Charoen Pokphand Group and True Digital Plus join hands with partners to launch The Collectors at Thailand Game Show 2022

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25 October 2022, 11:49

Charoen Pokphand Group and True Digital Plus join hands with partners from the government, private sector, and civil society with expertise in sustainable development and video game development to launch a new sustainability-themed mobile game at Thailand Game Show 2022, Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC). These partners include the Department of International Organizations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, the United Nations Development Programme, the SDG Research and Support Programme (SDG Move), and True Axion Interactive Co., Ltd. The Collectors is a game about collecting trash and protecting the planet. As the first game in Thailand that highlight the principles of sustainable development, The Collectors represents a new dimension in mobile gaming.

The Collectors was developed from a prototype game about sorting and recycling waste called Trashed, which was created by the team THAItan, the winner of the SDG Game Fest design and development competition. The aim of the competition was to establish video games as a medium through which audiences can better understand and learn about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while having fun. The game will help raise awareness among the youth about environmental issues. Furthermore, The Collectors also integrates into its gameplay six key SDGs: Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, and Life Below Water.

The game is designed to be easy and fun to play, whilst educating players on proper waste management. There are various game modes: Story Mode takes players through the main story; Challenge Mode lets players compete for the best score; and Multiplayer Mode allows 6 players to play together simultaneously. These fun modes teach players about properly managing waste and recycling to protect the environment and lead sustainable lifestyles. The game also does not contain any in-app purchase of any kind.

At the launch event’s panel discussion, the partners supporting the development of the game are represented by Ms. Cataleya Phatoomros, Director of the Development Affairs Division, International Organizations Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr.Mana Prapakamol, General Manager True Digital Plus Co., Ltd. & True Axion Interactive Co., Ltd., Ms.Aphinya Siranart, Head of Exploration, UNDP Accelerator Labs, Dr Yanin Chivakidakarn Huyakorn, Deputy Director of the Knowledge Communication Department, Center for SDG Research and Support (SDG Move), Dr.Thuttai Keeratipongpaiboon, Director of International Strategy and Coordination Division Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, Mrs. Konrawan Sapitaks, Assistant Vice President Global Partnership for Sustainability and Communications, Charoen Pokphand Group Co., Ltd., and Mr.Anat Lokaew, member of THAItan Team, winner of SDGs Game Fest competition.

Furthermore, the partners will expand the game’s reach both domestically and internationally through their networks, including C.P. Group’s partner educational institutions. The Collectors will raise awareness about sustainable development and serve as a model for many countries to put sustainability into practice. Finally, it will also further empower Thai developers and inject innovation and creativity into the Thai gaming industry, enabling its growth into the global market. News on The Collectors can be followed at https://www.facebook.com/thecollectorsgame

Ethnic Group Says Myanmar Air Attack Kills 80 at Celebration

By

Associated Press

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25 October 2022, 10:30

Debris are scattered around destroyed wooden structures near Aung Bar Lay Village, Hpakant township, Kachin state in Myanmar Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo: AP

BANGKOK (AP) — Air strikes by Myanmar’s military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organization, members of the group and a rescue worker said Monday.

The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar.

The number of casualties at Sunday night’s celebration, held by the Kachin Independence Organization in the northern state of Kachin, appeared to be the most in a single air attack since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Initial reports put the death toll at around 60, but later tallies raised it to about 80.

It was impossible to independently confirm details of the incident, though media sympathetic to the Kachin posted videos showing what was said to be the attack’s aftermath, with splintered and flattened wooden structures.

The military government’s information office confirmed in a statement late Monday that there was an attack on what it described as the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army’s 9th Brigade, calling it a “necessary operation” in response to “terrorist” acts carried out by the Kachin group.

It called reports of a high death toll “rumors,” and denied the military had bombed a concert and that singers and audience members were among the dead.

The United Nations’ office in Myanmar said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned and saddened” by reports of the air strikes.

“What would appear to be excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and those responsible must be held to account,” it said.

Envoys representing Western embassies in Myanmar, including the United States, issued a joint statement saying the attack underscores the military regime’s “disregard for its obligation to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”

Myanmar has been wracked for decades by rebellions by ethnic minorities seeking autonomy, but anti-government resistance increased markedly nationwide with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement opposing last year’s military takeover.

The Kachin are one of the stronger ethnic rebel groups and are capable of manufacturing some of their own armaments. They also have a loose alliance with the armed militias of the pro-democracy forces that were formed in 2021 in central Myanmar to fight army rule.

Sunday’s celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization, which included a concert, was held at a base also used for military training by the Kachin Independence Army, the KIO’s armed wing. It is located near Aung Bar Lay village in Hpakant township, a remote mountainous area 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.

Hpakant is the center of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry, from which both the government and the rebels derive revenue.

As many as 80 people were killed and about 100 were injured in Sunday’s attack on the first day of a three-day celebration of the KIO’s founding, a spokesperson for the Kachin Artists Association told The Associated Press by phone. He said he first heard there had been 60 deaths, but was later told by sources close to Kachin Independence Army officials that about 80 people had died.

