Tourists Ignore Red Flags, Lifeguards Keep Saving Them – Thanks Optional

By

-

27 September 2016, 17:56

Lifeguard Chaiwut Singsom, at left, saves a Chinese tourist swept out to sea Sunday from Kata Beach on Phuket. Photo: David Tawan / Courtesy

PHUKET — As a Phuket lifeguard of 16 years, Utane Singsom estimates that he and his team pull about 10 people out of the water on days no one should be swimming.

On Sunday, as he has done many times, Utane leapt into the rough seas to rescue yet another tourist who ignored the red flags and was dragged out into the Andaman Sea.

“Usually, farangs heed the signs, but Russian and Chinese tourists can be quite stubborn,” said Utane, 41.

The head of the lifeguard detail for Kata-Karon Beach described a Chinese man he and his team rescued from the waves Sunday at Kata Beach.

“There was a monsoon that day, so we put up red flags and signs in seven languages, including Chinese, to tell people not to swim,” the head lifeguard said.

Still, the Chinese national was swept out by the waves, churning under the monsoon conditions. For Utane and his team’s trouble, the man they brought to safety quickly grabbed his clothes and scampered off without a word of thanks.

“Sometimes people don’t thank us, or even berate us, because they’re afraid they’re going to get punished for doing something wrong,” he said.

Utane Singsom, 41, a Phuket lifeguard of 16 years, says tourists should heed warning flags on beaches. Photo: Utane Singsom / Courtesy

The lifeguard captain said that on Kata Beach alone, his team have rescued up to 10 people per day since the rainy season started about four months ago. On some days, the waves can be really strong, and there are potentially fatal jellyfish in the water, so visitors really should heed the “no swimming” signs and warning flags.

He encourages swimmers to look for the yellow-and-red flags which mean an area is safe to swim in.

Suspected Forgers’ Frozen Body Thought to be Older Western Man

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

-

27 September 2016, 14:33

Police search the shophouse on Bangkok’s Soi Sukhumvit 56 Tuesday where the dismembered body was found inside a cold storage.

BANGKOK — Two of three foreigners arrested Friday for concealing a corpse and forging passports were identified by police Tuesday as U.S. nationals.

The U.S. embassy confirmed two suspects who held American passports, 33-year-old Aaron Gabel and 66-year-old James Eger, were both U.S. citizens, according to Maj. Gen. Suwat Chaengyotsuk.

“It was reported Gabel’s relatives tried to seek bail,” he said. “The decision is up to the court, but police will oppose it anyway.”

The pair were among three suspects arrested Friday when officers stormed a building in Soi Sukhumvit 56 in a raid on a suspected passport forgery ring run by foreign nationals.

During the confrontation, the third suspect, whose name is William Peter Johnson in his American passport and Peter Andrew Colter in his British passport, shot a tourist police officer. He had a total of seven passports and police said they still cannot confirm his identity.

The raid also led to the discovery of a man’s frozen and dismembered body in a cold storage box inside the same building.

Read : Police Can’t ID Suspected Farang Forgers Or Their Dead Body

According to forensic examination, the body was that of a middle-aged Caucasian man. Udomsak Hoonwichit of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital told INN news on Monday that an electric saw was likely used to cut the body into pieces.

Johnson/Colter, who is being treated at Police General Hospital after trying to harm himself during interrogation, told officers he had nothing to do with the body. He said the storage belonged to a friend who used to live on Soi Ekkamai 12.

Police went to search that address and a neighbor told them it was Johnson/Colter who had lived there until he cleared out with the large freezer.

Surin Leuaye, who lived next door, said the suspected cop-shooter lived there over seven years. For the past five years, he often had foreign visitors to his residence.

Building — A building in Soi Sukhumvit 56 where the three suspects were arrested and the dismembered body was found Friday.

The 65-year-old neighbor said about five months ago his family heard a man screaming from Johnson/Colter’s place at about 10pm. But the voice went silent just as his son was going to check. He said Johnson/Colter moved out of the house a month later and took the giant refrigerator with him.

Foreigners Arrested After Raid on Forgery Ring Leads to Body in Fridge

False Alarm! Bomb in Pattani Actually Coconut

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

-

27 September 2016, 13:47

An officer points at the false-alarm coconut Tuesday in Pattani province.

PATTANI — A bomb team sent to dispatch a suspicious bag left in front of a school in Pattani on Tuesday morning found a bag of sand with a coconut inside.

At 7:30am the director of Bantaladnadklongkul School alerted Special Unit Pattani officers to the presence of a suspicious black bag left in front of the school, which officials proceeded to poke with a long stick, finding inside sand and a half-kilogram coconut.

