Barkar Nash (Page 919)

The Department of Airports (DoA) is planning to upgrade Hua Hin Airport into an international airport to boost tourism.

Rattapol Charoenphon, acting director of Hua Hin Airport, on Sunday said the airport, operated by the DoA, recently expanded its runway to 2.1 kilometres long and 60m wide to accommodate Airbus A320 aircraft.

The airport also has parking bays for three of the aircraft, he added.

Currently, Thai AirAsia is the only airline that provides a one-stop service between Hua Hin and Chiang Mai three times a week.

Mr Rattapol said the airport wants to serve international flights, and to do so, it needs to improve safety around the airport by building additional infrastructure, including expanding the traffic tunnel on Phetkasem Road, about 1km from the airport, and the airport train tunnel. The safe zone around the airport will also be improved to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation standards, he said.

He said the DoA has a company in mind for the safety expansion project. It will need approval from the Transport Ministry, which must also forward the budget request to the Budget Bureau, he said. The project will need 600 days to complete after the contract is signed.

In the meantime, the airport is also conducting a study on its options to expand facilities, he said, adding meetings with commercial airlines were planned to learn about their concerns.

A report is expected this year before it is submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand for the approval of a licence to operate an international airport.

Earlier, Nopasit Chakpitak, president of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, held a seminar on guidelines to develop Hua Hin Airport to accommodate more aircraft as part of a plan to spur tourism in the province.

Currently, Hua Hin Airport handles about 30,000 private jets a year, so it has the potential to grow, he said.

Wassana Srikanchana, president of the Hua Hin Cha Am Tourism Business Association, said Hua Hin Airport has great potential as it is relatively close to Bangkok, adding having an international airport in Hua Hin will help bring in tourists and stimulate the economy of Prachuap Khiri Khan and nearby Phetchaburi.

Online goods and service purchase scams, particularly ones involving fake restaurant reservations, cost more than 140 million baht in damages to consumers in July, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) warned on Sunday.

The most common form of scam reported to the CCIB’s online complaint centre was fake buffet-table reservations during special days and public holidays, said CCIB spokesman Pol Col Kissana Phathanacharoen.

These scams normally involved a fake Facebook account that claimed to be that of a well-known hotel or restaurant which was used to lure diners into believing they were being offered a promotion, he said.

These pages were found to be either newly opened or existing ones with a huge number of followers, he said, adding that in one case where it was an existing Facebook page, its name was changed to dupe victims into believing it really belonged to a popular hotel or restaurant.

Paid booster posts were then used to find potential victims who look for hotel or restaurant deals online and making bookings, he said.

As soon as these victims transferred a reservation fee to an account providded by the page admins, customers were not able to contact them again, he said.

Altogether online scams involving fake goods and service purchases were found to be the most common category of internet-based scams reported to the CCIB in July.

Police are looking for those responsible for the bombings which took place in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district and Yala’s Muang district on Saturday night.

No one was hurt by the blast in Sungai Kolok, but the explosion in Yala injured two passers-by, police said yesterday.

The injured victims were identified as Phimlaphat Silarot, 22, and Sapina Samaeng, 22.

They were taken to a nearby hospital following the blast, and as of yesterday both were still there, police said, before adding the pair told investigators that they noticed nothing unusual prior to the blast.

Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units have combed the area for evidence.

The blast in Narathiwat, meanwhile, happened about 40 metres from a temporary security checkpoint in Moo 1, tambon Pasemat in Sungai Kolok district.

Investigators believe the bombing was carried out by multiple suspects, each with a different role, said Pol Col Pratchaya Baite, chief of Sungai Kolok police.

The first team drove the car containing the improvised explosives to a railroad crossing near the checkpoint. They were followed by a second team, which shot at the checkpoint to cause confusion.

The third team, meanwhile, picked up the first team after they parked the car at the crossing.

However, only one of the two bombs in the car, believed to have been made in neighbouring Malaysia, exploded, he said. The other fell off the car as a result of the explosion and landed on the rail track.

The undetonated bomb was retrieved by an EOD team yesterday morning, he said.

The police were also looking for the owner of the Songkhla-registered Toyota used in the bombing, he said, adding the vehicle wasn’t reported missing.

Party ‘must wait’ for resolution before joining Pheu Thai bloc

Two former Democrat leaders on Sunday opposed the party’s plan to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition, as it again failed to elect a new executive board and leader due to a lack of quorum.

Chuan Leekpai, who served as House speaker in the previous administration, said the party needs to issue a resolution if it wants to be a part of a coalition, adding the decisions of individual members do not reflect the party’s decision.

