UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council will meet publicly to discuss human rights abuses in North Korea next week, a move requested by the United States, Albania and Japan that is likely to anger Pyongyang and face opposition from China and Russia. It will be the first formal publicContinue Reading
Suspects used of using Chaipattana Foundation’s name to lure victims
PUBLISHED : 10 Aug 2023 at 21:02
Police have arrested suspected members of a gang that they say defrauded people into investing in non-existent development projects in the Northeast since 2021 using the name of the royally established Chaipattana Foundation.
Investigators had gathered evidence and found 10 suspects who were complicit in the scam, Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan, the Crime Suppression Division chief, told journalists on Thursday.
This week, police teams were dispatched to search locations where the fraud took place in Chaiyaphum, Maha Sarakham, Roi Et, Kalasin, Chiang Mai, Lampang and Suphan Buri, he said.
Police have so far captured seven suspects and charged them with fraud, he said.
They were identified as Somchai Namsom, 59; Suriyaphan Sattayapitak, 61; Aukkarawat Promkamnoi, 59; Prasan Saengsawang, 65; Niphon Phukongka, 61; Warapon Suwankammun, 58; and Somsak Khanthong, 51. They all denied the charges.
Police said they had confiscated documents containing the details of 20 projects used to lure victims, 18 passbooks, three ATM cards and four mobile phones.
Police are searching for two more suspects — identified as Kittisak Saiprom, 58, and Metta Khanthong, 53 — in connection with the case.
Another suspect, Lerdpong Chaiwonglerd, 60, is currently serving time for another criminal offence.
Pol Maj Gen Montree said police were first alerted to the gang’s activities by the Chaipattana Foundation in 2021.
The gang had duped more than 20 victims out of a combined 1.5 million baht, which they said would be invested in 90 non-existent kaem ling (monkey cheeks) projects for water retention in the Northeast, he said.
The suspects claimed to represent a construction company contracted by the foundation, he added.
Support will be ‘unconditional’, even though military-linked party has not been approached to join coalition
All 40 MPs from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) will vote for the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate unconditionally because the country urgently needs to have a government, says a party MP.
Pai Leeke, a Palang Pracharath MP for Kamphaeng Phet, said on Thursday that the party had not been formally approached by Pheu Thai since key figures of the two parties met at Pheu Thai headquarters on July 23.
Pheu Thai was given the chance to form a government, with the blessing of the election-winning Move Forward Party (MFP), after the latter conceded it could not win enough support in parliament for its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat.
Pheu Thai, which came second in the May 14 election, later dumped Move Forward and moved to form its own coalition. It said that all the parties it spoke with had identified Move Forward’s insistence on amending the lese-majeste law as a major obstacle.
Mr Pai said PPRP members had discussed the situation and concluded that it was necessary for the country to have a government as many problems need to be urgently tackled.
The country has gone nearly five months since the dissolution of the House on March 20 with a caretaker government that has limited authority under the constitution.
The 2024 fiscal year starts on Oct 1 but there is no budget in place, which is beginning to cause deep concern among business leaders and investors.
“We had discussed with Pheu Thai (during the previous meeting) about policies that we wanted to jointly push for them such as Sor Por Kor land reform, the drought problem, an increase in the elderly allowance and the continuity of Pracharat welfare cards,” said Mr Pai.
“All (policies) received a positive response. More importantly, we used to work with Pheu Thai. I also came from Pheu Thai.
“Therefore, the party agreed that all of its 40 MPs will vote for a prime ministerial candidate from Pheu Thai.”
The PPRP is willing to help the country sail through the political crisis, said Mr Pai.
However, there have been no talks about joining a coalition government led by Pheu Thai, he added.
Numbers game
As of Thursday, the Pheu Thai-led coalition had a total of 238 MPs. The votes of the PPRP would bring the total to 278, meaning it would still need the support of 97 senators in a vote for the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate. Move Forward, now headed for the opposition benches, is still deciding whether to vote for the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate but most of its supporters oppose the idea.
Political commentators say that bringing the military-linked PPRP into the coalition would be seen by many Pheu Thai supporters as a betrayal and cost the party dearly at the next election.
Palang Pracharath was established in 2019 as a vehicle for Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the 2014 coup leader, and Gen Prawit Wongsuwon to remain in power. The majority of its original members were defectors from the Pheu Thai Party. Gen Prawit is the current leader of the PPRP.