Though officers said the false alarm was likely the work of a prankster, security forces in the Deep South have been on alert for bombs in different forms, including ones placed within coconuts.

On Sept. 6, a 4-year-old kindergarten student and her father were killed when a rigged motorcycle exploded in front of her school in Narathiwat province.

Civic-Minded German Fills Holes in Roads – and Hearts – of Buriram

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

-

27 September 2016, 13:39

Peter Gowan, 76, fixes a Buriram road Sunday.

BURIRAM — Things were moving a little smoother in Buriram today thanks to a 76-year-old German man who showed his civic pride by joining volunteers for some road repair.

With perilous potholes a national topic since a Tak woman found a creative way to call attention to the issue,a 51-year-old Buriram woman said Tuesday that she and her husband, retired German national Peter Goman, filled potholes along Nong Hong Road in the province’s Nong Hong district to improve road safety.

Kusuma Namwon, who works at the local hospital’s Friends Help Friends volunteer organization, said her husband keeps active by accompanying her on activities and also volunteers as a swimming teacher.

Kusuma said the junction there was filled with so many potholes neighboring residents feared a serious accident would happen.

“We like to go buy soy milk and pa tong go [fried dough sticks] at the house there,” Kusuma said Tuesday. “The lady would always tell me about the potholes there and how 10-wheeler trucks and other big cars would drive fast at night, unable to see the holes.”

Potholes have been a trending topic since Friday when Tak’s Aticha “Palmy” Kusoltrakulpattana Tak won vows of action from authorities by doffing her clothes to bathe in large road depressions in her hometown.

Others have gotten into the act, including a group of women Monday in Khon Kaen province who hoped to win the same response from the authorities.

Gowan and the local volunteer group fixing potholes Sunday.

Kusuma said those in her district were large enough to take down bike riders.

“Motorcyclists would occasionally fall into the holes, and the people in the houses would rush to them.” The potholes became such a big issue that she persuaded her volunteer group to take action.

Goman, her husband, volunteered to help her with the road work, paying for the construction along with two other villagers who scraped together 120 baht to help.

“His work was really neat,” said his wife. “Back in Germany, he worked as an engineer.”

Locals in Khon Kaen bathe in potholes to protest for better roads.

Netizens have been praising the farang and his wife for their altruistic work after Kusuma posted a Facebook video of Gowan fixing potholes on Sunday afternoon.

Green Grub: Where to Feast on Vegetarian Fest in Bangkok

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

-

27 September 2016, 13:14

BANGKOK — Craving juicy fried mushrooms, fancy deep-fried bananas, meatless som tam or faux meats?

Full or part-time vegetarians – or just the veggie-curious – can go wild in the streets all over town starting a day early on Friday. Vegans can confidently partake as well – dairy eggs and other animal products are verboten in Thai jae food.

Look for the yellow flags festooning street food carts during the nine-day Vegetarian Festival and head to a number of venues from Chinatown to Siam Square One for some guilt-free bites.

Here are some places to make the most of the festival.

1.Chinatown

Through the day and into the night, Chinatown becomes even livelier than usual with table after table piled high with delicious eats past while in the street pass dancing dragons, divine parades and more.

This is the place to go for the proper Vegetarian Festival experience with the biggest celebration running all nine days and all nine nights along Yaowarat Road. Walk or take a moto from MRT Hua Lamphong or park at Odeon Circle and start wandering. It all begins Friday and runs until Oct. 9.

2.The Nine Center Rama 9

While shopping malls may not be the most culturally enriching places, many really go all out for VegFest. Sample and shop everything vegetarian from crispy “pork”and spaghetti dishes to burgers and more at a community mall on Rama IX Road.

J Food Good Taste runs Saturday through Oct. 9 at The Nine Center Rama 9. Watch a dragon dancing performance Saturday, and hear Chinese zithers and fiddles played Oct . 7 and Oct. 8.

3.Siam Square One

Step off BTS Siam to wander around 50 booths of vegetarian food, drinks and plant-based health products at the Vegetarian Food Festival.

The food-on-street fest is open 10am to 8pm daily from Saturday through Oct. 9 at Siam Square One.

4.Q. House Lumpini

Twenty booths selling veggie food and desserts will set up near Lumphini Park on Sathorn Road for five days starting

The Gin Jae Festival will take place 8am until 6pm daily Monday through Oct. 7 on the first floor of Q. House Lumpini. The lifestyle mall is located in front of MRT Lumphini exit No. 2.

