South-East Asia (Page 1,348)

Sustainability Expo 2023 (SX2023) officially began on Monday with a grand opening promoting sustainable practices based on the idea of the sufficiency economy philosophy conceived by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great.

The largest sustainability event in the Asean region, the annual expo is being hosted for a fourth year with an emphasis on “Sufficiency for Sustainability” to encourage visitors to participate in and work on sustainable practices and knowledge through a series of power-packed seminars.

This year, the event embraces the theme: “Good Balance, Better World” and aims to inspire visitors to learn more about sustainable practices based on the sufficiency economy philosophy. It runs until Sunday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC).

The grand opening was attended by representatives from five organisations considered globally as the epitome of a sustainable business: Frasers Property Thailand, PTT Global Chemical, Siam Cement Group, Thai Union Group Pcl, and Thai Beverage Pcl (ThaiBev).

ThaiBev president and chief executive, Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, as the expo’s organising chairman, said his company is embracing and prioritising the sufficiency economy philosophy to help the government achieve 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said he hoped the expo would serve as a major forum to discuss and share knowledge about sustainability. He also wanted the expo to inspire visitors to join a decade of action to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

“I believe that all of us want to make the world move sustainably with us,” Mr Thapana said.

The expo opening also included a special presentation on the economy’s sufficiency in the decade of action by Sumet Tantivejkul, Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation.

Dr Sumet encouraged attendees to raise awareness about environment-saving methods before making a “better world”, as more natural disasters due to global warming are occurring. He said that some might have misconceptions about the philosophy promoted by the late king, which encourages people to prepare for changes in the global environment.

“His Majesty [King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great] said to us that we needed moderation, reasonableness, and self-immunity to control our greed,” said Dr Sumet.

Visit www.sustainabilityexpo.com for more information.

The decaying bodies of a man and a woman were found in a cargo container at an inland container yard in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district on Monday morning. The container, declared to be empty, had arrived from the Philippines.

Anyawut Pho-amphai, PR chief of the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, said container yard staff found the bodies in an empty cargo container when it was about to be cleaned for further use.

Both bodies were swollen. The man was wearing only shorts and had tattoos on his back, chest and arms. The woman was wearing a pink T-shirt and pink trousers, and had a ring on her right ring finger.

Doctors assumed the man and woman had been dead for at least two weeks. There were no wounds or other traces of a fight on either body, and no identification documents were found. The bodies were sent to Police General Hospital for autopsies.

The 20-foot container unit, declared empty, had been carried on a cargo vessel that departed from the Philippines on Sept 24. The ship arrived at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri province on Sept 28. 

The container was transported by train to the yard in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district early Monday morning. Like other containers declared empty, it was not locked.

Police had not received any reports about a missing person in the Lat Krabang or Laem Chabang areas. They were seeking information about missing persons from the Philippine embassy in Thailand.

The lawyer representing eight subordinates of Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn charged with involvement in the operations of gambling websites said on Monday the deputy police chief had consulted him on whether they should continue the fight.

Ananchai Chaidet told reporters that Pol Gen Surachate talked to him on the phone on Saturday, seeking advice on whether the eight officers should back down from the planned legal battle. 

He had replied they could not just walk away because the eight officers were being persecuted and had been charged.

Pol Gen Surachat, known as Big Joke, said he had been asked by a senior police officer to give up the legal battle, but would not say who had made the request, the lawyer said.

Mr Ananchai said he had insisted he would continue to do the job he had taken on, as he had declared an all-out offensive.

He advised Pol Gen Surachate to be careful in what he said, as it could affect his plans for the court hearings.

Asked by reporters about his planned “big surprise” for Oct 5, Mr Ananchai said nothing had changed, but would not reveal details. He had all the documents prepared and was confident it would have a considerable impact on the Royal Thai Police Office, he said.

Asked whether it concerned the appointment of the new police chief, Mr Ananchai replied, “wait and see”.

He also said the “big surprise” would not be made public if Pol Gen Surachate dropped him as his lawyer.

