Thailand’s Karen Tribes Say UNESCO's Certificate Might Lead to Diminished Rights

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20 April 2015, 13:52

Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, Billy’s wife, and her children at the seminar on plan to nominate national parks and protected areas in the western region as UNESCO’s natural world heritage on 17 April 2015.<br /> — Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, Billy’s wife, and her children at the seminar on plan to nominate national parks and protected areas in the western region as UNESCO’s natural world heritage on 17 April 2015.

(Prachatai English)

BANGKOK – The Karen tribes living in protected areas and national parks of western Thailand are worrying about losing their livelihood and being sidelined when the areas are declared UNESCO’s natural world heritage.

On Friday, network of western Thailand’s Karen tribes and officers of Kaeng Krachan National Park of the western province of Ratchaburi held a seminar at Kaeng Krachan Park Cultural Center in the province to build up understandings about the plan to nominate national parks and protected areas in the region as UNESCO’s natural world heritage.

The seminar which was additionally accompanied by Karen cultural activities was also organised to commemorate the enforced disappearance of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, aka. Billy, a Karen human rights defender, who disappeared on 17 April 2014.

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Koh Samui Bombing: Redshirt Activist Released

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20 April 2015, 13:52

The scene of the bombing on Koh Samui, 10 April 2015.

BANGKOK — A Redshirt activist has been released from custody at a secret location and cleared of any connection to the recent bombing on Koh Samui island, a junta spokesperson says.

Narin Ambuathong, aka M Redshirt, was arrested by military officers on 11 April on suspicion of plotting a car bomb at Central Festival Samui shopping mall on the previous day. The bomb, which exploded in an underground parking lot, injured seven people, including a 12-year-old Italian girl.

The military declined to say where Narin was held.

According to junta spokesperson Col. Winthai Suwaree, Narin was released on 17 April without charges after security officers established that he was not connected to the attack.

Narin was initially considered a suspect because he allegedly wrote on his Facebook account several hours prior to the blast "Tonight, bring it on in Surat," referring to Surat Thani province, where the popular tourist island is located.

"Security officers proceeded with evidence and facts, concerning the message that M posted," Col. Winthai said. "We had to inquire him for clarity, before we released him."

Under provisions issued through Article 44 of the post-coup interim charter, soldiers can search properties and detain individuals for up to seven days without court warrants.

According to Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawut Thawornsiri, spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police, police are close to arresting the perpetrator of the car bomb.

"We cannot identify the perpetrator, but we are close to issuing an arrest warrant," Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawut. "I cannot say whether the perpetrator is still in Thailand, because we have not detained the person. But I am confident that we will be able to arrest all perpetrators involved in the attack."

He added, "We are looking at the evidence to expand the investigation. I cannot divulge in-depth information to you right now, because it may affect the case."

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Thailand's Tiger Temple Ordered to Give up Tigers

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20 April 2015, 11:33

A Buddhist monk with a tiger at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno, also known as the Tiger Temple, in Kanchanaburi, about 200 km north-west of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday 24 April 2006. Thailand's famous Tiger Temple is being forced to give up its tigers, an official said Monday. EPA/BARBARA WALTON<br /> — A Buddhist monk with a tiger at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno, also known as the Tiger Temple, in Kanchanaburi, about 200 km north-west of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday 24 April 2006. Thailand's famous Tiger Temple is being forced to give up its tigers, an official said Monday. EPA/BARBARA WALTON

BANGKOK (DPA) — Thailand's famous "Tiger Temple" is being forced to give up its tigers, an official said Monday.

Nipon Chotiban, head of the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said he had sent an official notice to the temple ordering them to return the tigers for relocation to zoos and conservation areas.

Nipon said Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yanasampanno temple had been keeping the animals without a proper permit.

The temple in the western province of Kanchanaburi currently houses 147 tigers. Conservationists have accused the monks of rampant breeding programmes, trafficking of endangered species and illegally selling the animals.

The accusations led the wildlife department to raid the temple in February. Nipon said the results of the investigation are not available for the public.

