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TV Producer Denied Broadcasting Thai King Parody

The image widely shared by anti-government Facebook pages. The caption reads: "Workpoint must have an answer to this picture"

(9
June) Workpoint Entertainment, a major Thai TV show production company, spoke out on the allegations
that one of its comedy stars parodied His Majesty the King.

Royalist anti-government
Facebook pages and their ?fans? accuse Teng Terd Terng, a famous Thai comedian, of insulting the
Thai monarch. Their allegation is based on a screenshot of one of his TV appearances, in which he
sat on what appeared to be a wheelchair, holding a camera.

His Majesty the King is known to
make
public appearances
in such postures before, hence the connection.

It is understood that
the anti-government critics are lashing out at Teng Terd Terng, whose real name is Mr. Pongsak Pongsuwan, for his
attendancein birthday
of a prominent Redshirt leader. There, Mr. Pongsak called for Former PM
Thaksin Shinwatra to return to Thailand (Mr. Pongsak later said he was merely joking).

Adored
by many Redshirts, Mr. Thaksin is seen as corrupt dictator and reviled by the Yellowshirts
.
His sister Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra is currently serving as the Prime Minister.

In a statement
released today, Workpoint Entertainment said that the screenshot in fact showed an episode of the
comedy show Ching Roi Ching Larn broadcasted on 17 February this year. The episode was a parody of
a Thai novel about 2 Thais who fell in love during their stay in Japan, and Mr. Pongsak was acting
as one of the protagonists as he toured around Japan.

In the episode, Mr. Pongsak was sitting
on a rickshaw – not a wheelchair – and he used his camera to capture the beautiful scenery of Japan,
the statement said.

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Family Of 'Tony Jaa' Begs Him To Come Home

(9 June)
Family of the well-known action star ?Tony Jaa? are pleading that he come home, adding that they
have not seen or heard from him for 5 months now.

Mr. Tongdee Yeeram, father of the actor,
whose real name is Mr. Panom Yeeram, is currently suffering from his high blood pressure and
bleeding in his brain, his wife Ms. Rin Yeeram has revealed.

She said her family is keeping
close watch of Mr. Tongdee′s condition by his sickbed at their house in Surin province, and they all
are waiting for Mr. Panom to come home. She told our correspondent Mr. Tongdee was recently admitted
to hospital, too.

According to Ms. Rin, Mr. Tongdee behaved madly, as if he were possessed.
Her family believed that it results from Mr. Panom′s flirt with various martial Dark Arts with no
respect to the appropriate spirits, so the spirits are punishing his father.

She said she did
not want any money from Mr. Panom. Please feel pity for your father. He called out for you in his
sleep, Ms. Rin said tearfully.

 
Our correspondent said there were unconfirmed
reports that Mr. Panom is busy with filming his new movie, possibly a sequel to the hit film Ong
Bak which propelled him to fame in 2003.

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Police Bust High School Students 'Group Sex'

(6 June) Chonburi police
raided a motel room where group of 17 year old individuals were engaging in group sex and drinking
alcohol, some in their school uniforms.

Around 16.30, officers of Laem Chabang police station
received reports of awell-known  polytechnic school students having a sex party in a motel
room at Royleelaa motel. Police raided the hotel and found 5 female teenagers and 3 male teenagers
at the scene.

Upon arriving, police found 3 motorcycles parked in front of the room. The
hotel staff  knocked on the door, and when the doors open, police rushed into the room to find
5 female students, wearing their school P.E. uniform sitting in the room.

3 male students
were also present at the scene: 1 from the same school, and 2 who have dropped out. The 2 dropouts
were reportedly boyfriends of the 2 girls in the room. Inside the room, police found 5 empty beer
bottles, some tobacco, and used condoms.

Urine tests show no evidence of drug
abuse.

Questioning revealed that the group skipped school, rented the motel room late
morning, and came into the room one by one with alcohol and tobacco. The group said they all had
sexual intercourse inside the room.

Police have informed the parents of the teens, and also
the school, along with issuing a record of the event. The parents were alerted to escort the teens
home.

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Chokechai Steakhouse's Water Meter 'Stolen'

(7 June) Earlier today
police in Pathumthani province received reports of water gushing out of the water pipes in front of
Chokechai Steakhouse, a well-known restaurant, in Rangsit area.

At the scene, the restaurant
manager
informed police that the brass water meter’s PVC pipe has been cut off and stolen, leaving
the water gushing out of the pipes. The security guard turned off the water valve and informed the
manager, who in turn, informed the police. 

Police investigated the security
camera footage and uncovered that the suspect worked along and parked his motorcycle in the area at
3.05. He walked over to the meter and cut off the pipe at 03.14 and left.