He said military aircraft dropped four bombs on the celebration at about 8 p.m., according to members of his group who were there. Between 300 and 500 people were in attendance and a Kachin singer and keyboard player were among the dead, said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified because he feared punishment by the authorities.

Those killed also included Kachin officers and soldiers, musicians, jade mining business owners and other civilians, he said. They also included at least 10 Kachin military and business VIPs sitting in front of the stage, and cooks working backstage, he added.

The Kachin News Group, a media outlet sympathetic to the KIO, reported that an initial search found 58 bodies and that government security forces had blocked the wounded from being treated at hospitals in nearby towns. It reported later that more than 20 more bodies had been recovered, bringing the death toll to about 80.

Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army, said by phone that KIA soldiers, musicians, businesspeople and villagers were among the dead, but he could not confirm a casualty number due to communications problems. He said the deaths were a loss for all Kachin people, and its group would fly the Kachin flag at half-staff.

An emergency services rescue worker who was in Hpakant and also asked for anonymity said he saw three military aircraft making bombing runs over the celebration ground, just a few kilometers (miles) away. He said he was barred by the KIO from entering the area but heard that more than 60 people were killed, including a KIA brigade commander.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization that tracks killings and arrests, said Friday that 2,377 civilians have died in crackdowns by the security forces since the army took power. Its figure, however, does not always include people killed in military actions in the countryside.

“We fear this attack is part of a pattern of unlawful aerial attacks by the military which has killed and injured civilians in areas controlled by armed groups,” Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Hana Young, said in a statement.

“The military has shown ruthless disregard for civilian lives in its escalating campaign against opponents. It is difficult to believe the military did not know of a significant civilian presence at the site of this attack. The military must immediately grant access to medics and humanitarian assistance to those affected by these air strikes and other civilians in need,” Young said.

Cambodia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, said Sunday that the group’s foreign ministers will hold a special meeting in Indonesia this week to consider the peace process for Myanmar. Myanmar’s generals have all but shunned the group’s previous efforts.

“As officials and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations prepare to host high-level meetings in the coming weeks, this attack highlights the need to overhaul the approach to the crisis in Myanmar,” Amnesty International said. “ASEAN has to step up and formulate a more robust course of action so that military leaders end this escalating repression.”

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Story: Grant Peck.

MARRIOTT JOINS HANDS WITH SOS THAILAND TO CONTINUE IMPROVING FOOD SECURITY AND COMBATING HUNGER IN PHUKET

By

Contributor

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25 October 2022, 10:29

Phuket, Thailand – October 16th is World Food Day, and considered an important day for raising awareness of global food waste. For the second consecutive year, the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotels and resorts in Phuket, together with Scholars of Sustenance Foundation Thailand (SOS), and in cooperation with local authorities, have initiated a Rescue Kitchen activity on October 14th. The objective is to promote World Food Day, and serve over 20,000 freshly cooked nutritious meals, along with drinking water, milk, and snacks to 18 local communities in Mueang Phuket, Thalang, and Kathu districts in Phuket.

“Serving our world is one of Marriott’s core values. Marriott’s International Business Councils are formed in markets where there are multiple hotels to support the communities they operate in. Together with our local partner SOS, we’ve been serving thousands of nutritious meals across the island throughout the year and we plan to continue over the coming years.” said, Mr. Brad Edman, Multi-Property Vice President Phuket and General Manager at Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa.

The Rescue Kitchen activity seeks to promote food equity – it demonstrates that everyone should have access to warm, nutritious meals regardless of their religion, skin color, race, age, or gender; and all sectors in the community shall take care and support each other.

“At Marriott, we are dedicated to supporting the communities in which our associates and their families live and work. This is an important part of our culture and our core values.” added by Ms. Khanittanee Kanthanit, Director of Human Resources at JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa.

This activity took place on Friday, October 14th, 2022 at Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town with support from management and culinary teams from eight Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotels and resorts across the island including JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa, The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa Phuket, Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort, Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa Merlin Beach, Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa Nai Yang Beach, The Naka Island Resort & Spa, and Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong Beach Resort.

Rishi Sunak: UK’s Ex-treasury Chief Gets His Shot at PM Job

By

Associated Press

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25 October 2022, 10:00

FILE - A new mural showing the two Conservative leadership contestants Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss appears on a wall in Belfast City Centre, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. Photo: Peter Morrison / AP File

LONDON (AP) — Rishi Sunak ran for Britain’s top job and lost. Then he got another shot — and the chance to say “I told you so.”

The former U.K. Treasury chief was runner-up to Liz Truss in the contest to replace the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. But Truss quit after a turbulent 45-day term, and Johnson has abandoned a comeback attempt. That left Sunak out front, and he won the race Monday to be leader of the Conservative Party and will assume the office he missed out on less than two months ago.

