Thaksin ‘paid for entire hospital stay’
Justice secretary defends processes related to ex-premier’s incarceration
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra paid 8, 500 ringgit a day for his place, along with all other health expenses, for the entire six-month time that he stayed at Police General Hospital, an investigation heard on Friday.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong discussed some of the details of the businessman ex-premier’s confinement in evidence before the , House committee on state security, border affairs, national strategy and reformation, chaired by Women’s Party MP Rangsiman Rome.
In contrast to other prisoners, the committee has been looking into claims that Thaksin received preferential treatment for care.
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NAC ) has requested medical records to establish whether Thaksin’s transfer from a prison facility on the first night of his imprisonment was justified.
According to Section 7 of the National Health Act, the hospital’s health records are at their disposal, but the doctor must obtain the victim’s consent before disclosing them, according to Pol Col Tawee.
He claimed that he had requested that the doctor make the necessary changes within 120 time, adding that he had personally seen all of Thaksin’s records, including receipts.
As long as the data was legitimately obtained, the minister said he would be happy to provide it to the council.
Thaksin returned to Thailand on Aug 22, 2023 after 15 times of self-imposed banishment. Prior to that very day, the Supreme Court sentenced him to eight years in prison, which was later reduced to one month under a royal pardon for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while he was prime minister due to 2006.
Corrections staff members decided that he needed to be moved to Police General Hospital on the first day of his stay at Bangkok Remand Prison. Six months later, after meeting the requirements for probation, he walked out of the facility without a single day of jail time.
Complex state
On Friday Pol Col Tawee told the House council that Thaksin’s shift was fair, as the jail hospital was capable of accommodating Thaksin’s difficult medical condition.
Even though the officers hospital is a part of the universal health care program, Thaksin claimed to have paid for his treatment on his own.
Pol Lt Col Theerawat Panyathammakul, the council secretary, said the place where Thaksin stayed cost 8, 500 ringgit per day, which meant that he needed to pay at least one million ringgit for his 120-day be.
In reply, Pol Col Tawee said Thaksin even needed to pay medical expenses.
Mr Rangsiman next asked the person who approved Thaksin’s move, who appeared to be a physician from the penitentiary doctor, whose identity was not revealed to the council.
According to Pol Col Tawee, the doctor approved Thaksin’s health evaluation outcomes at 11am on Aug 22, 2023, the first day of his confinement, before he was moved to the police clinics on the same day.
The council was merely told to stay clear about the benefits of the health examination because Thaksin’s condition is complicated, according to Pol Col Tawee.
Before the witness started, Mr. Rangsiman issued a disqualification for an off-the-record conversation.
Officials stationed outside of Thaksin’s room were permitted, according to Pol Col Tawee, who likewise informed the committee.
Due to the fact that the former top had previously been the target of assassination attempts, the federal police chief decided to put him in a particular area for safety reasons.
Records of all readers during Thaksin’s confinement are available for review, he said.
Even invited to the reading were Sahakarn Petchnarin, the director-general of the Department of Corrections, Pol Lt Gen Taweesilp Wechawitarn, the chairman of the police doctor, and Wattanachai Mingbancherdsuk, chairman of the Medical Correctional Institution.
India court tells smog-hit capital to step up vehicle restrictions
NEW DELHI:  , India’s top court on Friday ( Nov 22 ) ordered authorities in the smog-choked capital New Delhi to establish checkpoints on all 113 roads into the city to stop the entry of polluting vehicles. More than 30 million people live in the traffic-clogged megacity, which has beenContinue Reading
Debate in Malaysia over PM Anwar’s revelation that private firms partly funded his recent overseas trips
SINGAPORE: A win-win condition may result from private firms sharing aircraft costs with Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s committee on his new international trips, said analysts and stakeholders.
They also called for better accountability and said the practice was likewise reveal weaknesses in Malaysia’s political funding framework.
After telling parliament on Thursday ( Nov 21 ) that private companies had contributed 75 to 80 percent of Mr. Anwar’s flights over the previous two months, he sparked debate. He was on official trips to China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Brazil this month.
” If I am not mistaken, around 70 or 80 per cent of the flight charges were borne by firms with business and investment pursuits”, he said.
According to Mr. Anwar, the Investment, Trade, and Industry Ministry had invited businesses to travel to meetings worldwide, including Petronas, Sapura Energy, Sapura Energy, Proton, and other automakers.  ,
According to Mr. Anwar, as quoted by Free Malaysia Now,” we invited these businesses with business and investment objectives to meet these visits, and they paid for the tickets and expenses.”  ,
It is one of his president’s measures to control the expenses of international trips more quickly, he said. We recently made some changes because I noticed how expensive journey was frequently.
