Police Rule Out Foul Play in Frenchman’s Fatal Fall

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17 November 2015, 17:18

A French national was discovered floating in a pool of fish this morning three floors below the room he was staying at an apartment building in Chiang Mai.

CHIANG MAI — Murder has been eliminated by police as a factor in the case of a French national who fell from a balcony and died in Chiang Mai province last night.

The 40-year-old man’s body was found floating at about 7am this morning in a fish pool at his apartment building, where investigators believe he accidentally fell from the balcony of his third-floor room.

“We don’t think [it’s murder], because there was nothing signifying murder. There was no sign of struggle in his room,” said Lt. Col. Somyot Wangwiang of the Chang Puak Police Station, who inspected the scene.

The victim was identified as a French citizen who entered Thailand on a tourist visa and had been staying at the apartment since Oct. 30. Khaosod English is withholding his identity until his next of kin has been notified.

According to Somyot, the Frenchman returned home late last night from a bar. The apartment manager told police he appeared to be drunk at the time. He was later found dead in the morning in the water below his window, Somyot said.

He was killed when he struck a stone in the pond, Somyot said, adding that his body has been sent for autopsy.

The French Consulate in Chiang Mai has been informed of the incident, Somyot said.

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

Follow Khaosod English on and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Russia Concludes Bomb Brought Down Jet in Egypt that Killed 224

By

DPA

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17 November 2015, 15:58

Russian officials inspect wreckage of Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 on Nov. 1 in Sinai, Egypt. Photo: EPA / Maxim Grigoriev<br /> — Russian officials inspect wreckage of Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 on Nov. 1 in Sinai, Egypt. Photo: EPA / Maxim Grigoriev

MOSCOW — Russia for the first time said Monday that a bomb brought down a Russian passenger jet in Egypt last month that killed all 224 people on board.

"It can be unambiguously said that this is a terrorist act," said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, according to state-run TASS news agency.

The ill-fated Metrojet Airbus A321 was heading from the popular Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, when it crashed about 20 minutes after take-off in Sinai on Oct. 31.

The plane was blown up by a "homemade explosive device equivalent to 1 kilogramme of TNT … Due to which the plane broke up in the air and this explains the spread of the plane's fuselage parts over a large distance," Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin at a meeting, according to a transcript on the Kremlin website, TASS said.

He said traces of a foreign-made explosive were found in the debris as well as on the belongings of those on board.

"We will find the culprits behind the Sinai terror attack in any place of the globe and punish them," Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

The president said "the murder of our nationals in Sinai is among the bloodiest crimes," according to TASS.

An affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group active in Sinai claimed responsibility for the crash, which was the deadliest civil aviation disaster in Russian history

"The activities of the Russian air force in Syria should not simply continue but should be intensified," Putin said. "It should be reinforced in a way that criminals realize that punishment is inevitable."

FSB also announced a reward of USD$50 million (1.8 billion baht) for information about those responsible for the bombing.

Story: DPA

Convicted Child Killer-Rapist Drops Death Sentence Appeal

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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17 November 2015, 15:34

Wanchai Saengkhao 're-enacts' the crime for police July 9, 2014.

BANGKOK — Thailand moved closer to its first judicial execution in six years when a man convicted of raping and murdering a teen girl aboard a train last year has declined to contest his death sentence.

Former state railway employee Wanchai Saengkhao, 23, will not appeal his guilty verdict in the Supreme Court, his lawyer said, effectively moving him to death row and clearing the way for him to file for a royal pardon.

“He admitted to the facts in the case. He also repented his actions,” lawyer Bunjerd Yamoath told Khaosod English by telephone today as to why his client declined to appeal.

In September 2014, Wanchai was sentenced to death for raping and killing a 13-year-old girl two months earlier by throwing her from the moving train on which he worked the night shift. His verdict was affirmed by the appeals court this past September.

Wanchai is currently held in the Bang Kwang Central Prison, a detention facility for serious offenders and death row inmates.

