Barkar Nash (Page 1,020)

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has jumped at the chance to promote tourism in Ayutthaya after Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban from the South Korean girl group, Blackpink, posted photos while visiting the old city of the World Heritage site on her Instagram account on Monday.

The starlet’s IG account (@lalalalisa_m) has 94.5 million followers. She visited several ruins and temples in Ayutthaya after the Blackpink World Tour [BORN PINK] Bangkok gigs on the last weekend of May. During her trip with close friends, they donned traditional dress, short-sleeve blouses and indigo tie-dyed, mud-fermented woven phasin, a long fabric wrapped around the waist like a skirt.

Her photos will inspire fans to visit the same spots and don traditional clothing, said Thapanee Kiatpaiboon, TAT deputy governor for international marketing.

Ms Thapanee, who will become the TAT governor in September, said Lisa’s IG post serves as a form of soft power to promote Thai tourism, culture and products.

She said the TAT has already launched a campaign to let Lisa’s fans know more about the places she visited, including Wat Na Phra Meru, Wat Mahathat, Wat Mae Nang Pluem and Kaow Laor Restaurant, which is listed in the Michelin Guidebook to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.

“Lisa is a high-profile online influencer. Her Ayutthaya trip post will have a positive impact on the tourism industry and help spur the economy of local businesses,” she said.

Ms Thapanee cited the indigo tie-dyed woven cloth as an example. She said the fabric was a well-known product of Udon Thani, and the cloth sold like hotcakes after Lisa’s IG posts.

The Sustainable Arts and Crafts Institute of Thailand (SACIT) praised Lisa for promoting it as a form of “soft power”.

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Alleged serial killer Sararat “Aem Cyanide” Rangsiwuthaporn will be hit with at least 80 more criminal charges for her actions, according to deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.

Pol Gen Surachate, who is leading the investigation into the allegations against Ms Sararat, said on Tuesday that on top of the 15 premeditated murder charges, Ms Sararat has been charged with fraud.

Authorities are preparing to charge Ms Sararat with a slew of other crimes, which include poisoning, misuse of a controlled substance, concealing a criminal act and theft.

He said police would be ready to press 40 charges against Ms Sararat by the end of the week.

When asked about the cyanide Ms Sararat bought, Pol Gen Surachate said investigators have managed to track down her supplier based on the information that could be gathered from its package.

Investigators were also able to narrow down their probe to focus on eight bottles using the information, he said, noting they had been looking at 700 bottles before.

Pol Gen Surachate said she did not buy the cyanide directly from the factory, but from a retailer who will also be investigated by the police.

Ms Sararat was arrested on April 25, when she was four months pregnant. Her arrest followed a complaint filed by the mother and elder sister of Siriporn “Koy” Khanwong, 32, of Kanchanaburi, one of her 15 alleged victims.

Most victims were linked to the suspect through private saving schemes and car financing deals. All the deceased victims were found to have been with Ms Sararat right before they died.

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Move Forward Party (MFP) leader and prime minister aspirant Pita Limjaroenrat has promised to work closely with City Hall to tackle 21 of Bangkok’s major problems, including traffic congestion, flooding and air pollution.

The proposal was submitted to him during a meeting on Tuesday with Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt. Also present were most of the MFP’s 32 MPs-elect for Bangkok as well as the Bangkok councillors, said Mr Chadchart.

The governor described his meeting with the leader of the MFP, which is leading the formation of a new coalition, as a good start for smooth cooperation between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the likely next government.

The MFP won 32 out of the 33 seats in the capital.

Mr Pita, meanwhile, said working seamlessly with the BMA is something he strives for.

“I have received suggestions which the governor alone couldn’t get done effectively, and he is asking for cooperation from our 32 MPs-elect,” he said.

In tackling the particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) dust problem, which involves controlling emissions from vehicles, for instance, the BMA only has authority over four-wheeled cars, while the power to control PM2.5 emissions from larger vehicles lies with related ministries, said Mr Pita.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the MFP and the BMA agreed to set up a so-called Bangkok Transition Team to prepare the ground for turning agreements reached between them into action, said Mr Pita.

The MFP also informed Mr Chadchart about its intention to push 45 new laws, which also concern the BMA, through parliament. These include legislation that would mandate, for the first time, the election of Bangkok’s district chiefs, according to the MFP leader.

In related news, Mr Chadchart has been urged by the MFP’s Bangkok councillor for Yannawa district to transfer and formally investigate four BMA officials at Yannawa district office accused of manipulating the office’s bidding procedure over rights to operate shops at schools in the district.