He said the time wasn’t right for the party to begin discussions about which coalition to join, but the issue kept coming up because several Democrat members have been seen meeting Pheu Thai key figures to negotiate cabinet post allocations.

“When individual members act on their own, it’s their private matter. If it’s a party matter, the board must adopt a resolution and no one should do anything that goes against it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Banyat Bantadtan, another former Democrat leader, said the party should focus on rebuilding party rather than joining the government. “Once we have a new leader and a new executive board, I’ll ask them to consider this idea,” he said.

Mr Banyat also noted that Democrat members have to consider the party’s stance on the so-called Thaksin regime when considering whether to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition.

Separately, acting Democrat leader Jurin Laksanawisit insisted on Sunday the party’s new executive board will decide on the matter. “We shouldn’t rush into making a decision,” he said.

It remains to be seen when the Democrats will get a new leader, after the second attempt to find Mr Jurin’s successor failed on Sunday.

The special assembly began at 9.30am but the turnout was low. When the meeting opened, party director Sutham Rahong said only 210 members signed in, 40 short of the quorum. After an hour of waiting, only 13 more showed up, so the meeting was cancelled.

Chalermchai Sri-on, acting party secretary-general, condemned party members who chose not to show up to Sunday’s meeting, saying they disrespected the rules and undermined the party’s unity.

Conservatives will betray you: Wiroj

The Move Forward Party (MFP) has urged Pheu Thai (PT) to reverse its decision to end their political alliance, initially forged with an aim for them to work together in forming a new coalition government.

In a Facebook post intended for Pheu Thai, MFP list-MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn referred to Pheu Thai as a friend who was being lured into jumping ship by the conservative camp.

“Mate, don’t ever get in a car with them. They will trick you into travelling to the mountain top where you will eventually be gunned down. Run away and return to the ship real quick. We’re waiting for you here,” he wrote.

When the MFP and Pheu Thai were together in the eight-party alliance, they together had 312 MP seats in hand, while the conservative camp only has 188 MPs, said Mr Wiroj.

And even if counting altogether only the number of MFP and Pheu Thai MPs, the total number of MPs the two parties had together still was as high as 292, meaning they would have a better chance to win over the conservative side in all respects, he said.

And even though MFP and Pheu Thai might find it hard to win a prime ministerial vote needing substantial support from the Senate, the two parties would still have exceptional strength to wrestle with the conservative camp in parliament if they remain united, he said.

Mr Wiroj said he believed Pheu Thai must have been offered a persuasive deal before they decided to go their own way last Wednesday.

Now that Pheu Thai and the MFP are apart, Pheu Thai should be aware that it only has 141 MPs in hand while the conservative camp has 188 MPs, meaning that Pheu Thai’s negotiating power has dropped dramatically as it seeks to form the new government, said Mr Wiroj.

That leaves the door open for the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) to become a part of the Pheu Thai-led coalition, particularly due to their influence over some senators, he said.

Pheu Thai also is also now losing support from the red-shirt United Front for Democracy (UDD) which supported the party for a long time until it broke away from the pro-democracy camp, he said.

Mr Wiroj also said he was wondering if Pheu Thai is afraid of losing its justification for continuing to lead the formation of the new government if it fails to gain Senate support and loses the prime ministerial vote.

“Don’t they ever wonder whether the mountaintop which they are being taken to is actually an execution ground?” asked Mr Wiroj.

In the best-case scenario, even if Pheu Thai succeeds in forming the new coalition, it won’t have much power as that will be in the hands of the conservative camp, said Mr Wiroj.

Prof Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political science scholar with Chulalongkorn University, however, labelled Mr Wiroj’s call remarks as sarcasm intended to insult.

Nevertheless, in her view, it would still be better for Pheu Thai to become an opposition party as that will help it keep its support from voters.

Anusorn Iamsa-ard, a Pheu Thai list-MP, cited the latest update from the its negotiating team, as he argued the party still has a strong hand.

Forming a coalition government is never easy and Pheu Thai won’t be pressured to accept any conditions it can’t really come to terms with, Mr Anusorn said.

“Pheu Thai remains firm in its stance that Gen Prayut [Chan-o-cha] and Gen Prawit [Wongsuwon] must not be a part of the new coalition the party is forming,” he said.

In another development, political activist and former senator Ruangkrai Leekitwattana said he will petition the Senate to look into alleged tax evasion by property developer Sansiri in August 2019 when Srettha Thavisin was its president.

