Three Weeks On, Patience Thin For Parents of Dead Schoolgirls

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14 June 2016, 16:17

Interim parliament member Tuang Untachai points as photographers snap photos Tuesday in the burned dormitory of Chiang Rai’s Pitakkiet Witthaya School. Numerous VIPs have visited the school and posed for photo-ops since the fire, but no legal action has been taken.

CHIANG RAI — More than three weeks have passed since a fire killed 17 girls at a boarding school for impoverished hill tribe children, and police have yet to file a charge against anyone over the incident.

While the father of one victim said the delay is wearing him and other victim’s families down, police commanders Tuesday repeated their pleas for more time before they file any charge against the Christian charity that ran the school, where no smoke detectors were installed and no alarm was raised.

Read: Parents Held Big Dreams for Children Lost in Fire. Now They Want Answers

“We have to see whether it was reckless action or an accident that no one could have foreseen before we can file any charge,” deputy national police chief Chalermkiat Srivorakan said by telephone. “For this issue, investigators are still collecting testimony.”

Seventeen girls aged 5 to 12 died when the fire broke out in the dormitory of all-girls Pitakkiat Witthaya School just before midnight on May 22. Most of the children were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, as no alarm was raised to warn them of the fire.

Provincial police chief Thanayin Thepraksa said autopsy reports, details of injuries and witness’ testimony must be entirely completed first before filing any charges.

“We work as a team … we have to consult with other investigative officers,” Maj. Gen. Thanayin said.

‘I Don’t Know What to Do’

One group the officers are not consulting with is the parents, according to one father.

Winai Pisailert, whose 11-year-old daughter died in the fire, said police have not reached out to him at all to explain how the case is going. His patience is running thin.

“We have to travel up and down the mountain to find out about any progress,” said Winai, who like many other families of the victims, lives in a remote mountain community. “Many of us are exhausted now.”

Winai said he talked with other victims’ relatives and they share his frustration that the case appears to be going nowhere.

“I’m not angry,” he said. “I just want to know why the process is so slow.”

He said he’s not alone in feeling left in the dark.

“Each family told me it’s very unclear; it’s not going anywhere. I have to ask the team to help us about this, because I don’t know what to do.”

The team Winai referred to is an NGO called Mirror Foundation that’s assisting the families. Foundation activist Nattapol Singhtuen said the job of his team, which includes a lawyer, is to explain to the families their legal rights and help them navigate the bureaucratic maze.

“Because they are mostly from the hill tribes, they don’t know about how this works,” Nattapol said. “They may think it’s all up to the bureaucracy to decide, but in fact these are their rights.”

One of those rights, he said, is to be informed about the progress of the criminal investigation, which police have not done.

Light Bulb Theory Doubted

Nattapol also said the victims’ families refuse to accept the explanation given by police that the blaze that killed the 17 girls started from a faulty light bulb.

According to police, the threading of a bulb overheated, melted and fell onto a pile of clothes, starting the fire.

“They want to know the true cause of the fire, so that they can accept it in their hearts,” Nattapol said. “But if the explanation isn’t reasonable, then they can’t accept it. Like this light bulb issue. They know how light bulbs work. They install and use them in their homes, too, and they haven’t seen that kind of incident before.”

The same doubt was previously cast by Pichaya Chantranuwat, who was dispatched by the Council of Engineers to inspect the site of the fire. Pichaya said it was unlikely to happen.

The school, run by a Christian foundation called Panthakit Suksan Foundation, re-opened on May 30.

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Translator in Bombing Trial Says He’s a Marked Man

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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14 June 2016, 16:00

Sirojiddin Bakhodirov, at left, works as an interpreter for Uighur suspect Yusufu Mieraili in a photo posted June 9. Photo: Sirojiddin Bakhodirov / Facebook

BANGKOK — The volunteer court interpreter for the two Uighur men on trial for last year’s bombing of the Erawan Shrine said he is innocent of drug charges and worried about his safety, as police contend preliminary results speak to his guilt.

Uzbek national Sirojiddin Bakhodirov, arrested June 1 after complaining of intimidation to a military tribunal, denied using drugs and said he was being targeted for helping the bombing suspects in court and advocating for the more than 200 Uighurs under detention in Songkhla province.

“I am Muslim. I never do drugs. And these drugs didn’t have my fingerprints,” 38-year-old Bakhodirov said Sunday, contending officers planted drugs on him. “And they already tested in the hospital that I was cleaned.”