Victory in the Conservative leadership contest is vindication for Sunak, who warned in the last campaign that Truss’ tax-cutting economic plans were reckless and would cause havoc. And so they did.

Truss resigned last week after her package of tax cuts spooked financial markets, hammered the value of the pound and obliterated her authority.

Sunak will be Britain’s first leader of color and the first Hindu to take the top job. At 42, he’ll also be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years, a political prodigy whose youthful looks, sharp suits, and smooth, confident manner saw him dubbed “Dishy Rishi” by the British media.

To win, Sunak had to overcome allegations by opponents that he was a turncoat for quitting Johnson’s government as it foundered amid ethics scandals. The near-simultaneous resignations of Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid on July 5 set off a chain reaction. Within 48 hours, some 50 members of the government had quit, and Johnson was forced to step down.

Sunak painted it as a matter of principle, saying he wanted to repair the “breakdown of trust” in politics. He also accused Truss of offering “fairy tales” by promising immediate tax cuts when he felt curbing soaring inflation was a bigger priority.

“I would rather lose having fought for the things that I passionately believe are right for our country, and being true to my values, than win on a false promise,” Sunak said in a BBC interview.

Sunak was born in 1980 in Southampton on England’s south coast to parents of Indian descent who were both born in East Africa. He grew up in a middle-class family, his father a family doctor and his mother a pharmacist, and says he inherited their hard-working ethos.

“I grew up working in the shop, delivering medicines,” he said during the campaign. “I worked as a waiter at the Indian restaurant down the street.”

He has described how his parents saved to send him to Winchester College, one of Britain’s most expensive and exclusive boarding schools.

There he mingled with the elite. Rivals recently dug up a clip from a 2001 television documentary about the class system in which the 21-year-old Sunak said he had “friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are, you know, working class — well, not working class.”

After high school, Sunak studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University — the degree of choice for future prime ministers — then got an MBA at Stanford University.

He worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as a hedge fund manager and lived in the U.S., where he met his wife, Akshata Murty. They have two daughters.

Returning to Britain, Sunak was elected to Parliament for the safe Tory seat of Richmond in Yorkshire in 2015. In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, he supported leaving the European Union — a risky career move, since it went against the Conservative government’s policy.

When “leave” unexpectedly won, Sunak’s career took off. He served in several junior ministerial posts before being appointed chancellor of the exchequer — head of the Treasury — by Johnson in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

An instinctively low-tax, small state politician who idolizes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he nonetheless forked out billions in government money to keep people and businesses afloat during the pandemic. His furlough program, which paid the salaries of millions of workers when they were temporarily laid off, made him the most popular member of the government — a status he burnished with slick social media messages that rivals and critics said stressed his own brand more than the government’s.

But Sunak has had his wobbles over the years. Critics said a campaign to get people to eat in restaurants after lockdown restrictions were eased in the summer of 2020 contributed to another wave of COVID-19.

Others have said Sunak’s family’s vast wealth and Silicon Valley past put him out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people.

He also faced questions about his finances and those of his wife. Murty is the daughter of the billionaire founder of Indian tech giant Infosys, and the couple is worth 730 million pounds ($877 million), according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

In April 2022, it emerged that Murty did not pay U.K. tax on her overseas income. The practice was legal, but it looked bad at a time when Sunak was raising taxes for millions of Britons. Sunak also was criticized for holding on to his American green card, which signifies an intent to settle in the U.S., for two years after he became Britain’s finance minister.

Sunak was cleared of wrongdoing, but the revelations still hurt. He was fined by police, along with Johnson and dozens of others, for attending a party in the prime minister’s office in 2020 that broke coronavirus lockdown rules. Outrage over those parties at a time when Britons were forced to stay home contributed to Johnson’s downfall. Sunak has said he attended inadvertently and briefly.

In his first leadership campaign, he depicted himself as the candidate of grown-up decisions and fiscal probity, criticizing Truss’ plans to lower taxes and increase borrowing, and vowing to get inflation under control.

That’s now a harder job than ever.

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Story: Jill Lawless.

Opinion: When Members of Pro-democracy Camp Support Violence

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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23 October 2022, 14:00

Weerawit Rungruengsiriphon, left, attacks activist Srisuwan Janya, middle, outside the Central Investigation Bureau on Oct. 18, 2022.

In a long drawn out struggle for a truly free, equal, and democratic society, sometimes we forget what we stand for and what are our cherished principles.

The minutes and hours after Tuesday’s surprise assault against well-known pro-establishment and serial petitioner Srisuwan Janya was telling. The vast majority of the so-called pro-democracy camp flooded social media with congratulatory message, schadenfreude.

“MVP of the year,” wrote a user on Facebook page “No Salim.” “Yeah! Finally, a true hero showed up … the best thing that happened this year in my country,” tweeted user @KoMnz.

