Foreigner Found Dead Downtown in Khlong Saen Saep

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27 July 2016, 12:06

A man’s body is removed from a water intake building in Bangkok’s Lumphini subdistrict Tuesday night.

BANGKOK — The body of a male foreigner was found downtown in the Khlong Saen Saep Tuesday night.

Lumpini Police received notice at about 11:30pm on Tuesday that the body of a black man thought to between 30 and 40 was found in the filtration system of a canal water intake building in Soi Nai Lert on Wireless Road.

“After examination, the physician said there was no trace of violence on the body,” said police Lt. Wutthichai Athiworapanya. “The primary assumption is that he drowned.”

Two mobile phones and almost 8,000 baht were found on his body. No identifying documents were found.

The body was first discovered by Sai Homchan, 59, who works at the San Lert Water Intake Building when he turned on the filtration machine.

The body will be further examined at Chulalongkorn Hospital.

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With Money in Reach and Eyes on Fintech, Thai Startups Turn Corner at Techsauce Summit

By

Dana Blouin, Correspondent

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27 July 2016, 11:35

From left, Playbasis CEO Rob Zepeda, Korawad Chearavanont of Eko and SaaS Business Asia's Florian Cornu on stage at the Techsauce Summit.

BANGKOK — This past weekend’s Techsauce Summit provided insight into the ever-expanding Thai startup ecosystem where financial technology is red hot, venture capital infrastructure is booming – and above all – mobile is still king.

Though not the biggest or most well-attended startup event to grace the City of Angels this year, of course there were the usual Big Corp suspects at the show, such as DTAC, True Corp. and Siam Commercial Bank. Samsung was even there touting their VR tech, though sadly there didn’t seem to be any budding VR content companies to populate those promised worlds.

Show floor Saturday at the Techsauce Summit held at the Bangkok Convention Centre.

Rob Zepeda, CEO of Playbasis, said the Thai startup scene has become more accessible since he launched the Bangkok-based gamification company in 2011.

“When I started Playbasis, there were a lot more challenges,” Zepeda said. “Today, as entrepreneurs, we get more media exposure, access to more capital, and it’s become much easier to attract young talent to work for a startup and have the chance to make a real difference.”

It was the mix of startups filling out the booths and representing a wide range of sectors which was most intriguing. In full disclosure, I was there working the floor with my company DRVR, a Bangkok-based fleet analytics company.

Helping keep the pipeline flowing with new players has been better access to the money to get them started.

“From the Techsauce ecosystem report, it’s clear there is tremendous growth across the board,” said Stylhunt CEO Surawat “Sam” Promyotin, who’s also executive director of the Bangkok Venture Club. “The number of deals, the number of VCs active in Thailand, and funding raised by VCs themselves. From more direct observation, there is clearly much greater VC presence in Thailand, and the growth is coming from both inside and outside of the country.”

Inside the Bangkok Convention Centre, the hottest sector by far was financial technology (which has a much cooler name: fintech). Fintech is so hot organizers had a whole stage dedicated to talks and the conversation also seemed to dominate much of the investor talks as well.

Fintech covers a broad range of areas, but basically anything that might involve finance, payment or banking. If it is tech and deals with money – from peer-to-peer lending to Bitcoin – then it likely falls under the Fintech umbrella.

The startup floor had a fair amount of fintech firms such as Coin Back, Money Channel and Stock Radars.

One of my favorites was Piggipo, and not just for their awesome name. They are hyperfocused on the Thai market to help manage credit/debit among less financially sophisticated consumers. I see products and services like this most likely to open the doors for consumer fintech in Thailand.

Future in Hand

Yossi Hasson, managing director of Techstars Africa, is interviewed by a moderator at Techsauce Summit at the Bangkok Convention Centre. Though Fintech is hot and growing, one trend has stayed true over time in Thailand: It is very much a mobile first market. Because the vast majority of online use takes place on mobile phones, that means companies gravitate their products to be app-based.

This makes a lot of sense as adoption of personal computers has been low, primarily driven by financial factors. However, mobile adoption is through the roof with over 98 million mobile subscriptions nationwide. That’s not bad for a country with a population of only 67 million.

