The Koh Tao Verdict and Myanmar Migrant Worker Misery

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14 January 2016, 20:25

Protesters hold pictures of Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, in front of the Thai embassy in Yangon Dec. 25. Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

YANGON —The death sentences handed down to two Myanmar migrant workers by a Thai court on Christmas Eve ignited widespread condemnation in Myanmar.

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 22, were convicted of the murder of British tourists David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on the Thai resort island of Koh Tao in September 2014. The police investigation and proceedings were widely criticized for serious shortcomings, including allegations of police torture to extract initial confessions which the Thai authorities refused to investigate seriously. Forensic experts from Thailand and Australia have raised serious questions about DNA evidence linked to the rape of Witheridge, on which the prosecution relied heavily. Defense lawyers have said they will appeal the decision.

The verdict sparked calls for a review of the case by senior officials in Myanmar, including by the military commander in chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Myanmar’s ambassador in Bangkok. Protests in Myanmar quickly grew outside the Thai embassy in Yangon, where a petition of 25,000 signatures was presented last week, and at protests at major land border-crossings between the two countries. Anger at the verdict spread throughout social media, and the ultra-nationalist Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha staged anti-Thailand protests in Yangon.

Myanmar Migrants in Thailand

The case highlighted the poor treatment faced by over two million Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Thai police, government officials and employers have been implicated in a system of pervasive abuse that includes killings, beatings, human trafficking and mistreatment of workers in the offshore fishing industry, food processing factories, plantations and farms, garment and other light industry factories, and even the lucrative tourism sector. These abuses have been documented by Human Rights Watch and others for decades.

Problems in western Myanmar

But why in the midst of Myanmar’s “economic boom” are workers still migrating from Myanmar to work in dangerous conditions in Thailand? Abuses of labor rights and a lack of decent wages across many parts of Myanmar are partly responsible. Working conditions and opportunities are particularly dire in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, where the two convicted men hail from. The state has suffered more than most other areas under decades of military mismanagement and a dearth of basic social and community services.

Residents in Rakhine State see few jobs and other economic benefits trickle down from major oil and gas projects granted in the state to Chinese firms. At the same time as the Koh Tao verdict was being handed down, Myanmar’s parliament approved a massive special economic zone and deep-sea port of 4,000 acres in Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State for Chinese and Thai firms to develop, which does not auger well for the protection of worker’s rights, assuming there are jobs for local people in the project.

The international community has looked in anguish at the desperate plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslims leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety boats to Malaysia. But another dimension to the communal violence in Rakhine State is economically deprived Rakhine Buddhists are also prey for trafficking gangs and unscrupulous migrant worker brokers as they travel to Thailand for work and face abusive conditions. Many Rakhine nurse deep grievances towards the Bamar-dominated central state for the poverty produced by military rule.

Problems in northern and eastern Myanmar

Land grabs in eastern and northern Myanmar also continue to deprive rural families of their livelihoods, causing them to send their sons and daughters across the border to work. Increased landlessness and displacement due to natural resource extraction is generating rural unrest and protests against companies and the Myanmar military who are often implicated in these land grabs, as extensive research by Global Witness documented.

In visiting farming communities around Hpa-an in Kayin State in 2015, I frequently came across people in their twenties who had sought work in Thailand because of land grabs at home, often by state or military authorities who utilize unfair laws, bureaucratic opacity, and intimidation including arrests of critics, to avert compensation. Far from people returning from Thailand to take advantage of Myanmar’s opening, a new generation of people are heading east to earn a livelihood because their lives have either not improved or even worsened since the quasi-civilian government came to power in 2011.

Continued armed conflict in Shan State, which has displaced more than 10,000 civilians in recent months, is also causing many to flee and seek work in northern Thailand, joining tens of thousands of ethnic Shan who have fled these conflict zones since the 1980s. Despite the air of calm and talk of nationwide ceasefires, active armed conflict throughout Burma has increased since 2011, including intensive fighting in Kachin State that displaced over 130,000 civilians, providing another push factor for people inside Myanmar to migrate for work to its neighbors.

The Future

It is certainly understandable that many inside Myanmar are shocked at the Koh Tao murder case verdict and angry about the widespread mistreatment of migrant workers from Myanmar in Thailand. But while correctly demanding that Thailand end its rights abuses against migrants, the incoming National League for Democracy government also needs to urgently address the structural inequalities and abuses that have driven people from Myanmar to work and live outside their country for many years. Myanmar can hardly be considered as a future economic treasure trove when the benefits of its natural resources and its growing economy are not shared broadly with the rural poor, whose livelihoods continue to be insecure.

By David Scott Mathieson

This article was originally published at www.myanmarnow.org

"David Scott Mathieson is a Senior Researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Myanmar Now."

