South-East Asia (Page 1,394)

Narathiwat: Two defence volunteers providing security for teachers were killed by an unidentified armed group in Tak Bai district yesterday morning.

At least six fully armed assailants on three motorcycles chased after the security escort team before opening fire at them and killing them outside Wat Simthisarnpradit School in Tambon Pron at around 8.50am yesterday.

The volunteers were identified as Santhiya Chaisit and Amorn Butthongboon. The attackers also took two assault rifles and a pistol from the dead men. Police believed the attack was the work of insurgents.

Minutes before the shooting, police in nearby Cho Airong district, also in Narathiwat, were alerted to graffiti painted — supposedly by insurgents — on a road for an “independent Patani”.

Authorities also discovered a bomb planted nearby on the Cho Airong-Aipayeh road. Suspecting the graffiti was a ruse, security officers flew a drone over the area, which detected the bomb. The area was immediately cordoned off before the bomb exploded shortly after.

Authorities said the Tak Bai shootings and the bombing were carried out because the holy month of Ramadan is due to begin early next month.

Meanwhile, in Pattani, a man was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle at a singing bird competition in Yaring district yesterday.

Dueramae Mayo was trying to coax his bird into singing at the competition venue in tambon Takae when the two men arrived. They were met by a third man who pointed Dueramae out to them.

The two walked up to Dueramae before one pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him. The gun initially failed to fire, prompting the gunman to pistol whip Dueramae, who fell to the ground, witnesses said.

Both gunmen proceeded to shoot Dueramae in front of more than 100 spectators attending the competition.

Police believed the shooting was motivated by a personal dispute and had nothing to do with the insurgency.

Faces S112 case as Srettha feels the heat

Convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra looked seriously ill when he reported to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) over a lese majeste charge on Monday, according to a senior prosecutor.

Preecha Sudsa-nguan, director-general of the OAG’s office of criminal cases, said Thaksin was sitting in a wheelchair because he was too weak to walk. Furthermore, Thaksin had lost his voice and wore a neck brace throughout their meeting, Mr Preecha added.

Thaksin is accused of defaming the monarchy in comments made while on a trip to Seoul, South Korea, on May 21, 2015.

Mr Preecha said Thaksin was released on bail of 500,000 baht on Monday and ordered to return to the OAG on April 10 to hear the decision of the attorney-general in the case.

OAG spokesman Prayut Phetcha-rakhun said that after Thaksin was paroled on Sunday, police from the Technology Crime Suppression Division took him into custody over the latest court action against him.

Police on Monday escorted Thaksin to the OAG where Attorney-General Amnat Chetcharoenrak considered Thaksin’s recent petition for fair treatment in the case.

Mr Amnat decided there should be an additional investigation as Thaksin requested, Mr Prayut said.

On Sept 19, 2016, then Attorney-General Pongniwat Yuthapanboripan decided to indict Thaksin. At the time, Thaksin was a fugitive, and the former attorney-general told police to seek an arrest warrant from the Criminal Court. The court issued the warrant.

On Jan 17 this year, public prosecutors and police informed Thaksin of the charge and a related computer crime charge. Thaksin denied the charges and filed a written petition for fair treatment.

On May 21, 2015, Thaksin gave an interview with the Chosun Ilbo daily in Seoul and claimed privy councillors supported the May 22, 2014, coup that ousted the government of his younger sister, Ying­luck Shinawatra.

A video clip of the interview was viewed widely on Thai social media.

Police believe comments made during the interview could have violated both the computer crime law and Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law, which provides for a punishment of 3-15 years in prison for each offence.

Meanwhile, the political temperature in Thailand is expected to increase, according to political observers.

Many have suggested the release of the former prime minister poses a challenge to the incumbent Srettha Thavisin, who must now demonstrate his independence.

Thaksin has long been seen as the de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, now led by his youngest daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Political observers believe Thaksin will continue to exert influence and anticipate a potential shift in power from Mr Srettha to Thaksin, resulting in a so-called double prime minister phenomenon.

Responding to criticism from Senator Kittisak Rattanavaraha that Mr Srettha would become a star without a light after Thaksin’s release on parole, Mr Srettha said: “They can say whatever they like. But I will wake up at seven tomorrow and go to work and attend a cabinet meeting.

“Next week, I will go on an inspection trip to the South, and the following week, I will go abroad for talks on free trade agreements and look for new foreign investors. Whatever they say will not discourage me. I will carry on with my work for the country’s benefit.”

He also dismissed speculation that a cabinet reshuffle may be on the cards and said his relationships with coalition ministers remain healthy.

Upon his return from 15 years of self-imposed exile, the Supreme Court jailed Thaksin for eight years in three cases of abuse of authority and conflicts of interest, but the sentence was subsequently commuted to just one year by royal pardon.