Investigations
revealed that the suspect had cut off almost 1 meter of the pipe and tied it to the back of his
motorcycle, hiding it behind his body as he passed the security guard. The suspect headed toward
Zeer Rangsit.

Police urge any individual who has seen or has any evidence on the suspect to
contact Kukot police station immediately.

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Startled 'Robber' Fell Down To His Death In Bangkok

(7 June) At 07.00 today
Prakanong police station received reports of a man falling off the Niran Radison Condominium in
Bangkok′s Onnuch area.

At the scene, the police found the body of Mr. Chayut Chayanun,
27, lying in a pool of blood, shirtless and wearing blue boxers.

Deducing that Mr. Chayut
fell down from room 96/212 on the 9th floor of the building, police inspected the room, and ran into
Mr.Nusat Namtip, 24, Mr.Nakaret Kumchot, 20, and a 19 year old man, who are all friends of the
deceased, all smoking marijuana when police arrived. They were all detained.

The police also
discovered that the room next door, 96/211, was ransacked, with scattered things everywhere. The
room belonged to Mr. Chaianan Sanpun, 40.

Mr.Chaianan informed police that before the
incident, he went out to the building nearby, and he saw Mr. Chayut climbing out of the window of
his room. He came back into the room and saw that his belongings were ransacked and the man had
already climbed back to his room next door via the window.

However, for some reason, the man
climbed back into the window, and when he saw Mr.Chaianan, he reportedly panicked and fell to the
ground. Some of the belongings in the room were missing, all of which the police found in
Mr.Chaiyut’s room.

Mr.Nusat, friend of Mr. Chayut, informed police that the deceased was
staying with him and that he was the son of an architect who did not want to live at home and wanted
to sell clothing at a second hand market at Suan Rot Fai Mai.

The deceased reportedly took
some drugs and had a hallucination. He told Mr.Nusat that he would be out for a while to run
errands, and the next thing he knew, his friend was dead. Police have contacted the family of the
deceased for further questioning and has detained his 3 friends on charges of drug
abuse.

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'Best Bank Staff' Embezzled Over 10 Million Baht

(5 June) Police arrested
2 suspects who are accused of stealing over 10 million baht from Krung Thai Bank in Nakornpanom
province.

The suspects were identified as Ms. Jutamas Suwanbumroong, 28, a master degree
graduate who was awarded Best Employee of the Month by the bank in 2010, and her boyfriend
Mr.Supachet Chanachai, 31, a bureaucrat in Ministry of Education.

Their alleged crimes dated
back to 21 Jan this year when
manager of Krungthai Bank′sNakornpanom branch reported to investigative officers
at Muang Nakornpanom police station that 8,926,200 baht was missing from 3 ATMs. The keys to the
machine were reportedly held by Ms.Jutamas,who works as a teller at the bank.

She
disappeared along with the keys and codes to the machines on Jan 22, and has become a prime suspect.

Investigations revealed she had also transferred 1.7 million baht from a customer account to
Mr.Supachet‘s account. Both of them escaped together.

The suspects reportedly escaped
to Bangkok and were apprehended at Imperial World shopping mall in Bangkok suburb. The 2 suspects
confessed to the crimes.

Questioning revealed that the reason for their robbery of over 10
million baht is Mr.Supachet’s gambling debts. He had been threatened for his life and he had to find
a way to get the money to pay his debtors. His girlfriend then helped him to rob the bank from the
inside. They used 8 million baht to pay off the debt and the remaining amount in their
escape.

Police said that Ms.Jutamas was a well-mannered person from a well of family, with no
debts. Mr.Supachet had always been in debt, although he worked as the Ministry of Education
official. Police believe Mr.Supachet convinced Ms.Jutamas to commit the crime to save him from his
gambling debts.

After the press conference, Ms.Juramas and Mr.Supachet was detained and sent
to investigative officers at Muang Nakornpanom police station and will be lawfully prosecuted on
charges of night time robbery with two or more persons and burglary of an employer, to which both
pleaded guilty.

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Malls To Increase Security After Woman Murdered In Parking Lot

Family of Ms. Ponpan Promchan holding her pictures.

(6 June) The body of Ms.
Ponpan Promcharn, 23, who was murdered in a supermarket′s parking lot in Bangkok, is cremated today
in her hometown of Nongbualumpoo province.

The funeral and the cremation were held at Sa
Pung Thong temple in Nong Pla Khao village. Next to her coffin is a brown bear doll; Ms. Pongpan′s
family said it was her favorite toy.

Ms. Ponpan, known by the media as ?Nong (little
sister) Yim?, was walking to her car in Tesco Lotus supermarket in Bangkok′s Bangkapi area on 4 June
when she was attacked by a knife-wielding man. Ms. Ponpan′s throat was slit, her body dumped into
her car, which the attacker drove to a motel in Nonthaburi province, intending to hide the body
there.

