Protesters slam Pheu Thai, Bhumjaithai for alliance with military parties

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 20:09

Protesters slam Pheu Thai, Bhumjaithai for alliance with military parties
A protestor splashes paint in front of the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters on Phahon Yothin Road in Bangkok on Sunday evening. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

A group of protestors, mostly on bicycles and motorcycles, rallied in front of Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai party headquarters on Sunday evening to denounce their efforts to form the next government with military-linked parties.

People using about 50 vehicles first gathered at the BTS Mo Chit station on Phahon Yothin Road at about 1.30pm. Rally leaders criticised both parties for potentially teaming up with political parties connected to the May 2014 coup d’etat.

About an hour later they moved to the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters on the same road.

The protesters arrived at the head office at about 3pm. It was closed and guarded by police.

Protesters there criticised Bhumjaithai’s policies related to Covid-19 and cannabis decriminalisation. They scattered leaftlets, splashed paint and attached glue traps normally used to trap mice. Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul is also known by his nickname “Noo” (mouse in Thai).

The demonstrators then moved to the Pheu Thai headquarters on Phetchaburi Road at about 4.45pm. The place was also closed.

There they dumped and destroyed Pheu Thai souvenirs including stickers, cups, calendars and shirts. They also demanded Pheu Thai restore its coalition partnership with the election-winning Move Forward Party.

Pheu Thai came second in the May 14 general election with 141 House seats and Bhumjaithai came third with 71 seats. Both announced their joint effort to form the next government after Pheu Thai withdrew from its previous coalition alliance with Move Forward which won 151 House seats.

Demonstrators move towards the headquarters of the Bhumjaithai Party on Phahon Yothin Road on Sunday evening. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

Continue Reading

Miss Universe Organisation cuts Indonesia ties over sex abuse claims

By:
On:
In: Asia
Miss Universe IndonesiaMISS UNIVERSE INDONESIA

Miss Universe Organisation (MUO) has cut ties with its Indonesian franchise after several contestants alleged sexual abuse days before the pageant’s crowning ceremony in Jakarta.

Contestants said finalists were unexpectedly asked to strip for “a body check for scars and cellulite” and some said they were photographed topless.

The US-based MUO said it was clear the franchise had not lived up to its brand standards, ethics, or expectations.

Jakarta police are probing the claims.

MUO also said it was also cancelling this year’s pageant in Malaysia which is run by the same company, PT Capella Swastika Karya.

Miss Universe Organisation thanked the women that filed the complaints for their bravery and reiterated “providing a safe place for women ” was its priority.

It said it was evaluating its policies and procedures to avoid similar occurrences and said there were no measurement or body dimensions requirements to join its pageants worldwide.

“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards, ethics, or expectations,” MUO posted on Saturday night.

Miss Universe, which is now on its 73rd edition, is popular in South-east Asia, especially in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, where winners go on to become celebrities and social media influencers.

Its owner Anne Jakrajutatip, a Thai transgender woman and media mogul, has sought to revamp the brand to make it more inclusive by allowing married women, transgender women and single mothers to compete.

Poppy Capella, Indonesia’s franchise director said on Instagram that she had “never known, ordered, requested or allowed anyone who played a role and participated in the process of organizing Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 to commit violence or sexual harassment through body checking”.

She also added that she was against “any form of violence or sexual harassment.”

Indonesia’s Ms Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld who who won the contest to represent her country in the 2023 Miss Universe finals in November will compete with the organisation’s support, MUO said..

Related Topics

More on this story

Continue Reading

Russian woman falls to death in Jomtien

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 17:55

CHON BURI: A 32-year-old Russian woman naked from the waist down fell to her death from a seventh-floor condominium room in Sattahip district on Sunday morning.

Local police were informed of the death at about 7am on Sunday. It happened at a condominium building on Soi Na Jomtien 4 Road in tambon Na Jomtien.

The body of the Russian woman was found lying face down in a pool of blood on the ground in front of the condominium building. She was wearing a green T-shirt and a jean jacket, while the lower parts of her body were exposed.

Police assumed she fell from the room of her 30-year-old Russian boyfriend on the seventh floor of the building. In the room, a window next to a bed was found with its curtain open. The boyfriend said the woman had accidentally fallen.

When police arrived, the boyfriend was holding a glass of an alcoholic beverage and appeared uncontrollably drunk. He initially refused to cooperate with police under his state of intoxication.

Police said the room was untidy and strewn with leftover food and drinks, but there were no traces of a struggle. 