Given the numbers and economics, it’s very easy to see why Thailand has emerged as a mobile- first market, and why mobile plays such a big factor in the startup ecosystem. It also hints at why the major mobile providers each run their own startup incubators, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Two market segments that I think will emerge strong in Thailand as a result of their mobile-centricity are IoT (the “Internet of Things”) and augmented reality (or AR, for my geek friends). If IoT is the connectedness of all our stuff, I’ve argued that mobile devices are really the gateways to getting there, given that they are always with us and have the ability to connect with other devices through a smorgasbord of connectivity technologies.

A number of IoT segments are already mobile-oriented, such as wearable tech as most devices need to communicate back to the phone via Bluetooth, and we have seen a number of other segments move to a more mobile-centric consumer model, such as the smart home. In the smart home, most connected devices are either managed through a mobile device. Everything from thermostats to door locks to crock pots to egg trays leverage the mobile phone permanently attached to your hand.

As to making the case for augmented reality, look no further than the global obsession that Pokemon Go has quickly become. A couple years after many wrote off AR after the crash and burn of Google Glass, the Pokemon craze has reignited the augmented reality space, all of which of course is centered around the mobile device.

Though Pokémon Go has not officially launched in Thailand yet, expect the mobile AR game to catch on quickly and likely inspire a number of AR based startups to quickly jump on the trend and begin cranking out AR based mobile apps.
Looking Forward

Fintech may be what’s hot right now, and that may continue to drive things the next year or so. But really anything spins a unique product or service into a mobile app can take advantage of the most prevalent trend in the Thai startup ecosystem – mobility.

And as with all things mobile, I predict big data will enjoy a resurgence as one of the hottest segments in the startup space, as anything mobile related creates a ton of data must be stored and can be studied for amazing insights.

And where there’s data, there must be security.

TOP: From left, Playbasis CEO Rob Zepeda, Korawad Chearavanont of Eko and SaaS Business Asia’s Florian Cornu on stage at the Techsauce Summit.

Clinton Wins Historic Nomination, Says Glass Ceiling Cracked

By

Associated Press

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27 July 2016, 11:28

Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appears on a large monitor to thank delegates during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — On a night awash in history, Hillary Clinton triumphantly became the first woman to lead a major American political party toward the White House, breaking through a barrier that painfully eluded her eight years ago.

She put an electrifying cap on the Democratic convention’s second night, appearing by video from New York and declaring to cheering delegates, “We just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet.”

Minutes earlier, former President Bill Clinton took on the role of devoted political spouse, declaring his wife an impassioned “change-maker” as he served as character witness. He traced their more than 40-year political and personal partnership in deep detail.

“She has been around a long time,” he acknowledged. Casting her experience as an attribute, he added, “She’s been worth every single year she’s put into making people’s lives better.”

For a man more accustomed to delivering policy-packed stem-winders, Clinton’s heartfelt address underscored the historic night for Democrats, and the nation. If she wins in November, the Clintons would also be the first married couple to each serve as president.

She will take on Donald Trump, who won the Republican nomination a week ago. Trump, who campaigned Tuesday in North Carolina, mocked the former president’s speech in advance, calling him “over-rated.”

At Trump’s convention last week, Clinton was the target of blistering criticism of her character and judgment, a sharp contrast to the warm and passionate woman described by her husband. Seeking to explain the vastly different perceptions of his wife, Clinton said simply, “One is real, the other is made up.”

The former president took voters back to a time before an affair with an intern led to his impeachment — and to intense public scrutiny of the first couple’s marriage. While her aides believe his past transgressions are old news to voters, they have flared up anew at times during the campaign, with Trump often leading the charge.

Bill Clinton headlined the second night of the Democratic convention, a jubilant celebration of her formal nomination for president. In an important move for party unity, her primary rival Bernie Sanders helped make it official when the roll call got to his home state of Vermont, prompting delegates to erupt in cheers. It was a striking parallel to the role Clintonplayed eight years ago when she stepped to the microphone on the convention floor in Denver in support of her former rival, Barack Obama.

This time, Clinton shattered the glass ceiling she couldn’t crack in 2008.

She leads a party still grappling with divisions. Moments after Clinton claimed the nomination, a group of Sanders supporters left the convention and headed to a media tent to protest what they said was their being shut out of the party. At the same time, protesters who had spent the day marching in the hot sun began facing off with police.

Trump cheered the disruptions from the campaign trail. In North Carolina, he told a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that, “our politicians have totally failed you.”

Indeed, Clinton’s long political resume — secretary of state, senator, first lady — has sometimes seemed an odd fit for an electorate deeply frustrated with Washington and eager to rally around unconventional candidates like Trump and Sanders. Many voters have questions about her character and trustworthiness, suggesting she’s used her access to power to her personal advantage.

