Barkar Nash (Page 960)

Seven Thais have been arrested for smuggling Chinese nationals from Laos to across Thailand in cases that police are investigating further to see if they are linked to call centre gangs.

Provincial Police Region 3 commissioner Pol Lt Gen Somprasong Yenthuan held a press briefing on Monday revealing a series of related arrests by Highway Police, Immigration Police and Phibun Mangsahan Police in Ubon Ratchathani province.

On March 31, officers found a Thai man smuggled three Chinese nationals into Thailand through the border. Later on May 17, police also apprehended another two Thai men who had participated in the smuggling.

Pol Lt Gen Somprasong said the three Chinese nationals might have been involved in transnational crimes, such as call-centre scams and cyber crimes.

He revealed that the accomplices would make a deal with Lao middlemen who procure Chinese people to be sent across the Thai-Lao border.

After entering Thailand, Thais would drive the Chinese nationals to border towns such as Mae Sot district of Tak province and help them cross the border into Myanmar.

They would be accompanied by a few cars to safeguard the smuggled Chinese nationals from police. Many drivers were reported to be relatives or people residing in the same village.

Pol Lt Gen Somprasong revealed they were paid tens of thousands of baht to drive Chinese people to the Myanmar border.

According to the investigation, officers found that the Thai gang usually picked up Chinese people from the Thai-Cambodian border in Khemmarat district of Ubon Ratchathani.

Pol Lt Gen Somprasong said officers followed one suspected smuggling run from Ubon Ratchathani to Phitsanulok. The Highway Police finally captured them in Wang Thong district in Phitsanulok on May 17.

Three Chinese nationals — Zhang Jian Qiu, Li Hai Ping and Yang Jin Yi — and one Kazakh — Aigerim Kalzhanova — were found in the cars.

Four Thais, three men and one woman, had accompanied the foreign nationals on the run, and they have been charged.

The investigation indicated that border towns in neighbouring countries had been used for offices of call-centre gangs and transnational criminal rings operated by Chinese nationals. Investigations are ongoing.

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The Democrat Party will meet tomorrow and issue guidelines for electing a new leader, who is speculated to be either its former leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, or Watanya Bunnag, chief of the party’s working group on political innovations.

Party spokesman Ramet Rattanachaweng, yesterday said its caretaker executive panel would meet tomorrow to lay out the guidelines to be followed in seeking a new leader and naming a new board after Jurin Laksanawisit quit as leader in the wake of the party’s crushing election defeat. A leader’s resignation automatically scraps the board.

“In the meeting, everyone has the right to nominate anyone as party leader. Whoever is talented and competent can also nominate themselves,” said Mr Ramet. “Despite its defeat, it doesn’t mean the end of the party. The party has been running for 77 years. With all the things the party has done, we cannot quit political activities.”

Asked if the Democrats were ready to be an opposition party, Mr Ramet said the 24 Democrat MPs elected on May 14 will perform the duties entrusted to them by voters, including driving policies and carrying out legislative responsibility. “Working with other opposition parties is about the future, but it doesn’t mean we need to unify with all of them,” he said.

He said the new panel would be assessing the changes in political trends in each constituency and monitor vote-buying issues that were reportedly rampant in many provinces, particularly in the South of the country, which is the party’s main stronghold.

He added the party would evaluate its election performance after winning 24 seats, considerably down from the 53 it won in the previous polls. “We will also look at strategies for future elections,” he said.

He insisted the party was confident that none of its candidates committed electoral fraud. The Democrats have vowed to take immediate action against any member found by the Election Commission to have engaged in irregularities as no one is above the law, he said.

Meanwhile, a party source said the party’s newly elected MPs based in the South feel that Ms Watanya should take the helm as the next leader, feeling the 38-year-old has what it takes to modernise the country’s oldest political party.

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A human rights lawyer yesterday called on the government to show responsibility after the Constitutional Court invalidated an executive decree suspending four provisions of the new law against torture and enforced disappearance.

Surapong Kongchantuek said the court ruling meant the government had broken the law, and although there are no legal punishments for such a violation, it must be held to account.

He said the government and agencies concerned should also apologise to the public for the blunder and compensate those affected by the incomplete enforcement of the decree.

Last week the court ruled 8:1 that the move to postpone the enforcement of Sections 22–25 of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act until Oct 1 this year violated Section 172 of the constitution.

The ruling was sought by a group of 100 former MPs in late February after the cabinet issued the executive decree on Feb 19 this year to delay enforcement of the four provisions at the request of the Royal Thai Police (RTP).

The sections involve measures to prevent abuse and harassment and to keep the authorities’ use of power in check, such as requiring police to use body cameras during a search and arrest, as well as producing detailed reports for local officials and prosecutors.