Mr Anwar was responding to Member of Parliament for Paya Besar Shahar Abdullah during Prime Minister’s Problem Day in the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s lower house of parliament.
Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil clarified on Friday ( Nov 22 ) that private companies did not reimburse Mr. Anwar’s travel expenses.  ,
The total cost of the chartered Malaysia Airlines plane, an Airbus A350, was RM6.16 million ( US$ 1.38 million ) and the Malaysian government covered 27 per cent of the cost, said Mr Fahmi, who is communications minister.
” However, the company group paid 73 per share of the cost, or RM4.5 million. So it is essential for me to stress that the government paid for the prime minister’s airfare”, he said.
According to Mr. Fahmi, flying on the Putrajaya’s Jet Premier One on its own cost more than if the committee had traveled on a chartered trip during the journeys, he added, saving almost RM900,000.  ,
If the federal committee had flown on its own on the Jet Premiere One, which can hold just 20 people, it would have cost about three days more, or RM2.5 million, Free Malaysia Today reported.
Court of Appeal of Singapore rules that Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano are not the same cheese
SINGAPORE: In a finding that impacts how cheese can be marketed in Singapore, the Court of Appeal on Friday ( Nov 22 ) ruled that Parmesan is not the same as Parmigiano Reggiano.
According to Justices Tay Yong Kwang, Belinda Ang, and Judith Prakash, Singapore’s users do not believe Parmesan cheese to be made only in the specific region of Italy where Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is produced.
Instead, local customers have been influenced by how Parmesan is promoted and sold in Singapore as a butter that can and does come from abroad.
The Court of Appeal gave its decision after an appeal by Fonterra Brands ( Singapore ) Pte Ltd, a , subsidiary of a cooperative owned by 10, 000 dairy farms in New Zealand.
Fonterra, which sells different types of cheese under the Perfect Italiano brand, was contesting a lower court’s finding that” Parmesan” is a translation of” Parmigiano Reggiano”.
” Parmigiano Reggiano” is a type of geographical indication ( GI ). GI labels cannot be applied to products that do n’t originate from those specific territories because they identify products that are produced there.
The counties of Modena, Parma, and Reggio Emilia in Italy are represented by the GI for the cheese that comes from” the region of the county of Bologna to the left of the River Reno, the region of Mantua to the right of the River Po.”
The Gastrointestinal” Parmigiano Reggiano” was registered in Singapore in June 2019 by the , Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano , – a collaboration of manufacturers of the cheese.
The Consorzio is tasked by Italy ‘s , Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies to protect interests relating to Parmigiano Reggiano.
According to European Union law, the Consorzio also holds the designation” Parmigiano Reggiano” as a protected designation of origin ( PDO ).
In September 2019, Fonterra filed an application to specify that the Gastrointestinal” Parmigiano Reggiano” does not include the name” Parmesan” as the conditions are not equal.
The company argued that Parmesan had not come from Italy, is not regulated in the same manner as Parmigiano Reggiano, and varies in milk information, regulations, style, color and texture.
When the secretary of GIs allowed Fonterra’s program, the Consorzio filed an opposition to it. A Principal Assistant Registrar granted the criticism, and a High Court judge upheld it.
Fonterra next launched this charm.
” Thoughts DO NOT EXIST IN A VACUUM”
The dispute pitted dictionary definitions of” Parmesan”, put forth by the Consorzio, against examples of how the term is used in the Singapore market, put forth by Fonterra.
The , Consorzio used extracts from the Collins Dictionary, the , Larousse Italian-French Dictionary and the , Cambridge Italian-English Dictionary to argue that” Parmigiano Reggiano” translates to” Parmesan” in both English and French.
Top Justice Prakash, deliving the judge’s view, said the extracts may provide some assistance for the Consorzio’s case, but were not clear.
Because they were compiled by foreign publishers, who might not be aware of the use of” Parmesan” in Singapore.
” Put differently, these definitions are not written in ( and were not designed to reflect ) the language used by visitors in Singapore”, she said.
Words do not occur in a vacuum, she added, and how a certain word is used and the significance or interpretations it holds over time may change depending on the specific environment and local circumstances in which it is used.
She added that the judge was concerned about how the general public perceives Singaporeans and inhabitants as” consumers, not just people passing through.”
She claimed that this typical customer is not a member of Singapore’s expat or European community and that she lacks” special knowledge of cheese.”
In contrast, Fonterra argued that it is” customary” in Singapore for Parmesan to refer to” a hard, dry, easy to grate, or grated cheese with a sharp, slightly sweet, salty flavour”, and for this not to be linked to Parmigiano Reggiano.
