Suspect in alleged serial murders denied bail

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Court approves detention as police say as many as 12 poisoning deaths may be linked

Police take Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who is accused of killing a woman with cyanide in Ratchaburi province, to the Criminal Court on Wednesday. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)
Police take Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who is accused of killing a woman with cyanide in Ratchaburi province, to the Criminal Court on Wednesday. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)

The Criminal Court on Wednesday approved a request by police investigators to further detain Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who is accused of killing a woman by putting cyanide in her food.

The former wife of a senior police officer, she is also suspected of involvement in the deaths of a dozen other people she had been in contact with and who died in similar circumstances.

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said on Wednesday that two more dead victims has been linked to Sararat “Am”, bringing the deaths to 12.

There was one survivor, who was giving information to police about her conduct. The woman was also poisoned and her heart stopped beating. A doctor managed to restore her heartbeat in time. Police were questioning her, said Pol Gen Surachate.

Ms Sararat was taken into custody on Tuesday at the government office complex on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police with an arrest warrant. She had a bottle of cyanide in her possession, police said.

Her arrest followed a complaint filed with the CSD by the mother and elder sister of the late Siriporn “Koy” Khanwong, 32, from Kanchanaburi. Siriporn collapsed and died on the bank of the Mae Klong river in Ban Pong district of Ratchaburi, where she had gone with friends to release fish for merit-making on April 14. Cyanide was found in her body.

Investigators came to the belief Ms Sararat might be the person who had mixed cyanide in Siriporn’s food, causing her death. She allegedly also stole the victim’s valuables. This led to her arrest.

Ms Sararat was taken to CSD headquarters for questioning on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning, investigators took her to the Criminal Court and were given permission to detain her for a  further 12 days, from April 26 to May 7, while statements were taken from 10 more witnesses. They are also awaiting the results of an autopsy and a further examination of criminal case records.

Police opposed bail and she was remanded in custody.

Pol Col Anek Taosupap, a deputy CSD commander, said that throughout questioning Ms Sararat refused to give information. She also refused to allow a blood sample to be taken for evidential DNA testing.

Ms Sararat is reportedly the former wife of a police deputy superintendent. They separated in 2022 but still occasionally meet because they have two children.

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Missing the point on explosive dollar risks

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TOKYO – Few professions are better at making straw-horse arguments than the economics trade. The reason: it’s always easier to refute an unserious argument than tackle the biggest questions of the day.

The arguments US leading economists Lawrence Summers and Paul Krugman are making these days about the rivalry between the Chinese yuan and US dollar are Exhibit A.

Take Summers, the former US Treasury secretary, who made headlines this week detailing why the yuan isn’t a threat to the dollar’s dominance as reserve currency anytime soon. Trouble is, virtually everyone already knows a currency that isn’t fully convertible or backed by deep capital markets can’t acquire significant reserve status.

The reason top economic minds do this, of course, is to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room. In this case, that’s the US national debt racing toward US$32 trillion.

Dysfunctional politics putting Washington on a path to possible default doesn’t help. Nor does a US Federal Reserve team losing global confidence with distressing speed.

The yuan isn’t the issue. It’s a fragile dollar problem that isn’t being treated, nurtured or reenergized at an epochal moment.

That hasn’t stopped the financial world from obsessing over questions with little relevance in 2023. Here, Summers is a case in point as he explains what everyone already knows about the challenges facing China’s currency.

“Is [China] really going to be a place where people are going to decide they want to hold reserves on a massive scale?” he rhetorically asked Bloomberg.

Summers adds that “there has never been a country where there was a strong desire to move as much capital out of the country as we’re seeing in China right now, albeit blocked by controls.”

Lawrence Summers in Beijing, China, October 31, 2016. Photo: Twitter

Nobel laureate Krugman, meanwhile, makes a force-of-habit argument. The dollar’s dominance — and the power of incumbency — makes it somewhat untouchable as a linchpin of global finance and trade. To him, it would require “exceptional circumstances” for the dollar to be eclipsed in global circles.

