Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has release the ranking of the top world universities by subjects on 22 March 2023. KMUTNB are listed among the top universities of Thailand in three subjects as follows:
Natural Science – Mathematics: the top 451-500 universities of the world and the top 2 universities of Thailand
Engineering- Chemical: the top 401-420 universities of the world and the top 5 universities of Thailand
Engineering- Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing: the top 451-500 universities of the world and the top 3 universities of Thailand
This achievement reflects the dedication of the university’s researchers, staff and students, who work ceaselessly to promote the university’s excellences in Science, Technology and Innovation.
DeeMoney, Thailand’s leading FinTech firm, an international money transfer service as a Neo-bank, has introduced a new management structure and appointed new management comprising highly experienced experts in different fields.
The appointment is a big move for DeeMoney and is aimed to strengthen its leadership, enabling the company to effectively achieve its business goals. The new structure and management will play an important role in advancing Thai FinTech firms to meet international standards as earlier announced by DeeMoney’s Co-Founder and CEO, Aswin Phlaphongphanich.
DeeMoney’s management is currently led by Aswin and Ms. Rasmegh Srisethi, Co-Founder and Managing Director. Adding to the team of executives is, Mr. Robin Clart was recently appointed as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. With over 15 years in technology and finance and previously led Omise as a CTO, Mr. Robin played a key role in overseeing the development and implementation of the company’s technology and product strategy and was instrumental in implementing an “API first” approach which was a significant factor in Omise’s growth and success. Mr. Robin is responsible for building and strengthening DeeMoney’s technology team, enabling creative technology design, and ensuring a highly secure and reliable platform.
Joining the team as the Chief Operations Officer is Mr. Eustace Lobo. A well-recognized and in-the-known, with more than 25 years in telecommunications, payments and international remittance covering business development, sales, operations and grassroots marketing in key markets like India and the US. At Western Union, Eustace was instrumental in driving double-digit year-on-year growth for the US to South Asia corridor by growing the ethnic agent network coverage and by implementing community-specific marketing initiatives. Mr. Eustace oversees DeeMoney’s operations to ensure a seamless transaction experience for customers.
To cement the brand and corporate reputation, Mr. Tanit Ruttjananthana was appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer to drive DeeMoney brand growth. With over 20 years of experience in this field, Mr. Tanit specializes in marketing, branding, business development and customer experience in various businesses stretching from; finance, banking, fintech, and other business segments, such as dtac, KTC, KBank and JKN. His in-depth understanding of consumer behavior and insight will steer DeeMoney toward a better customer journey, and effectively connect innovations, technology and customer demand within the company’s products and services.
The Chief Sales Officer, Mr. Pakorn Manoromphatrasan, is dedicated to promoting new products and services for the benefit of clients, reducing costs, improving profitability, and increasing efficiency. He has extensive sales and distribution management experience, especially in the financial and telecommunications sectors at dtac and several start-ups. His aim is Sales team development and in-depth assessment of both B2B and B2C customers.
In a business where technology is a key driver, human resourcing is crucial. Adding to the team also is Ms. Wandee Phongpreepream as the Chief People Officer. Her highly cultivated experience in various fields such as Nike, SSP in Minor Group and startup like T&B Media Global, Tree Roots Entertainment Group, etc. will support DeeMoney in recruiting and developing a great talent pool that will become the key drivers behind the success stories. Ms. Wandee will apply her knowledge and experiences from those blue-chip brands to drive effective human resource development for DeeMoney.
Joining DeeMoney as the Head of Business Strategy & Market Intelligence, Ms. Jatupron Pimngern is a veteran of the Fintech industry. Specializing in products and services positioning that directly addresses customer requirements and the creation of a sustainable and prosperous business model, Ms. Jatupron has been a key player in the success of many banks, financial institutions and technology providers, such as Mastercard and Unicorn startups like Ascend Money Co., Ltd. (TrueMoney) and KBank. A frequent speaker at prestigious international events, namely Asia Leadership Conference. She is also an Executive Committee Member of the Thai E-Payment Trade Association (TEPA) We are certain that she will embark on an eventful journey as DeeMoney’s strategic lead.
