3 monks, 2 rangers hurt in powerful bomb blast
When the bus they were riding in was involved in a wayside bombing on Friday morning in Narathiwat’s Rueso district, three monks and two voluntary rangers were hurt.
At 6.25 am, the explosion happened in Soi Charoen Rat 2 close to an agricultural products store in the district’s tambon Rueso Ok, only as a light van carrying three priests was passing by from Wat Phairot Pracharam.
The local clergy were there to collect donations.
Security forces, including Explosive Ordnance Disposal ( EOD ) officers, a special unit of Narathiwat Provincial Police, and forensic experts, were rushed to the scene as soon as the alarm was raised, according to Pol Col Thanya Lamboon, head of Reuso police station.
When they arrived, they discovered two injured soldiers escorting the three injured priests. Chaichit Namkhet, one of the guards, apparently sustained head shrapnel wounds while operating the vehicle.
The owner of the agricultural tools store, Mustaha Yama, and a number of other people helped transport all the injured to Rueso Hospital.
In the interim, the place had been sealed off so that the EOD officers could inspect the fire site.
There were bits of a potent homemade incendiary device scattered around the area. According to police, the explosives-containing system, which weighed about 50 kg, had been packed into a cooking oil barrel and placed close to an 1, 000 gallon water tank.
According to police, radio control set off the blast, which had a 100-meter fire radius.
The agrarian store, along with the van, three near homes, and two delivery trucks, were all significantly damaged. Police attributed the explosion to a local rebel organization.
According to a source, the incident was comparable to one that took place near in December 2021 as some monks from Wat Rat Samoson were being led by security personnel to collect alms. One priest, one peasant, and two rangers were hurt by that storm in the early morning.
Citizens are concerned that monks and Buddhists may once again be the targets of rebel groups as a result of the most recent event, according to the supply.
Online scammers tout child modelling jobs
Parents are being warned about child-modeling scams on Facebook by the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau( CCIB ) after victims complained that they are a hook to sell things.
Scammers allegedly advertised an audition for children to participate in fashion shows and fashion shoots with promises of pay of 450 to 750 baht per gig, according to CCIB spokesman Pol Col Krissana Pattanocharoen on Friday, & nbsp.
Child Model Kids, KID Model 2023, Summer Model, and Fashion Kid are some of the Facebook websites running the program, according to Pol Col Krissana.
Victims may be invited to participate in group chats where fictitious agents may ask them to send money so they could place orders for the agents’ preferred goods.
According to Pol Col Krissana, in order to guarantee their son’s spots in the modeling industry, the subjects were asked to pay higher rates for the goods. Additionally, the officials forbade the patients from taking their income.
He claimed that con artists frequently used well-known manufacturers and the same design to increase credibility. He continued,” Users if double-check the bill story of those posting the advertising.”
Online scammers frequently promise great returns or simple criteria, according to Pol Col Krissana. To secure career opportunities, it is crucial that legitimate job messages do not demand settlement of any kind.
Some con artists also request” enrollment” information, which can include both personal and financial information. Hence, it is advised against making transfers of funds into accounts other than those managed by the lender or its employees.
People can review everyone they believe to be a fraudster to the CCIB using their hotline, 1441, or the phone number 08-1866-3000, according to Pol Col Krissana.
Pita digs in on pay hike vow
Pledge of B450 per time sparks a contentious conversation
Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party( MFP ), vowed that if his party forms the new government, he will push for a proposed increase in the minimum wage to 450 baht per day.
Mr. Pita, the MFP candidate for prime minister, stated that he had discussed the proposed salary increase with the personal business on a YouTube channel hosted by media anchor Sorayuth Suthassanachinda.
There is a lot of discussion about the MFP’s vote commitment to quickly raise the regular minimum income to 450 baht and change it periodically to keep up with inflation. Although it may be honorable to support unemployed workers, observers say it is crucial to recognize the hike’s possible effects on businesses and the general economy.
” The private business may be coerced into raising wages by the state.” According to the law, the issue needs to be discussed by the bilateral committee.
The pay is still less than 10,000 baht if an worker works 20 days a month, despite the fact that the cost of living is extremely large today, according to Mr. Pita.
Before making an announcement, the trilateral regional pay committee, which consists of the government, employers, and labor unions, must finalize the specifics of any proposed income increase and present them to the cabinet.
Given the broad effects on stakeholders, this strategy will guarantee transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.