Capital punishment is enshrined in the law but has been all but abandoned for the past dozen years. The last execution took place in 2009, when two drug traffickers were killed by lethal injection. Before that, the previous execution was carried out in 2003.

Witthaya Suriyawong, head of Corrections Department, told reporters he believes Wanchai decided not drop his appeal because he is aiming for a royal pardon that would stop the execution.

Death row inmates have the right to petition His Majesty the King to commute their sentences; executions can only be carried out after all appeals are exhausted, and only after the king rejects the petition.

The Royal Household Bureau considers the petitions on the king’s behalf, heeding recommendations made by the government and Corrections Department.

“If Mr. Wanchai would like to file for a royal pardon, he can do so, because it’s a right that every inmate is entitled to,” Witthaya said.

Banjerd, the lawyer representing Wanchai, declined to speculate on whether his client plans to file a royal pardon.

“I’m not sure, it depends on Mr. Wanchai,” Banjerd said.

Train Rapist & Murderer Sentenced to Death

Outgoing Rights Commission Criticizes Junta, Pre-Coup Protests

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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17 November 2015, 14:01

Anti-government protesters clash with riot police Dec. 25, 2013, at Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok.

By Sasiwan Mokkhasen and Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporters

BANGKOK — At the end of their term, members of the National Human Rights Commission said Monday the junta has trampled on human rights, while its way to power was paved by protests that occasionally violated constitutional rights to peaceful assembly.

The remark was among the commission’s frankest admissions of the ongoing repression of civil rights by the military junta so far, and came the same day it released a full report on human rights violations during the six months of protests which preceded the May 2014 coup d’etat.

“In the past year, there were problems of violation of civil rights and political rights under the situation of the coup d'etat,” said the commission’s most vocal member, Niran Pitakwatchara, on Monday. “We have to admit that although the martial law has already been lifted, Thai society still has problems about freedom of expression, such as media freedom and academic freedom.”

Community members looking to participate in the civic process and confront issues in their localities, from environmental activists to ultranationalists wanting to nationalize petroleum companies, “were blocked, and [their actions] seen as destroying the peace,” he continued. “In fact, they were exercising their civil rights.”

All commission members are due to be replaced in December. The current members have long been criticized by some activists as being a relatively weak voice for human rights in Thailand, compared to stronger condemnation expressed by international rights watchdog groups.

Protest Report

Critics of the commission also faulted the agency for not speaking out on human rights violations committed by some members of the anti-government protest movement that helped create the conditions leading to the 2014 coup. For the first time, the commission recognized such violations in its 110-page report released Monday.

The report said the protests, which aimed to topple former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, followed the constitution conduct in general, but some protesters infringed on the rights and freedoms of others, such as their campaign to obstruct voters from casting their ballots in the February 2014 election.

The commissioners also ruled that the “Bangkok Shutdown” campaign, in which the protesters occupied major roads and intersections in the capital for months, overstepped constitutional guarantees for public gatherings.

Some protesters also destroyed property and used weapons, with little or no restraint from their leaders, the report said. The commission labeled these actions as violence and therefore outside of constitutional protection.

Nevertheless, the commission stressed those actions were by individuals and not the majority of peaceful demonstrators who simply went to the same protests.

The report is the last major work to be published by the outgoing commissioners.

Reflecting on her group’s legacy, chairwoman Amara Pongsapich said she was disappointed the media did not understand the agency’s role, which led to “misunderstanding” and unfair criticism toward the commission.

“There has been both praise and criticism, which is normal,” Amara said. “But I can’t help feel disheartened. Sometimes, the media misunderstood our powers and duties. They were inadequately informed, yet they criticized us.”

She added that the current commission’s six-year term, it received 4,143 complaints and completed 3,185 of them. The rest would be passed to the next commission, the members of which are expected to be appointed next month, at the earliest.

Commissioner Niran also gave some final advice for the military junta. Authorities should learn to manage protests and conflicts “appropriately,” without the use of force or harsh laws, he said.

