Thai brides flee as sweet talk sours

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victims say deals gateway to abuse

Women hired to marry Chinese men risk breaking the law both in China and Thailand, warned the police on Saturday.

The warning came after the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) found that a Thai woman in Udon Thani, who endured three years of assault in China, was not the victim of a human trafficking offence.

The woman married a Chinese man of her own free will so it is not a human trafficking case, said ATPD deputy commander Pol Col Surapong Chatsut.

The woman, identified by police as a 31-year-old Nuch, signed a contract with a go-between, legally obliging her to marry a Chinese man to produce a child.

Ms Nuch earlier told police she and three others were tricked into marrying Chinese men.

They were said to be persuaded by a matchmaker, identified as Da, to tie the knot with Chinese men for 100,000-baht dowries with a condition that they get pregnant in the first six months.

However, the victims were said to have stayed in China as servants or even the second wives to their fathers-in-law after the babies were delivered.

Ms Nuch, who is from the province’s Nong Wua So district, first told the media on Thursday about her marriage and the torment she suffered. She said she and three other Thai women were able to leave China and arrived back in Thailand last month thanks to her mother’s help.

Ms Nuch said she married 32-year-old Chinese national Jin Wei Lian less than three days after their matchmaking before moving to China’s Hubei province.

She said she told the matchmaker before meeting her husband that she was unable to bear children, but the marriage went ahead regardless. She was kept in a house and was assaulted by her husband and her mother-in-law for failing to conceive.

She said she was assaulted for three years before she decided to flee to Thailand along with three other women who also reported unhappy and abusive marriages to Chinese partners.

Pol Col Surapong said that to be admissible as a human trafficking offence, the victim must suffer a forcible act. Under the Anti-Trafficking Act 2008, such offence covers prostitution, production and distribution of pornographic materials, slavery, forced recruitment of individuals to work as beggars and forced labour.

“Ms Nuch, on the other hand, contractually consented to marry in exchange for a dowry, which is outside of the act’s coverage,” the ATPD deputy commander said.

The ATPD officers were sent to Udon Thani to investigate similar marriage scams there.

Pol Col Surapong said he was concerned some local women may have signed the marriage contract without a full understanding of the fine print contained in the agreement. Getting help to them will be difficult once they have left the country to live in China.

“This issue could make some Thai women feel apprehensive about getting into a relationship with foreign nationals,” he added.

More Chinese men were looking outside their country for women to have children with since China lifted its one-child policy, in place from 1980 to 2016, according to Pol Col Surapong.

Meanwhile, Pol Maj Gen Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau (IB), said strict measures were being launched to deter Chinese criminals from using Thailand as a base to conduct illegal activities.

The measures were also needed to keep out Chinese fugitives planning to enter the kingdom to escape legal charges.

Pol Maj Gen Panthana said being hired to get married and having gone to live in China entails many legal and personal dangers to the women, who also risk breaking the law both in Thailand and China.

Apart from physical abuse, other possible legal violations concern the terms and conditions of the marriage contracts.

The men who came over from China to spend time in Thailand as part of the marriage arrangement must also comply with the Immigration Act, which stipulates they must notify the IB within 24 hours of their arrival.

Pol Maj Gen Panthana attended a conference on combating trans-border crimes between Thailand and China, in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province, from July 8-12.

Participants exchanged information which enabled authorities in both countries to prepare suppression and prevention measures.

Chinese authorities also agreed to share with the IB their database of criminal suspects facing arrest warrants in China, who might be fleeing to Thailand.

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Navy probes 'stolen' ammo allegations

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A naval demonstration is carried out near Sattahip Naval Base in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district. (File photo)
A naval demonstration is carried out near Sattahip Naval Base in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district. (File photo)

The navy has opened an investigation into an ordnance officer believed to be responsible for stealing large quantity of cartridges from its arsenal in Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri, according to navy spokesman Adm Pokkrong Monthatphalin.

He was responding to the popular CSI-LA Facebook page, run by a Thai expatriate in the US, which alleged tens of thousands of M855 and M856 cartridges as well as thousands of 40mm grenade launcher rounds have gone missing from the navy’s warehouse in Sattahip.