More convincing was Fonterra’s argument, which included at least 10 item listings that demonstrated that Parmesan cheese products were sold in Singapore and had clear evidence that they were produced outside of Italy.
They observed noticeable differences in Parmigiano Reggiano and Parmigiano Reggiano items ‘ overall physical characteristics and obverse displays of Parmesan’s country of origin.
Additionally, Fonterra’s information included online catalogs for local stores and Amazon Singapore that categorize Parmigiano Reggiano butter in a different way from Parmesan butter.
The courts and Fonterra concurred that native users have been influenced by how investors categorize Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano as” two distinct kinds of cheese products.”
They ruled in favor of Fonterra and placed a restriction on the use of the term” Parmesan” in the Register of GIs, stating that the protection of the GI” Parmigiano Reggiano” should not be used.
The judges also ordered the Consorzio to pay S$ 100, 000 ( S$ 74, 204 ) in costs to Fonterra.
Flash floods hit Yishun, Potong Pasir as northern Singapore records one of highest daily rainfalls since 1978
SINGAPORE: The northern part of Singapore received about half of November’s average monthly rainfall on Friday ( Nov 22 ), marking one of the highest daily rainfalls , in over 45 years. Two flash floods occurred at , Thin Tho Avenue, which is in the Potong Pasir place,  , and Yishun AvenueContinue Reading
Social media activist faces arrest for false iCon story
Allegation of B8bn crypto shift was well-intentioned, says Ekkapop Luangprasert
A social press activist was given an arrest warrant for supposedly making false statements about a crypto deal that the Criminal Court approved on Friday because it was related to the creator of the direct sales business The image Group, which is accused of operating a pyramid scheme.
After speaking with a witness to the police about a alleged incident that occurred before iCon founder Warathaphon” Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul was detained, founder of the Sai Mai Tong Rod ( Survive ) Facebook page Ekkapop Luangprasert is in the limelight.
On his social media page, he also shared information about the alleged bribe-taking and crytocurrency shift.
He asserted that just one hour prior to Mr. Warathaphon’s arrest, there was proof that more than 8 billion baht had been transferred to get Ethereum. He requested that the CPPD authorities check whether the image founder had a connection to the transaction.
Although Mr. Ekkapop insisted he had good purposes to assist those who had fallen prey to the direct sales company, authorities after refuted his statements as misleading.
Mr Warathaphon, 41, was remanded in custody last month along with 17 different defendants, including artists, on charges of common scams and inputting phony information into a computer program. All have denied the claims.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division’s officers requested an order on Friday evening to grant Mr. Ekkapop’s arrest warrant because he had violated the Computer Crime Act.
Mr Ekkapop, a former adviser to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, told investigators that he was not aware of the permit. In any case, he said,” He was going to report to authorities authorities.”
He claimed that his actions were intended for the general public, noting that he had never met any logo managers.
He claimed that the arrest warrant was unimportant and that fairness may be served by police. If he is detained, he has prepared resources for his attorney to deposit as loan guarantee.
Mr Ekkaphop, a rescue charity, founded the Instagram page with eight companions in 2019 to help people in need in Sai Mai city of Bangkok. Since then, it has gained notoriety in the city and beyond as a catalyst for disaster preparedness and closing the gap between the police and the general public. The site has almost 110, 000 followers. ( Story continues below )
On October 18, officers escort Waraphon” Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul, the founder and CEO of The image Group, from the Central Investigation Bureau to the Bangkok Criminal Court. ( Photo: Nutthawat Wichieanbut )
Detention extended
In a associated growth, the Criminal Court on Friday approved the Department of Special Investigation’s ask to hold the 18 image suspects for another 12 weeks.
Under the rules, suspects may be detained for seven 12-day times, or 84 days in total, before officers have to fully tap costs.
The defendants were not present at the court.
Financial transactions and other types of data were the subject of DSI authorities ‘ requests to question 4, 500 additional prosecution witnesses and 400 additional suspects ‘ testimony.
The investigators opposed bail, claiming that the charges imposed severe penalties and that about 9, 000 victims had lost an estimated$ 2.95 billion baht as a result. The suspects even posed a journey danger, they said.
Additionally, investigators have brought in extra charges for operating a direct sales company without authorization, borrowing money in a deceptive method, and persuading customers to visit a direct-sales system by promising benefits based on the number of new hires they employ, and running a direct sales system without authorization.
Even in prison is Kritanong Suwannawong, who was acting on behalf of 89 sign patients. She allegedly extorted money from Mr. Warathaphon while also allegedly stealing 20 % of the profits from the scam patients.
