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The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has set up a team tasked with directing an ongoing police investigation into the alleged extortion of about 140 million baht from an online gambling network by a Chon Buri police chief and nine others back in May.

Wacharin Phanurat, deputy chief of the OAG’s Department of Investigation (DoI), was assigned on Wednesday to head the team, OAG spokesman Kosolwat Inthuchanyong said yesterday.

Prior to Mr Wacharin’s appointment, DoI chief Kunthanit Mongkonsawat had called a meeting on Wednesday with the team following an instruction by Attorney-General Naree Thanthasathian to do so, the spokesman said.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) had ordered the return of the extortion case to the police and asked the team to help with the rest of the investigation, he said.

Police had forwarded the case to the NACC, along with a request for it to handle the case as police believed it involved malfeasance, but the NACC apparently didn’t agree, he said.

In June, three Chon Buri police officers, who were among 10 parties accused of being involved in the 140-million-baht extortion, petitioned the OAG to look into the police investigation against them.

They were Pol Lt Col Sathian Ratchapongthai, deputy superintendent at Nong Kham station in Chon Buri; Pol Maj Nakhonrat Nonseelad, an investigator at Nong Kham station; and Pol Capt Somboon Butdalert, deputy commander of Phlu Ta Luang station.

They reportedly became concerned after a report said they had violated new regulations requiring officers to take video and audio recordings during arrest procedures from the beginning to the end. The three said they didn’t follow the new regulations and asked the OAG to look into how other police were investigating their case, fearing they may be unfairly treated.

On May 23, the three arrested Thaninwat Udomchaowaset, the prime suspect behind the illegal gambling site Foxbet168 in Bangkok. However, there were no video or audio recordings of the arrest.

During the arrest, the three allegedly took Mr Thaninwat to meet Chon Buri police chief Pol Maj Gen Kamphon Leelaprapapor, where the alleged extortion attempt occurred.

Former high-profile Democrat facing 13 charges in all

A court is scheduled to rule on another sexual assault charge against Prinn Panitchpakdi late next month, as prosecutors push to keep legal proceedings going against the disgraced former deputy leader of the Democrat Party.

The ruling will be delivered at the Bangkok South Criminal Court on Sept 25, Kosolwat Inthuchanyong, deputy spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General, said on Thursday.

The same court on Aug 10 sentenced Prinn to two years and eight months in prison without suspension for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old student back in 2021.

The prosecution is handling 13 sexual assault cases against Prinn.

Earlier, the Chiang Mai Provincial Court threw out a sexual assault case against Prinn, but prosecutors are appealing the decision. Prinn has denied all allegations made against him.

The allegations caused a public uproar that prompted Prinn to step down as the deputy leader of the Democrat Party. He was also the leader of the party’s economic team.

The cases were brought to public attention by crusading lawyer Sittra Biabangkerd, who filed police complaints on behalf of the victims. He claimed at least 10 women have been sexually assaulted by Prinn.

Prinn is the son of Supachai Panitchpakdi, a former deputy prime minister, a former director-general of the World Trade Organization and a former secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Authorities hope offer of early detection will encourage more women to have children

Free screening of newborns for 24 rare medical conditions will be offered in an effort to improve the overall health of the nation’s children, amid a continued slump in the birth rate.

The plan was announced on Thursday by the Department of Medical Sciences (DMS) and the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

With a birth rate of just 1.4 babies per woman, there aren’t enough children being born each year to keep Thailand’s median age from increasing, said Dr Supakit Sirilak, the DMS director-general, noting Thailand’s status as an ageing society.

The government hopes the free screening will encourage more women to have children, as it allows parents to detect foetal abnormalities and/or genetic conditions that could affect their children’s well-being early on, especially in remote areas, he added.

About 70 out of every 500,000 children born in Thailand each year are born with a rare, potentially life-threatening condition, according to data from the Birth Defects Association (Thailand).