Not just little-known social media users rejoiced, publicly known figures in the camp also at least justified the attack. “If you believe that ‘a military coup is a necessary evil,’ then assaulting Srisuwan was also necessary,” wrote Baramee Chaiyarat, a staunch campaigner for the release of political prisoners.

Well-known redshirt activist Anurak Jeantawanich, himself once a victim of political violence through assault wrote on Tuesday, “I don’t see anything wrong. If he kicks [Srisuwan] again, I will crowdfund him again.”

Some are more soul searching, but only posted a comment on Facebook to be visible only to their friends.

A prominent female member of the monarchy-reform movement wrote on her Facebook that the powers that be and people like Srisuwan have been unleashing various forms of violence over the years that at times, it may be less graphic, so a proportionate retaliation should be defended. She said those who are idealist and criticize the attack by Weerawit are just not realistic. “We should talk about violent [retaliation] and its proportionality.”

The attacker, Weerawit Rungruengsiriphon, 62, aka “Uncle Sak,” who punched and kicked Srisuwan in front of reporters and news cameras was nearly unanimously and instantly lauded as a “hero” of the pro-democracy camp and many transferred cash to his bank account.

It went to the point where when he was briefly arrested before being granted bail, Weerawit denied having earned over six million baht from crowd-funding donations as reported by one major local media. He would not divulge how much he has received, however.

No matter how much I understand why many in the pro-democracy camp were elated by the attack, it cannot be condoned and must be condemned. It marks another proof that the fight for a truly democratic, free, and peaceful society will be much harder and take longer time. It must also include reflexivity among members of the pro-democracy camp.

For those who say do not be an idealist, it is an eye for an eye and dog eats dog world out there, or that there should be no mercy for those deemed as “bad” and a hindrance for freedom and democracy, I say ask yourself if democracy is not a form of idealism and ask yourself what principle do you cherished?

We cannot create a free and democratic Thailand based on violence and fears.

It is not difficult and even tempting for people to resort to more violence if people publicly and overwhelmingly expressed support for it. But is non-violence not a core principle of a free and democratic society?

We cannot say we are against violence and condone such attacks by saying that is an exemption. That is what some ultra-royalists do when defending the draconian lese majeste law, which is disproportionate in its severity and against free speech, as necessary to protect the monarchy.

Yes, we need to talk about structural violence, not readily visible violence unleashed through unjust laws such as the lese majeste in which Srisuwan has accused a number of people, causing some to lose their career prospects and more.

These things must be dealt with, and I will deal with it in a separate column in the future, but graphic violent retaliation will simply not make Thailand democratic and free in a sustainable manner.

World Animal Production Thailand presents “Happy Meat Happy Me”

By

Contributor

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21 October 2022, 16:26

raising public awareness on food safety and ethical eating, introducing its ambassador, Maria Poonlertlarp, with an Animal Welfare Problem Themed Fashion Show This October 20 – 23, at Samyan Mitrtown G Floor

World Animal Protection-Thailand, a global non-governmental organization with a goal to improve animal welfare, presents “Happy Meat Happy Me”, an interactive exhibition, invites consumers to an immersive learning experience. This event aims to raise public awareness of food safety and ethical eating. WAP is calling for a revolution towards better animal welfare in the food system and animals on farms, before consumption. “Happy Meet Happy Me” is in the heart of the city, Bangkok, where consumers are one of the largest and most diverse groups, during October 20 – 23, at Samyan Mitrtown G Floor. The event will introduce the World Animal Protection Thailand’s Ambassador, Maria Poonlertlarp, Miss Universe Thailand 2017, making her first appearance in a creative “END FACTORY FARMING” fashion show, developed under the concept of problems in animal welfare, calling for justice for animals! on October 20, 2021.

Roatchana Sungthong, Country Director, World Animal Protection Thailand, highlighted the objective of the event saying that “Happy Meat Happy Me, an interactive exhibition, aims to raise public awareness of animal welfare which has effects on our health and the environment. We want this event to be a chance for people to learn and take action on improving animal welfare. The World Animal Protection is committed to move the world to protect animals, putting an end to needless suffering and animal cruelty. Their mission is to create a better world for animals, even for those raised for food. We need to make sure that there is no future for inhumane factory farming and introduce an equitable and sustainable food system for the world.”

“In this event, we, at World Animal Protection, are not asking everyone to completely cut meat from their diet, because we know that there are animals raised for food. However, we want to raise people’s awareness, telling everyone that animals’ lives and feelings matter. We want to show the cruelty and suffering that they have to go through and how they affect us. These are the messages that we want to convey. Everyone wants to be happy every single day of our lives, and just like us, animals also need to live a good life until the last day of their lives,” Roatchana added.

