Barkar Nash (Page 896)

Men slain in separate shootouts with soldiers were wanted for several violent crimes

Two insurgents wanted for a string of violent attacks in the restive southern provinces were killed in clashes with security officers in Nong Chik district of Pattani on Wednesday.

More than 50 paramilitary rangers were deployed to Koh Moh Kaeng village in tambon Tha Kamcham at around 4am on Wednesday following a tip-off from local residents that suspected insurgents were hiding inside a house.

While officers were surrounding the house, some men jumped from a window to flee to a nearby rubber plantation. They opened fire to cover their escape, prompting the soldiers to return fire.

After the exchange of gunfire, one armed man was shot dead. Seized from his body was an M16 rifle.

He was later identified as Wae-useng Dueraheng, 33, of Nong Chik district. A criminal record showed he was wanted on four arrest warrants in security cases.

Authorities said Wae-useng was implicated in the killing of two paramilitary rangers in Nong Chik district on Sept 11, 2018; a gold shop robbery in Na Thawee district of Songkhla on Aug 24, 2019; the fatal shooting of Supawadee Rithphet in tambon Bang Khao of Nong Chik on April 23, 2019; and a shooting attack on Sananwit Wongsakon in tambon Lipasa-ngo of Nong Chik on April 2, 2014.

At around 5am, security officers asked local leaders to help persuade other people inside the house to surrender. Kosem Muneemusee, 53, and three family members subsequently ran out.

During questioning, Mr Kosem told officers that he and his family members lived in the house. Two days ago, he came back from work and found two men inside. The strangers asked to stay and he did not question them much until soldiers surrounded the house on Wednesday.

At around 6am, the officers were still trying to persuade the other man who was hiding inside to surrender. However, there was no response.

Lt Gen Santi Sakuntanak, the Fourth Army commander, instructed soldiers to try to negotiate with the suspect to surrender to prevent losses on both sides.

At around 10am, soldiers decided to conduct a raid and asked the owner about the layout inside the house. They searched all the rooms but did not find the suspect.

They later spotted a modified section at the back of the house. When they pulled back the linoleum they found a makeshift wooden door that led to a secret room. The suspect, who was hiding in the room, immediately opened fire. The officers returned fire and kept asking him to surrender. However, the man fired more shots.

After a clash that took about one hour, the man was shot dead.

Authorities identified the suspect as Roki Sidae, 32, of Nong Chik. Seized from his body was a 9mm handgun with a box of ammunition.

He was wanted on three arrest warrants in security cases: an arson attack on a convenience store at a PTT station in Nong Chik on Nov 2, 2016; a bomb attack on the Nong Chik police station on Jan 18, 2019; and a bomb attack on a Bangchak petrol station in Nong Chik on Aug 17, 2022.

Pol Maj Gen Piyawat Chalermsri, deputy commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 9, and Pattani police chief Pol Maj Gen Arsan Chansiri, inspected the scene of the clash on Wednesday.

Pol Maj Gen Piyawat asked officers to search areas in tambon Tha Kamcham for other suspected insurgents who might be in hiding in houses in the area.

Since January 2004, the southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have been the scene of sectarian armed conflict that has claimed over 7,000 lives, about 90% of them civilians.

Police seized four illegal mobile phone transmission antennas and ordered corrections to 23 licensed antennas in Sa Kaeo province that had been turned to serve call scammers across the nearby border.

Details were released on Wednesday by a deputy national police chief, Pol Gen Torsak Sukwimol.

He said police had examined mobile phone antennas in Aranyaprathet district, looking for signs they were being misused by call scammers based in a “neighbouring country”.  Aranyaprathet district borders Cambodia.

They found 27 antennas that were suspiciously turned towards the neighbouring country, apparently to serve call scammers based there who used mobile phone services to deceive people in Thailand.

Four of the 27 transmission antennas were illegally installed, and police seized them. The 23 others were licensed but illegally turned to face across the order.

Police ordered the mobile phone operators that supervised the improperly positioned antennas to make corrections to stop the extension of mobile phone connectivity outside the country, Pol Gen Torsak said. He did not identify a mobile phone service providers.

During the operation, police also arrested people who were selling illegally registered SIM cards at Rong Kluea market, which is on the Cambodian border.

