Barkar Nash (Page 930)

Narathiwat blast couple in Malaysia

Police on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against owners of an exploded fireworks warehouse in Narathiwat after they failed to report to police on Tuesday for questioning.

The Saturday explosion in tambon Muno of Sungai Kolok district killed 12 people, injured 121 and further damaged 292 houses.

After the incident, national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas instructed Provincial Police Region (PPR) 9 chief Pol Lt Gen Nanthadet Yoinual to provide assistance to victims and expedite the investigation to bring legal action against all relevant individuals, as well as to expand the investigation to other warehouses to prevent such incidents recurring. 

Sompong Nakul, 42, and his wife, Piyanuch Peungwirawat, 42, the owners of the warehouse, were summoned to acknowledge charges on Tuesday — including possessing and distributing fireworks without permission, negligence causing deaths, injuries to others and damaging properties, as well as proceeding with construction without permission.

But the couple reportedly left home last Thursday and travelled to Malyasia via Muang Sadao immigration checkpoint in Songkhla. They have not returned to Thailand. 

“The national police chief will coordinate with Malaysian police to help arrest them and bring them back to face legal action,” the Royal Thai Police (RTP) spokesman Pol Lt Gen Archayon Kraithong said on Wednesday.

A police source said the couple operated a grocery store as a front to illegally trade and export fireworks to Malaysia. Back in 2016, Mr Sompong was arrested for storing and selling fireworks and other flammable materials without a permit, but prosecutors dropped the case, said the source.

Pol Lt Gen Archayon Kraithong said Pol Gen Damrongsak has instructed PPR 9 to find out how the fireworks warehouse was allowed to be situated in a community area.

PPR 9 has also formed a panel to investigate whether negligent police officers or state officials were involved. The report will be submitted to RTP.

Narathiwat Police chief Pol Maj Gen Anurut Im-arb has ordered a transfer of four senior officers of Muno Station to inactive posts at Narathiwat Provincial Police Operation Centre, pending an investigation. Bhumjaithai Party secretary-general Saksayam Chidchob said he will submit an urgent motion for fireworks storage to the parliamentary meeting on Thursday.

Former red-shirt leader Weng Tojirakarn lashed out at Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan on Wednesday after she made it clear she would not exercise her right as an appointed senator to vote for a prime minister, no matter who is nominated.

Dr Weng said that rather than abstain, senator Porntip should simply resign from the upper house if she wanted to strip herself of her vote.

He made the remarks in this message posted in Thai on his Facebook account:

“Dear Khunying Porntip, a senator appointed under the 2017 Constitution. Switching off the (senator’s) power must be done by resigning from the post, not abstaining from your vote. Abstention is a decision to refute the consensus of the people. Please respect yourself and be honest to yourself too.”

He said, “If there were no appointed senators under the 2017 constitution, the people’ consensus would be sacred, respected and put into force. But with the presence of the senators under this charter, the people’s consensus is destroyed. It is better to not have senators.’’

The former key figure of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship was responding to remarks by former director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science.

Khunying Porntip said on Tuesday that she stood firm in her decision not to exercise her power as a senator to vote for a prime minister. No matter who is nominated for prime minister, she would abstain. 

Her remarks drew heavy criticism, especially from supporters of the Move Forward Party (MFP) whose leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed to secure enough support to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister when the bicameral parliament voted on July 13.

The final tally was 324 votes in favour and 182 against with 199 abstentions, among the 705 elected  representatives and apointed senators who participated. The MFP leader needed 375 votes,  a simple majority of the 749 combined House and Senate, to win office.

Mr Pita received 311 votes in favour from MPs and 148 against, with 39 abstentions. He received just 13 votes in favour from senators, with 34 against and 159 abstentions.

On July 14, the MFP submitted a proposal to parliament seeking to strip the military-appointed senators of their power to co-select the prime minister. The party wants to revoke Section 272 of the constituion, which allows the 250-member Senate to join in the process of selecting a prime minister.

One of the 250 military-appointed senators, Renu Tunkachivangoon, tendered her resignation a day before the July 13 vote. She did not announce why.

