Category: Uncategorized

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen by most neutral observers as the de-facto leader and patriarch of opposition party Pheu Thai.

But the party has always insisted it is free from the influence of the wealthy ex-PM, who has been self-exiled overseas since fleeing a 2008 corruption conviction he claims was politically motivated.

Officially, Thaksin is neither an executive nor even a member of Pheu Thai.

However, fresh allegations of his political influence are now threatening to kill off Thailand’s main opposition party.

The Political Parties Act prohibits any non-member from influencing a party’s affairs directly or indirectly. Parties who violate the law face disbandment by the Constitutional Court.

Alleged intervention

In recent months, Thaksin has made several moves that his critics describe as interventions in Pheu Thai affairs.

Some have filed complaints with the Election Commission (EC), seeking its decision whether to send the case to the Constitutional Court. Among the complainants are social activist Srisuwan Janya and politician Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, who defected from Pheu Thai to join the ruling Palang Pracharath Party.

Srisuwan and Ruangkrai’s complaints focused on retired Army general Pallop Pinmanee’s claim that Thaksin “green-lighted” his removal as a Pheu Thai member — an allegation that could lead to the opposition party’s dissolution.

The hawkish 85-year-old general, whom then-PM Thaksin once entrusted to oversee security affairs, said his removal could have something to do with his “life or death” conflict with Thaksin years ago. “I am puzzled why he waited so long,” Pallop added.

Thaksin and Pheu Thai’s official leader, Chonlanan Srikaew, quickly refuted Pallop’s claim. The ex-PM again insisted he had never been involved in Pheu Thai decision-making. Chonlanan meanwhile maintained that the party’s executive board had never allowed a non-member to dictate or influence its affairs.

More accusations

Srisuwan lodged a similar complaint with the EC late last year after Thaksin appeared at the birthday party of Pheu Thai key figure Kriang Kantinan by video link.

Video of the event shows Kriang urging Thaksin to allow ex-wife Potjaman Na Pombejra to become Pheu Thai leader to boost the party’s chances of winning the next election. The birthday bash fell just before a Pheu Thai general meeting in October that saw Chonlanan selected as the new leader and Thaksin’s youngest daughter, Paetongtarn, appointed as chief adviser for participation and innovation.

The clip shows Thaksin replying that he didn’t think Potjaman was interested in taking the party helm.

Srisuwan cited the clip as proof that Thaksin retained influence over Pheu Thai’s affairs.

More controversy followed in late December, when Democrat Party’s former deputy leader Witoon Nambutr said he had negotiated with Thaksin over his possible defection to Pheu Thai.

Witoon claimed that Kriang had helped him call Thaksin to request a guarantee that Witoon would be assured an MP’s seat at the next election by being included among Pheu Thai’s first 30 party-list candidates. “[Thaksin] said no problem,” the veteran politician said.

Witoon said he planned to meet Thaksin in person on a February trip to the World Expo in Dubai.

‘Brand ambassador, not owner’

Although senior party members have called Thaksin “big boss” and Pheu Thai’s “real owner”, party leader Chonlanan likened him recently to an ambassador, denying he had influence over party decisions.

“[Thaksin] is like our brand ambassador, a symbol and representative of the product. He is a Pheu Thai figurehead but not involved in running the party,” Chonlanan said.

He added that critics had misinterpreted Thaksin’s comments about Pheu Thai as influence over the party.

“Their grounds for seeking the party’s dissolution rest on [Thaksin’s] words alone. They have failed to consider whether the [party’s] executive board allowed any interference,” said Chonlanan, repeating a line of defense used by Pheu Thai’s legal experts.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

International business groups are urging Hong Kong to restart international flights after a ratings group warned the travel restrictions, imposed last week because of COVID-19 outbreaks, could have dire effects on the territory’s economy.

Fitch Ratings said, “A new wave of restrictions on various social activities within Hong Kong and a further tightening of controls on international travel … are likely to dampen economic growth prospects.”

Some Hong Kong executives who traveled out of the territory for the winter holidays found that they could not return to Hong Kong because of the new restrictions that are designed to be in place for at least two weeks but may last longer. Fitch said, “We believe the tightening of restrictions on international arrivals will create further obstacles to the territory’s ability to serve as a regional headquarters” for foreign multinational companies.

The Cyprus Mail reports that a University of Cyprus scientist and his team have discovered a new COVID variant. Dr. Leontios Kostrikis told the publication that deltacron has the genetic background of the delta variant and some of the mutations of omicron.

“The frequency of the mutations was higher among those in hospital which could mean there is a correlation between deltacron and hospitalizations,” Kostrikis told the Mail.