200,000 Baht Bounty for Disappeared Karen Activist ‘Billy’

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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14 January 2016, 18:25

Porlachee Rakchongcharoen and his family in an undated photo. Photo: Courtesy Pinnapa Prueksapan

BANGKOK — Police have offered 200,000 baht for information about a community rights activist who has been missing for nearly two years.

The new effort to find what happened to activist Porlachee ‘Billy” Rakchongcharoen came as the former director of Kaengkrachan National Park is being investigated for alleged involvement in the persecution of the Karen community Porlachee campaigned for prior to his 2014 disappearance.

“We will give the reward to anyone who has the information and clues that lead to the discovery of Mr. Porlachee,” Police Lt. Col. Setthasit Suwannakut said today. “Whether he is alive or dead.”

Porlachee’s disappearance is being investigated by a joint task force of police and the Division of Special Investigation, or DSI. Setthasit Suwannakut, a DSI representative, announced his agency has contributed 100,000 baht for information leading to whereabouts of the missing activist.

Police also contributed 100,000 baht, Setthasit said.

Porlachee rose to prominence for campaigning on behalf of the Karen community in Kaeng Krachan National Park that then faced eviction from former director Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn. In May 2011, park officials torched Karen villages in the forest, allegedly under Chaiwat’s orders, prompting Porlachee to bring legal action.

Men wearing national park ranger fatigues set a structure ablaze in an image provided by a village resident.

The activist was last seen April 17, 2014, when he was stopped and detained by Chaiwat and several officials in the national park. His family alerted police two days later and accused Chaiwat of abducting Porlachee to silence him.

Chaiwat denied the allegation, insisting that he only held Porlachee for questioning for several hours and released him afterward.

Former Park Chief Under Fire

In a briefing to Porlachee’s family at the National Human Rights Commission today, police representative Traiwit Namthongthai said his team found evidence that could implicate Chaiwat in the alleged abduction.

“I believe Porlachee was not released as claimed by Chaiwat, because we found disparity in his testimony about where exactly he was released,” Col. Traiwit said. “Furthermore, Chaiwat claimed he went back to his residence after releasing Porlachee, but CCTV footage didn’t show Chaiwat’s car in the time that Chaiwat identified.”

Setthasit of the DSI said his agency is inspecting seven park vehicles for forensic evidence that could shed some light on what happened.

“DSI is searching the area and interrogating a total of 283 witnesses,” he said at today’s meeting headed by National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapijit, whose husband Somchai Neelapijit was also abducted.

Apart from the investigation into Porlachee’s fate, Chaiwat is facing a separate inquiry by an anti-corruption commission for his role in the 2011 torching of Karen homes in his jurisdiction.

Men wearing national park ranger fatigues set a structure ablaze in an image provided by a village resident.

The Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating Chaiwat for abuse of power, officials announced Wednesday. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Insufficient Deterrence

Commissioner Angkhana told reporters the main obstacle to finding someone accountable for Porlachee’s abduction is an inadequate legal framework.

“The obstacle to making progress in forced disappearance cases in Thailand is the fact that we don’t have laws specifically dealing with this issue,” she said.

Critics of the establishment in Thailand have from time to time been abducted and presumably murdered. Although security officers are often implicated in these cases, they are rarely if ever prosecuted or found guilty. Human rights activists blame a requirement under the law that a body must be recovered to build a murder case.

Earlier this month, the United Nations called upon Thai authorities to end the legal impunity by ratifying international laws on enforced disappearance.

“I urge the Thai authorities to immediately ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Jan. 7 in a statement.

The call was echoed today by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“The Thai government should make a 180-degree turn in its policy by recognizing that secret detention and enforced disappearance fundamentally undermine the rule of law and destroy people’s trust in their government,” regional director Brad Adams said.

Fugitive Activist Vows to Return and Face Justice

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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14 January 2016, 17:24

Thanet Anantawong at Sirindhorn Hospital in Bangkok's Prawet district on Dec. 13 soon before he was removed by plainclothes officers and taken into custody. Photo: Piyarat Chongthep / Facebook

By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Senior Staff Writer

BANGKOK — Fugitive anti-coup activist Thanet Anatawong has vowed to return to Thailand – but not immediately.

After news broke today that he had fled the kingdom, Thanet contacted Khaosod English by telephone to say he will come back to face justice. Sounding desperate and upset after his exit from Thailand became public, Thanet, who was charged last month with sedition for posting anti-junta messages on Facebook, said the precarious circumstances made it impossible for him to return immediately.

“Please convey to others that I am definitely coming back – just not now,” he said on the phone this afternoon. “If I return now, it will be worse [for the pro-democracy movement],” he said.

