Category: Legal Matters

The Thai Government’s chief whip, Wirat Rattanaseth, has to stop performing his duties as an MP from Tuesday after the Supreme Court Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office accepted a massive corruption case for trial. The case concerns the construction of substandard futsal courts in several north-eastern provinces almost a decade ago, worth a combined 4.4 billion baht.

Eighty-six educational officials, mostly school directors in the north-east, and Wirat were prosecuted by the Office of Attorney-General for their roles in the futsal project. 65 of them were dismissed from service in October by the Office of Basic Education Commission.

According to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Wirat and his wife were among a group of 24 people and companies who allegedly colluded by splitting up their duties and coordinating with one another to plunder public funds in the 2012 fiscal year, which had been earmarked for the construction of the courts at schools, despite the fact that many of the schools had not asked for the courts in the first place.

One of the dismissed directors of a community school in Nakhon Ratchasima, said he and his colleagues will appeal against their dismissal because they feel the wholesale ruling of the National Anti-Corruption Commission is unfair.

“The referee blows his whistle and tries to expel me from the court, accusing me of foul play, but I know I play according to the rules of the game,” he said.

Several teachers and school directors are believed to have been mere scapegoats for their roles in accepting delivery of the substandard courts after their construction.

Most futsal courts were built outdoors without a roof to protect the rubber floor mats, which quickly peeled after exposure to sunlight, and most of the courts have been abandoned.

The Supreme Court Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office has scheduled the first hearing in the case for December 20th.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

NONTHABURI (Thailand), Fun-loving foodies flocked to Chaopraya Antique Café in Nonthaburi, a flooded restaurant in the north of Bangkok, to indulge in a unique dinning experience.

The riverside restaurant, converted from a two-storey wooden house, has been flooded for weeks following heavy downpour triggered by tropical storm, monsoon rains and high tides.

The restaurant offers extraordinary culinary experience as diners must wade through the water to their tables.

Soaking their feet in the water and sitting on drenched chairs, diners get the thrill of enjoying their food against the backdrop of the majestic Chao Phraya River.

Sometimes, to avoid being soaked, diners have to stand while enjoying their meals when the water level rises. And at times, they are drenched by the lapping tides and splashing water when a passenger speedboat passes by.

The restaurant offers lunch from 11 am to 2 pm while the “mu kratha” – a Thai cuisine that combines Korean barbecue and Chinese hot pot – starts from 3 pm. It can accommodate up to 40 diners at any one time.

Since the videos and news of the restaurant went viral on social media, diners need to make a reservation as it is always fully-booked especially during weekends and holidays.

Manager of Chaopraya Antique Café, Jintana Jutimanon, said the restaurant opened in February this year but had to close when the government instituted a ban on dine-in service starting May to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

When the restrictions eased, she said the tropical storm and heavy downpour caused the water level to rise, and the restaurant has been inundated since September 20.

“We decided to stay open despite the flood. Surprisingly, our customers are enjoying the unique and fun dining experience. Through word of mouth, it has become a dining hot spot.

“We are very happy to see that customers love the atmosphere and splashes, while enjoying the barbecued pork in the water,” she told Bernama.

For diners who prefer to stay dry while dining at the restaurant, Jintana said they could choose to dine on the second floor of the restaurant while enjoying the view of Chao Phraya River.

She added that the restaurant has also taken various measures to ensure diners’ health and safety, such as conducting the necessary clean-ups at the restaurant.

“We are happy customers love the dining experience, and we are happy that the challenges had turned into an unexpected opportunity for us,” she said.

Source: Nam News Network

GLASGOW (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth told the United Nations climate change summit on Monday that “the time for words has now moved to the time for action”, as she urged world leaders to think of future generations when negotiating a deal to limit global warming.

In a video message on the first day of the conference in Scotland, the queen urged leaders to rise above “the politics of the moment” and said the legacy of a successful summit would help “our children’s children”.

The 95-year-old, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, was due to attend the event in person in Glasgow but pulled out after doctors advised her to rest.

“It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit – written in history books yet to be printed – will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations,” the queen said.

“The benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today: we, none of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children’s children.”

She paid tribute to her late husband, Prince Philip, who died earlier this year aged 99. She remembered how he had warned an academic gathering in 1969 about the need to tackle the threats from pollution.

“If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time,” she quoted him as saying.

The queen said she “could not be more proud” that his work had been continued by her two closest heirs, her son Prince Charles and grandson Prince William, who are both attending the summit.