Mr Chadchart, however, admitted that at this point in time, there was no evidence to prove the alleged malfeasance had taken place.

“A probe is needed to find out more about the alleged misconduct to ensure fairness for all sides,” the governor said.

Putthipat Thanyathammanon, the Bangkok councillor who is calling for the investigation, said he had received information about the alleged misconduct from a number of members of the public as well as officials working on the premises.

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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made remarks on Tuesday suggesting he sees little opportunity for him returning to power for another term.

Gen Prayut was responding to reporters’ questions about his political plans as the bloc led by the Move Forward Party works to form a new coalition government.

He seemed amused when reporters asked about the possibility of smaller parties nominating him as prime minister if the MFP or Pheu Thai — the winner and first runner-up in the general election, respectively — fail to cobble together a coalition government.

“Don’t think that far ahead,” Gen Prayut said.

Pressed on the prospects of the coalition materialising as planned, Gen Prayut — chief strategist of the UTN Party — said he was not involved and that his focus was on working as part of the caretaker government.

He said he was not afraid of being investigated after the change of power.

Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul, in his first media interview since the May 14 election, said on Tuesday he never held talks or had any agreement with ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra amid rumours of a “secret deal”.

He insisted his recent meeting with Srettha Thavisin, one of Pheu Thai’s three prime ministerial candidates, at a football match in the UK had nothing to do with politics.

A photo of the pair circulated last week after former massage parlour tycoon Chuvit Kamolvisit made a Facebook post about their allegedly secret negotiations if the MFP failed to gather more than half of the House seats required to form a government. According to Mr Chuvit, the secret deal was called “come home”, a reference to Thaksin, who recently announced his intention to return to Thailand next month.

Mr Anutin said Bhumjaithai stood by its word that the election winner should be the first to lead any efforts to put together a coalition government when asked if the MFP-led coalition would take shape.

He declined to discuss the prospect of the other camp forming a rival coalition, saying the caretaker government would do its best and adhere to political etiquette until a new government was sworn in.

The Bhumjaithai leader said the party would stick to its stance when it came to the prime minister vote when asked if the party’s MPs would support MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat in the top job.

Asked if the party had made an assessment of the political situation, he said it was still waiting for the Election Commission to endorse the election results officially.

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Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat is not out of the woods yet, despite having transferred the controversial shares he held in iTV to his relatives.

Mr Pita, who is being investigated over 42,000 shares he held in the company, said on Tuesday he had transferred them to ensure he could be the next prime minister amid attempts to block him from entering the government.

Jade Donavanik, a legal expert and former adviser to charter drafters, said Mr Pita’s fate hinges on the question of whether iTV, an independent broadcaster founded in the 1990s, is still considered a media firm.

Under the current constitution, an election candidate is barred from running for office if they own shares in a media company.

Mr Jade said the transfer is unlikely to make any difference because Mr Pita is the statutory heir, and he did not make the change until after the May 14 general election.

However, the status of iTV is not clear as its status is being considered in the Supreme Administrative Court.

Mr Jade said the share-holding rule has been in place for several years, and election candidates are fully aware of share ownership following the case of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the now-dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP), a precursor to the MFP.

Mr Thanathorn was stripped of his MP status as he was found to hold 675,000 shares in V-Luck Media Co when the FFP submitted the names of its party-list MP candidates to the Election Commission (EC).

Pattana Ruanjaidee, a law lecturer at Ramkhamhaeng University, said he did not think the media shares would affect Mr Pita’s political career.

He said the MFP leader did not see himself as the shareholder but rather as the manager of his late father’s estate, and also, he did not consider iTV to be a media firm. However, his complainant viewed the matter differently.

He said he agreed with Mr Pita that iTV is not actively engaged in media operations, and he does not believe Mr Pita can exert influence over the company, which would be a major bone of intention.

“I don’t think this issue will cause any problem. It’s the Senate that doesn’t make decisions based on legal facts, as it’s dominated by coup-makers,” he said.

Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former member of the EC and chief strategist of the Seri Ruam Thai Party, wrote on Facebook that Mr Pita’s former ownership of the shares is unlikely to make him ineligible to seek nomination as prime minister because parliament has not yet started the selection process. However, his critics may argue the rule should be applied from the day Mr Pita was proposed as the MFP’s prime ministerial candidate.

“Selling the shares after the election is unlikely to benefit his case. And selling them looks like an admission of guilt,” he wrote.

Mr Somchai said the powers that be are doing all they can to resist change.