Mr. Pita stated that he will still need to meet with businesses to discuss the proposed salary increase in more detail. However, if the MFP takes over as the government, steps would also be taken to lessen the effect of the increase on companies, such as lowering taxes for small and medium-sized businesses and granting employers a six-month discharge of contributions to the Social Security Fund.
” We did take care of Businesses affected by the pay increase with relief packages designed to help them ,” Mr. Pita declared.
Mr. Pita stated that the government may send representatives to the bilateral committee to discuss the plan to improve the daily income to 450 baht within 100 days of taking power and to present measures to assist affected employers.
While he will press for the salary increase, Mr. Pita continued by saying that another policies, such as lowering electricity rates and oil prices, increasing business liquidity, raising state revenue, and promoting exports, will also be pursued.
Additionally, he made an effort to ease worries that the proposed wage increase may force major corporations to relocate their production facilities in Thailand to different nations.
I spoke with significant corporations, and they predicted that this would be a chance to move from labor to new innovations. whether there will be fewer personnel employed… I believe that a greater number of high-quality work will still be available for jobs.
We cannot afford to allow small compensation to restrict the nation’s ability to compete. We will figure out how to assist by cutting additional expenses for providers.
We’ll go over why raising income is required and why employees deserve it. We are prepared to assist large operators in any way that the[ incoming ] government requests, according to Mr. Pita.
Santitarn Sathirathai, the party chief economist of the Singapore-based technical conglomerate Sea Group, expressed his support for any initiatives to combat economic inequality in Thailand in a post on Facebook on Friday.
Every coverage, he said, has advantages and disadvantages, even though the minimum wage may be raised.
In this situation, a proposed wage increase without addressing the issue of efficiency will be detrimental because businesses will have to deal with rising costs and may need to relocate their production facilities abroad or exchange workers with machinery or technologies, according to him.
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Cristiano Ronaldo visits Singapore, surrounded by fans at Botanic Gardens
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is in Singapore to support a series of youth scholarships established by his long-time friend and philanthropist Peter Lim. These include the NParks-Peter Lim Scholarship, which is meant to help less privileged youths pursue their interests, develop their skills and build capability in the landscaping, horticulture,Continue Reading
Sick elephant in Sri Lanka heading home
Two experienced mahouts heading to Sri Lanka to help prepare Sak Surin for journey
Sak Surin, an ailing male Thai elephant, will be flown home from Sri Lanka for treatment and rehabilitation next month, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) said on Friday.
Attapol Charoenchansa, the department’s acting director-general, said the timeline was based on the latest estimates made by a veterinarian team dispatched to Sri Lanka to assess the animal’s health and readiness to travel.
An Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft will be sent to Sri Lanka to bring the elephant back.
Once in Thailand, the elephant will be cared for at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Mr Attapol said.
Originally gifted with two other Thai elephants to Sri Lanka in 2001 as a goodwill ambassador, Sak Surin, also known in Sri Lanka as Muthu Raja, had been mistreated for years, according to a complaint made by Rally for Animal Rights & Environment (Rare).
The elephant had been overworked and was not properly cared for, and subsequently became very thin and sick, said the Sri Lanka-based animal rights group.
The elephant has also sustained some serious injuries, which made it unable to bend its left forelimb for eight years, Rare said.
The group said the Sri Lankan government had transferred ownership of Sak Surin to the Kande Vihara Temple, where it was a carrier of holy relics during annual Buddhist parades.
“Two highly experienced mahouts have been selected and assigned to travel along with a new DNP team to Sri Lanka on Tuesday to help take care of the elephant and prepare it for the journey back home,” said Mr Attapol.
The two mahouts are Thorachaisit Siri, 38, who has been handling elephants with aggressive behaviour for more than a decade, and Supphachai Bunkoet, 26, who has been working with elephants for nine years.
Mr Supphachai also works as a veterinarian assistant at the Lampang elephant hospital.
Chinese tourists nabbed in high-end pub raid
Drugs also found at Huai Khwang nightspot similar to infamous Jinling pub
Almost 50 Chinese tourists were detained for questioning and a large quantity of illicit drugs were seized when police raided a pub in Huai Khwang district of Bangkok early Friday morning.
The raid at 3am found 30 men and 18 women partying in four karaoke rooms, said Pol Maj Gen Thirasak Chantrapipat, chief of the Children and Women Protection Division.
At least four types of drugs — cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and “happy water”, which is an illicit drug cocktail — were confiscated, along with drug-taking paraphernalia.