Yet isn’t what’s afoot in Washington exactly that, as Congress threatens to renege on US government debt?

The last time Republicans in the House of Representatives played chicken with the debt ceiling didn’t end well. That was back in 2011, when Congress members hinted at letting the US default to buttress their fiscal hawk bona fides. Standard & Poor’s abruptly yanked away Washington’s AAA credit rating.

A dozen years on, this game is a far more precarious one. The trajectory of US debt is one problem. So is how the Fed’s campaign to tame the worst inflation in 40 years is causing collateral damage from Latin America to Africa to Asia.

Political chaos in Washington also raises the stakes. In the post-Donald Trump era, legislative polarization has hit a fever pitch — as evidenced by the default debate spooking world markets.

To be fair, Summers and his ilk aren’t oblivious to these toxic dynamics. Summers notes that “if the dollar loses its status, it will be because the United States is no longer respected and strong in the world. It will be because we’ve accumulated a set of untenable debts.”

Yet this seems far less of an “if” than most top US economists let on. Just ask officials here in Japan, which holds the world’s largest stockpile of US Treasury securities at about $1.1 trillion. Beijing holds just under $1 trillion of US debt.

Cumulatively, Asia’s top central banks are stuck with nearly $3.5 trillion of US debt at a moment when the US government isn’t operating effectively. From time to time, fears that America’s top bankers will start reducing their exposure to the dollar fuels mini-panics in currency markets.

It’s a long-standing source of paranoia, of course. Back in 1997, for example, then-Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto dropped a bombshell on an audience in New York. “Several times in the past, we have been tempted to sell large lots of US Treasuries,” Hashimoto said, a comment that sent bond prices sharply lower.

At the time, the late Japanese leader cited contentious US-Japan auto trade talks as one such moment when Tokyo mulled dumping US Treasuries. Fourteen years later, in 2011, China’s state-run People’s Daily ran an editorial saying: “Now is the time for China to use its ‘financial weapon’ to teach the US a lesson” regarding its support for Taiwan.

Back in 2011, economists like Brad Setser, a former US Treasury staffer, began stressing that big stockpiles of US debt held by China and other geopolitical rivals represent a growing national security threat.

China holds over US$1 trillion worth of US debt. Image: iStock

But then, officials in China also have raised concerns that Beijing is essentially trapped with its mountains of dollars. In 2009, for example, then-premier Wen Jiabao implored Washington to protect its AAA status.

“We have made a huge amount of loans to the United States,” Wen said. “Of course, we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am a little bit worried.”

Washington, Wen stressed, must “honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.”

Nearly a decade later, in 2018, Cui Tiankai, then China’s ambassador to the US, hinted that Beijing might reduce its Treasuries holdings due to concerns about losses. “We are looking at all options,” he said.

Also in 2018, Fan Gang, a top adviser to China’s central bank, talked publicly about diversifying away from the dollar.

“We are a low-income country, but we are a high-wealth country,” Fan said. “We should make better use of capital. Rather than investing in US government debt, it’s better to invest in some real assets.”

It’s tantalizing to think, too, of how America’s bonds held abroad are often the tail wagging the economic dog. In 2009, for example, then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd: “How do you deal toughly with your banker?”

In February of that year, in her first trip to China as a top US cabinet official, Clinton downplayed discussions over human rights and played up Washington’s hopes of prodding China to buy more government debt.

The Trump era did serious damage to global confidence in the dollar. Along with a record $1.8 trillion tax cut, Trump’s disastrous handling of Covid-19 necessitated $7.4 trillion of fresh government spending. Equally worrisome were Trump’s flirtations with defaulting on US debt to hurt China.

President Joe Biden has since drawn accusations of wielding the dollar as a tool in efforts to sanction Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

As strategist John Mauldin at Millennium Wave Advisors notes, “the Biden administration made an error in weaponizing the US dollar and the global payment system. That will force non-US investors and nations to diversify their holdings outside of the traditional safe haven of the US.”

