Thai air force readies Gripen jets for highway test
Training in Songkhla did examine short-runway takeoff and landing abilities
PUBLISHED: 25 Feb 2025 at 18: 56
On Thursday, the Royal Thai Air Force will examine the Job warrior jet’s bridge takeoff and landing conditions on Highway 4287 in Songkhla state.
According to an air force source, the exercise will require two flights, with one landing and the other being followed by a takeoff. The goal is to increase operational flexibility and allow them to operate from various appropriate locations in the event that airports are destroyed.
Highway 4287 in the southeastern province was chosen for the chisel because of its natural eligibility, as the Department of Highways has confirmed.  ,
Authorities, defense and local officials may tighten surveillance throughout the procedure.
According to the cause, the Gripen may require no more than 800 feet for a airport.
In January, the 701 Squadron of Wing 7 conducted a short-field takeoff and landing evaluation on two Job planes at the Wing 5 airport in Prachuap Khiri Khan which has a 2, 057-metre airport.
The jet reportedly completed a short-field getting using only 640 feet.
Following a thorough analysis of bids from Scandinavian manufacturer Saab and US-based Lockheed Martin, the creator of the F-16, the air force has suggested investing 19 billion baht to buy four new Gripen fighter jet.
People’s Party to contest Bangkok governor race
Opposition celebration previews’ Customizable Bangkok 2026 ‘ campaign to choose liberal councillors
PUBLISHED: 25 Feb 2025 at 18: 38
The main opposition People’s Party ( PP ) has set its sights on a clean sweep of Bangkok in next year’s gubernatorial election, through an offer of policies it says will fix the city’s multitude of problems.
The party has got an early start on addressing the critical issue of air pollution, said Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat, a Bangkok MP who oversees the party’s election strategy, at the start of its” Hackable Bangkok 2026″ campaign on Tuesday.
According to Mr. Nattacha, PM2.5 fine particles can cause a serious health threat, causing conditions like asthma, chronic lung disease, and heart conditions.
If not tackled, the issue will create an expanding financial hardship on the town management.  ,
” It’s time to deal with the root causes, mainly by creating dust-free districts”, he said. ” While features may be willing, funding remains lacking. We must prioritize this problem in order to provide fresh heat to the residents of Bangkok and to prevent paying excessive amounts of money.
Before it was even publicly formed, the group had developed plans for city management. Its successors, the Future Forward and Move Forward events, counted Bangkok as their main help center, and the Women’s Party is today looking to tap town citizens.
Move Forward candidates won 32 of the 33 Bangkok divisions in the 2023 public vote.  ,
According to Mr. Nattacha, the governor and councillor elections in 2026 would be decided on plans rather than individuals ‘ personalities.
” I think the citizens of Bangkok don’t vote on people’s personalities or the political events they support or are associated with,” he said.
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, the leader of the People’s Party, claimed that the government’s failure to improve important national goals was due to rifts in the coalition parties. On the other hand, the group does not need professional power to drive important change, he added.
” Over the next year, we’ll continue refining our plans for the citizens of Bangkok”, he said, citing its so-called” 3 Actual” view — real people, real situations and true places.
The group also urged the public to participate in its” Hackable Bangkok 2026″ plan, sharing ideas, joining forums, and perhaps registering as potential prospects.
” We have more than five potential candidates ( to date ), and they are all executives.
” I insist they have what it takes to get good individuals… They are suited to the job of managing the town,” said Mr. Natthaphong.
In the presidential election, the group stated that its goal is to win seats in every 50 districts.
Governor Chadchart Sittipunt’s hard work was applauded by Mr. Natthaphong, who also said the city needs better policies to address its troubles.
He also stressed the need to tackle structural issues, including Bangkok’s limited local expert.
Thailand and neighbours set up anti-haze hotline
Myanmar and Laos update on the status of the improper using.
PUBLISHED: 25 Feb 2025 at 18: 11
As part of a three-nation effort to combat transnational cloud waste, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos have all agreed to establish a specific line. Later this year, the risky PM2.5 dust is expected to rise again.
The agreement was reached at a recent teleconference held by the Pollution Control Department ( PDS ) and attended by its Myanmar and Lao counterparts, said director-general Preeyaporn Suwanaged.
The three division chiefs will remain in close touch with the new hotline and talk about any serious fog situations and powerful responses, she said on Tuesday.