Maria Poonlertlarp, World Animal Protection Thailand’s Ambassador, said that “I am very honored to work alongside World Animal Protection as the spokesperson sharing information and the importance of animal welfare and to get a chance to improve their quality of life, allowing them to live the way nature intended to. I once visited a free-range chicken farm, the chickens looks so happy there, with the feeling of their feet touching the ground, and the sun against their feather. On the contrary, those on factory farms are crammed in barren battery cages. Some lose their feather, some are wounded, and some couldn’t even walk. Those are just the tip of the suffering they have to face. So if we reduce meat from our diet, or choose to consume meat from farms that care about animal welfare, not only that we will get to eat safe antibiotic-free meat, but we will also get to help the animal raised for food to live the happiest during their time.

Not to mention that, as a consumer, it is important to know where our food is from, and how it affected us and our environment. Therefore, I believe that by being the ambassador of the World Animal Protection Thailand I will be able to help create an impact that changes the way we consume our food.”

The highlight on the opening day of the “Happy Meat Happy Me” event is the fashion show developed under the concept of problems in animal welfare by Sarisa Nuansri, Creative Director of SAVETUDIO. The “END FACTORY FARMING” collection is comprised of ready-to-wear clothes made with upcycling t-shirts from the fast-fashion industry, aiming for minimum impact on the environment. The silhouette of this collection is inspired by the clothes of the local farmer. The prints derive from flowers and nature with a hint of happy farm animals (pigs and chickens) through a cute drawing, and a cute and homey color inspired by a free-range farm in a cartoon drawing of food like bacon and eggs. This is ironic, of course, because the animal raised for food often live to be only 3 – 4 months old in a factory farming environment. No difference from humans, without proper welfare, animals are hurt and tormented. The models represent the animals, calling for justice for them.

In this 4-day “Happy Meat Happy Me” event, there are various activities such as the digital interactive exhibition that will give everyone a food experience starting from picking their favorite dishes from the menu, learning about their origin and the animal welfare for chickens and pigs in the factory farm, as well as the adverse effects of eating unsafe food, and what are some actions we could take towards better animal welfare for factory farming.

There are also different sessions on the main stage where the audience can share their thoughts such as:

Thursday, October 20, 2022:
– 4.00 PM A panel discussion on “What’s the point?: Why do the lives of pigs and chickens lives matter?”, a take on the social awareness of animal welfare and our quality of life in the sustainable world. The panel featured many influential people, such as Zcongklod Bangyikhan, editor-in-chief of the Cloud magazine, Thanaboon Somboon, founder of CreativeMOVE, and Greenery, Muandao. Kongwanarat, Farm Animal/Food System Campaign Manager (WAP), and Maria Poonlertlarp, the ambassador of World Animal Protection-Thailand.

Friday, October 21, 2022:
– 2.00 PM A panel discussion on “Safety Food Producer Partnership” by Pig and Poultry Association. The panel will include Dr. Fuse Wanich Wantawee the owner of WorTawee Biodynamic Farm; Panchana Vatanasathien, the founder of Food for Fighter, and Jo Sloane, the founder of Sloane’s network of brands which specializes in sourcing only high welfare ingredients.
– 4.00 PM A panel discussion on “Factory Farming and the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance” led by Assistant Professor Dr. Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee, Drug System Monitoring and Development Centre, DMDC, Supoj Singtosri, the President of the Deep-Litter System Pig Farm Network at Donrae Ratchaburi Province, and Chokdee Smithkittipol, Farm Animal/Food System Campaign Manager (WAP).
Saturday, October 22, 2022:
– 12.00 PM “Happy Meat Happy Me” Cooking Show by Tam Chudaree Debhakam, the first Top Chef Thailand, and the founder of Baan Tepa Culinary Space driven by the philosophy of sustainability. Fundraising Animal Print Workshop by Baitong Kiratinuch Luang-anggoon will share her inspiration and passion for screen printing animals on a t-shirt to raise funds for animal welfare for the past ten years; and the Limited-Edition animal print screening activity that you can join.
Sunday, October 23, 2022:
– 2.00 PM A panel discussion on “The solution: Happy Meat Happy Me” by Supoj Singtosri, the President of the Deep-Litter System Pig Farm Network at Donrae Ratchaburi Province, Amnart Reansoi, the Owner of Tan Khun Organic Farm; and Vorakorn Laohaserikul, the Owner of Kiddee Farm. In this panel, you will get a chance to learn more about “the solution” of how to run a business that is practical and ethical, with real-life examples and experiences, as well as techniques to spot high-quality meat sourced from farms of high animal welfare.

Please come join us, broaden your eating experiences with high animal welfare farms and learn more about safe food at “Happy Meat Happy Me” this October 20 – 23, at Samyan Mitrtown G Floor. 10.00 AM – 8.00 PM (FREE ADMISSION)

For more information: www.worldanimalprotection.org and Facebook fanpage: World Animal Protection Thailand #HappyMeatHappyMe #WorldAnimalProtectionThailand

Myanmar Villagers Say Army Beheaded High School Teacher

By

Associated Press

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21 October 2022, 11:00

The wall of a school structure is left standing after it was burned in Taung Myint village in the Magway region of Myanmar on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. Photo: AP

BANGKOK (AP) — The decapitated body of a high school teacher was left on grotesque display at a school in central Myanmar after he was detained and killed by the military, witnesses said Thursday, marking the latest of many abuses alleged as the army tries to crush opposition to military rule.