Bakhodirov said police told him in court he did not test positive prior to releasing him on bail.

Police deny that. Lt. Col. Siriphong Phumlaojang of Lumpini Police Station said Bakhodirov tested positive the day he was arrested. He has not yet been charged for drug use, Siriphong said, because they are still waiting for a detailed report from the Royal Thai Police Hospital, 13 days after Bakhodirov was tested.

“We cannot charge him from the results of the preliminary test,” Siriphong said. “It could also come from other substances, like when you hear about people claiming their violet urine came from cough syrup.”

Regardless of the investigation and criminal proceedings against Bakhodirov play out, the case has impacted the trial of Uighur-speaking Yusufu Mieraili and Adem Karadag, for whom the defense has struggled locating qualified interpreters.

After Bakhodirov’s arrest and drug test, the defense team distanced itself from him and decided not to offer legal aid.

Schoochart Kanpai, the lawyer representing Karadag, said the evidence seemed clear enough.

“I think it is better if he just pled guilty,” Schoochart said.

They have been seeking a new translator.

In a wide-ranging interview on Sunday, Bakhodirov disputed statements by both lawyers and authorities that he had overstayed his visa in Thailand, saying his passport was being renewed at the Uzbek embassy.

Bakhodirov, due in court Wednesday, said he was indigent, had no legal representation and had not been offered any help.

Persecution Claims

A few hours before his arrest on June 1, Bakhodirov testified in military court that he was assaulted and threatened by four men who told him to stop working on the bombing case.

Asked why he thinks he, as a translator, would be targeted, Bakhodirov said some authorities believed he instructed the two suspects to make a public display of their innocence before the media on May 17.

“[The] police translator in the court said, ‘You teach these men to make drama,’” he said.

Based on his conversations with Karadag, aka Bilal Muhammed, he said Bangkok has allowed Chinese government agents access to the defendants.

The Aug. 17 bombing has been widely attributed to Thailand’s capitulation to Chinese pressure to forcibly repatriate more than 100 Uighurs last year.

“Two Chinese authorities came to the prison for interrogation two times last year in September and October,” he said. “Bilal told me.”

After being released on bail, Bakhodirov said he was taken to a military garage in Soi On Nut 17 where an officer told him to stay in order to be safe until his next court date.

The Uighur interpreter claimed he left the site on Sunday after being asked by a high-ranking officer to spy on defense lawyer Schoochart and others in the case to provide evidence they are Redshirts opposed to the monarchy.

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Interactive: Who’s Who in the Bangkok Bombing Investigation

UN Rights Chief Urges Thailand to Allow Debate of Draft Charter

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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14 June 2016, 14:58

UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein speaks Monday in Geneva.

BANGKOK — The U.N. rights chief Monday called on Thailand’s military government to respect the electorate’s right to freely deliberate the proposed constitution before voting whether to adopt it as the law of the land.

In a broader address on the degrading of rights globally and proliferation of hate, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein raised the “paradoxical” suppression of debate on a matter going to public vote in less than two months during the 32nd Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

“The people of Thailand have a right to discuss – and to criticize – decisions about their country, and free, fair and dynamic public debate on the draft constitution is vital if the country is to return to sustainable democracy,” Al-Hussein said (3pm Bangkok time) in Geneva.

The Jordanian prince added he is concerned about the increasing use of military courts to try civilians, noting that people who have posted critical comments on the draft constitution have been detained and charged with sedition.

The architect of the referendum, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, challenged the U.N. High Commissioner to be specific about allegations Thai citizens’ rights have been curtailed in deliberating the charter draft.

“Initially, His Excellency should clearly specify what freedom do [Thai] people not have in relation to this referendum? As the organizer, we think people have freedom and are not being curtailed in any way,” he said, adding however that using language deemed “lewd” or encouraging people to vote one way or the other has been criminalized by the military government.

Somchai also allayed concerns expressed by some foreign diplomats the referendum may not take place, saying his commission is prepared to send voter registration letters 15 days prior on July 23.

Vigil Held For Orlando Shooting Victims, LGBT Victims of Violence (Photos)

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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14 June 2016, 12:30

Candles were lit Monday evening in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Nattawut Kongsawat visited Orlando, Florida, some years ago and perceived the Sunshine State as a genuinely LGBT-friendly place. On Sunday night, he learned about the massacre inside a gay club there when his friends names started showing up via Facebook’s safety-check feature.

