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Chon Buri: Pattaya rescue workers helped a Swiss tourist take off his constriction ring after it became stuck, and he is now recovering, local officials said on Tuesday.

On Monday night, rescue workers from the Sawangboribul Foundation in Pattaya were called to help a 52-year-old Swiss man who was suffering acute pain from the ring, usually worn at the base of the penis, to maintain an erection by slowing blood flow.

Thanapong Ok-oun and Jeerasak Nuchlek, rescue workers from the Sawangboribul Foundation, said that the Swiss tourist called them from an apartment in South Pattaya at 9pm and said that his penis became painfully swollen due to the ring.

The stainless steel ring was carefully removed by the medical team.

Prai Pattano has been sentenced to nine years of imprisonment without a suspended jail term by the Supreme Court for abuse of power while working as mayor of Hat Yai municipality in Songkhla in 2005.

The ruling was disclosed on Tuesday by Kosolwat Inthuchanyong, deputy spokesman of the Office of the Attorney General.

The Supreme Court reversed the ruling handed by the Court of Appeal, which earlier acquitted Prai.

The conviction against Prai is based on an abuse of power charge stemming from an accusation he had wrongfully transferred state money worth 26.9 million baht for amulet production in 2005 while serving as mayor.

According to the ruling, Prai used his power as a municipal mayor to transfer the money from the savings account of the municipal office to the Sirindhornrajvithayalai Foundation.

The amulets were to be sold to raise funds for the repair and gold-plating of the Buddha Mongkol Maharat statue, an important religious landmark in Hat Yai municipality.

Prai was found to have failed to comply with proper regulations in conducting the amulet production project.

He was accused of awarding a contract to a single amulet maker who landed the job without a bid being held. Not holding a bid was a violation of related procurement regulations, according to the investigation.

As well as the prison sentence, Mr Kosolwat said Prai had been ordered to return the state money worth 26.9 million baht spent on the amulet project.Prai has already given back 12.4 million baht of that amount to the Hat Yai municipal office.

MPs also cite clash with King’s birthday

Parliament president Wan Muhamad Noor Matha has postponed the vote for a new prime minister from Thursday, pending a Constitutional Court ruling on the rejected renomination of Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

Mr Wan said on Tuesday he made the decision after consulting with legal officials from the House of Representatives and his advisers.

They concluded that if the PM vote were to go ahead on Thursday, it could potentially lead to problems when the court makes its ruling afterwards, said Mr Wan, who also serves as the House speaker.

“With the vote postponed, today’s planned meeting of whips from the coalition allies, other political parties and senators became unnecessary,” he said.

Another reason for delaying the joint sitting of MPs and senators was that many were worried they would not be able to attend ceremonies to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birthday in their respective provinces on Friday if the sitting was prolonged, Mr Wan said.

The joint sitting for a prime ministerial vote can be put back on the parliamentary agenda after the court’s ruling.

Mr Wan earlier set Thursday for MPs and senators to vote again for a new prime minister, possibly a candidate from Pheu Thai, the second-largest party in the same alliance led by the MFP.

The MFP has agreed to let Pheu Thai take the lead in nominating a prime minister and forming the government.

The MFP also faces a challenge because many parties outside the eight-party coalition disapprove of its plan to revise Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese majeste law.

Meanwhile, the MFP insists it will continue trying to get Mr Pita elected as prime minister.

He failed to win a majority in a joint vote by both houses on July 13.

Mr Pita was renominated at a joint sitting on July 19, but this was turned down, citing a parliamentary regulation.

Opponents argued the renomination was in violation of parliamentary regulation 41, which prohibits the resubmission of a failed motion during the same parliamentary session.

Mr Pita’s supporters and many academics disagreed and asked the Constitutional Court to rule on parliament’s rejection.

Constitutional Court president Worawit Kangsasitiam said on Tuesday the Ombudsman had electronically submitted a petition asking the court to rule on Mr Pita’s rejected renomination as well as to suspend the prime ministerial vote.

Mr Worawit said court officials will spend two days checking the document before forwarding the petition to a panel of judges to consider whether to accept it for deliberation — a process which will take five days.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s planned meeting of the eight political parties seeking to form a new government was abruptly cancelled.

It had been called by Pheu Thai to discuss progress in getting support for the nomination of a preferred prime minister.

Pheu Thai announced its cancellation in a message sent to reporters on the LINE app early on Tuesday afternoon. The message said the other seven parties had been informed.