According to witnesses’ descriptions and photos taken in Taung Myint village in the rural Magway region, the headless body of 46-year-old Saw Tun Moe was left on the ground in front of the school’s spiked gate and his head was impaled on top of it. The school, which has been closed since last year, was also burned.

Neither the military government nor the state-controlled media have released information about the teacher’s death.

Myanmar’s military has arrested tens of thousands of people and been blamed for the deaths of more than 2,300 civilians since seizing power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We are appalled by reports that Burma’s military regime arrested, publicly mutilated, and beheaded a schoolteacher in Magway Region,” U.S State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Twitter. “The regime’s brutal violence, including against educators, demands a strong response from the international community.” The United States officially refers to Myanmar by its old name, Burma, which was changed by a previous military government.

In September, at least seven young students were killed in a helicopter attack on a school in a Buddhist monastery in the Sagaing region in north-central Myanmar. The military government denied responsibility for the attacks. The U.N. has documented 260 attacks on schools and education personnel since the army takeover, the U.N. Child Rights Committee said in June.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military’s February 2021 seizure of power was met by nationwide peaceful protests and civil disobedience that security forces suppressed with deadly force. The repression led to widespread armed resistance, which has since turned into what U.N. experts have characterized as a civil war.

The army has conducted major offensives in the countryside, including burning down villages and driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, allowing them little or no access to humanitarian assistance.

Myanmar’s military has long been accused of serious human rights violations, most notably in the western state of Rakhine. International courts are considering whether it committed genocide there in a brutal 2017 counterinsurgency campaign that caused more than 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh for safety.

The slain teacher, Saw Tun Moe, was a longtime educator who had participated in anti-military protests before taking charge of a high school founded by the country’s pro-democracy movement in his native Thit Nyi Naung village.

The National Unity Government, an underground organization opposed to military rule that styles itself as the country’s legitimate administrative body, opened a network of schools this year as an interim education system in parts of the country where it believed armed militias loyal to it were strong enough to defend themselves.

Saw Tun Moe also taught mathematics at his village school and another nearby alternative school and was involved in the administration of Thit Nyi Naung, where he lived with his family. He previously taught at a private school in Magway, also known as Magwe, for 20 years.

The NUG’s education arm mourned his death in a statement late Thursday that praised him and other fallen teachers as “revolutionary heroes” and expressed solidarity with the teachers and students who continue their resistance to the military.

His death occurred as a column of about 90 government soldiers carried out sweeps of at least a dozen area villages this month.

A villager told The Associated Press by phone that she was among about two dozen villagers including Saw Tun Moe who were hiding behind a hut in a peanut field at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday when a group of more than 80 soldiers accompanied by armed civilians arrived, shooting their guns into the air. The military arms and employs civilian auxiliaries who serve as guides and take part in raids.

The villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared being punished by the authorities, said they were caught by the troops, who seized their phones and other belongings and at an officer’s command separated three men from the group, but took away only Saw Tun Moe.

“Our heads were bowed at that time and we didn’t dare to look at them. Later, one of the soldiers called to him, “Come. Come fatty, follow us,” and took him away. The soldiers treated him leniently, so we didn’t think this would happen,” the villager said.

She said Saw Tun Moe was taken to Taung Myint village, more than a kilometer (almost a mile) north of Thit Nyi Naung, and killed him there the following day.

“I learned on Monday morning that he had been killed. It is very sad to lose a good teacher who we depended on for our children’s education,” the villager added. She said her two children studied at his school.

A villager from Taung Myint village said he saw Saw Tun Moe’s body at about 11 a.m. Monday after the soldiers had left.

“First, I called my friends, then I looked at the body more closely. I immediately knew that it was Teacher Moe. He used to visit our village as a schoolteacher in the past few months, so I recognized his face,” said the villager from Taung Myint, who also asked not to be named for his own safety.

Photos taken by his friend showed the teacher’s body and head. An old campaign poster with Suu Kyi’s photos covered the corpse’s thigh. Fingers severed from his right hand had been placed between his thighs, according to the villagers. A three-finger salute is a gesture adopted by the country’s civil disobedience movement, inspired by “The Hunger Games” series.

On an outside wall of the school, which was partially burned Sunday by the soldiers, is scrawled graffiti with an ominous warning: “I will be back, you (expletive) who ran away.”

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Story: Grant Peck.

UK’s Liz Truss Quits After Turmoil Obliterated Her Authority

By

Associated Press

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20 October 2022, 21:00

In this handout photo provided by UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons in London, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. Photo: Jessica Taylor / UK Parliament via AP

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday — bowing to the inevitable after a tumultuous, short-lived term in which her policies triggered turmoil in financial markets and a rebellion in her party that obliterated her authority.