5.Tang Hua Seng, Thon Buri

More than 50 kinds of food will be sold from 30 booths at Im Boon Im Jae for 10 days. It runs Friday through Oct. 9 on the basement level of the Tang Hua Seng shopping mall in the Thonburi area.

Alert, Attack, Apologize: The Duterte Strategy

By

Associated Press

-

27 September 2016, 12:56

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures while addressing guests following a wreath-laying ceremony in observance of National Heroes Day Aug. 29 at the Heroes Cemetery in suburban Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines. Photo: Bullit Marquez / Associated Press

MANILA — The new Philippine president uses an expletive to warn key ally Barack Obama not to lecture him on human rights and, in another impromptu speech, declares a dramatic policy change in policy such as removing U.S. counter-terrorism forces out of his country’s volatile south. His key officials walk back the remarks and say everything is normal.

And the world wonders which pronouncement is the one that will stick.

Impassioned speeches by Rodrigo Duterte about the United States, the European Union and the United Nations have repeatedly led his government to issue clarifications, though he has been on the job less than three months.

Here’s a sampling of Duterte’s broadsides — and the ensuing clarifications by him or other Philippine officials.

‘Sob’ (But Won’t cut umbilical cord)

THE STATEMENT: “I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum.”

– Duterte in a Sept. 5 speech, using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch” in answer to a reporter, who asked what he’ll do if President Barack Obama questions his deadly anti-drug fight when they meet in Laos during the annual summit of leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

THE BACKTRACK: Obama responded by canceling a much-awaited meeting with Duterte, who expressed regret over his remarks. The two leaders, however, met informally in a holding room before a gala dinner in Laos, where Duterte said he told Obama the SOB remark wasn’t directed at him. The brash Duterte capped the tempestuous week in U.S.-Philippine ties by discussing, in another Laos meeting with Obama and other world leaders, how U.S. colonial forces killed Muslims in his country’s south in the early 1900s. Back home, Duterte railed at the U.S. again in a speech but said he would not “cut our umbilical cord to countries we are allied with.”

Migraine or principles?

THE STATEMENT: “I purposely did not attend the bilateral talks between ASEAN countries and … the president of the United States. I really skipped that … Now, the reason is not I am anti-West. The reason is not, I do not like the Americans. It’s simply a matter of principle for me.”

– Duterte in a Sept. 12 speech at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila.

THE BACKTRACK: The remarks by Duterte, who has been critical of Obama and U.S. security policies, came four days after his much-noticed absence from the summit of ASEAN leaders and the U.S. president in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.

Duterte’s spokesman, Martin Andanar, and at least three Cabinet officials, however, told the media in Vientiane at the time that the Philippine leader couldn’t attend the annual ASEAN-U.S. summit because he had a migraine and wasn’t feeling well.

Driving U.S. forces out of the south

THE STATEMENT: “The special forces, they have to go. They have to go in Mindanao. There are many whites there, they have to go.”

– Duterte in a Sept. 12 speech. He added that he was reorienting the Philippines’ foreign policy and that Americans were under threat of attack by Muslim militants. “I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go. It’ll become more heated. If they see an American, the latter will really be killed. Ransomed off, then killed.”

THE BACKTRACK: Duterte’s key officials initially explained that his remarks were based on fears for the safety of the Americans. But his defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, later played down the safety issue: “The fears of the president that they might be subject to reprisal by the Muslims is a little bit, may not happen because they’re only in the camp and they don’t go out of the camp alone or unless they’re accompanied by our troops or they are also armed. … (T)hese people are also combatants. They are not civilians that are subject to kidnapping by terrorists.

Duterte later suggested he only made the remarks to pacify restive Muslims opposed to the U.S. presence in the south: “I didn’t say (they) have to leave immediately. I said, ‘There will be sometime in the future that I will ask the special forces to go’ … I never said, ‘Get out of the Philippines,’ for after all, we need them there in the (South) China Sea.”

Ratings outburst

THE STATEMENT: “The issue here is not my mouth. And they would say the ratings on business, on the economy, so be it, you get out of here. Then we will start on our own. I can go to China, I can go to Russia. I had a talk with them, they are waiting for me, so what the hell.”

– Duterte, after U.S.-based firm Standard & Poor last week maintained its investment-grade rating and stable outlook for the Philippines but added that a credit rating upgrade in the next two years under Duterte was unlikely. It also warned it may lower that rating if reforms stall.