On Monday, the queen was pictured driving by herself around her Windsor Castle estate after she last month cancelled some engagements and spent a night in hospital for an unspecified ailment, her first such overnight stay for years.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai party has openly declared its support for amendment of the country’s strict lèse majesté law (Section 112 of the Criminal Code), and sedition (Section 116), the Computer Crime Act and the Emergency Decree currently in force, by having them submitted to parliament for consideration.

The announcement, by Chaikasem Nitisiri, the party’s political-strategic committee chief, was posted on social media on Sunday, which coincided with a rally held being held in Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong shopping district by pro-democracy and anti-establishment groups to demand the repeal of the lèse majesté law and the release from detention of several protest leaders.

Chaikasem said that the Pheu Thai party is ready to bring the demands of the protest groups and the proposal to amend these laws before parliament to check the performance of the justice system, from police and public prosecutors to judges and corrections officials, to ensure they are in compliance with the spirit of the laws.

He also said that the party would like to check the government’s orders and any regulations issued which could be deemed to be unjust, so prisoners of conscience can be released, which should help to rebuild confidence in Thailand’s justice system.

The Pheu Thai party’s latest move is a far cry from its previous non-committal position on issues relating to the monarchy, such as the lèse majesté law.

Responding to the protesters’ call for the repeal of the lèse majesté law, Dr. Warong Dechgitvigrom, leader of the Thai Pakdee party and staunch royalist, claimed that the law is not the reason why many things went wrong in this country “but the real culprit is corruption among politicians.”

In his Facebook post today, he said that the monarchy has always been at the receiving end of insults and allegations, adding that those arrested were indicted on lèse majesté charges because they allegedly insulted, defamed, or threatened the monarch.

Only one political party has made a similar move before Pheu Thai. Opposition’s Move Forward submitted the party’s five draft bills, to amend Penal Code §112 to the House of Representatives in February this year. The drafts were rejected by a bill screening committee of the House on the grounds that they may be unconstitutional, citing Chapter 6 of the Constitution which states that the King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated.

The Move Forward party’s draft bills sought to decriminalize acts of lèse majesté, to remove the law from the chapter regarding national security and to place it with a group of offences related to the honour of the King, the Queen, heir apparent and the Regent.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Thailand’s Senate has overwhelmingly rejected the nomination of a representative of Thailand’s ethnic minorities as a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Wiwat Tamee, the director of a foundation for the development of ethnic minority groups, was nominated by the selection committee, from pool of 20 candidates who were interviewed by the committee on June 25th about their views and visions related to human rights issues in Thailand.

Two-thirds of the committee members voted for Wiwat. He failed, however, to receive Senate approval today (Monday).

Supachai Somcharoen, the second deputy speaker of the Senate, said that 153 senators voted against Vivat’s nomination, with 36 voting in favour and 30 abstentions.

In order to be approved by the Senate, Supachai said a nominee must receive at least 124 votes in favour.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Anti-establishment protesters, which included the Ratsadon group, LBGT supporters and Talufah members, rallied in Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong shopping district this afternoon (Sunday) to demand the repeal of the country’s controversial lèse majesté law (Penal Code §112) and the release of their core members currently being held on remand at various locations on the lèse majesté charges.

The main purpose of the demonstration was to collect the signatures of at least 10,000 supporters of a change in the law, which will be submitted, with the demand, to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House tomorrow.

Many paintings, conveying the protest messages, were placed in front of the Central World shopping mall by protesters. Various speakers took turns to give addresses, all blasting the government, the prime minister and the lèse majesté law.

Some key protest figures are currently being held on remand on lèse majesté and various other charges, including Arnon Nampa, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak and Panupong Jadnok (aka Mike Rayong).

The rally was temporarily disrupted by heavy rain at about 5pm.

Before the rally began at 4pm, the protesters’ “Vivo guard” group entered into an agreement with the police, under which the protesters promised not to march to the Royal Police Office, which is only a short distance from Ratchaprasong intersection, in return for not forcing the rally to disperse.

Rally organisers announced that the event will end at 9pm.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Coinciding with Thailand’s reopening to foreign arrivals on November 1st, about 80,000 trucks, including some tour buses, will stop running to put pressure on the government to meet the demand from the Land Transport Federation of Thailand (LTFT) for the price of all types of diesel to be capped at no more than 25 baht/litre for one year.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the LTFT said that it had already notified the Thai National Shippers’ Council, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Council of Thailand about its decision to have, initially, about 20% of the trucks under the federation stop running for seven days, under acampaign called “truck power.”

