Barkar Nash (Page 352)

Dhanarak Asset Development (DAD) Co Ltd has a plan to renovate the rooftops of a car park building and a maintenance building in the Government Complex on Chaeng Wattana Road to turn it into a 5.4-rai public park. The project will be completed next year.

DAD managing director Nalikatibhag Sangsnit said the firm is willing to create larger areas of green spaces in the 40-rai complex, lifting its utility from an office area to Bangkok’s new green lung.

The DAD has transformed the rooftops of the car park building and a nearby depot building into public parks with a total area of 8,662m² or about 5.4 rai, thereby creating the biggest public park in Chaengwattana Road and Lak Si district.

The DAD will also build a connecting walkway between the car park and depot buildings on the second floor of both buildings for people who want to visit both rooftop parks.

Mr Nalikatibhag said the DAD has also built an elevated walkway, covering 213 metres, connecting the Government Complex to the Pink Line’s Government Complex station for public use. Also, another public park of 1,701m² will also be created in front of the Government Complex.

Besides green spaces, DAD also aims to create recreational areas such as a clubhouse, meeting points, an activity area and an education centre on the second floor of the depot building. The management will be handed to the Office of Knowledge Management and Development.

“The DAD has been pushing the Government Complex to be a part of the community in Lak Si district. We are trying to solve traffic congestion as well as create more green spaces, and transform the complex to be both an office area and a recreational space for the public,” said Mr Nalikatibhag.

He added that once the project is completed, the Government Complex will consist of over 145 rai of green space out of its total area of 449 rai, making the complex the biggest green area in eastern Bangkok.

MPs debate MFP bid for charter rewrite

The House of Representatives yesterday voted 262:162 to reject a motion asking the cabinet to hold a public referendum on a charter rewrite.

The vote came after the MPs spent more than four hours debating the motion proposed by the main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP).

A total of 262 rejected the motion, while 162 others voted in its favour with six abstentions.

Pheu Thai list-MP Chaturon Chaisaeng said the ruling party was not opposed to the MFP’s motion because charter amendments required cooperation from all sides to succeed.

However, he said the referendum law needs to be amended first because its requirements make it extremely difficult for a charter rewrite proposal to be adopted.

Section 13 of the referendum law says the referendum is considered passed when two requirements are met: when more than half of voters approve it and when more than half of the eligible voters participate in the referendum.

“The requirements make it difficult for the charter rewrite referendum to pass. Unless the law is revised, there is a great risk the referendum will not pass,” he said.

MFP MP Parit Wacharasindhu told the House that the party did not care how long the government-appointed panel on the design of the referendum would take to study the issue.

He said the MFP’s concern involved the questions to be asked at the referendum and noted the MFP MPs preferred giving their opinions on the charter rewrite in parliament.

Meanwhile, the government is set to gather public opinions on the planned referendum on a constitutional amendment from various groups.

The sub-panels set up by the government committee studying a referendum on amending the charter met yesterday to discuss their tasks.

One sub-panel is gauging the public’s opinion on the matter and the other is responsible for drawing up a guideline for a referendum.

Chanin Rungthanakiat, a Pheu Thai MP who sits on the committee drawing up the guideline, said opinions will be gathered from three groups.

The first group comprises MPs, senators and members of various House committees.

The other two groups are students, members of the public, civic groups, the media and the business sector.

The sub-panels are reportedly expected to wrap up their assignments around the end of the year.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will meet Apple CEO Tim Cook next month during an Apec Meeting in San Francisco as part of the government’s strategy to lure foreign investors to the kingdom.

The meeting was disclosed yesterday when Mr Srettha, also finance minister, gave a lecture at a special forum held by the Economic Reporters Association in Bangkok. Mr Srettha said he met top business leaders during his recent trip to the US and China. He is looking forward to holding further talks with the wider business community. He said the Thai business community has been invited to join his trip to the US next month. He is also excited about meeting the CEO of Apple and expects the talk to be fruitful.

Chaowalit Thongduang, a 37-year-old prisoner who escaped from a hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat, is likely to be hiding somewhere in Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary, a refuge for animals that covers four southern provinces, according to police.

Police were tracing the prisoner in the area via mobile phone signals, which marks a significant u-turn from their previous assumption that Chaowalit had fled the country through the southern border province of Satun.

