Barkar Nash (Page 888)

Foreign policy experts have advised the Pheu Thai-led government to pursue international assistance on a large front rather than concentrating on industry and the economy.

Pheu Thai, which is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is renowned for its involvement in monetary policies, according to Jittiphat Poonkham, producer of Thammasat University’s International Studies Programme at the Faculty of Political Science.

He was concerned that new international policies may be business-oriented rather than focusing on international issues specifically because of this.

At a lecture on” Thai international policy view under the incoming state” held at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science, Mr. Jittiphat discussed the issue.

The lecture offered recommendations for how the new administration should market the nation. He suggested that the Pheu Thai-led government may approach political competition between the US and China, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, methodically.

By stating a clear place on this issue, Thailand really aim to turn either in front of or against the weather, he said. Thailand may not always have to abide by agreements with its allies, including China, the US, and the EU. But he added that the nation must consider shared values and passions.

Thailand needs to take a strong stance based on the rule of laws, protect human rights, and develop climate change plans. Thailand’s reputation as a more dependable person on the international stage would ideally improve with this.

The Pheu Thai-led government would likely view China as an economical opportunity rather than a proper risk, according to political science professor Sitthiphon Kruarattikan of Thammasat Interdisciplinary Studies College.

Therefore, it is likely that the new administration would uphold China’s fundamental pursuits. It isn’t all that different from earlier administrations since the 1990s, which saw Beijing more as an economic opportunity than a danger, he continued.

According to Mr. Sitthiphon, the new federal might face difficulties as a result of this strategy toward China, particularly given its desire to revitalize Thailand’s Asean leadership and build its importance.

In the sight of some Asean people, Thailand may reduce its credibility. In order to stabilize financial interests with obedience to international standards [ on Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea ], it must first find a compromise.

Architect Duangrit Bunnag keeps pledge to let people pelt him with poop if Pheu Thai teams up with army ‘uncles’

No one can accuse Duangrit Bunnag of not keeping his word, after a down-and-dirty exhibition of political performance art in Bangkok on Saturday.

Mr Duangrit, a renowned architect, artist and social media gadfly, was making good on a pledge he made earlier while commenting on the political drama surrounding the formation of the new government.

Specifically, he was expressing dismay at the prospect of the Pheu Thai Party teaming up with army-backed parties, in particular the Palang Prachrath Party led by Gen Prawit Wongsuwon — despite a campaign pledge to never do so.

“If the Pheu Thai Party joins hands with PPRP, I will allow you all to throw faeces at me,” he told his followers on X, as Twitter is known these days.

Those followers took him at his word, and after a few days of back-and-forth tweets about the how and where, he arranged to meet them outside the Mirror Art Gallery in Lak Si district on Saturday afternoon.

Clad in a hazmat suit and full-face mask, Mr Duangrit made good on his promise, kneeling on a white tarpaulin as people threw cow manure at him.

“I want to communicate through art,” said one anonymous poop-tosser, dressed in overalls and wearing an eerily realistic mask of Gen Prawit, before stepping up to pelt Mr Duangrit with dung.

Gen Prawit was among the architects of the 2014 coup that removed Pheu Thai from power and installed a junta-backed administration that governed for the next nine years.

Mr Duangrit, 57, is a longtime Pheu Thai supporter and member of the Creative Action for Revival and People Empowerment (CARE) group led by Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai.

“Duangrit had faith in a political party, but that party wasn’t taking their word seriously,” the poop-tosser in the Prawit mask told reporters.

“Duangrit had to receive the shit on behalf of them.” (Story continues below)

A participant in a Prawit Wongsuwon mask takes aim at Duangrit Bunnag during Saturday’s political performance art event. (Photo: AFP)

Health concerns

Mr Duangrit declined to speak to reporters — who warily pressed him for comment after he had been sprayed clean by an industrial hose.

“Only this will let me live in my life in the freedom to be, freedom to act,” he said in a statement ahead of the show.

A medical team was on standby, with an ambulance whisking Mr Duangrit away following the show.

“I tried to prohibit it, but I failed,” Dr Tosaporn Serak told AFP, adding he had warned the architect there were health risks.

But he acknowledged there was no stopping him, adding that while he did not approve, “it’s OK, he has kept his promise”.

Others, like 67-year-old Aud, were adamant that this was the right action after Mr Duangrit’s pledge.

“In the end the politicians broke their promises, they shook hands with them, prolonging the dictators’ power,” he said.

“Duangrit said that if it actually happened, we would accept shit being thrown at us. That’s why we are here.”

Thai maid held for questioning said Chinese tenants were reportedly earning B48,000 a month each

CHON BURI: Sixteen Chinese nationals alleged to be members of a phone scam gang were arrested in Saturday during a police raid on four houses in a compound in Bang Lamung district, on the east side of Pattaya City.

A Thai maid who looked after the properties in tambon Nong Prue was also taken in for questioning.

