Dems to try again after leadership selection farce
Democrat Party executives are meeting today to schedule another date on which to elect a new leader after their first attempt collapsed on Sunday.
Acting party leader Jurin Laksanawisit said the executive board is due to decide on the date to select his successor today.
The meeting will also discuss whether to waive certain party regulations to allow for a fresh selection of new executives and party leader.
Mr Jurin declined to speculate when the new meeting will take place after the attempt on Sunday was adjourned due to the lack of a quorum.
It was reported that the room was fraught with conflict between two camps vying for party leadership. One side is said to support former leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s return, while the other, reportedly backed by acting party secretary-general Chalermchai Sri-on, manoeuvres to have younger members run the party.
It was also reported that some party executives deliberately left early on Sunday to force a lack of quorum, seeing that their side stood to lose if the party leadership contest went ahead.
Yesterday, Mr Jurin said any unsettled issues would be dealt with in the next round.
It was natural to have competition when it comes to finding a new party leader. This is because the Democrat Party is not owned by a single person who can tell the party to do as they please.
“It’s all about respecting a consensus,” he said.
Also yesterday, Naris Khamnurak, a five-time former Democrat MP and deputy interior minister, said Sunday’s selection process was cut short as several members had to catch planes home to their provinces and could not stay late.
The meeting went on longer than planned because of issues surrounding the leader and executive picks which had to be thrashed out. He denied any underhand internal politics were responsible for the adjournment.
“The party rarely faces a disagreement that results in meetings being postponed,” he said.
The former Phattthalung MP added that members who competed against one another at executive elections were still able to work together afterwards.
He downplayed the disputed party rule governing leadership and executive selection, which reportedly puts the Abhisit side at a disadvantage.
While MPs, party executives and members who are former political office-holders are eligible to take part in the selection process, they do not carry equal weight in the vote. The MPs account for 70% of the total, while the rest make up the remaining 30%. The Democrats won a total of 25 House seats in the May 14 general election.
Mr Naris maintained the rule will stand in the next meeting as it would be unprincipled to make a change at this point.
Sudarat resigns as party-list MP
Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, leader of the Thai Sang Thai (TST) Party, resigned as a party-list MP yesterday, paving the way for Takorn Tantasith, who currently occupies the second spot on the list, to take her place.
Writing on Facebook, Khunying Sudarat announced her resignation, allowing another candidate to occupy the No.1 spot on the party’s list in her place.
“I have decided in line with my intention, which I previously announced upon the establishment of the party, that I will serve as a pillar for the party’s foundation as well as a bridge to connect people of all ages so they can work together for the country’s sake and make Thai Sang Thai a political institution which belongs to the people,” she posted. “Thai Sang Thai is still a newcomer, and we intend to build a people’s party. We still have a lot of work to do to lay the foundation for the party.”
She also reiterated the party’s stance in supporting Pita Limjaroenrat, the Move Forward Party (MFP) leader, to become the next prime minister in tomorrow’s vote.
TST won six House seats in the May 14 election and is one of the eight prospective coalition parties seeking to form a new coalition government led by the MFP.
A party source said that Takorn Tantasith, currently occupying the second-place spot on the party’s list, will move up and take the top spot, replacing Khunying Sudarat.
Her resignation as a list MP yesterday confirmed a news report last month quoting a source close to the matter that she was giving up her seat.
Khunying Sudarat left the Pheu Thai Party, where she served as its chief strategist, to set up the TST.
Yokâs school hits back, claims she âterrifiedâ others
Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn School yesterday filed a complaint to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights to “protect the rights of other students” who feel threatened by the behaviour of Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai, a student activist who is no longer a student of the school.
The school director, Jintana Srisarakham, and a group of parents submitted the complaint to Senator Somchai Sawangkarn, chairman of the committee.
According to Ms Jintana, the school had provided Yok with every educational need possible, even though she was not technically one of their students as her enrolment was “incomplete”.
The school had now issued a letter directly to her parents to explain the current situation after concerns were voiced about the disruption to Yok’s education the media circus was causing.
