Barkar Nash (Page 934)

Japanese man denies any conflict with late wife, Chiang Mai police awaiting autopsy report

CHIANG MAI: Police have yet to verify whether a Japanese woman committed suicide as her husband said after she was found dead in their hotel room on Monday.

The Japanese husband of Ami Hosoe, 25, told police that she suffered from depression and had tried to strangle herself with the cord of a hairdryer in their hotel room on Sunday night.

At the time, he said, he was able to save his wife and then hid the hairdryer, according to Pol Maj Gen Thawatchai Pongwiwatanachai, commander of Chiang Mai police.

The Japanese man denied having had any dispute with his wife, Pol Maj Gen Thawatchai said on Tuesday.

The couple briefly left their hotel room for a convenience store at 3.45am on Monday, the husband reportedly told police.

When they returned to their room, he went to bed. When he woke up on Monday morning, he said, he found his wife dead in the bathroom.

He told police that his wife was lying face down in a bathtub, with a phone charging cable around her neck. He reportedly moved the body and left it face up on the hotel room floor before calling hotel staff.

Police were checking the woman’s medical records to determine if she suffered from depression. They are also waiting for an autopsy report from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, said Pol Maj Gen Thawatchai.

The couple had a business in Bangkok and were in Chiang Mai for a vacation. They checked into the Parc Borough hotel on Mahidol Road in Muang district on Saturday.

Pol Maj Gen Thawatchai said security video showed that no one else entered the couple’s room before the report of the death.

They has been scheduled to check out at noon on Monday, he added.

The damage to the navy frigate HTMS Naresuan on July 26 occurred when the ship’s left gunwale hit a corner of the quay at Map Ta Phut industrial port in Muang district, Rayong province, the Royal Thai Navy spoksman said on Tuesday.

Adm Pokkrong Monthatphalin said it happened as the ship was leaving the quay.

The crash damaged one tube of the triple torpedo launcher and several life rafts, and left scratches on the portside of the vessel’s hull.

The operations centre of the First Naval Area had launched an inquiry to establish whether the crash was an accident or caused by human error. A technical support unit would make initial repairs and assess the full extent of the damage, Adm Pokkrong said.

The incident occurred while the frigate was taking part in Naval Security Port and Ship Map Ta Phut Exercise 2023, held from July 25-27 at the Map Ta Phut industrial port.

HTMS Naresuan is the most capable of the navy’s frigates with a maximum speed of 32 knots from its 44,250-horsepower diesel engines. The vessel is 120.5 metres in length and 13.7 metres wide. It was built  in China and first commissioned nearly 30 years ago.

Earlier reports said the accident occurred on July 26 while HTMS Naresuan was docking and sources estimated the damage at 100 million baht, but gave fewer details.

The damaged torpedo launcher, left, and life saving equipment on HTMS Naresuan after the accident at Map Ta Phut industrial port in Rayong province on July 26. (Photo supplied)

SURAT THANI: Koh Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand northwest of Koh Samui, reported a record number of tourist arrivals in one day on July 28, provincial governor Wichuwat Jinto said.

The tourist association of Koh Tao, a tambon in Koh Phangan district, reported that 3,106 tourists arrived on the island by boats on July 28, the start of the six-day government holiday that ends on Aug 2. This was a  one-day record, he said.

The governor said about 90% of the tourists were foreigners who were likely to travel to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party at Hat Rin beach on Aug 3.

On nearby Koh Samui, the number of tourists passing through the island’s airport reached 141,454 in the month of July. In August, the number was expected to go up by 30,000 to 171,834, based on hotel reservations. In addition to air travellers, more were expected to arrive by ferry or speed boat.

Ratchaporn Poonsawat, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said there were now not enough flights to take all the tourists who made advance room reservations, resulting in cancellations.

Mr Ratchaporn said the association is asking airlines to increase the number of flights to about 50 a day during the high season, when about 5 billion baht is expected to be injected into the island’s  economy. 

The Pheu Thai Party should focus on mustering enough support for its bid to form a new government rather than bringing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra back home, said Assoc Prof Phichai Ratanatilaka Na Bhuket, an academic with the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).

Drumming up as much support as possible for Srettha Thavisin, who is expected to be nominated for a new prime ministerial vote on Friday, should be Pheu Thai’s priority, Assoc Prof Phichai said.

However, if Pheu Thai’s candidate can’t secure enough votes, the party should return the right to lead the bloc to the Move Forward Party (MFP), he said.

The so-called old powers — political parties in the caretaker government and their allies — are pressuring Pheu Thai into ditching the MFP after earlier seeming reluctant to engage in talks with parties outside their alliance, he said.

The change of tack follows a statement made by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, that her father planned to return to Thailand on Aug 10, said Assoc Prof Phichai.

Rumours have also swirled that Pheu Thai and its red-shirt supporters have united with their opponents, yellow-shirt supporters of the caretaker government, in a new deal reached to prevent the MFP from succeeding in taking office after the party won the May 14 election with the highest number of House seats, said Assoc Prof Phichai.

A secret deal reportedly reached as part of the bid to help Thaksin return to Thailand has abruptly been aborted, dashing the hopes of those who expected to see Thaksin return as he had vowed to, Assoc Prof Phichai said.

