Chumpol Choopradit talk to officers at Thonglor Police Station on Wednesday afternoon, hours after he crashed his motorcycle into singer Suveera “Q” Boonrod.
BANGKOK — A motorcyclist who slammed into the lead singer of rock band Flure and then fled the scene yesterday morning said he was afraid he would be late for work.
Chumpol Choopradit, 41, surrendered to police Wednesday evening, hours after he hit Suveera “Q” Boonrod and his friend with his motorcycle in Thonglor. The impact left both men seriously injured, with the 35-year-old musician requiring an immediate operation for a brain injury. Doctors said he’s now in stable condition.
“He stopped and helped the victim a bit, and when other people came to help, he went on his way to work,” Jirakrit Jarunphat, deputy chief of Thonglor police station, said by telephone Thursday. “He said he was in a hurry to go to work. He was afraid he would be late.”
Chumpol, who was said to work as a driver for a Japanese company in Chonburi province, has been charged with reckless driving causing severe injury to others and not reporting an accident to law enforcement officers.
Col. Jirakrit added that he did not believe Chumpol was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Q was hit by Chumpol as he was crossing a street with a friend in Soi Thonglor 13, a moment captured by CCTV:
His friend, Tharathep Khansongkij, suffered injuries to his skull and legs.
Brain surgeon Krissanee Karnchanapandh said Q underwent surgery just in time to prevent him from entering a coma, or worse.
“It was fortunate that we operated on the patient in a timely manner,” Krissanee said. “If it had taken [slightly] longer than that, his life would have been threatened.”
The surgeon said it’s too early to say when Q will leave the ICU.
This photo provided by Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., shows Democrat members of Congress, including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., center, and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., left, participate in sit-down protest seeking a a vote on gun control measures, Wednesday, June 22, 2016, on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo: Rep. John Yarmuth / Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor Wednesday to demand votes on gun-control bills, shouting down Speaker Paul Ryan when he attempted to restore order as their protest stretched into the night.
The stunning and unruly scene was broadcast live to the world from Democrats’ cell phones, feeds picked up by C-SPAN after Republicans shut down the network’s cameras.
The sit-in was well into its 10th hour, with Democrats camped out on the floor stopping legislative business in the House, when Ryan stepped to the podium to gavel the House into session and hold votes on routine business. Angry Democrats chanted “No bill, no break!” and waved pieces of paper with the names of gun victims, continuing their protest in the well of the House even as lawmakers voted on a previously scheduled and unrelated measure to overturn a veto by President Barack Obama.
Ryan attempted to ignore the outbursts and announce the business of the day, pounding down his gavel over shouting. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Democrats yelled, but Ryan left the lectern and the voting continued. Then Democrats began singing “We Shall Overcome,” still holding up the names of gun victims.
In this image from video provided by House Television, House Speaker Paul Ryan gavels the House into session Wednesday night, June 22, 2016, in Washington. Photo: House Television / Associated Press
The scene presented a radical, almost shocking departure from the normal orderly conduct of the House. It was uncertain what would happen as the night stretched on. Republicans planned to attempt to adjourn the House, and hoped to present themselves as soberly attending to business and Democrats as disruptive. Democrats said they would stay until Republicans yielded to their demands to hold votes on bills to strengthen background checks and prevent people on the no fly list from getting guns in the wake of last week’s massacre in Orlando, Florida.
“Are they more afraid than the children at Sandy Hook?” asked Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., referring to the 2012 shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 elementary school children, in Newtown, Connecticut. “What is so scary about having a vote?”
Rep. John Lewis, a veteran civil rights leader, asked what Congress has done, then answered his own question: “Nothing. We have turned a deaf ear to the blood of innocents. We are blind to a crisis. Where is our courage?”
Ryan dismissed the protest as “nothing more than a publicity stunt,” and in an interview with CNN, made clear there would be no vote.
“We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process,” he said.