She added that Yok had been told she could sit an admission exam with the school for next year; however, the school is not able to accept Yok’s demands, which include a ban on uniforms, as it has legal obligations in most areas that make accommodating the young protester impractical.
Ms Jintana said the school’s rights were also violated by the fact that Yok did not provide enough cooperation with the school. Yok terrified the other students as well as distracting them with the video clips she shot in every part of the school and the phone calls she took from outsiders.
Earlier on July 9, Yok posted a commemoration of her 51 days since being released from the juvenile centre in Nakhon Pathom on her Facebook account. She said that she was affected by the “fake news” made by adults who believed they knew better than her and who tried to silence her accusations of rights violations.
She also accused the school of failing to support her and excluding her from the system.
âZero carbonâ tourist app launched
A “Zero Carbon” mobile application has been launched to help tourists and tourism operators achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2027.
The app is a joint project involving several public and private organisations, such as the Program Management Unit Competitiveness (PMUC), an independent funding body operating under the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and the Innovation Policy Council.
Others involved include Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI), Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta), Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau Thai Ecotourism (Tceb), Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (Teata), Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation (TGO) and Pims Technologies.
The app will help tourists monitor their carbon footprint generated by their activities and help provide travel routes and methods that are considered net zero tourism, said Kiatchai Maitriwong, the TGO Executive Director.
The app will also provide a channel for people to buy carbon credits to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions generated by each activity. About 1,500 zero-carbon routes will be added to the app in the next three years.
Ryuchell: Japanese TV personality found dead at agent’s office
Getty ImagesJapanese TV personality Ryuchell has been found dead by their manager at the agency’s office in Tokyo.
The 27-year-old’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but police said they are investigating if they died by suicide.
Ryuchell married a fellow model, Peco in 2016 and the pair had a son.
In August 2022, the couple divorced after Ryuchell announced they no longer identified as male, attracting much criticism online.
In the post shared to Instagram, Ryuchell said they would still live with Peco and their son.
But many accused the celebrity of being an absent father and criticised their decision to come out. In February, the model appeared in a YouTube video alongside Peco, where she defended her ex-husband and said she supported them as they worked out their sexuality.
Ryuchell became an influential LGBT figure in Japan and was well-known for their genderless style of dressing. As they became more famous, they were subject to numerous online social harassment campaigns which largely criticised their personal life and gender non-conformity.
Shortly after their death, terms like “Ryuchell” and “character assassination” started trending on Twitter in Japan.
Peco and their son are overseas – on Tuesday she posted a picture of a cake for his fifth birthday. The family are yet to comment on news of Ryuchell’s death.
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by issues in this article, the following resources may help:
- In the UK: BBC Action Line
- Elsewhere in the world: Befrienders Worldwide
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4 February
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Warning issued over fake ID scam
Chiang Mai: The provincial office of the Bureau of Registration Administration has warned people to be wary of a scam on a Line chat account that falsely claims to be able to issue citizenship ID cards.
The warning came as the office found that 23 people have fallen prey to the scam resulting in losses of almost half a million baht.
Yesterday, the office said it had received documentary evidence of the scam from two victims, identified only as Mr Jao and Mr Jong.
Mr Jao said he and his neighbours from tambon Mae Pong in Doi Saket district hold temporary citizenship ID cards issued to stateless people.
He said he recently came across an online advertisement that claimed to be able to secure genuine citizenship cards for a fee. He and his neighbours agreed to use the service and paid the gang their money.
A scammer he contacted had posed as the interior permanent secretary. To convince Mr Jao, the man put an image of the permanent secretary as his profile picture in the Line chat.
The victims were asked to pay over 30,000 baht each for the card-issuing service.
The scammer claimed the payment was for registering their ID card in the national database and for having a 13-digit ID number assigned, he added.
After the payment was made, the scammer sent the victims a Certified Form of Particulars of Civil Registration, purportedly as proof that their names had been added to the civil database of the Department Of Provincial Administration.
The 23 victims reportedly wired over money to the tune of 515,000 baht.
