Barkar Nash (Page 960)

An investigation is being conducted into an accident in which a car fell into a ditch while turning into Soi 28 off the Vibhavadi Rangsit highway in Bangkok on Friday.

Sawang Buranathanakit, director of the Road Construction Office 1 of the Highway Department, said that from an initial investigation the accident occurred on a road branching off Vibhavadi Rangsit (Highway 31) into Soi 28 where a roadside ditch was being dredged under a development project.

He said all contractors of the Highway Department’s development projects have been told to strictly take safety measures by putting up warning and traffic signs as well as placing barriers for motorists to be careful while passing areas under construction to prevent accidents.

The accident on Soi 28 off Vibhavadi Rangsit highway happened in heavy rain and the road surface was inundated. An investigation was being conducted to determine what caused the accident or whether there were any mistakes to prevent a recurrence of it, Mr Sawang said.

He said the Highway Department had told the project contractor to contact the owner of the car involved in the accident to compensate for the damage.

The accident was brought to public attention after the driver of the car posted on TikTok a video clip of the area after the accident.

He said there were no signs to tell motorists to be careful while passing an area under construction.

The man said he narrowly escaped death and felt very sad seeing his beloved new EV sink into the water before his eyes.

Police have seized large quantities of illegal guns and ammunition and arrested 966 suspects in a month-long nationwide crackdown that began on July 1, deputy police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukwimol said on Sunday.

As of July 21, the police had raided 1,658 targets nationwide, arrested 966 suspects, seized 911 illegal guns, 44,540 rounds of assorted ammunition, two explosives and 6,239 methamphetamine pills, he said.

In one of the raids, police from Khao Phanom district, Krabi province, laid siege to a house in tambon Na Khao which belonged to a suspect called Boom, 28, who was wanted under three warrants on drug and attempted murder charges.

The suspect fled on a motorcycle from the back of the house. When the police followed, he opened fire at them with a gun, Pol Gen Torsak said. The suspect was killed in an ensuing exchange of fire.

Found by his side were a 9mm Mauser pistol, one M67 hand grenade and two smoke grenades.

The operation targeting illegal weapons, gunmen for hire and the illegal weapon trades is being conducted from July 1-30 under the supervision of assistant police chief Pol Lt Gen Samran Nualma – with information from the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Provincial Police Regions 1-9, Central Investigation Bureau, Narcotic Suppression Bureau, Tourist Police Bureau, Immigration Police Bureau, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau and Border Patrol Police.

The Move Forward Party (MFP) will not quit the eight-party coalition it put together; otherwise, it will be considered to have let people down, its leader Pita Limjaroenrat said on Sunday.

During his trip to Chanthaburi province, reporters asked Mr Pita to comment on whether several other parties in the alliance were apparently trying to convince his party to sacrifice itself and leave the coalition to pave the way for the formation of the next government.

“A sacrifice would mean to dump 14 million votes and disappoint people. Now promises and principles must be kept, rather than telling a party to sacrifice itself,” Mr Pita said, referring to the 14 million votes his party received in the May 14 general election.

“If we keep the promises we have made with people, no one will have to make a sacrifice,” he said.

Mr Pita acknowledged that the Pheu Thai Party had offered talks with the Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation (UTN) parties.

Reporters asked if the meetings were intended to pressure MFP to leave the eight-party alliance. Mr Pita said that if the two latter parties join the coalition, MFP could not stay.

“As far as I know, the parties were invited only for an exchange of opinions. I will wait for an explanation from the Pheu Thai Party… I confirm that I still have trust and confidence in the Pheu Thai Party,” Mr Pita said.

He also acknowledged the meeting of Pheu Thai with Bhumjaithai, Chartpattanakla and UTN which saw MFP as their obstacle to government formation.

Reporters asked if the stance was aimed at pressuring MFP to call off its government formation efforts. Mr Pita said if the eight coalition allies remained united, there would not be any pressure.

Asked how MFP would respond if its seven coalition allies wanted it to back down on its efforts to amend the lese majeste law, Mr Pita said he would then listen to the details of the allies’ standpoints on the law.

Mr Pita said his morale was good and would we maintained by his trips to provinces to support the work of MFP MPs.

He also said his legal team was preparing defence in petitions against his eligibility for political office and Move Forward had not made any mistakes in failing to win prime ministerial and House speaker seats.

Following a decades-long tradition of court rulings trumping the ballot box, one legal petition has already resulted in the Constitutional Court suspending Mr Pita’s MP role.

A majority of people believe the ongoing process of selecting the prime minister in parliament will cause division in Thai society, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.

The poll was conducted on July 11-12 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country to compile their opinions on whether or not they believed the ongoing selection of the prime minister in parliament will further divide people in Thai society.