The deputy national police chief said police were taking similar action elswhere along Thailand’s borders as part of efforts to combat call scams.

Event planner spent 4 years behind bars in case involving disappearance of B1.6bn from university

A former event organiser, cleared by a court of charges of colluding to siphon 1.6 billion baht from a university, is pressing for compensation and a return of some of his assets that were impounded during the investigation.

Pada Buakhao has formally petitioned the Ministry of Justice after he was acquitted by a lower court of being complicit in swindling 1.6 billion baht from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL).

The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the prosecution did not take the case to the Supreme Court. The acquittal of Mr Pada is now final as a result.

The embezzlement came to light after KMITL filed a complaint with police on Dec 16, 2014 against the former manager of a Bank of Ayudhya branch at Big C Srinakarin, as well as the head of KMITL’s financial division.

The university said it had found financial irregularities and asked police to investigate.

Their investigation pointed to Mr Pada’s involvement in the disappearance of the school’s money between 2012 and 2014. He reportedly worked as an event organiser with the university.

Now that he has been cleared, Mr Pada said he was entitled to compensation for the four years he spent in detention as a suspect.

In his petition, Mr Pada asked the ministry to approve the awarding of damages.

Worapan Kladwang, a justice specialist at the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said the compensation rate for detention is 500 baht per day due to the loss of opportunity to make a living, as well as a one-off sum of 100,000 baht in lawyers’ fees.

Mr Pada also asked the ministry to help him recover some of his belongings impounded during investigation, which are now unaccounted for. He claimed they are worth about seven million baht.

In total, 40 items were seized. It is unclear how many he has been unable to recover.

Mr Worapan said he was waiting for Mr Pada to submit records of the missing items before proceeding with tracking them down. He pledged to provide his full assistance in securing their return.

Mr Pada said he has gone into business since his release, but it has not performed well after customers heard about the embezzlement news.

The owner of a 32-million-baht Rolls-Royce has denied reports she agreed to let off the pickup driver who rear-ended her car, causing damage estimated at one million baht.

She is seeking compensation.

Sun Yuhan, 38, a Chinese woman, filed her complaint with highway police on Wednesday.

She was at the wheel when her Rolls-Royce Ghost was rear-ended on Highway 7 in Bang Pakong district, Chachoengsao, on Sunday afternoon by an Isuzu pickup truck. She asked police to take legal action against the driver. There were no injuries in the accident.

Her lawyer Anirut Khongsap said his client owned restaurants in Bangkok and Pattaya. She was driving the car alone to Bangkok to have the vehicle checked at a garage when the accident occurred.

Both vehicles parked after the accident. She attempted to talk with the pickup truck driver.

“As she can’t speak Thai, she gestered with her hands for him to meet her later at the garage she was heading to,” the lawyer said.

“Due to miscommunication, the other side did not show up. She denies reports that she was not bothered by the accident. She was shocked by the reports and sought legal counsel,” Mr Anirut said.

He said the Rolls-Royce was covered by first-class insurance. However, the Chinese woman stood firm in asserting she was not at fault, so she filed a complaint with police and asked that they call in the pickup truck driver and charge him.

She denied reports that she had braked abruptly before the accident. The damage to the rear of her car was estimated at slightly over one million baht.

Pol Lt Col Sophon Komolsutthi, a deputy chief interrogator of highway police, received her complaint. He said the pickup driver did not attempt to flee and would report to police as ordered. Police would examine surveillance camera footage from the highway as part of their investigation.

The driver of the Isuzu pickup was identified only as Pongthep, aged 23. The man was quoted as saying that he and the woman talked through translation software, and that he understood her to say she was not bothered by the accident.

A meeting at the parliament on Thursday is expected to set a date for the next joint session to vote for a new prime minister.

The meeting will follow Wednesday’s rejection by the Constitutional Court of petitions by voters seeking to defend the right of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat to be renominated for prime minister on July 19, after he failed to get the needed support on July 14.

House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, the ex-officio parliament president, said before the scheduled decision on Wednesday that the parliament would call a meeting of legal experts on Thursday to discuss a date for the next parliamentary vote for a new prime minister. The meeting would also consider the agenda for the debate.

Observers now expect the joint sitting to be either this Friday or next Tuesday, Aug 22.