The navy chief Adm Choengchai Chomchoengpaet has ordered a probe into the theft which was reported to the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) on July 5. An inspection of the arsenal is underway at the compound of the Phra Maha Jetsadaratchao naval camp.

Checks found a significant quantity of ammunition missing, Adm Pokkrong said. He did not give a figure.

A separate panel was also launched by the navy chief’s order to look into disciplinary punishment against the ordnance officer who looted the cartridges. Adm Choengchai has insisted that swift action will be taken.

The RTMC also issued an instruction for the closed-circuit television footage at the arsenal to be reviewed and guards on the premises interviewed. It came to the RTMC’s attention that an ordnance officer had let himself in to the warehouse using duplicate keys he had made and taken ammunition on several occasions.

The officer, whose name was not given, has been absent from work since July 6 and could not be contacted.

The warehouse guards are not involved in the theft, said Adm Pokkrong.

The guards said they did not stop the officer from taking the ammunition because they thought it was part of his working routine.

The CSI-LA Facebook page said one source estimated that at least 400,000 cartridges were stolen. The page added it was curious to know why the ammunition disappeared in the wake of clashes in a neighbouring country and at a time when Thailand’s politics was becoming increasingly unstable over the PM vote.

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Pavitr Prabhakar, the Indian Spider-Man charming fans worldwide

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Pavitr Prabhakar in his red and blue costume with a dhoti and gold cuffsSony Pictures
By Zoya Mateen and Meryl Sebastian
BBC News

An Indian Spider-Man is making waves this summer as he swings onto screens in a dhoti (sarong-like garment), gold cuffs and an enviable mop of jet black hair, spouting cultural lessons for his guests from across the multiverse.

He appears in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – which has spent recent weeks breaking box office records in India. It grossed $2.8m (£2.17m) in its opening weekend alone – the highest debut for an animated film in the country.

That might not come as a surprise, given the popularity in India of Spider-Man – one of the few characters from the West’s comic book universe to make an impact in a country where pop culture is largely dominated by the Hindi film industry.

The superhero’s films have been among the top-grossing Hollywood films in India since 2007, spawning numerous local knock-offs. This includes a love song, whose funny lyrics – “Spider-Man, tune churaya mere dil ka chain” (Spider-Man, Spider-Man, you stole my heart) – have earned a cult status in the country.

But the latest film is a lot more special because it features an Indian version of the superhero for the first time ever.

Meet Pavitr Prabhakar, a messy teen who guards the streets of Mumbattan – a mashup of Manhattan and Mumbai. His name is a play on Peter Parker, the teen behind the original Spider-Man mask.

Pavitr is among the five different spider stars – all from alternate realties but connected through their shared powers – who team up with teen hero Miles Morales to stop a wily supervillain.

Pavitr’s depiction has been praised by fans across the world, especially Indians who’ve been won over by his exuberant personality.

Some have fallen in love with the tropical, curvy art-style for the Mumbattan sequence of the film – an homage to the Indrajal Comics from 1970s, an Indian imprint known for publishing stories about the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician in regional languages.

Karan Soni in front of a poster of Pavitr Prabhakar

Sony Pictures

Others have praised the way the film bands together characters of different backgrounds to create a first-of-its-kind multi-ethnic team of superheroes.

“First Marvel gave us first black Spider-Man, Miles Morales and now we have Pavitr. The story is trying to touch on an exciting idea: that anyone can be Spider-Man,” says Mrityunjoy Pal, an ardent comic fan.

While Pavitr is new to many viewers in India and abroad, his origin story goes back decades, a time when the superhero scene in the country was confined to a niche community of comic book enthusiasts.

The character made his first appearance in Spider-Man: India #1 in 2004 – a comic book which sold over a million copies in a run that lasted four issues.

The comic book sticks to Spider-Man’s universal premise of a friendly neighbourhood superhero.

Like any teenage boy with competing priorities, Pavitr struggles to balance homework with his hero work. At school, he is mercilessly bullied – but at night, he transforms into a crime-fighting superhero who swings past skyscrapers with superhuman speed. He dons the mask to protect the one he loves, and for that he must keep his identity a secret.