A lot of these children were born to parents who are too closely related, many of whom live in rural areas, said Dr Pornswan Wasant, the president of the association.

Dr Jadet Thammathataree, the NHSO secretary-general, said the treatment cost for the 24 conditions, as well as patient transfers to hospitals where the right experts practise, will be covered by the NHSO.

Dr Supakit said the government aims to be able to screen all newborns within 24 hours of their birth by the end of 2024.

Man arrested in Chiang Rai wanted for severe assault in home country

Immigration police in Chiang Rai have arrested a German man believed to be a Hells Angels member who is wanted for severe assault of a man in his home country.

Dennis Fischer, 50, was apprehended at a hotel in Muang district of the northern province on Tuesday, said Pol Maj Gen Phanthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau.

He said the German had a one-year non-immigrant visa that was due to expire on July 12 next year.

German authorities had asked the Royal Thai Police to find and extradite Mr Fischer.

Pol Maj Gen Phanthana said the suspect was a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in the German port city of Kiel. Authorities there say he and his girlfriend lured a man to a public swimming pool and then shot him in the thigh.

Rules bar opposition MPs from post, but party believes it has a solution

Deputy House Speaker Padipat Suntiphada will remain in his current role even though the Move Forward Party (MFP) has shifted to the opposition, a senior party member said on Thursday.

Questions have been raised about whether Mr Padipat would be stepping down given his party’s shift in status following the appointment of Srettha Thavisin from the Pheu Thai Party as prime minister.

Move Forward won the most seats in the May 14 election but was unable to get its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, elected as prime minister in parliament. It then asked its erstwhile partner Pheu Thai to attempt to form a government, and Pheu Thai said that would be impossible as long as Move Forward remained in the coalition.

Under Section 106 of the constitution, the opposition leader will be appointed from the biggest party in that camp. MPs from that party must not serve as cabinet ministers or as a speaker or deputy.

If Mr Padipat remains in the deputy speaker post, his party, which commands the largest number of seats at 151, cannot legally lead the opposition camp, said MFP deputy secretary-general Nattacha Boonchai-insawat.

Section 106 puts the party in an awkward position but Mr Padipat was elected by MPs, so the party will support him in this role, said Mr Nattacha.

“We won the general election but we were blocked from taking the House Speaker post, denied the prime minister post and booted out from the coalition,” he said.

“We want to work in the opposition but there are still restrictions. We’ll support Mr Padipat as deputy House speaker, so we can’t really call ourselves the (lead) opposition.”

He said the post of opposition leader is likely to be left vacant unless circumstances change.

Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, who was expected to assume the role of opposition leader, is currently suspended from his MP duties by the Constitutional Court pending its ruling on his media shareholding case, and the party has no plan to change its leader, Mr Nattacha said.

The charter court this week gave Mr Pita an additional 30 days to submit supporting evidence in the case, which involves his holding of 42,000 shares in the long-defunct broadcaster iTV that were in the estate of his late father.

Mr Nattacha said the opposition leadership role cannot be passed on to the Democrat Party, which has just 25 MPs.

Questions have been raised about whether the Democrats will remain in opposition after 16 of their MPs voted in support of Mr Srettha on Tuesday. However, those MPs on Thursday defended their stand and said they had no desire to join the government.

Mr Padipat on Thursday denied reports that he had handed in his resignation, saying he can remain impartial but would accept the party’s decision whether he should stay or go.

Fair Party secretary-general and list-MP Kannawee Suebsang said his party is ready to work with Move Forward in pushing for key draft laws and scrutinising the government, as well as working with the civil sector.

He said the party has already proposed a motion to set up an extraordinary committee to review problems in the restive South and work on refugee issues.

When asked if the MFP should take the deputy House speaker post or the opposition leader role, Mr Kannawee said this was Move Forward’s decision to make.

Move Forward MPs on Thursday proposed 10 draft laws to the House covering tax reform, land reform, labour rights, welfare protection and fisheries.

List-MP Parit Wacharasindhu said the party would not only keep the government in check but also try to drive change by improving and enacting laws.