Complainants in the case were all voters and included Assoc Prof Pornchai Theppanya and Assist Prof Boonsong Chalaythorn, who both voted for MFP in the May 14 general election. Another complainant was MFP MP Panyarat Pusitanont.

They filed their petitions with the court through the Ombudsman, complaining the parliament’s rejection of Mr Pita’s renomination affected their constitutional rights. 

The Ombudsman forwarded these complaints to the charter court last month.

The joint sitting on July 19 rejected Mr Pita’s renomination on procedural grounds, citing regulation 41 that  forbids the reintroduction of a failed motion during the same session, including the nomination of a prime minister. Mr Pita’s supporters argued that it applies to general business, not to the nomination of a prime minister.

On July 24, 115 law lecturers from 19 institutions also expressed their opposition to the parliament’s passing of the resolution on July 19 to block the renomination of Mr Pita.

Mr Wan delayed the prime ministerial vote on Aug 4 after the Constitutional Court postponed its ruling.

On an urgent motion raised by MFP MP Rangsiman Rome for parliament to review its July 19 resolution rejecting the renomination of Mr Pita, Mr Wan said he would ask parliamentary officials to prepare session procedures and invite the Senate and the House whips for a meeting before the next parliamentary session.

Pheu Thai PM candidate hits back at second set of allegations by whistleblower Chuvit

Srettha Thavisin, the prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai Party, said on Wednesday that the property developer he formerly headed, Sansiri Plc, bought a land plot in inner Bangkok transparently at its market price.

He was responding to what SET-listed Sansiri has called “deliberate misinformation” spread by whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit that it made an illegal land purchase using nominees for its Khun by Yoo luxury condominium.

Mr Chuvit, a former massage parlour tycoon and politician, made the allegation on Tuesday. It was the second claim he had made about malfeasance at Sansiri while Mr Srettha served as its chief executive.

Mr Chuvit has claimed that unethical corporate behaviour allegedly approved by Mr Srettha made him an unsuitable candidate for prime minister. He is expected to be nominated in parliament by the Pheu Thai Party to head a new coalition government within the next few days.

Mr Chuvit alleged that Sansiri used a company in which a housekeeper and a security guard were the shareholders to purchase land in the Thong Lor area of Bangkok in 2016. He said the nominee company took out a 1-billion-baht loan to pay a landowner 565 million baht for the land. No one appears to know what the rest of money was spent on, he added.

The land plot was purchased at 1.1 million baht per square wah which was its market price, Mr Srettha wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Sansiri also rejected allegations that the price paid to the seller, N&N Asset Co Ltd, had been misstated. The price reflected prevailing market values for the area, it added.

“It has been suggested that Sansiri purchased this plot of land at an inflated price and should have only paid 565 million baht for the plot, or 650,000 baht per square wah. This suggestion is baseless,” the statement said. “No landowners in Thong Lor would sell at this price.”

Mr Srettha also said that his three-decade-long management of Sansiri had been recognised for good corporate governance and he welcomed any investigation that was based on facts and good intentions.

On Tuesday, Mr Chuvit claimed that the name of a housekeeper had been used as a previous buyer of the land plot.

The 38-year-old woman, identified only as Pinit, denied her acknowledgement of any land deal. She said she had worked in Bangkok about five years ago and was stunned when she heard her name had been linked to a land transaction.

She denied she had worked as a housekeeper and said that she already informed police in her native province, Maha Sarakham, of her innocence.

Sansiri said its land purchasing procedures conformed to legal requirements. “Every step is transparent and accountable.”

The company also said that its subsidiary, Arnawat Co Ltd, was not an existing creditor of N&N Asset. In its statement to the SET, it attached a copy of the land mortgage contract that it filed with the Department of Land.

Mr Srettha is already suing Mr Chuvit for 500 million baht for defamation over earlier comments made about a land purchase by Sansiri on Sarasin Road in Bangkok.

In that transaction, Mr Chuvit alleged Mr Srettha and Sansiri colluded with the landowners to evade 521 million baht in taxes on the developer’s purchase of the prime site.

Sansiri responded that in any such transaction, the sellers are responsible for paying any taxes and that the company had no influence over their actions.

Five Myanmar nationals, including 6-year-old boy, hurt in accident in Kanchanaburi

KANCHANABURI: A woman was killed and five other Myanmar nationals hurt when a pickup truck they were travelling in rammed into the rear of a truck loaded with wood in Muang district early Wednesday morning.