Indian Spider-Man

Graphic India

But Pavitr’s story also comes with a special Indian twist. He is a chai-sipping, dhoti-wearing superhero who gets his powers from a yogi – a mystic guru – and not from a radioactive spider bite.

Instead of being smitten with Mary Jane, the girl-next-door, Pavitr has a crush on his classmate Meera Jain. And unlike Peter Parker, who is bullied in school for being a “bookworm”, Pavitr is a scholarship student from a small village who is ridiculed for his appearance.

He is an “Indian Spider-Man” made by Indian creators. That is what Sharad Devarajan and his co-creators Jeevan Kang and Suresh Seetharaman said when they first conceptualised Pavitr in 2003.

“We chose to play on the larger social allegory of having Pavitr be a village boy who feels out of touch with the Mumbai elite because it was reflective of what we saw in 2004 when big cities seemed to be moving at light speed while many of the people in rural India felt completely separated,” Mr Devarajan told the BBC.

Indian Spider-Man

Graphic India

The Spider-Verse introduced audiences to a cast of diverse Spider-people from different race and gender backgrounds: Morales, who is of African and Puerto Rican heritage; Miguel O’Hara’s Spider-Man who is of Mexican descent; Jessica Drew, Marvel’s first pregnant superhero; and Hobie Brown’s Spider-Punk who is of African descent.

But back in 2004, reimagining an icon such as Spider-Man was a lot more challenging, especially for an Indian audience who, Mr Devarajan explains, had seen images of the character but did not know his story and had not read any comics about him.

India has always had a vast appetite for comic books – which are a common sight at grocery stores, newspaper sellers and railway platforms. They have been made popular by visual retellings of mythological stories in Amar Chitra Katha, and weekly children’s magazines like Twinkle and Champak.

“There has been a tremendous interest in history and mythology, and most of our comic books and books fall in those two genres,” says Jatin Varma, founder of Comic-Con India.

But the country’s appetite for superheroes is more recent. Some of this could be because the space has traditionally been dominated by heroes of Indian cinema. These films offer a spectacle with bombastic storylines that see male leads dodging bullets, jumping off rooftops and fighting dozens of goons to save the day.

“Our aim was to simply turn an international hero into a local icon,” Mr Devarajan said. “A relatable guy who swings from the Gateway of India over city streets in Mumbai and celebrates Diwali with his aunt.”

Stan Lee with Sharad Devarajan, one of the creators of the Indian Spider-Man

Graphic India

Twenty years on, Pavitr is doing exactly that – and more.

In the film, he ditches the white dhoti for a more stylish blue one – which he pairs with a funky suit decorated with intricate Indian motifs, and a cool hard-part haircut.

Even his character – which in Mr Devarajan’s words “represented the more traditional and simple family value system of Indians” – undergoes certain modifications.

Unlike Miles, who is worn down by the anxiety of his powers, Pavitr is unshakably optimistic as he swings through the chaotic vistas of Mumbattan with cool remove.

His self-assured and confident side drives the plot on several occasions. During a tour of Mumbattan, he says: “This is where the British stole all our stuff.”

He even makes fun of Miles for requesting “chai tea” (which is like saying he’d like a cup of “tea tea”), and quips: “Would I ask you for a coffee-coffee, with room for cream-cream?”

In an interview with Variety magazine, Kemp Power, one of the film’s three directors, said the team “literally re-broke Pavitr’s sequence and reimagined his character” mid-production, after some animators of Indian descent working on the film felt that Pavitr needed to be more authentic.

“It really spoke to the spirit of collaboration on this movie,” he said.

Mr Varma says even though the film caters primarily to an audience outside of India, the cultural elements do not feel lazy or stereotypical. “And the fact that this Indian Spider-Man was part of arguably one of the best Spidey movies, made it even better.”

Mr Devarajan says the film “changed the costume, but the heart, character and unique Indianess of Pavitr remain the same.”

He hopes this is just the beginning for Pavitr’s growth as a character in the Marvel world.

