BANGKOK – Thai junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has sent his condolences to Singapore over the death of the country's founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who died early this morning at the age of 91.

"I would like to express my sadness for the passing of former [Prime Minister] Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore," Gen. Prayuth said in a speech at the national convention center this morning, "He has been ill for a long time. I have been giving him my moral support."

The junta leader continued, "He worked very hard. He was over 90 year old. He should have lived longer than that, but people who work hard tend to die fast. I don't know if I will ever live to his age. Even today, I am befuddled and confused [by the workload]."

Lee, who served as Singapore's premier from 1959 to 1990, died in a hospital on the early morning of 23 March after being treated for pneumonia since February. He was 91. 

Yongyuth Maiyalap, a spokesperson for the Office of Prime Minister, said Gen. Prayuth also dispatched a formal message of sympathy to the family of Lee Hsien Loong, the current Singaporean Prime Minister and Lee Kuan Yew's son. 

Because of Lee’s death, Gen. Prayuth has postponed the state visit to Singapore, which was originally scheduled for 24 – 25 March.

"The Singaporean Prime Minister asked for our understanding about a postponement of the visit," Yongyuth said. "Therefore, the Prime Minister and Singaporean Prime Minister jointly agreed to postpone the trip. The two parties will decide on the new schedule in the future."

Gen. Prayuth was initially set to visit Singapore and discuss further military and economic cooperation between the two nations, Yongyuth said.  

Singapore's current prime minister has declared a national period of mourning from March 23 through March 29, when a state funeral is scheduled to take place. 

RAYONG – A monk in Rayong province has asked police to help return prize money won from lottery tickets that were allegedly stolen from his temple while he was praying.

Phra Sao Theepathammo, 68, deputy abbot of Nong Pak Nam Temple, discovered that four lottery tickets he had purchased were missing on 20 March. According to Phra Sao, the number on the tickets, 048151, was drawn as the first prize winner in the government lottery on 16 March. 

The tickets are worth 16 million baht in prize money.

Speaking to Khaosod yesterday, Phra Sao said he kept the lottery tickets in a bag in his monk’s residence. He believes the perpetrator broke into the room and stole the tickets while was praying.

"I'd like to plead to the person who stole my lottery, please return it to me, because I intend to use the prize money to build new pavilions for the temple, which would cost more than 10 million baht," Phra Sao said, "If you use the money, it will be a sin, and you may end up being arrested. If you are afraid of the wrongdoing, you can just leave them in the temple. I will not pursue any charges against you. I will even give you some of the money, and you will have good karma."

He added, "But if I cannot have the lottery back, I won't mind because I would think that it doesn't belong to me anyway. But I will feel disappointed that I wouldn't have the chance to build new pavilions for the temple."

Police say they will check with Government Lottery Office whether anyone has cashed the first prize lottery. The lottery vendor who sold Phra Sao the tickets will also be interrogated, police say. 

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BANGKOK — A former Pheu Thai Party lawmaker has urged Thailand's ruling military junta to issue blanket amnesty to anyone convicted of "politically-related" charges over the past decade, a move attempted by the former government that sparked mass protests in 2013.

Somkid Cheukhon, a former Pheu Thai MP from Ubon Ratchani, said he was glad to see the junta express openness to granting demonstrators from both of Thailand’s political factions amnesty for charges or convictions related to their participation in protests. 

On Friday junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he would not oppose an amnesty bill, as long as it did not extend to criminal charges or cases of lese majeste (insulting the monarchy). 

However, Somkid has urged the junta go further and pardon anyone facing legal action for "politically-related" events since 2005, including protest leaders and politicians.

He also suggested the amnesty cover all charges, including criminal ones.

"In order to make the country peaceful and end disputes between the two sides with an amnesty, you must not think small," Somkid told Khaosod. "Because if the small ones get amnesty and the big ones do not, the dispute won't be over."

He added, "And it should be done to cover incidents of criminal charges, too, because protesters who have been charged with criminal charges were motivated by political protests as well."

Somkid's suggestion resembles the so-called blanket amnesty billpursued by the Pheu Thai Party when it was in power in 2013. Although originally described as a law that would only grant amnesty to protesters, the final draft of the bill called for the dissolution of all politically-related charges and convictions since 2005. 

Critics denounced the bill as thinly-veiled effort to waive the 2008 corruption conviction of Thaksin Shinawatra, a controversial former Prime Minister who has lived in self-imposed exile for the past seven years but remains the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai party.

The passage of the bill sparked mass anti-government protests that eventually culminated in the May 2014 coup d'etat.

Somkid also urged Gen. Prayuth to unilaterally enact the bill with the emergency powers granted to him under Section 44 of the interim charter.

"Gen. Prayuth can start right now by using his full power under Section 44," Somkid said, "Or he can order the NLA [the National Legislative Assembly] to deliberate the bill in three sessions at one go within one week, or one month." 

"If the NCPO really goes ahead with this, I can assure you that Pheu Thai Party will not criticize it," Somkid continued, using an acronym for the junta's formal name, the National Council for Peace and Order. "But if the government is not yet ready for a full glass of water, I will accept a half glass of water, too."

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BANGKOK – A junta spokesperson has asked the international watchdog Human Rights Watch to look beyond human rights violations in Thailand and take stock of the junta’s overarching mission instead.

“Human Rights Watch should consider other issues, too,” said the spokesman, Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd. “They shouldn’t only look at the angle of human rights, otherwise they will not understand the world, they will not understand society. Looking at only one angle like that is idealistic. They should understand that we do everything to protect Thai people and our nation. If they understand this picture, they will understand the situation.”

Maj.Gen. Sansern was responding to HRW's demand that the junta investigate a claim that four men were tortured in military custody earlier this month. The four men said they were slapped, punched, kicked, and electrocuted by military officers who forced them to confess to participating in an alleged terror network.

The junta has repeatedly denied any use of torture and threatened to take legal action against those who spread the allegation.

"Everyone, including the chief of police and even the Prime Minister, answered in the same way that there was never any torture or beating of suspects," Maj.Gen. Sansern said yesterday. "The officers have clear evidence. There is no need to do such a thing. Soldiers and police don’t think it would help anything to do that. However, we are willing to investigate the issue."

Maj.Gen. Sansern also dismissed lawyer and anti-coup activist Arnon Nampha's plan to contact the United Nations’s human rights division to investigate the torture claim.

"Drawing the UN to get involved will not have any benefit. Please don't even try to do that, because this is an issue of our country. The UN doesn't know anything," Maj.Gen. Sansern told reporters, adding that the government has not been contacted by the UN about the incident so far. 

The four men who were allegedly torutured were arrested in connection with the grenade attack at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on 7 March, which caused minor damages to the parking lot but did not injure anyone. Police say an anti-junta "terrorist network" was behind the attack and reportedly plotted to plant bombs at five targets around Bangkok in order to draw a UN intervention.

At least 17 arrest warrants have been issued in relation to the alleged terror plot. All of the arrested suspects have been detained in army camps for up to a week, without access to lawyers, before being transferred to police. Under martial law, security officers can detain individuals without charges for up to seven days. 

On 19 March, the New York-based HRW released a statement calling for a "prompt and impartial" investigation into the torture claim.

"These serious allegations of torture in military detention are further cause for alarm about ongoing rights abuses under martial law in Thailand," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director. "Only a prompt and impartial investigation that results in holding those responsible to account can resolve this matter."

HRW also urged the junta to end secret military detentions and repeal the martial law. The Thai junta has vehemently defended the use of the martial law as a means to maintain peace and order. 

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