BANGKOK — The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has painted zig-zagging lines on two roads in the city in an effort to improve pedestrian safety.

The lines, which start 15 meters before pedestrian crosswalks, have been painted on Din So Road in front of the BMA headquarters and Asoke Montri Road in central Bangkok, where a pedestrian was hit and killed by an oncoming truck last month. 

Asoke Montri Road Bangkok, 12 Jan 2015. 

According to Suthon Arnakul, director of the BMA's traffic engineering office, the lines will force motorists to focus on particular points on the road, and thereby drive more slowly and attentively.

He added that the lines will also be applied to other busy road-crossings in Bangkok in the near future, especially in front of schools and shopping malls.

The Transportation Research Institute ranks Thai roads as the second most dangerous in the world, with a rate of 44 deaths per 100,000 people, a number nearly twice global average. 

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Interior Affairs in March 2013, up to 26,000 people are killed in road accidents every year. Of these fatalities, 70-80 per cent are motorcyclists or their passengers, the data says.

BANGKOK — Mourners wearing red shirts were prohibited by police from attending yesterday’s memorial service for Apiwan Wiriyachai, a popular Redshirt leader who passed away in exile 100 days ago.

Officers manned the entrance of Wat Bang Phai temple in Nonthaburi province yesterday to enforce the ban and offer  free white T-shirts to anyone who arrived in red, the color that has come to symbolize allegiance to Thailand’s Redshirt movement.

According to police, the measure was an effort to ensure that no "political symbols" would appear at the service. 

Apiwan, a former Pheu Thai MP and Deputy House Speaker, died of lung cancer while he was living in political exile in the Philippines on 7 October. The politician is believed to have fled Thailand shortly after the military staged a coup against the Redshirt-allied government on 22 May, 2014. 

His cremation ceremony in October was attended by thousands of supporters. Although the military junta warned against injecting politics into the funeral, many Redshirts raised the anti-coup "three-finger salute" in silence. 

The funeral marked the first and only time that Redshirts have publicly gathered on masse since the coup, as the junta has retained martial law and a ban on all political and gatherings eight months after the takeover. 

No political symbols were displayed at yesterday’s memorial service, which concluded at around 10.40 am.

Jatupon Prompan, a core leader of the Redshirt’s umbrella organization, the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), described Apiwan as a great man who chose to fight for democracy instead of pursuing other careers. 

"If he had chosen the military path, he would have been a General by now," Jatupon said of Apiwan, who held the rank of Colonel for his military service in the Royal Thai Army.

"If he had saved himself by refusing to fight alongside the Redshirts on the days we faced crackdowns and arrests, Apiwan would have been the House Speaker," Jatupon continued. "Apiwan chose the path of struggle alongside the people, instead of choosing a path of glory and praise."

He added that the UDD is currently planning to construct a meeting hall dedicated to Apiwan. 

When a reporter asked about the UDD's plans for political movement under the military regime, Jatupon replied that the Redshirt leadership has no plans to oppose the junta or the coup. 

"If we did, when there's a failure [in the national administration], they will blame it on us," Jatupon said. "So we have to let Thai society see whether they will really succeed in their promise. It's their responsibility. We will let them stay and do what they promised."

BANGKOK — Former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawasdi, who is widely supported by Thailand's Redshirt faction, has endorsed the military junta's effort to draft a new constitution.

Somchai delivered the comments to a group of Pheu Thai Party MPs and Redshirt leaders who were visiting him at his residence today.

"I don't want a new charter that will benefit me in the next election. I want it to benefit nation," said Somchai, who is a brother-in-law of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

He continued, "In my opinion, the ongoing drafting of the new constitution has help from many respectable experts. Bowornsak Uwanno [chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee] is respected and accepted by the people. So, I strongly believe that the new charter will be impartial, universal, and accepted by both Thais and foreigners."

The military junta, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), dissolved Thailand’s 2007 charter when it staged a coup against the Redshirt-backed government on 22 May 2014. The country is currently being governed by an interim charter while the junta-appointed CDC drafts a "permanent" constitution. 

The new charter – Thailand's 20th in the past 82 years – is expected to be completed in late 2015. The NCPO has promised to hold a national election after the draft is approved and a series of national "reforms" have been achieved. 

Redshirts and other anti-coup voices have denounced the military takeover as undemocratic, raising concerns about the effort to draft a new charter under martial law, which prohibits public protests and criticism of the military regime.

However, Somchai, who briefly led a Redshirt-allied government as Prime Minister in 2008, said he believes the coup was a sincere effort to "take care of the country, solve the conflicts, and lead our country forward."

"We accept and understand it. I want everyone to think of the country, so that the international community will not look down on us," Somchai said. Nevertheless, he stressed that he has not abandoned the Redshirts, explaining that he still feels a "bond" with his supporters and is waiting for the country to return to normalcy.

"Right now, we should let the people who are taking care of the country to do their duty," Somchai advised.

Somchai is married to Yaowapa Shinawatra, a prominent Pheu Thai leader and sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin. Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006, but remains popular among his supporters and is considered the de facto leader of the Redshirt movement. Thaksin-backed political parties have won every national election since the 2006 coup. 

Somchai was installed as Prime Minister after the Constitutional Court ousted former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej in September 2008 because of his appearance on a cooking show.

Two months later the same court dissolved Somchai's party on the grounds that it was involved in vote-buying during the 2007 national election. The party’s executive members, including Somchai, were banned from politics for five years.

Following Somchai’s removal, the parliament voted Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjjivainto the premiership in December 2008. 

TRAT — A local official in Trat province has apologized for hiring scantily-clad female dancers to perform at a National Children's Day event on Saturday.

Photos of the women dancing before an audience of children quickly circulated on the internet and elicited criticism of the Trat Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO), which was responsible for organizing the event.

Wichian Sapcharoen, the director of Trat's PAO, said his office hired the band to entertain children for National Children's Day, but did not know the performance would feature so-called "Coyote dancers," a term commonly used in Thailand and inspired by the 2000 American film Coyote Ugly.

"As the director [of the PAO], I offer my apology for what happened. I am very sorry," Wichian said over the phone. He added that the band's application to perform at a Royal Thai Navy event in Trat province will now be denied. 

"Every year the PAO brings toys and [gifts] that benefit children's development to the event. I didn't know this incident would happen," Wichian said. 

State agencies across the country traditionally open their doors to children and host a variety of events on Thailand’s National Children's Day, which is celebrated on the second Saturday of January.

BANGKOK (DPA) — A Rohingya woman was found dead in a convoy containing nearly 100 people being smuggled into Thailand, police said Monday.

The woman was among 98 Rohingya crammed into the back of five pick-up trucks stopped early Monday in southern Nakhon Sri Thammarat province.

"She lost consciousness and died because of cramped conditions inside the vehicles," Police Captain Suwit Nuansoong told dpa.

"They had not been given food for two days prior to the arrests," he said.

The five vehicles were seized, along with two of the drivers, police said. Three other drivers fled the scene.

The Rohingya were taken to a local hospital for health checks.

If found to be victims of human trafficking, the migrants will be deported back to their country of origin. If found to have entered the country illegally, they face arrest.

Rohingya migrants regularly make their way to Thailand to escape sectarian violence in western Myanmar or search for work.