“It only took 20 years for Pavitr to jump from that comic we created and onto the big screen,” he says.

“Hopefully it won’t take another 20 before we see the live action version. India needs its Spider-Man!”

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Koh Chang on the road to recovery

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ISLAND PARADISE: A sweeping view shot is taken of Koh Chang, with its pier offering a regular shuttle boat service to mainland Trat. (Photo: Jakkrit Waewwklaihong)
ISLAND PARADISE: A sweeping view shot is taken of Koh Chang, with its pier offering a regular shuttle boat service to mainland Trat. (Photo: Jakkrit Waewwklaihong)

TRAT: Although the hotel business on Koh Chang, one of the most popular beach destinations in Thailand, has not yet recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is confident tourism will pick up in the second half of this year.

After pandemic restrictions eased, tourism in Trat province and on its famous islands, like Koh Kud, Koh Mak and Koh Chang, improved as visitors started to return.

However, Phatcharin Sawettarat, director of the TAT’s Trat Office, said that despite some recovery last year, the total number of visitors was still half of what it was in 2020.

Before the pandemic, the province welcomed more than 2 million tourists, bringing about 18 billion baht to the local economy, she said.

Last year, the province welcomed about 1 million visitors, thanks to several government tourism promotions, such as “We Travel Together”, she said.

In the first five months of this year, Trat welcomed 932,115 tourists, including 349,829 foreigners, she said, adding they brought about 9 billion baht to the province.

She said the increasing number of tourists was a result of the many festivals held in the province, such as Songkran and the fruit festival.

“It was astonishing that the number of foreign tourists jumped by 135.72% during the first five months when compared with the same period last year, while income was also up by 134.04%,” she said. “With these figures, we believe that tourism in Trat is going to pick up in the second half of this year.”

She said visitors will start to book rooms for the high season or the fourth quarter of this year.

Airlines will also increase flight frequencies for the high season while daily speedboat services will also increase to bring visitors from the mainland to Koh Chang, Koh Mak and Koh Kud, she added.

Green season promotion

In the current rainy season, typically referred to as the green season, TAT has launched campaigns to encourage visitors to visit Trat, Ms Phatcharin said, including a collaboration with TAT’s Nan office to launch the “From the Mountain Mist in Nan to the Sea Mist in Trat” promotion event.

The TAT will also organise an event called “Sanae Silp Thin Trat (Charming Arts of Trat)” from July 21–23 to promote local foods and arts and crafts, she said.

In addition, the TAT plans to promote the 800-year-old Wat Bubpharam temple as a pilgrimage site and a second annual bikini run on Koh Mak, she said.

“The TAT will also highlight local fresh seafood on the mainland while the islands, such as Koh Chang, will promote local living for those interested in travelling during the green season,” she said.

“We will also promote Koh Mak as a low-carbon emission destination. We hope tourism will return to normal this year.”

Hotels for sale

Despite a rising number of tourists in Trat, the impact of the three-year pandemic has left many hotel owners with major financial problems.

Several hotels on Koh Chang changed hands, while many other businesses struggle to survive, said Pornchai Kemaphong, chairman of the Tourism Council Office in Trat.

He said the province’s shutdown during the pandemic hurt tourism, and the effectts were ongoing.

At least 30% of hotels on Koh Chang are now either for sale or have closed down after going in the red, he said.

Thongpoon Phopanha, general manager of Koh Chang Paradise Hill Hotel and Koh Chang Paradise Resort, said the pandemic had harmed hotel business badly.

Many famous hotels were put on sale in the first half of the year, such as the Emerald Cove Koh Chang Hotel, he said, noting this five-star hotel with 165 rooms is located near Khlong Phrao Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches on Koh Chang.

Its owner, former president of Trat Hotel and Resort Association Suksan Korsa-Ngaluck announced the hotel was for sale, and an investor from Phuket bought it for 1.5 billion baht, he said.

The hotel is now under renovation and will reopen at the end of this year, he said.

The Chang Park Resort on Kai Be Beach also changed hands, he said.