“Political issues must be solved by politics,” Niran said. “If you solve them by military force, the problem will only escalate, like the [separatist insurgency in the] three southern border provinces.”

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

Follow Khaosod English on and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Is This 'How Children Learn to Understand, or Blank?'

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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17 November 2015, 13:43

Scanned page from a typing book widely shared for its creative translations. Image: Karl Dahlfred / Facebook

BANGKOK — “Hello parents evening. … Today’s mother cooking something to eat some rats.”

Anyone doubting frequent headlines about the state of Thailand’s English proficiency – now considered the third-worst in Asia – might only need this excerpt from a commercial textbook for proof.

Bangkok teacher Karl Dahlfred said the scanned page came from his son’s typing skills book. It shows sentences in Thai and translated into English with alarming outcomes such as, “This is how children learn to understand, or blank.”

“If Thai people have qualified teachers and good materials, they can go very far in life,” Dahlfred wrote in reply to an inquiry this afternoon. “So it makes me sad when I see books with horribly incorrect English, that sometimes doesn’t even make sense. This sort of problem could easily be solved by having a native speaker check the book before it goes to print.”

The book is published by IDC Premier, and to be fair, is not a state textbook for use in schools. Messages sent to the publisher were not immediately returned.

The post has quickly gone viral and has been shared more than 3,500 times by this afternoon.

Be Among First in Galaxy to See 'Star Wars'

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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17 November 2015, 13:15

Promotional image from 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

BANGKOK — If the Force was not with you or your significant Star Wars fan last night, there’s still a chance to be among the first in the galaxy to see the latest installment of Star Wars.

While Major Cineplex group’s advance screening tickets for “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” appear to be sold out now, SF Cinema City is still offering tickets for sale online for an advance screening on Dec. 16 – a day earlier than its worldwide release date. This many parsecs from the international date line, that means you’ll be on target to see the film sooner than most of those on your homeworld.

Two advance screenings are scheduled at 7:30pm and 10:00pm at SF Cinema’s branch at CentralWorld shopping mall in Bangkok. Tickets range from 190 baht to 530 baht. At the time of publication, seats remained for both showtimes.

Get Weird and Provocative at Bangkok Underground Cinema Fest

By

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra, Correspondent

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17 November 2015, 12:53

Scene from 'Huu' by Theerapat Wongpaisarnkit.

By Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra
Staff Reporter

BANGKOK — A filmmaker, underground music venue owner and photographer will bring dozens of films they describe as “bizarre and confronting” to the Bangkok Underground Cinema this weekend at Museum Siam.

Bored of safe subjects that lack provocation or punch, organizers chose 43 films on matters from mental illness to science fiction to screen as part of the Noise Market music and arts festival unfolding over two days on the museum’s grounds.

“They shouldn’t bore us,” said photographer Tada Hengsapkul of the criteria used to select the films. “There’s freedom of speech and expression [represented],” he added.

There’s no censorship of cigarettes, alcohol, nudity – or most importantly – thoughts.

Tada said Thai cinema has stopped talking about things that matter, a situation growing worse under the censorship threatening filmmakers’ autonomy.

“Displaced” by Cas Van Der Pas and Frank Scott Krueger is a “bipolar experimental narrative” looking at displaced people in rural and urban Colombia. It examines the mentally ill without prescribing a remedy, according to festival organizer Dhyan Ho, owner the Sathon district art-bar, Jam. In two words, “Pregnant Man” spells out the aims of French filmmaker Charlie Mars.

'Pregnant Man'

Things get appropriately elemental Japanese experimental film “Haruli,” and sound comes dangerously alive to devour an artist in “Huu” by Theerapat Wongpaisarnkit. Then there is “How to Transform into Na Neck” by Takuro Kotaka, in which he runs with the joke of actually taking on the identity of Thai comedian Ketsepsawat "Na Neck" Palakawong Na Ayutthaya.

About half of the films selected from hundreds of submissions came from local filmmakers, with the rest from 22 other countries including Myanmar, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Slovakia, Japan, Colombia, Switzerland, France, Russia, Korea, Singapore and Brazil.