Ms Renu served as deputy secretary-general to the prime minister for political affairs before she was appointed to the Senate by the coup makers’ now-defunct National Council for Peace and Order.

Weng Tojirakarn greets supporters as he leaves the Medical Correctional Institute on Sept 15, 2020. (File photo)

Will nominate Srettha for PM, amend charter to remove ‘obstructions’

The Pheu Thai Party, which came second in the general election, has dumped the election-winning Move Forward Party and will move to form its own coalition government because the MFP insists on amending the lese majeste law.

Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew announced the move on Wednesday afternoon. 

The two parties were the main players in an eight-party alliance formed by the MFP in its bid to form a  government. MFP has 151 House seats and Pheu Thai 141. Their alliance had 312 of the 500 House seats.

The MFP failed to win a majority vote from the joint sitting of the House and the Senate after nominating its leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister on July 13. It then allowed Pheu Thai take the lead in the formation of a coaition govrnment.

Most of the appointed senators and many of the elected MPs of other parties disagreed with its insistence on changing Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese majeste law.

The Pheu Thai leader told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that after MFP failed to get the needed parliamentary support, the eight-party alliance assigned Pheu Thai to woo more support from the other parties and senators, so a government could be formed. 

“It turns out that they do not accept any change to Section 112 and some parties even stated that they will not join a government with Move Forward anyway,” Dr Cholnan said.

Therefore, Pheu Thai had told Move Forward during a meeting on Wednesday morning that it was withdrawing from the eight-party alliance and would nominate its own prime ministerial candidate, Srettha Thavisin, to the parliament.

“Pheu Thai and Mr Srettha will keep Section 112 intact and the new government will not have Move Forward in its coalition,” Dr Cholnan said.

He said the discussion with Move Forward on Wednesday morning was held in a positive atmosphere.

“Pheu Thai will try to gather enough votes (in the parliament) and Move Forward will be in the opposition,” he said.

He would announce what parties would be in the coalition on Thursday.

A Pheu Thai-led government would amend the constitution, because it obstructed the government’s formation. Afterwards, the government would return power to the people and call a new general election, Dr Cholnan said.

He promised to support the beneficial policies of the Move Forward Party and said that Pheu Thai would not mind if Move Forward does not vote for Mr Srettha .

“Pheu Thai will lift the nation out of crisis,” Dr Cholnan said.

SAMUT PRAKAN: A 28-year-old Chinese man was arrested after a trove of smuggled, pirated goods was found in a warehouse in Muang district on Tuesday.

Luo Zhipeng was apprehended at the warehouse, which is in tambon Phraekasa. Police also impounded  about 100,000 falsely branded items that included gas stoves, skateboards, hairclippers, camera bags and table fans.

Pol Maj Gen Phuthidet Boonkrapue, head of the Economic Crime Suppression Division, said on Wednesday that the goods were all smuggled into Thailand and stored at the warehouse for sale through retail shops and online platforms.

Mr Luo admitted to ownership and was charged with hiding and selling smuggled goods, he said. 

PHUKET: Two Indian tourists drowned and a third was rescued after they were swept out to sea by strong waves that pounded Karon beach on Tuesday evening.

Four swimmers have now drowned in the sea in the last five days on this resort island province.

Police said the three men went swimming at Karon beach, near the Naga statue, on Tuesday evening. There were red flags on the beach warning people not to go swimming because the sea was too rough. The three swimmers were swept out to sea.

One of the men was rescued by lifesavers and was safe. The two others were also pulled from the water and were rushed to Patong and Chalong hospitals, where they were declared dead. Doctors said they had drowned.

Pol Lt Col Chompunut Ananthayakul, investigation chief at Patong, said they received a report of the double drowning about 8pm. The Indian embassy had been informed and would notify relatives, he said. Names were withheld in the meantime.

On July 28, a Senegalese tourist drowned while swimming at Freedom beach in tambon Karon of Muang district. His body was recovered on Sunday morning. On July 30, a Thai tourist from Phitsanulok province drowned and two others were rescued at Surin beach.  

