Royal Assistant to Former Princess Sent to Remand Prison

By

-

17 June 2015, 12:22

Police bring former palace official Montri Sotangkul to Criminal Court in Bangkok on 16 June 2015.

BANGKOK — After spending a week in custody at an army barrack, a close aide to the Thai Crown Prince's third ex-wife has been sent to prison to await trial on charges of insulting the monarchy.

Montri Sotangkul has been held for interrogation at an army barrack in Bangkok's Thammasop subdistrict since he was arrested on 11 June, police spokesperson Pol.Col. Ekkarak Limsangkart told the Criminal Court yesterday.

In a briefing sent to the court, Pol.Col. Ekkarak asked the judge to detain Montri at Bangkok Remand prison now that police have completed their preliminary interrogation and no longer need to hold him at the barrack.

The court approved police's request, and Montri – who has been seen in the same shirt since his arrested – was immediately escorted to prison. Montri did not submit any request for a bail release, and has not been represented by a lawyer.

Montri, who was royal chamberlain to former princess Srirasmi Suwadee, has been charged with lese majeste (defaming the monarchy), bribing state officials, and using his position as bureaucrat to seek personal gain. The maximum penalty for the latter charge is death.

According to police, Montri falsely cited his close ties to Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn to convince senior government officials to appoint him to the boards of several state enterprises. Montri also allegedly exploited his royal position to secure rights to buy and sell land in Bangkok.

Pol.Maj.Gen. Sriwarah Rangsiphramanakul, commander of Bangkok police force, told reporters yesterday that Montri did not implicate any other suspects during his interrogation. The officer added that the National Anti-Corruption Commission has been invited to join the prosecution.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office is also still investigating more than 10 million baht worth of assets that police confiscated from Montri, Pol.Maj.Gen.. Sriwarah said.

"As for the health of Mr. Montri, doctors have inspected him and found that he is normal, and that his mental condition has been improving," Pol.Maj.Gen. Sriwarah said.

Former Princess Srirasmi, who police said personally appointed Montri to her entourage, has not been seen in public since she resigned from the royal family in December 2015 amidst a string of lese majeste charges against members of her family, including her brothers, sister, parents, and uncle. All of them are now serving time in prison.

The palace scandal exploded in November 2014 when Sriasmi's uncle, former Central Investigative Bureau chief Pol.Lt.Gen. Pongpat Chayaphan, was charged with running a massive crime syndicate and using the Crown Prince's name to further his riches.

In response, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn stripped Srirasmi's family of the royally-bestowed surname Akharaphongpreecha, forcing them to revert back to their "commoner" surname, Suwadee, on 30 November.

Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Srirasmi were married in 2001. They have one 10-year-old son.

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

Thai Woman Duped by Online 'Friend' into Carrying Drugs from Laos: Police

By

Khaosod English

-

17 June 2015, 12:20

Thai police found 3.5 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the purse of a Thai woman crossing the Thai-Laotian border on 16 June 2015.

NONG KHAI — Police say a Thai woman was deceived by an online persona into carrying a bag of cocaine across the Thai-Laotian border yesterday.

The 26-year-old woman was arrested at a border checkpoint in Nong Khai province after police inspected her bag and discovered several packages of cocaine hidden beneath the seams. The purse contained a total of 3.5 kilograms of cocaine, worth at least 12 million baht.

The woman told police officers she had been instructed to bring the bag by "Michel," an online acquaintance who claimed to be a 40-year-old Canadian man, but who the woman had never met in person.

Michel reportedly asked her to pick up the abandoned bag from a parking lot near a market in Vientiane and bring it to Mo Chit Bus Terminal in Bangkok. He told her the purse was a luxury item that he planned to resell, and offered her 20,000 baht as a reward, police said.

Pol.Col. Pallop Suriyakul na Ayutthaya, commander of Nong Khai Immigration Police, said he believes Michel is a fake online persona created by a narcotic syndicate to dupe unsuspecting women into acting as drug mules.

"They may use photos of good-looking, white-skinned, men that wear suits and look wealthy to dupe victims who are looking for friends or partners into joining criminal activities," Pol.Col. Pallop explained.

He said the woman will be charged with drug possession.

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

From Poachers to Forest Guides: Cambodian Loggers Turn to Tourism

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 19:37

A felled tree on Crocodile Mountain, Cambodia, May 2015. It may take small-time loggers several weeks to find, cut down, and transport a single large tree. Photo: Erin Hale/dpa<br /> — A felled tree on Crocodile Mountain, Cambodia, May 2015. It may take small-time loggers several weeks to find, cut down, and transport a single large tree. Photo: Erin Hale/dpa

KOH KONG, CAMBODIA (DPA) — The narrow, twisting path up Cambodia's Crocodile Mountain was made for illegal logging, but is now more used by tourists visiting the fragile habitat, often guided by the former loggers themselves.