Mr Jong and Mr Jao made a record of the chat history. That, along with other documents, was passed on to Boonyarit Nipawanich, chief of the Bureau of Registration Administration Region 5.
Mr Boonyarit said their certified forms were all forged documents.
He took the victims to Doi Saket Police Station to file complaints.
59 Myanmar students sent back home
Removal comes after enrolment row
Nearly 60 students at Thairath Wittaya 6 School in Ang Thong have been sent home to Myanmar following complaints they were enrolled illegally.
The 59 students were escorted back to Myanmar by their parents via Chiang Rai, according to deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.
The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), meanwhile, promised to find a solution for the remaining 67 students at the school in Pa Mok district so they can continue their studies if they choose to.
A solution was being considered at a discussion involving related agencies yesterday, led by Pol Gen Surachate.
Taking part in the discussion in Chiang Rai were representatives of the Chiang Rai immigration office, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, the Education Ministry, child welfare advocacy groups, the National Human Rights Commission and the US embassy.
Early last month, complaints were filed by residents in Ang Thong with local authorities alleging that a large group of ethnic children had enrolled illegally at Thairath Wittaya 6 School.
Following that, 59 ethnic minority children at the school were sent to Chiang Rai last Wednesday, where they waited for their parents to cross the border through the Mae Sai checkpoint to pick them up.
The 67 students who remain at the Ang Thong school have lost contact with their parents due to ongoing clashes in Myanmar.
People who claimed to be students’ relatives have reportedly appeared at the school but were barred from taking children after they failed to provide documentary evidence proving their kinship.
Pol Gen Surachate said a solution for the remaining students was being worked out. It needs to cover all aspects, such as legal proceedings and the children’s rights and welfare.
He stressed the priority was to ensure that the students were able to carry on with their schooling here legally.
For the students taken back to Myanmar by their families, their parents are free to discuss with Obec’s secretary-general about sending their children back to the school later.
Pol Gen Surachate said between 70,000 and 80,000 children from the neighbouring country were studying at schools along the border. He noted that in the case of Thairath Wittaya 6 School, located in the Central Plains province of Ang Thong, it was rare to see these students enrolled in a school so deep within the country’s interior.
“The thing that children need the most is an education, as it could pave the way for them to become the main labour force of the country in the future,” he added.
Human rights Activist Tuanjai Deeted praised Pol Gen Surachate for his suggestion that police prioritise human rights despite them being police.
Overseas job swindles skyrocket
The number of people duped by illegal job brokers to work overseas and the damages incurred have both soared in the past eight months, according to the Department of Employment (DoE).
The sharp rise comes when the demand for Thai workers in the international labour markets has increased in the post-Covid-19 pandemic period, said Phairoj Chotikasatien, director-general of the DoE.
From October last year to early this month, at least 471 people were conned out of a total of 32.75 million baht they paid to illegal overseas job recruitment agencies for non-existent placement services, said Mr Phairoj.
These overseas job scams were found to involve a total of 142 fake job recruiters, he said.
Compared to the period from October 2021 to early July 2022, 217 victims were duped with damages estimated at 16.6 million baht.
South Korea, Australia, Japan, Canada and Sweden topped the list of countries popular with job seekers who are often conned via bogus online job advertisements, he added.
Most of the victims were overseas job seekers from Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nakhon Phanom, Chaiyaphum and Pathum Thani, he said.
The rise in overseas job scams has occurred despite DoE efforts to educate job seekers about legal and safe channels to apply for overseas jobs through certified recruitment agencies. At the same time, the department has cracked down on illegal job brokers, he said.
Anyone recruiting people to work overseas without a proper permit issued by the DoE risks a three to 10-year prison term, a fine of between 60,000 and 200,000 baht or both, he said.
Illegal job advertisements on the internet and social media are punishable by up to three years in prison, a maximum fine of 60,000 baht or both, he said.
EC âcan pushâ Pita case to court
Chairman of poll agency defends handling of media shares case
The Election Commission (EC) can forward the case involving Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s previous iTV shareholdings to the Constitutional Court without having to wait for him to furnish his defence, EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said.
