Barkar Nash (Page 47)

A group of 20 people yesterday petitioned the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) of the police’s Central Investigation Bureau against a company they said deceived them into investing in a non-existent clean energy business.

Kittikhun Saenghirun, a representative from the Lawyers Council of Thailand (LCT), led the group in filing the complaint.

Ms Aphantree, a group representative, said that at the end of 2019, the company sent her and other alleged victims a link to invest in clean energy generators.

She said the company claimed the machines could be sold domestically and internationally.

She stated the company needed investors and was selling company shares at 100 baht each. Investors were supposed to start receiving dividends in 50 weeks and continue to receive them throughout their lives.

She said the company claimed there would be more earnings for those who recommended new investors.

Ms Aphantree said she and other alleged victims then spent their retirement savings on the business, starting in Sept 2019 and received a 3% dividend in 30 weeks.

The alleged victims later bought a large number of shares, around hundreds of thousands to millions of baht. But in May 2020, the company’s assets were confiscated by authorities, she said. The company persuaded them in a Line group with 2,000 members not to file a complaint, arguing that the government had harassed them by taking control of and terminating their accounts.

She said the company claimed to buy back shares and compensate victims, but this didn’t happen for everyone. Only the first group of 299 people received compensation after the case was brought to court.

“We are not in the first group, so we ask for help with the ECD today,” Ms Aphantree said, adding that she believed there were about 70,000 victims, but many of them may not know how to proceed legally.

Mr Kittikhun said that LCT will set up a complaint centre so the remaining people affected can contact the council for legal help.

Thailand has not yet been confirmed as a member of the Brics international organisation, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Speaking yesterday, ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said that the Thai government is still weighing the economic benefits of joining Brics before the matter is considered in the House.

Brics comprises nine member countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia.

According to the MFA, Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa was appointed by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to attend a series of Brics meetings in Kazan, Russia, on Oct 24 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At this meeting, Thailand reaffirmed its determination to elevate its engagement with Brics, as stressed in a letter expressing its interest in joining the bloc as a full member in June, the MFA said.

When asked about a recent report saying that Thailand was being approved by Brics on Oct 24 as its official partner, Mr Nikorndej said that the MFA saw the report in question after Mr Maris attended the Brics Plus Summit in Kazan. Still, the ministry has yet to verify the news because it was published on the Brics news page on X and many other channels.

According to a post on the BRICS News account on Oct 24, “BRICS decides not to accept any new members as full members of the alliance for 2024. 13 new nations have been accepted as official partner countries and will be part of BRICS initiatives. They are working towards becoming full alliance members at a later date”.

The post also listed Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the UAE, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia as the “Full BRICS Members”.

It also listed Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam as “Official BRICS Partner Countries”.

Mr Nikorndej said: “According to the normal procedure, we must receive official notification from the Brics chair, which is Russia. We hope that we can be a Brics partner, but I cannot verify that it is true until the ministry receives the official confirmation document from the chair.”

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took to social media yesterday to thank the public for their support during her recovery from bronchitis, saying she was feeling better.

Ms Paetongtarn posted a set of photos yesterday, including pictures with her two children.

“The doctor suggested I rest for one more day, but thanks to my two little nurses, I think I have now recovered,” she said.

“I apologise for having had to cancel all the appointments that were scheduled for today due to my illness,” the prime minister said.

According to a government source, Ms Paetongtarn took sick leave yesterday after being diagnosed with bronchitis, which caused a sore throat and hoarse voice, though no Covid-19 infection was detected.

Ms Paetongtarn is expected to resume her duties today. She is scheduled to visit the government’s narcotic suppression model operation in the northeastern province of Roi Et.

Lawmakers still haggling over referendum rules, next election will likely be held under 2017 charter

A new constitution is unlikely to be completed before the government’s term ends in less than three years, meaning it will not be in place by the next general election, says the secretary of the joint House-Senate panel on the charter referendum bill.

Nikorn Chamnong, also chief strategist of the coalition Chartthaipattana Party, said that based on the current timeline, it is not possible to rush the process so that the new charter is ready before April 2027, when the next general election is due, assuming the current MPs stay in office until then.

He also said this does not include the time needed to pass the organic laws essential for holding elections. Consequently, the next polls will be organised under the current charter that was drafted under a coup-installed government and took effect in 2017.

The main hurdle to the charter-rewriting process is the difference in opinion between the House of Representatives and the Senate over the size of the majority needed to pass a referendum on amending the constitution.