However, a staff at the motel spotted the dead body and called the police. The suspect
was later arrested. He confessed that he intended to rob Ms. Ponpan but she fought back, so he
killed her with his knife. Nonthaburi Provincial Court ordered the suspect detained for 12 days and
denied him bail, citing serious nature of the case.

Although Thailand is not unfamiliar to
violent crimes, the murder of Ms. Ponpan came as a shock to many, especially women in urban areas
who feared for their safety. Shopping malls and supermarkets are ubiquitous in urban Thailand – a
place for friends and families to hang out and dine and shop.

Bangkok Metropolitan Police
deputy chief Pol.Maj.Gen.Manit Wongsomboon said in an interview that the police have talked to many
shopping malls? security teams for better protection of citizens, for example, increasing the number
of security guards and CCTVs, and increasing the number of patrols, along with how to spot a
suspicious person who walks around in the parking lot but does not purchase anything.

He
said malls that do not yet have sufficient security guards will be provided extra police patrol. The
police stations that don’t have enough police officers will call for more volunteer workers to
patrol the area.

“I want to warn citizens, especially women that park in the shopping mall
parking lots to look around to see if there is anything unusual before actually unlocking their car.
In cases where the customer has a lot of merchandise that needs to be loaded into the car, it is
always good to ask the security guard to help or to accompany them.”, said the Deputy Metropolitan
Police Commissioner.

On the same day, Ek – Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd., owner of Tesco
Lotus department stores, expressed that the company is very upset about the incident and have
cooperated fully with the police in checking the details in the recording of the CCTV installed in
the parking area to be used as evidence on the case.

Tesco Lotus focuses on the security of
life and property of the customers who use their services and has security measures such as CCTV,
according to the statement. It insists that its parking area has adequate lighting, but the company
will consider other measures as appropriate and will continue to cooperate fully with the inquiry
into the perpetrators according to law.

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Furor Over Comedian Who Urged Thaksin To Come Home

(7 June) The famous
comedian Teng Terd Terng became target of controversy in the online world for his attendance at
the birthday party of Mr. Nattawut Saikeu, a Pheu Thai MP and a prominent leader of the Redshirts
movement.

The birthday party was held at Keri
Resort, along the Ramindhra Highway in the evening of 4 June.

Teng Terd Terng, whose real
name is Mr. Pongsak Pongsuwan, was seen hugging Mr. Nattawut and giving speeches on stage. I want
Mr. Thaksin to come home quickly! he said to the audience, drawing applause.

He was refering
to Former PM Thaksin Shinwatra, who was ousted by military coup in 2006 and remains in self-imposed
exile, avoiding the corruption case that he called politically-motivated. Mr. Thaksin is a hugely
polarizing figure; the Redshirts see him as the democratically-elected prime minister who was robbed
out of his legitimacy by the pro-establishment groups, while the Yellowshirts think he is a corrupt
dictator.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Mr. Pongsak′s comment quickly drew sharp rebukes and
fervent supports from the Red and Yellow cybersphere.

Websites of the Yellowshirts-allied
ASTV: Manager featured Mr. Pongsak in the top news section, with headline Revealed Himself In
Birthday Party of The Autocrat: [Pongsak] Said He Wanted To See Thaksin Home. Many readers verbally
abused the comedy star in the website′s comment section. Yellowshirts Facebook groups similarly
hurled virtual abuses at him.

 Meanwhile, many Redshirts on webforums praised Mr.
Pongsak.
People have the right of expression.
Teng was just doing his job and was not hurting anybody or badmouthing your mother or father.
Please be more open minded and positive and your life would be so much happier, wrote one
commenter.

Another wrote, Time is the true
test of man. Today I admire Pongsak Pongsuwan greatly for his bravery to expressing that he is not
against the Redshirts.

Today, Mr. Pongsak
finally spoke out about the war of words in the online community. He said he did not intend to be
political; he was merely rying to please the hosts of the show. He insisted he was not Redshirt,
and said he was there just because he was hired to entertain the audience at the birthday
party.

The color I define myself with is the color of Thai national flag. Please don?t pull
me or my work into politics. I don?t have mind for politics. I?m done. From now I won?t take jobs
from high profile people anymore. I?d rather do comedy shows to temple fairs. No troubles for me
there, Mr. Pongsak was quoted as saying.

Teng Terd Terng is currently a co-host of popular
TV comedy show Ching Roi Ching Larn. His jokes mostly involved dressing up comically and slapstick
humor.

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Barred From Thailand, Sam Rainsy Speaks To FCCT Via Skype

Mr. Sam Rainsy speaking at FCCT. Photo by Takato Mitsunaga.