The protest began around 11:30 a.m., interrupted briefly when Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, tried to start the House’s work at noon. The customary prayer and Pledge of Allegiance went ahead, but Poe was forced to recess the House when dozens of Democrats refused to leave the well.
By evening, 168 House Democrats — out of 188 — and 34 Senate Democrats joined the protest, according to the House minority leader’s office. One after another, they spoke of the need for gun control and talked of constituents who had been killed.
Scattered around the House floor were signs reading “Disarm Hate.” Visitors watched from the galleries. A crowd of several hundred gun control advocates gathered outside the Capitol and cheered as Democrats addressed them.
Congress remains gridlocked over gun control, a divide even more pronounced in a presidential election year. The sit-in had the feel of a 1960s-style protest, as some lawmakers sat on the floor, others in their seats.
Republicans had staged a similar protest in 2008. Democrats controlling the House at the time turned off the cameras amid a GOP push for a vote to expand oil and gas drilling. Republicans occupied the floor, delivering speeches after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the House on its August recess. Pelosi ordered the cameras turned off.
Republicans ultimately forced the drilling provision to be attached to a stopgap spending bill.
C-SPAN, a cable and satellite network that provides continual coverage of House and Senate floor proceedings, does not control the cameras. They’re run on authorization by legislative leaders.
Although the cameras were turned off Wednesday, lawmakers relied on social media to transmit video, using Facebook, Twitter and Periscope. C-SPAN broadcast live video streamed on Periscope and Facebook from lawmakers’ accounts. Democrats posted the Capitol’s main telephone number, which was overwhelmed, and urged constituents to call and request a vote. They also encouraged tweeting under the hashtag #NoBillNoBreak.
Democratic senators joining the protest included Minority Leader Harry Reid, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who had waged a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week to force votes in the Senate on gun legislation. Those votes failed Monday night.
CHIANG MAI — Lovers of film and art may want to check for cheap flights to Chiang Mai, as the northern city will open a new contemporary art museum with a solo exhibition by a titan of both worlds next month.
For the first time, Cannes-winning director Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul will show a retrospective of work spanning his entire career from old, rarely seen shorts and video installations to photos and paintings. In true Apichatpong style, the whole thing’s called “The Serenity of Madness.”
The multimedia exhibition promises to reflect the 45-year-old provocateur’s views on Buddhism, spirituality and rebirth.
“This is the first retrospective of Apichatpong,” said curator Gridthiya Gaweewong, who first met the director 22 years ago at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and co-produced Apichatpong’s first experimental film, 2000’s “Mysterious Object at Noon.”
“Most people know him from his feature films, but at this exhibition, they’ll see another side through his work from scripts and sketches to short films since he was a student at Chicago,” Gridthiya said.
With cooperation from New York-based Independent Curators International, Serenity of Madness runs July 4 through Sept. 10 at Chiang Mai’s newest addition, the Maiiam Contemporary Art Museum.
The 3,000-square-meter warehouse is located in the San Kamphaeng district. It opens to the public July 4.
Admission is 150 baht. In Thailand the exhibition will be held exclusively in Chiang Mai before it goes on tour through Hong Kong, the United States and elsewhere.
Set in Isaan, Apichatpong’s 2010 film “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” was preoccupied with belief in reincarnation. It was also the first – and so far only – Thai film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Originally from Chiang Mai, Apichatpong will come to Bangkok later this year to take over the fourth floor of The Reading Room, the library-gallery-shophouse on Soi Silom 19, for the month of October.
The Mangmoom (Spider) design won the design competition for the integrated card in October. Photo: ThaiCommonTicket / Facebook
BANGKOK — Every commuter’s dream of carrying only one card to ride all the rails will remain just that for now, as it won’t be ready by August as promised.
In fact, the one card promised to rule them all – BTS, MRT, Blue and Purple lines and Airport Rail Link alike – won’t make it to passengers this year at all, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning announced Wednesday.
