BANGKOK – A top human rights official has threatened to prosecute Thai police if they refuse to explain the alleged torture of two Burmese men accused of murdering a pair of British tourists.

Niran Pitakwatchara, chairman of Thailand's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), said police failed to show up for a hearing about their alleged torture of the two murder suspects, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun. 

Zaw and Win were arrested several weeks after David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found murdered on the resort island of Koh Tao in southern Thailand on 15 September. Police intially said the two migrant workers confessed to killing the Britons, but the pair later recanted their confessions, which they told their lawyers were obtained under duress. 

According to Niran, the NHRC summoned police to explain the allegation at a hearing today, but police refused on the grounds that any testimony given to the rights commission may affect the ongoing murder investigation. 

However, Niran said the excuse is not valid because the NHRC is not trying to prove whether the suspects are innocent or guilty.

"The NHRC is not treating the police as suspects. We are not convening the hearing to accuse them of anything … The hearing is meant to find facts. We don't want to know who the murderers are,"  Niran told reporters today.

"We have to give fairness to all sides, especially the migrant workers," he continued. "Otherwise there won't be justice in our nation. No one will come to work in our country." 

If police fail to appear before the NHRC by 12 November, the commission may vote to take legal action against the police in accordance with Section 34 of the law that governs the NHRC's operation, Niran said. 

"Let me stress that the NHRC is not interfering with anyone's work. We have to do our duty once there's a complaint. If we don't, we will be prosecuted for negligence under the criminal laws," he explained. 

Niran's comments followed his meeting with Win and Zaw's parents, who were flown from Myanmar with the assistance of Burmese authorities to visit their sons and observe the court procedure.

The suspects, both 21 years old, have been charged with premeditated murder, sexual assault, and nighttime theft. They are currently awaiting trial at a prison on Koh Samui island, a neighbour of Koh Tao, where the murder took place. 

However, the office of public prosecutor has not formally taken up the case against the pair in court, citing the police’s "incomplete" file.

BANGKOK — Animal rights activists have petitioned the government to strengthen a draft of the country's first animal protection law, which was proposed by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) last month.

In a joint petition filed to the government today, representatives from several animal rights organisations say the draft of the law is contradictory and imprecise. 

For example, while section 17 of the draft says that "cruel acts against animals without due cause" are punishable by up to one year in prison and a 20,000 baht fine, section 18 allows exceptions based on "religious" and "traditional" grounds. As a result, killing animals in a religious ritual or using chickens in a ‘traditional’ cock fighting tournament could be considered legal.

Chollada Mekratree, a Thai fashion model who led the animal rights activists today, said the law also needs to better define exactly what constitutes cruelty against animals. In the current draft, cruelty is briefly defined as “action or lack of action that causes pain, disability, or death to animals.”

"We want the laws to be strong and enforceable in a strict way," Chollada said. "I don't want there to be any loopholes."

Chollada said the petition lists 20 definitions of animal cruelty that activists would like to see included in Section 17, such as torture, forced labour, drugging, deforming, and detention of animals in a crowded, unclean environment. 

Consuming live animals or engaging in sexual intercourse with animals would also count as cruelty under these proposed definitions, Chollada said, adding that more than 100,000 people have signed the petition.

In response to the petition, Suthep Yimlamool, a senior legal adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said the lawmakers did not include those definitions because "they would be too specific."

"We want the law to be open for some cases," Suthep explained. 

The draft of the bill, named the "Prevention of Cruelty of Animal and Promotion of Animal Welfare Act," received fast-tracked consideration in the NLA’s first session on 11 October and is currently under further deliberation by committees. The NLA is expected to vote on the draft again later this month. 

Animal rights activists say the law is long overdue as there are currently no laws against animal cruelty in Thailand.

Thailand is a supplier in the dog meat trade, and also a hub for animal tourism, with abundant opportunities for tourists to pay to interact with exotic creatures like tigers and elephants. According to animal welfare groups, many of these captive animals are physically mistreated and some of them have been taken by poachers from the wild.

BANGKOK — Thailand’s military ruler has asked the media to “cooperate” by not publishing news about the controversial former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

"The media should not publish news about that," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said today after a reporter asked him about Thaksin’s recent trip to southern China. Photos of the trip have been widely shared by Thaksin's devoted supporters on social media. 

Gen. Prayuth continued, "Don't publish photos of persons who violate the law. That is all. Why are you still featuring news [about him?]"