The House stands by its position that a simple majority vote is sufficient for it to pass. The Senate insists on a so-called double majority: over 50% of voters must participate in the referendum, and the majority of those who take part must support it. The two chambers have set up a joint committee in an attempt to resolve their differences.

Mr Nikorn said the panel’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov 6 and that it plans to meet every Wednesday. However, there is currently no timeline for when the issue will be resolved because parliament is now in recess until mid-December.

“So [the panel] will spend this period carefully looking into the matter. There is no need to rush because the referendum will not take place as initially planned,” he said.

The government initially planned to hold the referendum alongside nationwide local elections in February next year to save costs. In all, three referendums would need to be held, each estimated to cost 2-3 billion baht.

The first referendum would ask voters whether they agree with writing a new charter. If the majority agrees, the second will ask if Section 256 of the current constitution should be amended to allow for the drafting of a new charter. Once a new constitution has been produced, the government will hold a third referendum, asking voters to decide whether it should be adopted.

On Wednesday, the joint committee selected Pol Maj Gen Chattawat Saengpet, a senator, as its chairman, with a plan to reach a conclusion on the referendum before parliament reconvenes in December.

At the next meeting, the committee will gather opinions from all members and will invite agencies, including the Election Commission, to provide input at the following meeting.

The final meeting, scheduled for early December, will conclude the discussions.

In case the joint committee ends up being unable to reach any agreement, the bill will have to be shelved for 180 days. The House will have the final say on the bill and will be able to have it promulgated.

Nikorn Chamnong, chief strategist of the coalition Chartthaipattana Party, serves as the secretary of the joint House-Senate panel on the charter referendum bill. (Photo: Government House)

Rain still lingering in Bangkok, Lower Central Plains and eastern regions

The cool season is forecast to start in much of the country after Nov 9, when the mercury is expected to drop by 1–2 degrees Celsius in Bangkok, according to the Thai Meteorological Department.

Nov 1–9 marks a transition to the cool season, when rainfall and thunderstorms are in the forecast, although they will taper off, giving away to cooler weather in most parts of the country, with temperatures on mountain peaks plummeting to single digits, the department said on Thursday.

The Lower Central Plains and the Eastern region, as well as Bangkok and adjacent provinces, have been experiencing the last storms of the rainy season, it said.

The weather would have been cooler by this time of year had it not been for lingering low pressure over the South China Sea and the influence of Typhoon Kong-rey, which is barrelling through Taiwan and is impacting the weather pattern in the region, it said.

From Nov 1-9, a relatively strong cold air mass is expected to move over upper Thailand, bringing strong winds, rain and thunderstorms in the Northeast, East and the Central Plains region, including Bangkok.

Farmers are advised to prepare for the impact of unstable weather on their crops.

During the period, temperatures will start to drop, first in the Northeast (by 2-4C on Saturday morning, then in the North (by 2-4C), and the Central Plains region (by 1-3C).

In Bangkok and adjacent provinces, temperatures are expected to drop by 1-2C.

Meanwhile, residents along the Gulf of Thailand are bracing for heavy rain, strong waves, flash floods and runoff. They are asked to monitor weather updates for alerts.

In Chiang Mai, meanwhile, the lowest temperature on Doi Inthanon, the country’s highest summit, was 9C on Thursday, said Kriangkrai Chaipiset, head of Doi Inthanon National Park.

At the popular Kew Mae Pan nature trail near the summit, it was 10C while the park headquarters saw the mercury drop to 14C, he said.

No fine dust pollution was reported in the park, he added.

On Wednesday, the park received 1,822 visitors, 1,135 of whom were foreign nationals.

Somchai Lenglak convicted of vote-buying while running for MP’s position

The Election Commission (EC) will ask the Constitutional Court to disqualify Somchai Lenglak as a senator after a court barred him from taking part in elections for 10 years for an earlier vote-buying offence, a source said on Thursday.

The poll body is in the process of drafting its petition, the source added.

The move follows a Supreme Court ruling on Sept 23, which found Mr Somchai had committed election fraud while running as an MP candidate for Constituency 9 in Songkhla in the 2023 general election. The court banned him from taking part in elections for 10 years.

The source said the EC believes Mr Somchai should be barred from holding public office because he was aware of and actively engaged in vote-buying.