They also reviewed the progress made by the three nations in the Clear Sky strategic plan ( 2024-30 ). Ms. Preeyaporn claimed that while Myanmar has effectively reduced the number of areas, Thailand and Cambodia are also experiencing slight increases in population.
Individuals from Myanmar and Laos shared their increased efforts to combat illegal using in common and in forest places while continuing to raise public awareness of the importance of working with their governments to stop the cloud, according to the speakers.
The class and Ms. Preeyaporn said they would reconvene in a few months for a meeting.
According to Dr. Thiti Sawaengtham, assistant director-general of the Department of Health, levels of PM2.5 particles are projected to rise to a point where it is considered unsafe for people with underlying medical conditions later this year.
People in at-risk parties are advised to keep an eye on changes in the atmosphere quality and to use masks when going out if the waste in their area gets worse.
Under the Ministry of Public Health, the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre has mandated that hospitals and healthcare services companies pay particular attention to lightheadedness and view them as a potential indicator of the negative health effects of PM2.5.
Dr Weerawut Imsamran, assistant permanent secretary for public health, said 16, 246″ fresh air” areas have been set up in 70 regions with a combined capability to shelter up to 1.9 million people, while 2.6 million N95 masks are ready to get distributed in the event of an air pollution problems.
Search for doomed MH370 resumes 11 years after disappearance
Earlier SEARCH , In December, Loke had said the new research would be on the similar” no find, no charge” rule as Ocean Infinity’s earlier search, with the state just paying out if it finds the plane. According to Loke, the agreement was for 18 months, and Malaysia had receive US$Continue Reading
Investigators recommend prosecuting PAO chief for his son’s murder
A lawmaker from Prachi Buri and seven others are facing a charge of prosecution.
Soonthorn Vilawan, the father of a former cabinet minister, and seven others have been charged in the murder of his adopted son, a provincial councillor, in December of last year, according to Crime Suppression Division ( CSD ) police.
Pol Col Anek Taosuparb, deputy chief of the CSD, led , authorities to send the 18 data, spanning 7, 969 sites, to the Office of the Attorney-General on Tuesday.
In addition to Mr Soonthorn, the seven people are Thanasarankorn Techathanatchot and his family Minyarat Phatcharamanrakun, Saksit Chinnawong, Thanaphat Songsaeng, Apisit Sodchuen, Sitthichai Sripakdi, Phattharanon Boonchu.  ,
Mr Soonthorn and the six people are charged with colluding in planned death, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, destroying data and files, and unlawful assembly.
Ms. Minyarat is accused of supporting others in the percentage of deliberate crime.
After the shooting at Mr. Soonthorn’s home in the Muang district at around 8.20pm on December 11, Mr. Soonthorn, the 86-year-old president of the Prachin Buri Provincial Administrative Organization ( PAO ), along with his six aides, were detained.
Chaimet Sitsanitphong, a municipal council and adopted son of Mr. Soonthorn, was shot dead and his body was discovered near the home’s second floor in tambon Na muang. Outside were at least 10 weapons cartridges that had been used.
According to the authorities, Thanasarankorn and Saksit killed Chaimet.
According to Pol Col Anek, the case’s authorities had taken witness from 130 people. During doubting, all eight offenders denied the claims.
” The militants immediately admitted during the arrest that they had committed the crime. They were charged with colluding in a deliberate death, which they afterwards denied”, he said.
” They admitted merely that they killed the victim, but never intentionally or planned it beforehand. But, we are never worried, we have enough evidence, both criminal and witness transactions, and circumstantial evidence,’ ‘ the CSD deputy chief said.
Ms. Minyarat, the seventh believe, was detained and charged because it was determined that she had reported Chaimet’s moves to the militants who were hiding on the next floor of the residence.
” After the situation was transferred to CSD authorities, the seven adult suspects were detained at Bangkok Remand Prison, while Ms Minyarat has been detained at the Central Women Correctional Institute,’ ‘ Pol Col Anek said.
According to the CSD assistant captain, the murder arose from a political issue.
Mr. Soonthorn, a Bhumjaithai Party member and the father of Kanokwan Vilawan, the former assistant education minister, served in the Chavalit Yongchaiyudh authorities from 1996 to 1997 as assistant public health minister. He was an 8-time MP for the southeast territory.
In June 2022, he received a report about Khao Yai National Park’s reported forest encroachment.
Taliban’s ‘gender apartheid’ could be its undoing – Asia Times
Last week, the Taliban announced it was withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), rejecting the court’s authority and accusing it of political bias.