In responding to this question, 37.10% said they highly believed this would happen, while 26.64% said the chance of this happening was moderate. On the other side, 20.15% did not think this would happen at all and 16.03% did not quite believe this would happen. The rest, 0.08% had no answer or were not interested.

Asked for how long they thought the new government would last, 60.53% believed it would complete the four-year term; 15.34% said it would last about two years; 11.91% about one year; 6.95% less than six months; 3.28% about three years; and 1.99% had no answer or were not interested.

Suan Dusit Rajabhat University also carried out a survey online during July 20-22 on 1,809 people throughout the country to gauge their opinions on “conflicts in the selection of the prime minister.”

Asked to comment on conflicts in the selection of the prime minister, with each respondent allowed to give more than one answer, 71.73% believed people in society would be further divided; 67.90% said the conflicts would cause people to feel tired of politics; and 62.23% said the conflicts would affect the economy and the people’s livelihood.

Asked what they thought are the causes of the conflicts, 74.21% said political parties are overly obsessed with fighting for power and interests; 63.76% put the blame on senators; and 62.42% said some parties have no respect on the people’s voice and do not concede defeat.

A majority of people believe the ongoing process of selecting the prime minister in parliament will cause division in Thai society, according to two opinion surveys.

The first, by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, was conducted on July 11-12 by telephone interviews with 1,310 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes throughout the country.

Asked whether the parliamentary voting procedure would divide society, 37.10% said they strongly believed this would be the case, while 26.64% said the chance of this happening was moderate. On the other side, 20.15% did not think this would happen at all and 16.03% doubted this would happen. The rest, 0.08% had no answer or were not interested.

Asked for how long they thought the new government would last, 60.53% believed it would complete the four-year term; 15.34% said it would last about two years; 11.91% about one year; 6.95% less than six months; 3.28% about three years; and 1.99% had no answer or were not interested.

Suan Dusit Rajabhat University also carried out a survey online during July 20-22 on 1,809 people throughout the country to gauge their opinions on “conflicts in the selection of the prime minister”.

With each respondent allowed to give more than one answer, 71.73% believed society would be further divided; 67.90% said the conflicts would cause people to feel tired of politics; and 62.23% said the conflicts would affect the economy and people’s livelihoods.

Asked what they thought the causes of the conflicts were, 74.21% said political parties are overly obsessed with fighting for power and interests; 63.76% put the blame on senators; and 62.42% said some parties have no respect for the people’s voice and do not concede defeat.

Three parties insist MFP must go

Both the Bhumjaithai Party and Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) say they will not join a coalition government being formed by the Pheu Thai Party if the Move Forward Party (MFP) remains in the eight-party bloc.

Their insistence followed the second largest vote-winner Pheu Thai Party’s attempts to seek support to join the coalition to form the next government after MFP failed to get its prime minister candidate elected.

MFP on Friday announced it would step back, allowing Pheu Thai to take the lead. Pheu Thai led by its leader Cholnan Srikaew on Saturday met three parties — Bhumjaithai, Chartpattanakla and United Thai Nation — at Pheu Thai headquarters.

Dr Cholnan said this condition [excluding MFP from the eight-party coalition] might lead to a dead-end in the party’s efforts to secure support, unless the MFP voluntarily agrees to break away from the eight-party alliance and join the opposition.

He insisted this wasn’t an indirect way of telling the MFP to leave the bloc and become an opposition party instead.

The next meeting of the eight-party alliance is set for Monday. Pheu Thai now needs to speed up talks with all potential partners and senators, he said.

In response to Pheu Thai’s invitation to talks, Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul said his condition regarding MFP was nothing personal.

“It’s impossible for Bhumjaithai to get involved [in the formation of the new coalition] while the MFP still is a part of the coalition. It isn’t about a personal conflict or anything personal but rather because the MFP has a far different way of working from that of Bhumjaithai,” said Mr Anutin.

He said he expects Dr Cholnan to contemplate this “limit” on Bhumjaithai’s help and when Pheu Thai can find a way to overcome this obstacle, Bhumjaithai will be ready to work with Pheu Thai.

According to a Pheu Thai source, the party now aims to gather the support of about 300 MPs, excluding MFP MPs, to vote for Srettha Thavisin, a Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate, who will be nominated for the job in a vote set for Thursday.

More support is expected to come from Bhumjaithai, PPRP, the Chartthaipattana Party and some other small and micro parties, said the source.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, also leader of the PPRP, won’t take up any cabinet position but will still allow his party to support the Pheu Thai-led formation of the new government, said the source.

This side-switching may prompt protests by MFP supporters but the opposition is unlikely to be powerful enough, observers say. The Pheu Thai Party will try to point out that if it fails this mission, power will return to the hands of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the caretaker prime minister, again.