Political activist Chuvit Kamolvisit last week pointed out that Sansiri paid only 59.2 million baht in tax for a transaction instead of the 521 million baht required.

Mr Srettha is Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate and will be nominated for the prime ministerial vote in parliament.

The owners of the fireworks warehouse in Narathiwat which exploded last weekend were charged in relation to the blast upon returning to the country on Sunday.

The couple, Sompong Napol, 42, and Piyanuch Puengwirawat, 42, returned from Malaysia via the Sadao checkpoint after a court issued a warrant for their arrest in connection with the July 29 explosion in tambon Muno, Sungai Kolok district.

The blast saw 12 people killed, 121 injured and 292 houses damaged.

The couple were taken to Muang police station to acknowledge the charges, which include negligence causing deaths, importing and/or selling fireworks without a permit and violating the Emergency Decree for the Southern region, said Pol Maj Gen Anurut Eimarb, commander of Narathiwat Provincial Police.

Ms Piyanuch was also charged with expanding a building without a permit, as the warehouse was not registered with authorities, he added.

The couple will be remanded until the prosecution submits their case to the court, he said, adding they face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 200,000 baht for their actions.

Separately, Chayapol Saitawee, director of the Southern Border Provinces Operation Centre (SBPOC) under the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), said the DSI is considering taking over the case, as it involves the violation of many laws, including the Hazardous Substances Act, Customs Law, the Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Fireworks Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The SBPOC will ask the DSI director general to invoke Section 23/1 of the Special Case Investigation Act today to launch its own investigation, Mr Chayapol said.

Asked to explain how the couple violated the Anti-Money Laundering Act, he said it would be impossible for the couple to transport such large amounts of fireworks without any authorities knowing.

SBPOC has also asked the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit to check if the area around the blast site contained traces of explosives not commonly used in fireworks production.

“Judging from the two huge craters at the site, I think the blast wasn’t caused by fireworks alone,” he said.

SURAT THANI: The Koh Samui Provincial Court has approved a warrant for the arrest of a Spanish chef, suspected to have killed and dismembered the body of his Colombian surgeon lover in a hotel room on Koh Phangan island.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomjit, the Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner, said yesterday the court approval came after a DNA test of human parts found by rubbish collectors at a dump on the island on Thursday proved to have come from Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, a Colombian national.

The men were believed to have been involved in a relationship for about one year.

The Spanish suspect, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, has been detained at Phangan station.

He has been charged with premeditated murder, concealing and removing body parts to cover up the death or the cause of death.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong said that after admitting to killing and dismembering the Colombian, the suspect appeared relaxed.

Provincial and tourist police had questioned the Spaniard and gathered evidence in the case.

Only the body parts which the suspect said had been dumped into the sea in a duffel bag had yet to be found. A search was continuing, he added.

In a statement given to police, the suspect claimed Arteaga came to his hotel room on Thursday and asked for sex.

The Spaniard became angry and hit him, causing Arteaga to fall and strike his head against the bathtub, causing his death.

However, Pol Lt Gen Surapong said investigators were not convinced by his statement and had learned that Mr Bronchalo asked Arteaga to come to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon party and that aside from their relationship turning sour, money and property might also be factors.

Pol Col Panya Nirattimanon, the Koh Phangan police chief, said the suspect is the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Bronchalo.

His father was shocked on learning that his son had become a murder suspect and is travelling to the country to see his son.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his younger sister Yingluck attended Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s birthday party in Cambodia on Saturday, according to Cambodian media outlets.

Fresh News and The Phnom Penh Post reported yesterday that Thaksin and Yingluck were at Hun Sen’s 71st birthday party in Ta Khmao, Cambodia, staying in the country one night to attend the event.

On Saturday, Thaksin, 74, announced he had to postpone his return to Thailand from Aug 10 for about two weeks pending medical checkups.

The fugitive former prime minister has been in self-imposed exile since being toppled by a coup in September 2006.

He returned briefly in 2008 and left the country in the same year shortly before the Supreme Court handed him a jail term for conflict of interest while prime minister.

He faced other prosecutions and Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam recently said the three final verdicts had resulted in a combined jail term of 10 years for the founder of now-dissolved Thai Rak Thai.

His daughter Paetongtarn is a prime ministerial candidate for the Pheu Thai Party that is currently trying to form a new government after the May 14 general election.

His sister Yingluck, herself a former PM, left the country in 2017 shortly before the Supreme Court sentenced her to five years in jail for failing to halt her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme. agencies