Barkar Nash – Page 1113

Six Chinese tourists held for working illegally

On: April 27, 2023

Managers at Chon Buri factory had arrived in country on tourist visas but had no work permits

Immigration police and officials from the Chon Buri provincial employment office inspect a factory in Ban Bung district and arrest six Chinese tourists for working there illegally. (Captured from a video by Si Racha Chon Buri Facebook)

Six Chinese nationals who entered the country as tourists have been arrested for working illegally as factory managers during a raid in Ban Bung district of Chon Buri province.

Immigration police and officials from the Chon Buri provincial employment office visited a company in tambon Nong Phaikaew on Thursday after receiving information that some Chinese managers working there did not have the proper paperwork.

Six Chinese — five men and one woman — were found working in an office of Lihua Environmental Technology Co. The firm manufactures paper boxes for mobile phones, security cameras and electronic goods.

When asked to present passports and work permits, the six had no work permits. They had entered the country with tourist visas. All were working as managers such as production manager and maintenance manager, said the arresting team.

Before the officers entered the compound, the factory closed its gate and outsiders were not allowed in. Staff reportedly delayed opening the gate for police. This gave the Chinese time to jump over the wall in an attempt to escape, but they were caught shortly afterward.

The six tourists, aged 35-47, were handed over to police at the Ban Bung police station on charges of working without proper permission.

Visiting US Navy affirms ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Carrier strike group led by USS Nimitz calls at Chon Buri

Crew members walk along the deck of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in Chon Buri on Thursday. (Photo: Wassana Nanuam)

CHON BURI: The US Navy is prepared to go anywhere in the “free and open Indo-Pacific”, says a spokesman for a carrier strike group that is visiting Thailand this week.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is on an 11-month patrol mission in the US 7th Fleet area of operations that began in November last year. It has just finished taking part in drills with Japan and South Korea, said Lt Ben Bushong, spokesman for the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. It has also taken part in exercises with the Philippines.

During its mission the carrier strike group had passed through disputed parts of the South China Sea without any problem because it was “a free and open Indo-Pacific”, he said.

Lt Bushong did not mention what the group’s next destinations would be after its visit to Thailand, but said it was planning to visit all areas of the Indo-Pacific.

The carrier strike group arrived in Thailand on Monday and is scheduled to stay at the Laem Chabang port until Saturday.

During the visit, its personnel have been granted shore leave in Pattaya and Chon Buri. “We like to visit Thailand,” Lt Bushong said.

The aircraft carrier is as tall as a 23-storey building and as wide as four football fields and has about 5,000 crew members.

It arrived with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur and USS Wayne E Meyer and a squadron of F/A-18 combat aircraft.

More charges await serial-killing suspect

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Forensic officers examine a car belonging to Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who is accused of killing a woman with cyanide in Ratchaburi, for possible evidence. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

Police are preparing more charges against Sararat “Am” Rangsiwuthaporn, who is suspected of involvement in the deaths of a dozen people.

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) investigators are looking to obtain statements from two key people in connection with the case, CSD deputy commander Pol Col Anek Taosupap said on Thursday. They are Kantima “Pla” Phaesa-ard, 36, who survived a poisoning attempt allegedly made by the suspect, and Raphee Chamnarnrue, who took the family of a dead woman to file a police complaint.

Pol Col Anek said he had assigned another team to meet with doctors who specialise in poisons and chemicals. Officers want to learn more about the dangers of cyanide, and the amount that would result in harm to the body and cause death. This information will be included in a police report, together with evidence of test results that showed toxic substances in the body of one of victims linked to the suspect.

“We are confident that we have firm evidence to prosecute … the suspect in the case,” said Pol Col Anek. “Now, police investigators are preparing to press additional charges aside from a premeditated murder charge.”

The additional charges are premeditated murder with intent to steal property, poisoning, and theft. “Some offences carry the death penalty,” he said.

Other leads the police are expected to follow relate to the suspect’s reported involvement in money lending and a pyramid scheme.