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Ship Carrying Hundreds of Migrants Capsizes Off Libyan Coast

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20 April 2015, 00:30

Rescued migrants disembark from an Italian Coast Guard vessel in Porto Empedocle. There were reports Sunday that a ship carrying 700 migrants capsized off the Libyan coast. EPA/PASQUALE CLAUDIO MONTANA LAMPO

ROME (DPA) – Hundreds were feared drowned Sunday after a ship packed with migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, the Italian Coast Guard said.

Coast guard vessels rescued 28 people after the accident was reported around midnight. A total of 24 bodies have so far been recovered.

"The rescue operation continues without pause," a statement from the coast guard added.

Media reports said the ship was carrying around 700 migrants when it capsized, some 200 kilometres south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The migrants on board likely rushed to one side of the boat to flag down a passing Portuguese vessel, prompting the ship to overturn, the Italian Coast Guard said.

The accident comes days after Save the Children said nearly 400 people were missing from another shipwreck off the coast of Libya as Italy pleads with European partners for more help in managing the steady flow of migrants heading for its shores from North Africa.

Outrage and concern about the fate of migrants trying to reach Europe has grown since a pair of shipping disasters in October 2013 left more than 350 dead off the coast of Lampedusa.

"We have been asking for more than a year and they haven't responded," UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami told Italy's Sky TG24 television.

"If the toll from this latest tragedy is confirmed, the number of dead in the Mediterranean in the last 10 days will be over a thousand," Sami said.

Amnesty International called on European governments to take responsibility for the repeated shortfall in specialist search and rescue teams in the Mediterranean.

"What we are witnessing in the Mediterranean is a man-made tragedy of appalling proportions," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia. "These latest deaths at sea come as a shock, but not a surprise."

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she would add the accident to the agenda of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday and would present a set of proposals for Libya, one of the main routes of illegal trafficking of migrants.

"We need to continue to work on the root causes of migration and most of all on the instability of an area that is broader and broader, from Iraq to Libya," Mogherini said.

French President Francois Hollande told French broadcaster Canal+ that the accident is one of the worst migrant catastrophes in the Mediterranean this year and called for more surveillance boats.

The rescue operation for the capsized vessel is being carried out by Italian coast guard, navy, air force and merchant vessels with assistance from Maltese authorities.

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Govt Explains Abrupt Transfer of 6 Education Officials

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19 April 2015, 16:19

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha at Command and General Staff College in Bangkok, 3 April 2015.

BANGKOK – Government officials say the junta’s recent transfer of six Ministry of Education officials was an effort to encourage reforms within the department.

Junta chairman Gen. Prayuth invoked Article 44 of the interim charter, which allows him to unilaterally intervene in national affairs, to transfer the six officials on 17 April. The order came with a brief statement describing the transfers as a measure to "increase efficiency and appropriateness in the education reforms and bureaucratic administration within the Ministry of Education."

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Yutthawong told reporters yesterday that the Gen. Prayuth ordered the transfer because he believes the new positions are more suitable for the officials.

Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a spokesperson of the military government, echoed Yongyuth's remark in a press conference later on the same day.

"Gen. Prayuth has many ideas for reforms, including in the field of education," Maj.Gen. Sansern said. "It is necessary to adjust the personnel to fit with their knowledge and ability. As for the order that came out [on 17 April] … we adjusted those personnel to work in jobs that they are good at, at the level of their job maturity."

He continued, "If the transfer was ordered when the junta first came to [power], it might have been seen as an attempt to interfere, so we waited for the time to pass for six months before we do it, because Gen. Prayuth sees that if we adjust personnel to fit with their ability and knowledge, it will speed up reform in the national education."

Article 44 of the interim charter states that chairman of the junta, known formally as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), can take any action to "suppress or disrupt" threats to the public order, the economy, and the monarchy. Any order Gen. Prayuth issues through Article 44 will be deemed legal and binding, the clause states.

The interim charter was enacted shortly after Gen. Prayuth seized power from an elected government in May 2014. The general, who also became Prime Minister in August 2014, has said that Article 44 will only be activated to retain key powers granted under martial law and “swiftly solve national problems.”