Australia’s New South Wales state reported 16 deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, its deadliest day in the two-year pandemic. The state, Australia’s most populous, already has 200,000 people in isolation, and reported more than 30,000 new cases.

On Sunday, New South Wales Health issued a statement allowing essential workers to return to work if they do not have any symptoms, if their employer says they are needed. They must wear a mask and pass a daily rapid antigen test. Some employers are reporting as many as half their workers are staying home because they have had contact with an infected person.

Victoria, Australia’s second-largest state, reported more than 44,000 new cases and four deaths, Reuters reported. The entire country will surpass 1 million infections sometime Sunday, according to the Australia Broadcasting Corp.

Saturday, more than 100,000 people took to the streets across France to protest proposed new restrictions that will require proof of vaccination to eat out, travel on intercity trains or go to a cultural event. The turnout was four times the government’s estimate of 25,000 protesters who marched on Dec. 18, Agence France-Presse reported.

Protesters also marched in several German cities Saturday, demanding a halt to restrictions on those who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The main demonstrations occurred in Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Magdeburg.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Friday that proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test will now be required to enter bars and restaurants in the country. Currently, proof of vaccination is required to enter many public venues.

Protests of government coronavirus restrictions also took place Saturday in Turin, Italy, and Beirut.

Global surge

The United Kingdom’s death toll from COVID-19 since the pandemic began topped 150,000 on Saturday, more deaths than any other European country except Russia. Britain reported a record of 146,390 new cases on Saturday.

“Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on our country and today the number of deaths recorded has reached 150,000,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. “Our way out of this pandemic is for everyone to get their booster or their first or second dose if they haven’t yet.”

India’s capital, New Delhi, was shut down Saturday to halt the spread of the coronavirus, after a nearly fourfold nationwide spike in infections in the last week alone. Most shops were closed, but some essential services remained open.

More than 140,000 new cases across the country were reported Saturday, the most since the end of May, the health ministry said. It also reported more than 280 new deaths, for a total of nearly 484,000 since the pandemic began.

The surge in infections in India is fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant as political rallies attended by tens of thousands of people continue to be held by candidates before state elections are held later this year.

Source: Voice of America

The military junta in Naypyidaw has asked the country’s resistance forces to join ceasefire talks and to work together to deliver effective humanitarian assistance to the needy people of Myanmar.

According to a joint press statement, released on the first of a two-day visit by ASEAN Chair and Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, the ceasefire will be extended for the rest of this year. The junta asked all concerned to join the ceasefire talks, which are aimed at deescalating tension and enabling constructive dialogue between stakeholders, to achieve enduring peace and national development.

The junta, officially known as the State Administrative Council (SAC), would also welcome the participation of the ASEAN special envoy in the ceasefire talks with the armed ethnic organisations and other stakeholders. This is part of ASEAN’s five-point consensus.

On humanitarian assistance, the two sides support the convening of a meeting of stakeholders. According to the press statement, these include ASEAN’s special envoy, Secretary General and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management Centre and Myanmar’s National Task Force to Facilitate Provision of Humanitarian Assistance, the Red Cross Society and the relevant UN Specialised Agencies.

During the discussion, both leaders also acknowledged the critical importance of setting up mechanisms and proper facilities for COVID-19 vaccination programs, along with the provision of humanitarian assistance without discrimination.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing also congratulated Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Prak Sokhonn on becoming the new ASEAN special envoy. The junta leader pledged to support him in fulfilling his mandate in implementing the five-point consensus.

Hun Sen made the two-day trip to Naypyidaw at the invitation of Myanmar. During the discussion yesterday, he stressed that, based on the experience and lessons learned from Cambodia’s peace process, complete peace and national reconciliation cannot be achieved without participation and agreement from all parties involved.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has assured that he will facilitate the ASEAN special envoy’s meetings with concerned parties, including the armed ethnic organisations.

The outcome of Hun Sen’s trip will be reported to ASEAN foreign ministers at the upcoming retreat, on Jan 19th in Siem Reap. During the senior officials’ meeting on Jan 5th, the ASEAN chair informed ASEAN colleagues of Hun Sen’s visit and his strategies.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Dismissed former senior naval officer, Captain Alongkorn Ploddee, surrendered to police in Sattahip district yesterday (Friday) to acknowledge four charges filed against him.

Police had sought and were granted, by a military court, a warrant for the arrest of Alongkorn, immediately after Defence Permanent Secretary General Worakiat Rattananont had issued an order dismissing him from military service after finding him guilty of gross misconduct.

Alongkorn showed up at Sattahip police station last night to acknowledge the charges of insulting police officers while performing their duty, obstruction of police while performing their duty, coercion and defamation.