Their expert local knowledge gleaned from years of scouring the forest for valuable hardwood trees is being put to better use thanks to the efforts of hiking group Sustainable Adventures in Cambodia.

Led by local Buddhist abbot Dhammajat and Belgian expatriate Jonas de Schrijver, the group has organised 10 hikes over the past two years.

It recruits guides like Mom Ki, from nearby Kampong Speu province, to lead hikers up Crocodile Mountain and through the vast and relatively unexplored Cardamom mountain chain in the south-west of the country.

At 46, Mom Ki is one of the younger of the five guides.

On a recent hike in May, he helped to guide 16 foreigners and two Cambodian hikers up the mountain, carrying supplies on his back in a converted rice sack.

Mom Ki was paid 90 dollars for the three-day trip, compared with the 128 dollars monthly minimum wage in a factory.

But the benefits are more than just financial for him.

"For me, who loves nature, I feel happy to see foreigners come to visit the forest," he said.

Like many locals, Mom Ki has an ambivalent relationship with the forest. He is half Chong, an ethnic animist group, and used to believe the forest that he helped to cut down also contained spirits.

The diverse ecosystem has also impressed international conservationists.

The Cardamom Mountains, which stretch from south-western, coastal Cambodia up into Thailand, are "one of the most species-rich and intact natural habitats in the region," according to the World Wildlife Fund, and one of most pristine in Asia.

Private logging was effectively outlawed during the 2000s, but the activity persists, either by well-connected individuals who obtain the right permits, forest clearance in the name of sometimes bogus construction projects, or small-scale timber poaching for hardwood or charcoal.

The country has lost 2,850 million hectares of forest over the past 20 years, one of the highest rates in the world, according to the UN Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

Ecotourism would preserve the trees and improve the community's overall welfare, de Schrijver said.

"If [guides] can make 30 dollars a day and work 20 days a month, that's 600 dollars. For a person in a village, essentially they are rich," said de Schrijver, who hopes to one day turn the hiking venture, currently an informal project, into a full business.

The model has worked for Chi Phat community ecotourism centre in the nearby Areng Valley, which takes 3,000 tourists on guided hikes each year, project manager Martin Leighfield says.

The centre began as an initiative of the US-Cambodian Wildlife Alliance and now employs 250 locals, including ex-loggers.

But such projects face several challenges, some cultural, de Schrijver said. For example, guides need to learn to adjust the Cambodian sense of time to the more punctual expectations of foreigners, especially those on a travel schedule, he said.

On a more institutional level, the move away from logging has wide-reaching impacts, with rosewood or teak lumber selling on for 2,000 to 5,000 dollars per cubic metre, for example on forum Alibaba.

Despite the ban, the industry is deeply linked to the political and social landscape, according to Australian National University researcher Sarah Milne, who has worked in the Cardamom Mountains for the past decade.

The industry has generated billions of dollars, some of which finds its way into the local government and economy, she said.

"A portion goes back into provision of public goods and donations, like gifts of temples, office buildings and roads," she said.

"In a lot of communes, this off-budget finance turns out to be bigger than the formal government budget."

Turning loggers into guides is just the first step, she said. The next would be to figure out how to compensate for the lost revenues.

Loggers make between 150 and 300 dollars for each hardwood tree, which can take several weeks to find, cut down, and then bring down the mountain in pieces on their motorbikes.

Others cut down less valuable trees to burn into charcoal, while villagers are also employed to scout trees on behalf of loggers.

But the real beneficiaries are Cambodia's politically connected elites, Milne said.

In the Cardamom Mountains alone, logging generated half a billion dollars between 2009-12 for just "one tycoon and relatives of the prime minister," according to a book she co-authored on the subject.

"There's a lot at stake, and it will be hard to deal with the vested interests," Milne said. "But when all that wildness goes, you'll have really lost something."

(Reporting by Erin Hale)

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

28-Year-Old Steals Public Bus to See Girlfriend: Police

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 19:33

Sataanphop Aobpirom, 28, with police officers and the bus he allegedly stole in Bangkok, 15 June 2015.

BANGKOK — A 28-year-old man has been arrested for stealing a public bus and driving nearly 400 km from Bangkok to northeastern Thailand to see his girlfriend, police say.