Though it finished second to Pheu Thai in the 2019 polls, the PPRP ultimately prevailed as the lead party in the coalition government. Over time, however, factional squabbling intensified and many MPs left the party. It won 40 seats in the May election, down from 116 in 2019.
Mr Pai also claimed on Thursday that he had been contacted by Move Forward, when it was still putting together its coalition, to vote for its prime ministerial candidate.
But MFP secretary-general Chaithawat Tulathon hit back at Mr Pai’s claims, saying his party had never held talks with the PPRP to seek its support for anything.
“The MFP has never thought of taking part in anything with the PPRP, which was a mechanism set up to prolong the power of the coup-makers,” said Mr Chaithawat.
Move Forward has a clear stance that it would not join any government with the PPRP and/or the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party and its stance has never changed, added the MFP secretary-general.
ISLAMABAD: The wife of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan said that her husband was well after seeing him on Thursday (Aug 10) for the first time since his jailing, his lawyer said. Khan was jailed last week after being convicted of corruption. He was then barred from politics forContinue Reading
Wu Chunlei, 42, whose two-storey house and factory were ruined, said villagers guided rescue groups to flood-stricken rural areas because government workers were not present. “At the time there was no phone signal and we couldn’t contact any local officials. We could only save ourselves,” Wu said. Reuters tried toContinue Reading
NACC chief says full disclosure could endanger witnesses in case filed against deputy PM
PUBLISHED : 10 Aug 2023 at 18:16
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is still refusing to reveal some information related to the luxury watch controversy concerning caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
The Supreme Administrative Court has given the NACC until Friday to disclose all the facts that it used to support its decision to clear Gen Prawit of failing to declare all his assets.
However, the anti-graft body intends to petition against the order because complete disclosure could compromise the safety of witnesses and discourage witnesses in other cases, NACC secretary-general Niwatichai Kasemmongkol said on Thursday
He said he would give an explanation to activist Veera Somkwamkid, who earlier demanded the information disclosure in the case.
After meeting Mr Niwatichai, Mr Veera said he was given only facts gathered from the investigation and minutes of NACC meetings concerning the case. He was not provided with the opinions of the NACC officials who handled the case.
The NACC secretary-general cited the need for witness protection as a reason for withholding the details, Mr Veera said.
The documents he received were partly redacted, which Mr Niwatichai attributed to a decision by the NACC, Mr Veera said.
The activist said the NACC and its secretary-general would have to take responsibility for disobeying the court’s order.
Earlier Mr Veera filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court demanding disclosure of the investigation following the NACC’s dismissal of the complaint against Gen Prawit in December 2018.
The commission ruled 5:3 that there were no grounds for the accusation that Gen Prawit had falsely declared his wealth when he did not include 22 luxury watches and rings in his list of assets.
The investigation was launched not long after Gen Prawit was spotted wearing a platinum Richard Mille RM 029 wristwatch valued at about 2.5 million baht and a diamond ring at a Government House event on Dec 4, 2017.
These items and other watches that came to light later were omitted from Gen Prawit’s asset declaration to the NACC.
Gen Prawit claimed the luxury watches belonged to a friend, who had since died, and had all been returned.
The NACC has three sets of documents related to the case and has disclosed two of them. The third set involves the opinions of NACC officials.
Mr Veera said earlier that he wanted to ask the new government how to amend laws to make the NACC a truly independent agency that would be open to scrutiny and transparent, in keeping with its motto.
SEOUL: North Koreans must prioritise safeguarding propaganda portraits of their leaders, the country’s official newspaper said, as a tropical storm made landfall on the Korean peninsula on Thursday (Aug 10). Tropical Storm Khanun, which battered Japan before taking a circuitous route towards the Korean peninsula, is set to move intoContinue Reading
Downpours in late May 2023 in northern China flooded wheat fields, stirring both domestic and international concern about China’s wheat supply and the potential impacts on food security. Chinese officials described the flooding as “the most destructive rain event” for wheat production in the past decade.
In 2022, southern China suffered the country’s driest and hottest summer in six decades. The severe heatwave resulted in a massive drought, affecting an estimated 2.2 million hectares of farmland. Chinese officials are now concerned that drought could hit the Yangtze River basin, China’s main rice-growing region.