President Clinton spoke after three hours of testimonials from lawmakers, advocates, celebrities and citizens who argued otherwise. Each took the stage to vouch for her commitment to working on health care, children’s issues and gun control.

“Hillary Clinton has the passion and understanding to support grieving mothers,” said Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012. “She has the courage to lead the fight for commonsense gun legislation.”

The significant time devoted to the testimonials underscored the campaign’s concerns about how voters view Clinton. Public polls consistently show that a majority of Americans don’t believe she is honest and trustworthy. That perception that was reinforced after the FBI director’s scathing assessment of her controversial email use as secretary of state, even though the Justice Department did not pursue charges.

President Clinton complicated the email controversy last month when he met privately with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the midst of the FBI investigation. Republicans cast the meeting as a sign that the Clintons play by different rules, while Democrats bemoaned that at the very least, it left that impression.

The former president has campaigned frequently for his wife during the White House race, but mostly in smaller cities and towns, part of an effort by the campaign to keep him in a more behind-the-scenes role. His convention address was his highest profile appearance of the campaign.

Clinton’s landmark achievement saturated the roll call with emotion and symbols of women’s long struggle to break through political barriers. Jerry Emmett, a 102-year-old woman born before women had the right to vote, cast the ballots for Arizona.

Martha McKenna, a Clinton delegate from Maryland, said the night felt like a celebration for Sanders’ campaign as well asClinton’s. She added, “The idea that I’m going to be here when the first woman president is nominated is overwhelming.”

The Democratic convention drew the party’s biggest stars to sweltering Philadelphia for the week-long event. On Monday night, first lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned case for Clinton as the only candidate in the presidential race worthy of being a role model for the nation’s children. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will speak Wednesday, along with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton’s new running mate.

China Criticizes US, Japan, Australia For ‘Fanning’ Tensions

By

Associated Press

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27 July 2016, 11:18

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, attends the 23rd Asean Regional retreat meeting in Vientiane, Laos, Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Photo: Sakchai Lalit

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the United States, Japan and Australia for a joint statement on the South China Sea that he said was only “fanning the flames” of regional tensions just as countries have agreed to cool them down.

Wang said in a statement Wednesday that the move by the three countries came at an inappropriate time and wasn’t constructive.

“This trilateral statement is fanning the flames,” he said. “Now it is the time to test whether you are peacekeepers or troublemakers,” said Wang’s statement, referring to the three countries.

The three allies urged China not to construct military outposts and reclaim land in the disputed waters, making a strong show of support for Southeast Asian nations that have territorial disputes with Beijing, notably the Philippines and Vietnam.

Their joint statement, issued late Monday, filled a vacuum created by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose foreign ministers on Sunday failed to take a stand against China because of divisions among them.

The U.S., Japanese and Australia’s foreign ministers met in Laos on the sidelines of a series of meetings organized by ASEAN. The grouping could have leveraged the recent decision by a permanent arbitration panel, which ruled in favor of the Philippines in a case it brought against China in their dispute in the South China Sea.

Mexican Farmers Using Fireflies to Save Forest

By

Associated Press

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27 July 2016, 10:40

In this July 21, 2016 photo, fireflies seeking mates light up in synchronized bursts as photographers take long-exposure pictures, inside Piedra Canteada, a tourist camp cooperatively owned by 42 local families, inside an old-growth forest near the town of Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala state, Mexico. Photo: Rebecca Blackwell

NANACAMILPA, Mexico — In the village of Nanacamilpa, tiny fireflies are helping save the towering pine and fir trees on the outskirts of the megalopolis of Mexico City.

Thousands of them light up a magical spectacle at dusk in the old-growth forests on reserves like the Piedra Canteada park, about 75 kilometers east of Mexico’s sprawling capital city.

Piedra Canteada in Tlaxcala state isn’t a government-run park, but a rural cooperative that has managed to emerge from poverty and dependence on logging with the help of the fireflies.

For years, economic forces, including low prices for farm produce, forced rural communities like Piedra Canteada to cut down trees and sell the logs. Then, in 1990, community leader Genaro Rueda Lopez got the idea that the forest could bring tourism revenue from campers.

Business was slow for years. Then in 2011, community members realized the millions of fireflies that appear between June and August could draw tourists from larger cities where few people have seen them in significant numbers. Indeed, around the world, deforestation and urban growth are threatening the over 2,000 species of fireflies with extinction.