Western leaders on their guard with China ahead of Trump return
STRANGER Not Extra China’s state media recently criticized Beijing for ingraining US meddling in international matters while portraying their nation as a pillar of true multilateralism and globalization. On Friday, the editorial page of the republican Global Times tabloid claimed that Xi’s trip to Brazil had “precious clarity in theContinue Reading
What is Singapore doing to protect people from floods?
Citizens SHOULD BE READY FOR FLOODS.
People must take action to make for floods, according to Mr. Neo, while PUB works to protect the nation.
For engineers, it means designing houses to PUB’s requirements and ensuring that drainage systems are maintained, he said. He advised those in well-known flood-prone regions to collaborate with the organization to develop the best plan of action.
He urged the general public to register for PUB’s storm alerts on messaging services like Telegram and social media as a first stage toward preparing for such a situation.
On its element, the company keeps an eye on the amount of rainfall in Singapore.
This is crucial because we want people to be prepared for floods and stay away from landslides before they get too wet, according to Mr. Neo.
” I’ll be able to build my people’s first to the floor to aid the public with this first forecast and warning.”
In addition to being in disaster areas like Cavenagh Road/Karamat Lane and Hougang Ave 8, PUB has designated 700 homes and businesses as being in flood-prone regions like Beach Road and Lorong Buangkok.
Flood-prone places refer to low-lying sites with a record of flood, while spots are areas that are not low-lying but have experienced display storms.
Second Australian dies after Laos poisoning
As the death toll from contaminated alcohol rises to six, the owner of a Vietnam dormitory is detained.
PUBLISHED: 22 Nov 2024 at 17: 31
A second American girl has passed away from suspected alcohol poisoning, bringing the total number of international tourists who have passed away in Laos to six.
The two young Australians who had been staying at the backpacker hostel before becoming violently ill were detained by police in Laos, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp ( ABC ) reported.
The home of Holly Bowles, 19, said they were “heartbroken” to confirm her death at Bangkok Hospital in the Thai money, more than a week after she fell ill in the tourist town of Vang Vieng.
Her companion Bianca Jones, even 19, and the American attorney Simone White, 28, from London, were confirmed to have died on Thursday.
An unknown American male and two Swedish girls, aged 19 and 20, are also among the subjects of the suspected poison.
Holly’s family said in a statement to the media on Friday that she had “brought so much joy and happiness to so many folks” as relaxation.
When she became ill, they continued, claiming that she had been living “her best existence traveling through Southeast Asia, meeting new people, and having amazing encounters.”
Holly Bowles ‘ horrible departure may be heartbreaking to all Australians, according to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a statement. ” Only yesterday, Holly lost her best friend, Bianca Jones”.
After failing to check out of their dormitory in Vang Vieng, which is located about two days northeast of the Chinese capital, on Wednesday, November 13, the two Australians were taken to a hospital in Vientiane.
After their circumstances worsened, they were transferred to institutions in Thailand: Bianca to Udon Thani and Holly to Bangkok.
On November 12th, the Australians were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel, which claims to have provided free whiskey pictures to around 100 customers.
No other customers have developed illness, according to the hostel’s manager, according to the US news agency The Associated Press. He claimed earlier to ABC that his table did not serve the coffee. He argued that those who developed illness may have drank the poison at a different area bar.
Although little information has been revealed thus far, Australian authorities are pressing Thai authorities for a thorough and impartial investigation into what transpired.
Authorities were gathering information and see accounts following the foreigners ‘ deaths due to suspected” ingestion of contaminated adult beverages,” according to the Chinese state-run media company KPL on Friday. Immediately, an formal declaration was anticipated.
In Laos, counterfeits of well-known alcoholic beverages and dessert souls are a concern. Australian and British people have issued a warning to consumers when drinking alcohol that.
On Friday, the US embassy in Laos issued a warning to its members to stay on the lookout for potential alcohol poison in spirit-based beverages and to check for any evidence of tampering or counterfeiting.
Methanol is a harmful alcohol used in commercial and home items like coolant, photocopier liquid, paint thinner, gloss and windshield wiper fluid.
It can sometimes be used in cheap house drink despite being toxic to people.
BigBang’s Taeyang joins Yuewen Music Festival 2024 in Singapore, will perform on same day as Daesung
The future Singapore Yuewen Music Festival is now even more exciting. BigBang’s renowned K-pop artist Taeyang has been named as the newest artist to attend the event. Taking position at Sentosa’s Siloso Beach on Dec 28, 29, and 31,  , Yuewen Music Festival 2024 may have many K-pop and regional works including , Itzy, Red Velvet’s Irene and Seulgi, and Lala Hsu.
On December 29th, Taeyang and his groupmate Daesung will ignite the step. Does this imply that the stage may house a mini-BigBang collection?