He then stressed that he was merely asking for "cooperation," not issuing a prohibition of any kind. 

Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon turned politician, was ousted in a military coup in September 2006. Shortly before a court convicted him in absentia of corruption charges in 2008, Thaksin fled the country and has been living in self-imposed exile ever since.

Despite living abroad, Thaksin has continued to wield considerable influence over Thai politics, mostly through the successive governments and political parties that have pledged their allegiance to him. The former Prime Minister is an immensely polarizing figure in Thailand, and the Kingdom’s political factions are still largely drawn along pro- versus anti-Thaksin lines.

Since staging a coup this May against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's younger sister, Gen. Prayuth's military junta has sought to dismantle Thaksin's extensive network of supporters. Hundreds of politicians, activists, and academics perceived to be sympathetic to Thaksin were summoned and briefly detained by the military after the coup, while a handful of Thaksin loyalists have fled the country to avoid persecution.

The junta has also ordered a number of reshuffles to minimize the influence of Thaksin's allies in the police force and bureaucracy.

In a press conference this morning, Gen. Prayuth claimed that news and photos of Thaksin could cause conflict in society. He asked the media to exercise good judgment and avoid creating disputes with their coverage. 

"Everyone is entitled to freedom of the press, freedom of the people," the junta chairman said. "But if these freedoms lead to conflicts or violate other people's rights, they become inappropriate. Therefore, please don't make me use laws or power or force. I ask you to engage in conservations and find solutions for the problems that have been building up in the past."

BANGKOK — Thailand will begin a year-long celebration of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's 60th birthday starting next January, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said today.

Her Royal Highness turns sixty – an important milestone in Thai culture – on 2 April of next year. According to Gen. Prayuth, the government will organise a series of celebrations to honour the occasion from 1 January to 31 December 2015. 

Gen. Prayuth, a staunch royalist who led a coup on 22 May as chief of the Thai army, did not give any details about the celebration, but added that a special committee has been formed to oversee the matter. 

Like her father King Bhumibol, Princess Sirindhorn is widely admired by many Thais, who fondly call her by the nickname Phra Thep, which means 'Princess Angel."

Her elder brother, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, is next in line to the throne. 

Princess Sirindhorn made a public appearance yesterday at a military academy in Nakhon Nayok province, where she briefly participated in a marathon organised by the armed forces. 

NARATHIWAT — Security forces have been placed on full alert in the southern province of Narathiwat, where the start of public schools' second semester has coincided with a spate of drive-by shootings that killed four civilians over the weekend.

Three men were shot and killed while they were drinking alcohol in front of a grocery store in Songkhla province on Saturday, and another woman was shot dead while she was sitting with neighbours in front of a house in Narathiwat last night. 

A 19-year-old student from Princess of Naradhiwas University was also severely injured after two gunmen opened fire at her while she was riding a motorcycle home on Sunday evening. 

Pol.Col. Amphon Buarabporn, a senior police officer based in Songkhla province, said the attacks were most likely engineered by local Muslim insurgents, though he added that the authorities have yet to identify the specific militant group behind the shootings. 

"I believe the attacks are meant as a retaliation against security forces, and to terrorise local people," said Pol.Col. Amphon. 

Col. Pramote Prom-in, spokesperson of the Internal Security Operation Command in the region, also blamed this weekend’s shootings on separatists, who he described as "heretics of their religion."

Thailand’s southern border provinces have been a hotbed of Islamic separatist violence for the past decade. Known as the "Deep South," the three provinces are home to many Muslims, a stark contrast to the Buddhist population that dominates the rest of the country. 

Last month, suspected insurgents torched six public schools in what Thai officials describe as a symbolic attack against the central authorities. 

As a result of the recent uptick in violence, hundreds of soldiers, policemen, and armed volunteers were deployed throughout Narathiwat province this morning to ensure that the first day of school would not be targeted by militants. Security officers could be seen manning checkpoints, inspecting vehicles, and guarding a number of schools in the area. 

A security officer said authorities were afraid that insurgents may disguise themselves as civilians and slip past checkpoints to "cause atrocities."

However, as of Monday afternoon, no violent incidents have been reported so far. 

Over the past decade, more than 5,000 people have been killed in the separatist violence in the Deep South, which is believed to have been waged by several shadowy Islamist groups who are seeking to establish an independent Islamic state. 

To combat the tide of separatist attacks, Thai authorities have deployed tens of thousands of security officers in the three provinces.