News from Thailand – July 30, 2014

Two of the four men suspected of attacking anti-government protesters were handcuffed on Monday. The other two are still fugitives, but their identities are known.

One of them is suspected of the grenade attacks on Banthadthong Road and Victory Monument earlier this year. He would have fled abroad.

The police tracked down the four thanks to the questioning of a man who had previously been arrested for possessing an impressive amount of weapons of war. He provided the four with grenades.

The NCPO (junta) and police yesterday announced the state of affairs in the detection of weapons and the fight against drug use, gambling and the squatting of forest reserves. The harvest of seized drugs and slot machines is not bad. In addition, 4,1 million cubic meters of illegal timber have now been confiscated. Some of the seized weapons were displayed at First Army Region headquarters yesterday (pictured).

Last weekend, police arrested 2.779 people on charges of illegal possession of weapons. Twelve people were arrested for violent attacks.

- The decision is made. The fairytale marriage between Thai actress Janie Tienphosuwan and Chonsawat 'Ae' Asavahame, millionaire and politician, has come to an end after a year. As proof, Janie shows the divorce certificate on social media (photo homepage). Rumors of the split surfaced after photos posted on social media of a woman with a black eye and bruises on her back, who closely resembled Janie. A clue also formed the change of her account Start Again.

Yesterday, Janie told her fans, “This is the year of change. I want to thank all fans for their continued support and understanding. I believe in love, whatever kind of love it is.'

It is reported that Samut Prakan Provincial Council President Chonsawat is now dating a young woman who helps him prepare for weekend motorcycle races. Janie is now dating a tomboy (boyish woman, not necessarily a lesbian). It is Khonsawat's second divorce. He was previously married to well-known singer Nantida Kaewbuasai. So, we know that too.

– Now that things are back and forth between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodia expects that the quarrel about Hindu temple Preah Vihear can come to an end. Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh said at the end of a two-day visit to Thailand he expects "no problems" when the issue comes up. It was not discussed during the visit.

Both countries need to agree on the exact border of the so-called promotion (cliff) on which the temple stands. The temple itself is on Cambodian territory, but both countries dispute an adjacent area of ​​4,6 square kilometers. Last year, the International Court of Justice in The Hague assigned the immediate vicinity to Cambodia without specifying the exact border. The Court also called on both countries to work together to protect the temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tea Banh also said that Cambodia will not host core members of the red shirt movement and those under arrest warrants who want to use Cambodia as a base.

During the visit to Phnom Penh, coupleider Prayuth Chan-ocha once again thanked for the release of activist Veera Somkomenkid, who had been imprisoned there for two years for espionage.

– Sometimes rumors remain rumors and sometimes rumors turn out not to have been rumors. This applies to the rumor that the prison for political prisoners in Laksi would close because of the high costs. Sure enough, on Monday sixteen red shirt prisoners moved to other prisons; six remained.

The newspaper delicately notes that since the protests against the Pheu Thai government began last year, the detainees have never received a visit from red shirt leaders. Since the coup of May 22, hardly anyone comes. “We are treated as if we were refugees,” says one of them. "I feel demotivated about what happened."

Laksi Jail, a small three-storey building on the grounds of the Police Club on Vibhavadi Road, has been used to house political prisoners in the 1976s and 2012s during Sarit Thanarat's reign and after the massacre in October 2010 on the campus of Thammasat University. In January XNUMX, the building was reopened to prisoners involved in political violence in XNUMX.

– Most women's prisons are heavily overcrowded. The Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) says the number of prisoners is two to six times capacity. This has emerged from a study in ten prisons. It calls on the authorities to improve the living conditions of the women.

In June, Thailand had 44.204 female prisoners in women's prisons, drug addiction facilities and mixed prisons. In terms of population, Thailand has the highest number of female captives in the world: 68,2 per 100.000 inhabitants.

The IPSR study comes with shocking figures. In a prison in the South, 45 women are in one cell. A rest shelter [?] where prisoners spend 14 hours a day is heavily overcrowded. In some prisons, extra floors were constructed in cells. In a prison in the North there is one toilet for 150 prisoners.

The prisons also hold suspects on remand because the police investigation and judicial process are extremely slow. 78 percent of female prisoners have been convicted of a drug offence. This is partly due to the rather rigid anti-drug policy.

The IPSR sets a ticket to leave policy for. After serving three-quarters or two-thirds of their sentence, well-behaved prisoners should be released. 50.000 prisoners are eligible for this, the IPSR has calculated. Other ideas include alternative punishments and house arrest.

– More dark clouds for Yingluck. She is already having such a hard time because of the rice corruption and now there is also an investigation by the Electoral Council into trips she made to the North ahead of the February 2 elections.

Yingluck and eight others allegedly misused government funds for what was actually election propaganda, not business travel. She also allegedly ordered local authorities to recruit supporters to greet her with banners.

The Electoral Council will set up a panel to investigate the allegations. A full investigation can then follow. According to Yingluck's lawyer, she never gave speeches related to the elections during her visits to the North. Former Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Surasawadi has dismissed the allegations as 'nonsense'. The then outgoing government was only doing its duty. He denies that people have been recruited to greet them.

- Big Brother is watching you and this time it's the parents those kids in a video game store to keep an eye on. The Department of Cultural Promotion will build an internet network that connects cameras in those stores and Google Maps to the department's website. The first will be a pilot project in Bangkok, where there are about 13 stores. The shops must register the XNUMX-digit code on the ID card of the kids.

– Film critic and independent film producer Kong Rithdee has been awarded the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. The French ambassador pinned the decorations on him yesterday in the embassy. Kong reviews in Bangkok Post movies and he has a weekly column. Over the past ten years he has served on numerous film festival juries, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

– A taxi driver who was imprisoned in 2009 for a crime he did not commit, told the Crime Suppression Division yesterday his story in front of reporters. The man was acquitted on appeal in February 2012, but the civil court refused to grant him compensation. He reasons as follows: You were acquitted because the evidence was disputable, but that does not mean that you are innocent. And that is why you are legally not entitled to compensation.

- Forest encroachment it's called in English. I translate it as the squatting of forests or the unlawful appropriation of government land. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) seems to be quite rude about the squatters and the National Human Rights Commission does not like that.

The DNP has launched the hunt under the direction of the junta, but NHRC Commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara points out that this order does not cover those whose ancestors already lived there or those who used the land before it was designated a protected forest area.

Those affected include hill tribes in the North, who have been ordered to leave by the DNP, and residents along the Banthat mountain range in Phattalung and Trang. They have to cut down their rubber trees, although a procedure is still underway, initiated by the Abhisit government, whereby they receive land deeds.

– 12-year-old Yasa from Myanmar, born and raised in Thailand, is one of the winners of the Thai language handwriting League. The competition aims to encourage children and young people to read, write and speak Thai correctly. Yasa is in class 3 at Arunmetha school in Tak province. The school's patroness is Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Thirty percent of the students come from poor families who live on the border.

Economic news

– Car sales fell by 40,5 percent in the first half of the year to 440.911 vehicles. Kyoichi Tanada, director of Toyota Motor Thailand Co, attributes the downturn to the impact of domestic political uncertainty on consumer confidence. He thinks the second half of the year will see a recovery, when the "political environment" has stabilised. For the full year, the Thai car industry expects sales of 920.000 vehicles, which is 30,9 percent less than last year. (Source: Website bangkok mail, July 29, 2014)

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

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