Extreme weather such as drought and floods have become major threats to China’s agricultural and food supplies. Over the past 70 years, China’s average temperature has risen faster than the global average, making the country extremely vulnerable to floods, droughts and typhoons. Extreme rainfall has reduced China’s rice yields by 8% over the past two decades.
Extreme climate events are expected to occur with increasing frequency in China, jeopardizing its food security plan. China’s agricultural sector is facing growing risks as a result of climate shocks and shifting planting conditions brought about by global warming.
Water shortages are the most significant and potentially most impactful component of the wider climate crisis. China will be among the most affected by water shortages. Water shortage and pollution have long been regarded as one of the top threats to the country’s food security.
Despite having the fifth-highest volume of renewable freshwater resources in the world, China’s per capita water resources were less than 25% of the world average in 2018. Worse still, the country’s freshwater resources are unevenly distributed across regions — the south faces periodic floods while the north battles frequent droughts.
The shift in China’s crop structure and spatial changes in grain production has made the water challenge even more daunting. To maintain grain self-sufficiency, China increased grain production by moving production to less-developed areas within the country, mostly to the inland and northern regions.
In 1995, China’s northern provinces produced 46% of the country’s grain and by 2021 this share had increased to 60%. Yet the northern provinces have only 24% of China’s freshwater resources.
Between 1995 and 2021, grain output in the northern provinces increased by nearly 200 million tonnes, whereas grain production in the southern provinces only increased marginally. Henan, Shandong and Hebei provinces, with only 4% of the country’s surface water resources, produced 24% of China’s grain.
The expansion of irrigated land, especially in the north, was one of the key contributors to China’s remarkable increase in grain production over the past decades. In China’s northern provinces, where rainfall and surface water resources are low, groundwater irrigation is vital.
Reliance on groundwater has resulted in over-extraction and adverse environmental effects. Since the late 1990s, groundwater overdraft has become one of China’s most serious resource problems.
Apart from water-scarcity challenges, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides coupled with intensive farming practices have worsened land degradation and pollution.
Climate change threatens to exacerbate the water shortage, undermining China’s food security. The El Nino effect will cause increased climate uncertainty in the Yangtze River basin, causing flooding in the south, drought in the north and a cold summer in the northeast – aggravating water scarcity and regional disparities.
As the world’s largest food producer and importer, minor fluctuations in China’s domestic food production and adjustments in its agricultural trade policy heavily influence global food trade. The loss of wheat in Henan and other grain-producing provinces after the recent rain could mean China’s wheat imports reach 12 million tonnes in 2023.
The Chinese government is aware of the climate threats and water risks around providing enough food for its population and has enacted a wide range of policies in response.
The government has attempted to boost domestic grain production by providing more financial and policy support, pressing local governments to focus more on grain production and introducing stricter rules on farmland protection and usage.
It has also invested heavily in agricultural technologies — from genetically modified crops to space seed breeding, alternative proteins and agricultural autonomous systems and artificial intelligence.
The government launched a nationwide campaign to cut food waste and soybean and corn use in animal feed, aiming to reduce demand for food and feed grains. It has also been undertaking various attempts to enhance its external food supply resilience through import diversification, overseas investment and by creating new supply routes and fostering international cooperation.
Facing growing threats from extreme climate events, these measures can be expected to yield mixed results. Some measures have the potential to contribute to domestic and global food supply resilience, albeit not without controversy.
These measures include developing drought- and insect-resistant and salt-tolerant crops, investing in artificial or alternative proteins, boosting overseas agricultural investment and technological transfer and creating new food transportation routes.
Other measures, though, including forcefully boosting domestic grain production through intensive farming and reliance on coal-based fertilizer, will not only threaten the long-term sustainability of China’s food production but also undermine its plans to fight climate change.
Facing increasing threats from climate change, China needs to strike the right balance between boosting domestic grain production and water security. The current policy of pressuring dry northern provinces to produce more grain might make China’s food system even more vulnerable to climate shocks.
Rather, China needs to tap the potential of southern rain-fed provinces to grow more grains. It is also in China’s interest to step up global agricultural investment and agricultural technology transfers.
Only through a balanced strategy that integrates regional strengths within China and leverages global agricultural cooperation can China build resilience against climate change, secure a stable food supply and maintain its key role in global food trade.
Hongzhou Zhang is Research Fellow with the China Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
This article was originally published by East Asia Forum and is republished under a Creative Commons license.
