Three Arrested Over Brutal Beating of British Family

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28 April 2016, 11:33

Scene from CCTV footage released online by a local newspaper in Hua Hin showing the aftermath of an April 13 attack that left a British family incapacitated during the Songkran festival.

HUA HIN — Police said today that three Thai men have been charged for assaulting a family of British tourists in the resort town of Hua Hin during the Songkran festival. A fourth is still at large.

The April 13 attack, which left the three Britons lying motionless in the street, was captured on security camera footage that went viral since making its way online Wednesday. The assault took place in a street crowded with revelers participating in the nationwide water fight celebrated as part of Thai New Year festivities.

A copy of the original video uploaded to YouTube by local media in Hua Hin, which was subsequently removed after the story spread

Police identified four men as the assailants, said Chaiyakorn Sriladacho, commander of Hua Hin City Police Station: Yingyai Kwangkum-in, 32; Supatra Baithong, 32; Siva Yoksri, 20; and Chaiya Jaiboon, 20.

The victims were a British man in his 40s and his parents, both in their 60s.

Yingyai, Supatra and Siva were arrested April 16, while police are still looking for Chaiya, Col. Chaiyakorn said Thursday.

The three suspects told police they collided in the street with one of the tourists in a bar on Soi Bintabaht near Wat Hua Hin, Chaiyakorn said, and an argument soon broke out between the two parties. The suspects said the younger British man pushed and slapped one of them first, so they jumped on the family and savagely beat them.

“The perpetrators said they were drunk. They have also apologized to the family,” the police colonel said.

He said the younger Briton received seven stitches for a scalp wound, while his father had a swollen wound on his head, and his mother suffered a head injury that has left her with occasional headaches.

Yingyai, Supatra and Siva will be tried for causing grievous bodily harm in a Hua Hin court, where the judges have sped up witness examination because the family are scheduled to return to Britain soon, Chaiyakorn said. The three suspects are currently free on bail.

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Teeranai Charuvastra can be reached at [email protected] and @Teeranai_C.

Ancient Buddhist Sculpture Returned to Pakistani Government

By

Associated Press

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28 April 2016, 11:07

A second century C.E. Buddhist sculpture is displayed during a news conference in the office of the Manhattan District Attorney, in New York, Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press

NEW YORK — An ancient stone sculpture of Buddha's footprints that was smuggled into the United States and had been expected to sell for more than USD$1 million was returned to the government of Pakistan on Wednesday.

The piece, called a Buddhapada, was taken from a Pakistani region rich in Buddhist history decades ago. It was returned by New York prosecutors to Pakistani Deputy Chief of Mission Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, who said it will remain in the city for the time being and may be exhibited at a museum.

Sheikh said the Buddhapada, weighing nearly 500 pounds, was "an important element of the cultural history of Pakistan" and he was relieved to have it returned.

A Japanese antiquities dealer pleaded guilty last month to criminal possession of stolen property in a scheme to smuggle it into the U.S.

Tatsuzo Kaku made the plea in exchange for a USD$5,000 fine and a sentence of time served and left the country voluntarily. He said he shipped the 2nd-century Buddhapada from Tokyo to New York to sell it at a gallery, where it was expected to fetch USD$1.1 million.

He said he knew it had been excavated and removed from the Swat River valley, a mountainous region of northern Pakistan, in 1982. He said in court that, while he stood to benefit financially, he also was motivated by a lifelong desire to preserve such works for fear they would fall into disrepair or be destroyed if they remained in Pakistan.

Scholars and art historians say there's little truth to the argument. UNESCO initiated a program more than a decade ago with funds from the U.S. to preserve images of Buddha and other works found in the region.

During the time the Buddhapada was stolen, there were no major threats to any archaeological sites, said Muhammad Zahir, an assistant professor at Hazara University in Pakistan who works in the Swat valley.

Even when the Taliban was present in 2009, the government of Pakistan had plans to protect or remove ancient Buddhist art from the valley and safely moved museum artifacts during military operations to combat the Taliban, he said.

Zahir said in an email from Pakistan that a far more realistic reason for the looting was the demand in the Western and Southeast Asian markets for Buddhist art from the region.

The repatriated piece is a large stone slab with columns and two large footprints. Within the footprints are symbols, including a swastika, a 5,000-year-old Sanskrit symbol that denotes auspiciousness and was co-opted by Nazi Germany.