Meanwhile, the EC is expected to reach a final decision next week on Senator Keskamol Pleansamai, who is facing disqualification over questions surrounding her educational background.

The commission is considering whether Ms Keskamol’s claim that she had graduated from California University with a PhD constituted deception to win votes, a violation of Section 77 of the 2018 Senate election law.

California University Foreign Credentials Evaluation Institution, as it is known officially, issues certificates “equivalent” to degrees based on an applicant’s educational and work achievements, not degrees.

Village and sub-district heads face job losses when municipalities are upgraded

The Bhumjaithai Party has submitted two bills aimed at preserving the positions of village and sub-district headmen in municipalities, saying they are needed to facilitate effective work with residents.

Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the interior minister, said a recent Administrative Court ruling could affect the positions of village headmen, known as phuyai ban, and sub-district headmen, known as kamnan.

The court ordered the elimination of the two positions if a municipality is upgraded to either a town, known as thesaban muang, governing 10,000 people, or a city, known as thesaban nakhon, with 50,000 people or more.

Under the Local Administration Act, the positions of the affected village headmen and kamnans must be eliminated within one year of a change in a municipality’s status.

“We still want the positions of phuyai ban and kamnan to be retained in their municipal areas because we believe that they can help take care of people’s well-being,” Mr Anutin said on Wednesday.

“They can also assist in coordinating efforts with the municipality to make things easier for residents.”

Mr Anutin said he had discussed the issue with the opposition and coalition parties and they agreed that amending the law would benefit the people.

He said he hoped that all political parties would support the amendment in the next parliamentary session, which starts on Dec 12.

The move by the Bhumjaithai Party followed the submission of a letter on Oct 29 by the Village Headmen Association, which called for the preservation of the positions.

Korawee Prissananantakul, a member of the party’s executive committee and an MP for Ang Thong, said on Thursday that when the party’s leadership learned of the matter, they brought it up during a meeting on Oct 30 and resolved to proceed with the bills.

He said Bhumjaithai wanted to assure the village and sub-district headmen that they play an important role in local administration.

Duong Van Thai given 12 years for disseminating ‘anti-state’ content

A Vietnamese blogger who was reportedly abducted from Thailand last year has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for disseminating anti-party and anti-state content, according to local media reports.

Duong Van Thai was charged with posting articles on social media accounts that defamed the government, and allegedly tried to incite people to participate in disruptive activities, according to the news website of Ha Tinh province.

Thai was arrested April 14, 2023 for “illegally entering” Vietnam from Laos without identification papers, according to a statement on the website of the Ha Tinh provincial police.

A representative for Thai was not immediately available for comment.

After completing his sentence, Thai will be under mandatory supervision for three years, the Hanoi People’s Court ruled after a closed trial, according to the VietnamPlus news website.

Thai regularly posted YouTube livestreams that criticised Vietnam’s authoritarian government, accusing it of corruption.

State media said he also ran a Facebook group that published “distorted information” about the private lives of Vietnamese leaders.

He resurfaced in Vietnamese custody last year after disappearing from Thailand where he had fled in 2019 and been granted refugee status. Human Rights Watch accused Vietnam of kidnapping him.

A friend of Thai said he “would never have (voluntarily) returned to Vietnam”.

She said witnesses told her they had seen two white sedan cars block his motorcycle, one from the front and one behind, as he left his residence in Pathum Thani on April 13, 2023, the last time he was seen in Thailand.

Hours at Chong Sa-ngam checkpoint in Si Sa Ket also extended

Thailand and Cambodia have opened the Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge permanent border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province, and also extended the hours at the Chong Sa-ngam checkpoint in Si Sa Ket province to boost trade and tourism.

The Ministry of Interior published the two announcements in the Royal Gazette on Oct 30, with immediate effect, ministry spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Thursday.

The Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge permanent checkpoint (also known as Nong Ian-Stung Bot) is located in tambon Tha Kham of Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo, opposite Stung Bot village in Poipet town of Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia. It is open between 6am and 10pm every day.

The new checkpoint will help to alleviate congestion around the busy Ban Khlong Luek checkpoint, also in Aranyaprathet, facilitating cross-border goods transport and boosting the border trade, said Ms Traisuree.

In Si Sa Ket, the opening hours of the Chong Sa-ngam permanent border checkpoint in Phu Sing district, opposite Anlong Veng district in Oddar Meanchey province, have been extended by two hours. It is now open from 7am to 10pm daily. Previously it closed at 8pm.