Immediately after repealing martial law on 1 April, Gen. Prayuth used Article 44 to maintain soldiers’ power to search properties and detain individuals without court warrants.

The junta chairman also issued another order under Article 44 that suspended three more officials in the Ministry of Education from their posts. Maj.Gen. Sansern said the suspension order is related to an ongoing investigation into potential corruption in the Ministry. "We ordered related individuals to suspend their duty, so that the investigation will be efficient," Maj.Gen. Sansern explained.

Asked whether Gen. Prayuth will issue similar transfer and suspension orders for other Ministries, the spokesperson said each Minister may request the junta chairman to do so, if necessary.

"Every Ministry receives policy from the Prime Minister. If they run into any obstacles, they have to solve it," Maj.Gen. Sansern told reporters. "If they cannot, it is within the power of the Minister to make the decision. I insist that Gen. Prayuth will use his power in Article 44 in a constructive way. We do not transfer or appoint anyone out of political basis. We never think about politics. We only think about cause and effect of the reforms."

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NACC Freezes 40 Mil Baht Assets of Former DSI Chief

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19 April 2015, 15:40

A file photo of former Division of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdith<br /> — A file photo of former Division of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdith

BANGKOK – Thailand's national anti-graft agency has frozen the financial assets of former Division of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdith, citing potential corruption.

Vicha Mahakhun, a spokesperson of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said in a press conference today that Tharit is suspected of using his former office to seek personal gain. Tharit is also suspected of involvement in illegal land encroachment in three forests in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Vicha said.

According to Vicha, the asset freezing is a "temporary" measure until the investigation is resolved. Tharit has been summoned to provide testimony and declare the assets of his entire family to the NACC within 30 days.

Sansern Poljiak, sec-gen of the NACC, explained that the investigation into Tharit's assets was ordered in October 2014 because the former DSI chief appeared to be "unusually wealthy."

"Mr. Tharit Pengdith has behavior that lead us to believe there has been transfer, allocation, transformation, and hiding of financial assets related to his unusually wealthy status," Sansern said. "Therefore, we have ordered a freezing of the assets of Mr. Tharit Pengdith and [his wife] Mrs. Wassamol Pengdith temporarily under Section 78 of the 1999 Organic Act on Counter Corruption."

Sansern told reporters that the assets consist of bank deposits, lands, buildings, and vehicles worth 40,954,720.58 baht. Tharit has not been charged with any crime so far, he added.

Tharit, who became director of the DSI in 2009, was ousted from his position several days after the military overthrew an elected government in a coup on 22 May 2014.

Although Tharit was initially seen as an enemy of the Redshirt movement – he was a member of the state body that oversaw a deadly crackdown on Redshirt protests in 2010 – the DSI chief's ties with Redshirt politicians later improved, especially after the Redshirt-backed Yingluck Shinawatra became Prime Minister in mid 2011.

When mass demonstrations broke out against Yingluck in November 2013, Tharit was appointed by the administration as a member of the Center for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO), an agency tasked with containing the protests. The appointment led many anti-Yingluck protesters to ridicule Tharit as a "lackey" of the Redshirts. The protesters also staged several demonstrations by the DSI headquarters to denounce Tharit.

The six-month street protests eventually culminated in the military coup that toppled the government in May 2014. Since the military takeover, the NACC has sought legal actions against members of the former administration, including retrospectively impeaching former PM Yingluck in January 2015 on charges of negligence. As a result of the impeachment, Yingluck has been banned from politics for five years.

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Prayuth Disciplines Soldier for Arguing With Traffic Cops

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19 April 2015, 15:40

Since the May 2014 coup, soldiers have been deployed to work alongside police as laws enforcement officers. In this photo, soldiers and police raided a nightclub in Bangkok's Thong Lor district to enforce the curfew on 9 June 2014.<br /> — Since the May 2014 coup, soldiers have been deployed to work alongside police as laws enforcement officers. In this photo, soldiers and police raided a nightclub in Bangkok's Thong Lor district to enforce the midnight curfew on 9 June 2014.