According to sources, Pheu Thai had apologised to all the other parties for the cancellation.

Pheu Thai said its assigned task of seeking support from political parties outside the eight-party alliance, and from senators, in a parliamentary vote to select the new prime minister had not made satisfactory progress.

The move came after the Ombudsman on Monday decided to ask the court to rule on Mr Pita’s rejected renomination and order parliament to postpone the prime ministerial vote scheduled for Thursday.

MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon said Pheu Thai probably now needed more time to prepare a proposal to be presented to the eight parties.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has spoken against a proposal by some allies of the Move Forward Party (MFP) to wait 10 months for an end to senators’ tenure before forming a new government.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Gen Prayut said in response to reporters’ repeated questions about the idea after he arrived at Government House on Tuesday morning.

Gen Prayut announced his retirement from politics earlier this month.

The Thai Sang Thai and Fair parties have proposed the eight coalition allies wait for the five-year term of the military-appointed Senate to end in May next year, so the MFP alliance could have its prime ministerial candidate elected by the House of Representatives alone.

The MFP won the most seats in the May 14 general election, with 151. The Pheu Thai Party came second with 141 seats. They are the core of the alliance, with a 312 majority in the 500-seat elected House.

The current 249 senators are entitled to take part in the vote for the new prime minister, together with the elected representatives. The new prime minister needs a majority of the two chambers, at least 375 votes.

On July 13, the joint sitting rejected Mr Pita, the then-sole candidate for prime minister. He received 324 supporting votes, including only 13 from senators.

MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon said it is within the rights of the Pheu Thai Party to take its pick of coalition partners. The MFP has handed the right to lead the government formation effort to Pheu Thai following Mr Pita’s failure to win the parliamentary nomination to be prime minister.

Also on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said he was optimistic a new government might be up and running later next month even though more time will be needed to divide up cabinet portfolios among coalition partners, a process that precedes the swearing-in of the new cabinet.

Mr Wissanu said it would be extremely difficult to name a non-MP or non-member of a political party as prime minister to break an impasse in setting up a new government.

The government has returned about 400 million baht seized from a Chinese online scam gang to the Chinese government, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Tuesday.

He said he and his team went to Beijing to return the money to their Chinese counterparts after officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) and police arrested the gang living in luxurious condominium units in Bangkok last year.

He said Amlo reported that the gang lured about 33,000 Chinese people into investing in an e-commerce business in China. After getting their victims’ money, the scammers fled to Thailand and used the money to buy property.

After the scammers were arrested and charged last year, their assets were sold for about 400 million baht, he said, adding the government told Beijing they wanted to return the money to the victims via the Chinese government.

Mr Wissanu said the money was handed to Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong when the two met in Beijing on July 19.

“We are pleased to learn from the minister that it is the first time that the Chinese government has received damages caused by Chinese scammers from the government of another country,” he added.

Beijing extended its gratitude by offering two fellowships to Amlo officials every year.

Mr Wissanu said more such cooperation in law enforcement and security will be looked at in the future.

The government has returned about 400 million baht seized from a Chinese online scam gang to the Chinese government, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.

He said he and his team went to Beijing to return the money to their Chinese counterparts after officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) and police arrested the gang living in luxurious condominium units in Bangkok last year.

He said Amlo reported that the gang lured about 33,000 Chinese people into investing in an e-commerce business in China. After getting their victims’ money, the scammers fled to Thailand and used the money to buy property.

After the scammers were arrested and charged last year, their assets were sold for about 400 million baht, he said, adding the government told Beijing they wanted to return the money to the victims via the Chinese government.

Mr Wissanu said the money was handed to Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong when the two met in Beijing on July 19.

“We are pleased to learn from the minister that it is the first time that the Chinese government has received damages caused by Chinese scammers from the government of another country,” he added.

Beijing extended its gratitude by offering two fellowships to Amlo officials every year.

Mr Wissanu said more such cooperation in law enforcement and security will be looked at in the future.

Five-year investigation finally led to offender’s capture in Thailand in September last year

A former children’s entertainer extradited from Thailand to the United Kingdom was jailed on Monday for 30 years for multiple sex offences involving children.

McKee, who is originally from Wallasey Village on Merseyside in the UK, was found and arrested in Thailand in September 2022 by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) before being extradited to stand trial in Liverpool.

Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the CIB commissioner, told the Bangkok Post following the sentencing that the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom had worked closely with the CIB in arresting and securing McKee’s extradition.