The campaign, which may cause losses estimated at several billion baht, could be extended to 15 days or a month if the government continues to ignore their demand, said the LTFT, adding that the government is instead choosing to cap the diesel prices at 30 baht/litre and is introducing more biodiesel as a cheaper alternative.

The federation also said that a number of tour bus drivers have decided to join the campaign, because they have received no help from the government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had devastating impacts on their business due to the absence of tourists.

A senior transport expert at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), the country’s economic think-tank, Nonarit Bisonyabut, said that the government should not interfere with the oil price mechanism, but should develop a means to help people who are to be affected by the truck drivers’ strike.

The Kasikorn Research Centre, meanwhile, said that the average price of diesel this year is about 26 baht/litre, an increase of 15% over the previous year, which has translated into additional production and transportation costs for the business sector, amounting to 76 billion baht or 1% of production and transportation costs.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

The Nakhon Sawan provincial court ruled today (Wednesday) that the drug suspect, who was seen in video footage with his head covered by plastic bags while in police custody at Muang district’s police station, died of suffocation.

The court said that Thitisan Utthanaphon, aka “Joe Ferrari”, then superintendent of Nakhon Sawan’s Muang district police station, and six of his subordinates covered the head of Jirapong Thanapat with plastic bags for over six minutes.

The victim died while in police custody, the court added.

The video clip, which went viral on social media after being posted by a lawyer, prompted public outrage against the police officers concerned.

The ruling came after the court conducted an enquiry to determine the cause of Jirapong’s death and to identify those responsible. The court took testimony from forensic experts, who conducted the autopsy on the victim, the victim’s mother, police investigating the case, the prosecutors and the lawyer, Sittra Biabangkerd who posted the clip.

Thitisan and his six men have been dismissed from the police service and are currently being held on remand, pending an investigation by a special police panel. They have been charged with murder through torture, abuse of power, assault and coercion.

Thitisan is also under investigation for his past record of having confiscated hundreds of luxurious cars, smuggled from Malaysia in the past several years, which have earned him tens of millions of baht in “rewards” from the Customs Department. A raid on his mansion in Bangkok’s suburbs revealed many expensive cars in his personal possession as well.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Thailand needs to develop its human resources, improve the quality of its education, and get serious about addressing the inequality gap, says economist, Dr. Somjai Phagaphasvivat. He said that dealing with these issues is the long-term solution for the Thai economy.

“What has been problematic for a really long time, and has been widely exposed by COVID-19, is the inequality gap. The government has to be serious about this. If we don’t fix this, household debt will rise even further. (It is) the highest in ASEAN and second highest in the Asia Pacific,” said Dr. Somjai.

He said that the issue of household debt has been growing for years and the government cannot let it become a tipping point.

As for the short-term solutions for this, post-pandemic, Dr. Somjai said the government has to prepare enough vaccines for next year. There must also be more stimulus measures, which will help reduce the amount of rehabilitation needed.

Rehabilitation, however, remains necessary and should be provided to people who have been affected for the longest time.

He said that the Thai government has all the tools it needs to revive the economy, it just has to maintain very good fiscal discipline.

Dr. Somjai believes the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over and that the world is on the path to recovery, which will improve the tourism industry next year. Recovery, however, takes time, so Thailand should focus on domestic tourism, which could grow 80-90% with a boost.

He also said that, if the government had not rolled out the relief schemes, last year’s economy would have been even worse.

“We have to admit that these relief schemes have helped to improve GDP by no less than 1 to 2%, but this is not all. The relief is one part, the stimulus scheme is in addition. There are things that have led to some spending, so I think it has helped. If the government hadn’t done this, last year’s economy would have been even worse than it was,” Dr. Somjai explained.

In the end, what we really need is to improve our human resources and be serious about reducing the inequality gap, otherwise, Thailand will easily keep falling into economic downfall because our structure is not strong enough.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Pasak riverside communities were warned today (Wednesday) to brace for possible flooding and to move their valuable belongings to higher ground after the Pasak Jolasid Dam decided to triple the rate of discharge of excess water, from 100 to 300 cubic meters/second, from today.

In an urgent report to Saraburi’s provincial governor, Apirak Srikulawong, who is in charge of water management at Pasak Jolasid Dam, explained the need to increase the discharge rate arises because the water level in the reservoir is steadily increasing, due to heavy rain north of the dam, as a result of tropical storm Kompasu in, adding that the increased discharge rate may cause the level of the Pasak River to rise by between 2 and 2.5 metres.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service