“What isn’t finished yet are discussions of how to adjust the systems of those four train lines to be connected into a shared system.,” said acting director Padet Praditphet. “Because it’s very complicated.”
Padet said he had no idea when the those issues will be resolved. Once they are settled, the public will have to wait another six or seven months for their Mangmoom cards while card readers and infrastructure is put in place on all rail systems.
Getting the system in place requires cooperation from all transportation agencies, whose territorialism has delays in building out the capital’s ambitious rail network.
Since a winning design for the long-promised card was announced in October, authorities have repeatedly assured that everyone’s wallets would see more free space when the cards landed in August.
The Ministry of Transport has also said they will be usable on the expressway and bus systems.
A new public-private partnership is also needed to manage the card. Padet said it remains unclear which government agency will be responsible for the public share of up to 50 percent.
BANGKOK — Some say it’s name today came from a bastardization of “field of carefree cows” in Thai or the lamphong plants which once grew there. Others point to its signature windowed arch and resemblance to Frankfurt’s rail station, insisting it’s a sound-alike for Hauptbahnhof, or central train station in German.
Though why the Bangkok Railway Station became known as Hua Lamphong has been forgotten 100 years after the first train left its platform, Thailand’s oldest railway station is still going strong, and the city will throw it a birthday party this Saturday.
Since the capital’s biggest transit icon opened June 25, 1916, it has grown into a national symbol. More than a just the gateway to all of Thailand, it also the first thing welcoming Thais to the capital, many of whom come in search of success or a better life. For those who fail to find their luck after jumping their train to Bangkok, the station can even end up as home.
To celebrate its platinum jubilee, state railway Gov. Wutthichart Kalayanamitr said the terminal’s received a yearlong facelift, and its distinctive glass arch will be colorfully lit.
At Saturday’s birthday party, four historical steam trains will be rolled out along with a vintage market and performances of traditional Thai music and theatre.
The celebration comes near the end of Hua Lamphong’s railway reign, as owner State Railway of Thailand, or SRT, plans to shift most transit services to the new Bang Sue Railway Station when it is completed, possibly by 2019.
That however doesn’t spell the end for the 100-year-old Italian Neo-Renaissance structure.
Today the station is an endpoint of the MRT subway system, which will soon extend further across Bangkok, cementing its ongoing role in the lives of commuters and travelers.
It took six years to build the terminal, designed by Italian architect Mario Tamagno; a celebrity architect in turn-of-the-century Siam who also designed the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Oriental Hotel and Neilson Hays Library.
Ground was broken in 1910 during the reign of King Rama V, and the work finished under King Rama VI.
Before the party begins Saturday, take a look back on how Bangkok’s oldest and busiest transit spot has looked through its 100 years.
Construction began during the reign of King Rama V in 1910 on land that had been the central rail yards. Construction finished six years later in 1916. Photo: Matichon
The location of a public water fountain was turned into abomb shelter during World War II. Photo: Thailand in the Past / Facebook
The terminal became an island when Bangkok was hit by its worst flooding in 1942.
Though transportation options have multiplied, about 60,000 passengers still pass through Hua Lamphong every day, a number that explodes during the holidays as many head home from the capital to other provinces. Photo: State Railway of Thailand / Facebook
As the gateway to the capital city, the station has become home to a population of homeless people, many from the outlying provinces. In 2008, artists placed arecreation of hallway from a luxury hotelin the middle of the platform. Photo: Dudesweet / Facebook
A social experiment recently called attention to the less-than-comfortable terminal and sparked discussion about how public space can be designed to function for everyone who gathers there, from tourists to the homeless.
BANGKOK — AIS Serenade has launched its “The Ultimate Pride” campaign to celebrate its 12th anniversary. Under the theme “More than Ultimate: Endless Impressiveness,” the campaign aims to create a new level of exceptional offers and personal privileges that meet customers’ lifestyle needs in the digital era, specifically designed to endlessly impress … all year round.