Five years later, the park’s cabins and camp spaces are sold out weeks in advance, with the attraction especially popular among families with young children and couples seeking a romantic setting.

“The amount of fireflies you see is impressive,” said Carlos Landa, a Mexico City native who visited Piedra Canteada this week. “Something that I also find quite impressive is their synchronicity: To turn off and turn on, that is something really spectacular. It’s like Christmas in the forest.”

The cooperative of 42 families still cuts some trees, but has preserved over 1,560 acres (630 hectares).

“We log, we live from the forest, from cutting trees, but in an orderly way,” said Rueda Lopez, one of the cooperative’s founders. “It’s like a garden, you have to remove the branches yourself, the dry parts, the parts with diseases to really grow.” He said they have plans to plant over 50,000 pine trees in the areas they log each year.

The idea has spread to nearby places in largely rural Tlaxcala, like Granja Interactiva Salma, whose primary business is still crops like corn, wheat, broad beans and peas. But they say firefly tours are a much-needed source of extra income.

“We are trying to treat the whole area here with no herbicides, because it’s logical if we have insecticides, that could affect the fireflies,” said Hugo Brindis, a certified guide at Granja Salma. “We are talking to biologists and the people who make these chemicals to see which have less of an effect on fireflies and the forest.”

He said their operation is a reservation-only ranch and they are trying to reduce the amount of people who visit the area, 250 maximum on the weekends, to maintain a sustainable space in the forest.

In Piedra Canteada, the co-op acquired a small sawmill in 1998 so it could sell higher-priced cut lumber instead of just logs. The sawmill gives residents jobs and income beyond the three-month firefly season.

But the fireflies are now the main source of income.

“We have reduced our wood production, you can say by 60 or 70 percent to preserve the forest and have better amount of tourism,” said sawmill manager Salvador Morale.

Story by: Lulu Orozco

Niece of Army Torture Victim Arrested For Internet Messages

By

Associated Press

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26 July 2016, 20:52

Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat speaks to reporters Tuesday in front of Bangkok's Makkasan Police Station.

BANGKOK — The niece of an army conscript who was tortured to death by soldiers was arrested Tuesday on a complaint filed by the Thai military over her internet postings.

After being flown down to a police station in Naratiwat province, Naritsarawan was released on bail at 2am early Wednesday morning

Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat last year had posted photos of her uncle’s body and information about the torture he endured. She was arrested at her workplace in Bangkok on charges of criminal defamation and violating the Computer Crime Act.

Military personnel are rarely prosecuted for human rights abuses or other crimes in Thailand, and the military government that seized power in May 2014 has clamped down on free speech.

Naritsarawan won 7 million baht (USD$200,000) compensation in a malfeasance suit against the army, the defense ministry and the prime minister’s office, but the actual perpetrators went unpunished.

The army’s own investigation concluded Wichian Puaksorn was tortured by about 10 soldiers as punishment when he tried to run away a second time from his camp in the southern province of Narathiwat in June 2011. It said a first lieutenant gave the order and that Wichian was kicked, beaten and dragged across concrete; salt was rubbed in his wounds before he was wrapped in a sheet and beaten again.

“Naritsarawan acted as a representative and advocate in the place of her late uncle’s mother,” said Preeda Nakphew, an attorney for the Cross Cultural Foundation advocacy group. “She fought his case in court and was already paid compensation for his death, so it is unclear as to why the police are acting on this arrest warrant now.”

In a separate case, three human rights activists who were tried on similar charges after being sued by the army will hear the court’s verdict on Wednesday. The charges involve a report the three issued alleging torture by security forces inThailand’s southern provinces, where a Muslim insurgency has lasted more than a decade. They face the prospect of five years behind bars and a fine of USD$4,800.

Amnesty International called for Thai authorities to drop the charges and instead investigate the serious allegations the activists’ report raised. “It is the state’s duty to protect human rights activists, not to shield security forces from accountability,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty in a press release.

The report issued in February described acts of torture in the southern provinces as systematic and said that in spite of complaints and campaigns by victims and rights organizations, “the state has not taken any significant action to prevent and address torture.”

Government spokesman Winthai Suvaree said in response to their report that there was no evidence to back allegations of torture.