Ms Sararat, 36, the ex-wife of a senior police officer in Ratchaburi province, was apprehended on Tuesday at the government office complex on Chaeng Wattana Road in in Bangkok by CSD police with an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court. She had a bottle of cyanide in her possession and she refused to give police a statement.

Sararat “Am” Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, who is accused of killing a woman with cyanide in Ratchaburi and suspected in as many as 12 killings in all, is taken to the Criminal Court on Wednesday. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

Her arrest followed a complaint filed by the mother and elder sister of the late Siriporn “Koy” Khanwong, 32, from Kanchanaburi. Siriporn collapsed and died on the bank of the Mae Klong river in Ban Pong district of Ratchaburi where she had gone with Ms Sararat to release fish for merit-making on April 14. Cyanide was found in her body.

Investigators came to believe that Ms Sararat might have mixed cyanide in Siriporn’s food, causing her death. She allegedly also stole the victim’s valuables.

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said on Wednesday that two more dead victims has been linked to Ms Sararat, bringing the total to 12.

On Wednesday, the Criminal Court approved a police request to further detain Ms Sararat without bail on a charge of killing Siriporn.

Pol Col Anek said investigators had called Nipawan Khanwong, 35, the elder sister of Siriporn, who was with her sister before her death, to give a statement on Thursday. Ms Nipawan had reportedly asked the suspect about the death.

Investigators are also seeking to question a Mukdahan man whose wife had been given capsules by the suspect, who said they were a tonic. The woman consumed the capsules before she died.

As well, officers are looking into whether Ms Sararat’s elder sister, a pharmacist, was involved in the provision or use of cyanide. The initial investigation, however, showed that the suspect had purchased cyanide from another channel, said Pol Col Anek.

At this stage, investigators have not yet found any other people involved and they believe Ms Sararat had acted alone, he added.

Initial questioning of the suspect did not indicate any mental problems that might have led to the crimes. She spoke like a normal person, he said.

Cyanide is a controlled substance used in industries and cannot be purchased at drug stores.

A source close to the investigation said Ms Sararat had reportedly purchased cyanide online. Five teenagers called in for questioning told police that she brought them five parcels containing bottles of drugs with her name as the recipient and asked them to bury them. They claimed she had paid them 500 baht to do the job.

One of them reportedly suspected what was inside the parcels, so he opened one and sniffed one of the bottles. He developed symptoms including dizziness and confusion for about three days.

As it turned out, the teenagers never got around to burying the bottles because they were busy celebrating Songkran. Ms Sararat phoned them to ask whether they had done what she asked, but by then it was too late as police already found the bottles, according to the source.

Investigators are also checking the records of two logistics companies for evidence of deliveries that could implicate the suspect.

Ms Sararat, meanwhile, was said to have suffered from high stress and rising blood pressure after being sent to the Central Women’s Correctional Institute on Wednesday night. She was admitted to the institute’s hospital at around 10pm. After being treated, she was sent back to her cell, Corrections Department chief Aryut Sinthopphan said on Thursday.

The suspect is four months pregnant. A doctor checked her infant’s pulse and found it was normal, said Mr Aryut.

Meanwhile, Raphee Chamnarnrue, coordinator of the case against the suspect, said there were five groups of victims involved. They were those who took part in a pyramid scheme with the suspect, those who loaned money to her, those who gave her money to provide money lending services, those who took their cars or assets to her to mortgage, and those who authorised her to borrow from savings cooperatives.

He called on relatives of dead victims who were in those five groups to contact him or police handling the case.

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) deputy commander Pol Col Anek Taosupap has assigned investigators to consult with doctors who have specialised knowledge of poisons in order to learn more about how cyanide works. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

42 illegal migrants caught in Kanchanaburi

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Job-seekers from Myanmar said they had agreed to pay brokers B20,000 to B30,000 each

Officers watch over men and women from Myanmar who were found hiding in a forest near the Vajiralongkorn dam in Sangkhla Buri district of Kanchanaburi late Wednesday night. (Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen)

KANCHANABURI: Forty-two job seekers from Myanmar were arrested after illegally crossing the border into Sangkhla Buri district late on Wednesday night.