Continue Reading

China State Council issues guidelines in bid to increase foreign investment

By:
On:
In: Asia

BEIJING: China’s State Council issued guidelines on Sunday (Aug 13) that it said would further optimise the country’s foreign investment environment and attract more foreign investment. The State Council said in a document containing 24 guidelines that authorities should increase protection of the rights and interests of foreign investors, includingContinue Reading

Typhoon Lan set to crash Japan holiday week

By:
On:
In: Asia

TOKYO: Japanese authorities on Sunday (Aug 13) warned residents in much of the country to prepare for a strong, slow-moving typhoon set to hit during the peak summer travel week. Typhoon Lan is on course to make landfall on Tuesday on Japan’s main island of Honshu, bringing heavy rain andContinue Reading

Candid jumbocam: 12 wild elephants bathe in Buri Ram forest

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 15:45

Candid jumbocam: 12 wild elephants bathe in Buri Ram forest
A herd of wild elephants is seen in an image captured by an automatic camera in Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Buri Ram’s Non Din Daeng district. (Photo supplied)

BURI RAM: Twelve wild elephants were seen roaming in a forest inside Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Non Din Daeng district of this northeastern province in video clips taken by automatic cameras installed by wildlife officials.

Somsuan Raksat, chief of the sanctuary, said the videos were captured by the network-centric anti-poaching system (NCAPS) cameras at 6.25pm on Aug 10.

He said the footage, which shows the elephants playing in water and walking past the cameras in the Dong Yai forest, indicates the sanctuary is rich with wildlife and other resources.

Based on the footage, forest rangers and volunteers would be assigned to patrol the area to prevent the elephants straying out of the sanctuary, Mr Somsuan said.

Continue Reading

HM King’s sons visit Siriraj hospital

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 14:49

HM King's sons visit Siriraj hospital
Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, right, and his younger brother Chakriwat, left, pay their respects to the image of their great-grandfather Prince Mahidol at Siriraj Hospital on Sunday morning. (Photo supplied)

Two sons of His Majesty the King visited Siriraj Hospital on Sunday morning.

Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse and his younger brother Chakriwat visited the kingdom’s very first hospital,  135-year-old Siriraj Hospital, and paid their respects to the image of their late grandfather King Rama IX and their great-grandparents there.

Mr Vacharaesorn, 42, recently visited temples and other places after returning to Thailand for the first time in about three decades.

His younger brother Chakriwat, 40, arrived later and the two planned to leave for the United States together.

The younger brother’s arrival prompted Mr Vacharaesorn to postpone his planned earlier departure on Sunday.

The brothers visited Ayutthaya province on Saturday.

The siblings are among four sons of His Majesty the King and his former consort Sujarinee Vivacharawongse. Their younger sister is Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya.

Continue Reading

Death toll from mudslide in China’s Xian rises to four

By:
On:
In: Asia

BEIJING: The death toll from a mudslide last week in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province has risen to four, state radio said on Sunday (Aug 13), as the country grapples with unusually high summer rainfall. State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) had earlier reported that Friday’s mudslide in the city of Xian,Continue Reading

Snap Insight: Battered at state polls, UMNO is becoming a liability for Malaysian PM Anwar’s government

By:
On:
In: Asia

INTERNAL STRIFE IN UMNO

To be sure, Mr Anwar’s position as premier and his government’s hold on power are in no threat. The weekend’s elections also very much retained the political landscape that held before the dissolution of the assemblies in late July. 

The PH coalition kept control of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, while Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah went back to the right-wing Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), which is the dominant member of the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition together with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

“PH and Anwar did alright by retaining the states they controlled, and the government can move ahead. But for UMNO, I am not so sure,” UMNO’s former treasurer Abdul Zahim Mohd Zabidi told CNA, adding that rumblings of an internal rebellion in the party have already begun.

“Unless there is some leadership change, UMNO is doomed,” he added.

UMNO, which ruled Malaysia with the leadership of the National Front (Barisan Nasional) coalition since independence, was kicked out of power in May 2018 on the back of widespread public anger over the international scandal at state-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The financial fiasco subsequently led to the conviction and jailing of former UMNO president and Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak over corruption. 

DOUBTS OVER AHMAD ZAHID

Mr Ahmad Zahid subsequently took over the party leadership and consolidated his power by removing his opponents and packing the leadership of the powerful 25-member supreme council body with his allies. But the party no longer endears itself to the Malay community and that, in turn, has become a serious problem for Mr Anwar, who is struggling to build his government’s own credentials with the majority Malay community.

Continue Reading