The former sailor came under widespread criticism from netizens after a video went viral on social media last month showing a drunken man, in civilian attire and later identified as Alongkorn, the then director of the Real Estate Division based at Sattahip naval base, berating and insulting police and staff of a restaurant.

The incident prompted the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy, Admiral Somprasong Nilasamai and the commander of Sattahip naval base, Vice Admiral Naruedol Kerdnark, to observe the RTN’s traditional self-disciplinary ritual by shaving their heads to take responsibility.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Cambodia’s strongman ruler Hun Sen arrives in Myanmar Friday for talks with the junta — the first foreign leader to visit since the generals seized power almost a year ago.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the February 1 coup which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government and ended the country’s decade-long dalliance with democracy.

More than 1,400 civilians have been killed as the military has cracked down on dissent, according to a local monitoring group, and numerous anti-junta militias have sprung up around the country.

Hun Sen’s foreign minister has warned the country contains “all the ingredients for civil war” and international rights groups and local anti-junta activists have urged him to cancel the two-day visit.

But the veteran leader, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said he would go, and was willing to extend his trip if it would help defuse tensions.

He will travel with his deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and hold talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, according to a Cambodian government statement.

On Wednesday Hun Sen called for a ceasefire, saying “all relevant parties must stop violence”.

International powers have piled diplomatic pressure on Myanmar’s military administration — officially called the State Administration Council — with even traditional allies such as China lukewarm in their support.

ASEAN has sought to shed its reputation as a toothless talking shop and take action on Myanmar, with leaders agreeing to a “five-point consensus” last year.

In October, the bloc took the highly unusual step of excluding Min Aung Hlaing from a summit, in response to an ASEAN envoy being denied a meeting with Suu Kyi.

But there has been little tangible progress in ending the turmoil in Myanmar. In the latest atrocity, more than 30 people were killed on Christmas Eve in a massacre blamed on the military.

There was a protest against Hun Sen’s visit in northwestern Saigang region and Amnesty International has condemned the trip, saying it may do more harm than good.

“If Hun Sen truly wants to help, he should cancel this trip and lead ASEAN to strong action to address the country’s dire human rights situation rather than indulge in empty gestures,” Amnesty’s Emerlynne Gil said in a statement.

The junta has justified the coup by alleging electoral fraud in 2020 elections, and Suu Kyi is facing a raft of charges that could see her jailed for decades.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday again signaled U.S. support for the European Union and Lithuania against China, which is accused of blocking Lithuanian exports in protest of the Baltic country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai today spoke with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis “and expressed the United States’ strong support for the EU and for Lithuania in the face of economic coercion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” a statement from Tai’s office said.

Lithuania, one of the smallest countries in the European Union, made waves in July when it allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic outpost in Vilnius.

The move outraged Beijing, which does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state and considers the island a rebellious territory of the mainland.

China began to limit its diplomatic and economic ties with Lithuania in retaliation.

“Ambassador Tai emphasized the importance of working with the European Union and its member states to address coercive diplomatic and economic behavior through various avenues, including the US-EU Trade and Technology Council,” Tai’s office said.

Tai already spoke with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis by telephone Wednesday, reiterating Washington’s support for his country.

Source: Voice of America

The body of a man, believed to be that of missing Thai-Japanese model, Kullapat “Kendo” Pongpraphap, was found this afternoon (Thursday) floating in the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok’s Ratchawong pier.

A rescue unit from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation and Pak Khlong San police rushed to the scene and pulled the body out of the water, placing it on a pier under the King Rama 1 Bridge for initial examination.

According to the police, a wallet containing about 1,000 baht in cash, an ID card issued by Siriraj hospital, credit and ATM cards, iPod earphones and a gold-framed Buddha amulet was found on the body.

Police said that the body has the word “Love” tattooed on the neck and graphic designs tattooed on the left foot. The dead man wore olive green trousers and rainbow-striped short-sleeve shirt.

Police think that the man drowned about two days ago. The body was later taken to a nearby hospital for an autopsy.

According to the police, the family of the 27-year-old model published an announcement about his disappearance on January 4th, when he was last seen at a hostel.

The model’s manager had also been trying to contact Kendo since January 4th, but without success.

A caretaker at the hostel, where Kendo was living before his disappearance, claimed she saw the model lying on a bench on the ground floor, looking unwell, on Monday.

She added that the next day, she knocked on the door of his room to check that he was OK, after she received a call from his family, but there was no response, so she unlocked the door and went in, only to find the room empty.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Election candidates from various parties and their supporters showed up in high spirits this morning (Thursday) at Bangkok’s Laksi district office on the first day of candidate registration for the by-election in Bangkok’s Constituency 9, scheduled for January 30th.