Activist Jumps Bail, Reportedly Flees to Laos

Information about the activist movement could be compromised if he remained in Thailand, he said. Thanet is believed to have fled to Laos but would not confirm his whereabouts.

He previously failed to appear at the Bangkok Military Court on Dec. 29 after being granted bail Dec. 18 on a 100,000 baht bond.

Disturbed that word had spread about his departure, Thanet said he has since been blamed by a number of others for jeopardizing the prospects of other activists seeking bail.

“I am not the one who is ruining the movement. You must understand me. If I am taken into prison the second time around, I will face worse punishment,” said Thanet, who was imprisoned in the aftermath of the crackdown on Redshirts protests in 2010.

“I am still fighting [for democracy]. I did not flee to save my skin or to ruin the movement. I fled because I was severely harassed. Ten to 20 soldiers are now observing my father [in the upcountry].”

Snatched from Hospital Room, Activist Tells Associates

Circumstances of Patient’s Arrest from Hospital Disputed

Condition of Suspect Removed from Hospital Unknown

Rajabhakti Scandal: Military Closes Park 'For Maintenance,' Detains Dozens of Activists

Anonymous Releases Court Data as Police Vow to Catch Hackers

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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14 January 2016, 17:09

BANGKOK — Police said today they would go after the hacker collective known as Anonymous after its members took down hundreds of court websites and released sensitive data it claimed to have obtained.

Following Wednesday’s massive Anonymous attack in protest of the outcome of the Koh Tao murders trial, police spokesman Dechnarong Suticharnbancha said the Technology Crime Suppression Division would track down the self-described hacktivists for prosecution.

He acknowledged police still have no clue where the attacks originated from.

Courts spokesman Suebpong Sripongkul said Wednesday that at least 10 IP addresses linked to the attacks from outside the country were identified.

Statements posted online to accounts used by members of Anonymous indicated the attacks were part of a campaign to call attention to corruption in Thailand’s justice system after two Myanmar men were found guilty and sentenced to die for the deaths of two Britons on Koh Tao in September 2014.

Some sites were accessible while others remained offline Thursday. Suebpong said such attacks would be ineffective.

“The Court of Justice would like to say that the computer attack cannot change the judgment, and the lawful verdict issued by the court,” he said.

Those participating in Anonymous campaigns are more sympathetic volunteers than “members,” and typically employ sophisticated methods to cover their tracks. It was unclear how police intended to bring them to justice.

Data Dump

The Blink Hacker Group associated with Anonymous last night leaked a large, 1GB data file said to contain internal information stolen during the attack including personal details about court officials.

“We hacked in Thai Justice Net in order to find some of confidential files after police sites attacked,” they wrote “Pages can be restored by any mins…our target is just to take down their Justice Net and get their information.”

A brief review of the database found what appears to be genuine records and telephone numbers for personnel and judges.

Dechnarong said they believe the hackers were the same who previously brought down a number of police websites on Jan. 4.

Junta deputy chairman Pravit Wongsuwan reportedly ordered the Royal Thai Police to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Asked this morning whether more money should be budgeted for securing government websites, Pravit said, “Sure.”

Anonymous Hacks Police Sites to Campaign for ‘Justice’ in Koh Tao Murders

‘Anonymous’ Declares War on Thai Junta

Suicide Bombers, Gunmen Kill at Least Six in Jakarta

By

Reuters

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14 January 2016, 13:57

Police officers take cover near the site of an attack Thursday in Jakarta. Photo: Darren Whiteside / Reuters

By Kanupriya Kapoor and Darren Whiteside
Reuters

JAKARTA — Militants launched a gun and bomb assault in the center of the Indonesian capital on Thursday, killing at least six people, police said, in an attack on a country that Islamic State had threatened to put in its "spotlight."

While suspicion is likely to fall on Islamic State or its allies, police said they did not know who was responsible and President Joko Widodo urged the public not to speculate on who was behind the attack.

Police said there were at least six explosions and they had shot dead three of the attackers and captured four. Three suicide bombers were suspected to have been involved while three policemen and three civilians were also killed, they said.

The main thrust of the attack was on an office block and it began with a blast outside a Starbucks cafe on its ground floor.

"The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him," said a Reuters photographer.

Indonesia has been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Islamic State.

"We have previously received a threat from Islamic State that Indonesia will be the spotlight," police spokesman Anton Charliyan told reporters.

The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.

Media reported that a Dutch person and another foreigner were among the casualties on Thursday but it was unclear if they were dead or wounded.

Police snipers were deployed among hundreds of other security officers, some in armored vehicles.

A bomb disposal unit was seen entering the building where the Starbucks is located, which also houses a cinema where at one stage, police exchanged fire with gunmen.