The sanctuary covers 1,266 square kilometres of forest in Phatthalung, Trang, Satun and Songkhla.

Chaowalit, alias Sia Paeng Na Nod, escaped from Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, where he had an appointment to receive dental care, some time between Saturday night and Monday morning.

CCTV at the hospital showed Chaowalit emerge from a lift with a man who was later identified as Chirawut, or Luk Wua, before they left in a white Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck, said a source.

The truck, which was later found to have been driven by another man identified by police as Chakkri, or Big, was seen followed by a black Honda Civic and an Isuzu D-Max pickup truck.

Tracking these vehicles via the phone signals of the people travelling in them, police found the three cars first headed in the direction of Chian Yai and Cha-aut districts of Nakhon Si Thammarat before moving into neighbouring Phatthalung.

However, when they reached Sri Nakharin district of Phatthalung, all three cars went their separate ways, with the Mitsubishi truck going to Satun, the Isuzu truck heading to Trang and the Civic to Krabi.

The police were apparently deceived at first into believing Chaowalit was heading to Satun in the same Mitsubishi truck and possibly had escaped to a neighbouring country.

Only after his mobile signals were detected in the Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary area did police realise he had not travelled in the truck, which was later found abandoned about 10 metres from the house of a local politician in Satun.

The prisoner is believed to have switched to the Civic, which was thought to be driven by Chaowalit’s close aide — identified only as Non — who drove the car from Krabi to Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The black Civic took Chaowalit to Trang where he got out and walked into the wildlife sanctuary, about 2km from the nearest road.

A witness said they spotted someone driving a motorcycle into the forest in the direction where Chaowalit is believed to be hiding. The driver was seen carrying a bag that could contain food supplies and even a firearm. Police have focused their search for the fugitive on the sanctuary. The manhunt continued for a fourth day yesterday.

Narong Nukhong, Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison’s chief, has been transferred in the wake of Chaowalit’s escape.

SURAT THANI: In connection with the murder and mutilation of a Brazilian physician on the holiday island of Koh Phangan in August of this year, public prosecutors on Wednesday brought charges against the Spanish chef to the municipal court in the city.

Options claim that Daniel Bronchalo, 29, killed Edwin Arteaga, 44, and then dismembered the body to hide the violence on Koh Phangan, which is well-known for its entire moon celebrations and scuba dive.

On Thursday, the judge granted the plaintiff’s request for a speech hearing after accepting the lawsuit.

The victim’s hip and gut were discovered at a dump on Koh Phangan on August 3, which made the case public. Officers detained Mr. Bronchalo the next day, and he afterward confessed to the crime.

Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and Silvia Bronchalo, two Hispanic actors, are the parents of the defendant. In his native land, he is a well-known chef. & nbsp,

The target ran a prosperous plastic surgeries business in Monteria, Colombia.

There are only 180 active” important people” in the nation, and 10 regions are completely free of them, the House committee on management announced on Wednesday.

The information, according to MP Korawee Prissananantakul( Bhumjaithai ), came from Chada Thaised, the deputy interior minister, and representatives from the Department of Provincial Administration, who met with the committee on Wednesday in parliament.

Mr. Chada, who is also from Bhumjaithai, is in charge of the government’s nationwide initiative to repress influential individuals( a metaphor for important crooks ).

According to Mr. Korawee, officials also listed 625 former influential persons who had already agreed to stop coercing people and informed them that 180 significant individuals were also effective.

He claimed that authorities had not yet developed strategies to subdue the energetic, powerful individuals. They may keep an eye on the 625 people who said they had changed for the better. & nbsp,

According to Mr. Chada, the division found that 66 provinces had prominent people working there, but only 10 of them had them. Mr. Korawee claimed that because the information was” classified ,” they did not name the provinces.

According to Mr. Korawee, the Interior Ministry defines important persons as those who use their position of power to compel another, affecting their bodies, minds, flexibility, reputations, or assets.

He claimed that the House council even inquired about the influence of Mr. Chaa’s arrested son-in-law. Leaders may learn that he had abused his position of authority to hurt other people, according to a member of the Department of Public Administration.

Weerachart Rasamee, a provincial governor and nbsp, was detained on Tuesday in the state of Uthai Thani for the alleged bribery of an irrigation company, according to the House commission. He is the son-in-law of Mr. Chada.