Barkar Nash (Page 899)

More than 400 police officers and state officials are now looking for escaped prisoner Chaowalit Thongduang, known as “Sia Pang Na Node”, who took flight into the Banthad mountain range, national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol said on Monday.

Pol Gen Torsak said clothes recently found in the mountain range were proven to have been worn by Chaowalit following DNA tests on the garments.

Six days into the manhunt, he said that Pol Lt Gen Thana Chuwong, the acting deputy national police chief, had travelled to the area to follow up on the attempt to recapture him.

The policemen and state going after Chaowalit in the mountain range stretching across Phatthalung, Trang, and Satun provinces are from the Provincial Police Regions 8 and 9 covering the southern provinces, the Border Patrol Police Bureau, the Crime Suppression Division, the Scientific Crime Detection Division and the Department of Corrections.

A police source said they had altered their strategy by closing off possible tracks along streams to prevent Chaowalit from walking to villages and begging for food from villagers.

However, officers still cannot say for certain if Chaowalit is hiding in the Trang or Phatthalung section of the Banthad mountain range, the source said.

A local villager in Baan Pa Pon said that people from about 100 households in the village were carrying a knife or other weapon with them, even in bed, to defend themselves from Chaowalit, who is carrying firearms.

Chaowalit, 37, was serving time for attempted murder. He fled from Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital on Oct 22 after having been taken there for dental treatment. Despite being restrained and wearing leg chains, he managed to escape.

Bus inspections to help reduce city pollution

An environmental advocacy network is pressing Prime Minister Srettha Thaivisin to endorse a clean air bill it proposed to parliament a year ago but which remains mired in the legislative process.

Twenty representatives of the Thailand Clean Air Network (TCAN) and State Enterprise Workers  Relations Confederation submitted their request at the government complaints centre in Bangkok on Monday.

The letter asked the prime minister to quickly endorse their proposed legislation for the comprehensive management of clean air. The letter was received by Pansak Charoen, a specialist at the PM’s Office. The prime minister is overseas.

Kanengnit Sribua-iam said it came to the network’s attention that at least four similar bills had been proposed or were in the process of being proposed to parliament. They were sponsored by the Strategic Transformation Office, the ruling Pheu Thai Party, the Bhumjaithai Party, the Democrat Party and the Move Forward Party.

She said the TCAN bill was initiated through a mass petition of people directly affected by air pollution and was slated for tabling in the parliament and later deliberation by the previous Prayut Chan-o-cha administration.

However, during vetting the TCAN bill was determined to be financial legislation. This means it must go to the prime minister for endorsement before it can be put to lawmakers, who would decide whether to accept it for debate.

Ms Kaneungnit said the bill had already been held up for more than a year, and it was time the prime minister gave it the go-ahead.

The TCAN bill sought to introduce unique and effective ways of tackling air pollution, and differed in essence from the other bills competing for parliament approval.

– Bus pollution –

The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) is ramping up its inspection of public buses running on diesel fuel and cleaning up bus depots ahead of the cool season, when air pollution increases in and around Bangkok.

The BMTA currently operates 2,075 diesel buses, air-conditioned and non-airconditioned.  

Before being dispatched from the terminal, their exhaust emission levels will be checked. If the emissions are too high, the bus will be sent back for maintenance. 

At the same time, the Department of Land Transport and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will begin exhaust fumes inspection of public buses parked at 27 depots across the city.

The depots themselves will be ordered to clean up once or twice a week, at the least, to help reduce the amount of fine dust pollution in the air, according to the BMTA.

The BMTA also plans to acquire an additional 2,013 electric buses, subject to approval from the new executive board to be elected early next year.

Interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he is pondering prohibiting civilians from carrying a gun in public, and has consulted the Department of Provincial Administration (DPA) about amending the law to this effect.

His comment follows three recent fatal shootings in Bangkok, the latest early on Monday morning.

Mr Anutin, also a deputy prime minister, was speaking on Monday during a visit to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation.

