News from Thailand – August 10, 2014
Boontje comes for his wages. That phrase seems to apply to Kritsuda Khunasen, who has said she was tortured by the military while in detention.
The red shirt activist (27) is now suspected of illegal possession of weapons and carrying weapons in public. Arrest warrants were issued against her and two co-defendants on Friday.
Police suspect her and the slain red shirt poet Mai Nueng Kor Kunthee of buying guns to use during the anti-government protests. The suspicion is based on the statement of another suspect of illegal possession of weapons (photo). He stated during a press conference that Kritsuda supplied him with M16 rifles and the poet with M79 grenade launchers.
According to the police, people were trained in the use of weapons at the man's house in Khao Chamao (Rayong). He also allegedly gave guns to others to attack anti-government protesters.
Kritsuda and one of the two co-defendants are said to have fled abroad. Kritsuda would like to apply for political asylum in Europe. The junta says she invented her torture story to support her asylum claim.
Kritsuda shared her story in an interview on YouTube. She was detained by the army for 27 days. International human rights organizations have called for an investigation. When Kritsuda resides in a country that has an extradition treaty with Thailand, the police will request her extradition.
– This month, the peace talks in the South, which have been at a standstill since last year, will resume. Thawil Pliensri, Secretary General of the National Security Council, stated this yesterday. Thawil has asked Malaysia, who is attending the talks as a 'facilitator', to arrange talks with various resistance groups. Last year, only resistance group BRN was discussed.
– The police have arrested the suspect of the September 2009 assassination attempt on an assistant of the late Sompien Eksomya, former head of the Bannang Sata (Yala) police station. Sompien was in the news in 2010 when he asked the then Abhisit government to transfer him to a safe post after working in the South for 42 years. His request was ignored, according to the paper, because he lacked political support. A month later he was murdered.
– Today former Prime Minister Yingluck should return from her holiday abroad and there are still people who believe that she will not come back. Rumors are also circulating that she has postponed her return until the end of the month. Nonsense, says the junta. Two of Yingluck's lawyers know nothing about a possible postponement.
Yingluck left on July 23 with the junta's permission. Yingluck arrives, according to former deputy prime minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul early tomorrow (tonight).
Yingluck has been charged by the National Anti-Corruption Commission with dereliction of duty in the rice mortgage system file. The Public Prosecution Service is now considering whether to bring the case to court. And I'll leave it at that, because I've already explained ad nauseam how the fork is in the stem.
– The SRT, the Thai railway company, is sidelined in the expansion and improvement of the Thai railway network. At least that is the intention of the Ministry of Transport. The ministry wants to form a new service that will deal with this. The SRT would then only be responsible for the daily timetable.
According to Chaiwat Tongkamkoon, deputy director general of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, things are moving much faster with a new service. The service can be formed within two years. She will be responsible for train projects in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Phuket and Hat Yai (Songkhla).
The formation of a new service is welcomed by the Ministry of Finance's Neighboring Countries Economic Development Agency. The SRT, which is already heavily burdened by debt, will then be freed from the investment costs of all the nice plans.
– Restaurant owners at Ratchada soi 3 in Ding Daeng (Bangkok) say they were harassed last Thursday by seven men, who claimed to be from the police or GMM Grammy and instructed to end the unauthorized use of music, subject to copyright.
That they were agents does not seem very likely because they got out of vehicles with Chiang Mai license plates and refused to identify themselves, says the owner of an ice cream shop. One of the men wanted to take the USB stick out of her CD player, even though the player was off. The men told her that GMM Grammy had filed a complaint.
Other businesses also received visitors. There they said they were Grammy representatives. In one case, the owner is said to have paid 20.000 baht 'settlement'.
The Ding Daeng police are clueless and point out that Ratchada soi 3 falls under the jurisdiction of the Huai Khwang bureau. And that agency can't comment because the duty officer is on leave on Thursday. GMM Grammy declined to comment.
– Chinese and Taiwanese do not have to pay fees for the next three months if they apply for a tourist visa for Thailand. The Ministry of the Interior hopes to promote tourism with this shower.
– A man (56) who stabbed his 80-year-old mother to death on Friday night called the police immediately after the act. In their home at Ramkhamhaeng Soi 68 (Bangkok), the police found the man in shock next to the lifeless body of the woman.
According to neighbors, the man, a former teacher, has been suffering from a mental illness for years. He allegedly assaulted his mother on a regular basis. The woman suffered from kidney disease and had to go to the hospital for treatment three times a week. She was accompanied by neighbours.
– It sounds good: Ethnic minorities, who qualify, receive an ID card and some are allowed to live (or continue to) in forest reserves. These are the two main intentions in a master plan of the Department of Social Development and Welfare. The plan should take effect between 2015 and 2017. It also provides for a census of hill tribes and sea gypsies.
Thailand has 56 ethnic groups with a total of 6,1 million people living in 67 provinces. They make up 9,68 percent of the population.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
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It strikes me that bloggers who first talk about the certainty that Mrs. Kritsuda, the daughter of 'warrior' Seh Deng, has been tortured (and then point the finger of blame at the junta) remain silent when the grave is like two days later it appears that there may be more and even something else going on.
I like to read the reasoning and evidence that the witness in the photo was "of course" bribed and offered a reduced sentence if he testifies against Ms. Kritsuda. The latter procedure is also very common in other countries, including the Netherlands.
It's very good that you draw attention to that, Chris. We will see. But can you give me the source of your claim that Kritsuda is the daughter of 'warrior' Seh Daeng? I couldn't find that anywhere. With my thanks. (Seh Daeng is Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was shot in the head by a sniper while speaking to a New York Times journalist during the April-May 2010 riots on May 13).
There is no one who explicitly stated with certainty that she was tortured, but people dared to doubt it, that is something else. Likewise, many will doubt the witness as to whether or not he is telling the truth.
It can be that simple.
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