PATTAYA: Police are hunting a man seen on video threatening a group of foreign tourists with a gun at a viewpoint on a local hill.

The 99-second video showed the gunman was of foreign appearance, aged 20-30 years and about 170 centimetres tall. He threatened about 20 men of Middle-eastern appearance, ordering them to sit down next to each other, at the Sor Thor Ro 5 hill viewpoint.

The gunman was wearing a black shirt and black trousers and wielded a pistol he pointed at the head of one man while giving orders.

The video appeared to have been taken with a handheld device, possibly a phone, and was posted on the Siamchonnews website, with no given source. The incident apparently occurred in the morning.

Pattaya police chief Pol Col Thanapong Phothi led investigators to the scene on Wednesday. They were examining surveillance camera recording  fromth area and questioning local vendors. 

Police were also trying to find the tourists who were threatened.

A senior Pheu Thai figure admitted on Tuesday he is concerned the Constitutional Court will accept for deliberation a petition seeking a ruling on the rejected renomination of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

The court has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider whether to review the Ombudsman’s petition, which also asked it to order parliament to postpone the prime ministerial vote.

Legal experts say the court can either reject the petition, accept it for consideration, or accept it and put parliament’s prime ministerial selection process on hold pending its ruling.

Pheu Thai list-MP Sutin Klungsang said the court’s decision will decide whether parliament’s joint sitting on Friday to select the prime minister will go ahead and if Pheu Thai can nominate its own candidate.

Pheu Thai, which is taking the lead in forming the coalition, plans to nominate Srettha Thavisin.

However, Mr Sutin said the eight prospective coalition partners will have to hold talks and decide their next move if the court rules Mr Pita can be renominated.

Thanakrit Vorathanatchakul, a prosecutor attached to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), said at issue is whether the rejected renomination of Mr Pita is a violation of the constitutional rights of those seeking a judicial review.

He said complainants objecting to parliament’s rejection of Mr Pita’s renomination see it as a violation of their rights.

The individual whose rights are deemed affected in this case is Mr Pita, but the MFP leader is not one of the petitioners, he said. If the court does not agree, it may reject the petition.

“And if the court (does that), a request seeking the postponement of the prime ministerial vote is automatically dropped,” he said.

Mr Thanakrit cited as an example a petition involving a charter amendment of the two-ballot system passed by parliament.

New Palang Dharma Party leader Ravee Maschamadol, who disagreed with the change, sought a judicial review and claimed it was a violation of his rights as an MP.

The court threw the petition out because the change involved legislative work carried out as stipulated in the charter. It said Dr Ravee’s constitutional rights were not violated.

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) has introduced a prosthetic fistula made of natural rubber for subscribers of the universal healthcare (UHC), also known as the “gold card” scheme, in a bid to save more than 540 million baht of the medical budget.

Dr Athaporn Limpanylers, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO, said on Tuesday that he inspected on July 18-19 the fistula meant for UHC subscribers in Yala and Songkhla.

He said he was told of the products by Dr Worawit Wanichsuwan, director of research at the Medical Institute of Prince of Songkla University (PSU).

The prosthetic fistula was funded by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). The PSU took about six years to finish the research, Dr Worawit said.

Researchers used natural rubber from the South to produce it, based on the suitability of the environment and weather, he added.

The NHSO has been scouting the product in a bid to purchase it in bulk and support its Thai subscribers who are happy to use a prosthetic fistula made in Thailand, which it can provide without charge to support Thai medical products, Dr Worawit said.

Before the introduction of this fistula, Thailand had to import similar but more expensive products from other countries, which can be costly as one patient must use five sets of a prosthetic fistula, and each one costs around 300 baht.

About 54,000 gold card subscribers require a prosthetic fistula and excretory support each year.

If all of the scheme’s 150,000 members used a prosthetic fistula for one year, the NHSO would have to pay 2.25 billion baht.

However, the new product costs just 190 baht, translating into huge savings, Dr Worawit said.

Dr Athaporn said the NHSO has stressed the importance of using innovative Thai products to replace those imported from abroad.

Not only will this save money, but it will support Thai manufacturers and improve the economy, he added.