Investigators from Provincial Police Region 2 and Chon Buri police searched the four houses at 9am on Saturday after receiving a tip-off that Chinese phone scammers had rented the premises for more than 3 months.

The houses were in the same fenced compound. The police team found 12 Chinese men and four women inside, along with the Thai housekeeper.

The Thai woman, identified only as Nee, told police that she had been hired for 7,000 baht a month to buy food and clean the houses. She said she knew very little about the Chinese tenants, other than that they were being paid 10,000 yuan (48,600 baht) a month each.

Police seized some computers, many mobile phones and a safe. A new Toyota Alphard was found parked in the compound. All 17 people arrested were held in police custody for questioning and legal action.

A security guard named Phet told police that he did not know what the Chinese nationals were doing because he just guarded the area outside the compound. Most of the Chinese spent most of their time inside the houses, he said.

A Toyota Alphard was found inside the compound of the houses in Chon Buri where the 16 Chinese nationals were staying. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)

Suspect believed turning on ambulance’s siren would allow him to proceed without interference

A man has been apprehended in Nong Bua Lam Phu for making off with an ambulance after stealing a pickup truck while under the influence of methamphetamine in neighbouring Udon Thani province.

Police in Nong Bua Lam Phu were alerted on Friday night to stop a 33-year-old man identified as only Somdee, who had made off with an emergency vehicle of Sriboonruang Hospital while its driver was tending to a patient.

The officers were able to track the ambulance using its onboard GPS and located Somdee on Highway 288, intercepting him approximately 500 metres from Baan Tung Pattana village in Si Bun Rueang district.

Somdee was taken back to the hospital and tested positive for drug use. He confessed to purchasing a meth pill after completing his work as a rubber tapper on Friday. High on the substance, he stole an Isuzu pickup truck in Udon Thani and drove it across the provincial border with the intent to find a new vehicle in Nong Bua Lam Phu.

He chose to stake out his next vehicle at Sriboonruang Hospital and seized the opportunity when he noticed the empty ambulance.

The suspect said his motive was to reach Bangkok and continue to Chon Buri to see his son. He said he decided to abandon the pickup because he feared it would be tracked. On the other hand, he thought that if he drove with the ambulance’s siren on, he could get where he wanted to go without anyone trying to stop him.

The owner of the first stolen vehicle, a shop owner in Udon Thani, later appeared to reclaim his truck, saying that Somdee had appeared in his store and casually picked up his car keys, asking to “borrow the car for a joyride nearby”. He attempted to follow the man but could not catch up to the fleeing suspect.

Somdee has been charged with theft and is being detained in Nong Bua Lam Phu.

Search resumes off Nai Yang beach after being suspended on Friday amid bad weather

PHUKET: A search was continuing on Saturday for a teenager from Kazakhstan who went missing and was feared to have drowned at Nai Yang beach in Thalang district on Friday night.

Police were informed about the disappearance of the 18-year-old at about 7.30pm on Friday.

The teenager went swimming with friends at Nai Yang beach on Friday evening. He was seen struggling in the water and then vanished, prompting his friends to seek help from residents in the area, said tourist police.

Police, local officials and volunteers searched for the missing tourist until around 8.30pm when they had to stop due to heavy downpours and strong waves.

The tourist, whose name was not released, arrived in Phuket on Aug 22 and was scheduled to leave on Sept 5.

A coordination centre to search for the missing tourist was set up by disaster prevention and mitigation officials on Saturday at Nai Yang beach.

Tourist police seek information on the missing Kazakh teenager from a foreign man with help from an interpreter on Friday night. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)

Thailand’s first Covid-19 vaccine is expected to be completed around the end of this month.

The vaccine is produced by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO). It is known as HXP-GPOVac, which is now in its third round of clinical tests.

The HXP-GPOVac is the most advanced locally made Covid-19 vaccine so far, said the National Vaccine Institute’s (NVI) director, Nakhon Premsri.

About 4,000 volunteers from Nakhon Phanom Hospital participated in the third development stage, with each being administered a 10-microgramme shot as a booster in December last year.

The test results will come out in the middle of this month, Mr Nakhon said.

“If the test result [of Covid antibodies in volunteers] is satisfactory, the GPO will register the vaccine with the Food and Drug Administration by the end of this month,” he said.

After getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the GPO will produce the vaccine as a booster shot, with a target of 5-10 million doses a year. Mr Nakhon said people will have a chance to get the GPO’s Covid-19 vaccine around the beginning of next year.

“The GPO’s vaccine can be further developed to be a second-generation vaccine to fight against new strains such as XBB in the future,” he said.

The HXP-GPOVac was developed using the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as a prototype and was developed by using an egg-based production process, the same method of developing the influenza vaccine, which has been used for the past 60 years.

The first two phases of the study, from 2021 to 2022, showed that GPO’s vaccine can stimulate Covid-19 antibodies while remaining safe to use, he added.