BANGKOK — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says it is investigating a complaint that a prominent nightclub in Bangkok barred a transgender woman from entering its venue.

Nijshanaaj Sudlarphaar, a transgender fashion model, submitted the complaint to the NHRC yesterday. She was accompanied by representatives from the Thai Transgender Alliance, an NGO that advocates rights for LGBT rights in Thailand.

According to the complaint, Nijshanaaj visited Onyx nightclub in the popular nightlife district of RCA at around 11.45 pm on 1 January with four foreign friends. The club bouncers reportedly allowed the four foreigners to enter the venue, but refused entry to Nijshanaaj after they checked her ID card.

Nijshanaaj said the staff told her it was the club's "door policy" to bar transgenders from the venue.

"That answer makes me sad and embarrassed. It's like they disrespect my dignity as a human being," Nijshanaaj said. "My foreign friends also told me they were saddened by the incident. They wondered why I wasn't allowed to use a nightclub in Thailand even though I am Thai."

Ranaphoom Samakkhikarom, director of the Thai Transgender Alliance, told reporters that such a policy violates Section 4 of Thailand's interim charter, which protects the equality of all Thai people.

According to Ranaphoom, many other establishments in Thailand also discriminate against transgenders, who they fear will commit crimes such as theft and prostitution on their premises. Ranaphoom said that a hotel in Chonburi province had a sign that listed three banned objects: durian, dogs, and transgenders.

"They shouldn't generalize about all transgender individuals," Ranaphoom said. 

Although Thailand is known for being relatively accepting of LGBTs, especially compared to many other Southeast Asian nations, conservative facets of society occasionally express prejudice against the community. Transgenders, known by locals as ladyboys, are routinely mocked in slapstick comedies, and gay marriage remains unrecognized by Thai laws. 

Accepting the complaint from Nijshanaaj, NHRC member Tairjing Siripanich said he will investigate the incident and summon the owners of Onyx nightclub to provide testimony. 

"Discrimination is unacceptable," Tairjing said. "In the past we have received many complaints about [transgenders] being refused service at hotel conference centers and nightclubs. Their identity is also often used for comedy and ridiculed, even though such actions are unacceptable."

According to Tairjing, refusal of service or entry to transgenders sometimes stems from misunderstanding between the venue owners and low-ranking staff. However, in some instances staff are following orders from business owners, who later deny that they set the policy, he said.

Tairjing said he would also like to remind all business owners that the new constitution, which is currently being drafted by a junta-appointed committe, will specifically ban discrimination based on gender. 

"If the draft is approved and enforced, the situation of fairness and equality for these people will improve," the NHRC official told reporters. 

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BANGKOK — As a part of an annual campaign to keep young people in line on Valentine's Day, the Royal Thai Police have warned parents to inform their children of the "dangers" associated with the occasion.

Parents, guardians, and teachers should instruct children to be extra careful on Valentine's Day this Saturday, Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat Suban na Aytthaya said in a press conference yesterday.

“They should tell the children to be careful and take care of themselves. They should also ask for cooperation from children to avoid risky behavior on that day,"Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat said.

Valentine’s Day has become a widely-celebrated in Thailand in recent decades. According to a report compiled by Kasikorn Bank, spending around the holiday last year amounted to 1.5 billion baht.

However, authorities in Thailand – a socially conservative country despite its freewheeling sex industry – frown upon the holiday, as it is perceived to encourage premarital sex. Every year, police and state agencies launch a campaign to ensure that Thai youths refrain from "inappropriate activities."

Yesterday the Ministry of Interior Affairs issued an order to all provincial authorities to ensure that nightclubs and hotels strictly follow the laws on Valentine's Day and bar underage customers from their venues.

The national police force has issued a similar order, placing all police units in the country on alert from 11-15 February to "increase vigilance in risky areas in which sexual harassment and crimes can take place,” said Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat.

He also urged all entertainment venues and nightclubs to report any incidents of "children being lured" or "behaving in an inappropriate way" to local police units by dialing 191 or 1599.

BANGKOK — As a part of an annual campaign to keep young people in line on Valentine's Day, the Royal Thai Police have warned parents to inform their children of the "dangers" associated with the occasion.

Parents, guardians, and teachers should instruct children to be extra careful on Valentine's Day this Saturday, Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat Suban na Aytthaya said in a press conference yesterday.

“They should tell the children to be careful and take care of themselves. They should also ask for cooperation from children to avoid risky behavior on that day,"Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat said.

Valentine’s Day has become a widely-celebrated in Thailand in recent decades. According to the Thai Chamber of Commerce, spending in the days leading up to the holiday in 2013 amounted to 3.2 billion baht.

However, authorities in Thailand – a socially conservative country despite its freewheeling sex industry – frown upon the holiday, as it is perceived to encourage premarital sex. Every year, police and state agencies launch a campaign to ensure that Thai youths refrain from "inappropriate activities."

Yesterday the Ministry of Interior Affairs issued an order to all provincial authorities to ensure that nightclubs and hotels strictly follow the laws on Valentine's Day and bar underage customers from their venues.

The national police force has issued a similar order, placing all police units in the country on alert from 11-15 February to "increase vigilance in risky areas in which sexual harassment and crimes can take place,” said Pol.Maj.Gen. Patipat.

He also urged all entertainment venues and nightclubs to report any incidents of "children being lured" or "behaving in an inappropriate way" to local police units by dialing 191 or 1599.

BANGKOK — The top director of Thailand's Department of Disease Control has defended a plan to install condom vending machines in public schools following opposition from the Office of Basic Education Commission.