Soldiers, border patrol police and immigration officers were dispatched to tambon Nong Lu following a tip-off that a group of suspicious-looking people had been found at a forested area in Song Kalia village, said Col Thatchadet Arbuarat, deputy commander of the army’s Lat Ya task force, who was alerted at around 10pm.

By time the officers arrived, there was no one at the scene. The same informant told them that the people had boarded a vehicle headed towards a pier at Wat Wang Wiwekaram at Wang Ka village Moo 2 in tambon Nong Lu.

The team later found the men and women gathered near the Vajiralongkorn dam behind the pier. On seeing the officers, they ran into a nearby forest. All 42 people — 27 men and 15 women — were subsequently caught. All were Myanmar nationals without travel documents.

During questioning, they told authorities that they had travelled from Mandalay, Bago, Yangon and other parts of Myanmar. They entered Thailand via a natural crossing in Sangkhla Buri and were heading to promised jobs in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Phuket, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Rayong. Some were promised jobs in Malaysia.

The migrants told officers they had agreed to pay between 20,000 and 30,000 baht each to job brokers. The money was to be paid when they arrived at their destinations.

They were taken for body temperature checks as part of Covid 19-screening. All were normal. They were handed over to police at the Sangkhla Buri station for legal proceedings.

Large numbers of migrants continue to cross into Thailand illegally every day from Myanmar, where economic conditions have deteriorated considerably since the military seized power two years ago.

About 80,000 illegal border crossers, the vast majority of them from Myanmar, were estimated to have been caught in 2021. But as many as 100,000 more probably slipped past authorities and were now employed in various parts of the country, say groups that work with migrants.

A soldier in a protective suit conducts temperature checks on illegal migrants. (Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen)

Russian falls to death in Phuket

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Security video shows fall from sixth floor of shopping mall parking garage

Police inspect the scene of the fatal fall outside Central Phuket shopping centre in Muang district of Phuket on Thursday morning. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)

PHUKET: A Russian man fell to his death from the parking garage of a shopping centre on this tourist island on Thursday morning.

Police were informed of the incident at Central Phuket in Muang district at about 8.20am.

They found the man’s body in a flower-patterned T-shirt, black shorts and a brown belt lying in a pool of blood on the concrete ground in front of the parking building of the shopping centre. His skull and right shoulder had been broken.

Security camera video showed the man entering the parking building alone and walking to its sixth floor. He then sat on a wall, turned his face to the inside of the building and leaned back.

Security guards heard the fall, rushed to the scene and called rescue workers and police. The foreigner succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Second Uyghur dies in detention, says rights group

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Thai immigration authorities urged to end long-term detention of asylum seekers

The immigration detention centre on Soi Suan Phlu in Bangkok is where many Uyghurs have been detained, some for years. (AFP File Photo)

The death of a second Uyghur man who spent years in a Bangkok detention centre underscores the need for Thai authorities to end the indefinite detention of asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Mattohti Mattursun, 40, died of liver failure on April 21 after being taken to hospital from the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre, according to a statement by the World Uyghur Congress. He had been detained for illegal entry since March 13, 2014. The whereabouts of his family is not known.

He was the second Uyghur to die this year in the notoriously overcrowded facility in central Bangkok. Aziz Abdullah, 49, died in February, reportedly of pneumonia.

The WUC said that Mattohti Mattursun (also known as Muhammad Tursun) was reportedly suffering from severe stomach pains and vomiting over the last few weeks. As his condition worsened, he was transferred to a hospital on April 21 and is believed to have died there shortly after arrival, it said. Thai authorities have yet to conform the death.

“How many more deaths will take place before Thai authorities act with humanity to release these innocent people who are merely seeking safe haven?” said Omer Kanat, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

“Uyghurs around the world are filled with anguish that these refugees have been left in misery for nine years and the world has not lifted a finger to rescue them.”

Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said Thai authorities are putting people seeking refugee protection “at grave risk” by keeping them for years “in awful conditions” in immigration detention centres.