It was bought by Koh Chang International, a ferry service owner, for 250 million baht, he said, while the five-star Kacha Resort Koh Chang on Hat Sai Khao Beach is now on sale for 1.7 billion baht and the Bhumiyama Beach Resort also announced to sell the property for 200 million baht.

Mr Thongpoon said hotel owners still want to see more tourism stimulus schemes from the government to bring in more tourists to the island.

Discount war

Thaweesak Wongwilat, deputy chair of the Tourism Council Office in Trat, said there is a price war among hotel owners, causing reductions in income, especially for small hotels on Koh Chang.

“Many hotels on Koh Chang are struggling and trying to survive by offering room discounts to attract visitors,” he said.

Some five-star hotels dramatically lowered their room prices from 10,000 baht to 1,000–2,000 baht a night, he said, adding these prices make it difficult for small players.

This is another reason why hotels changed hands, he added.

“The uncertainty in politics also impacts the economy, and that will cause a delay in the tourism recovery of Koh Chang,” Mr Thaweesak said, referring to tensions in the country’s current political scene.

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Senators blame MFP for campaign of abuse

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Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat is raising his hand during the parliament session for the prime ministerial vote on July 13. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat is raising his hand during the parliament session for the prime ministerial vote on July 13. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)

Senators hit back at supporters of the Move Forward Party (MFP) who have launched a “witch hunt” on social media against them after its leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed to secure enough support in parliament to become the new prime minister on Thursday.

Of the 206 senators attending the voting on Mr Pita’s prime ministerial nomination in parliament, 13 voted in his favour, 34 against and 159 abstained while another 43 senators were absent.

After the vote, Mr Pita’s supporters took to social media to attack the senators who voted against him or abstained, with the hashtag “Senator’s businesses” trending on Twitter on Friday, with more than 1 million tweets.

These supporters also took aim at senators’ family members and launched a campaign against businesses run by the senators.

They revealed what businesses belong to the senators, including a market, an insurance company, a beauty clinic, a football team, and a filling station.

A picture of a restaurant with a banner saying the senators who voted against Mr Pita or abstained were not welcome, also appeared on social media.

Writing on Facebook on Saturday, Sen Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, who abstained, condemned the MFP’s supporters who had harassed senators and their families as well as those who hold different opinions.

“After the vote, a campaign has been launched using abusive language [against the senators],” she wrote.

Some had created a fake Facebook account claiming to belong to her, with a message attacking the MFP, which drew criticism from its supporters.

She said she raised the matter with the MFP’s representatives who were sent to seek her support for Mr Pita. “They said they also disagreed [with the actions of the supporters], but they said they did not know how to deal with them,” Khun­ying Porntip wrote.

“Bring it on and I will capture [all the comments] and take legal action,” she wrote.

Ronwarit Pariyachattrakul, another senator who abstained during the vote, said he wanted to give moral support to his children who may meet hostile reactions from their friends who support Mr Pita.

Mr Ronwarit wrote that unless the MFP backs down from its bid to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law, Mr Pita will never get his vote for his nomination for prime minister.

“If your friends uphold the principles of democracy, they should accept and respect different opinions,” he wrote.

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Visiting Aceh nearly 2 decades after the tsunami: From beautiful beaches to moving memorials

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BEAUTIFUL BEACHES AND COASTS WITH STUNNING VIEWS 

Located at the northwest tip of the large Indonesian island of Sumatra, Aceh is quite near to Singapore (just a little farther than Langkawi). However, despite it being geographically closer to us than Bali or Sabah, there are unfortunately not many direct flights to Aceh from Singapore.

Hence, most visitors opt to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, first, and then proceed to Banda Aceh, Aceh’s capital city. The round-trip economy fare for this standard journey ranges from approximately S$150 to S$200. For my own trip, I paid around S$180, excluding any large baggage fees. 

As the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Aceh takes a little over an hour, the total journey from Singapore – without the waiting time and general airport activities – takes less than three hours. 

Upon arriving in Banda Aceh, the first thing that caught my attention was how fresh the air felt even at the airport.

But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise as the city is surrounded by the ocean. The coastal winds also provide a refreshing respite from the tropical climate that usually prevails in this region.