Making a hastily scheduled statement outside her 10 Downing Street office, Truss acknowledged that “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

Hers is the third resignation by a Conservative prime minister in as many years and leaves a divided party seeking a leader who can unify its warring factions. Truss, who said she will remain in office for a few more days while that process unfolds, has been prime minister for just 45 days.

Just a day earlier she had vowed to stay in power, saying she was “a fighter and not a quitter.” But Truss couldn’t hold on any longer after a senior minister quit her government with a barrage of criticism and a vote in the House of Commons descended into chaos and acrimony just days after she was forced to abandon many of her economic policies.

A growing number of lawmakers had called for Truss to resign after weeks of turmoil sparked by her economic plan. When it was unveiled by the government last month, the plan triggered financial turmoil and a political crisis that has seen the replacement of Truss’ Treasury chief, multiple policy U-turns and a breakdown of discipline in the governing Conservative Party.

Earlier, Conservative lawmaker Simon Hoare said the government was in disarray.

“Nobody has a route plan. It’s all sort of hand-to-hand fighting on a day-to-day basis,” he told the BBC on Thursday.

Truss quit after a meeting with Graham Brady, a senior Conservative lawmaker who oversees leadership challenges. Brady was tasked with assessing whether the prime minister still has the support of Tory members of Parliament — and it seemed she did not.

“It’s time for the prime minister to go,” Conservative lawmaker Miriam Cates said earlier Thursday. Another, Steve Double, said of Truss: “She isn’t up to the job, sadly.” Legislator Ruth Edwards said “it is not responsible for the party to allow her to remain in power.”

Lawmakers’ anger grew after a Wednesday evening vote over fracking for shale gas — a practice that Truss wants to resume despite opposition from many Conservatives — produced chaotic scenes in Parliament.

With Conservatives holding a large parliamentary majority, an opposition call for a fracking ban was easily defeated. But there were displays of anger in the House of Commons, with party whips accused of using heavy-handed tactics to gain votes.

Chris Bryant, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, said he “saw members being physically manhandled … and being bullied.” Conservative officials denied there was manhandling.

Rumors swirled that Conservative Chief Whip Wendy Morton, who is responsible for party discipline, and her deputy had resigned. Hours later, Truss’ office said both remained in their jobs.

Newspapers that usually support the Conservatives were vitriolic. An editorial in the Daily Mail was headlined: “The wheels have come off the Tory clown car.”

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, sent onto the airwaves Thursday morning to defend the government, insisted the administration was providing “stability.” But she was unable to guarantee Truss would lead the party into the next election.

“At the moment, I think that’s the case,” she said.

With opinion polls giving the Labour Party a large and growing lead, the Conservative Party decided its only hope of avoiding electoral oblivion was to replace Truss. But they remain divided over who exactly should do that.

The party is keen to avoid another divisive leadership contest like the race a few months ago that saw Truss defeat ex-Treasury chief Rishi Sunak. Among potential replacements — if only Conservative lawmakers can agree — are Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and newly appointed Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt.

Whoever it is will be the country’s third prime minister this year alone. A national election doesn’t have to be held until 2024.

Truss’ downfall was hastened by the resignation on Wednesday of Home Secretary Suella Braverman. She quit after breaching rules by sending an official document from her personal email account. She used her resignation letter to lambaste Truss, saying she had “concerns about the direction of this government.”

“The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes,” she said in a thinly veiled dig at Truss.

Braverman was replaced as home secretary, the minister responsible for immigration and law and order, by former Cabinet minister Grant Shapps, a high-profile supporter of her defeated rival Sunak.

The dramatic developments came days after Truss fired her Treasury chief, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Friday after the economic package the pair unveiled Sept. 23 spooked financial markets and triggered an economic and political crisis.

The plan’s 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) in unfunded tax cuts sparked turmoil on financial markets, hammering the value of the pound and increasing the cost of U.K. government borrowing. The Bank of England was forced to intervene to prevent the crisis from spreading to the wider economy and putting pension funds at risk.

On Monday Kwarteng’s replacement, Hunt, scrapped almost all of Truss’ tax cuts, along with her flagship energy policy and her promise of no public spending cuts. He said the government will need to save billions of pounds and there are “many difficult decisions” to be made before he sets out a medium-term fiscal plan on Oct. 31.

Speaking to lawmakers for the first time since the U-turn, Truss apologized Wednesday and admitted she had made mistakes during her six weeks in office, but insisted that by changing course she had “taken responsibility and made the right decisions in the interest of the country’s economic stability.”

Opposition lawmakers shouted “Resign!” as she spoke in the House of Commons. But Truss said she would not.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of lacking “the basic patriotic duty to keep the British people out of their own pathetic squabbles.”

He said that amid a worsening a cost-of-living crisis, “Britain cannot afford the chaos of the Conservatives anymore. We need a general election now.”

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Story: Jill Lawless.