An office worker the building, who declined to be identified, said he and fellow workers had been ordered to stay put after the first blast.

"That's when I heard the second explosion. It was loud and powerful," he said.

Several hours after the attacks began, the witness heard more gunfire and at least one more explosion. A couple of hours later police said they were combing the building and they later declared the area secure.

Outside, a body still lay on the street and a shoe lay nearby. The city center's notoriously jammed roads were largely deserted.

'No Fear'

President Widodo was outside Jakarta when the attack unfolded but was cutting short his trip to return to the sprawling capital of more than 10 million people by helicopter.

He urged the public not to be cowed.

"We must not be afraid, we must not be defeated by an act of terror like this," he said in televised comments.

The national intelligence agency chief said there was no indication that Islamic State militants had carried out the attack.

Several embassies are also in the vicinity of the attack. Indonesia's central bank, located in the same area, went ahead with a policy meeting as the violence unfolded, cutting its policy rate <BIPG> by 25 basis points to 7.25 percent.

Economists said Southeast Asia's biggest economy could be hurt by the violence.

Early in the attack, one explosion went off in front of the Sarinah shopping center. Media said a police post outside the mall was blown up.

A nearby U.N. building was in lock-down with no one allowed in or out, a witness said. Some other high-rise buildings in the area were evacuated.

Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion.

The country saw a spate of militant attacks in the 2000s, the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists.

Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but officials have more recently been worrying about a resurgence inspired by groups such as Islamic State and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.

Alarm around the world over the danger stemming from Islamic State rocketed after the Paris attacks in November and the killing of 14 people in California in December.

On Tuesday, a Syrian suicide bomber killed 10 German tourists in Istanbul. Authorities there suspect the bomber had links to Islamic State.

Among those arrested in Indonesia's crackdown late last year was a member of China's Uighur Muslim minority with a suicide-bomb vest. Media said two other Uighur suspects were on the run.

Indonesian security forces have also intensified a manhunt for a militant leader called Santoso, regarded as Indonesia's most high-profile backer of Islamic State, in the jungles of Sulawesi island.

Santoso had threatened to unleash attacks in Jakarta.

Aditional reporting Fergus Jensen, Gayatri Suroyo, Nilufar Rizki, Eveline Danubrata, Randy Fabi and Fransiska Nangoy

Party ‘Mafia’ Blamed for Gunplay on ‘Full Moon’ Party Island

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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14 January 2016, 13:56

Police investigate the scene Wednesday where gunfire hit rooms in which tourists were sleeping the day before at Palita Lodge on Haad Rin Nok, Koh Phangan.

SURAT THANI — A dispute over all-night partying led to recent gunfire which hit tourists’ rooms on the southern island of Koh Phangan, police said today.

Five gunshots fired Tuesday at the Palita Lodge on Haad Rin Nok, the site of the island’s infamous “Full Moon Party,” are thought by police to be retaliation over the bungalow owner’s complaints about a nearby bar’s noisy late night parties.

“The Russian bar owner came to see me and my wife on Jan. 9, asking me to allow him to hold the party,” Palita Lodge owner Pairot Charoenwan said. “I said, ‘I am not in charge of this, why don’t you go ask the authorities?’”

Police Col. Prachum Ruangthong said the gun was fired from outside, either on the shore or from a small boat, as muzzle flashes were seen from that direction in security camera footage. No one was injured.

Pairot said he was sleeping when the shooting woke him up on at 4:50am on Tuesday. The 57-year-old owner thought it was fireworks until his guests came to him later, saying they were scared to leave their rooms earlier.

Damage from bullets was found in two rooms in which foreign tourists were sleeping when the shooting took place. Bullets struck the ceiling, a clothes rack, a lamp and other items.

Pairot said he received many complaints from guests unable to sleep after the recently opened bar began holding loud parties in the open past permitted hours.

“They were partying until 8am on Jan. 7,” he said. “So my wife sent a message to police via Line messenger, asking them to intervene.”

Pairot said the unidentified Russian national then came to ask him to cooperate on Jan. 9, but he refused.

On Jan. 10, he hosted a meeting of the local business association attended by the mayor and police.

“We came to agree that no party would be allowed in Haad Rin Nok except the Full Moon Party,” he said. “Police then called the foreign bar owner to inform him of the agreement. He was displeased.”

Police and Pairot said they believed the bar owner was supported by local Thai nationals.

Col. Prachum insisted an investigation was underway, and that the perpetrator would be convicted.

“This is a tourism destination,” he said. “It’s unacceptable for this mafia action.”

Operating his bungalow in Phangan for 30 years, Pairot said all the business operators have agreed that except for the busy full moon, the volume of sound must be reduced after 2am. Other parties, he said, typically are held away from the beach area to avoid disturbing residents.