The fest’s organizers said they wanted to help new filmmakers including students and rookies get their work shown on a screen for the public.

“We are interested in the work of younger generations,” said Tada Hengsapkul, a photographer and filmmaker. Tada said established (read: old) filmmakers tend to lose their voice or inspiration.

After pulling off this year’s first event, Tada said they hope to expand it into a larger fest with even more provocative films.

Like the rest of Noise Market, it's all free. Learn more about the films and check out the schedule online.

French President Pledges to 'Destroy' Islamic State

By

DPA

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17 November 2015, 10:34

Riot police stand guard at in the streets of Molenbeek, Brussels, where Belgian police carried out an operation aimed at arresting a suspect in the Paris terrorist attacks. Photo: EPA / Olivier Hoslet

PARIS — French President Francois Hollande pledged Monday to "destroy" the Islamic State through stepped up military action in Syria, tougher anti-terrorism laws at home and in the European Union, and greater international mobilization.

Hollande addressed both houses of parliament in a special session at the former royal palace of Versailles to spell out the response to Friday's attacks, which killed at least 129 people in Paris. The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility.

"Terrorism will not destroy the French Republic, for it is going to be destroyed by the Republic," Hollande told lawmakers. The objective, he added, "should not be to contain, but to destroy" the Islamic State.

Air raids against Islamic State strongholds in Syria will "intensify," and French strike capacity will "triple" as of Thursday, when the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean, the president said.

According to Hollande, the attacks in Paris were "decided, planned in Syria" and "organized in Belgium," with the aim of spreading fear and weakening France's resolve to "fight terrorism in the Middle East."

Hollande called for greater international unity, saying he would travel to Washington and Moscow to meet US and Russian counterparts Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin and urging a UN Security Council resolution against the Islamic State.

Turning to EU partners, the French president invoked a solidarity clause for bloc members under military attack, called for joint action on the repatriation of irregular migrants and weapon smuggling, and the approval by December of a common record of air passengers' data.

On the home front, Hollande invited parliament to extend the state of emergency for three months, promised tougher penalties and new laws for terrorism-related crimes, and more resources for national security.

He promised to hire 5,000 extra policemen, 1,000 extra border guards, boost the ranks of the justice ministry by 2,500 units and scrap planned cuts for the military.

He said he was ready to defy EU deficit rules over the issue, and said the constitution might be revised to fit with national security requirements.

So far, French police have identified five out of the seven suspected terrorists who died carrying out Friday's attacks, including one presumed to have entered the EU via Greece, posing as a Syrian refugee.

In Brussels, police carried out a large-scale raid in the Muslim-majority Molenbeek neighbourhood with the aim of capturing an eighth suspected attacker, 26-year-old Frenchman Salah Abdeslam.

The operation was unsuccessful in capturing him, but Belgian prosecutors said two of the seven people who had been taken in for questioning were placed under arrest on charges of playing a role in a terrorist attack and participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

According to the Belga news agency, the unnamed pair were travelling with Abdeslam in a getaway car when they were stopped and let go early Saturday at a police checkpoint in northern France, near the Belgium border.

The other five people detained in Belgium were released on Monday. They included one of Abdeslam's brothers, Mohamed. His lawyer told Belga that he had an "indisputable" alibi.

A third Abdeslam brother, 31-year-old Brahim, was identified as one of the suicide bombers behind Friday's attacks. He was friends with a well-known Belgian foreign fighter who could also be implicated, the newspaper De Standaard reported Monday.

Meanwhile, Italian police said they were no longer searching for 32-year-old Frenchman Baptiste Burgy, another alleged terrorist who was reported to have crossed the Ventimiglia border point on Sunday driving a Seat Ibiza car.

"There was an alert but it has passed," the acting head of police in the north-western city of Turin, Sergio Molino, told the ANSA news agency. "We have no evidence of the passage, or of the presence of that vehicle on Italian soil," he added.