Nattawut was among 30 or so people who gathered in a small vigil in front of the U.S. Embassy on Monday evening to mourn the Orlando shooting victims and show support for the global LGBT community.

“I rushed back home and found out that 50 people died already,” Nattawut said. “I was shocked. I tried to check if my friends over there were safe.”

U.S. Ambassador Glyn Davies made an unexpected appearance and asked to light a candle.

Similar vigils were held around the world, from Britain to China.

“Homophobia is real,” said Ilaria Nardone, who has been in Thailand four years. A member of LGBT community QueerMango, Ilaria said although she hardly feels discrimination in Thailand, there is still violence against the group.

“Bullying gay students is very high, and also in a family, the tolerance is very low … They put you in a box, and if you don’t belong in that box, you become a problem. For me it’s emotional violence.”

Vigil Held For Orlando Shooting Victims, LGBT Victims of Violence

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U.S. Ambassador Glyn Davies lights a candle Monday evening outside the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.

Remnants of Ancient Underground City Discovered Beneath Angkor Wat

By

Associated Press

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14 June 2016, 11:50

In this undated photo provided by French Institute of Asian Studies in Paris, The Angkor-period temple of Banteay Top, within the Banteay Chhmar acquisition block, in Cambodia in an undated photo. Photo: Damian Evans / French Institute of Asian Studies in Paris / Associated Press

LONDON — An Australian archaeologist says he and colleagues have found evidence of previously undiscovered medieval urban and agricultural networks surrounding the ancient city of Angkor Wat.

Using high-tech lasers to scan the Cambodian jungle, Damian Evans and colleagues say they found traces of extensive networks surrounding the monumental stone temple complex at Angkor Wat. Evans said their findings could further our understanding of Khmer culture and throw into question traditional assumptions about the 15th-century decline of the empire.

Evans said a laser technology known as lidar was used to create precise maps of ancient networks that left only vague traces — invisible to the naked eye — in the landscape surrounding the temples.

“You could be standing in the middle of the forest looking at what appear to be some random lumps and bumps,” Evans said. “But they might actually be evidence of old excavated ponds or built-up roadways,” he explained. “All of these things left traces in the surface of the landscape that wouldn’t make sense to you without a more detailed picture.”

To obtain such details, Evans said his colleagues spent 90 hours in a helicopter directing laser scans into the jungle surrounding Angkor Wat. He said that the resulting images are so intricate “you can see objects lying next to a tiny anthill.”

The research was published Monday in the Journal of Archaeological Science. It was the result of a joint project including the French Institute of Asian Studies in Paris, the Cambodian national authority responsible for protecting Angkor Wat and the ministry of culture and fine arts.

For years, experts have assumed that the ancient Khmer civilization collapsed in the 15th century when invading Thai armies sacked Angkor Wat, forcing populations to relocate to southern Cambodia. But Evans said their laser maps showed no evidence of relocated, dense cities in the south and that it wasn’t clear there was any such mass migration.

Chanratana Chen, a Cambodian academic at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, said the new findings had changed his own perception of the Angkor Wat temple complex, which the Cambodian people commonly refer to as “the small city.” Chen was not involved in the new research.

“The new results (show) us that Cambodia was a much more advanced civilization than we thought, especially about the management plan of the city and irrigation system to improve agriculture in the area,” Chen wrote in an email. Among the most noteworthy discoveries Evans and colleagues had found were proof of medieval sandstone quarries and traces of a royal road between various temple complexes, he said.

Evans doubted tourists would soon be flocking to see the unremarkable “mounds in the ground” that the lasers had decoded at Angkor Wat, but said he and colleagues have now pinpointed sites that might be fruitful for further excavation.

He said it was likely there could be similar such discoveries elsewhere in Southeast Asia, possibly in Burma and even the Americas, where archaeologists might unearth more secrets about the remains left behind by the 6th-century Mayan Empire.

Story: Maria Cheng

New Ministry-Approved Dress for Mrs. Thailand Revealed

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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14 June 2016, 11:35

Mrs. Thailand Kanthicha ‘Yui’ Chimsiri poses with her newly designed national costume Monday in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Mrs. Thailand’s new-and-approved national costume was revealed Monday.

Designer Tortermfun Chaisiriphan said he spent one week making a new outfit for Kanticha “Yui” Chimsiri after his Golden Pagoda dress, inspired by the kingdom’s most venerated temple Wat Phra Kaew, was criticized by the Ministry of Culture as “inappropriate.”