The final addition is, Ms. Tharissara Ariyavorakul as the Head of Compliance, ensuring full compliance with startup-related laws and regulations, such as KYC and Customer Due Diligence (KYC/CDD), transaction monitoring, personal data protection, fraud protection and Risk Management. Also other related measures of regulators such as the Bank of Thailand and the Anti-Money Laundering Office, etc. Ms. Tharissara also has a great deal of experience in financial services companies, payment, wallet and digital technology such as LianLian Pay.
The new and highly experienced management team will join forces and power through their cultivated skills and expertise to advance DeeMoney as Thailand’s No.1 FinTech firm for domestic and international money transfer with Better Rates, Faster and Easier as a top-of-the-game service provider in the industry.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai party's top politician and youngest daughter of exiled former deposed Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, arrives for the registration of constituency candidates competing in upcoming general election, at the Thailand-Japan Youth Center stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of would-be lawmakers in Thailand on Monday began the official registration process for the upcoming general election, a vote that will pit supporters of an exiled prime minister against the conservative political establishment and its allies in the military.
Dressed in T-shirts and jackets in their party colors, and backed by groups of noisy supporters, the political hopefuls pushed their way past a throng of journalists to cram into a Bangkok stadium and complete the paperwork to qualify for the May 14 election.
Underscoring the political tensions, four protesters under the watchful eyes of two dozen police officers held up signs demanding changes to Article 112 of the constitution, which carries harsh penalties for defaming the country’s monarch.
Supporters of various political parties hold placards as constituency candidates arrive for their registration for the upcoming general election, at the Thailand-Japan Youth Center stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Calls for reform of the law have increased in recent years but remain a major taboo in a country where the royal family has traditionally been seen as untouchable.
Prayuth Chan-ocha, the incumbent prime minister, recently joined a new party, the United Thai Nation Party, and needs its slate of candidates to perform strongly to bolster his bid to recapture the top spot. He first became prime minister in 2014 when as the army commander he led a coup that ousted the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
Thai Prime Minister and United Thai Nation Party candidate Prayut Chan-O-Cha. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire populist, was ousted as prime minister in an earlier coup in 2006. He remains in self-exile to avoid serving time for a criminal conviction he says was politically motivated.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, and her Pheu Thai Party have a huge lead, according to opinion polls. But Thailand’s electoral system means contenders have to win by a wide margin to be sure of forming the government and claiming the prime minister’s position.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai party. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
“I believe the strong point of Pheu Thai is the party itself, not me. The party popularity is ahead of myself,” Paetongtarn said. “I believe the people choose the party because of our policy. That’s our strong point.”
Polls show the leader of the Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, leading Paetongtarn in the capital, Bangkok. The party has a progressive agenda that’s popular with younger voters. But its politics alienate it from mainstream conservative Thai policies, lessening its chances of joining a governing coalition.
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Completing the roster of heavyweights was Prawit Wongsuwan, who served as deputy prime minister under Prayuth. He now heads Palang Pracharath, the largest party in the outgoing governing coalition. He’s seen as a formidable political operator, though both he and his party appear to be extremely unpopular with voters, according to recent opinion polls.
Deputy Prime Minister and Palang Pracharat Party leader Prawit Wongsuwan. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Up for grabs are 400 directly elected seats while a further 100 seats are decided by proportional representation.
The prime minister’s position is chosen in the weeks following the polls through a combined vote of the lower house and the 250-strong appointed Senate. The inclusion of the Senate is seen by many as controversial because, though nominally independent, its members have a record of voting as a bloc in favor of a conservative agenda.
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JERRY HARMER Associated Press reported from Bangkok.
The U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departs a naval base in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Cha Geun-ho/Yonhap via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean, U.S. and Japanese navies began their first anti-submarine drills in six months on Monday to boost their coordination against increasing North Korean missile threats, South Korea’s military said.
The two-day drills come as North Korea’s recent unveiling of a type of battlefield nuclear warhead prompted worries the country may conduct first nuclear test since 2017.
The maritime exercises in international waters off South Korea’s southern island of Jeju involved the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and naval destroyers from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The training was arranged to improve the three countries’ capacities to respond to underwater security threats posed by North Korea’s advancing submarine-launched ballistic missiles and other assets, the statement said. It said the three countries were to detect and track unmanned South Korean and U.S. underwater vehicles posing as enemy submarines and other assets.