Prosecutors said the Buddhapada is "so much more than a piece of property."

"It's an ancient piece that speaks to the history and culture of Pakistan that should be celebrated and protected," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

Kaku, who's 70 years old, was arrested in mid-March after a rival art dealer cooperated with authorities. Prosecutors said he was spared prison time in part because he cooperated with an ongoing larger investigation. The district attorney's office and federal agents have been looking into the illegal sale of other antiquities from the same part of the world.

Just days before Kaku's arrest, two ancient Indian statues that had been smuggled out of that country and made their way to New York were seized from an auction house.

Story: Colleen Long / Associated Press

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

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OMGWTFBBQ: Thailand Hasn’t Been This Hot Since 1960

By

Associated Press

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27 April 2016, 16:52

Land surface temperatures as observed by NASA’s Earth Observatory Team between April 15, 2016, and April 23, 2016. Yellow is hottest. Photo: Reto Stockli / NASA Earth Observatory Team

BANGKOK — Animals at Bangkok’s zoo are being fed special frozen fruit pops. People are flocking to shopping malls just to soak up the air-conditioning. Authorities are telling people to stay out of the blazing sun to avoid heat stroke.

April in Thailand is typically hot and sweaty, but this year’s scorching weather has set a record for the longest heat wave in at least 65 years.

The average peak temperature each day this month has been above 40 degrees Celsius, with the mercury spiking one day to 44.3 degrees C — just short of the all-time record.

The heat wave has also fueled a new record for energy consumption and prompted health warnings on everything from foodborne illness to drowning, both of which rise every April when Thailand’s hottest month coincides with school summer break.

“As of now we can say we’ve broken the record for the highest temperatures over the longest duration in 65 years — and the season isn’t over yet,” said Surapong Sarapa, head of the Thai Meteorological Department’s weather forecast division. Thailand began keeping national weather records after 1950.

On this very day, April 27, in 1960, Thailand posted its hottest day ever recorded with 44.5 degrees Celsius in the northern province of Uttaradit.

Countries across Southeast Asia are feeling the heat, which scientists say is triggered by El Nino, a warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide and tends to push global temperatures up. El Nino has also been blamed for causing the worst drought in decades across the region.

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has warned people to beware of food poisoning and other food-related illnesses that typically increase during hot weather when bacteria can thrive on unrefrigerated food.

Pedestrians protect themselves from the sun while walking in central Bangkok, Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Photo: Mark Baker / Associated Press

“Stay indoors, try to limit activity outdoors. Wear sunglasses, wear hats with large brims. Drink more water than usual,” the disease control center said in a statement this week. It also reminded of the increased risk of drowning in hot weather as children flock to Thailand’s beaches, ponds and lakes to take a swim.

“Do not let young children out of your sight for even a brief moment,” the statement said, noting that an average of 90 children die every month from drowning but that number increases to about 135 in April.

April typically brings an average of 38-degree C days. The current stretch of sweltering weather has been a main topic of conversation, but people are taking it in stride.

“This April is so hot. I’ve got the air conditioner AND fan turned on at home. And I’m keeping ice cream in my fridge at all times,” said Jarossanon Thovicha, a 30-year-old Bangkok resident who works in the fashion industry and is living in fear of her next electricity bill.

“My husband and I have been going out to the mall and spending time there over the weekends to save on electricity at home,” she said.

Nationwide, energy consumption set a record high on Tuesday at 29,004.6 megawatts, said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. It was the latest in a series of peaks reached earlier this month, and EGAT is urging the public not to keep air conditioners on all day.

“We are asking for public cooperation in conserving energy for one-hour a day from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. until May 20,” the national power utility said in a statement Tuesday.

In Cambodia, the hot weather was blamed for the death of an elephant trained to carry tourists at the famed Angkor Wat temple compound. Local media carried pictures of the pachyderm which collapsed last Friday and quoted the Angkor Elephant company as saying she had apparently died of a heart attack due to high temperatures and lack of wind.

1461750975 heatwave3 — In this Tuesday, April 26, 2016 photo, an elephant opens its mouth while being sprayed water to cool off at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok. Thailand. Photo: Sakchai Lalit / Associated Press

The Dusit Zoo in Bangkok says it’s taking extra precautions so its animals stay safe.