Blasts Kill at Least 8 at Myanmar’s Insein Prison

By

Associated Press

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20 October 2022, 15:30

In this photo provided by the Military True News Information Team, a parcel-reception location at the entrance of the Insein prison sits damaged after an explosion Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: Military True News Information Team via AP

BANGKOK (AP) — A bombing on Wednesday near the front gate of Myanmar’s main prison for political detainees killed at least eight people, including visitors and prison personnel, local media and the government said.

Five people who were delivering parcels to prisoners and three prison staff were killed when two bombs exploded around 9:40 a.m., News of Myanmar, an online news service sympathetic to the country’s military government, reported on the Telegram social media platform. The blasts occurred inside and outside of the parcel reception office near the main iron gate of Insein Prison in Yangon, the country’s biggest city.

The military’s information office confirmed in a statement that five visitors, including a 10-year-old girl, and three prison staff were killed, and that an unexploded bomb had also been found in a parcel. It said 13 visitors, including a 9-year-old boy, and five prison personnel were being treated for injuries at Insein township hospital.

The prison has been notorious for decades for holding political prisoners under various military governments. Families of prisoners are allowed to bring parcels with items such as food, clothing and medicine.

Several resistance groups engaged in struggle against the military government, including the Yangon Revolution Force, Yangon Urban Guerrillas and the General Strike Committee, quickly released statements condemning the attacks for hurting civilians.

However, a little-known anti-government group later posted a statement on Telegram saying it had carried out the attack. The Special Task Agency of Burma said it launched the mission because of continued oppression of revolutionary fighters by prison personnel. It said the civilian casualties were caused by indiscriminate gunfire by security forces after the blasts.

Claims of responsibility, especially in cases where civilians are killed, are often controversial because while many anti-government groups operate autonomously and with little discipline or training, there is suspicion that some attacks are carried out by provocateurs working for the government to discredit the resistance movement.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi last year, triggering nationwide peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force. The repression led to widespread armed resistance, which has since turned into what some U.N. experts have characterized as civil war.

About 2,367 civilians have died in a crackdown on resistance, according to detailed lists compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights watchdog group.

Bombings and shootings in Myanmar cities and armed clashes in the countryside occur daily. Urban guerrillas opposed to military rule carry out targeted killings of people associated with the military and bombings of establishments with official ties.

Photos of Wednesday’s bombings distributed by the military’s information office show items scattered by the blasts and blood on the floor inside the building where parcels for prisoners are received.

A resident who lives near the prison’s entrance gate told The Associated Press by phone that he heard about 10 gunshots after hearing the two explosions but did not know if they caused any casualties.

A lawyer who went to the prison about an hour after the blasts said the areas for arriving visitors and receiving parcels were empty when he arrived, and extra security had been deployed in front of the prison’s main gate. He said he was told that hearings at the court inside the prison had been postponed.

The resident and the lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of being targeted by security forces for speaking to the media.

___

Story: Grant Peck.

Malaysia Election Set for Nov. 19 Amid Fear of Floods

By

Associated Press

-

20 October 2022, 15:00

Malaysia's prime minister office is pictured in Putrajaya, Malaysia Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Photo: Vincent Thian / AP

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Election Commission said Thursday that national elections will be held on Nov. 19, amid concerns that heavy rain and floods during the year-end monsoon season may deter voters.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved Parliament on Oct. 10 for early polls, ignoring protests from his government allies and the opposition for holding a vote in the monsoon season.

Parliament’s term expires in July 2023, but his United Malays National Organization is feuding with allies in the ruling coalition and believes early voting is in its favor. UMNO is banking on a strong win on its own based on a return of support from ethnic Malays and a fragmented opposition before an expected economic softening next year.

Election Commission chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said the nomination date for candidates would be Nov. 5, kicking off two weeks of official campaigning. He said 21.17 million voters will be casting their ballots.

Three states will also hold local polls on Nov. 19, he added. Six states controlled by the opposition and ally parties in Ismail’s government have said they would wait until next year. Four of the country’s 13 states held polls earlier.

UMNO led Malaysia through the National Front coalition since independence from Britain in 1957, but the coalition was brought down in 2018 elections by a multibillion-dollar financial scandal. The then-Prime Minister Najib Razak has since been imprisoned for 12 years for graft, and UMNO’s current president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is also on trial for graft.

The reformist government led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that took office in 2018 collapsed in less than two years due to defections, returning UMNO to power in a shaky alliance. Ismail, who was appointed by the king in August 2021, is the country’s third prime minister since the 2018 polls.

Analysts say new coalitions may be likely after the Nov. 19 polls.

UMNO, had less than 40 of the 222 lawmakers in the just-disbanded Parliament, and may not get the simple majority needed to govern on its own.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Hope Alliance, which won the 2018 polls, is the main contender but votes are expected to be split with the emergence of a number of other parties. This included Mahathir’s own Malay party and the two Malay parties that were part of Ismail’s government.

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