Submarine-launched missiles by North Korea are serious security threats to the United States and its allies because it’s harder to spot such launches in advance. In recent year, the North has been testing sophisticated underwater-launched ballistic missiles and pushing to build bigger submarines including a nuclear-powered one.
The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departs a naval base in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Cha Geun-ho/Yonhap via AP)
Last month, North Korea performed a barrage of missile tests in response to the earlier South Korea-U.S. bilateral military drills. The weapons tested included a nuclear-capable underwater drone and a submarine-launched cruise missile, which suggest North Korea is trying to diversify its kinds of underwater weapons.
Photographs in North Korea’s state media last week showed about 10 capsule-shaped, red-tipped warheads called “Hwasan (volcano)-31” with different serial numbers. A poster on a nearby wall listed eight kinds of short-range weapons that can carry the “Hwasan-31” warhead. The previous test flights of those weapons show they are capable of striking key targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.
Some observers say the warhead’s unveiling may be a prelude to a nuclear test as North Korea’s last two tests in 2016 and 2017 followed the disclosures of other warheads. If it does conduct a nuclear test, it would be its seventh detonation overall and the first since September 2017.
Foreign experts debate whether North Korea has functioning nuclear-armed missiles. But South Korea’s defense minister, Lee Jong-Sup, recently said the North’s technology to build miniaturized warheads to be mounted on advanced short-range missiles was believed to have made considerable progress.
North Korea could carry out new missile tests in response to the South Korea-U.S.-Japan drills because it views such training as a security threat. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called recent South Korea-U.S. exercises “reckless military provocations” that disregarded North Korea’s “patience and warning.”
In remarks carried in the Defense Ministry statement, Rear Adm. Kim Inho, chief of the South Korean forces involved in the trilateral drills, said “We’ll decisively respond to and neutralize any type of provocation by North Korea.”
In addition to anti-submarine drills, the three countries will practice humanitarian search-and-rescue operations, including saving people who fall into the water and treating emergency patients. It would be the three countries’ first such training in seven years, the Defense Ministry statement said.
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HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press reported from Seoul.
World-renowned Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, also the keyboardist of the legendary electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, known as YMO, has died, his office said Sunday. He was 71.
Sakamoto revealed in June 2022 that he had been battling stage IV cancer. The Tokyo native also starred in the 1983 war film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” and won an Oscar and Grammy for scoring the 1987 movie “The Last Emperor.”
A funeral for Sakamoto, who died last Tuesday, was already held with only close relatives in attendance, the office said. The exact cause of death was not immediately known.
With his interest in environmental and peace issues, Sakamoto had been actively involved in the anti-nuclear power movement in recent years in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster triggered by a killer earthquake and tsunami.
The son of Kazuki Sakamoto, a renowned editor at the publishing house Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Sakamoto began studying music writing at the age of 10 and was fascinated by the Beatles and Debussy.
As a high school student in the late 1960s, he participated in student demonstrations. Later, in an interview, he revealed that this experience “was at the core of who I am.”
In 1978, Sakamoto formed YMO with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. Their futuristic techno-pop music, making full use of synthesizers, was in sync with the times in the late 1970s, when the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and the arcade game “Space Invaders” became hits.
In January, Takahashi, the drummer of YMO, died of aspiration pneumonia.
File photo taken in July 2010 in Yokohama shows Ryuichi Sakamoto (C) with Yellow Magic Orchestra bandmates Yukihiro Takahashi (L) and Haruomi Hosono. (Kyodo)
Dressed in clothing resembling Mao suits, the trio’s performances were well received in the United States and Europe, and their music, such as “Technopolis” and “Rydeen,” from an album released in 1979, became popular in Japan following their success overseas. YMO’s hit tunes also include “Kimi ni Mune Kyun” (my heart beats for you), a single released in 1983.
Having obtained a master’s degree from the Graduate School of the Tokyo University of the Arts, Sakamoto was known for his theoretical views and vast knowledge of classical and folk music, earning him the nickname “Professor.”
He scored more than 30 films, including Nagisa Oshima’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” in which he also played the role of a Japanese commander of a prison camp, “The Last Emperor” and “The Sheltering Sky,” both directed by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1987 and 1990, respectively.
File photo shows the team that created the film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Paris on May 11, 1983: (from L) producer Jack Thomas, musical composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, star David Bowie and director Nagisa Oshima. (AP/Kyodo)
The musician also led More Trees, a Tokyo-based forest conservation group established in 2007.