“Monkeys and apes at the zoo are getting fruit popsicles,” said Saowaphang Sanannu, head of conservation and research at Bangkok’s main zoo.

Oranges, watermelon, pineapple and other fruit get chopped up, mixed with fruit juice or water and is then frozen for the chimpanzees, orangutans and other primates. Bears already have waterfall displays in their habitats, so can take dips whenever they want, and are getting the same fruit pops as the others.

“Tigers are getting meat popsicles. We’ll freeze pork legs and chunks of meat to feed them and cool them off at the same time,” Saowaphang said. “Deer, giraffe and elephants get increased shade and sprinklers to provide rain and decrease the heat on the ground.”

Temporary relief is forecast later this week with scattered tropical storms. But it will be brief, with the heat expected to return next week before tapering off in mid-May when the monsoon rains are expected.

Story: Natnicha Chuwiruch and Jocelyn Gecker / Associated Press

40-Degree Plus Songkran Expected

Protest Called for 10 Abducted by Military

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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27 April 2016, 16:19

Soldiers interrogate Harit Mahaton and Nithi Kooltanasilp on Wednesday morning in Khon Kaen province before they were taken to Bangkok. Photo: Thai Lawyers for Human Rights / Facebook

BANGKOK — Activists have called upon the public to rally this evening in Bangkok to protest the military’s detention of 10 people from across Thailand without charge.

Resistant Citizen, one of the few organizations that has campaigned against the military regime, announced the protest on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, urging the public to gather en masse at 6pm at the Victory Monument.

Some Abducted Activists Linked to Redshirt Movement

“We will stand there [silently] because we do not agree with the military arresting the eight citizens,” the statement said, based on an earlier count of those detained.

Rights activists Wednesday morning reported that eight people had been seized from their homes by soldiers in Bangkok and Khon Kaen province, but junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree later told reporters that 10 people in total had been detained.

According to Winthai, the 10 were being held on two army bases for interrogation concerning their “anti-government activities” on social media. He did not give any specific examples.

“Officials have been regularly monitoring their behavior on social media, and they have full evidence to prosecute them criminally,” Col. Winthai said.

He said the military has not yet charged them with any crime, because several agencies were involved in determining which laws the abductees broke. They will be held in military custody for seven days, Winthai said.

Only five of the 10 have been named so far: Noppakao Kongsuwan, Vararattana Mengtrakul, Harit Mahaton, Nithi Kooltanasilp and Suphachai Saibutr.

Two of them, Noppakao and Varattana have been identified as administrators for official Facebook pages of the Redshirt movement and its chairman, Jatuporn Prompan.

Earlier this month, Resistant Citizen called for daily protests in response to the detention of Watana Muangsook, who served as commerce minister in the former, Pheu Thai-led civilian government ousted by the 2014 coup. After two days the protests were called off when Watana was freed on bail.

Spokesman Winthai also urged Resistant Citizen to call off the protest because political activities are forbidden by the the military regime.

“Let me stress that any activity must be within the boundary of the laws,” he said.

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Teeranai Charuvastra can be reached at [email protected] and @Teeranai_C.

Some Abducted Activists Linked to Redshirt Movement

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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27 April 2016, 14:21

In this March 17, 2015, file photo, soldiers patrol the Criminal Court in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — At least two of eight people abducted from their homes by the military this morning managed the Redshirt movement’s Facebook pages, the movement’s leaders have confirmed.

Redshirt leader Jatuporn Prompan said Noppakao Kongsuwan and Vararattana Mengtrakul, who along with six others were taken away by soldiers early Wednesday morning, are his close aides and admins of his official page.

Military Abducts at Least 4 Across Thailand

“They are like my [younger] brothers and sisters in my team,” Jatuporn said.

He said Noppakao and Varattana also run the official Facebook page for Redshirt umbrella organization United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD.

Jatuporn’s deputy, Weng Tojirakarn, confirmed that Noppakao and Varattana engaged in social media work for his movement.

The revelation of the pair’s ties to the UDD seems to be the only indicator at the moment to why they were abruptly detained.

Jatuporn has since taken control of his page, while the UDD page remained online but had not been updated since Tuesday.