THE BACKTRACK: Presidential spokesman Martin Andanar took a more optimistic stance. “We welcome S&P’s decision as it gives government greater resolve to make our economy growth robust, sustainable, and inclusive. The fundamentals of the economy are solid and strong. … Peace and order is a must for investors to invest more in the country.”

On breaking off from the United Nations

THE STATEMENT: “Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you’re that rude, son of a bitch, we’ll just leave you. So take us out of your organization, you have done nothing here anyway.”

– Duterte at a news conference in August, reacting to concerns by U.N.-appointed human rights rapporteurs about drug-related killings.

THE BACKTRACK: Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay later assured that the Philippines isn’t bolting out of the 193-nation world body and clarified the context of the president’s remarks: “I can assure you that he remains committed to the United Nations, of which the Philippines is one of the founding members, and to the purposes and objectives of which this august body stands for.”

Story: Jim Gomez

Geysers on Jupiter Moon Thought to Shoot Up 200km

By

Associated Press

-

27 September 2016, 11:02

A composite image of possible water plumes in 2014 on the south pole of Jupiter's Europa moon. Photo: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The Hubble Space Telescope has spied what appear to be water plumes on one of Jupiter’s icy moons shooting up as high as 125 miles.

The geysers are apparently from an underground ocean that is thought to exist on Europa, considered one of the top places to search for signs of life in our solar system.

The plumes at the south pole were detected by the workhorse telescope as the moon passed in front of Jupiter. Scientists believe the eruptions on Europa are sporadic since they were only able to spot them on three out of the 10 times that they looked over more than a year.

Even so, the possible presence of plumes, which shoot up and rain back down on the surface, would “allow us to search for signs of life in the ocean of Europa without needing to drill through miles of ice,” astronomer William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore said Monday.

The latest finding builds on earlier work by Hubble, which in 2012 found hints of water vapor venting from Europa’s south pole. The telescope didn’t see anything in follow-up studies until this latest campaign, which was carried out by a different group of researchers.

If confirmed, Europa would be the second moon in the solar system where water plumes have been detected.

The Cassini spacecraft previously spied jets shooting out from the surface of the Saturn moon Enceladus (ehn-SEHL’-uh-duhs), which harbors an ocean beneath its icy shell. Unlike Europa, the geysers erupting from Enceladus are continuous.

The Juno spacecraft, currently in orbit around Jupiter, isn’t designed to study Europa and won’t be able to confirm the plumes, NASA said.

The space agency is in the early stages of drafting a mission to Europa in the 2020s that would involve putting a spacecraft in a long, looping orbit around Jupiter to make close flybys of the ice-encrusted world.

The European Space Agency is planning to fly its own spacecraft to the gas giant around the same time to study its three largest moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Jupiter has 67 moons.

Story: Alicia Chang

Clinton, Trump Battle Over Taxes, Race, Terror

By

Associated Press

-

27 September 2016, 10:08

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures toward Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the presidential debate on Monday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Photo: David Goldman / Associated Press

HEMPSTEAD, New York — In a combative opening debate, Hillary Clinton emphatically denounced Donald Trump Monday night for keeping his personal tax returns and business dealings secret from voters and peddling a “racist lie” about President Barack Obama. Businessman Trump repeatedly cast Clinton as a “typical politician” as he sought to capitalize on Americans’ frustration with Washington.

Locked in an exceedingly close White House race, the presidential rivals tangled for 90-minutes over their vastly different visions for the nation’s future. Clinton called for lowering taxes for the middle class, while Trump focused more on renegotiating trade deals that he said have caused companies to move jobs out of the U.S. The Republican backed the controversial “stop-and-frisk policing” tactic as a way to bring down crime, while the Democrat said the policy was unconstitutional and ineffective.

The debate was heated from the start, with Trump frequently trying to interrupt Clinton and speaking over her answers. Clinton was more measured and restrained, but also needled the sometimes-thin-skinned Trump over his business record and wealth.

“There’s something he’s hiding,” she declared, scoffing at his repeated contention that he won’t release his tax returns because he is being audited.

Trump aggressively tried to turn the transparency questions around on Clinton, who has struggled to overcome voters’ concerns about her honestly and trustworthiness. He said he would release his tax information when she produces more than 30,000 emails that were deleted from the personal internet server she used as secretary of state.

Tax experts have said there is no reason the businessman cannot make his records public during an audit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEHPrYUcoi0

Clinton was contrite in addressing her controversial email use, saying simply that it was a “mistake”. She notably did not fall back on many of the excuses she has often used for failing to use a government email during her four years as secretary of state.

“If I had to do it over again, I would obviously do it differently,” she said.