Sakamoto, who began spending most of his time in New York in the early 1990s, went public with his throat cancer diagnosis in 2014 and his rectal cancer diagnosis in 2021. Cancer later spread to his lungs, requiring him to undergo surgeries in October and December 2021.
Sakamoto discussed in detail his cancer diagnosis and how he had been coping with it in an article titled “Living with Cancer,” published by the literary magazine “Shincho” in June 2022.
The article was the first installment in a series of articles titled “How Many More Times Will I See the Full Moon?” that the musician authored in the monthly magazine, dealing mainly with his musical activities and his views on life and death.
In a statement he released on the launch of the series, he said, “Since I have made it this far in life, I hope to be able to make music until my last moment, like Bach and Debussy, who I adore.”
Sakamoto was one of the few Japanese celebrities in the entertainment industry willing to make political statements, including saying following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 that the situation surrounding the attacks was “created by the hegemonic nation of the United States.”
After the magnitude-9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami devastated northeastern Japan in 2011, he became music director of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, formed by children affected by the disasters.
File photo shows Ryuichi Sakamoto (4th from L) posing with members of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra as its music director on March 31, 2019 in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
In March 2022, while battling stage IV cancer, Sakamoto took part in the orchestra’s concert in Tokyo, in which a new symphony he composed, titled “Ima Jikan ga Katamui te” (now the time is tilting), was performed.
The symphony ends with the sound of bells, and he explained to the audience from the stage that earthquakes and wars share the same prayer for the repose of souls who were killed.
The concert was held amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and he noted that the symphony has some similarities to Ukraine’s national anthem, adding, “It is up to each one of you to decide whether the sound of the bells (at the end of the symphony) sounds like a requiem or hope.”
Singer-songwriter Akiko Yano is his former wife, and musician Miu Sakamoto is his daughte
Russian investigators work at the site of an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (AP Photo)
AP – An explosion tore through a cafe in Russia’s second-largest city Sunday, killing a prominent military blogger who had supported the fighting in Ukraine and was speaking at a patriotic discussion event.
Russian news reports said blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in the explosion at the Street Food Bar No. 1 cafe in St. Petersburg. Twenty-five people were wounded, and 19 of them were hospitalized, according to the regional governor, Alexander Beglov.
Vladlen Tatarsky
Russia media and military bloggers said Tatarsky was meeting with members of the public and that a woman presented him with a box containing a statuette that apparently exploded. A patriotic Russian group that organized the event said it had taken security precautions, but added that “regrettably, they proved insufficient.”
The reports did not mention any claim of responsibility. The Interior Ministry said everyone at the cafe at the time of the blast was being “checked for involvement.”
Since the fighting in Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, various fires, explosions and apparent assassinations have occurred in Russia without any clear connection to the conflict.
Russian police officers stand at the side of an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (AP Photo)
Tatarsky had filed regular reports from Ukraine. Tatarsky is the pen name for Maxim Fomin who had accumulated more than 560,000 followers on his Telegram messaging app channel. He was known for his blustery pronouncements and ardent pro-war rhetoric.
After the Kremlin’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine last year, Tatarsky posted a video in which he vowed: “That’s it. We’ll defeat everybody, kill everybody, rob everybody we need to. It will all be the way we like it. God be with you.”
Many countries have condemned the annexation as illegal.
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry stand at the side of an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (AP Photo)
A top Ukrainian government official speculated that internal Russian opposition to the Kremlin’s invasion was behind the blast.
“Spiders are eating each other in a jar,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote in English on Twitter. “Question of when domestic terrorism would become an instrument of internal political fight was a matter of time.”
Last August, Darya Dugina, a 29-year-old commentator with a nationalist Russian TV channel, died when a remotely controlled explosive device planted in her SUV blew up as she was driving on the outskirts of Moscow. She and her father — a philosopher, writer and political theorist — strongly supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine.
Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the attack, but Kyiv denied involvement.
Wichai Viratakaphan, bank inspector and acting director-general of the Real Estate Information Centre (REIC), told reporters that the property market in Thailand has recovered since 2022. One of the main driving factors is the close relationship between the sector and the tourism industry.