He said he had consulted the DPA director-general about amending gun laws to impose stricter controls and prohibit people other than authorised officials from carrying a gun in public.

Currently, people who legally own a gun can carry it in public for self defence if they get the necessary permit. 

On Saturday, shots were fired when two rival student gangs clashed in front of Sacred Heart Convent School in Bangkok’s Klong Toey area. A teacher at a nearby bank ATM was killed by a sray bullet.

And early on Monday, about 2am, there was another shooting involving rival youth gangs near the mouth of Soi Pattanakarn 53 on the frontage road of the Bangkok-Chon Buri motorway in Suan Luang district.

A 15-year-old Mathayom 5 student was hit and killed. Police found six spent bullet cases scattered on the road.

The issuing of permits for importing and trading in firearms, real and replica, was suspended following the Oct 3 shooting at a Bangkok shopping mall, where a 14-year-old boy using a modified gun intended to fire blank ammunition fatally shot three people and wounded five others.

An activist has asked the Ombudsman to seek a Constitutional Court ruling on the legality of the government’s plan to borrow 500 billion baht to fund its election-policy digital wallet handout.

The move by persistent petitioner Srisuwan Janya came after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the  governor of the central bank had recommended financing the scheme by borrowing the money, and the government would legislate the loan.

Mr Srisuwan filed his request for a judicial ruling with the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday.

He said he was responding to the prime minister’s announcement last week that the government planned legislation to allow it to borrow 500 billion baht to fund the 10,000-baht digital money handout for 50 million Thais aged 16 years or more.

Mr Srisuwan said that the constitution and the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act prohibited the government from passing a law for any borrowing for political gain, or for any non-urgent issue. The digital wallet scheme was a campaign policy of Mr Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party.

He had asked the Ombudsman to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the legality of using government authority for political gain at the cost of the nation’s finances.

He said not all Thais would receive the handout, but everyone would have to bear the cost through the repayment of the government’s planned borrowing.

Prime Minister Srettha said on his way to San Francisco late Sunday night that he was confident the coalition parties, with 320 votes in the House, would ensure the passage of the loan legislation.

According to the prime minister, the country needs the digital handout to stimulate the economy, which had grown only 1.9% annually over the past decade. Without substantial economic growth, the country could not attract foreign investment, he said.

Mr Srettha also said that the governor of the Bank of Thailand had recommended the government borrow to fund the digital wallet scheme.

The Ministry of Public Health will propose that nightspots wanting to open longer hours conduct an alcohol breathalyser test on their customers before they leave, if they appear too drunk to get home safely.

It also proposes they find them transport services if need be.

The ministry has set up a working group to support the government’s policy to spur the economy by extending the opening hours of nightclubs and bars, while also protecting public health, said Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew on Sunday.

It was trying to strike a balance and hit upon the idea of having nightspots step in before customers go home.

Some Western countries have adopted similar interventions to ensure patron safety and that of the public at large.

When longer opening hours start on Dec 15 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Phuket as planned, outlets can sell alcohol until 4am in special designated zones.

In response to public concerns over rising road accidents caused by drunk driving, he said the ministry will come up with measures to address the issue.

The working group will submit its proposal to the government soon.

If approved, the ministry will then exercise its authority under the 2008 Alcoholic Beverages Control Act to issue ministerial regulations, including a requirement for nightspots to conduct an alcohol breathalyser test on customers who appear drunk, he said.

If the test shows the level of blood alcohol content exceeds a legal limit of 0.05%, the pubs must not allow customers to drive, he said.

The law also prohibits the sale of alcohol to people who are heavily intoxicated.

Selling alcohol to extremely drunk people carries a penalty, as the ministry is authorised under the law to protect the health and safety of both drinkers and those who don’t drink, he said.

That is why the ministry is also considering encouraging all nightspots in the zones to find proper transport services for customers so they won’t end up driving while under the influence, he said. No details were available as to penalties which non-compliant nightspots might face.