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John Kerry in Beijing: Can US and China set aside rivalry for climate action?

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U.S/ Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry arrives for an official dinner at the Presidential Elysee Palace, on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris, France on June 22, 2023.Getty Images
By Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter, BBC News

As John Kerry touches down in China, the main question will be whether the world’s biggest superpowers – and polluters – can dispel diplomatic tensions to focus on key climate goals.

Mr Kerry, the US special envoy on climate, is the latest top official to be dispatched from Washington following visits by Antony Blinken and Janet Yellen – as the US seeks to restart stalled relations with Beijing.

He will meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua and other officials on his four-day trip. Mr Kerry’s office says he wants to engage with China on “increasing implementation and ambition”, and ensuring a successful COP28, the UN climate change conference scheduled for the end of the year.

While their meeting is not widely expected to yield any concrete decisions, it will be seen as a conversation starter. They are likely to discuss their common challenges of accelerating their switch to clean energy and reducing carbon emissions.

The two countries are the biggest investors in renewable energy, with China alone making up more than half of the world’s total renewable energy investment, according to one assessment.

But they are also the world’s two largest carbon emitters, making them the “G2 of energy consumption, energy use and pollution,” noted Dan Kammen, energy professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

“So both are making major steps, but neither are actually seeing emissions fall yet,” he told the BBC Newshour programme.

Contradictory moves

Both governments are evidently still struggling to balance the demands of economic growth and reducing emissions, leading to contradictory moves that have attracted criticism from environmentalists.

It wasn’t so long ago that China appeared keen on reducing its reliance on coal.

In 2020, President Xi Jinping announced key carbon neutrality goals after a steady ramp-up in previous years in clean energy infrastructure. Years of worsening smog in Beijing and other cities had triggered widespread public anxiety, prompting authorities to progressively shut down coal-fired power plants and curtail coal production.

But since then, blackouts have been plaguing the country, mainly attributed to either the coal power slowdown or severe droughts affecting hydropower output. The resurgent post-Covid economy, both domestically and globally, has seen a greater demand for power as China’s factories increase production. Extreme heatwaves – like the one seen this summer – and cold snaps have also led to higher electricity consumption.

China has now shifted to prioritising its energy security. That means moving back to coal power, because this is seen as more reliable when compared with the intermittency of wind and solar energy.

Coal is loaded onto trucks for delivery to power generation plants, after being unloaded from ships at the port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on July 12, 2023

Getty Images

Last year, China approved a dramatic increase in its coal power output, the equivalent of approving two large coal power plants a week, according to one analysis.

Another found that while renewable energy now forms a greater share of China’s power output, coal-fired power was still rising in absolute terms because of the sheer demand.

Activists have criticised the return to coal as a lazy way of solving the problem, arguing that there are market policies and infrastructure solutions that can make clean energy supply more consistent.

As for the US, it has recently passed two pieces of legislation that would put billions of dollars into clean energy. But it has also just approved one of its largest oil and gas drilling projects in recent years in Alaska.

US carbon emissions also grew in 2022 as the country consumed more natural gas during extreme weather that year, according to the International Energy Agency.

“The US is no better… so each one has a long way to go, each one needs to egg the other on, and most importantly all the countries all around are watching to what degree the US and China absolutely are dead serious about the climate goals,” said Prof Kammen.

Laying out their wishlists

Analysts say Mr Kerry may try to persuade China to fully capitalise on its clean energy resources and achieve carbon neutrality more quickly.

China aims to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060 – goals which some say are too far off and give it too much leeway. Others have also taken issue with the fact that China is still considered a “developing country” by the UN, which means it is held to different standards than the US and other major powers.

Earlier this month Ms Yellen urged Beijing to donate to international climate funds set up by richer countries to help poorer economies struggling with climate change. China has rejected such requests in the past, citing its UN status.

China’s own wishlist may include the removal of a recently reinstated US tariff on Chinese-manufactured solar panels. It may also object to proposed US taxes on foreign steel and aluminium based on carbon emissions, which would hit Chinese exports hard.