Mr Pita posted on Facebook that attempts were being made to revive iTV as a mass media organisation in a bid to attack him.

He wrote that in its 2018-2019 financial statement, iTV was defined as a holding company, but in two following financial statements, it was labelled a TV organisation.

At the iTV shareholders’ meeting on April 26 this year, one shareholder asked if it was a media organisation. “Was the question politically motivated?” Mr Pita wrote on Facebook.

His family concluded he should transfer the shares in case there are “attempts to revive iTV as a media organisation”, Mr Pita wrote, adding he had held them since March 16, 2007, as manager of his late father’s estate.

He expressed confidence that nothing would disqualify him from serving as a lawmaker or becoming prime minister.

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The investigation into “sticker bribes” for illegally overloaded lorries has incriminated another six officers from the Highway Police Division (HPD), according to Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew, the Counter Corruption Division (CCD) commander.

Speaking in his capacity as the acting HPD commander, he said those officers would be ordered to perform temporary duty at the HPD this week. The division will proceed with legal action if any are found to have engaged in the scheme, he added.

He also said the investigation team would collect more information and widen its dragnet.

Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said he had ordered 50 stations of the HPD to investigate the sticker bribery issue over the past two years.

He also promised to look into rumours of another bribery scheme reportedly involving the wife of the deputy commander of the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Police Division.

In the meantime, Move Forward Party (MFP) MP-elect Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, who brought the sticker bribes issue to light on his social media accounts last week, said he and the Land Transport Federation of Thailand (LTFT) chairman would submit evidence on the matter to Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat and the police inspector-general tomorrow.

He expressed confidence that legal action would be taken against some officers, and that he was confident the probe would be conducted transparently.

Meanwhile, some LTFT members sent an open letter to the MFP expressing their disappointment at the federation.

The letter claimed the agency had withheld vital information while the MFP had not checked its facts thoroughly enough.

The letter said some of the bribery stickers were not being used anymore, while others owned by LTFT members had been removed from the evidence submitted to the MFP.

“The LTFT is not sincere in solving this problem,” the letter stated.

“It is using the MFP to attack rival transportation associations to pressure the government,” it continued.

“When LTFT Chairman [Apichart Prairungruang] insisted none of the LTFT’s 400,000 members engaged in such a practice, we wonder how the chairman can be so certain about this?”

The authors claim the LTFT is playing a game designed to harm rival associations as a price war rages in the logistics market.

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The police force is increasing its number of crowd control units because more demonstrations, possibly of longer duration, are expected, a police spokesman said yesterday.

Pol Lt Gen Archayon Kraithong said there has been a shortage of police at local stations because officers had been reassigned to control large and frequent rallies in recent years. Recruiting to expand crowd control units would help overcome this.

“Under present circumstances, freedom of expression and demonstrations are tending to grow, and rallies may be prolonged. This could cause personnel shortages at police stations and affect services provided by patrol police, detectives and traffic police,” the spokesman said.

The expansion of crowd control police was planned nationwide, Pol Lt Gen Archayon said, adding that when crowd control operations are not needed, the extra personnel can be assigned to assist as required at local police stations.

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An activist is pressing prosecutors for answers as to why they decided not to indict senior police officers charged with accepting a bribe from an entertainment venue in Kanchanaburi in 2015.

Ronnarit Prueksayachiwa, chairman of a foundation set up to assist victims of violence against women and children and human trafficking, has forwarded a petition to Kosolwat Inthachanyong, deputy spokesman of the Attorney-General’s Office.

In the petition, he demanded the attorney-general explain why prosecutors dropped charges against senior officers accused of taking a bribe from a karaoke bar so it could continue operating in Kanchanaburi in 2015.

The business allegedly hired underaged girls, including some from neighbouring countries, to work as hostesses.

Seven officers were charged with accepting the bribe in cash, and six other officers with involvement in transferring the money to various bank accounts.

According to Mr Ronnarit, the case against the money-transferring officers has made no headway. In 2021, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) recommended they be indicted, but prosecutors have not decided whether to go with the recommendation.

However, prosecutors have dropped indictments against the bribe-accepting officers, who include a police lieutenant, despite watertight evidence against them, Mr Ronnarit added. He said he also planned to ask the DSI why it failed to protest against the move.

According to him, some police officers had a hand in issuing fake IDs to 15-year-old Myanmar girls to pass them off as legally mature 18-year-olds. This allegedly helped the karaoke operator escape a criminal charge for employing underaged workers and human trafficking.

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