After surveying 27 Thai provinces in 2022, REIC found that the total value of the industry was THB 390 billion (11.4 billion U.S.dollars), an increase of 1,515 per cent from 2021 when the value was THB 24 billion (704 million U.S.dollars).
The number of foreign-owned condominiums increased by 40.8 per cent, from 8,199 units in 2021 to 11,561 units in 2022, with a total value of around THB 59 billion (1.73 billion U.S dollars).
In 2023, REIC estimates that foreign ownership will grow by 6 per cent, or no less than THB 60bn to THB 63bn (1.76 – 1.84 billion U.S dollars), while the country’s overall growth in foreign ownership will increase from 20 per cent to 25 per cent.
According to the latest REIC statistics from the end of 2022 for the 3 most popular locations, the centre found that Bangkok recorded a total of 19,047 units of ready-to-live condominiums worth around THB 89bn (2.6 billion U.S dollars), followed by the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) areas in Chonburi, Rayong and Chachoengsao with 4,433 ready-to-live units worth THB 19bn (557 million U.S dollars).
Finally, in Phuket, a total of 835 units worth THB 3.5bn (102 million U.S dollars) were ready to live. The total value is THB 112bn. (3.3 billion U.S dollars)
Combining the value of condominiums ready for live, THB 112bn, with those under construction and those for sale, worth THB 196bn (5.75 billion U.S dollars), gives a total value of THB 308bn (9 billion million U.S dollars). If we add that foreigners have a 49 per cent stake, the total market value is THB 151bn (4.4 billion U.S dollars).
5 provinces with the highest rate of property transfer in 2022:
Chonburi: 3,567 units, THB 10.2bn (299 million U.S dollars)
Phuket: 637 units, THB 3bn (88 million U.S dollars)
Chiang Mai: 595 units, THB 1.87bn (54.8 million U.S dollars)
Samut Prakarn: 793 units, THB 1.85bn (54.2 million U.S dollars)
The other five in the top ten provinces are Prachuap Khiri Khan, Nonthaburi, Pathumthani, Rayong, and Petchaburi.
In terms of nationalities, Chinese customers ranked first in 7 of the top 10 provinces:
Bangkok: 3,323 units, THB 22.3bn (654 million U.S dollars)
Chonburi: 1,207 units, THB 3.49bn (102 million U.S dollars)
Chiang Mai: 352 units, THB 1.1bn (32 million U.S dollars)
Petchaburi is the most popular place with Americans, as they are the first nationality to shop most in the province, and among the top 10 nationalities in Petchaburi, there are no Chinese at all, mainly Europeans.
Russian ranks first in Phuket with 240 units and a value of THB 875m (25.6 million U.S dollars) and in Prachuap Khiri Khan with 37 units and a value of THB 285m (8.3 million U.S dollars).
In the top 5 nationalities for condominiums, the Chinese rank first as they have a share of 49 to 60 per cent, THB 2.2bn to THB 31bn. (64.5 – 90.9 million U.S dollars) Russians are second with a share of 4 to 7 per cent, THB 2.2bn to THB 2.6bn. (64.5 – 76.2 million U.S dollars)
The third to fifth places are among France, England, Japan, and Germany.
However, it is important to note Vanuatu, Myanmar and Cambodia. Vanuatu ranks in the top five in 2021 with a value of THB 1.1bn (32.2 million U.S dollars) representing a 3 per cent share. In 2022, Myanmar ranks in the top five with a total value of THB 2.5bn (73.3 million U.S dollars) and a share of 4 per cent, while Cambodia has a total value of THB 1.6bn (46.9 million U.S dollars) and a share of 3 per cent.
Wichai said Chinese customers like Chaing Mai, where they bought condominiums worth a total of THB 1bn (29.3 million U.S dollars) last year, and also in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Around Bangkok provinces, Chinese customers are still the main investors. They come with the boom in tourism. They buy property for business reasons and as an investment.
“Chinese customers buy to live and to invest. In the longer term, they plan to buy a second home in Thailand, but [we] might be at a disadvantage compared to Malaysia when it comes to the LTR -long-term visas. In Malaysia, there is also MM2H – My Malaysia Second Home, which directly attracts foreigners to buy a second home there.”
Police arrest a man who graffiti the wall of the Grand Palace complex on Mar. 28, 2023.