Mrs. Bussaya Satirapipatkul, Executive Vice-President for Customer and Services Management with Advanced Info Service Plc. (AIS), said: “Throughout the past 12 years, AIS has always been the NUMBER ONE operator in the market and the first to deliver the best services and the ultimate in privileges to customers with the AIS Serenade program, reflecting our belief in “Always Exclusive, Always on Top.”
“Today we have three groups of Serenade customers: Platinum, Gold and Emerald. Our ability to fulfill the needs of each of these special groups is derived from our complete understanding of our customers’ behaviors and lifestyles. Because we really understand our customers, we can design the ultimate in perfectly tailored privileges and services for every AIS Serenade customer, resulting in even more personalized customer care. Our attention to detail and care makes our customers feel extra special and strengthens the bond between the AIS Serenade brand and them.
AIS ‘Ultimate Pride’
“The evidence of our success is clear from the 88% customer satisfaction figure in the first quarter of 2016, plus a continuously high positive Net Promoter Score (NPS). This data reinforces our proven accomplishments in customer care achieved with the AIS Serenade program. It can be said that AIS operates the NUMBER ONE customer care service in Thailand and offers the best privileges to all its customers.
“Since this year is the 12th anniversary of AIS Serenade, we are further stepping up our commitment to deliver NUMBER ONE loyalty program to make every aspect of our customers’ lives even more fulfilling. As part of our celebration, ‘The Ultimate Pride’ campaign has been developed based on the theme ‘More than the Ultimate, Endless Impressiveness’. The privileges that AIS Serenade customers will enjoy include:
Ultimate Digital Life offers various ways to enhance our customers’ digital lifestyles:
Customers can get a 50% discount on an iPhone 6s 16GB, Samsung S7 Edge or a 9.7” iPadPro 32GB or receive a Samsung J2 or LAVA 4G VoLTE 5.0 smartphone free or when registering a new phone number or transferring a number from another network;
Maximum discount of 600 baht when applying for AIS Mobile Care service for a period of 12 months;
Obtain an AIS Fibre residential high-speed internet 50/10 package at a special price of 699 baht/month. The normal price is 888 baht/month.
Ultimate Pretty and Lucky Number: Limited to 12 packages of special numbers in “The Ultimate Pride Package”, accompanied by Serenade Platinum membership and the services of a personal assistant. Furthermore, Serenade Platinum members can receive a free smartphone with AIS Mobile Care service and free calling and internet fees for two years. Ultimately, they can join an AIS Exclusive Trip to Hokkaido.
Additionally, customers registering a new number can choose their own lucky number series. They can also transfer from another network or switch from an old number by simply contacting one of our AIS Shops, calling the AIS Call Center or by using AIS’ e-service.
Ultimate Wealth & Investment: Receive special wealth and investment privileges, in cooperation with our following partners:
– Thanachart Securities Plc offers 25% discount on normal fee rates, a 0.2% addition to normal interest rate with a maximum of 4,200 bonus points to Serenade Platinum customers opening a new securities trading account;
– CIMB Thai Bank offers a maximum 1.5% per year interest rate and many other privileges when opening a new Beat Savings account with the bank;
– Southeast Insurance offers a maximum discount of 18% for any car insurance, while a high return savings product with tax deductions is coming soon.
Ultimate Surprizes: Customers can win prizes specially selected for a unique experience every month, all year round. The prizes are worth more than 4 million baht in total. Starting in July, the special gift of the month is a “Dream Destination Maldives” trip. Start in style with a limousine ride from your home to the airport. Then fly with Bangkok Airways, stay at a spa villa on the ocean and drink in the magnificent view at Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives. Relax with a spa aroma massage.
Ultimate Lifestyle Privileges: The varieties of privileges available through AIS Serenade are always satisfying and popular among customers. These include discounts from more than 15,000 leading stores, more than 700 carpark spots nationwide, and free drinks at 40 shops in 15 airports across the country. Serenade Platinum customers can enjoy additional special snack treats, e.g. sandwiches at Black Canyon restaurant.