But the coming fight over the debt ceiling could trump all. “A reason to think this time may be different,” says economist Will Denyer at Gavekal Research, “is the make-up of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. The fractious caucus only elected Kevin McCarthy as speaker in January with a tiny majority after an epic 15 rounds of voting.”

Speaker Kevin McCarathy is leading House Republicans in yet another messy credit ceiling fight. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

It’s possible, Denyer says, “that Tea Party-type Congressional Republicans use their leverage over the party leadership to veto a compromise deal and impose a hostile negotiating stance. Hard-line ‘small government’ Republicans may argue on principle that destroying the government’s bond market credibility will make it harder for it to borrow and so help starve the beast.”

Strategist Brian Gardner at Stifel Nicolaus & Co adds that this “dysfunction is a clear signal.” Markets, he adds, “should be on guard as the summer approaches” because “brinkmanship over the debt ceiling could lead to market volatility.”

Yet this standoff between Republicans and the White House could trigger what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls an “economic and financial catastrophe”, whereby US institutions shoot the reserve currency in the foot, irrespective of the status of the Chinese yuan.

Follow William Pesek on Twitter at @WilliamPesek 

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Commentary: Like the US, Asia is less than enthusiastic about another Biden term

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Coming off his re-election win in Florida, one of the few Republican bright spots in the November midterm elections that saw many Trump-backed candidates defeated, DeSantis was polling neck and neck with Trump.

Since then, his trajectory has been mostly downward and he trails Trump, who is the choice of almost half (46 per cent) of Republicans by a margin of 15 points. Other declared or presumed Republican candidates including former vice president Mike Pence, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott barely register with percentages of support in the low single digits.

With almost nine months until the first presidential primary elections, there is still ample time for the field to shift for DeSantis. Yet his wobble highlights how hard it is for Republicans to gain ground against Trump. Fearful of alienating his deeply committed supporters, challengers hold their fire.

THE ONLY CANDIDATE CAPABLE OF BEATING TRUMP

For Democrats, there is a parallel dynamic of reactivity to Trump at work. Despite apprehensions about Biden’s age and fears about his low approval ratings, he is the only one who is seen as capable of beating Trump, shutting off the path for younger party hopefuls.

Certainly, Biden is credited with the party’s surprisingly good performance in November’s midterm elections. Typically, the incumbent president’s party loses substantial ground in the midterms, on average giving up 29 congressional seats. Yet under Biden, the Democrats did far better than predicted, relinquishing only nine House seats in the lower chamber House of Representatives, narrowly losing the majority and retaining control of the Senate.

Analysts attribute this to several factors including a resilient economy despite the challenges of inflation, a rejection of the extremism around the Capitol riot and election denial, the popularity of Biden policies like infrastructure investment and anger over the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2022 to roll back abortion rights.

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China lagging US in crucial laser weapon race

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Calls are rising for China close the gap with the United States in laser weapon development, a capacity viewed as the future of missile defense and counter-satellite warfare.

This month, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China needs to emphasize the development of feasible laser weapons, an area where it is perceived to lag behind the US.

Compared to kinetic energy weapons, directed-energy weapons such as lasers have the advantage of instantaneous hits, pinpoint accuracy, scalable power requirements and negligible cost per shot.

Their drawbacks, on the other hand, include size and bulk, substantial power requirements, weakening power over distance, and sensitivity to weather conditions.

Beijing-based researcher Zhou Chenming was quoted by SCMP saying China is good at making smaller laser weapons, but lacks larger models that can intercept bigger targets like missiles or be installed on warships or airplanes.

Song Zhongping, a former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) instructor, mentioned that China must invest more in directed energy weapons, as they are an essential part of modern technology that must be applied on the battlefield, according to the same SCMP report.