The spray-painting of an anti-lese majeste law message and anarchy symbol on the wall of the Grand Palace complex on Tuesday has sparked a debate following the deep political division line in Thai society.
Ultra-royalists were gravely offended as they considered the wall almost sacred if not sacred. They saw it as an act of vandalism against a symbol of Thai national pride.
An example of this being an administrator of a fish feed company social media had to “resign” on Wednesday after the person adapted the graffiti on the wall of the Grand Palace incident and photoshoped it with a commercial message to promote the feed. The company, NDBC NS Distribution Co., then cut him loose. In the photoshop image, the graffiti protester spray painted a message advertising fish feed with images of two fish.
Others feel condoning such acts would be counterproductive to the goal of amending or abolishing the royal defamation law and the reform of the monarchy. One prominent political activist, Nuttaa “Bow” Mahattana, who is critical of the lese majeste law, tweeted to me Wednesday saying the lese majeste law has been thoroughly debated, but was not it that “nothing has changed because people spend their energy on supporting such crazy acts?”
That was a fair question to ask. One must ask whom the graffiti protester wants to convey the message to because royalists and ultra-royalists were clearly offended, and it is unlikely to encourage a dialogue across the political divide.
The 25-year-old graffiti protester, identified as Sutthawee by the local press, was arrested on spot that day and has been charged with violating Historic Site Act as well as Cleanliness Act. The former comes with a maximum imprisonment term of seven years and a fine of up to 700,000 baht. He is currently out on bail.
I see things differently from Nuttaa. If anything, there has been no real deliberation on the issue of the controversial lese majeste law (not to mention monarchy reform) in Thai society.
The boldest and most participatory attempt occurred back in 2012 when over 26,000 people, led by former Thammasat University rector Charnvit Kasetsiri, signed a petition to request the parliament to open a debate on the lese majeste law. The parliament, despite being required by the law to hold a debate because enough people signed the petition, simply refused to do so.
Truth is, Thailand has not been able to freely discuss or deliberate about the lese majeste law (not to mention monarchy reform) in a meaningful way. Currently, only the opposition Move Forward Party vows to amend the law after the general election. The main opposition Pheu Thai Party, which is leading in virtually all polls to win the most seats, remains noncommittal on the issue.
Smaller royalist parties clearly oppose such a move. A few weeks ago, I asked Chart Thai Pattana Party leader Varawut Silpa-archa if he would consider joining a coalition with Move Forward Party and Varawut flatly said no as they respect the monarchy.
Given the situation, one may be too hopeful to expect the next parliament to hold a debate on the merit or controversial aspects of the law which includes a harsh maximum imprisonment term of 15 years, lack of clear definition of the difference between insulting and honest criticism stipulated in the law, and the fact that anyone can file a police complaint accusing another of defaming the monarchy instead of having that task be carried out by the Royal Household Bureau.
On the other hand, the vast majority of the mainstream mass media and press associations continue to contribute to the stifling environment by their incessant self-censorship and omission of news and information critical of the monarchy institution.
Put it simply, all you can find on most of the mainstream Thai press about the monarchy is good news, great news, and more great news. Anything perceived as potentially negative or critical of the monarchy has little or no place in the Thai press. It is as if all of us want to revere and worship the monarchy like God in a fundamentalist society where no criticism shall be tolerated.
Time and again I have urged media associations, particularly the Thai Journalist Association (TJA), which is the largest such association to act. My proposal is we can try to break the ersatz situation by having TJA issue a statement detailing why the lese majeste law severely hinders press freedom and make critical coverage of the monarchy by the press impossible.
This will serve as a wakeup call to the general public. If that is too much to ask, and for whatever reason, then they can at least hold a public symposium on the lese majeste law and press freedom with qualified experts invited as speakers or commission a study by scholars on the impact of the lese majeste law on press freedom in Thailand.
A source within TJA told me they are trying to find a way, but it has been months if not years now and there is nothing. Whenever we celebrate Thai or World Press Freedom Day without acknowledging the elephant in the room, we all should be ashamed of ourselves.
It is these suffocating and stifling environments that make people like Sutthawee feel desperate. He probably knew what is in store for him as the act was committed at around 5.30pm and not in the middle of the night. (To be fair to Nuttaa, some end up baselessly slandering the monarchy on Facebook groups such as the Royalist Marketplace Talad Luang and that is never helpful to any hope for deliberation).