Sataanphop Aobpirom was arrested yesterday evening and charged with theft, according to Pol.Maj. Kowit Piewpong, an officer at Chorakae Noi Police Station.

Police said an executive director of Lad Krabang Transport Company, which operates public buses in Bangkok's eastern suburb, filed a complaint on 4 May that Sataanphop had disappeared from Bangkok with one of the company's vehicles. Sataanphop started his job as a bus driver only three days before the incident took place, said Pol.Maj. Kowit.

After a month of investigation, police tracked down and arrested Sataanphop in Buriram province yesterday.

According to police, Sataanphop confessed that he suddenly missed his girlfriend in Buriram while he was driving the bus along the Hua Ta Kae – Seacon Square route, and decided to drive the vehicle all the way to the northeastern province to see her. No passengers were on the bus at the time. Sataanphop reportedly said he was afraid of being punished by the company, so he chose not to return to Bangkok and got a new job as a painter in Buriram.

"Based on Mr. Sataanphop’s police records, he was previously arrested for two cases of theft and two cases of drug offense," Pol.Maj. Kowit told reporters. "We believe that Mr. Sataanphop also tried to sell the bus and use the money to buy drugs, but the stolen vehicle was a public bus, and it was an imported vehicle, so no one dared to buy it."

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

Mother and Son in Coma After Eating Puffer Fish, Official Says

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 19:06

Nurses treat two patients who fell into comas after eating puffer fish in Maha Sarakham province, 15 June 2015.

MAHA SARAKHAM — Two people have been admitted to the emergency room at a hospital in Maha Sarakham province after eating toxic puffer fish yesterday.

Thong Chaoprai, 84, and her son, Banchong Chaoprai, 48, ate the fish after catching them in a pond near their village in Nong Thum district, according to one of their relatives, Noosoon Chaoprai.

Noosoon said the pair began vomiting and breathing heavily soon after eating the fish, and eventually fainted. They were initially taken to a local clinic, but doctors later transferred them to a larger hospital because their condition was deemed critical, Noosoon told reporters.

Thong and Banchong are still in a coma at the intensive care unit at Maha Sarakham provincial hospital, and have been placed on life support, medical workers say.

Pufferfish contain powerful toxins that can be fatal to humans. However, a former MP for Maha Sarakham province said many fishermen in the region regularly consume the fish, resulting in occasional deaths and injuries.

“When I meet with local residents, I try to warn them not to catch and eat this fish, because it’s dangerous, it can kill them,” Suchart Srikang told Khaosod. “But this type of incident keeps happening.”

Karn Sriboonlue, a chief district officer in Maha Sarakham, said local administrators will make an announcement on the speakers mounted in their villages to remind citizens not to eat the deadly fish.

“Many months ago, two people died from eating puffer fish. This time, someone got poisoned by puffer fish again. Why do they still catch this fish?” Karn said.

Thai Govt Considers Invoking Emergency Powers to Prevent Street Racing

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 16:37

Soldiers and police arrest more than 400 teenage street racers in Bangkok, 31 May 2015

BANGKOK – Thailand's military leader is considering invoking his emergency powers to pass an order that would allow authorities to arrest teenagers who are preparing to illegally race motorcycles on the streets.

The proposal was submitted to junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha by Thailand's Minister of Justice, Gen. Paiboon Khumchanya, who said efforts to crack down on dek vans – teenage motorcycle gangs that often race on highways at night – have been hampered by the current law's definition of illegal street racing. At present, police can only arrest people for participating in street racing, he said.

"They have to wait for the group to arrive and start racing first, which society does not want to see," Gen. Paiboon explained. "So I will issue an order to make preparing for a race a crime. We won't let the kids start causing troubles on the road first and deal with them later. We want to put an end to it even before it starts, because preparation [for the race] leads to actual practice anyway."

He said the preemptive measures may include confiscating motorcycles from suspected racers in addition to the current penalties and fines. The parents of the young motorcyclists will also be punished, Gen. Paiboon told reporters.

Instead of asking the interim parliament to amend existing traffic laws, Gen. Paiboon has formally requested Gen. Prayuth authorize the measure through Section 44 of the interim charter, which grants the junta leader power to unilaterally enact any legally-binding order.

Gen. Prayuth has used Section 44 to issue orders that retain key components of martial law after it was repealed in April, such as the military's power to detain individuals without charge, ban political gatherings, and try civilians in martial court. He has also vowed to use the measure to "swiftly" solve pressing problems like land encroachment and human trafficking.