China's special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, speaks during a joint China and US statement on a declaration enhancing climate action in the 2020s on November 10, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland

Getty Images

Both sides could also use climate issues as a bargaining chip in their wider trade and political negotiations.

China would be reluctant to be seen as giving in to the US given the current state of their relationship, warned Li Shuo, Greenpeace East Asia’s senior global policy advisor based in Beijing.

But there is an opportunity for Mr Kerry and Mr Xie to “capitalise on this relatively calm period… to separate their bilateral relationship from their climate conversation”, he told the BBC.

In other words, both countries need to urgently put aside their rivalry to address the climate crisis, say experts. There is a hope for a return to the amity seen at the 2021 COP meeting, where they announced a surprise joint agreement to accelerate emissions reductions.

“You could still make an argument to decouple your trade, as long as you are willing to bear the cost. But you can never make an argument to decouple climate engagement because… this issue will never be singlehandedly solved by the US or China. It is truly a global issue that requires all hands on deck,” said Mr Li.

Prof Kammen agreed. “Let’s recognise that if we don’t fix this, all our disputes about human rights and things are important – but they are truly rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic,” he said.

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Man sold data of 2m people to betting sites

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The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) has arrested a man for selling the personal data of two million people to online gambling websites.

CCIB chief Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakhonbancha said police arrested Padungkiat Somsoo, 27, a Phuket local who, since 2022, had sold the personal data of two million people via Facebook private groups.

Mr Padungkiat was arrested in Trang province. However, police also raided his home on Vichitsongkram Road in Kathu district of Phuket and confiscated his mobile phone, laptop, bank passbooks and data storage devices.

Pol Lt Gen Worawat said Mr Padungkiat usually posted an advertisement on a Facebook private group, which has over 100,000 members, offering collections of personal data including full names, mobile phone numbers, bank account numbers and LINE accounts.

The price starts at 500 baht for 100,000 names to 3,500 baht for two million names. Buyers often use the collections of personal data for marketing purposes such as sending text messages or advertisements to their contacts, he said.

Pol Lt Gen Worawat added that Mr Padungkiat also worked as an admin for online gambling websites. An engineering graduate, Mr Padungkiat started to run an operational system for online gambling websites last year.

Mr Padungkiat said he initially bought the personal data of two million people for 8,000 baht last year to boost his marketing plan for the online gambling website that he worked for. He later gave up the admin job and turned to selling personal data collections.

About 15-20 customers bought his personal data collections monthly, giving him an average income of 50,000 baht.

Mr Padungkiat was charged with violating the Gambling Act, Computer-related Crimes Act and Personal Data Protection Act. He was sent to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau Region 5 in Surat Thani for further legal proceedings, said Pol Lt Gen Worawat.

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Commentary: Is Barbie not so secretly an icon of empowerment?

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This was exactly what Ruth Handler had hoped to do when she created Barbie in 1959. She noticed that most dolls of that era were either babies or toddlers and, apparently upon observing her daughter’s fascination with paper dolls of career women, thought it would be commercially viable to create a version that would allow girls to dream of their future.
 
In line with this aspirational ethos, Mattel has consistently launched dolls embodying the personas of various occupations from surfers and scientists to CEOs and even the president of the United States. There have also been countless Barbies modelled after real life women from civil rights hero Rosa Parks to artist Frida Kahlo and tennis star Naomi Osaka.
 
To be honest, I barely remember what my dolls looked like. But some of my clearest memories are of a simple Barbie board game titled “We Girls Can Do Anything”, the point of which was to move our pieces around until we achieved our career of choice, such as an astronaut, musician, teacher or doctor. Even today, this tagline still pops into my head like a little pep talk when I encounter hurdles.

NOT ALL MARKETING AND CONSUMERISM

If the hype around the movie and the popularity of the #Barbiecore hashtag on social media is any indicator, there are certainly many others who share fond memories of the doll, even though it seems more fashionable to critique it.
 
Barbie’s appearance – originally modelled after a European adult toy and gag gift – has in particular drummed up plenty of scrutiny. The doll underwent a “make-under”, plumped up lips and heavy eye make-up removed in favour of the “all American” girl-next-door look we are now familiar with.

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