The 22-year-old designer said the new dress, inspired by Thai rice and woven bamboo fish handicrafts, would show off Thailand’s agriculture on the stage of the Mrs. Universe pageant held August in China.

“This dress was approved by authorities from the Ministry of Culture for being appropriate and reflecting Thainess,” he said.

Kanthicha ‘Yui’ Chimsiri presents her ‘Golden Pagoda’ costume

Thailand’s representative at the beauty pageant for married women, 31-year-old Kanthicha, said she was glad the rejected costume brought public attention to the competition.

“The reason we decided to change the costume is because it concerned the sensitive issue of religion,” she said.

The previous national costume designed for the pageant of married women was introduced May 17 only to be slammed by the appointed government guardians of Thai culture for imitating the Phra Sri Rattana Chedi. Authorities said designs should not involve matters of belief.

The costume designer, Tortermfun Chaisiriphan and Mrs. Thailand Kanthicha ‘Yui’ Chimsiri

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Pilot, Trainee Suspended as Crashing ‘Joke’ Lands Hard on Two Budget Airlines

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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14 June 2016, 11:34

Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her group pose for a photo prior to boarding a plane Sunday in Phrae province. Photo: Yingluck Shinawatra / Facebook

BANGKOK — Low-cost carrier Nok Air has suspended one of its pilots over a conversation in which the idea was raised of crashing a jet carrying former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, while Thai AirAsia has acknowledged one of its trainees was also involved.

Nok Air said the pilot, which it did not identify, took the photo Sunday of Yingluck from the cockpit of Nok Air flight DD8005, before posting it in a Line chat group with the message, “We have prey on board. ” As for the message requesting a “CFIT,” or Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Thai AirAsia said it suspended one of its trainees – also not identified – for making that comment.

Read: Nok Air Pilot ‘Jokes’ About Crashing Yingluck’s Plane

Controlled Flight Into Terrain is pilot jargon for when a plane is accidentally flown into the ground.

Flying officer Norahuch Ployyai said the Nok Air pilot didn’t see the message because he had turned off his cellphone before the “CFIT” message appeared. The pilot has been suspended for at least one week.

“For this incident, I’m really sorry I let it happen,” Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin tweeted Monday afternoon and a fresh wave of scorn was unleashed against the struggling airline.

Yingluck, who was returning home on the flight from Phrae province, thanked Patee for apologizing in an online message Monday evening and said she believes the airline will continue investigating the matter.

Chat messages sent Sunday in which a Nok Airlines pilot refers to intentionally crashing a passenger jet because it was carrying former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

“However, I want this to be a lesson in not mixing personal views with professional service work, which is at the heart of the business,” she wrote. “And I hope such cases won’t happen again, be it to myself or other passengers.”

The disciplinary action by the two carriers came under mounting pressure to take action over the type of messages that could see a passenger jailed for at least five years under a new civil aviation safety law passed last year.

Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said the airline found a newly recruited trainee pilot was responsible for posting the jest that the Nok Air pilots should crash the plane.

Tassapon said the unidentified trainee has at least two years of training before being allowed to fly and had been in training only three days when the incident occurred. The trainee has been suspended and will have to go through an attitude evaluation test.

Tassapon said being a pilot requires maturity and the trainee will still become a pilot if all tests and training are passed.

Additional reporting Chayanit Itthipongmaetee

Tourists Fined for Instagramming Starfish

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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14 June 2016, 11:14

A snorkeler poses with a starfish in an image posted June 12 to a now-deactivated Instagram account.

SATUN — Two Thai tourists have been fined 1,500 baht each for picking up a starfish and posing with them in Instagram photos, an offense under national park law.

Suparat Daengjorhor and Wilawan Boondamnoen, both 22, took the photos while they were visiting Koh Lipe on June 12, said Panapon Cheewaserichon, an official at the Department of National Parks.

Panapon told reporters yesterday that officials saw the photos on their Instagrams and tracked down the identities of the two women. They were fined under the 1961 National Park Act which forbids harming any animals within the National Park area.

Their Instagram accounts appear to have been deactivated.

“Both confessed that they touched the starfish,” Panapon said.

Interfering with marine lives in Thailand’s pristine coastlines could land tourists in hefty fines. In May, a Chinese tourist was arrested and forced to post a bail of 100,000 baht for feeding coastal fish in a protected area, an action that can have a detrimental effect on the marine ecosystem.