He said a meeting of election commissioners on Wednesday looked at a letter sent by Mr Pita asking the poll agency to follow its regulations regarding its investigation process.
Mr Ittiporn said the meeting concluded that the poll agency had complied with related laws and regulations.
The EC’s inquiry panel handled the case in line with Section 82 of the constitution, which allows the poll agency to forward the case to the court if the agency finds sufficient grounds to disqualify an MP, Mr Ittiporn said.
In Mr Pita’s case, the inquiry panel did not investigate any violation of the election law or political parties law, which requires the EC to bring formal charges against suspects first, Mr Ittiporn said.
He said the EC’s main committee had received the inquiry panel findings and will consider them in detail today. The EC will inform Mr Pita in writing of the outcome of its meeting shortly, the EC chairman said.
On Monday, Mr Pita sent a letter to the EC to protest any decision by the poll agency to forward the case to the Constitutional Court.
In it, Mr Pita said the EC’s inquiry panel had not yet informed him of the facts, information and legal grounds for its investigation, citing the EC’s regulations on its investigation process.
He called on the inquiry panel to send him the information so he can prepare and submit his defence to the agency.
Mr Pita, who is the MFP’s sole prime ministerial candidate, stands accused of being ineligible to contest the election because he held 42,000 shares in iTV, which is believed by some critics to still be a functioning media company when he registered his candidacy for the May 14 election.
Mr Pita denies the allegation, saying he only served as executor of the family’s inherited shares.
The constitution bars individuals with media shareholdings from running for public office.
Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn previously said if the court accepts the case for consideration, it can order Mr Pita’s suspension as an MP, which could affect voting for a new prime minister tomorrow.
A court’s consideration of the case or a suspension order could be cited by senators as a reason to abstain from voting for Mr Pita as they might feel the vote could be problematic due to Mr Pita’s alleged ineligibility, he said.
Writing on Facebook yesterday, Senator Wanlop Tankhananurak dismissed as untrue a claim that at least 20 senators would back Mr Pita’s bid for prime minister in tomorrow’s vote.
He referred to a graphic featuring the pictures of 20 senators appearing on social media, which claimed that the pictured senators would vote for Mr Pita. Mr Wallop wrote that only 10 admitted they would support Mr Pita.
In a video posted on Facebook yesterday, Mr Pita sent a message to MPs and senators, saying Thailand should be allowed a democratic majority government in accordance with the people’s will when they vote for a new prime minister tomorrow.
He said the vote would not just be a vote for him or the MFP but a chance to confirm that Thailand will move forward along a normal democratic path.
Heavy machinery led to road collapse, initial probe finds
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has said preliminary investigations indicate that heavy equipment lifting a concrete segment caused the collapse of an elevated road under construction on Luang Phaeng Road on Monday evening, killing two people and injuring 12 others.
The collapsed 600-metre section — stretching from Lotus’s Lat Krabang branch to Jorakay Noi police station — is part of the 2.2-kilometre-long On Nut-Lat Krabang elevated road project.
The two people killed were an engineer and a construction worker. All the injured were construction workers who His Majesty the King has accepted as patients under royal patronage.
Many vehicles were crushed, a building was damaged, and several power poles were toppled.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that an initial investigation revealed that a beam launcher for installing a concrete segment between the 83rd and 84th ground columns of the elevated road suddenly tilted and became unstable, leading to the accident.
However, he added the BMA needs to work with the Engineering Institute of Thailand to establish the exact cause of the tragedy and determine the fate of a joint consortium of two companies, Tharawan Construction and Npa Construction, who won the 1.664-billion-baht project.
Mr Chadchart dismissed rumours that the BMA asked the contractor to change the elevated road’s design. “We ordered no such change,” he said.
The Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation was yesterday continuing its search for survivors who might have been trapped under the rubble.
Lat Krabang district chief, Chatchaya Khamchan, said an incident room had been set up close to where the disaster happened with the cooperation of various agencies, including the district office, the BMA’s Public Works Department, police, doctors and rescuers.