In a public statement, the Taliban claimed it had no obligation to the ICC because it was incompatible with the regime’s interpretation of Islam, and that it was being unfairly targeted after the court’s failure to address accusations of war crimes committed by United States-led forces between 2001 and 2021 in Afghanistan.
This comes after ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants in January for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for crimes against humanity committed against women in Afghanistan.
Khan claimed Taliban leaders were responsible for persecuting Afghan women and girls since the group’s return to power in August 2021. This includes the severe deprivation of physical integrity and autonomy, freedom of movement and expression, education, private and family life and freedom of assembly.
The Taliban undeniably treats Afghan women and girls abysmally, denying them an education and most jobs. According to the United Nations, 2.5 million school-age girls have been denied their right to education.
Women have even been banned from working with aid organizations, leaving many Afghan women out of work or unable to access lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
The Taliban have also instituted “vice and virtue” laws forbidding women from showing their faces in public, looking at other men or taking transport without a male chaperone. This comes after the Taliban banned women from using beauty parlours and visiting national parks last year, completely removing women from public spaces.
The situation for women has gotten so bad that the UN declared it the “worst globally” last year, while the UN’s representative in Afghanistan – Richard Bennet – labeled the Taliban’s actions “gender apartheid.”
Khan’s request for warrants is the latest attempt to hold the Taliban accountable for its treatment of women and girls.
In January, the United Kingdom joined several other countries in referring the regime to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging it had violated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Twenty-four countries have now threatened to refer the Taliban to the courts.
While the regime can and has easily rejected the authority of the world’s courts, it does pose a problem for the Taliban.
The Taliban needs legitimacy to remain in power over the long term and craves recognition that would validate its strict interpretation of Islam. But despite some countries informally recognizing the regime – such as China – the broad consensus has been a refusal to accept the Taliban as the official government until it treats women and girls more humanely.
The Taliban has hoped the world would run out of patience and meekly accept its hardline regime, but United States President Donald Trump’s recent aggressive rhetoric against the Taliban makes this scenario unlikely.
Indeed, if the Taliban wants to take its place in the community of nations, it needs to play by the world’s rules. This includes the ICC, which Afghanistan joined in 2003 under then President Hamid Karzai, giving the court clear jurisdiction over crimes committed in Afghanistan.
But when the Taliban accuses the court of double standards, it has a point. No American politician or soldier has been handed a warrant for war crimes against Afghan civilians. Trump’s recent sanctions against the ICC in response to arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for crimes in Gaza also highlights the unequalness of the international “rules-based order.”
But this does not absolve the regime for how it treats women, and international law is something the Taliban will need to accept if it wants to officially represent Afghanistan at the United Nations.
The warrants have also exacerbated tensions within Taliban ranks. In January, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai publicly demanded an end to the ban on women’s education, calling it a “personal choice” and rebuking the regime’s claim its position on women was consistent with Sharia law.
The warrants also come at a time when the Taliban is under significant pressure. Islamic State continues to carry out deadly attacks throughout Afghanistan, claiming responsibility for the assassination of Taliban minister and powerbroker Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani in December.
The regime’s relationship with former ally Pakistan is also fraught, leading to border skirmishes and air strikes on Afghan soil that have humiliated the regime. All in all, the Taliban looks weak and arrest warrants for its leaders have only worsened its position at home and abroad.
Stanikzai gets what many Taliban do not: that the world is not just budging on how the regime treats women and girls; rather, it is doubling down on demands for better treatment.
Oppressing 20 million Afghan people is neither sustainable, nor is it consistent with any tenets of Islam. The Taliban’s treatment of women and girls is about power, but that power is now fracturing from within. And disunity is death in Afghan politics.
Make concessions on women and girls and the Taliban will get its coveted seat at the table and the international legitimacy it craves.
This would be a boon for the regime and enable it to work with the international community to solve the myriad of problems Afghanistan faces, particularly on terrorism and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The alternative is isolation and a reliance on cruelty, both of which brought on the Taliban’s last downfall in 2001.