All eight people are reported to be in military custody, but only five have been identified: Noppakao, Varattana, Harit Mahaton, Nithi Kooltanasilp and Suphachai Saibutr.

According to Jatuporn, Noppakao and Varattana are being held at the 11th Army Circle headquarters in Bangkok.

Reached for comment, junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree said he knew little of the circumstances, but understood that up to 10 people may have been arrested. None has been charged yet, he said.

Winthai said he was told they committed unspecified violations of the Computer Crime Act.

Both Jatuporn and Weng said they did not know Harit, Nithi and Suphachai, or know why they were targeted by the military. Jatuporn said he heard that the three ran several anti-government Facebook pages together with Noppakao and Varattana.

“They are on the same team,” Jatuporn said. He also said he believes that one of the three – he was not sure which – works for Sombat Boonngam-anong, founder of a pro-democracy group called Red Sunday.

Sombat could not be reached for comment, but one of the abducted eight, Noppakao, once worked as his bodyguard.

Jatuporn said he has delivered a protest to Winthai about the abduction of Noppakao and Varattana.

“I told him, if you have a problem with what my Facebook says, it should be my problem. They should take it up with me,” Jatuporn said, adding that he has requested a meeting with Noppakao and Varattana at the army base, though Winthai was unable to confirm if his request will be granted.

He also defended Noppakao and Varattana’s roles in the Redshirt movement.

“It’s not a secret. It’s nothing complicated,” Jatuporn said. “These two are on the side of democracy … they are activists themselves, and they offer to help us out by running our Facebook pages.”

Since seizing power from the Redshirt-backed government in May 2014, the junta has quashed free expression but has been frustrated in its attempt to get ahold of social media communities, where discussion of political and taboo subjects remain relatively free.

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High Standards, Low Frills, and Bottles, Bottles, Bottles of Craft Beer

By

Cole Pennington

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27 April 2016, 13:34

Bottles of Beer - you can just call it BOB - is a dedicated bottleshop on Soi Sukhumvit 34 in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — Craft beer, once a niche interest, is now mainstream. Even sub-par joints are slinging the hoppy stuff, with one or two 200-baht brews found on most drink menus. Where can it go from here?

While Thai-made craft beer is picking up steam, newcomer Bottles of Beer presents another model: Selling imports at wholesale prices to be consumed on the premises with some kick-ass Malaysian and Thai street food.

Walk into BOB’s location on the otherwise unremarkable Soi Sukhumvit 34 and find a dedicated bottleshop, not a bar. A row of refrigerators flank one side of the room while a series of shelves occupy the other side of the shophouse joint.

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In the middle is one long table, the kind that's perfect for knocking back a few brews, and that’s exactly what the Singaporean-Thai venture encourages patrons to do.

Bring a thirst and friends. If you drink six beers at BOB, you get them at wholesale prices. That means fine, imported brews run mostly between 150 baht and 200 baht. Things like a full range of Hitachino Nest Beers from Japan, and Epics straight outta Utah.

Some of BOB’s beers

With a selection from just about every importer, the hardest part is choosing which six suit your taste.

But that’s where the food comes into play. It’s easy to pair just about anything with Asian street food. The man behind the operation is Singaporean, and that means a spotless kitchen and a menu that features some Malaysian specialties with a twist, such as satay made from crocodile and ostrich meat.

Crocodile and ostrich satay

Across the street from BOB are street vendors serving up a selection of Southeast Asian fare. Again, the Singaporean influence comes into play here, as it feels more like a controlled hawker model rather than the unregulated norm of Thai street stalls.

The bottle shop-cum-bar model is popular elsewhere in the world, but nowhere in Bangkok has quite embraced it like BOB. With incredible street food, a wholesale pricing model, and Singaporean standards, it’s clear that BOB is likely to be a hit with the hop-headed craft beer crowd.

Bottles of Beer is open from 5:30pm to 12:30am daily and can be reached on foot from BTS Thong Lo.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Epic beer is coming from Colorado. While the beer is brewed there, the brewery is based in Utah.

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Caucasian Man Dies in Pattaya Balcony Fall

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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27 April 2016, 12:09

Rescue foundation personnel prepare to move the body Tuesday evening of an unidentified man who fell to his death from a balcony in Pattaya

PATTAYA — An unidentified Caucasian man fell to his death in the resort town of Pattaya last night, police said.