To me, Sutthawee is not a nutjob and his act is not crazy even if I do not condone such an act – it is an act of a desperate man stuck in a society in denial.
The scene where they found the body on April 1, 2023.
Officers from the Bang Mae Nang Police Station in Nonthaburi Province found the body of an unknown woman in a disguised bag in a lotus garden on April 1. They later discovered that the victim was a Chinese student kidnapped for ransom.
Ms. Jin Can, 22, a third-year international exchange student at Bangkok Thonburi University majoring in music, was identified as the person reported by the police and was being sought.
According to the condition of the body, it should have been dead for about three days. There were signs of being strangled.
Mr. Mingkwan Nakhiransakul, a 24-year-old Chinese student advisor at Bangkok Thonburi University, had previously reported to the police at Thammasala Police Station in Bangkok on March 31 at 4:00 p.m. that Ms. Jin had vanished.
Mingkwan also stated that Ms. Jin Shan’s father, a music teacher in China, contacted him to inform him that a kidnapper had contacted him via WeChat application on March 29, as well as sending a picture of Ms. Jin in detention with her hands and feet bound in one place.
The kidnapper demanded a ransom of 500,000 yuan, or about 2.5 million Thai baht (72,790 U.S. dollars), be transferred to the account of a Chinese person. But the father was still unsure of what had happened, therefore he did not transfer as the kidnapper threatened. Later he could not contact his daughter and feared that she was in danger.
Thammasala Police Station dispatches investigators to the university to examine CCTV footage and question witnesses who saw Ms. Jin on campus on March 28. She then took a taxi to the Central Westgate Shopping Centre in Bang Yai District, Nonthaburi Province, where she stayed until around 9:30 p.m. before leaving.
It showed a red car with an unknown registration number, which is a suspicious car, driving several times in the middle of the night on March 29 through the area where the body was discovered.
Later, at 9:30 p.m. on April 1, the Bang Mae Nang police station called a green-yellow taxi driver registered in Bangkok, who drove Ms. Jin from the university to the Central Westgate department store on March 28 to give details.
At 10:45 p.m., the police summoned 1 male and 3 females, who were advisors from the university where young Chinese students had come to study, to give further details.
According to the updated investigation, the victim was abducted on March 28 at night by three Chinese nationals and taken into a red Mazda. The three suspects rented a house in a nearby village after the kidnapping.
On March 29, at 1:30 a.m., the suspicious car arrived at the lotus garden, along the road to Wat Tonne Chueak Salaya, and they got out, placing the murdered Ms. Jin Can’s body in a bag and leaving it in the area.
At 3:00 p.m., they left and returned the rented car to the tenant on New Petchburi Road. They left the country on March 30 for Chengdu, China. Police can identify all three male Chinese suspects and are preparing arrest warrants. They are Zhou Xiongfei, 23, Zhou Pengfei, 24 and Chen Sailing, 23.
Even if they have fled the country, they must be blacklisted and barred from entering Thailand. Thai authorities will continue to work with Interpol to issue arrest warrants.
This is the fourth case in the last month in which Chinese were kidnapped for ransom in Thailand, but it was the first in which the victim died.
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, center, scores his his side's 2nd goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Even without the Premier League’s leading scorer, Pep Guardiola’s team came from behind to rout Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday and stay in pursuit of first-place Arsenal.
Haaland, who has scored 42 goals in all competitions this season, was ruled out of the game at Etihad Stadium after failing to recover from a groin injury.
But even after falling behind to a 20th-minute strike from Mohamed Salah, City powered back with goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish to keep the pressure on Arsenal and deliver another blow to Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, center, celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
City’s dominance was so complete that by the end Jurgen Klopp said the result could have been even worse for his team.
“We just had to follow as they did whatever they wanted,” the Liverpool manager said. “We were lucky they weren’t in a greedy mood.”
The game represented one of the biggest remaining tests in City’s league campaign and defeat would have given Arsenal the chance to extend its lead at the top to 11 points.
Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his his side’s fourth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
That looked like a real possibility when Liverpool scored against the run of play early on, with Diogo Jota bursting past City’s high defensive line and laying off to Salah to sweep a shot into the corner.
But City evened the score when Alvarez, Argentina’s World Cup winning striker, converted Grealish’s cross in the 27th.