Authorities said the planned measures – a first for Mount Fuji – wouldn’t amount to an outright entry ban, but are meant to “guide” hikers on the trails, including temporarily halting their progress. Under the policy, local police will be alerted and urged to weigh in if trails get busyContinue Reading
Election-winning party says it will take its direction from the people who gave it 14 million votes
The majority of Move Forward Party (MFP) supporters do not approve of the party voting for the prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai Party, according to some senior Move Forward members.
The party cited results of internal opinion polls conducted by MPs showing that at least 95% of supporters are against supporting Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate in parliament.
Senior Pheu Thai figures, led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of party patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra, visited the MFP head office on Wednesday to seek support for its candidate, expected to be real estate billionaire Srettha Thavisin. Ms Paetongtarn and Chaikasem Nitisiri are the other two candidates.
Move Forward leaders gave no answer, saying they were awaiting more feedback from the people who gave the party more than 14 million votes in the May 14 general election.
On Thursday, MFP list-MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn wrote on Facebook that the party must not vote in a way that opens the door to the legacy of dictatorship to re-enter government.
He was referring to the “uncles” parties: Palang Pracharath (PPRP) led by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and United Thai Nation (UTN), for which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha formerly served as chief adviser.
The MFP insists that the two army generals, who had prominent roles in the 2014 coup and the National Council for Peace and Order that ran the country until 2019, maintain a firm grip on their respective parties.
Mr Wiroj’s remark came amid growing speculation that either or both parties could be invited to join the new Pheu Thai-led coalition.
Mr Wiroj said the very people Pheu Thai should reach out to were its red shirt supporters who have fought to defend Pheu Thai’s political cause for almost 20 years.
Pheu Thai has been accused of ignoring the wishes of many red shirts who wanted to see it and Move Forward, along with other parties in the so-called pro-democracy camp, form a government together.
Pheu Thai is now pressing ahead with the government formation effort with the Bhumjaithai and Chartthaipattana parties as well as six small parties agreeing to be part of the new coalition lineup.
The new coalition now commands 238 MP seats, which still falls 13 seats short of a simple majority in the 500-seat House of Representatives. Pheu Thai has said it will have at least 250 MP votes when the time comes to choose the new prime minister, which could come as soon as late next week.
Pheu Thai is expected to approach at least one more party from the previous government bloc to join. Those not invited so far are the PPRP, UTN and the Democrat Party. The latter has been in disarray for weeks, having made two failed attempts to choose a new leader.
Even with those three parties in the lineup, Mr Srettha would still need the support of some senators to win a prime ministerial vote.
Pheu Thai’s original plan was to persuade the MFP to back Mr Srettha. That way, the votes of senators would not be required to produce a majority at a combined House and Senate sitting.
Mr Wiroj said that as far as he was concerned, Move Forward would be neglecting its own supporters’ mandate if it voted for Pheu Thai’s candidate.
‘Pheu Thai does have a choice’
He added that Pheu Thai should not use an MFP refusal to back Mr Srettha as an excuse to turn to the “uncles” parties for support.
“Pheu Thai does have a choice. There’s always the eight-party alliance to fall back on,” he said, referring to previous coalition pact with Move Forward at its head.
However, that coalition collapsed because almost no senators would vote for Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, saying his party’s plan to amend the sensitive lese-majeste law was a deal-breaker.
Many individual Move Forward MPs this week have been conducting yes/no mini-polls on social media about voting for a Pheu Thai candidate. The results are 90-95% opposed, but it cannot be verified whether these “votes” come from constituents, and whether people voted more than once.
Natthapol Towijakchaikul, an MFP MP for Chiang Mai, said he organised an online survey which found 95% disapproved of the party getting behind Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate.
“We’re all ears to the voice of the people,” he said.
Some supporters, he added, were stressed about the country carrying on without a fully functioning government for months. However, they were prepared to wait further.
Move Forward earlier suggested the prime ministerial selection be put on hold until May next year when the current senators’ power to electing a prime minister will expire. Mr Pita could then be voted in as premier without an obstacle.
The next Senate will not have the power to vote for a PM, something that was outlined in “provisonal clause” inserted into the constitution by the Prayut government after the public approved the 2017 charter in a referendum.
Prasertpong Sornnuwat, another MFP MP, admitted party supporters in some constituencies were split over whether to support Mr Srettha for prime minister.