Thaksin was seen leaving the Police General Hospital in a van together with his two daughters at 6.10am on Sunday, the first day of his parole.

Later, at about 6.30am, Ms Paetongtarn posted on Instagram that they were home at their Ban Chan Song La residence in Bang Phlat district.

The Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) is rolling out four new expressway projects worth about 120 billion baht.

All are expected to boost the country’s economy and stimulate employment.

Exat governor Surachet Laophulsuk recently said that Exat will submit the four proposals to the cabinet soon.

If approval is granted, a construction bidding process will follow, according to Mr Surachet.

He said the projects have been well studied and are worthwhile investments as they are expected to help promote economic growth and employment in the country.

The first is a 16.2km Chatuchot-Lam Luk Ka extension of the Chalongrach expressway with an investment budget of 19 billion baht.

The second is a 17km double-deck expressway, stretching from Ngam Wong Wan to Phaya Thai to Rama IX, costing about 34 billion baht.

Next comes the third part of a northern expressway, connecting the Prasert-Manukitch road to the Bangkok Eastern Outer Ring Road, covering 11.3 kilometres with a budget of 16.96 billion baht.

The last project is the 3.98km first phase of a Phuket expressway from Kathu to Patong, costing 14.67 billion baht, and the 30.62km second phase from Muang Mai to Koh Kaew to Kathu, which is expected to cost 42.63 billion baht.

Mr Surachet said that bidding would first open for the Chatuchot-Lam Luk Ka extension on the Chalongrach expressway.

Exat is expected to soon finish drafting its terms of reference (TOR) for contractors to bid, with construction expected to start late this year and be completed in 2027.

Exat has discussed the sourcing of the 19-billion-baht budget for this project with the Finance Ministry and found no obstacles as the agency has continuously produced positive results, Mr Surachet said.

Myanmar nationals who enter Thailand illegally will face legal action, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has warned.

He made the remarks as the number of Myanmar citizens applying for a visa to enter Thailand has increased sharply after Myanmar’s ruling military revealed plans to conscript young people for mandatory service from April.

“They are welcome if they enter the country legally. But if they sneak into the country illegally, legal action will be taken against them. I already discussed the matter with security agencies,” Mr Srettha said.

The prime minister was also trying to allay concern that Myanmar immigrants would take jobs away from local people, saying that one of the reasons that Myanmar citizens are currently fleeing into Thailand is to avoid mandatory military service.

He also said that Thailand’s unemployment rate is currently lower than 1% and that Thailand still needs many more labourers from neighbouring countries, though they must follow proper procedures to work in the country.

Anusorn Tamajai, chairman of the executive committee of the Pridi Banomyong Institute at Thammasat University, said the conscription of young people in Myanmar will also cover workers entering Thailand under memorandums of understanding between the two countries and this will lead to labour shortages affecting some businesses.

As a result of the conscription, Thailand will see an increasing number of Myanmar citizens entering and working illegally in Thailand, he added.

The Thai embassy in Myanmar had previously announced on its Facebook account that it is only accepting 400 visa applications per day, effective from last Thursday, to deal with an influx of Myanmar citizens fleeing into Thailand to avoid military service.

The embassy also said that Myanmar passport holders can enter Thailand for tourism purposes without a visa for up to 14 days.

Sources in Myanmar said that Myanmar nationals have shown up in large numbers at the Thai embassy in Yangon to apply for visas. The number is estimated at a thousand per day, the sources said.

According to Reuters, Myanmar’s ruling military plans to call up young people for mandatory service from April and also require retired security personnel to serve, media reports cited a junta spokesman as saying, as the army struggles to crush an anti-junta insurgency.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2021 coup.

Last Saturday, the junta said a law governing mandatory military service would be enforced for men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 for up to two years. It said this would begin in April.

A conscription law was introduced in 2010 but not enforced.

Transport Minister Suriya Juangruangreangkit has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand to try and persuade airlines to lower domestic air fares, in response to travellers’ complaints.

He said on Monday that CAAT officials would meet with representatives of all airlines that operate domestic flights on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of fare reductions. Later, the CAAT would present its proposals to the Civil Aviation Board for approval, the minister said. He chairs the board.

Mr Suriya said travellers complained about high air fares, especially for flights to Phuket. Even so, he said,  present air fares remained within the CAAT’s fare ceilings.

The minister said fare ceilings for a flight to Phuket were 9,074 baht for general airlines and 6,561 baht for low-cost airlines.

During the New Year holiday, the air fare from Don Mueang airport to Phuket peaked around 4,000 baht and tickets sold at the highest prices formed 13.8% of all tickets for the route during that period.

Mr Suriya recommended travellers reserve tickets in advance to get lower fares.