Mattohti Mattursun was among several groups of Uyghurs who fled persecution in China and arrived in Thailand in 2014, seeking to travel to Malaysia and on to a third country. In 2015, the Thai government forcibly sent back to China 109 Uyghur men and boys, who were never heard from again.

Another 170 Uyghur women and children were permitted to travel to Turkey, their original intended destination. Thailand has since detained the rest — about 50 men — in immigration detention centres, “where authorities treat them as illegal immigrants without any rights”, according to Human Rights Watch.

China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang, where rights groups believe more than a million people have been held in a vast network of detention camps in recent years.

Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has never enacted a law to recognise refugee status and set out procedures to assess asylum claims.

Under Thai law, all migrants with irregular immigration status — including children, asylum seekers and refugees recognised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — can be arrested and detained for illegal entry.

Many immigration detention centres in Thailand are severely overcrowded, provide inadequate food, have poor ventilation and lack access to medical service and other basic necessities. Detainees are restricted to small cells resembling cages, where they barely have room to sit, much less sleep. Children are frequently incarcerated with adults, Human Rights Watch said.

“Given its own lack of asylum procedures, the Thai government should respect UNHCR-issued persons-of-concern documents and not detain people who have pending claims for international protection,” it said.

“In addition to ending the detention of asylum seekers, Thailand should adopt alternatives to detention that are being used effectively in other countries — such as open reception centres and conditional release programmes.”

Thai evacuees from Sudan to arrive Thursday night

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 27, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Members of the Saudi Navy assist civilians, evacuated by Saudi Arabia from Sudan to escape the conflict, at Jeddah Sea Port, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 26. (Saudi Press Agency/handout via Reuters)

The first group of Thai evacuees from Sudan, 78 people, will arrive in Bangkok at 10pm on Thursday, according to the air force.

AVM Prapas Sonjaidee, spokesman for the air force, said an Airbus A340-500 plane and two air force C-130s had already reached Jeddah to bring Thai evacuees from Sudan back to their homeland.

The first group of 82 evacuees have already crossed the Red Sea to Jeddah and 78 of them would board the Airbus A340-500 plane back to Thailand. The four others would stay with their relatives in Saudi Arabia, he said.

Many of them were tired from travelling travel but everyone was in good spirits, AVM Prapas said.

The Airbus aircraft would leave Jeddah at 2pm Thailand time and arrive at Wing 6 in Bangkok’s Don Muang district at about 10pm, the spokesman said.

The two military aircraft would wait for other Thai evacuees in Jeddah, he said.

Atthapol Sangkavasee, permanent secretary for education, said there were about 220 Thai people in Sudan and all of them were evacuated. Two more evacuation flights would leave Jeddah for Thailand on Friday morning.

Of the evacuees, about 150 were students and about 100 of the students were southerners, he said.

The Edcuation Ministry would arrange for the students to continue their studies in the country if they wished to do so, Mr Atthapol said.

Most of the students studied medicine, Islamic law and religion in Sudan, he said.

Anutin talks alliances, polls with EU envoys

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 26, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Clarifies his party’s stance on S112

Seventeen envoys from 13 European countries meet Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul at the party’s HQ on Wednesday to discuss the election and the party’s policy towards the EU if it is able to form a coalition government. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday he affirmed the party’s stance against amending Section 112, the lese majeste law, during a meeting with European Union (EU) ambassadors.

Speaking after meeting 17 diplomats from 13 European countries at the party’s head office, Mr Anutin said he told the delegation Bhumjaithai would only have one condition when forming a post-election alliance — that it would not work with any parties seeking to revise the lese majeste law.

He said the discussion touched on a number of issues including the political situation, the upcoming general election, post-election scenarios and Bhumjaithai’s policy approach toward the EU.

He said he told the EU delegation the party had not discussed prospective partnerships with any party and that it would respect the democratic process — including letting the party that wins the most House seats form a coalition first.

Mr Anutin said he gave assurances to the EU diplomats that Thailand was a step closer to democracy with the May 14 election, although the Senate’s role in co-selecting the prime minister remained an obstacle.