Larry Wortzel notes in the 2017 book “The Logic of Irregular War: Asymmetry and America’s Adversaries” that since the PLA perceives its technology as lagging the US,  it is constantly trying to develop “magic weapons” including laser systems that will give it an asymmetric advantage.

Wortzel notes that China and the US see each other as engaged in a critical contest for military deterrence and supremacy, accelerating both sides’ development of their respective military technologies.

Asia Times noted last January that the rapid development of hypersonic weapons may be driving the rising investment and accelerating the development of laser weapons among leading military powers. Hypersonic weapons fly at Mach 5 or faster to evade current and planned missile defenses.

China’s hypersonic weapons have the US in their sights. Image: Facebook

While Asia Times noted this month that China’s successful mid-course missile intercept test aims to strengthen its defenses against US intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) in the Pacific, the capacity may not be sufficient against hypersonic weapons.

Current missile defense systems such as the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot PAC-3, and China’s HQ-19 may be ineffective against hypersonic threats as the high cost per interceptor missile makes them potentially unfeasible as long-term options.

Oskar Glaese notes in a June 2022 article for The Diplomat that ground-based laser systems face significant challenges such as the high levels of power needed to affect targets in orbit, accuracy at great distances and ability to assess damage against targets.

Glaese contrasts these with the possible advantages of space-based laser weapons, noting the smaller distances between orbiting satellites and the lack of atmospheric distortion that affects laser range and power, with such systems capable of being deployed defensively against anti-satellite attacks.

However, he also says that the main challenge in developing space-based laser weapons is developing a power source that is compact and strong enough to be mounted on a satellite.

Although America’s hypersonic weapons program has suffered many test failures and development setbacks, the US is still pressing on with a “test often, fail often, learn quickly” approach while leveraging technological assistance from its closest allies.

This month, Asia Times reported on the US decision to scrap its troubled Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) project in favor of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) due to the former’s repeated test failures.

In addition, the ARRW may be unreliable due to its overly complicated two-part glide vehicle booster design compared to the scramjet-powered HACM.

Australia may play a critical role in providing scramjet technology for the HACM, as Australian aerospace firm Hypersonix demonstrated its 3D-printed scramjet engine to US defense officials in March 2022. It has several advantages over US models which allow it to be printed in three weeks using special alloys.

That cooperative approach under the AUKUS framework may address the shortcomings of the US hypersonic weapons program, which include poor weapons design and fabrication, poor test planning and management, gaps in preflight tests, lack of rigorous government oversight and a tendency to trivialize costly failures.

Apart from defending against hypersonic weapons, China may be developing lasers for anti-satellite purposes to destroy US space-based missile defenses.

Last March, Asia Times noted that China has also developed a satellite-mountable solid-state pulse laser capable of generating a megawatt laser light and firing 100 times per second for a half hour without overheating. That laser is powerful enough to dazzle or permanently blind satellite cameras and can permanently blind human beings or vaporize target surfaces.

Concept art of a space-based laser destroying a satellite. Image: Facebook

China may deploy the weapon against next-generation US military and dual-use satellites. Asia Times reported last July that the US had announced plans to spend US$1.3 billion to develop advanced satellites to track hypersonic weapons and change the fundamental architecture of its space-based missile defenses.

Present such US defenses rely on a few large, expensive satellites that stay in orbit for 15 years. That system is also vulnerable to attack, as it lacks defensive capabilities and is locked in predictable orbits.

The US plans to replace that architecture with a two-tiered system operating in low-earth (LEO) and medium-earth (MEO) orbits at 10,000 to 20,000 kilometers using cheaper satellites that can be replaced every five years.

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High costs, lack of available technology among challenges facing maritime sector in decarbonisation pursuit

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Ms Christensen also highlighted the importance for private companies, industry experts and policy makers to work together to discuss the specific challenges such as the technologies, financing structures and necessary regulation needed to take the sector forward.

FUTURE SOLUTIONS

Moving forward, the sector is also working on using ammonia as a potential new fuel, but there are many technical and operational gaps, she said.