A source close to the PPRP confirmed on Saturday the party has had talks with Pheu Thai in which it insisted it would agree to work with Pheu Thai only if the MFP was no longer part of the coalition being formed.

“Gen Prawit has agreed to step aside and not to hold any cabinet position while the PPRP joins Pheu Thai in a new coalition,” said the source.

Further negotiations will follow regarding a cabinet portfolio quota the PPRP will receive in return, said the source. As for Gen Prayut, his resignation as a member of United Thai Nation Party (UTN) was actually aimed from the beginning at paving the way for the UTN to work with Pheu Thai, said the source.

Chartpattanakla Party advisory chairman Suwat Liptapanlop said his party would support a majority government and would keep Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the lese majeste law) untouched. “We are willing to join a Pheu Thai-led government and support a Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate,” he said.

“However, if Move Forward’s policy to amend Section 112 still exists, it will not be in line with Chartpattanakla’s policies. We cannot join the government because amending Section 112 goes against the party’s promises made to the people.”

The final meeting of the day involved United Thai Nation, the party set up as a vehicle for 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha to extend his political life. UTN leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said his party would not vote for Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial nominee if Move Forward remained in the coalition.

He said the party was invited to clarify its reasons for not working with the MFP, insisting that talks on helping form the government were not included on the agenda.

Seeking partners: Suwat Liptapanlop, advisory chairman of the Chartpattanakla Party, second right, is welcomed by Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai (first left) and secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong (first right).

Meating adjourned: Pirapan Salirathavibhaga (centre left), the United Thai Nation Party’s leader, Cholnan Srikaew (centre right), Pheu Thai leader, give a toast together at Pheu Thai headquarters.

The Nakhon Si Thammarat Administrative Court has ordered the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to capture and relocate a wild elephant named “Phlai Chao Nga” within 15 days.

The elephant left Tai Rom Yen National Park and damaged the crops of locals in Nop Phi Tham district of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The ruling was read in court on Friday. It ordered the DNP director-general to carry out the operation to relocate the wild elephant to Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Surat Thani within 15 days and report on progress.

Villager Saksit Aoysawat filed a lawsuit after Phlai Chao Nga wandered into his village in tambon Krung Ching while looking for food in January 2022.

The complaint said the DNP had some measures to prevent the elephant from wandering out of the forest, but they did not work.

The DNP previously ordered its officials at the Protected Area Regional Office 5 (Nakhon Si Thammarat) to capture and relocate the elephant to the park but they had yet to do so.

Even though Phlai Chao Nga has not hurt anyone, the elephant has caused widespread damage to farmland and may pose a danger to locals in the future, villagers say.

About 25 witnesses whose farmlands were damaged by the elephant were called in to testify as well as representatives of the park.

The court then handed its verdict to the DNP to catch the elephant within 15 days, starting from Saturday.

The court ordered the DNP to relocate the elephant to Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Surat Thani instead of Khlong Nga Wildlife Sanctuary in Tai Rom Yen National Park as many villagers said the Khlong Nga Wildlife Sanctuary is too close to their village.

The Surat Thani sanctuary is seen as a better choice because the Elephant Conservation and Management Committee, set up by cabinet last year, designated it as one for troublesome wild elephants.

The Bhumjaithai Party’s working panel on the deep South will ask the party to sponsor a bill to avoid Thai pilgrims performing hajj from being stranded abroad due to irregularities at home.

More than 500 Thai pilgrims from Yala were left to fend for themselves after arriving in Saudi Arabia during the recent hajj, despite paying more than 270,000 baht each for the trip.

Nujmuddin Uma, a former MP for Narathiwat, said the panel has agreed to push for an amendment to the Hajj Affairs Promotion Act to help address future problems.

Reports about Thai pilgrims being left stranded are heard every year, but this year’s incident involving 500 pilgrims caused widespread damage, he said.

It’s time the problem was addressed.

Under the panel’s proposed bill, hajj trips will be supervised by a public organisation with government funding and backing, he said.

The bill seeks to set up a national committee on hajj affairs to be chaired by the prime minister, with high-ranking officials from various agencies and Muslim scholars serving as members, he said.

There will also be a hajj affairs team in charge of the hajj mission and an office of hajj affairs, he said.

Regarding the stranded pilgrims, Deputy Interior Minister Naris Khamnurak has ordered the Department of Provincial Administration (Dopa)’s hajj affairs promotion division to provide assistance and ensure all hajj tour organisers are financially sound and won’t leave people in the lurch.

He also urged Dopa to work with agencies concerned to address high airfares as a hajj package can cost about 250,000 baht on average for a 40-day trip.