“It was a big crime case in the UK. All foreign suspects fleeing to Thailand will be arrested and deported [like McKee],” he said.

McKee was found guilty in Liverpool Crown Court last month and jailed on Monday for 30 years with a further four years on extended licence.

“The offences McKee committed were truly horrific and spanned a number of years and victims,” said Detective Constable Graeme Beacall of Merseyside Police said.

“Our investigation commenced in 2017 when his victims first came forward. At that time McKee had moved out of the UK and was confirmed to be living in Thailand but at no point did he return to the UK to assist with our lengthy and prolonged inquiries.

“When the charges against him were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service the extradition process was initiated. McKee was located and arrested by Royal Thai Police in September 2022 and spent a period on remand in Bangkok before being returned to the UK.

“He then chose to prolong his victims’ agony by pleading not guilty and forcing them to suffer the ordeal of a trial.

“Thankfully today, due to the courage of the victims, justice has been served and he will now serve a considerable period of time behind bars. I hope that McKee’s conviction and sentence will provide a sense of closure for his victims and finally allow them to move on with their lives.

“This case has proven that time and distance is no barrier to justice and that we will do everything within our powers to find the people responsible for committing crimes such as this and bringing them to justice, even when they attempt to flee to other countries.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the National Crime Agency and the Royal Thai Police for their assistance in bringing McKee to justice.”

Dave Coyle, the National Crime Agency’s regional manager for Thailand said: “McKee believed he could evade justice by fleeing the UK, but thanks to the joint work between Merseyside Police, the NCA’s international network, the Royal Thai Police and the Thai Attorney General’s Office, he was located, arrested and extradited to the UK, and we are pleased he has been brought to justice for his crimes.”

Video raised questions about whether long-dormant broadcaster was still ‘operating a media business’

Thapanee Eadsrichai, a well-known TV reporter who previously worked at the television channel iTV, on Tuesday met police investigators and gave a statement in a case linked with the iTV shareholding of Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP).

Thapanee Eadsrichai, a well-known TV reporter who previously worked at the television channel iTV, yesterday met police investigators and gave a statement in a case linked with the iTV shareholding of Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP).

Ms Thapanee has also worked as a presenter for the Khao Sam Miti late-night news programme on Channel 3. In one investigative report, she revealed a discrepancy between the official minutes from the iTV annual shareholders’ meeting on April 26 and what was shown in a video taken at the event.

The minutes have been cited as documentary proof that iTV still operates as a media company. The accuser said that since Mr Pita was holding shares in a media firm, he has committed a legal violation in contesting a political election.

The law forbids a person applying to be an MP from holding shares in a media business.

Ms Thapanee, who is being treated as a witness by the police, confirmed the information that she had reported previously was true.

She received a tip-off about where to obtain the video of the April 26 meeting from a source whose identity she said needs to be protected.

Ms Thapanee said she had carefully studied the hours-long recording, and conducted more research and checked the facts.

She also handed to the police a video of the Khao Sam Miti TV programme containing the recording of the iTV shareholders’ meeting.

The investigation followed a complaint lodged with the Thung Song Hong police by lawyer Rachapon Sirisakorn, who accused the chairman of the April 26 meeting, as well as political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwatthana, of falsifying documents pertaining to its details.

The details of the shareholders’ meeting were believed to have been used by Mr Ruangkrai in lodging a petition with the Election Commission (EC) against Mr Pita.

The EC subsequently forwarded the iTV case to the Constitutional Court, which agreed to hear it. The court last week suspended Mr Pita from his duties as an MP pending its ruling.

Mr Pita said attempts were being made to mislead people into believing iTV was still functioning as a media company, in a bid to block him from becoming prime minister.

The MFP leader could be disqualified as an MP if he is found to have applied to be a list-MP candidate while knowing he might not have been eligible in the first place.

Many Move Forward supporters believe that iTV has ceased to operate as a media company, which would enable Mr Pita to avoid legal disqualification.

The discrepancy between what was in the video and the minutes has triggered a fierce debate over whether iTV was still functioning as a media company.

While iTV stopped broadcasting in 2007 and was delisted from the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014, it earned some income from a small media subsidiary for several years.

In the last financial year, however, the company’s only reported revenue was interest income from bank deposits and bonds.

The company’s business licence is still active because it is involved in an ongoing legal dispute with the government over concession fees. The Administrative Court is expected to issue its ruling sometime this year.