Action reflected confusion over party’s stance, say members who insist they don’t want to join the government

Democrat Party MPs who voted in support of Srettha Thavisin for prime minister have blamed their action on confusion over the troubled party’s stance. They denied aspiring to be in the government and declared they were fully ready for an opposition role in parliament.

In the parliamentary vote on Tuesday to select the prime minister, 16 Democrat MPs unexpectedly voted for Mr Srettha, the Pheu Thai Party candidate. Many political observers were flabbergasted as it was understood that the party had earlier passed a resolution for its MPs to abstain.

Led by Det-it Khaothong, a caretaker deputy party leader and Songkhla MP, and Chaichana Dechdecho, a caretaker deputy secretary-general and Nakhon Si Thammarat MP, the 16 members on Thursday came out in defence of their action.

Mr Det-it told reporters that when the party held a meeting of its 25 MPs on Monday, the day before the parliamentary vote, they were split into three different groups.

Some MPs said the party should vote against Mr Srettha’s nomination, reasoning that the Democrat and Pheu Thai parties had long been in conflict. Some new MPs argued that the bitter past should be left behind, otherwise bad attitudes would persist. At this point, he said, some senior party MPs walked out of the meeting.

One group of MPs was of the opinion that the party should vote for the Pheu Thai nominee as the country had reached a dead end and there were many problems remaining to be solved.

But most of the MPs said the party should opt to abstain, he said.

Mr Det-it said that Jurin Laksanawisit, the caretaker party leader, then rose and suggested there should not be a vote on the matter because it was the individual right of an MP to vote as they wish.

“The meeting ended without a vote. We were not sure whether the party had passed a resolution or not,” he said.

Mr Det-it said that during the debate prior to the prime ministerial vote on Tuesday, the MPs in his group sat together in a separate room, listening to the comments of MPs and senators on Mr Srettha’s qualifications. Most of them found Mr Srettha acceptable to them, he added.

When it came time to vote, they noticed that Mr Jurin abstained while two other former party leaders — Chuan Leekpai and Banyat Bantadtan — voted against Mr Srettha’s nomination.

Mr Det-it said the inconsistency on the part of the three senior MPs, who are the party’s main pillars, caused MPs to conclude that the party did not have a definitive resolution regarding the vote.

‘Interest of the nation’

“We arrived at the conclusion that we should act in the interest of the nation and the people by voting in support of the Pheu Thai Party which had mustered more than 250 (MP) votes,” he said.

Pheu Thai, he noted, had also managed to reconcile with other parties that had been its political opponents in the past, notably the military-linked Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation.

The Democrats were part of the Palang Pracharath-led coalition that formed the previous government.

“We were of the opinion that, as Democrat members of the new era who had never donned either yellow or red shirts and never had a conflict with anyone, we should not inherit the heritage of hatred and conflicts from people of the old generations,” Mr Det-it declared.

At the same time, however, he affirmed that his group of 16 MPs remained fully committed to sitting in the opposition.

“We do not aspire to be in the government. We would join a government only when we are invited and that must be a party resolution,” he said.

Asked whether the 16 MPs wanted the party to expel them so that they could join a new party, Mr Det-it said he doubted it would come to that.

“In fact, an MP can be expelled by as many as three-fourths of party MPs and executive committee members. But, since most of the MPs and party executives are here with us, I wonder how could we be expelled?” he asked.

He acknowledged what commentators have been saying for some time, that the Democrat Party was not united.

The party remains leaderless as Mr Jurin resigned following the May 14 election to take responsibility for its poor showing. It failed on two recent occasions to elect a new leader and executive board due to the lack of a quorum. In addition to the damage to its reputation, the party had to spend 3-4 million baht to arrange each meeting.

Mr Det-it urged the party to call another general assembly to elect a new leader and executive committee. And this time, he said, all sides must reconcile to ensure a sufficient quorum.