Several tourists were charged with drug use after testing positive. Police are currently investigating whether they violated the immigration law, and whether the pub operator supplied the drugs to its customers.
Pol Maj Gen Thirasak said police had been gathering information about the pub for two weeks prior to the raid and found its operation was similar to that of the infamous Jinling pub.
Many Chinese tourists were found inside when police entered the pub in Huai Khwang district early Friday. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)
On Oct 26 last year, police stormed Jinling, which operated illegally in three adjacent buildings on Charoen Rat Road in Yannawa district. A total of 104 customers, 99 of them Chinese nationals, tested positive for drugs.
The Jinling raid touched off an investigation that led to the arrest of Chinese businessman Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant and 40 others on multiple charges related to narcotics, organised transnational crime, money-laundering and more.
It subsequently emerged that dozens of Chinese crime figures were operating in the country, having obtained long-term visas with the help of dozens of corrupt immigration officers. Investigations are continuing.
Pol Maj Gen Atthaporn Wongsiripreeda, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1, said police are questioning the staff of the pub that was raided on Friday for more information about the venue.
Based on the paperwork, the pub is owned by a Thai national but police will run a thorough check on its ownership and determine if it is linked to Jinling, he said.
Citing a statement from an accountant, he said several staff are ethnic people from Chiang Mai who can speak Chinese. Most of the customers are Chinese tourists who were charged 6,500 to 15,000 baht for karaoke services excluding drinks.
Pol Maj Gen Atthaporn said that a Thai man, who is believed to a security guard, was arrested on a firearms-related charge when police found a gun in his possession. Five vehicles belonging to the customers were confiscated for further examination after police found drugs in some of them.
(Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)
Drug traffickers smuggling crystal meth past South East Asia security – UN
EPADrug traffickers have found new ways of smuggling crystal methamphetamine, known as ice, out of South East Asia to high-paying customers outside the region, according to a UN report.
Criminal gangs are moving more drugs by sea to evade land patrols in Thailand and China, making them harder to spot.
They have learnt “to anticipate, adapt and try to circumvent” law enforcement, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said.
The ice is sold in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
The huge trade in methamphetamines and other illegal drugs, which mostly flow from super labs in parts of Myanmar, is also showing no signs of slowing down, the UN agency warned.
Shan state in Myanmar is home to what many believe is the world’s largest meth trade. Traffickers ship the drugs out through the borders of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, an area known as the Golden Triangle.
“In 2022, we saw them work around Thai borders more than in the past,” said Jeremy Douglas, the UN agency’s regional representative.
“Traffickers have continued to ship large volumes through Laos and northern Thailand, but at the same time they have pushed significant supply through central Myanmar to the Andaman Sea, where it seems few were looking.”
The meth comes in two main forms: pills known as yaba or highly addictive crystal meth (ice).
In recent years, both Thai and Chinese police, backed by neighbouring forces, have stepped up operations in the Golden Triangle.
Criminal gangs use Thailand as a transit country to get high value crystal meth to a third country such as Australia or New Zealand where the street value of the drug can be 10 times higher than in Bangkok.
High volumes of Myanmar meth is also making its way into Bangladesh and India, according to the report.
In the last year, Thai and Chinese authorities have seen a significant drop in drug seizures.
Police across East Asia and South East Asia seized nearly 151 tonnes of methamphetamines in 2022, down from a record of 172 tonnes in 2021.
However, the price of 1kg (2.2lbs) of crystal meth is at an all-time low, which suggests that supplies are still high.
Officials believe criminal gangs have found ways to “diversify” their network and move the drugs using alternative maritime routes. Thai drug enforcement agents are managing to intercept some of the supplies at sea.
Earlier this week, after a four-month operation following drug smugglers, Thai authorities seized more than 900kg of crystal meth from a trawler in the Gulf of Thailand, about 32km (20 miles) from the tourist island of Samed. Six crew members were arrested in the operation.
Officers said the drugs would have been transferred from the small Thai boat to a bigger trawler which would have likely taken the drugs to Australia.
Authorities across the region also seized a record 27.4 tonnes of ketamine in 2022, which is an anaesthetic misused as a recreational party drug. That’s up 167% on 2021.
The report highlighted one ketamine laboratory in Cambodia which they said was capable of “industrial scale” production.
It also expressed concern that Cambodia had become “a key transit and to some extent production point for the regional drug trade”.
“The discovery of a series of clandestine ketamine laboratories, processing warehouses, and storage facilities across the country has set off alarm bells in the region,” the report said.
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26 August 2022
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