Tourists Warned To Be Wary of Deadly Box Jellyfish

Tatooine-Like: Planet With Two Sunsets Discovered

By

Associated Press

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14 June 2016, 10:39

Artist's rendition of a binary star sunset as seen from a planet orbiting Kepler-16b. Image: Ames Research Center / NASA

SAN DIEGO — Astronomers say they have discovered the largest planet outside the solar system that orbits two suns.

The newfound world, about the size of Jupiter, is 3,700 light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.

It was detected by a team led by NASA and San Diego State University using the planet-hunting Kepler telescope. The discovery was announced Monday during a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Diego.

Although the planet is in the habitable zone — where water that is crucial to life can be liquid — it’s not a good candidate to support life because it’s so big, scientists said.

“It’s a bit curious that this biggest planet took so long to confirm since it is easier to find big planets than small ones,” San Diego State astronomer Jerome Orosz said in a statement.

Planets that circle a pair of suns are nicknamed “Tatooine” after the fictional body in the “Star Wars” films that boasts a double sunset.

In 2011, scientists found the first Tatooine planet — a world about the size of Saturn 200 light-years from Earth.

NASA launched Kepler in 2009 to search for planets — mainly Earth-like planets — outside the solar system.

Philippine Officials Confirm Canadian Hostage was Beheaded

By

Associated Press

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14 June 2016, 10:37

This file image made from undated militant video, shows Canadians Robert Hall, left, and John Ridsdel, right. Photo: Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine officials confirmed Tuesday that Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded a Canadian man, the second Canadian hostage to be killed in two months after their demands for a large ransom were not met.

The hostage, Robert Hall, was abducted from a marina last September along with another Canadian, a Norwegian and a Filipino. The other Canadian, former mining executive John Ridsdel, was beheaded in April.

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma condemned “the brutal and senseless murder” of Hall. He had been held by the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of southern Sulu province for nine months.

“This latest heinous crime serves to strengthen our government’s resolve to put an end to this reign of terror and banditry,” he said in a statement.

A militant video obtained by Philippine police officials and seen by The Associated Press showed Hall in an orange shirt and kneeling in front of a black Islamic State-style flag before he was killed in a jungle area.

An Abu Sayyaf deadline for the payment of a large ransom lapsed Monday and police later found a severed head of a Caucasian man outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Sulu province’s main Jolo town.

In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was “compelling reason to believe” that Hall had been killed by his captors, and that the Canadian government was working with Philippine authorities to confirm his death.

“We have every reason to believe that the reports are unfortunately true,” Trudeau said.

He said he was “horrified” by the killings and reaffirmed Canada’s refusal to pay ransoms.

“The government of Canada will not and cannot pay ransoms for hostages to terrorist groups, as doing so would endanger the lives of more Canadians,” Trudeau said in a statement.

“We are more committed than ever to working with the government of the Philippines and international partners to pursue those responsible for these heinous acts and bring them to justice, however long it takes.”

Trudeau recently urged leaders of other members of the Group of Seven rich nations to reiterate their opposition to paying ransoms.

After being abducted from the marina on southern Samal Island last September, the hostages were taken by boat to Sulu, where the Abu Sayyaf has held hostages for years in mountainous jungle camps.

Ridsdel was beheaded on April 25 after a ransom demand of 300 million pesos ($6.3 million) was not paid.

In an Abu Sayyaf video posted on YouTube after Ridsdel’s death, Hall and the two other hostages, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipino woman Marites Flor, pleaded to Canadian and Philippine officials to negotiate their release.

“We live like this every day, go to bed like this,” Hall said, raising his arms to show that he was handcuffed. We have a hundred people heavily armed around us all the time that dictate to us and talk to us like children. We’ve been humiliated in every way possible. One of us has already been murdered.”

Hall spoke later in the video for a second time, sounding resigned to a tragic fate.

“I would also like to thank my family for the effort they put in — my family and friends for the effort they put in — to get me out of here. I know you did everything you can, and I truly appreciate it. I’m sorry I got you in this mess,” he said.

Trudeau extended his “heartfelt condolences” to Hall’s relatives and friends.

The United States and the Philippines have both listed the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization for kidnappings, beheadings and bombings. The group emerged in the early 1990s as an extremist offshoot of a decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion in the country’s south.

Story: Jim Gomez and Rob Gillies

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