Police in Sattahip take action after online outcry over inappropriate use of uniforms

CHON BURI: A group of Sattahip karaoke hostesses who thought that wearing girl scout uniforms would be good for business have been fined 100 baht each for their fashion statement.

Police in the seaside town south of Pattaya took action after online fashion critics reacted unfavourably to photos and videos of the young women on a Line group that later went viral.

Pol Col Panya Damlek, chief of the Sattahip station, ordered officers on Wednesday night to track down the hostesses at the bar near the Thongthip market. They were brought in for questioning and told that the Scout Act of 2008 takes a dim view of people wearing scout uniforms and emblems for non-scouting purposes.

The offence carries a jail term of up to one month and/or a fine of up to 1,000 baht. In this case police fined the first-time offenders 100 baht each as they had made an honest mistake, said Pol Lt Col Sinsamut Bunthatsana, investigation chief at the station.

One of the staff said she came to work in a girl scout uniform on her birthday on Aug 18. She proposed a theme night in which all the staff would wear the uniforms.

She insisted she was not aware that she was doing anything illegal, and apologised to anyone who was offended.

Former premier under quarantine at Police General Hospital until Sunday

Activists on Thursday pressed authorities to look into whether Thaksin Shinawatra received a special favour when he was admitted to Police General Hospital just hours after he started his eight-year prison term.

Well-known petitioner Srisuwan Janya brought his complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). He wants the NACC to look into the decision by the Department of Corrections to transfer the former prime minister to Police General Hospital “only for hypertension”.

He filed the complaint a day after authorities said the 74-year-old prisoner’s multiple health conditions justified the referral to a hospital that is better equipped than the medical facilities at the Bangkok Remand Prison.

Earlier, when Thaksin was living abroad, he appeared to be in good health and fit enough to travel frequently between countries, Mr Srisuwan said.

The activist also took issue with reports that Thaksin would not have to wear his hair short like other male inmates.

At the Ministry of Justice, an activist group led by Pichai Chaimongkol and Nasser Yeema told officials that said the public was questioning the way the Department of Corrections was treating Thaksin.

They also asked if Thaksin was really severely ill, given the number of online pictures showing him looking quite healthy in recent times.

Sahakan Phetnarin, the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, said that when prisoners had life-threatening health problems, they must be referred to a hospital in accordance with corrections regulations.

Nastee Thongplad, the governor of Bangkok Remand Prison, said Thaksin remained at Police General Hospital and during his first five days there, from Wednesday to Sunday, he would be quarantined and no visitors would be allowed.

Afterwards, he said, authorities would allow Thaksin to see 10 people who had already expressed their intention to visit him. He declined to name the expected visitors.

Thaksin returned to the country on Tuesday after 15 years of self-imposed exile. On the same day, the Supreme Court ordered him imprisoned for a total of eight years based on convictions in three cases.

Thaksin was brought to Bangkok Remand Prison early Tuesday afternoon, but shortly after midnight he was sent to Police General Hospital.

The Pheu Thai Party has warned that scammers are enticing victims to click on their ‘10,000-baht digital wallet’ links, falsely claiming that its government is not yet in power.

Treechada Srithada, deputy spokeswoman of the coalition-core party, said on Thursday that scammers were disseminating fraudulent ‘digital wallet’ links, claiming that people should click them to register for receiving digital money handouts from the Pheu Thai-led government.

These links aimed at stealing personal data and money from victims’ bank accounts, she warned.

“The new government is yet to be formed, and the Pheu Thai Party has not commenced its national administration,” said the spokeswoman. “No digital wallet application or relevant registration process is in place.”

The ‘10,000-baht digital wallet’ was one of Pheu Thai’s main policies, and the party would implement it soon, Ms Treechada said.

Paopum Rojanasakul from the economic team of Pheu Thai said the party would try to implement the scheme by April next year and all existing digital wallet offers are scams.

People aged 16 years and older would receive 10,000 baht through their bank accounts, without having the need to register or download any application, he said.