“Ultimate Eating Out”: Ultimate enjoyment comes with cool discounts from a variety of famous restaurants, such as ice-cream at Banana Boat or Sweet and Gold at Svensen’s. Other ultimate gifts include special discounts at Sizzler, KFC and the Pizza Hut restaurants.
“On our 12th Anniversary, everyone at AIS Serenade is very grateful to our special customers for expressing their satisfaction and positive impressions of what we do. We have devoted a lot of attention to selecting the best offerings that will create a superior experience, and our perseverance has resulted in a sustainable, long-lasting bond between AIS and our customers. AIS Serenade will continue to develop outstanding privileges, which match the special needs of our customers, to maintain its leadership in service quality and privilege innovation. Ultimately, our goal is to create an endlessly impressive experience, today and also into the future,” Mrs. Bussaya concluded.
This is a paid news release and Khaosod English is not responsible for its content.
In this July 29, 2015, file photo, French police officers carry a piece of debris from a plane known as a "flaperon" on the shore iof Saint-Andre, Reunion Island. Photo: Lucas Marie / Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia — Debris found on an Australian island earlier this month is not from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, investigators said Wednesday.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was notified on June 9 that the debris had been found on Kangaroo Island off the southern Australian coast.
The bureau, which is running the search in the southern Indian Ocean on Malaysia’s behalf, said it had recovered the part but Boeing, the maker of the missing plane, advised that it was “not consistent with the manufacturing specifications of a Boeing commercial aircraft.”
The bureau did not say what the debris was likely from.
Flight 370 vanished with 239 people aboard on March 8, 2014, after flying off course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
Authorities say the plane likely crashed in the Indian Ocean, but officials have had no luck finding the main underwater wreckage despite an extensive search of a vast area of the ocean off Australia’s west coast. Crews are expected to complete their sweep of the 120,000 square kilometer area by August, and there are no plans to extend the hunt beyond that.
Several pieces of the plane have washed up over the past year on coastlines around the Indian Ocean, which is consistent with drifting models based on Flight 370 having crashed in the Indian Ocean.
More debris was found earlier this month washed ashore in Madagascar by a man who previously found a part of Flight 370, but the pieces have yet to be examined by investigators.
Blaine Gibson, an American adventurer who has been hunting for Flight 370 over the past year, said Wednesday that a Malaysian government investigator has twice canceled plans to go to Madagascar to collect the five pieces of potential aircraft debris.
The debris and potential personal effects of passengers found on the same beach are being held by Madagascar authorities.
Malaysian authorities, who are leading the investigation into the plane’s disappearance, have procedures in place to examine any suspected debris, though Australia will help analyze Gibson’s discovery if asked, the bureau said.
In February, Gibson found debris off the coast of Mozambique that experts later determined came from the missing Boeing 777.
Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn briefs officials on Sept. 23, 2014, about lessons he learned from the 2014 Scottish independence referendum he traveled across the world to observe.
BANGKOK — A cartoonist for Matichon Weekly was summoned today to explain why he penned cartoons critical of a junta-backed draft constitution, even though they were from 10 months ago and referred to a different draft.
For lampooning that first draft, which was rejected by junta-appointed lawmakers in September last year, the Election Commission said cartoonist Arun Watcharasawat must report himself next week to explain his action.
“The cartoonist and online editors of Matichon Weekly must meet us on June 30 to explain whether the incident was a misunderstanding, and explain the intentions behind it,” Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said at a Wednesday news conference. “If it was a misunderstanding, they must show responsibility and fix it, so that there will be correct understanding.”
On Friday, Matichon Weekly re-published a collection of Arun’s cartoons from August 2015 on its Facebook page. Many of those were critical of the charter draft being debated at the time before it was dumped a month later.