In France, police carried out 168 raids overnight into Monday, with 23 people detained and 31 weapons recovered – including a rocket launcher – Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Monday that European countries face an ongoing risk of terrorist attacks.

"This generation will have to live a long time with this terrorist threat. We must live, and live fully, but under this threat," he added.

A meeting between Hollande and US Secretary of State John Kerry will take place Tuesday at the US embassy in Paris, according to news reports. After arriving in Paris Monday night, Kerry said ultimately, Islamic State and all who share their "despicable ideology" would be defeated.

Story: DPA

UN Diplomat in Thailand Settles Maid Slavery Case out of Court

By

Reuters

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17 November 2015, 10:34

World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By Alisa Tang
Thomson Reuters Foundation

NONTHABURI — An Ethiopian housemaid who was suing the head of the U.N. World Health Organization in Thailand and his wife for beating and enslaving her on Monday settled the lawsuits out of court.

Emebet Mono Bezabh, 25, worked as a housemaid for Yonas Tegegn's family in an expatriate neighbourhood in Nonthaburi, north of Bangkok, for nearly two years.

She said she was beaten at least three times a week by Tegegn's wife, only allowed to eat rice, and forced to sleep with the family dog.

"Once she slapped me so much that for a long time afterward, some liquid was coming out of my ear. The wife told the husband, and he brought me medicine," Bezabh told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via a translator at Nonthaburi provincial court.

Tegegn brought Bezabh from Ethiopia, his home country, to Bangkok in 2013 when he took up his post as WHO's Thailand country representative and employed her until March this year when she escaped with the help of a neighbor.

She said her employers confiscated her passport and denied her any payment.

Tegegn, who came to the court to sign an agreement and pay Bezabh a confidential amount, declined to speak to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. There is no admission of wrongdoing in the out-of-court settlement.

Bezabh, supported by three Thai organisations – the Foundation for Women, Human Rights and Development Foundation and the Lawyers Council of Thailand – dropped a criminal case against Tegegn and his wife, and a civil case in a labour court.

The lawsuits accused Tegegn and his wife of violating labour rights and breaching the 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Activists and lawyers supporting Bezabh had worried that Tegegn would receive diplomatic immunity, and publicised the case shortly after she had escaped his home.

A WHO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tegegn was put on leave and the WHO brought in an acting country head, but the official was unable to confirm Tegegn's current status.

The WHO's website for Thailand still lists Tegegn, who has worked for the organisation since 1995, as country representative. No one at WHO's headquarters in Geneva was immediately available to comment officially on the case.

Bezabh's lawyer Kohnwilai Teppunkoonngam said there was still much to do to improve legal protection for vulnerable workers, especially the domestic workers of diplomats employed by international organisations such as the United Nations.

"International organisation staff in some positions have privileges under international law. In this case, they had privilege and were under the radar of Thai labor law," she said.

Bezabh, who was orphaned at the age of five and is illiterate, was uncomfortable in Tegegn's presence and incredulous that the man she had regarded as powerful and untouchable had agreed to pay her a settlement.

"This money doesn't make up for what they've done to me," Bezabh said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head.

Reporting by Alisa Tang

At Last Minute, Transit Authorities Put Phahonyothin Closure on Hold

By

Khaosod English

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16 November 2015, 20:05

The Italian-Thai Development PCL breaks ground on construction of the Green Line on Oct. 16 in Bangkok. Photo: MRT Green Line (North) Project / Facebook

BANGKOK — A plan to shut down parts of Phahonyothin Road in front of CentralPlaza Lardprao to build the Green Line Skytrain extension was dumped at the last minute by transportation officials this evening.

To relieve the impact on an area with some of the capital's worst traffic, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority announced at 6pm the project would be postponed.

The plan to shut down lanes of traffic for more than three years did not go over well. Although extending the Skytrain is a popular cause among the Bangkok middle class, many worried the closures planned for tonight through Feb. 9, 2019, would make a bad situation worse.

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