BANGKOK – Junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered the army to punish a soldier who was filmed arguing with traffic police officers.

The video shows police stopping a soldier who was riding a motorcycle without a safety helmet, which is required under Thai traffic laws. The soldier challenges the police officers' authority to fine him, and drives away from the checkpoint. During the encounter, the soldier also says he is not carrying a driver's license.

The video clip, which appears to have been shot by a police officer, was widely circulated on the Internet after it was posted on Facebook on 17 April.

Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a spokesperson of the military government, said Gen. Prayuth felt "uncomfortable" after viewing the video, and instructed the Royal Thai Army to take disciplinary action against the soldier.

"As a fellow soldier, the Prime Minister is uncomfortable with what happened," Maj.Gen. Sansern said. "He would like to apologize to the people and police officers who had the resolve to perform their duty in a straightforward way. Furthermore, he has ordered the army to track down the soldier and punish him with disciplinary action."

Maj.Gen. Sansern added, "He also wants [security forces] to take a lesson from this incident. In order to enforce the laws for the people, the enforcers must conduct themselves as a good example, by obeying those laws and rules strictly."

Since Gen. Prayuth seized power in a coup last May, soldiers have been deployed across the country to serve as laws enforcement officials.

Under martial law, which was in place for 10 months after the coup, soldiers had the authority to search properties and detain individuals without court warrants. The military also used martial law to curb freedom of expression in Thailand.

Gen. Prayuth repealed the law on 1 April, replacing it with a constitutional clause that gives the military many of the same powers granted under martial law. Gen. Prayuth recently issued another order permitting the Ministry of Defense to assign soldiers to work with police in legal cases.

Col. Winthai Suwaree, spokesperson of the Thai army, said the soldier in the controversial video is based in Surin province and has a record of depression.

"There may be times when his emotion became unstable," Col. Winthai said. "So, in the video, he looks like a man who speaks in a confusing way."

If the army rules that the soldier confronted the police officers because of his mental disorder, the soldier will receive medical treatment, Col. Winthai said.

He added that the army will attempt to determine the "true intention" of the person who uploaded the video onto the internet.

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Nurse Reprimanded for Bashing Hospital on Facebook

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19 April 2015, 15:28

The original post published by 'Hoy Jub' on Facebook, criticizing Buriram hopsital.

BURIRAM — A nurse in northeastern Thailand has been formally reprimanded for expressing disgust towards HIV/AIDS patients at her hospital on social media, the hospital director says.

The nurse, whose username on Facebook was Hoy Jub, wrote that she was upset by the high number of AIDS patients at the public hospital she works for in Buriram province.

The post read:

"I did an internship at Khon Kaen for five years. I found one case of HIV infection. That already horrified me … Since I moved to work in Buriram at Patient 60 building, I have found 10 AIDS patients so far. People in Buriram, apart from mental disorders, many of them have AIDS. These days, when I see men with black and red skin, or men who look reddish, walking to me, I immediately sign the damn Dx [Thai doctors lingo for diagnosis] for them.

Whoever wants to work here [should know] that the quality of life here is poor, and you risk death every day. You won't be able to stay here if you don't have a strong will."

The post, which had "Public" setting, quickly went viral, drawing condemnation from Internet users who viewed the nurse’s attitude as discriminatory towards HIV/AIDS patients.

Jaran Thongtub, director of Buriram Provincial Hospital, confirmed that the nurse works at the hospital, but would not identify her by name. He said she has been reprimanded and disciplined by the hospital administration for the post.

"She admits that she posted the message without carefully considering the consequences," Jaran said. "If she repeats the action, she would be punished accordingly."

The hospital director added that the nurse is also planning to upload a video, in which she will publicly apologize to the public for the message she wrote.

The nurse's Facebook account appears to have been deactivated.

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NACC Freezes 40 Mil Baht Assets of Former DSI Chief

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19 April 2015, 11:49

Anti-government protesters assault a caricature of Tharit Pengdith during a protest at Division of Special Investigation (DSI), 23 December 2013