BANGKOK – Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy spoke to the audience at Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand (FCCT), central Bangkok, via Skype last night after the Thai immigration officials denied him entry to Thailand.

Mr. Rainsy has been away from Cambodia since 2009 to escape what he described as "politically-motivated" court case. He has been an outspoken critic of the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985.

Initially, Mr. Rainsy was scheduled to chair a book launch event of his new work, "We Did Not Start The Fire: My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia", at FCCT but was turned away at Thai airport by the immigration police, in an episode that might have resulted from the close ties between Mr. Hun Sen and Thai former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose sister Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra is currently in power.

Nonetheless, the show did go on, and Mr. Rainsy used Skype video call to speak to the crowded audience at the FCCT last night – a move that is reminiscent of Thaksin′s playbook (Mr. Thaksin, himself a politician living in exile, is well known for his regular phone-in or Skype-in to his supporters).

Speaking from Singapore, Mr. Rainsy began his talk by urging the international community to treat Cambodia′s upcoming election in July as "illegitimate" and refrain from recognizing any new government that is born out of it. Mr. Rainsy reasoned that the July election will be unfair and full of vote-rigging like previous ones.

He said the Cambodian authorities should delay the election and make sure it will be a free and fair one instead of "a farce on time". Mr. Rainsy also insisted that international monitors are not needed to observe the upcoming election in July because the outcome is already determined that sending monitors "to observe the farce" would be merely "waste of taxpayers' money".

"The Cambodian authorities bully the opposition. They know we are getting more support. They are afraid of us, that is why they put pressure on us," Mr. Rainsy said, accusing the Cambodian authorities of "block the country′s democratic evolution".

Throughout the talk, Mr. Rainsy told the audience that Cambodia is "stuck in Cold War", a "Communist-style", "Banana Kingdom" ruled by "Mafia State".

Asked to elaborate on what happened to him at the Thai airport the day before, Mr. Rainsy said he was flying from South Korea to Thailand, only to be met with "high-ranking" immigration official who told him he could not be allowed out of the airport. However, Mr Rainsy said he was told he is welcomed back "after July".

Mr. Rainsy said Cambodian government might have pressured the Thai authorities to keep him as farther away as possible in the election period, because he was the only credible challenger to Mr. Hun Sen.

"Hun Sen wants to box alone. He′s afraid just to see me approaching the boxing ring," Mr. Rainsy said.

The host asked him whether he thinks the policy results from relationship between Mr. Thaksin and Mr. Hun Sen, but Mr. Rainsy said he did not know much about "Thai side".

A member of the audience asked him if he would ever go back to Cambodia. "Once they have free and fair election, I will be there," Mr. Rainsay answered.

Wouldn't it be better to stay in Cambodia and fight for change from inside, a reporter asked.

"King Narodom Sihanouk led the resistance for Cambodian independence from abroad too," Mr. Rainsy said, adding that even though he is physically away from Cambodia, he is virtually everywhere in Cambodia, like Facebook and Twitter, and that "I'm not the only one Rainsy. There are millions of Rainsy in Cambodia".

Answering the question about Mr. Hun Sen′s proposal to criminalize denial of Khmer Rouge genocide, Mr. Rainsay told the audience he accepts the principles of the law, but took jabs at Mr. Hun Sen by claiming that he would be punished under his own law because the Cambodian government has been denying justice by obstructing legal procedures against Khmer Rouge war crime suspects.

Asked if there′s anything he wants to address the public, Mr. Rainsy said that "the wind of freedom is blowing all over the world", and that it will surely arrive in Cambodia one day.

"Maybe it will reach Thailand first and go to Cambodia later!" he added, drawing laughter from the crowd.

 

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Pet Chicken 'Terrorized Locals' In Srithammarat

(6 June) After a dog in
Ayutthaya province rescued
an abandoned baby girl
,another astonishing pet story comes from Nakorn Srithammarat province
where a chicken guards its owner′s house like a guard dog.

The pet chicken belongs to
Mr.Wittiyakorn Chanpen, 42, and is large with yellow feathers. As our correspondent approached the
house, the chicken raced to meet the reporter and crowed loudly in front of the house. The chicken
almost chased away the reporter when Mr. Wittiyakorn intervened.

Mr.Wittiyakorn said that he
bought the chicken from the market – he bought 3  of them for only 20 baht. Today, the chicken
is now 3 years old, and the 2 that came along with it have since died.

The chicken coop was
constructed for the 3 chicken, he said, but this particular one would not go in, and just slept in
front of the house. When a stranger approached, the chicken would crow loudly and chase people,
causing injury in some cases. Many were so frightened they ran away, according to Mr.
Wittiyakorn.

Some neighbors are afraid to come near our house nowadays, Mr. Wittiyakorn
said.

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