CDC Director Sophon Mekthon said the plan is a part of a five-year strategy to reduce the rate of HIV-AIDS infections and other venereal diseases among young people in Thailand. According to the plan, slated to run from 2015-2019, condoms will be available in schools that teach students age 13 and up.

"We want to help youth have access to preventing equipment," Sophon said today. "This policy is not forcing all schools to have vending machines. If any school is ready for them, we will proceed with the plan. If any school disagrees with the method and has a better method, they can proceed on their own, too."

His comment came several hours after Kamol Rodklai, sec-gen of the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC), told reporters he would "never sign an approval" for the plan.

"Vending machines should be in public restrooms and nightclubs," Kamol said. "If they are installed in schools, they will encourage the kids to be interested in having sex before their appropriate age. I do not think it's right to proceed with the plan."

Despite Thailand’s reputation as a top destination for sex tourism, premarital sex is largely frowned upon in the country's socially-conservative culture.

However, Taweesap Siraprapasiri, director of the National AIDS Management Center (NAMC), says that increasing the availability of condoms is an important step in fighting the rate of sexual diseases and teen pregnancies in Thailand – two problems that he says are increasingly common among young people.

"New [STD] patients are growing by 10,000 people per year," Taweesap told Khaosod. "In this number, 40 percent of them are young people who are in their school years."

According to Taweesap, between 25 and 50 percent of high school students already have sex, and there are an estimated 200,000 teen pregnancies per year.

"It is projected to keep rising, unless we tackle the problem," he said. "So I think it's necessary to install condom vending machines at these schools." 

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BANGKOK — A spokesperson for Thailand's military government has asked the public to focus on what junta chairman and Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha is doing for the nation, and not the protests that reportedly greeted his arrival in Japan.

Photos of protesters holding banners in Thai, Japanese, and English that call for the repeal of martial law were posted on the Facebook page of the anti-coup group "Seri Thai" (Free Thai) today. The demonstration was reportedly organized by Thai residents living in Japan, though the exact time and location of the event was not specified.

A photo of anti-coup protesters in Japan posted on the Facebook page of anti-coup group "Seri Thai."

Responding to the photos today, government spokesperson Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the public should instead pay attention to Gen. Prayuth, who is "working for the country" during his state visit to Japan.

"The protesters have the right to protest. In a country that is ruled under a democratic regime, all these things can be done. We should not be worried about it, or make it such a big issue," Maj.Gen. Sansern said. "The big issue for us is Gen. Prayuth's works. They protest, that's their business. Don't make it our big issue. What should be the issue is our duty to do things for the nation."

The photos also show activists holding banners that denounce the military crackdown on Redshirt protesters in 2010 that left over 90 people dead, mostly civilians.  Some protesters are seen  holding portraits of Muramoto Hiroyuki, the Japanese reporter who was shot dead while he was covering the clashes between Redshirt protesters and security forces during the crackdown.  

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha meeting with the Crown of Prince of Japan in Tokyo on 9 Feb 2015.

Although the Japanese government expressed concern about the suspension of democracy in Thailand following the military takeover led by Gen. Prayuth last May, diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries remain normal. 

Last week, Human Rights Watch urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to use his bilateral meeting with Gen. Prayuth today to advocate for the return of democratic rule.

“Thailand is in the choking grip of military rulers, a nationwide enforcement of martial law, and an unrelenting crackdown on freedom of expression, association, and assembly,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on 6 February. “Pressure from a key business partner like Japan is crucial to bringing a speedy return to democratic rule in Thailand.”

Gen. Prayuth's three-day visit to Japan comes at a time when Thailand's diplomatic relations with other Western countries, such as the United States, have started to cool over concerns about the junta's leadership. This morning, the US charge d'affaires in Bangkok described the relationship between the two countries as going through a "challenging" time.

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BANGKOK – The Thai military has transferred a Redshirt activist accused of circulating a fake royal document over to police after holding him in an army camp for five days of interrogation.

Krit Bootdeecheen, 25, was escorted by a group of masked, armed soldiers to the Royal Thai Police headquarters at around 10:30 am today to hear his charges of lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) and violating the Computer Crimes Act, which criminalizes publishing false information on a computer system. 

Soldiers escort Krit Bootdeecheen, 25, to the Royal Thai Police headquarters on 9 Feb 2015.

Authorities say Krit, a local Redshirt activist in Phetchabun province, was “one of the first” people to post a forged document on social media that purported to be issued by His Majesty the King on the night of 2 February. The statement falsely claimed that King Bhumibol, who is currently residing at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, had decided to appoint a Regent to act on his behalf. Within an hour the Thai government declared the statement to be fake.

Defaming the monarchy is punishable by up to 15 years in prison under Thailand's lese majeste law. Krit is now facing trial in military court, where appeals are not permitted. 

The military has been holding Krit for interrogation at 11th Infantry Regiment headquarters in Bangkok since he was arrested on 4 February. Soldiers barred a lawyer from visiting Krit at the camp on 5 Febuary, citing the powers granted to the military under martial law. 

A martial court has also issued an arrest warrant for the online editor of ASTV Manager, a Thai newspaper that posted the false statement on its website. The document was removed after it was determined to be fake and replaced with an apology on the same night. 

Since seizing power last May, the Thai military junta has used martial law to ban all political activities, censor the press, detain more than 300 individuals in military camps without charges, and try dissidents in military courts, where appeals are not possible. The junta has also granted military courts jurisdiction over lese majeste lawsuits and other cases that concern "national security."