Liverpool had no answer to City’s attacking quality in the second half, with De Bruyne poking home a cross from Riyad Mahrez less than a minute after the restart.
Gundogan added a third from close range in the 54th, and Grealish got a deserved goal to round off the scoring in the 74th.
Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan, right, scores his his side’s third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
It was Guardiola’s 100th home win in the league with City in 128 games at Etihad Stadium. He is the quickest manager to achieve that feat, beating Arsene Wenger’s record of reaching that total in 139 games.
“Our display was almost perfect from the first minute to minute 93 in the way we played against a team, our big rival in the last seasons,” Guardiola said.
The win moved City to within five points of Arsenal before the Londoners’ game against Leeds later in the day.
Liverpool remains seven points off fourth-place Tottenham and still hasn’t won a league match at Etihad Stadium since 2015.
Klopp’s team has now lost three straight games since routing Manchester United 7-0 last month.
“In the end, we had moments but in general how we lost everything, unacceptable,” Klopp said.
The Liverpool manager said “four-ish” of his players “had an OK game, and the rest were somewhere I don’t know.”
Gabriel Jesus ends drought
Gabriel Jesus ended a six-month scoring drought by netting twice as Premier League leader Arsenal beat Leeds 4-1 on Saturday to maintain some breathing space atop the standings.
Jesus converted a first-half penalty for his first goal since Oct. 1 to give Arsenal the lead, and then made it 3-0 with a simple finish from close range in the 55th. The Brazilian striker had played 17 games for club and country without a goal, a stretch that was also interrupted by a lengthy spell on the sidelines after being injured at the World Cup.
“I want to score every game,” Jesus said. “But sometimes it can’t happen. I am more happy with the three points than the goals.”
Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring his side’s first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium in London, Saturday, April 1, 2023.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Ben White added the second goal shortly after the halftime break and Granit Xhaka headed in a late fourth as Arsenal maintained an eight-point gap over defending champion Manchester City, which has a game in hand.
Leeds pulled a goal back with a deflected shot by Rasmus Kristensen to make it 3-1 in the 76th, but the loss leaves the visitors just a point above the relegation zone.
After City battered Liverpool 4-1 in the early game, Arsenal was under pressure to respond but nearly went behind inside 10 seconds for the second time in its last three home league games. Leeds almost replicated Bournemouth’s feat of scoring straight from the kickoff at the Emirates with a quick attack down the right flank, but Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale kept out Kristensen’s shot that time.
Bukayo Saka was on the bench for Arsenal for the first time in the league since December 2021 because of a minor illness, and the Gunners’ attack seemed to lack its normal fluidity for the opening 30 minutes — although Jesus wasted a great chance in the 11th when he headed over the bar from six yards out. Instead it was Ramsdale that had saves to make as he had to deny Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison in quick succession shortly after the half-hour mark.
But Arsenal went ahead after Luke Ayling tripped Jesus in the area and the Brazilian converted the spot kick by sending Illan Meslier the wrong way and slotting his shot down the middle.
It was all Arsenal in the second half, as White was on hand at the far post to steer in a low cross from Gabriel Martinelli in the 47th to double the lead.
Arsenal’s Gabriel, right, heads the ball on goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium in London, Saturday, April 1, 2023.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Jesus then played a neat interchange with Leandro Trossard, who broke into the area and squared the ball back for the striker to toe-poke into the net from six yards out.
It was Jesus’ first league start since November following surgery on a knee injury sustained at the World Cup.
“So happy for him, and everybody who contributed to having him in the state that he is at the moment,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “Because he put so much work (into) it. He brings that quality, that unpredictability to the squad.”
Potter Under Pressure
If Chelsea fans thought Graham Potter had turned a corner, it might be time to think again.
A 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa saw the Champions League quarterfinalists drop into the bottom half of the league in 11th place. It is also a result that is likely to place further scrutiny on Potter’s position after this latest blow to his early reign at Stamford Bridge.
There were boos from the home fans after the final whistle.
Aston Villa’s John McGinn, not seen in the picture, scores during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/David Cliff)
“After a defeat there is always a disappointment. There is always a feeling we have not moved forward, that’s fair to say,” Potter said.
He added: “I don’t like to blame anybody, I have to take responsibility.”
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All Premier Leagues results on Saturday 1st April 2023