ISIS Takes Credit For Killing French Priest During Morning Mass

By

Associated Press

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26 July 2016, 20:48

View of the church where a priest was killed in an attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, France, on Tuesday. Photo: Francois Mori / Associated Press

SAINTE-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY, France — Two attackers took hostages inside a French church during morning Mass on Tuesday near the city of Rouen, killing an 86-year-old priest by slitting his throat before being shot and killed by police, French officials said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Another person inside the church in Normandy was seriously injured and is hovering between life and death, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said. Police managed to rescue the only three other people inside the church in the small northwestern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, he told reporters.

A regional Muslim leader said one of the two attackers — who were killed outside the church — was known to police.

It was the first known attack inside a French church in recent times. A church was targeted last year, but the attack never was carried out.

A statement published by the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by “two soldiers of the Islamic State” who acted in response to calls to target nations in the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.

The RAID special intervention force was searching for possible explosives in or around the church.

“The investigations are ongoing. There are still unknowns,” Brandet said. “There are dogs, explosive detectors and bomb disposal services and as long as there are still unknowns, the judicial police cannot get inside the site. It’s a dramatic situation.”

Dominique Lebrun, the archbishop of Rouen, confirmed the death of 86-year-old Rev. Jacques Hamel.

“I cry out to God, with all men of good will. And I invite all non-believers to unite with this cry,” Lebrun wrote in a statement from Krakow, Poland, where Pope Francis was expected. “The Catholic Church has no other arms besides prayer and fraternity between men.”

French President Francois Hollande, arriving on the scene, called it a “vile terrorist attack” and said it’s one more sign that France is at war with the Islamic State, which has claimed a string of attacks on France.

“We must lead this war with all our means,” he said, adding that he was calling a meeting on Wednesday of representatives of all religions.

He expressed solidarity with local Catholics, saying “they have been terribly hit by the killing of the parish priest by two terrorists claiming to belong to Daesh. I have met with the family of the priest.”

A police official said one of the attackers was turned back after trying to go to Syria. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the investigation, said the man wore an electronic bracelet to monitor his movements.

Mohammed Karabila, head of the Regional Council of the Muslim Faith for Haute-Normandie, said French security services knew the name of one of the attackers.

“The person who committed this odious act is known and he has been followed by the police for at least 1 1/2 years. He went to Turkey and security services were alerted after this,” he told The Associated Press by phone. He refused to divulge man’s name and had no information on the second attacker.

The pope condemned the attack in the strongest terms. Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a statement the attack hits particularly hard “because this horrific violence took place in a church, a sacred place in which the love of God is announced, and the barbaric murder of a priest.”

France is on high alert and under a state of emergency after an attack in the southern city of Nice on Bastille Day — July 14 — that killed 84 people that was claimed by the Islamic State group, as well as a series of attacks last year that killed 147 others around Paris.

Islamic State extremists have urged followers to attack French churches and the group is believed to have planned at least one church attack earlier.

In April 2015, an Algerian student who was arrested after shooting himself in the leg was found with heavy weapons, bulletproof vests and documents linked to Islamic State. He is charged with killing a young woman inside her car the same day. According to French authorities, the suspect, Sid Ahmed Ghlam, was sent by the Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud to attack a church in Villejuif, just outside of Paris.

A cell directed by Abaaoud later carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and the March 22 attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people.

Story: Elaine Ganley, Alex Turnbull

Mayor Accused of Stripping Reporter For Reporting His Engagement to Teen

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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26 July 2016, 18:41

A reporter on Monday films the entrance to the office of mayor Premsak Piayura in Khon Kaen province.

KHON KAEN — A reporter for a national newspaper was stripped to his underwear by a mayor in northeastern Thailand on Tuesday as revenge for his coverage of the official’s engagement to a teen schoolgirl, according to a report.

The bizarre punishment allegedly ordered by Premsak Piayura came after Daily News published an unsigned report Monday that the 51-year-old mayor held a ceremony on the occasion of his engagement to a teenager in high school, photos of which were published along with the report – despite the bureaucrat’s request for privacy.

On Tuesday morning, Premsak ordered all local reporters to his office for a lecture on privacy. But whereas other correspondents merely got a stern talking-to, Daily News said its reporter was held back and forcefully stripped by members of Premsak’s staff, according to a journalist present at the meeting.

“It’s like he wanted to draw a comparison and teach a lesson,” said the journalist, who requested anonymity because he feared retaliation from Premsak. “He asked the reporter: Are you embarrassed when someone violates your privacy like this?”