Commando police on Sept 25 searched a house occupied by Pol Gen Surachate and four other houses in Soi Vibhavadi 60 in Bangkok, but found nothing illegal. The same day, 30 premises in six provinces were also searched. Twenty-three suspects, including the eight police officers under Pol Gen Surachate, were arrested for alleged involvement in the operations of a network of online gambling sites.

The searches preceded the Sept 27 meeting of the Police Commission chaired by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to select the new commander of the Royal Thai Police Office.  The commission chose Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, who was fourth in seniority of the four deputy police chiefs eligible for the position. 

Political activist Srisuwan Janya has petitioned the National Anti-corruption Commission (NACC) to rule on the Move Forward Party’s (MFP) expulsion of Padipat Suntiphada so he can join another party and retain the post of first deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.

In the petition, filed on Monday, the NACC was asked whether the MFP and Mr Padipat had violated the ethics code for parties and politicians stipulated in Section 219 of the constitution.

At a meeting on Sept 28, the MFP’s new executive commitee and party MPs resolved to expel Mr Padipat from the party. This was intended to allow Mr Padipat to join another party and retain the post of first deputy speaker, and leave the MFP free to take up the position of leader of the opposition.

Under Section 106 of the charter, the opposition leader will be appointed from the biggest party in that camp. Its MPs must not serve as cabinet ministers or as House speaker or deputy speaker.

The MFP issued a statement, which was widely disseminated on social media, saying the move was intended to enable the MFP to perform its duty as a “full-fledged opposition”. The statement was accompanied by pictures and the text message, “Walk separately, change the country together.”

Mr Srisuwan said this had been branded by society and on social media as a conspiracy, a legal deception and an addiction to power, indicating the true colours of a political party which had not practised politics in a straightforward manner, as the MFP had declared it would during the election campaign.

According to Mr Srisuwan, the MFP was also in breach of its own regulations, Nos 119 and 121, and of the ideology it registered with the political party registrar on June 23, 2020.

Mr Srisuwan said the NACC had been asked to forward its decision to the Supreme Court for punitive action if it found the MFP had seriously breached political ethics.

Meanwhile, Kaewsan  Atipho, a former deputy dean of Thammasat University, posted an article entitled, “A step backward of the Move Forward Party”, on social media.

The MFP’s action was dishonest since a party can expel MPs only if they have committed a serious mistake or are in serious conflict with the party, he wrote.

He said a group of at least 50 MPs can petition the Constitutional Court to rule whether Mr Padipat has actually been expelled or has resigned from the party and lost his MP status. The secretary-general of the Election Commission, as a political party registrar, can also do this, he said.

Senator Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan said on Monday she sympathised with the Thai chef who chased her from his restaurant in Iceland, and was not taking legal action against him.

Speaking at parliament, the senator said the incident, widely reported on social and mainstream media,  occurred when she and her friends went to a Japanese restaurant in Iceland last week.

As they were about to order the Thai chef ran angrily up to them, holding a mobile phone in a way that suggested he was livestreaming, she said.

“I have experienced so many such incidents, hatred through not knowing each other. I only sympathise with him,” Khunying Porntip said.

She had not expected the incident to get publicity, but the man posted the video himself.

She said the man had chased her out as as if she were an animal. He shouted at her in both English and Thai, in the presence of other customers.

She decided to leave the place right away. “If I had stayed longer it could have become physical, because he pointed at my face … as if I were a pig or dog,” Khunying Porntip said.

The senator said she was not shocked by the incident. She was 69 years old and had experienced many other such incidents. She did not take offence and would not file a lawsuit, she said.

The video went viral on social media over the weekend. In it, chef Ari Alexander Guðjónsson could be seen singling out Khunying Porntip, telling her to leave the premises immediately, in both Thai and English. He ordered her out in a highly public fashion while recording it on his phone.

Khunying Porntip abstained in the first round of voting for prime minister, in which Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed failed to secure enough support because most senators abstained or voted against him.

She also condemned MFP supporters who harassed senators who did not share their view.

On Monday Khunying Porntip said she had told the Move Forward Party on that occasion that she would vote for its prime ministerial candidate if it withdrew its plan to change Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which is the lese majeste law.

“We must help each other prevent aggression… If you are obsessed with politics, it will have an impact on everything,” she said.