But with its even more controversial revision going to public vote soon, Somchai took offense nonetheless. Writing online Saturday, Somchai suggested both Arun and Matichon Weekly might have violated the recently imposed referendum law by republishing the cartoons. The law, passed in April, banned the spread of imagery that “deviates from the facts or contains manners that are violent, aggressive, rude, inciting or intimidating.”
The cartoons, which represented the primary criticisms of the proposed constitution, were reposted by Somchai on his own Facebook account.
Somchai, whose agency has been tasked with enforcing the referendum law, said he will decide whether to prosecute Arun and Matichon after he hears their explanations next week.
“Once we have completely obtained all the facts, we will be able to say how to proceed,” Somchai said. “But if anyone else wants to take legal action on this issue before us, they can also do so.”
Matichon Weekly, like Khaosod English, is part of the Matichon Group.
Opponents of military rule have decried the ever-increasing restrictions placed on campaigning or even discussing the charter, which will be put to a referendum Aug. 7.
Apart from banning any campaigns that “mislead” the public into voting against the charter written by regime-appointed drafters, the junta earlier this week shut down referendum monitoring centers set by the Redshirts, on the grounds only state agencies can watchdog against fraud and irregularities.
Today police obtained warrants to summon Redshirt leaders behind the so-called “Anti-Fraud Centers” shut down this past weekend. They have been charged with violating the junta’s ban on political activities put in place after it seized power in May 2014.
Suveera ‘Q Flure’ Boonrod in a photo posted online June 14. Photo: Suveera Boonrod / Facebook
BANGKOK — Suveera “Q” Boonrod, the lead singer of Flure, was hit by a motorbike early this morning. The rider fled the scene and is wanted by police.
Ekkasak “Noom” Promlat, the singer’s manager, said the unidentified rider struck the 35-year-old singer as he was crossing Soi Thonglor with a friend just after 6am. Both were sent to hospital for treatment, with Q in critical condition.
The singer, who has fronted the rock band since it came together in 2002, underwent an operation to remove a clot from his brain. He’s now in stable condition in Bangkok Hospital’s intensive care unit where he is being closely monitored.
The singer’s relatives filed a criminal complaint at Thonglor Police Station, and any witnesses are asked to step forward with information.
Orachorn ‘Praewa’ Thephasadin Na Ayudhya turns herself in at the Metropolitan Police Bureau headquarters in 2011 in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — A wealthy woman who received a judicial slap on the wrist for killing nine people as a teen driver told the court Tuesday she misunderstood the terms of her probation and asked for a do-over of her community service.
Orachorn “Praewa” Thephasadin Na Ayudhya, the unlicensed driver who at 17 sent nine people plunging to their deaths in a packed minivan, told the Central Juvenile and Family Court she is willing to redo her 138 hours of community service after she failed to follow instructions.
“She misunderstood the government regulation,” said Department of Probation head Narat Sawettanan. “She thought she could do community service anywhere without coordinating with us.”
Under the terms of her 2014 sentencing, Orachon was ordered to complete 138 hours of community service, reduced from 144 hours because she had donated blood. Now 23, she claimed to have already completed 90 hours at a hospital which is not a location approved by the Department of Probation.
Convicted of reckless driving, the Appeals Court sentenced Orachon to two years in prison – but suspended that sentence for four years, meaning she avoided any jail time.
Orachon was also ordered to provide services to victims of road accidents 48 hours each year for three years and was banned from driving until she turns 25.
According to Narat, Orachon has never reported in to probation officers since 2012. In February her attorney filed paperwork signed by Phramongkutklao Hospital certifying she had already served 90 hours there, prompting authorities to say she did not comply with regulations.
For her part, Orachan, who has never apologized for the accident which killed a number of students, filed a complaint that she felt threatened by probation officers. In her March complaint, she said that she performed her service at the hospital of her choosing because she felt worried about her safety.
The probation department chief said Tuesday there would be no renewed legal proceedings against Orachan as she agreed to now follow the rules.
Narat said Orachon will need to complete all 138 hours before reporting again to the court Aug. 23.
