores of university students at a peaceful protest, and ghoulish vigilantes defiled the dead.

Students at Bangkok’s Thammasat University had been protesting the return from exile of a hated former dictator when they were trapped by a right-wing mob and heavily armed paramilitary police, who fired guns and grenades at the defenseless crowd of several thousand.

After subduing the students, thugs rushed in and grabbed as many as a dozen. They were then taken to a nearby public field, beaten to death, hanged and otherwise abused, with the bodies unceremoniously tossed onto a makeshift funeral pyre. The official death toll was 46, though credible independent estimates put it at more than 100.

The disorder was used as an excuse for the army to seize power later that day, undoing a student-led democratic revolution of three years earlier.

This year’s commemoration has drawn broader interest than usual because an invited speaker, Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, was not allowed into the country by Thai authorities, making headlines worldwide. Wong was supposed to speak at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, which this year for the first time was joining Thammasat in marking the anniversary.

The rector of Thammasat, Somkit Lertpaithoon, said the university teaches its students about the violence, and even has survivors on its staff.

“Even though the events of Oct. 6 may not be documented in Thai history, the new generation still strives to learn about it,” he said in a speech at the university to mark the day.

Read: Oct. 6 Massacre: The Photographer Who Was There

Read: The Will to Remember: Survivors Recount 1976 Thammasat Massacre 40 Years Later

The Thammasat massacre has always been a sensitive issue, both because the images of lynchings speak to a dark side of the Thai character and because the assault on the university showed how the state can carry out human rights abuse with impunity – no perpetrators were ever punished.

The latest anniversary comes as Thailand is again under military rule since a 2014 coup d’etat, and as an increasing awareness of human rights since 1976 has led to much questioning of the use of state violence, especially because of a sometimes violent struggle for political power that has troubled Thailand for the past decade, including bloody street battles in the capital Bangkok in 2010.

“The massacre is still of interest 40 years after the fact because it remains officially unresolved. Those who were involved in the violence have not been held to account, even as there has been a wave of transitional justice processes around the world, and even expanded questioning and investigations in relation to the violence of April-May 2010,” Tyrell Haberkorn, a fellow in political and social change at the Australian National University, said earlier this week before the anniversary.

“The incident has relevance to the current state of Thai politics because it becomes possible to continue to stage coup after coup while repressing dissent because those who have done so in the past have not been held to account for doing so,” she said.

Patporn Phoothong, a member of a research team probing the events of 1976, said one goal is to identify the people in a famous photo showing a man using a folding chair to beat a disfigured corpse hanging from a tree while a crowd watches. No one has learned the names of the victim, the attacker or any of the spectators

“The obstacle that we face, I think it is because even though 40 years have passed, people are still scared and afraid to talk and do not feel that talking will make anything better,” she said.

Story: Grant Peck

‘We’ll Be Back,’ Siam Square Sidewalk Sellers Swear

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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5 October 2016, 19:19

A sign seeking the attention of a specific city official is temporarily set up Wednesday where vendors usually sell goods in front of Siam Square in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Sidewalk vendors outside Siam Square protested briefly Wednesday on the second night they were blocked by municipal officers and officials from setting up their stalls.

After partially setting up their stalls and hanging signs in protest, the group of vendors left after being told that district officials would sit down with them Thursday morning.

“We only have one condition, let us continue selling!” Prapoj Bootanaphalit, a retired police officer said. “Can you not think in a pessimistic way? Let us sell, and let’s talk about other conditions later.”

The vendors left but vowed that whatever the outcome to the meeting tomorrow, they will be back to sell in the evening.

City Hall has long sought to dislodge the vendors there, where portions of the sidewalk become all but impassable on many evenings. That’s partly due to the popularity of the stalls, which draw many customers – but also complaints.

While a city campaign to clear irregular and informal trade from public spaces has been met by many skeptics, clearing the congestion from in front of Siam Square seems to enjoy wide support.

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