Mr Surapong urged the RTP to comply with the law in its original form, saying audio and video recordings help to ensure accountability and transparency in the justice administration system.

Following the ruling, national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas called an urgent meeting with senior officers to make sure that police follow the law, according to RTP spokesman Pol Lt Gen Archayon Kraithong.

Pol Lt Gen Archayon said the RTP would speed up procurement of 37,000 body cameras for its officers and that setting up a storage facility for audio and video recordings had now been assigned to the RTP’s ICT Office.

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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday pledged humanitarian aid for victims of Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar to U Chit Swe, the country’s ambassador to Thailand, in a ceremony at Government House.

Also present at the ceremony were Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman.

Gen Prayut expressed great sympathy for the citizens of Myanmar in the name of the government and the Thai people, and said he hoped the country and its people would quickly get past this difficult time.

He said the Thai government has also sent officials to work at the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, or AHA Centre.

The Myanmar ambassador thanked the government for the assistance.

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The Move Forward Party (MFP) and its seven coalition allies have signed a deal that lays out an ambitious reform agenda while committing to protect the Thai monarchy.

The eight parties made the vow in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed on Monday evening as a guideline for the policies of the next government they planned to form together.

MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the new government’s action plan would not affect the constitutional monarchy and the monarch’s revered and inviolable status.

A source said the seven coalition allies persuaded the MFP to include the monarchy protection element in the MoU before its evening announcement. The party that won the most House seats in the May 14 general election has been heavily criticised for saying it wanted to amend the lese majeste law, with some claiming the party’s ultimate intention was to revoke it. 

The seven other parties that signed the MoU were Pheu Thai, Prachachart, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Fair, Plung Sungkom Mai and Peu Thai Rumphlang.

The agreement set forth an ambitious and sweeping agenda for reform.

The coalition would seek the drafting of a new constitution as soon as possible by people who would be directly elected.

The parties would push for the reform of the bureaucracy, the police, the armed forces and the justice system.

The new government would pass a same-sex marriage law, but one that would not demand compliance by people who consider it to be against their religion.

It would replace mandatory military conscription with voluntary recruitment.

The governing coalition would promote sustainable peace in southern border provinces based on human rights, co-existence of people with different cultures and the revision of authorities’ operations and enforcement of security laws.

It would tackle economic problems by increasing people’s income, decentralising budgetary authority to local administrations free of corruption, and improving the financial liquidity of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The eight parties would terminate monopolies in all industries, including the alcohol sector. The Muslim-dominated Prachachart Party expressed its disagreement on this issue on religious grounds. 

The new government would promote fair land ownership rules and restructure power tariffs to cut the cost of living.

It would impose zero-based budgeting, introduce public welfare for people of all ages and quickly tackle abuse and trafficking of narcotics.

The coalition would issue a new public health ministerial order to relist cannabis as a kind of narcotic, and introduce a law to regulate cannabis use.

It would support farmers in organising groups to better protect their interests, promote sustainable fisheries, ensure workers’ rights and reasonable wages, improve the education system to reduce learning inequality and provide people with access to quality public health services.

The new government would also solve problems relating to ultra-fine dust (PM2.5) and greenhouse gases, promote the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and keep the country’s balanced stance with world powers.

To tackle corruption, the eight parties agreed to disclose information from all government organisations and immediately eject any party members found involved in corruption.

The eight political parties signed and sealed the MoU at Conrad Bangkok Hotel on Monday evening – the ninth anniversary of the May 22, 2014 coup. The coalition unofficially consists of 313 House representatives-elect.

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The Move Forward Party (MFP) and its seven coalition allies have signed a deal that lays out an ambitious reform agenda while committing to maintain the constitutional monarchy.

The eight parties made the vow in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed on Monday evening as a guideline for the policies of the next government they planned to form together.

MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the new government’s action plan would not affect the constitutional monarchy and the monarch’s revered and inviolable status.

A source said the seven coalition allies persuaded the MFP to include the monarchy protection element in the MoU before its evening announcement. The party that won the most House seats in the May 14 general election has been heavily criticised for saying it wanted to amend the lese majeste law, with some claiming the party’s ultimate intention was to revoke it. 

The seven other parties that signed the MoU were Pheu Thai, Prachachart, Thai Sang Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, Fair, Plung Sungkom Mai and Peu Thai Rumphlang.

The agreement set forth an ambitious and sweeping agenda for reform.

The coalition would seek the drafting of a new constitution as soon as possible by people who would be directly elected.

The parties would push for the reform of the bureaucracy, the police, the armed forces and the justice system.

The new government would pass a same-sex marriage law, but one that would not demand compliance by people who consider it to be against their religion.

It would replace mandatory military conscription with voluntary recruitment.

Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat holds a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed amongst eight Thai political parties in agreement to form a new government, in Bangkok on Monday. (AFP photo)

The governing coalition would promote sustainable peace in southern border provinces based on human rights, co-existence of people with different cultures and the revision of authorities’ operations and enforcement of security laws.

It would tackle economic problems by increasing people’s income, decentralising budgetary authority to local administrations free of corruption, and improving the financial liquidity of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The eight parties would terminate monopolies in all industries, including the alcohol sector. The Muslim-dominated Prachachart Party expressed its disagreement on this issue on religious grounds. 

The new government would promote fair land ownership rules and restructure power tariffs to cut the cost of living.

It would impose zero-based budgeting, introduce public welfare for people of all ages and quickly tackle abuse and trafficking of narcotics.

The coalition would issue a new public health ministerial order to relist cannabis as a kind of narcotic, and introduce a law to regulate cannabis use.

It would support farmers in organising groups to better protect their interests, promote sustainable fisheries, ensure workers’ rights and reasonable wages, improve the education system to reduce learning inequality and provide people with access to quality public health services.

The new government would also solve problems relating to ultra-fine dust (PM2.5) and greenhouse gases, promote the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and keep the country’s balanced stance with world powers.

To tackle corruption, the eight parties agreed to disclose information from all government organisations and immediately eject any party members found involved in corruption.

The eight political parties signed and sealed the MoU at Conrad Bangkok Hotel on Monday evening – the ninth anniversary of the May 22, 2014 coup. The coalition unofficially consists of 313 House representatives-elect.

After the MoU announcement, MFP leader Pita said his party would later propose to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the lese majeste law).

He said each coalition ally had the right to push for its own agenda and the amendment of Section 112 would not have any negative impact on the MoU, which stated clearly that the status of the monarch would not be violated.

MFP would explain the reasons behind the amendment to the Senate and the general public, Mr Pita said.

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The United States Department of Defence has unofficially declined Thailand’s bid to buy F-35 fighter jets, and instead offered F-16 Block 70 and F-15 eagle fighters, a Royal Thai Air Force source said.

The source said the Pentagon’s message was conveyed by US ambassador Robert F Gordec when he called on Royal Thai Air Force chief ACM Alongkorn Wannarot at RTAF headquarters at Don Mueang two weeks ago.

The ambassador said the US Department of State was of the opinion the Thai air force may not yet be ready in terms of infrastructure facilities for F-35s, especially airbase security, airfields, maintenance, pilots and other personnel, the source said.

It would take a lot of time and a big budget to be fully ready, he said.

The US did not reject outright Thailand’s request to buy F-35s and would reconsider it when the RTAF was  ready, probably in the next five to ten years. It had instead offered to sell F-16 Block 70 and F-15 eagle fighters to Thailand, the source said.

The US is due to give an official reply to the RTAF’s F-35 acquisition bid in July. When the request is officially turned down, the air force would have to return 369.1 million baht, an advance payment of 5% approved by the House of Representatives, to the state.

According to the source, the RTAF was still considering buying another fleet of Gripen fighters from Sweden’s Saab AB. The air force earlier bought a squadron of 12 Gripen fighters, which are based at Wing 7 in Surat Thani, but lost one of it in a crash.

New, more capable versions of the Gripen are now being produced by Saab AB, according to the company’s website.

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The United States Department of Defence has implied it will turn down Thailand’s bid to buy F-35 fighter jets, and instead offer F-16 Block 70 and F-15 Eagle fighters, a Royal Thai Air Force source said.

The source said the Pentagon’s message was conveyed by US ambassador Robert F Gordec when he called on Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) chief ACM Alongkorn Wannarot at RTAF headquarters at Don Mueang two weeks ago.

The ambassador said the US Department of State was of the opinion the Thai air force may not yet be ready in terms of infrastructure facilities for F-35s, especially airbase security, airfields, maintenance, pilots and other personnel, the source said.

It would take a lot of time and a big budget to be fully ready, he said.

The US did not reject outright Thailand’s request to buy F-35s and would reconsider it when the RTAF was  ready, probably in the next five to ten years. It had instead offered to sell F-16 Block 70 and F-15 Eagle fighters to Thailand, the source said.

The US is due to give an official reply to the RTAF’s F-35 acquisition bid in July. When the request is officially turned down, the air force would have to return 369.1 million baht, an advance payment of 5% approved by the House of Representatives, to the state.

According to the source, the RTAF was still considering buying another fleet of Gripen fighters from Sweden’s Saab AB. The air force earlier bought a squadron of 12 Gripen fighters, which are based at Wing 7 in Surat Thani, but lost one in a crash.

New, more capable versions of the Gripen are now being produced by Saab AB, according to the company’s website.

Continue Reading