Jatuporn Prompan, former chairman of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), said he did not believe Thaksin would return on Aug 10 because if he did, he would be put in jail instead of enjoying the privilege of winning a royal pardon on the day he arrives.

Mr Jatuporn said the instant pardon hope — where Thaksin is allowed to go home — was “highly unlikely” to become a reality.

“If he doesn’t show up at 10.30am on Aug 10 as claimed, let me find another excuse for him. Maybe he is sick this time,” said Mr Jatuporn.

The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) on Monday apologised to a small hotel owner in Surat Thani’s Koh Samui district for miscalculating her usage and sending her a bill for more than 11 million baht last month.

Thanaphan Tiasuwan, director-general of PEA’s Communication Affairs Division, said the agency discussed the error in the bill calculation with Apassanant Pattharapisithorn after the story went viral on social media.

Ms Apassanant originally posted a picture of the bill for July for the eight-room hotel on a dedicated Thai consumer protection website.

In the image, she is seen showing her horror at the news the hotel had consumed a shocking 5,099,939.87 units of electricity and racked up a bill of 11,780,004.62 baht.

Ms Apassanant said that her hotel normally only pays between 30,000–50,000 baht for its electricity so she immediately rang the Koh Samui PEA call centre but was diverted to an answerphone message asking her to call back on Thursday following the holiday weekend.

Anxious, she took to Facebook to air her grievance.

“[Koh Samui PEA’s] call centre said that I have to wait until Aug 3 to hear back from them. I’m really concerned,” she posted.

Eventually, the PEA apologised and explained that it was an employee keying a digit into the wrong row, which had jacked up the total charge.

The Koh Samui PEA has also assured Ms Apassanant that her amended July bill will be for 46,878.20 baht.

1 of 3 legal options could decide fate

Any resolution to Ashton Asoke condominium’s legal tussle rests with three applicable sections of a related law, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

Deputy Bangkok governor Wisanu Subsompon outlined Sections 40, 41 and 42 of the Buildings Control Act 1979, which apply to the Ashton condo saga.

One of the sections may hold the key to saving the condo from being demolished following last Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court retroactively invalidating Ashton Asoke’s construction permit granted to the already finished 6-billion-baht condo project in Watthana district.

Section 40 authorises relevant officials to suspend the use of or bar unauthorised personnel’s access to a building which has been constructed, modified, demolished or relocated in violation of the act.

Section 41, however, allows for an owner of a building ruled to have defied Section 40 to rectify the situation by taking steps to obtain a needed permit within a specified, extendable deadline. Mr Wisanu said on Saturday that the owner of the luxury Ashton Asoke project may resubmit a request for a construction permit with the BMA, provided it has a clear plan to address the entrance problem.

He said the BMA will allow the project owner time to resubmit their request on the condition that it must have at least one entrance of at least 12 metres wide connected to a public road of 18 metres in width, as per the ruling.

Ashton Asoke’s main entrance joins with Asoke Road. However, part of the entrance space belongs to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), which expropriated the land to build an underground train station entrance right on the project’s doorstep.

The MRTA space cannot be counted as Ashton Asoke’s land, which means the requirement for at least one 12m-wide entrance cannot be met.

Mr Wisanu said on Monday that Ashton Asoke’s legal wrangle also involves Section 42 of the Buildings Control Act.

The section stipulates that related authorities may order a dismantling of the building in whole or in part if no action is taken or the building owner refuses to rectify the problem.

The BMA’s Department of Public Works has written to the Watthana district office instructing it to order the Ashton Asoke project owner to address the building issue under the act.

On Monday, Mr Wisanu indicated that if rectification under Section 41 failed, the BMA would be left with the option of enforcing Section 42, which would likely seal the fate of the project.

The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit) has joined hands with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote “astronomical tourism”, with 18 stargazing locations designated as dark sky reserves this year.

Narit director Saran Poshyachinda said the institute and TAT launched the Amazing Dark Sky in Thailand Season 2 project to introduce 18 stargazing locations nationwide that have been registered as dark sky reserves where artificial light can’t reach.

The TAT and Narit initiated the Amazing Dark Sky in Thailand project in 2020 to promote dark sky tourism, raise awareness of light pollution, and the preservation of quiet and dark skies, which are perfect photography spots for stargazers, he said.

Narit had held astronomical activities more than 150 times, attended by at least 100,000 stargazers over the past three years.

This year, 26 locations across the country were proposed for endorsement as dark sky reserves, but only 18 met the criteria, Mr Saran said.

They consist of five national parks and 13 properties.

The parks are Mae Wong National Park in Kamphaeng Phet, Ta Phraya National Park in Sa Kaeo, Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima, Si Nan National Park in Nan and Namtok Pha Luang Forest Park in Ubon Ratchathani.

The 13 properties include Khon Kaen Zoo, Mela Garden Retreat Cottage Resort in Saraburi, Khirimala Eco Camp in Ratchaburi, Saengsuk Farm in Rayong, Rai Khao Noi Sawana in Nakhon Ratchasima and Ao Toh Li Viewpoint in Phangnga.

There are also seven properties in Chiang Mai, which are Ton Khao Hom Ban Aom Doi (Chill Chiang Dao), Villa De View Chiang Dao, Chiang Dao Farm Stay, Ban Suan Pa Pong Doi, the Teak Resort, Putoh Chiang Dao and the Summit Green Valley Chiangmai Country Club.