CHIANG MAI — Celebrity teen panda Chuang Chuang celebrated his 15th birthday with presents and a bamboo birthday cake today at the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Born in Chengdu, China, in 2000, Chuang Chuang has called Chiang Mai home since 2003 when he arrived as part of China’s panda diplomacy.

Becoming Thai meant picking up a few extra names – Chuang Chuang now goes by the Thai name of “Tewan” and Lanna name of “Kam-ai.”

Zoo officials presented him gifts containing his beloved apples and carrots along with a bamboo-wood cake perched atop a pile of snow.

Pandas really love snow.

Also on Panda Watch is Chuang Chuang’s mate, maybe-mama Lin Hui.  In July zoo officials announced they’d successfully inseminated her and were expecting a cub between August and October.

“She has gained around 3 kg and she sleeps more.” zoo director Nipon Wichairat said today, adding that her condition is being evaluated twice daily.

Veterinarians have long been pregnant with anticipation to see her reproduce again after she gave birth to Lin Ping in 2009.

Reproductive capacity is not something pandas are famous for; females ovulate once per year.

Early last year the public was told she was pregnant and after many false alarms, pandaphiles everywhere were crushed when the zoo announced she’d suffered a miscarriage.

Days after being artificially inseminated last month, Lin Hui learned that she and Chuang Chuang were now grandparents twice over: Lin Ping, now back in China, gave birth to twins.

A year ago China offered to return Lin Ping and her mate to Thailand for 15 years at the price of 64 million baht per year for both pandas, double what they originally cost.

‘On my birthday, could you not poke me with a … oh, more presents for ME?!’

Related stories:

Chinese Report Success in Breeding Captive Giant Pandas

Heartthrob Panda ‘Nervous’ In Her Chinese New Home

China Extends Lin Ping’s Stay In Thailand

SURIN — A pair of star-crossed lovers took their lives in the northeast of Thailand by hanging themselves with two nooses fashioned from the same rope.

The couple appeared to be embracing and kissing when they were discovered early this morning in Surin province after the teen girl’s family asked for 300,000 baht to settle a statutory rape charge filed against the 21-year-old boyfriend.

“I don’t have the money to pay that, even though my relatives have been trying hard to find it,” said the boyfriend’s 47-year-old father, who told them they had to call it off last night and was the last person to see them.

The man and 15-year-old girl, whose names are being withheld by Khaosod English, were from different villages and their bodies were found 300 meters from the boyfriend’s home, hanging from a tree in front of a shrine to a local grandfather spirit in Surin's Tha Tum district.

The father said he told the couple to end their relationship after the girl’s family asked for 300,000 baht to settle the issue after filing a complaint against his son for statutory rape of a minor. The age of consent in Thailand is 18.

He said they looked “sad” after the conversation and left his home around 4 am. Their bodies were found two hours later.

Photographs taken at the scene show the couple hanging face-to-face from nooses tied at both ends of a rope above a kicked-over picnic table and bench.

No signs of struggle were found, according to Pol.Lt. Churot Buengchan, leading police to believe it was probably a suicide.

“We will invite the families of the two deceased to answer questions soon,” he said.

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BANGKOK — Organizers of the upcoming referendum on what would be Thailand’s 20th constitution said they remain unsure whether to put a “reform before election” question onto the ballot.

One group of junta-appointed reformers wants to keep it to an up-or-down vote on the new charter, according to an official involved in the process, whereas another group wants to ask voters if they want the military junta to stay for two more years to complete its national reform effort.

“This is a sensitive issue,” said Alongkorn Pollabutr of the National Reform Council, a body assigned by the military junta to deliberate the new charter and recommend

He said the first group argues that if the “reform” question added, it will reflect negatively on the government and have a corrosive effect on Thailand’s political climate. Meanwhile the second group believes getting voters’ political opinions would justify the poll’s 3 billion-baht price tag.

“Right now, the two opposing thoughts remain unsettled,” Alongkorn said.

The Thai military junta dissolved Thailand’s previous constitution when it seized power from the elected government in May 2014, and later appointed a body to draft the new one.

A referendum for the new charter – Thailand’s 20th since democracy was first established in 1932 – is set for January 2016.

However Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, chairman of the junta-appointed legislature, said Sunday that whatever voters preferred, such a measure on the ballot would have no legal authority.

The reform council will vote whether to endorse the new constitution on 7 September, Alongkorn said, though that date might change due to the illness of National Reform Council chairman Thienchay Kirananda.

“Some members think they should wait for Mr. Thienchay to approve the date first,” Alongkorn said.

That endorsement is the final step before the charter goes to a vote.

The junta has promised a new election in late 2016, so long as voters approve its constitution. It has not made clear what would happen if the charter is rejected.

However, a hardline faction within the National Reform Council wants the junta to stay in power for two more years to complete “national reforms” before holding an election. The faction is led by Wanchai Sornsiri, who told the media earlier this week that if an election is held before reforms are completed, the 2014 coup d’etat would have been in vain.

“If they let an election go forward, even though national reforms are not finished and conflicts are not solved, the last coup d’etat would be a failure,” Wanchai said Sunday. “In order to solve all the problems and let this country move forward, the [junta] should solve all the root problems that led to the coup before they lead our country to an election.”

Wanchai’s comments came days after conservative activist and former politician Suthep Thaugsuban re-entered the public fray to call for “reform before election.”

Related stories:

Army Chief Says Elections Could Be Delayed

Redshirt Leaders Vow Response to Suthep Speech

Interim Parliament Chairman Rejects Suthep’s Call for ‘Reform Before Election’

Suthep Stresses 'Reforms Before Elections,' Unveils Plans for New Foundation

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BANGKOK — The owner of a hotel in northeastern Thailand filed a libel complaint today against a celebrity singer for claiming the hotel is haunted.

A lawyer for the LJ the Emerald Hotel in Amnat Charoen province filed a complaint today with the technology crime division in Bangkok, alleging country singer Chanatcha Wongsawasdikul damaged the hotel’s reputation by posting online about ghost sightings at the hotel.

“This is not true, because the LJ the Emerald Hotel is a five-star hotel and has a great reputation in Amnat Charoen,” Chartchai said. “It has also won awards in the past.”

Kandy Rakkaen's music video for the euphemistically named "I Can Help Myself"

Chartchai said that Chanatcha, better known as “Kandy Rakkaen,” recently posted messages saying that the hotel was substandard and haunted by ghosts. No such posts can currently be found on her Facebook page.

The post has caused great damage to the hotel’s business, the lawyer said, and his client demands the singer pay nearly 1 million baht in damages.

“Many customers canceled their room bookings and conference reservations. We want compensation of 990,000 baht. And the hotel [owners] would like to insist that they have no intention to put Ms. [Chanatcha] in prison. They only want to protect the reputation and interest of the hotel,” Chartchai said.

The website for the LJ the Emerald Hotel in Amnat Charoen province, where every day is Valentine's Day, shows what it describes as "five-star" accomodations. Photo: LJ the Emerald Hotel

Police Lt. Sombat Sombatyotha, an officer at the technology crime division, said the complaints against Chanatcha included libel and violating the Computer Crime Act, which prohibits disseminating false information online.

“We are collecting all the evidence, and we will summon [Chanatcha] for interrogation in the future,” Sombat said.

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