Speaking to reporters today, Gen. Prayuth said he is deliberating on Gen. Paiboon's proposal, but promised that authorities have no intention to harshly punish the teenagers.

"We aren't intent on killing them. They are still just kids, no matter what. Most of them are kids," Gen. Prayuth said. "Our [mission] is to find out why they are still racing out there. It's important to understand the fact that 40 percent of these people are outside the education system. They don't study, so they have a lot of free time. And the parents don't have time to be with their children or take care of them, they only give money to the children. Most of them use money on their motorcycles. This leads to social problems."

He continued, "I have said this many times: the first foundation is that families have to be strong. Schools have to help keep their eyes out for these people. Today we cannot only use power or laws. That will only solve problems temporarily."

Gen. Paiboon said he hopes the measure will be put in place by next week.

The Minister also recommended other efforts to help reduce illegal street racing, such as organizing races in stadiums and inviting psychiatrists to talk to the suspects who have been arrested.

Since staging a coup against an elected government in May 2014, the junta has sought to crack down on social vices and organized crime in a bid to shore up support. Soldiers have been regularly deployed to work alongside police as law enforcement officials.

In one of the largest crackdowns on dek vans in recent years, soldiers and police intercepted and arrested more than 400 young street racers in Bangkok on the night of 31 May.

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

Thai Police Still Searching For Cars, Boats Belonging to Alleged Trafficking Kingpin

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 15:30

A press conference in Songkhla on police's crackdown on human trafficking, 15 June 2015.

SONGKHLA — Police say they are still looking for ten assets belonging to the alleged ringleader of human trafficking operations in southern Thailand, who is currently in police custody along with 55 other trafficking suspects.

According to police, three Mercedes-Benzes and seven fishing boats owned by Patchuban Angchotipan, aka Ko Tong, have been missing since police charged him with human trafficking and illegal detention on 11 May. Patchuban, who is a former local administrative official and owns resorts in Satun province, surrendered to police on 18 May.

"Whoever is possessing these assets will also be guilty of money-laundering," said Pol.Gen. Aek Angsananont, deputy commander of Thai Police. He added that police have confiscated more than 200 million baht worth of assets from suspected traffickers since they launched a crackdown on the network in May.

Police say Patchuban is the leader of the crime syndicate that detained and abused foreign migrants in jungle prisons near the Thai-Malaysian border until their relatives paid hefty ransom fees. At least five of such detention camps, along with mass graves that contained hundreds of corpses, were discovered by Thai officers in May, prompting police to launch an unprecedented crackdown on the long-running human smuggling operation.

The migrants detained at the camps were mostly Bangladeshis and Rohingyas – a Muslim ethnic group that faces brutal persecution in western Myanmar – who were kidnapped or lured from their homes by traffickers. Many were ultimately seeking to settle in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The crackdown in Thailand disrupted well-trodden trafficking routes and helped trigger a humanitarian crisis in the region, as thousands of migrants, no longer able to land in Thailand, were abandoned by their smugglers at sea. After weeks of rejecting the boat people, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last month to provide the migrants with temporary asylum.

Over 5,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have landed in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand since the crisis began in early May.

As of today, 89 arrest warrants have been issued by Thai police in connection with trafficking network, and 56 suspects are under arrest, said Pol.Gen. Aek. Those in custody include police officers, a high-ranking army general, and local bureaucrats.

Pol.Gen. Aek asked the public to contact police if they have any information about the suspects who are still on the run, and can be identified in the wanted poster (right) that police are hanging in southern provinces.

A trial for the arrested suspects is expected to being around 25 July, said Pol.Gen. Aek, adding that more than 230 witnesses will be called to testify against them.

"At the moment, we have discovered that some suspects have used their influence and henchmen to intimidate witnesses not to testify in court or identify the suspects as the perpetrators," Pol.Gen. Aek said. "The witnesses who have been intimidated have already filed charges with the officers, and we have issued three arrest warrants on those who intimidated the witnesses."

Asked to comment on Lt.Gen. Manas Kongpaen, a senior army commander who was arrested on 3 June, Pol.Gen. Aek said he is still being held in a prison to await trial, and has not received any privileged treatment.

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish

Thai Police Still Searching For Cars, Boats Belonging to Alleged Trafficking Kingpin

By

Khaosod English

-

16 June 2015, 13:24

A press conference in Songkhla on police's crackdown on human trafficking, 15 June 2015.<br /> — A press conference in Songkhla on police's crackdown on human trafficking, 15 June 2015.