However, the Senate’s term will expire soon and so will its power to join the prime minister’s vote, he added.

Asked why EU ambassadors met with Bhumjaithai, he said he believed the delegation was seeking to meet parties likely to play a key role after the election.

Asked if the EU diplomats raised the party’s cannabis decriminalisation policy, he said the issue was raised and the party informed them the policy was successfully implemented.

The party would continue pushing for passage of a law to regulate its use. He added the passage of a cannabis control bill would be a condition of his party’s participation in the next government as well. Critics say the absence of regulation has severely hampered the policy rollout.

Mr Anutin said the party would support the formation of a constitution-drafting assembly to write a new charter, adding that if the charter is revised, it should be done by the people.

Capital a hit for advance voting: EC

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 26, 2023

In: South-East Asia

Bangkok has the highest number of people registered for advance voting in the May 14 general election, with more than 800,000 of the 2.35 million voters nationwide intending to cast their ballots a week early.

There are 74 polling stations in the capital, with the largest number of people planning to vote on May 7 registered at Ramkhamhaeng University (about 52,000), Royal Paragon Hall (40,000) and Huai Khwang district office (28,000) polling stations, according to the Election Commission.

Other polling stations with a high number of people registered to vote early were Bang Khen district office (26,000), the Thai-Japanese Stadium (25,300), Lat Krabang district office (25,200), Bang Na district office (24,000), the car park at Central Rama II shopping mall (23,000), the car park at Wat That Thong (22,800) and Chandrakasem Rajabhat University (22,200).

A total of 2,350,969 people nationwide signed up during early-voting registration from March 25 to April 9. Advance voting will take place on May 7, one week before Election Day on May 14. Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, chairman of Seri Ruam Thai’s policy steering committee and former election commissioner, has asked the EC, in the interest of transparency, to make more information public for people exercising their voting rights abroad.

Mr Somchai said many abnormalities had been detected regarding the management of voting outside the country, such as the scrapping of postal voting, delays in sending ballot papers, and photos of candidates of two parties not matching their drawn ballot numbers in Bangkok’s constituency 11.

Urging greater transparency, the Seri Ruam Thai Party said the EC and the Foreign Affairs Ministry should disclose the actual number of voters outside the country.

Officer in sex case summonsed

By: Barkar Nash

On: April 26, 2023

In: South-East Asia

An army lieutenant general accused of illicit drug use and assault while having sex with another man in Songkhla is being summonsed for questioning, police at Songkhla’s Sadao station say.

Investigators have interviewed the alleged victim, identified only as Nut, and decided initially to press an assault charge against the accused. A summons has been issued for the lieutenant general for questioning.

Police said the accused will also be questioned about drug use and whether other charges are pressed depends on the evidence.

The summons was issued after Nut and his lawyer, Arm Suwanraksa, filed a complaint against the lieutenant general at Sadao station on Tuesday.

The victim was examined at Songklanagarind Hospital on April 24 and discharged on Tuesday. He said he was prescribed antibiotic drugs for his injuries. He said he wanted the lieutenant general to take responsibility for hurting him and demanded the army conduct a thorough investigation and not treat the incident as a personal matter.

Mr Arm said police would have to review the evidence to determine if a drug charge would be pressed against the army officer.

The lieutenant general was transferred to an inactive post pending an investigation after the incident came to the media’s attention on Sunday.

Nut showed a video clip of the scene and bruises over his body, which he claimed were due to him being assaulted while having sex with a lieutenant general with the initial “Wor”.

According to media reports, both met via an LGBTQ+ dating app and agreed to meet at a hotel in Sadao district. The lieutenant general allegedly asked the victim to take crystal meth by directly injecting it into his veins, but he refused.

Afterwards, the officer allegedly used a sex toy with the victim and lashed him with a whip. The lieutenant general allegedly refused to take responsibility for hurting the victim and threatened the victim before the accused offered 2,000 baht to end the matter.

Barkar Nash (Page 1,113)