Police have yet to identify the man by name or nationality, other than to say he was a Caucasian in his 30s. Also undetermined was whether the cause of death was suicide, accident or murder.

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According to the police report, the man plunged from a balcony at Sea View Pattaya Beach condominium at around 9.30pm on Tuesday. No ID was found on his body, it said.

Calls to Pattaya City Police Station went unanswered Wednesday.

Witnesses reportedly saw him buying a bottle of beer 10 minutes before the time he was thought to have fallen to his death.

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Teeranai Charuvastra can be reached at [email protected] and @Teeranai_C.

Military Abducts at Least 4 Across Thailand

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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27 April 2016, 11:36

Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha addresses reporters Tuesday at Government House in Bangkok.

BANGKOK — At least four people were abducted by the military in the early hours of this morning, according to members of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

Two men were taken from their homes in Bangkok while another two were seized in Khon Kaen, according to Sarawut Wongsaranon of the lawyer’s group. Rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, however, believes as many as eight people might have been detained by the military this morning, four more than those who have been identified.

“Urgent! Soldiers have come to my house,” was posted to Facebook early Wednesday morning by Noppakaw Kongsuwan, a former bodyguard for the Red Sunday group’s Sombat Boonngam-anong. The post has since been removed, but members of his family confirmed he was taken away, according to Sarawut.

'Urgent! Soldiers have come to my house' read a since-removed message posted to Noppakaw Kongsuwan's Facebook early Wednesday morning. — ‘Urgent! Soldiers have come to my house’
reads a since-removed message posted
to Noppakaw Kongsuwan’s Facebook
early Wednesday morning.

Noppakaw is suspected of being behind an anonymous, popular Facebook page critical of the junta. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Several calls to junta spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree went unanswered Wednesday morning.

Another man confirmed in military custody Wednesday was Redshirt Suphachai Saibutr. Soldiers took him from his residence in the capital’s Phaya Thai district at 5:30am, his father told Sarawut.

In the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, former Matichon newspaper reporter Harit Mahaton and shop owner Nithi Kooltanasilp were taken by 20 military officers from the Japanese ramen shop they run, workers at the shop told the lawyer’s group. Their whereabouts are also unknown at this time.

Matichon and Khaosod English are both part of the Matichon Group.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights’ lawyer Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen meanwhile said it’s unclear if the cases were related. He said they are working to identify the identities of the four others believed to also have been detained.

The detentions come as the military regime has moved aggressively to quash and criminalize open debate of the constitution it wants to see adopted by voters in August.

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N. Korea's Ruling Party Sets May 6 for Start of Convention

By

Associated Press

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27 April 2016, 10:58

In this Oct. 10, 2015, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers remarks at a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. Photo: Wong Maye-E / Associated Press

SEOUL — North Korea's biggest political convention in decades opens in Pyongyang on May 6.

The announcement comes amid outside speculation that North Korea will soon conduct a fifth nuclear bomb test to burnish leader Kim Jong Un's military credentials amid tough international sanctions.

The North's state media said Wednesday that the ruling Workers' Party has set the date for its 7th congress after provincial conferences reviewed past events and arranged their new local leadership bodies.

The congress will be the country's first since 1980, when Kim's late dictator father Kim Jong Il was awarded a slew of top jobs in a confirmation that he was in line to succeed his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

The Korean Central News Agency did not say how long the congress would last. The 1980 convention lasted five days.

The KCNA report also did not say what exactly would be discussed and determined during the congress. A previous KCNA report said the North decided to hold the convention as the country was faced with "the heavy yet sacred task" of building a "thriving" nation.

South Korean analysts say Kim will likely use the convention as a chance to reshuffle top officials, reveal policy directions and further strengthen his grip on power.

Last month, state media said Kim ordered tests of a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying warheads as his country angrily reacted to annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that end later this week.

North Korea carried out a fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, and was subsequently slapped with tough U.N. sanctions.

Story: Associated Press

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Trump Routs Rivals in Northeast; Clinton Carries Four States

By

Associated Press

-

27 April 2016, 10:30

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stands with former President Bill Clinton at her presidential primary election night rally, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in Philadelphia. Photo: Matt Rourke / Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — In a front-runner's rout, Republican Donald Trump roared to victory Tuesday in five contests across the Northeast and confidently declared himself the GOP's "presumptive nominee." Hillary Clinton was dominant in four Democratic races and now is 90 percent of the way to the number she needs to claim her own nomination.