The by-election is being held to fill the seat left by Sira Jenjaka, of the ruling Palang Pracharat party, following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that he was unqualified to contest the election, in which he became an MP, after he had been sentenced to a prison term for fraud in a final ruling.

The Palang Pracharat party is fielding Jira’s wife, Saranrat, to contest the poll.

Some of the candidates came with their campaign trucks, groups of drummers and banners with a blank space to be filled with their election numbers after the drawing of lots.

Due to strict “safe COVID-19 setting” measures, being imposed at all government offices, only the candidates, accompanied by one follower, were allowed into the district office.

Other candidates represent Thai Pakdee, Kla, Pheu Thai, Move Forward, National Strategy and Thai Civilized parties.

The director of the Bangkok election commission warned candidates not to hold entertainment events during the campaign because they might be given a “red card” or disqualified. He also warned candidates, who brought groups of drummers with them, that they might be violating the election law.

From today until the day before the election day, Bangkok residents, especially those in Laksi district, will see campaign trucks roaming the streets, with loudspeakers blaring candidates’ messages and appeals for their votes. Door-to-door visits by candidates are also expected to increase in the three weeks of electioneering.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

SHANGHAI — Midday queues snake out to the street in an upmarket Shanghai neighborhood, but it’s not lunch at the city’s hottest restaurant that people are lining up for — it’s cosmetic “micro-procedures”, which are surging in popularity in China.

The “lunchtime facelift” and other “medical aesthetics” procedures are booming as a new generation of Chinese consumers grapple with the pressure to look good on social media as well as in person.

Kayla Zhang has never actually gone under the knife for cosmetic reasons, but she’s had laser treatments, injections and a thread lift — a barbed string inserted under the skin and pulled up to “lift” the face.

“I’m not changing my nose or my eyes, which would be an extreme change in my looks,” the 27-year-old told AFP, adding that she’s seeking a “better version” of herself rather than “a totally new face.”

Already popular in the West because they are less invasive and more affordable than traditional cosmetic surgery, micro-procedures — from laser facials and fillers to thread lifts — are fast becoming the norm in China’s cities where disposable incomes have jumped in the past decade.

The Chinese Association of Plastics and Aesthetics estimates, overall, the cosmetic industry will grow to $46 billion this year compared to around $6.5 billion in 2013.

Micro-procedures are now an expanding segment of that market, while traditional surgery’s growth rates slow, according to data from consulting firm Frost and Sullivan.

Changing values

But a government crackdown looms over the boom.

The ruling Communist Party is pushing a broad campaign to “purify” social values, which includes taking aim at mounting youth pressure to go under the knife.

The government has banned industry advertising practices that contribute to “appearance anxiety” such as before-and-after images, and has levied tens of millions of dollars in fines this year over various infractions.

Model Li Li already gets monthly laser treatments to correct skin blemishes but admits she feels social pressure to continually fix her appearance.

After friends said her face was out of proportion she opted for a “chin filler,” which makes the chin more prominent.

“I went to get it immediately,” the 27-year-old confessed.

But Li and Zhang insist that micro-procedures — which can cost on average a third of the price of cosmetic surgery, according to research by Deloitte — are a less-invasive alternative to traditional surgery and are being unfairly stigmatized.

“Everyone had the same standard of beauty before, but now it feels like this norm is being tipped over,” added Zhang, who likens micro-procedures to skincare, but faster.

A decade ago, cosmetic doctor Yang Kaiyuan said customers often came to him with a picture of a celebrity, telling him: “I want to look like this.”

“Nowadays, people just hope to make slight improvements on what they already have,” Yang explained.

Unrestrained growth

But the government is concerned by the rise in unlicensed, unregulated providers.

In 2019, 15 percent of the 13,000 licensed beauty clinics in China were operating outside of their business scope and only 28 percent of doctors in the industry were certified, according to iResearch.

Its report added that for every up-to-standard needle used, two unapproved ones were in circulation.

Earlier this year, a Chinese actress shared cautionary photos online of a botched operation that left her nose badly infected.

But Ken Huang, CEO at beauty clinic PhiSkin, says the societal factors pushing young Chinese to seek cosmetic adjustments to advance their careers or to boost social media popularity remain strong.

“Good-looking people will have more opportunities than others,” Huang said.

“If you don’t look good on the outside, even if you have an interesting personality, people might not get the chance to see it.”

Still in her twenties, Zhang already opts for monthly micro-procedures and will keep this routine until she feels her appearance leaves her “no choice but to go under the knife.”

She explained: “Then I may need stronger methods to be able to return to a younger state.”

Source: Voice of America