A former Thai Rak Thai politician, Premsak is mayor of Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district. The Daily News report said he paid a dowry of 400,000 baht and a Toyota Vios. Seventeen is the minimum legal age to marry with parental consent.

Someone answering the phone at Premsak’s office Tuesday said the mayor was out of town on official business and could not be reached for comment.

Daily News editor Chai Patakamin said he’s discussing with executives of the newspaper how to best respond to Premsak’s alleged actions. He insisted the newspaper reported about the mayor’s engagement to the high school student because it was newsworthy.

“We published and presented the news as we do in other routine stories,” Chai said. “We did not have any personal vendetta against him.”

Chai did not name the reporter at the center of the incident. The reporter also told his colleagues he would not speak publicly because he feared further harassment.

Wet Alert: Rat-Drowning Downpour to Hit Bangkok

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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26 July 2016, 17:32

Six Bangkokians ride out the waters in October 2011. Photo: Matichon

BANGKOK — When is rain news during the rainy season? When great skies full of the stuff are expected to drench the capital, such as are forecast for Thursday through the weekend.

The daily showers born of the southwest monsoon will be intensified as a front moves across the nation toward the gulf and Andaman Sea, promising heavy rain throughout the greater metropolitan area from Thursday through Sunday.

Heading out to sea during those four days? Best reconsider as rough-seas warnings have been issued.

Thonglor 10 Goes Dark As Storm Topples Huge Tree

Yingluck Drops HBD Song For Brother, And It’s Really Sappy

By

Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter

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26 July 2016, 17:13

BANGKOK — In the homestretch to the first public measure of the junta which dislodged her government from power, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra shared a song with the world Tuesday.

Yingluck serenades her brother in blood and political fortune on the occasion of his birthday in a video released Tuesday which also serves to remind Thais that they’re not going anywhere.

“I give this song from my missing heart as a present to my brother on his birthday,” Yingluck wrote in in the Facebook post which served to publicize the video Tuesday afternoon. “My love and respect for him never diminishes. I wish you good health and happiness forever. I love you always.”

Those saccharine sentiments persist through the six-minute clip, which begins with a monologue explaining her sadness in being unable to wish her brother a happy birthday in person today.

“I can go anywhere in Thailand, except go abroad,” she says. “While [Thaksin] can travel anywhere on the globe but Thailand. It’s torturing.”

Junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha was speaking to reporters after his Tuesday cabinet meeting when he noticed several reporters watching the video on their smartphones. He dismissed it, saying he wouldn’t stop anyone from celebrating Thaksin’s birthday.

Yet the video is unlikely to be welcomed by members of the military which have sought to stamp out the influence wielded by Yingluck and her brother since seizing power in 2014.

Since then, 49-year-old Yingluck has kept a relatively low profile. She’s forbidden to travel abroad as she’s partway through a long trial relating to alleged malfeasance in the administration of an agricultural subsidy.

However she occasionally publicizes the warm welcomes she receives on visits into the provinces.

At the beginning of the new year, the military reacted harshly when Yingluck and Thaksin published a book and calendar. A few months later she hosted a charm session with the media in her vegetable garden. In April authorities seized thousands of red plastic bowls stamped with their greetings for the Thai New Year.

They are loathed figures by the coup makers and their supporters, who, seeing the Shinawatras as architects of massive corruption, overturned representative democracy to deprive them of power.

Now as the constitution it wants passed to contain a return to power by the Shinawatras goes to a public vote Aug. 7, the military government is struggling to control the narrative by quashing dissent.

Pretty much every year, Thaksin’s birthday invites a furor as his supporters seek to recognize it.

Earlier this month, a birthday party in Hong Kong was canceled after a large number of Pheu Thai Party politicians signaled their plans to go abroad. The junta said they may not be allowed back into the country, and the party was cancelled. Thaksin is currently in London.

In Yingluck’s video, she sings “Pleng Kong Ter (Your Song),” a 2010 ballad originally sung by noted female singer Thanaporn “Parn” Waekprayoon.

“Because of you, life has come beyond a dream, because of you, my life has found a lighted route, you’re the most beautiful gift and the most precious for one’s breath, I promise not to leave and will lay my heart on your hand,” goes a portion of the song.

Yingluck didn’t let the birthday wishes go without mentioning their mandate from the public.

“Another sentiment that I feel, and I’m sure [Thaksin] shares with me is that, we were both elected by the people. We can feel their love and kindness toward us,” she says.

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