Trump's and Clinton's wins propelled them ever closer to a general election showdown. Still, Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich, vowed to keep running, even as opportunities to topple the leaders dwindle.

Trump still must negotiate a narrow path to keep from falling short of the delegates needed to seal the nomination before the Republican National Convention in July. Cruz and Kasich are working toward that result, which would leave Trump open to a floor fight in which delegates could turn to someone else.

Trump was having none of that. "It's over. As far as I'm concerned it's over," he declared at his victory rally in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. He now has 77 percent of the delegates he needs.

With Clinton's four victories — she ceded only Rhode Island to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — she now has 90 percent of the delegates she needs to become the first woman nominated by a major party. Clinton kept her focus firmly on the general election as she spoke to supporters Tuesday night, urging Sanders' loyal supporters to help her unify the Democratic Party and reaching out to GOP voters who may be unhappy with their party's options.

"If you are a Democrat, an independent or a thoughtful Republican, you know that their approach is not going to build an America where we increase opportunity or decrease inequality," Clinton said of the GOP candidates. She spoke in Philadelphia, where Democrats will gather in July for their nominating convention.

Sanders, in an interview with The Associated Press, conceded that he has a "very narrow path and we're going to have to win some big victories."

Trump's victories in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island were overwhelming, winning his closest race by just about 30 points. The businessman is the only candidate left in the three-person race who could possibly clinch the nomination through the regular voting process. Yet with 950 delegates now, he could still fall short of the 1,237 he needs.

Cruz and Kasich are desperately trying to keep Trump from that magic number and push the race to a convention fight. The Texas senator and Ohio governor even took the rare step of announcing plans to coordinate in upcoming contests to try to minimize Trump's delegate totals.

That effort did little to stop Trump from a big showing in the Northeast, where he picked up at least 105 of the 118 delegates up for grabs. Despite his solid win in Pennsylvania, the state's primary system means 54 of the delegates elected by voters will be free agents at the GOP convention, able to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a rally at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Ind., Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Photo: Michael Conroy / Associated Press

Cruz spent Tuesday in Indiana, which votes next week. Indiana is one of Cruz's last best chances to slow Trump, and Kasich's campaign is pulling out of the state to give him a better opportunity to do so.

"Tonight this campaign moves back to more favorable terrain," Cruz said during an evening rally in Knightstown, Indiana. His event was held at the "Hoosier gym," where some scenes were filmed for the 1986 movie, "Hoosiers," about a small town Indiana basketball team that wins the state championship.

Trump has railed against his rivals' coordination, panning it as a "faulty deal" and has also cast efforts to push the nomination fight to the convention as evidence of a rigged process that favors political insiders.

Yet there's no doubt the GOP is deeply divided by his candidacy. In Pennsylvania, exit polls showed nearly 4 in 10 GOP voters said they would be excited by Trump becoming president, but the prospect of the real estate mogul in the White House scared a quarter of those who cast ballots in the state's Republican primary.

In another potential general election warning sign for Republicans, 6 in 10 GOP voters in Pennsylvania said the Republican campaign has divided the party — a sharp contrast to the 7 in 10 Democratic voters in the state who said the race between Clinton and Sanders has energized their party.

The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

Democrats award delegates proportionally, which allowed Clinton to maintain her lead over Sanders even as he rattled off a string of wins in recent contests. According to the AP count, Clinton now has 2,137 delegates while Sanders has 1,306.

That count includes delegates won in primaries and caucuses, as well as superdelegates — party insiders who can back the candidate of their choice, regardless of how their state votes.

Sanders has vowed to stay in the race until voting wraps up in June. He continues to raise millions of dollars and attract big crowds, including Tuesday night in West Virginia, where he urged his supporters to recognize that they are "powerful people if you choose to exercise that power."

Clinton's advisers are eager for the Vermont senator to tone down his attacks on the former secretary of state. She's been reminding voters of the 2008 Democratic primary, when she endorsed Barack Obama after a tough campaign and urged her supporters to rally around her former rival.

Story: Julie Pace and Catherine Lucey / Associated Press

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