The fatal crash occurred on Highway 323 in front of the provincial transport office in tambon Kaeng Sian, said Pol Capt Thammawat Sukhueewat, deputy investigation chief at the Muang district police station, who was alerted at about 5.20am.

Police, medical staff and rescue workers found a crashed pickup with Surat Thani licence plates on the footpath with its front badly damaged. One dead woman and five injured people were trapped inside.

The dead woman was seen hugging a six-year-old boy, who was unconscious.

Rescue workers used hydraulic jacks to force open a door of the pickup to retrieve everyone from the wreckage. The injured were rushed to a hospital.

Police found documents showing the passengers were Myanmar migrants with workplaces in Samut Sakhon.

A 10-wheel truck loaded with wood with Nakhon Pathom licence plates was found about 30 metres from the scene with its back badly damaged. Truck driver Chad Bovornthanasarn was awaiting police.

During questioning, Mr Chad said he was driving the truck to transport wood to Ratchaburi. As he approached the Kaeng Sian intersection, he heard a loud crash at the rear of his truck. He believed the pickup driver might have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Video from a surveillance camera showed the pickup truck ramming into the back of the 10-wheeler. The pickup driver did not appear to have applied the brakes.

The driver was later identified as Ka Thet Mon, a Myanmar national. Police plan to question him after his condition improves.

Surveillance video shows a pickup truck ramming into the back of a truck that was heading to the Kaeng Sian intersection in Kanchanaburi province at about 5am on Wednesday. 

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday unanimously dismissed requests to defend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s right to be renominated to parliament for prime minister, saying the petitioners were not the damaged parties.

The court said the requests came from 18 people who voted for MFP in the May 14 general election, 13 other voters in the general election, and MFP MP Panyarat Nanthaphusitanont.

They asked the court to rule on the parliament’s resolution on July 19 rejecting the renomination of Mr Pita for prime minister, because they considered the resolution violated their constitutional rights.

On Wednesday the Constitutional Court ruled that petitions it would consider must come from the people whose rights or liberties were directly violated by the exercise of state authority.

In this case, the petitioners were not nominated prime ministerial candidates and thus their rights or liberties were not directly violated. Therefore, the court decided unanimously to not accept the petitions for deliberation, the court said in its decision.

The parliament on July 19 rejected the renomination of Mr Pita for prime minister by majority vote on a procedural issue. His opponents argued that parliamentary regulation 41 bans the resubmission of a failed motion during the same session, and that included Mr Pita’s renomination.

Mr Pita was renominated after his first attempt to become prime minister was voted down on July 13.

With Mr Pita’s road to the premiership blocked, the Pheu Thai Party withdrew from the MFP-led coalition and is instead trying to form the next government with its own prime ministerial candidate, Srettha Thavisin.

MFP was the election winner with 151 House seats. Pheu Thai was second with 141 seats.

On July 19 the Consitutional Court suspended Mr Pita from working as an MP, pending its ruling on his parliamentary status in relation to his past shareholding in iTV Plc. The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organisation from running in a general election.

An Election Commission panel investigating the complaint was on Tuesday reported to have recommended dropping the charge.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a request from the election winning Move Forward Party to review a parliamentary decision that blocked its prime ministerial candidate from being re-nominated.

The move all but kills off any hope of the progressive Move Forward leading the next government and paves the way for the legislature to hold another vote on a prime minister as soon as this week.

The court said its decision was unanimous.

The court in its decision said it declined to accept the case because it was lodged by a group of more than 20 individuals that did not include the prime ministerial candidate himself. “Their rights were not violated and they did not have the rights to file the complaint,” it said.

Allies of Move Forward had petitioned the court to decide on the legality of a July 19 decision by lawmakers to prevent Pita from being nominated for premier for a second time after his failure at the first attempt.

Parliament is now expected to schedule a vote within days on the prime ministerial candidacy of businessman and political neophyte Srettha Thavisin, of the second-place Pheu Thai Party.

Move Forward won the May election with huge youth and urban support for its liberal policy platform, posing a threat to business monopolies and the military’s political power.

But its effort to form a government failed to win enough support, with broad opposition to its plan, especially among military-appointed senators, to amend the lese majeste law to prevent it being used for purely political purposes.