“The supply chain doesn’t exist (and) the infrastructure doesn’t exist. It’s a new fuel, in fact, engines that burn ammonia don’t exist today. Ships that use ammonia don’t exist today,” explained Ms Loo.

“That said, I think the ecosystem is quickly coming together as well. We’ve moved from an era of declaring ambition to taking action.”

Ms Loo added that GCMD will later this week unveil its ammonia safety study for conducting a bunkering pilot in Singapore, to show that ammonia can be bunkered or transferred between vessels while mitigating the risks in the process.

It complements other similar studies done by organisations such as the Global Maritime Forum, the Getting to Zero Coalition and the Nordic Green Ammonia-Powered Ship (NoGAPS) project.

“So it’s by piecing these different kinds of pilots and studies together that again we can move the ecosystem along towards being able to use ammonia as a fuel,” said Ms Loo.

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Veteran athletics coach has remaining molestation charges withdrawn

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SINGAPORE: A veteran athletics coach who was acquitted of molesting an athlete last month had his three remaining charges of molestation relating to a teenager withdrawn by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Mr Loh Siang Piow, also known as Mr Loh Chan Pew, was on Tuesday (Apr 25) given a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the three charges that involved a 16-year-old at the time of the alleged offences.

This means that the 79-year-old coach no longer faces any charges. 

Mr Loh was sentenced to 21 months’ jail in 2020 for molesting a female athlete, known as Ms C, in 2013. 

He appealed against the conviction in the High Court and was acquitted on Mar 30 this year. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said then that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. 

The three charges related to the 16-year-old were set aside temporarily while the case involving Ms C was ongoing.

After the withdrawal of the remaining three charges, Mr Loh’s lawyers from Wong Partnership – Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, Paul Loy and Calvin Ong – said: “The past seven or so years have been a traumatic experience for Mr Loh.

“The allegations against him not only severely affected his standing personally and professionally, but more sadly deprived him of the one thing that he loves most – to train and motivate our young athletes to achieve their best in national and international competitive settings.”

They added that Mr Loh was “happy and relieved” that the prosecution has withdrawn all remaining charges against him. 

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Move to relocate troublesome Khao Wang macaques

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Macaques on the roofs of shops they raid near Phra Nakhon Khiri, or Khao Wang, historical park in Muang district of Prachuap Khiri Khan. (Photo: Chaiwat Satyaem)
Macaques on the roofs of shops they raid near Phra Nakhon Khiri, or Khao Wang, historical park in Muang district of Prachuap Khiri Khan. (Photo: Chaiwat Satyaem)

PHETCHABURI: Plans are being made to relocate the large population of rascally macaques at Phra Nakhon Khiri, or Khao Wang, historical park in Muang district to a place where they can live more naturally and annoy no-one, provincial governor Natthachai Nampoonsuksan said.

There were now about 3,000 macaques in Muang district alone and 1,000-1,500 in each of the other districts, and the population was growing, Mr Natthachai said on Wednesday.

The monkeys were spreading out in search of food, their depredations causing problems for local residents, businesses and tourists.

Protected Area Regional Office 3 of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department had a sterilisation programme, but this had not proved effective in keeping their numbers down. Therefore, a plan was being drawn up to relocate the macaques from Khao Wang to a more suitable location, Mr Natthachai said.

The governor did not name a specific place, but local residents said a possible new home for the simian scoundrels was an island in the middle of Kaeng Krachan Dam reservoir.

Uraiwan Phopuang, resident of a community near Khao Wang, said the macaques broke into and ransacked their homes and shops looking for food. They were also carriers of diseases and in particular scabies, which could cause respiratory problems. Tourist also found them persistant and annoying, she said.

Preeda Boonprasert, whose sweets shop is near Khao Wang, said the macaques urinated everywhere, leaving a strong smell, and ran across roads, causing accidents.

He would heave a big sigh of relief if they were moved elsewhere.

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