The televised face-off was the most anticipated moment in an election campaign that has been both historic and unpredictable. Both sides expected a record-setting audience for the showdown at Hofstra University in suburban New York, reflecting the intense national interest in the race to become America’s 45th president.

The candidates sparred over trade, taxes and how to bring good-paying jobs back to the United States.

Clinton said her Republican rival was promoting a “Trumped-up” version of trickle-down economics — a philosophy focused on tax cuts for the wealthy. She called for increasing the federal minimum wage, spending more on infrastructure projects and guaranteeing equal pay for women.

Trump panned policies that he said have led to American jobs being moved overseas, in part because of international trade agreements that Clinton has supported. He pushed Clinton aggressively on her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact while she was serving in the Obama administration. She’s since said she opposes the sweeping deal in its final form.

“You called it the gold standard of trade deals,” Trump said. “If you did win, you would approve that.”

Disputing his version of events, Clinton said, “I know you live in your reality.”

Trump struggled to answer repeated questions about why he only recently acknowledged that Barack Obama was born in the United States. For years, Trump has been the chief promoter of questions falsely suggesting the president was born outside of America.

“He has really started his political activity on this racist lie,” Clinton charged.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shake hands after the presidential debate on Monday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Photo: David Goldman / Associated Press

Clinton aides spent the days leading up to the debate appealing for the media and voters to hold Trump to a higher standard than they believe he has faced for much of the campaign. Their concern was that if the sometimes-bombastic Trumpmanaged to keep his cool onstage, he’d be rewarded — even if he failed to flesh out policy specifics or didn’t tell the truth about his record and past statements.

Trump’s campaign has said the Clinton camp’s concerns reflected worries about the her debating skills.

The centerpiece of Trump’s campaign has been a push for restrictive immigration measures, including a physical wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and an early proposal to temporarily bar foreign Muslims from coming to the U.S. But he’s been less detailed about other ideas, including his plan for stamping out the Islamic State group in the Middle East.

Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state, is banking on voters seeing her as a steady hand who can build on the record of President Obama, whose popularity is rising as he winds down his second term in office. She’s called for expanding Obama’s executive orders if Congress won’t pass legislation to overhaul the nation’s immigration system and for broader gun control measures. Overseas, she’s called for a no-fly zone in Syria but has vowed to keep the military out of a large-scale ground war to defeat the Islamic State group.

For Clinton, victory in November largely hinges on rallying the same young and diverse coalition that elected Obama but has yet to fully embrace her.

Trump has tapped into deep anxieties among some Americans, particularly white, working-class voters who feel left behind in a changing economy and diversifying nation. While the real estate mogul lacks the experience Americans have traditionally sought in a commander in chief, he’s banking on frustration with career politicians and disdain for Clinton to push him over the top on Election Day.

Story: Julie Pace and Jill Colvin

Former IMF Chief Rodrigo Rato Stands Trial for Fraud

By

Associated Press

-

26 September 2016, 18:17

Former Finance Minister and International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato arrives Sept. 17 at the National Court in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Associated Press

MADRID — Protesters shouted insults at Rodrigo Rato, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, as he and 64 others entered court for a trial over the alleged misuse of corporate credit cards at a Spanish bank.

Prosecutors are seeking a 4 and-a-half year jail term for Rato, 67, who headed Bankia group between 2010 and 2012.

The court says investigations indicate there was fraudulent administration and misappropriation of bank funds by the accused in the use of the “opaque” credit cards for irregular and undeclared expenses between 2003 and 2012.

The trial started Monday but questioning of the accused will begin Friday.

Rato was IMF chief from 2004 to 2007 and a leading figure in Spain’s acting ruling Popular Party from 1996 to 2004.

Russian Man Found Dead, Surrounded by Empties

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

-

26 September 2016, 18:13

A Russian man was found deceased in a room at the Karona Resort Hotel and Spa on Sunday. Photo: Google

PHUKET — A Russian man was found dead and alone in a hotel room filled with empty bottles Sunday a resort in the Karon area of Phuket.

A hotel maid discovered the man’s body at about 3pm in his room at the Karona Resort, Capt. Nipon Themsang of Karon police said. He was found lying face down on a bed. Police have withheld his identity.

“The man was intoxicated, and the room was also full of empty alcohol bottles,” Niphon said. “He also appeared to be carrying medicine for a congenital disorder.”

Stressing the sheer number of bottles found in the man’s room, Niphon said he believed his death was due to a combined effect of the medication and alcohol.

The Russian man was on vacation with a tour group but was not sharing the room with anyone, the captain said.

Hot News

LATEST NEWS