85-year-old man to be charged over offensive Facebook posts about Islam
SINGAPORE: An , 85-year-old man will be charged in court on Wednesday ( Feb 26 ) over Facebook posts that , contained offensive remarks about Islam, the police said on Tuesday. The gentleman posted pictures of offensive Facebook posts from five years ago on April 21, 2021, on Instagram.  , The officersContinue Reading
ASEAN has to maintain centrality amid rising global tensions, security threats: Observers
GEOPOLITICAL Advances
In a media conference on Tuesday, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin outlined a number of pressing issues that he will be discussing with his ASEAN counterparts in light of the dynamic political landscape.  ,
These include establishing a humanitarian relief committee to deal with organic disasters brought on by climate change, improving regional security, and advancing the country’s military supply chain.
Malaysia is currently leading ASEAN this time.  ,
Regarding maritime security, Mr. Khaled warned against regional militarization and urged nations with overlapping claims to solve problems diplomatically.  ,
There is a need for everyone to assure freedom of navigation, adhere to international laws, and make an effort not to make this region a superpower-friendly environment, he added.
Southeast Asia faces many challenges, particularly with conflicts rising between China and the United States, said spectators.
Member states have found themselves veering off in a variety of guidelines, putting strain on efforts to come to a discussion on political issues.
Mr. Khaled made the claim earlier this month that ASEAN’s centrality, particularly in the South China Sea, is “very essential,” stressing the idea that the group should continue to play a major role in local cooperation and diplomacy.
The only way to overcome any difficulties that are confronting this area and the rest of the world is through this, he continued.
The world is in” a really remarkable period of advances” with ongoing issues, and how some relationships are breaking down while new people are coming up, said Ms Sharon Seah, representative of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s ASEAN Studies Centre.
Southeast Asia, for example, has to maintain its relationship with the US under the uncertain Trump presidency.  ,
According to Ms. Seah,” I believe a very reasonable and logical assessment is required.”  ,
Cinema operators turn to live events, niche film festivals to woo moviegoers back
” MORE NICHE” EXPERIENCES
Through partnerships with regional movie theaters like The Projector and Shaw Theatres, The Singapore Film Society has also seen a 10 % to 15 % increase in footfall for its programs.
The non-profit is the country’s largest administrator of film festivals, holding situations like the Singapore Chinese Film Festival and European Union Film Festival.
In order to keep viewers invested in its programs and attend the theatre more frequently, it’s vice-chair and development director Eternality Tan said it is holding half as many screenings as it does before COVID days.
Mr Tan said its goal has always been to show “more business” pictures alongside so-called separate art-house movies, such as movies about climate change or marginalised communities.
” We have imported films like Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” according to the company. These are Bhutanese movies that are not available in the theaters below. It’s these kinds of more market activities that we try to offer”, he said.
He added that it is about providing in-person activities, like director Q&, As, to strengthen viewers.
” There could be little gems here and there, out there, that just somehow no one has ( and are ) not on anyone’s radar”, he noted.
” I’m sure people would want to travel in and watch the movie if we are able to do it on the large screen and we promote it in a proper way.”
Large crowds expected at columbaria, Choa Chu Kang cemetery during peak visiting days in March and April
Traveling, PARKING ARRANGEMENTS
The , completely shuttle bus services that are available on top time throughout the time period are a good idea for visitors to the Choa Chu Kang and Mandai Columbaria, according to NEA.
Yew Tee MRT place will be the location of the Choa Chu Kang Columbarium shuttle bus, and Khatib Station will be the location of the Mandai Columbarium pickup point.
Additionally, customers are even advised to use public transportation to get to the Choa Chu Kang and Mandai columbaria, NEA said.
People who intend to travel by car and garden in the Choa Chu Kang and Mandai columbaria may make an appointment online.
At Choa Chu Kang Columbarium, e-bookings are required for sessions between 6am and 4pm on Hari Raya Puasa, Qing Ming, Great Friday and the 10 Saturdays and Sundays between Mar 22 and Apr 20.
For Mandai Columbarium, this applies to all sessions between 6am and 6pm from Mar 22 to Apr 20.
Online reservation of session games in two-hour intervals starts at 10am on March 10.
Visitors are required to present proof of effective tickets before using the facility, according to NEA.
” As appointment games are limited, customers may make their bookings in improve”.
Online reservations are not necessary for cars entering the Choa Chu Kang and Mandai Columbaria without entering the designated dates and times, nor for customers taking public transportation or those who are just dropping off customers.
During this time, you can access real-time information about the circumstances at the Columbaria online.
All held areas in Choa Chu Kang Columbarium may become accessed, NEA said. The agency also urged visitors to stay away from the stored areas as the museum’s ongoing renovations took place.